Christian Music Concert

Over Labor Day weekend, we attended an outdoor Christian music concert called "Rock the Light".  Kaitlyn wanted to see her favorite band, Switchfoot, again.  Elli loves music too!!  I loved that one of her referral pictures had a toy piano in it, and a later update said that musical toys were her favorite!  She will get her head boppin', her shoulders swayin', and her arms and legs bouncin' whenever she hears music.  She also is starting to sing a little, and she has the cutest dance moves!  (Baby girl, you can listen to and experience as much music as your heart desires!  Your family is musical too!  Mama is a piano teacher, big sister plays piano, and big brother plays piano and also percussion in band.  Dada doesn't play anymore, but he also played percussion in middle school band too.)

Reading a book while listening to the music.

It was a beautiful, sunny day!

Taking a little walk...

It got a little chilly, so we changed to warmer clothes.

We were in the very back so it wasn't too loud.  Brady, Kaitlyn, and her friend made it to the 2nd row!

A funnel cake! Yummy...

Switchfoot!  The lead singer wore Brady's fedora for a couple songs!

One of our referral pics with a toy piano!  ;)

Rocking Horse

This is Elli on a special rocking horse crafted by Kaitlyn's best friend's dad. 

Church Shower

Our church had a "Welcome Home" shower for Elli on Sunday.  We are very thankful for our loving church family who supported us and prayed with us during our five-year adoption journey!  

China trip pic...Guangzhou

Here are some pictures from Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong province in China.  Guangzhou is the third largest city in China with a population that had surpassed 12 million as of the 2010 census.  The city is located in southern China on the Pearl River.

Princess Elliana

Elliana was the guest of honor at a "Welcome Home A New Little Princess" party today at Jeff's work.   Our sweet little princess has us completely under her spell...forever.

Nap in the Stroller

Listening to classical music and going for a slow, relaxing ride around the house in our new stroller works very well for helping a little girl drift off to dreamland... Mama then has a little time to get some things done.  :-)

Adoption Quote

"By adopting a child and helping them reach their potential, they help us reach ours.  An adopted child is not an unwanted child; to the contrary, they are a child who was searched for, prayed for, cried for, begged for; received by arms that ached, making empty hearts full.  Love is meant to be shared."
-Author Unknown 

China trip pic...Lucy's Cafe

During our China adoption trip, we had to fly to Guangzhou for our U.S. Consulate appointment and to obtain Elliana's visa.   This is also where we stayed at the famous White Swan Hotel.  We walked the streets of Guangzhou and stopped in a few of the many shops selling souvenirs and Chinese squeaky shoes.  Not far from the hotel was Lucy's Cafe, which is a popular place for adoptive families to eat while in Guangzhou.   Lucy's serves American cuisine like burgers, fries, and onion rings.  The second time we stopped in to eat, I was thinking I needed some vegetables, so I ordered a Chef salad for lunch.  When we returned to the hotel, I told another adoptive mom what a great salad I had at Lucy's!  She opened her eyes wide...then she informed me we weren't supposed to eat fresh fruits or vegetables because we could get very sick...Oh no!  How did I miss that information?  I was very cautious about not drinking the tap water... Later that day when all the families were loading the bus, I told our agency rep that I had eaten a Chef salad.  She looked very surprised, then smiled and said, "You look like a healthy lady...think positive thoughts!"  Oh dear.  Well, positive thinking and prayer worked!  I did not get sick, and actually, our entire family stayed well the entire trip!  Thank you to our family and friends for all the prayers.  Here are some pics from Lucy's.

The Chef salad...

Playground!

It was a beautiful day to play at the playground while big sister had her tennis lesson.

Tennis and Birthday!

Jeff rushed home from work yesterday and we jumped in the car to try to make it to Kaitlyn's first tennis match.  A few minutes down the road, Kaitlyn called to say she had already played and won 6-3!!!  WOOHOO, Kaitlyn!!  We were sad we had missed it!  She said we could still come see her and watch the other matches... What she really had in mind was to show off her baby sister to the entire girls tennis team!  Everyone thought Elli was so cute.  :)  After the games were over, we went out to eat to celebrate Brady's 14th Birthday!!  He enjoyed some barbecued ribs, and we enjoyed seeing him get embarrassed as a group of waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to him.   They had asked him his name, then a waiter said, "So it's Brady, like the Brady Bunch"?  uggh..."Yes, that's right".   Then they changed the line of the song as they were singing to "Happy Birthday to Bra--dy.....but not the Bunch!!"  It was so funny...and the best part, they really got Brady! 

Elli folding her hands in prayer

We read stories to Elli from her toddler Bible at bedtime.  We talk about all the pictures of animals, and she loves to look at the picture of baby Moses in the basket.  She also can point to Jesus in the pictures.   At our evening meal, we say a prayer before we eat.  We tell Elli, "Let's talk to Jesus", and we had been trying to get her to fold her hands in prayer.  She wouldn't pray with us before the meal, but eventually began to fold her hands in prayer at various times during the meal.  Of course, we all joined her at anytime to "talk to Jesus".  Last night as we were all sitting down to eat, Elli looked at all of us and folded her hands in prayer first!  We were so proud of her!

China trip pic...Silk Factory

We toured a silk factory when we were in Beijing.  We were given a demonstration of the silkworm cocoon and how silk is harvested to make fabric.

Care package

After getting our little girl's referral in March, we sent her a care package that included some clothing items, a blanket, toy, and camera.  We were instructed we had to send the package to her original orphanage in Zhengzhou, but we knew she was no longer there!  Because of her need for a heart surgery, she had been transferred at two months old to New Day Foster Home in Beijing who cared for her and raised funds for her surgery.  Then this February at thirteen months old, she went to live with a foster family.  Our adoption agency told us that her orphanage might send the package to New Day, or she might just receive it when she returned to the orphanage, since the director would be bringing her to the registration office to meet us.  We searched New Day Foster Home's website and blog every day to see if there were any new pictures of our little girl, or maybe even one of her wearing the outfit we sent her!  A few days before our trip, we were positive there was a pic of her wearing the pink top we had sent!  We knew then that she might have seen the first pictures of her forever family!  The photo album we sent had pictures of our family and the Chinese characters for Mama, Dada, big sister, and big brother under the pictures.  We knew that seeing pictures of us before we met would greatly help her with the transition.  When we met her on "Gotcha Day", she was wearing the outfit we sent her!  I am sure she must have recognized me from the album because she walked right into my arms!  We were given a bag that had our photo album, the camera we sent, another camera, a big photo book, a calendar with New Day kids pics, and a cd of pics and monthly updates from New Day!  What a special gift!!  Elli loved to look at her photo album and could point to us when we said our Chinese names for Mama, Dada, big sister, and big brother!  We are so thankful that her foster mom took some pictures on the camera and also took the time to look at the album with her and tell her about her family that was coming.  Here is a picture from one of the cameras that we had developed.  I almost cried...

Our puppy dogs

Elli loves puppies and will squeal "woof woof" and pup"py" in delight when she sees them.   She loves to look out the window or go on the deck several times a day to see our two puppy dogs, "Raindrop", our Dachshund, and "Glory", our Golden Retriever.  She doesn't like to get too close to them yet though. :)

China trip pic...More Acrobats

Here are some more pics from the Chinese Acrobatics show we saw in Beijing.