Our baby is TWELVE!!!

March 12th was Eliza’s GOLDEN birthday!!!!

That thing called time is CRAZY fast.

Eliza was SO excited about her birthday!!

We were SO excited to celebrate her!!

Eliza is tall for her age and such a beautiful girl.

Eliza asked for fish tacos and a chocolate cake with raspberries for her birthday meal and dessert.

You got it baby girl!!

We celebrated Eliza on a Sunday after church so the whole family could be there!

We were just missing Kamryn who was on a trip and out of town.

We missed her!!

After we ate lunch, Eliza opened her gifts.

I wish I could put a video here of all the funny things she said!!!

After all her other gifts were open, I had made a scavenger hunt for Eliza!

Even Kayla said, “Wow, Mom, that is creative!” as Eliza read the words of each clue to find her next clue!

I had been home alone the whole day before this party happened, so I guess the house was quiet enough for me to think of these cute little poems to help her find her last gift!

It was SO fun to watch all the grandchildren follow her around the house as she figured it out!

Eliza needed a new bike.

When she found her gift she said, “I thought it would be a new bike! Because I needed one! And you and Dad always give us what we need for our birthday!”

Sweet girl!!

Soon it was time to sing to our Zi and eat that cake and cupcakes!!

Addie Mae made the dessert, of course!

It was beautiful and I heard it was delicious!!

The rest of the afternoon the children played and the rest of us just enjoyed BEING TOGETHER.

What Sundays are made of!!

Birthdays make me reflective.

Especially when the birthday is for our youngest who the Lord brought to us from half way around the world.

Eliza will be home ten years this summer, as she was two years and four months old the day she was placed into our waiting arms.

My love for my youngest daughter is fierce and deep.

And super protective like only an adoptive mama could understand.

Some say they love their children all the same.

But I don’t think that is true!

We love our children differently here – because they all have different love languages, needs, and ages.

Love is unique.

It is not the same.

The Lord helped us fight hard for our youngest two children to be a part of our family – and that kind of love is just different!

I can never find the words with enough depth to say how very unworthy we are to be Mom and Dad to our Eliza.

She is a gift like no other.

The most precious child growing and maturing into the most special young lady.

Thank you, Lord, for our He Jie Zhao!!!

AND WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!