Celebrating 4 Years!

Four yrs ago today God expanded our family with the addition of this beautiful baby from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Her name means "protected by God" and we've been amazed at how this has proven true so many times already in her young life.

We sometimes wonder if she has any idea what kind of a crazy family she's come into!  She is such a trooper, being 4 years old and sleeping in different beds every week & not having a consistent "home," but she knows her family is constant & unquestioned.  People point & here in Vietnam they laugh (it's their way of communicating they think she's cute, but it comes across as making fun of), understandably she doesn't like this attention & knows it's because of her skin and hair, but she's learning to accept it more each day & recognize the different ways God's made people.  We pray this ultimately expands her vision of people & beauty & that she recognizes 'different' can be stunningly beautiful.  She still naps as able (and will sometimes just rest her head on our lap & nap on command- SOMETIMES!).  We know traveling takes its toll on her but over and over we marvel at what a perfect place in life she's at to get to travel w/ her big brothers as she's learning to dish back the hard times they give her, she doesn't require a stroller & keeps up amazingly well w/ us, she's also not old enough for her own bike & would struggle to keep up yet still fits in a seat on the back of a bike so we can explore together.  She started off all dad but has become more and more preferring mom as this time away has been a gift to her and mom's relationship (this was one of our top 3 goals for this trip).  When people ask her where she's from she fluctuates between responding "the United States" and "Africa," but is learning to say "I was born in Africa but live in the United States."  

  She loves finding ice cream places & eating spaghetti everywhere we go, she also seems to need to visit every bathroom we come across (much to her parents dismay) & she brings smiles to all who come in contact w/ her.  She is always bouncing and has a continual spring in her step that is made even more jubilant if she has painted nails or lip gloss on.  She loves My Little Pony, Anna & Elsa and Strawberry Shortcake -she has many conversations with these 'friends' that are sadly one-sided!  Her sweet heart is showing as she can sense sadness, hurt & distress and will rub a back or ask if you are ok.  She loves to sing and can keep a tune although often creates her own jibberish words to go along with it.  

     We can't begin to process how her mind sees the world & these experiences, but we do know she trusts her family & knows we love her.  It's not the conventional way of building attachment but it's one of the answered prayers of this year away together that's definitely visible.  We are blessed to explore & learn about the world together as a family, it has continued healing our hearts and is creating memories as a family of 6.  So today we celebrate her 'family day' and her arrival to the US 4 years ago and our family being complete and together on US soil.