Ellie's 1st Gotcha Day!

Ellie's first Gotcha Day Anniversary was very special for all of us. We are on a break from homeschooling so it was a pretty laidback day, if there is such a thing in our household : ) Ellie and I took time for a photo shoot. She enjoyed dressing up and being in the spotlight all by herself. Shelby managed to get a few good shots of Ellie and me which I am excited about! Ellie is such an observant child as she goes about her daily life. She stops and notices everything- unlike her mother who is always too busy. I should take some notes and learn a few things from this child. Today during our picture taking, she delighted in the butterflies and the yellow flowers. Later, we continued the celebrationwith Chinese food for dinner. We also gave Ellie a panda bear puppet that we purchased in China. She loved it! Speaking of gifts, Ellie is a gift, and I am so grateful that out of all the women in the world, God chose me to be her mother. I definitely don't deserve it, but she is my daughter by God's grace for which I am forever grateful.

Happy 1st Gotcha Day Ellie!

In a previous post, I mentioned how Shelby loves to bake. Today was no exception. She decided to pull out that Williams and Sonoma kids cookbook and bake Ellie a "Gotcha Day Cake". It turned out very cute and more importantly, it was most delicious! Of course, all the children were happy for Ellie on her special day and thrilled to help her eat her "Gotcha Day Cake".

September 16, 2008 Kunming, China

Life is much different for all of us today, September 16, 2009 compared to a year ago. However, Ellie's life certainly changed in amazing and dramatic ways. She sure has blossomed over these last 12 months, and my heart is full of love for this precious child given to us by God.

The Chenzhou Trio

We recently had a wonderful reunion with the Hortons and the Barbees who adopted their daughters Sarah Mei and Lainie from the same orphanage as Lilly. These three precious girls were listed on the same special needs list with Christian World Adoption back in December 2006. All three girls were heart babies who resided at Chenzhou Social Welfare Institute until they joined their forever families in May and June of 2007. What a blessing it is that we live within a few hours of one another so that these little girls can grow up as friends who share a very special bond.
Enjoy the pictures.

Sarah Mei, Lainie, and Lilly

Trey Barbee carried Lilly around for a greater part of the day. At one point the children were playing tag in our front yard and Trey was still toting Lilly as he was running around. When they came to the steps to take a break, Lilly said something to the effect of "Whoo! That was hard work!" Then she sat down like she was so tired. We all laughed because it was actually Trey that had done all the work!

Isn't Will Barbee just the cutest? My apologies to Fulton, Katie, Jillian, Anna Grace, and Michaela for not having any pictures of you all. It was such a busy day that I didn't get near the number of pictures that I should have :(

The Chenzhou Trio pretending to be horses as the older kids rode Oreo.

Lainie having a ride on Oreo with Shelby.

Ethan had a blast playing with Will, Trey and Fulton. He and Fulton have been spending a lot of time climbing trees lately. This day was no exception, and Will joined them in the fun. This picture was taken at the end of the day. Do you see all the dirt on this boy's face? A sure sign that he had great fun!

Ellie had fun too with the Chenzhou trio. Here the girls were finishing up their banana pudding so they could head back out to play.

Shelby's Cafe

Shelby loves to cook and bake. She has spoiled us many times with her homemade, from scratch, blueberry muffins which are so delicious. (Beats the box muffins her mom makes:) ) A few weeks ago, she made a complete meal all on her own. Again, no boxes involved! She treated us to "Crunchy coated chicken breasts" and "Oven baked carrot fries" . Both recipes were from her Williams and Sonoma: The Kid's Cookbook. She also included a side dish of creamed corn which tasted better than mine! Seriously, it did, and I told her so. She combined frozen yellow corn with a can of creamed corn and added some secret ingredients. Yummy! You know how some people simply just have a special touch when it comes to cooking? Well, I do declare that my Shelby has it, and it was most likely an inherited trait from her great-grandmother, "Granny". Thanks, Shelby and when will you be cooking again?