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!

Time Sure Flies !!


12/5/11
Wow, I've been back from China for 4.5 months already! Well, time does fly when you're having fun, and we definitely are doing that. Life is really good, and we are really blessed. I see something amazing every day - what more could I ask for?

Bellamei is a precious gem. By God's design, she has been with our family forever, but now she is physically with us. It's truly as if she's been here all along. She had no hesitation, no apprehension, no doubt. She just melted right in. She begins every day with a smile and is kind & beautiful. Her limb difference is such a non-issue - there is nothing she can't do. She does everything a 2-handed person can do, and asks for no help, ever. She goes with us every Wed night for sign language class and she just improvises her signing, without a blink. She & Briella are signed up together on a basketball team. Bellamei is smart and a great student. She has friends at school, but her best friend is Briella - they chat all day long in Chinese!

2 comments:

Blessedmom said...

That's a lovely post! Congrats to all of you, and God bless,
Lillian
Lillian Godone-Maresca
http://themiracleiwitnessed.blogspot.com

Karen said...

So happy to see that God's blessing upon your family are many!! I love that Bellamei has blended into your family with such ease...God's hand and plan!