One home...Many hearts: Briella's been home 4 months today..

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!

November 22, 2009
I decided to take a little photo shoot of Briella. She's such a lovely young lady, home only 4 months and it feels like she's been here forever. Here's some fun facts about Briella... her english is outstanding (already), she's very smart, she's kind to others and loves to smile, she loves school, she likes to write in mandarin with Ben, she loved being on a soccer team w/Lidia & Ben, she learned how to swim, if I blow dry her hair - she giggles the whole time, she trys all new foods (and likes everything),the battery toothbrush that I sent in her care package to China got used by all the girls at the orphanage!, she learned how to swing on a swingset...very cautious at first...then giggled like crazy learning how...and now she's a pro, she loves going to church, she loves her grandma's and grandpa's, she's learned how to pick out a new outfit everyday (in China, she wore the same clothes for many days, and she had no clothes of her own or a dresser), she still needs to learn how to ride a bike, she's taught Brinley and Bayla some chinese children's songs (so cute!) and she loves when I kiss her on her forehead or cheek. She smiles real big when she gets a kiss & told me that nobody had ever kissed her before in China. No wonder she giggles and smiles when she gets a kiss :o)
She is such a gift to our family.