A Whole Lot of Life

Eden turned 2! She loves kitties so naturally we had a kitty birthday. 

These are a few of her favorite things: bunnies: HOP!, feeding cows with papa, dancing in a tutu, reading, wearing a hat while riding a pony, noodles & rice, apples & snowman noses, Frozen, baking, playing outside, tea parties, painting, colors... Especially wewow/yellow, and her Daddy. 

Sweet baby kisses!

I am smitten.

Precious moments.

Terrific Times

Here are just a few of the thousands of pictures we take and laugh about. 

This was a healthy banana and oatmeal cookie, her cookie happened to have the majority of the chocolate chips I tossed in. Eden is like me, a chocoholic! 

Psychedelic Rainbow Bright

Goofy grin!

I think you are suppose to hit the penguin not cuddle it... She is a lover not a fighter.

Double the cuteness!

Eden enjoys chasing ducks around and apparently flying like one. She mimics many animals, it's stinking adorable. Her favorite animal noises to mimic are monkey, puppy, kitty, elephant, tiger, & cow.

She is a nature lover! Anytime she wants to go outside she brings me her boots. Then she can play for hours with flowers, sticks, chalk, and anything else she can get into. Eden really likes to smell flowers and my herbs (actually everything, it's so funny). She recently discovered puddles, we had so much fun splashing in them. 

That's our girlie girl.

One Year Full of Love

This year has been full of hugs, kisses, joy, and love.  Eden has brightened our life in so many ways.  Life before being parents seems dull in comparison.  I can't imagine our lives without her, she fills up all the small and big moments of our lives.  We pray everyday that her heart will be filled with joy and love for the Lord.  We are truly thankful for the sacrifice her birth parents made.  We are also beyond grateful to the Home of God's Love for taking such loving care of her for 5 months.  I figured today would be a good day to update about Eden's big personality.

Favorites:

Food: Rice and Noodles... Eden and daddy's favorite food is Chinese anything.

Toys: Stuffed animals with long ears, anything sparkly, and shoes.

Guilty Pleasure: Poking. She just found her nose, and enjoys poking that now too.

Past times: Clapping and dancing to music, playing with Addyson outside, and snuggling.

Books: She LOVES to read! All day long. Big books, little books, all books.

Words: Dada, Mama, Woof

Sign Language/ Body language: Please, yes, no, more, all done (mostly), and Elephant!

She waves goodbye and blows kisses (almost, she kind of keeps most of them)

Her giggles still stop everything, and fill our house.  Lately she has been giving big cheesy grins, you know the one that makes her eyes smile... it melts my heart.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Easter is my favorite holiday! I loved being able to celebrate our Savior Rising with our daughter this year.  Here are some precious pics of our First Easter Together.

Wedding Bells in Oregon

My little sister got married today.  She married a very sweet and goofy guy... they are perfect for each other.  He inspires her to be her best self, and I know he will care and love her in all the ways she needs.  I was so proud to be able to stand by her side as she made one of the best decisions of her life.  I love her so much. I was so blessed to be able to hug her and get to know her community.  We had a blast seeing all the sights of Oregon together as a family.  Oregon was beautiful and memorable, and I hope to return some day.

We also were able to see a fellow Taiwanese adoption family.  Eden really enjoyed playing and chatting.  We really enjoyed seeing them again, and picking up bows from Lil' Bees.  I highly recommend her bows.

First Zoo Trip

Eden loves animals, seriously, any time she sees an animal she squeals.  We went to the zoo with some kiddos from the Children's Ministry.  We had so much fun spending time witht he kiddos and our besties.  She loved all the animals, especially the giraffes.  You can feed the giraffes, and they lick up the treats with their great big purple tongues.

The grandparents spoil Eden just a little bit.  This cardboard box has been a house, and now a zoo.  She is the cutest little monkey around I think.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Happy Chinese New Year! Celebrating CNY together and with all of the other adoption families was a blast.  We have made great friends through adoption and we're blessed to celebrate our children's culture together.

New Addition (Don't get your hopes up)

This is our new kitty, Louie! He is such a sweetie, and Eden LOVES him! More pictures to come.

Benjamin

This is Benjamin.  He is one of the cutest Asian boys around.  Our families flew halfway across the world together.  We fell in love with our kids together and ate durian for the first (and only) time together. We all laughed so much that week, and are still laughing. These little cuties stole our hearts and bonded us all together for life.

  

Benjamin's first birthday! He is such a sweetie, he is always sharing with her. 

I can't count how many pajama nights we have had since the Dads stay up late talking and debating.  The dads have been inseparable since we got back from Taiwan. I also love this lady, she is so easy to talk to and offers such fascinating perspectives on life.

We are all so thankful these friends, that feel like family.

Had to add one more.

Memorable Moments Monday

I love these smiling eyes, and that she has discovered her tongue.

It is so hard to tell this little girl no, especially when she gives this pouty princess face.

Eden's absolute favorite past time is reading.

She also enjoys tea parties with her best friend Addyson.\

Chevron Africa Shirts

Our chevron Africa shirts are going fast.  We only have 2 smalls and 3 mediums left. We have several Larges and XL's, and a few XXL's left.  Get yours before they are all gone. You can use the paypal button on this site and make sure you include your address for shipping!

PEACE

Peace is my word for this year.  At the end of our adoption adventure with Eden I felt such a peace in my heart.  There were times with Eden's adoption that I felt anxious.  This second adoption we have felt peace from the beginning.  I don't know if it is because of this being our second adoption process, or because we place our faith on Christ alone.  Adopting from the Congo with Mwangaza is such a leap of faith.  There is nothing we can do to speed this process up, our family is truly in God's hands.  

Along with having such a peace about this adoption, I told my husband awhile back that I feel like Numbers 6:26 is this child's part of our family blessing. Numbers 6:26 is "The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." The DRC has been in turmoil for many years now, and we have been praying for peace for the country as a whole.  

After doing a little research we found out that our child is in an orphanage called "The House of Peace."  This orphanage was founded by Mother Teresa, and she even helped raise some of the nuns working their currently.  Tresor mentioned that the nuns are really looking forward to starting adoptions to America.  They have done adoptions with Italy, but not America... yet.  

In conclusion, we are continuing to pray for peace over the Congo, Mwangaza, The House of Peace, the adoption process, and our child.  Thank you for joining us in prayer.

Do small things with great LOVE

~Mother Teresa

Bonne année et bonne santé

Happy New Year and Bonne année et bonne santé 

(Good Year and Good Heath in French)

A dear friend of mine decided she would not do a New Year's Resolution, instead she did a New Year's Reflection.  I am following her example and reflecting upon one of the greatest years of my life.  As you all know we became parents this year.  Through the beauty of adoption we have been blessed with Eden Olivia Clements.  We have been in love with her since we first laid eyes on her.  I have always hoped to be a mom, and when we found out we were unable to have biological children I was saddened by the fact that I may never feel a child kicking or squirming inside... but I feel love for Eden so much in my heart that I am not troubled by the prospects of infertility. In fact God has filled our hearts with hope and great peace about adopting.  We are overjoyed with how God is weaving our family together.