Addie Mae and I were trying to teach Eliza how to show that she is two years old! Apparently, it is pretty funny stuff! Check this out:

Thanks, Hannah, for putting this video on here for us!!

Today has been a quiet day at home for most of us, as the China colds, especially the coughs, are lingering on for all the boys. Kayla and Addie went to church, but the rest of us stayed behind to keep these germs at home.

Some of you know how much I love soup. It is just such a good, filling meal! I love to be in the kitchen (thank you, Lord!), and I love to make soup. Today was no exception.

Chopping veggies makes me happy. It is the best therapy around.

As I opened and added three containers of homemade stock to the veggies, I could hear those coughs and yucky noses running for the door!

Wish you could smell the air as I opened the lid to take this photo. YUM.

We have really been into chopped salads lately too. Chopped salad is just regular salad chopped. Clever, huh? It really isn’t about the size of the bites in the end….but the flavors you chop. This one has five heads of romaine, two apples, a handful of dried cranberries, a handful of sliced almonds (roasted and caramelized first!), red onion, crisp bacon, and shredded non-dairy cheese.

Then I added a homemade dressing that I made and shook in a canning jar. That’s when it became delicious!

We also had sliced oranges and apple cinnamon mini muffins. And it was ALL gone in about 9.2 minutes. SNIFF.

Now that you know we are working hard to bond with Eliza (see Friday’s post), and also still eating meals, here are some other things that are happening around here!

David and Kayla bought a “new to them” car!! This photo is courtesy of Grant, who was their chaperone that evening.

Since their engagement two weeks ago, wedding plans have been flying along. IT IS SO MUCH FUN!

Here is what is lined up so far:

* The wedding party (who are all the brothers and sisters of the bride and groom, including Lane and Eliza!)

* The wedding dress is ordered

* The bridesmaid dresses are bought

* The musicians

* The event coordinator

* The florist

* The photographer

AND we have solid plans in mind for the rest!

David and Kayla also put an application in for a two bedroom little place to rent in Coon Valley, about five minutes from the farm. It is in this really neat historical old brick building that has been divided into little places to rent!

The Lord has blessed all our efforts tremendously! We are just SO excited for them both as they start their lives together!!!

The wedding photographer just pulled in to the farm as I type, and will be staying with us for a couple of days. David and Kayla are all ready for their engagement photo shoot that is just about to start!

Hope you all have had a great weekend too!!!!

I am often reflecting on Eliza’s life before we entered into it that day in that very hot Civil Affair’s office. There are so many things throughout the day that make me think of her past. Like when she sings the same little song over and over in Chinese….who taught her that? What is she singing? I hope to catch it on video, but usually by the time I get the camera, what I was hoping to catch is over.

I wonder why at night time when it is time for bed and she becomes so upset she is always pointing to her left forearm as she is screaming. What is she trying to tell me? Is she cold? Does it hurt? Did she have some bedtime ritual that I do no know about? It breaks my heart.

I am also brought to tears as I think of the love and training that was poured into this sweet baby by her foster Mama. Eliza was telling us “xie, xie” (thank you) for things we would hand to her the very first hours we had her. She knows things that are not to be touched without ever being told by us, she can dress herself and put on her own shoes, and she can communicate her needs to us calmly with words and sign language. I know without her foster Mama these things would not be happening as easily as they are.

She is coping with all this change SO well. But there are moments that are still very stressful for her, and she has made her own ways to cope. Usually her thumb goes in her mouth, and her forearm over her eyes. Or she will just throw herself down in a heap on the ground and cry. I am thankful that I can hold her in these moments and calm her down pretty quickly these days. Even at bed time if I lay in her room with her she calms down quickly. We are making such great progress.

That day in that hot building we were allowed to ask her caretaker as many questions as we wished. I asked! One of the things we were told was that she loves soup. Any kind of soup! Well, of course she does, because she is OUR daughter now isn’t she?!! This girl loves soup so much that she literally licks her bowl. It is hilarious!!

Eliza also came to us knowing all things electronic. Because I am such a hillbilly who struggles with anything electronic, it strikes me as funny! She will take an old cordless phone that is in our toy tote and try to use it as a “remote” turning on the couch, the window, her brothers…..only because we do not have a TV. She also knows how to use Addie’s kindle (so much so that she erased it completely!), and is constantly trying to swipe things with her pointer finger on my cell phone. I am sure these things were taught in her foster home. Electronics are WAY bigger in China than America, if you can believe that. We cracked up when she also knew how to take a “selfie” with her camera!!

I finished our first month post placement paperwork requirements. We have to turn in a family photo with seven other photos (among other things!) each time…..but this is to your benefit my dear Mom!

This evening Eliza and I went for our daily walk. I loved you Guangzhou, but seriously, is there anywhere better than this?

To my right….

In front of me!

To my left….

You can thank this long post to the fact that my family is processing chickens that were butchered today…and I am proud to say that is something I will NEVER do! (YUCK!) Eliza is happily destroying the office playing at my feet, and I am enjoying a beautiful 70 something degree breeze from the big window next to me. Life is full. Life is so good!!