Thank You Eliana!

Thank you to the Nichols Family and especially to little Eliana, who sent such an awesome Birthday gift for Emma. We did a birthday exchange between some of the kids in our China travel group. What fun it was for Emma to get a package in the mail and open up the gift to discover all sorts of fun things to create with. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Happy Gotcha' Day, Emma!

Today we celebrated Emma's "Gotcha' Day". We ordered out for Chinese food. Emma LOVES eggdrop soup. She ate four bowls of it! We also gave her a special gift that we bought when we went to China to get her. What a little Asian Princess she is!

Two years ago, today, I celebrated Mother's Day, thousands of miles away in another country. I flew thirteen hours from home, to receive the most awesome gift a mother could receive. The gift of a child. My body did not carry this child, but my heart sure did. For two years, I dreamed of this big day. The day this little Chinese girl would be placed in my arms and I would be her mommy...forever. A day that God, Himself, ordained, before he even created the world. As I reflect on the past two years, I am in awe, that God chose, me, to be Emma's mom. I am humbled beyond words and I am grateful, not only to the God of the Universe, but also to a woman, somewhere in China, who honored the life of a child, by choosing life for her. I pray that she is safe and healthy and has a peace that only God could provide, and I thank her for giving me the most precious Mother's Day gift ever!

Happy Gotcha' Day, my little Emma Bug!

Emma's New Wheels and Sandbox

We bought Emma a sand table for her birthday and decided to give it to her a little bit early, so she could play with it. She loves digging around in the sand and "cooking up" food for us to eat. I love the fact that she doesn't have to "sit" in the sand to play! Why didn't they have sand tables when Noah was a toddler? The turtle sandbox was cute, but very messy!

The babysitter also found Emma a "toesy toupe tar" (Cozy Coupe Car) at a rummage sale. One day, while I was at school, Emma and Brenda had a carwash outside and cleaned up the car together. Then, Brenda put Emma's name on the license plate for her. She loves to drive around the patio and take her car to "Walmart" to buy stuff. She also likes to put things in the trunk...notice Caleb's skateboard!

Such fun for an almost three year old!