Happy & Sad...

Today we are thrilled that Jordan and 39 members of our church, the majority

being members of our youth group, left for Haiti to work in orphanages, build

houses and share Jesus. 

However someone is REALLY missing her brother....like cried for 45

minutes...solid.  As we were taking Nicholas over to play golf with some

friends we noticed all the flowers that were blooming in the park and my sad

little princess ask if we could stop and take pictures.  I had the camera as I

had taken pictures of Jordan leaving just a little while before.

We stopped to smell the flowers....

and dry her tears...

and smile at least a little....

Then the shoes came off...she is SO my daughter and she became a little

happier:)

We then decided a little retail therapy would be good for our spirits and at

that time decided we would do a little shopping:)  Gabriella is feeling much

better this afternoon and as soon as Jordan heard she was a little sad he

called to talk to his baby sister.  When Gabriella heard it was Jordan the

squeals began and she was beyond excited!  Life is good again!  Calls from

Haiti are a little expensive however if she needs to talk to him a couple of

minutes each day to get through this...we are more than happy for her to do

so!

A Photo That Will Touch Any Adoption Mother's Heart...

I was reading a blog that linked me to this article. I believe this picture will

 impact the heart of any parent who has adopted a child, especially in China.

The lady in the picture is carrying an infant who has recently been abandoned

by her birth mother.

While I know that Gabriella's birth mom took her to the best place she could

to make sure she would be taken care of as well as possible the article

discussed how may birth mothers leave the children at sunrise or sunset. I

wonder how long our baby girl was left alone? Did she have a full tummy and

was content when she walked away from the child that she carried within her

for nine months? Did she watch from afar to make sure someone took her

beautiful baby girl in to protect her and care for her? I wish I knew the

answers to these questions so I could one day answer them for Gabriella. I do

know that God has given me the answers each time she asked me such deep

questions for a young age and I trust that He will be with me when I need to

provide the with the answers I do have when she asked me about the day her

birth mom made the decision she did; which we are eternally grateful for!

On May 4, 2009 when I received information and this picture on my phone

from our adoption agency my heart raced with excitement and anticipation! 

We had prayed for years for the daughter that God had created for us in China

and when I saw her little picture I didn't have a doubt in the world this was

OUR daughter!

We will ALWAYS be eternally thankful to YeYe and Grandma China, as

Gabriella affectionately calls them, for loving our daughter from ten days of

life until she was placed in our arms at the age of 2.5 years.  Mei Mei Emily is

also in this picture as she too was loved and cared for by this same wonderful

family.  Thankfully, Emily's mom and I met on an adoption website as she

received pictures of "someones" baby girl in a picture with her beautiful

daughter. There isn't an question in our minds that God allowed our girls to be

raised together in China and that for the life they began there as sisters to be

continued in the United States.

Three weeks after Gabriella came home to her family in the United States the

two Mei Mei's were reunited and there was NO question that they still loved

and remembered each other!

We couldn't be happier that God blessed both of our families with two

amazing little girls.  We are thankful to the birth moms who carried our

daughters for nine months.  For loving them enough to make sure they were

taken to places they would be safe and would be found and someone would

care for them.

Our girls are very happy and VERY loved!!!!

Thank you to two remarkable women for giving us the daughters that our

families have prayed for.  We also pray that their birth moms will come to

know God so once we are in heaven we will all be reunited for eternity!



Mommy, Why are My Eyes So Little...

"Mommy, why are my eyes so little" Gabriella asked as she pointed to her

 eyes as we were getting ready one morning. I said "what do you mean, your

eyes are perfect"! Gabriella said "your eyes are big like daddy and my

"brudders", but mine are little".

 

"Gabriella, when God asked us to be the mommy and daddy to a very special

little girl in China I prayed that she would have beautiful brown almond

shaped eyes, just like yours and pretty dark brown hair, just like yours".

"You mean God made me just how your prayed for me to be"?  "God made

you perfect, EXACTLY how HE wanted you to be and we couldn't be any

happier that He chose YOU to be our daughter".

"Sometimes I can make them really little when I get mad at my brothers".  "I

know Gabbie, we all know that special look you give us when you are mad".

 

"And Mommy, they get "weally" little when I smile and that means I'm

happy".  "Yes it does and we love it when you are happy and you smile"! 

Sectional Basketball Champions!!!

While Gabbie and I were catching some rays in Florida, Jordan's high school

basketball team clinched the final game Saturday evening to win the sectional

championship!!!!  I can't even begin to tell you how proud we are of this awesome

group of young men, how hard they work and their incredible coaches who provide

outstanding leadership to this team!!

Jordan and Kyle G after the win!! 

Jordan....

