12 months...PURE LOVE!

Off to San Diego

We are off to San Diego next week for my brother Theo's wedding to his high school sweetheart Mishel, who we just ADORE!!!!! She has been in our lives for 10 years and has grown from a sweet teenagers to an OUTSTANDING woman. Theo is the BEST brother a girl could ask for! We are excited to see them UNITED!

We are also excited because we are going to see one of Eliza's Hunan sisters and her AWESOME mommy and daddy. Cindy, Andy and little Nicole. We have kept in touch but we have not seen any of our travel mates since we have been back. We are excited to meet up with them and see how much Nicole has grown.

We also will be visitng my college friend Nadin and she is newly engaged so I hope to meet the lucky man. This will be a fun and busy trip!!!! Pictures to come... I promise!

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Baby Eliza!

We had in lots of famiy and friends from Michigan and North Carolina. Many of them from Chuck's side of the family. Chuck was so excited to see so many of his family members here and I think that he really enjoys being a Grandpa (or as he signs the card Yi Yi... Chinese pingjiang for Grandpa). People started to arrive on Thursday evening and on Friday we had people over for drins and light appetizers on Friday evening. ON Saturday we surprised everyone with a dedication ceremony given by a minister to dedicate Eliza to our family. Our God parents were Cathy and Allen and Bill and Abbie. We were delighted and honored that they were willing and accepted the task of helping her to be an outstanding human being. In fact, the minister during the ceremony asked if they would tell us when we were not raising Eliza in the correct fashion. Well, during the ceremony I gave Eliza a flower to play with and she started to eat it and Abbie corrected me. That's when I knew we picked the BEST God parents for Eliza to nurture and help us sustain her.

Eliza's Daddy planned her party and it was catered by a wonderful new BBQ joint in town and we had Maryland crabs. Yum... Richard had crab mallets made to use for the crabs engraved with Eliza's 1st birthday, M and M's with her picture and first birthday on them and wind made with her picture on it. She had a lady bug birthday party for Good Luck for her Chinese hertiage and family also in Chinese characters inscripted on the crab mallets. He served many drinks but also got special ordered Chinese beer to go along with the crabs and of course a yummy vanilla and fresh strawberry cake from Julie Bakes. She made a AWESOME cake for Eliza's birthday. Star gazer lilly's lined the vases as a special flower that R and I had on our wedding day and we hope to also share this flower with Eliza. She wore on old fashion lady bug outfit... professional pictures will be posted once we recieve then and the permission to post them and after the cake she wore a dress then one of my dear freinds gave he that her adopted daughter wore that I someday hope to pass on to a friend who I know dreams will come true.

Eliza Hayden Li, Daddy and I are the LUCKY ones and our truly blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for loving us!

Today Eliza is 28 and 3/4 inches long and 18 and 1/4 pounds. Your sixth month homestudy was AMAZING and you have caught up to your peers and the pediatrician says you look fantastic and now the gene's will take over for your height and weight. I love you little Eliza Hayden Li!

May days and Meeting Uncle Jason

People who do not believe in LOVE at first sight, have not adopted the LOVE of their LIFE! I love you little Eliza Hayden-Li!!!! Corny, I know but I do love my little spicy Hunan girl!

Eliza and Uncle Jason getting to know each other on Daddy's tractor.

Eliza telling Uncle Jason how to work the tractor while he is home from medical school.

Getting the two of them to smile at the same time is harder then putting an entire group of kids together. Eliza did love him and it was great that he got to meet her while she was still little. It was a good May visit.

Grass cutting and grass eating? It goes hand in hand for a ten month old.

Crawling at ten months!

Her first two bottom teeth now she has many more.