Welcome to our story...

God has richly blessed us with a big, fun family...
We have 10 children... 3 homegrown & 7 born in our hearts!

Blake... our oldest is 25 and has a heart for the Lord. He enjoys; church, family, mission trips, making music, playing guitar & drums at church, and writing.

Brianna Faith... is 21 and has a compassionate & tender heart. She's a wonderful big sister. She began talking to us about adoption when she was 11 yrs old. She is "Faith in motion"

Brent... is 17 - he's an awesome guy! He's in highschool. He has a special heart for family and God. He loves sports! Brent loves to laugh & is full of life!

Bethany Lidia... now 15, joined our family in August 2006 at 9 yrs old. She's from the beautiful country of Guatemala. She started school for the very first time (at 9 yrs old) and is now in 9th grade. Lidia's passion is sports & dancing!

Benjamin Ross... 15 yrs old. We first saw his picture in April 2007 & came home in May '08. Ben is deaf, but his special need is that he needed a family. Ben loves making home-runs & hanging out with family & friends. Ben is from Tianjin, China.

Briella Xiyao... our beautiful 15 yr old daughter from Fujian Province, China. She joined our family in July 2009. She's always wearing a big smile! She has a passion for the deaf & very proficient in sign language. She loves basketball!!

Bellamei Ying... our Inner Mongolian princess. Bellamei is 14 yrs old and held my hand for the first time on July 18, 2011. She has melted into our big family seamlessly and it is truly an honor to be her mommy.

Brinley Grace FuChuan... is 9 years old and joined our family in July 2007. She's from Jiangxi Province, China. She has the most gentle, sweet spirit... she's an angel!

Bayla Shea Chao-Yu... our youngest. She's 9 yrs old, 5 months younger than Brinley. Bayla's from Hunan, China & came home at 11.5 months. She's bright, funny (and spicy!) We can't get enough of her hugs & kisses.

and our caboose... Braxton Emanuel Jordan - 8 yrs old? (see post below) He's from Guangdong Province and is now officially our son!

This 1 min video shows how we've GROWN!

It's past midnight on Monday ...

Sorry I haven't posted in 4 days...things have been pretty busy, and well, we are just really enjoying ourselves.  Since it took me so long to post all the pictures tonight, I will make this short, as it's very late here.  The pictures will give you a pretty good idea of what we've been up to.  By the way, yesterday as Susan and I were listening to New Life 91.9, (our favorite Christian radio station) via the internet..., I decided to write to them to let the station know we were listening on the other side of the globe.  I have just received an email from Gary Morland and he wants to call my hotel room tomorrow night to do an interview that he will edit for airing.  I told him yes, but I am very nervous!!!!!
 
We've been having fun here in Guangzhou with shopping, walking through little town streets, swimming, and playing.  Tonight we found the one and only microwave on this property (at a deli here at the White Swan) and got permission to pop some microwave popcorn that we had brought from home.  Imagine 5 Chinese women standing around the microwave, marveling at the popping of the popcorn, and Ben squealing with excitement to see the bag get big.  He didn't really like the popcorn, but had fun making it.
 
Anyway, have to go to sleep now...everyone is doing great.  Ben is getting better since being on the antibiotics.  We are anxious to return home, but have thoroughly enjoyed our trip.  I cannot wait for Ben to get to meet his dad and other siblings.  That will be so exciting!!  Have gotten the opportunity several times to speak to the kids back home, thanks to Skype.  Bayla always says, "mommy, I love you really much" and Brinley said she had a frog in her neck...(translation: her throat was bothering her).  Blake, Brianna and Lidia all sounded great.  Mike is doing an awesome job!!!
Tomorrow is our last day here...then an early flight out on Wed morning.  It will take 3 flights to get us home...about 22-23 hours of travel.
Enjoy the pictures.  Love to all...
Lisa

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lisa - it doesn't surprise me at all that Ben gave away his care package with all of the things you sent him (weeks ago). All of your children are very non-spoiled kids compared to most in this world. Parents think you have to occupy kids all of the time and shower them with attention and gifts. All they will have is an adult that is disappointed with life. Your children find joy in giving and helping others. So, that is a gift they will take with their through their life. David is that way and I hope Jake will follow in his oldest sibling, David's, footsteps! Love you! Traci