Kyle T...

and Zach each cutting down a piece of the net!!!

Kate and the cheerleaders did an awesome job cheering the Spartans onto the

sectional victory!!! 

Tomorrow we have regionals and I'm VERY thankful we are home for this exciting

day!  It is my hope that our team goes all the way to state, but however far they

do go, I know we couldn't be more proud of them, their dedication and the hard

work they have put into the season this year!  Good luck Spartans we love you

guys and are looking forward to cheering you on to another win tomorrow!!



Florida!!!

Gabriella and I flew to Florida to spend a few days with Papaw and Grandma!

We had plenty of time for some rest and relaxation!  We swam in the pool,

played and enjoyed all of the sunshine and warm weather!

Gabriella was VERY excited that she could stand "flat footed" in the 3 foot section

of the pool and touch!

Grandma came down to play in the pool and Gabbie was full of giggles and

excitement!

We also enjoyed visiting with some of their friends and a wonderful dinner in the

 condo where Gabriella clearly showed everyone that her shyness is a thing of the

past!  She also was extremely polite at the dinner table, putting her napkin on

her lap without being asked, using her manners and made sure there wasn't one

moment of awkward silence during her first "business dinner" that she attended. 

Needless to say everyone there was quite impressed with our little princess and I

must admit she made her mama proud:)

Gabriella and I spent a day shopping where she was a true angle!  She scored a

few things at Gymboree and I found a new purse that I absolutely LOVE!  One of

the BEST things that I realized while we were gone is that I have had my fixed

lens on manual focus instead of auto focus...which means I haven't forgotten

everything I learned in Lisa's class and all my blurry pictures from a few weeks

ago...happened because I had it on manual focus!!!  Sometimes it's the little

things that can totally make my day and that was one!

As we were exiting one of our flights the family behind us said "she is one

seasoned little traveler and a very good girl".  I couldn't agree more!  I told them

I would travel around the world with her in a heartbeat...as a matter of fact we

did just that a couple of years ago and the last two years have been some of the

best of our entire lives!

I'll Give You One Guess...

as to where we are off to for a few days!

Gabriella and I are heading to Florida to spend some time with Grandma and

Papaw!  We plan on having fun in the sun, lots of giggles, shopping at the largest

Gymboree outlet I've ever been to and enjoying some family time together:)

Two Years Ago Today...

Two years ago today, the most beautiful, scared, strong willed and sweetest little

 girl in the entire world was placed in our arms.  This was the daughter that we

had prayed for.  Sun Wen Hau (Hau Hau as she was affectionately called by her

foster grandparents, which means good girl) had been loved and very well cared

for; and for that we are eternally thankful for because this allowed her to

eventually trust us and bond.

Today, Gabriella Grace Hau, is the love of our life!  She has blessed us in ways

we didn't even know were possible.  She will come around a corner with the

biggest smile on her face and say "mama, I wuv you" and come up and give me

the biggest hug! She knows the exact buttons to press for her dad and brothers

and that currently is telling them "I have a boyfriend at school and his name is

Eli"...yep that gets all of their attention very quickly!

As you may remember this dynamic duo had some challenges when Gabriella first

 arrived from China and we got past the six week "honeymoon" period.  Nicholas

had been the baby for 12 years and Gabriella wanted to be and knew she was the

baby.  Today, they love each other and get along beautifully....95% of the time. 

They have a very typical brother sister relationship and for that I'm thankful!

Tonight Gabriella chose where went for dinner and she chose the most authentic

Chinese restaurant in our area.  She asked if she could order for herself like a big

girl!  She ordered egg drop soup, rice and fried dumplings...and she said please

and thank you:)

When she eats/drinks her soup it reminds us of the little bit of orphan that still

remains in her in the fact that she will pick up the bowl and drink every last

drop...she has done this since day one.  There are times my heart breaks because

I want her to know that there will always be food for her and yet on the other

hand, I can honestly say that soup is pretty much her food of choice... so it may

just be that she likes it!

Our happy girl!

Sarah has taken our family under her wing at the Chinese restaurant.  She calls

Gabriella Hau Hau and Gabbie just grins and says "Ni Hao Sarah":)  Sarah and I

are actually planning a play date with our girls and I truly feel that God has

brought Sarah into our lives for a reason.  She is a true joy to be around and I

can't wait to get to know she and her family!

God blessed us beyond measure with our daughter and the entire adoption

process!  When people ask how she is doing we are honest and tell them we have

had a text book adoption and we know how lucky and blessed we are! You have

captured your entire families heart Gabriella Grace Hau and we thank God every,

single, day for you and look forward to spending a life time loving the most

precious little girl in the entire world!!