We are BLESSED!

B is for beautiful young lady with a loving spirit. This describes our sweet Jemma! For all she has been through in her short 12 years of life (things no child should have to endure ever in life) she is full of life, laughter, love, goofiness, smiles, happiness and is perfectly fit by God into our family!

L is for language. Although there is a language barrier that keeps us from understanding each other at times and we all get frustrated; we lean on her limited English, our even more limited Chinese, sign language, facial expressions, and love. We were pleasantly surprised by how much English she can say and even read! Hoping she will use it more when we get to the States. She is quite the bright young lady!

E stands for expressions. Jemma has quite the goofy personality, much like our Joosh! She will fit right into our silly family! She has so many faces and loves how goofy her Dad is. They are a good pair. She has found her Daddy's tickle spots and loves to make us laugh! Even a pouty face for when she doesn't get her way. She is learning quickly that we have rules and limits with love and it doesn't always work in her favor. However, we are also being understanding of the language barrier that keeps her from always understanding our intentions. Like last night when she turned to a movie on TV that we didn't approve of for a 12 year old and we asked her to change the channel. She didn't understand our reasoning and got upset-so things like this will take time with learning English.

S stands for stranger. Jemma doesn't know a stranger-she speaks to everyone. She makes a friend wherever she goes-especially the adults. She loves children and tries to make the babies smile when they are being poked and prodded during medical exams. This also helps her comfort level as well--it gives her an outlet to have someone understand her when Mama & Baba don't!

S is for Skyping. Jemma has enjoyed our Skype sessions back home to the kids. Her face lights up when she sees them! The other night she was singing to them in Chinese her national anthem and then she gave the kids the dreaded Chinese lesson and they all had a good laugh with that! We get a lesson everyday and she quizzes us to see how much we remember and gets frustrated when we don't say the tone right. We either get the thumbs up or the eye roll to know how we did and she doesn't give up until we get it right. Usually she says "Mama good, Baba bad" even though I didn't say it any different than him! She is funny!

E is for eager. Jemma is eager to learn new things and is desperately trying to learn how to swim. She is determined and is wearing Daddy out as he stays by her in the deep end should she tire out and need help. Guess we know what is going in our backyard next summer!

D is for dependent; something we hope Jemma becomes a little more of as we get back to the States and things are unfamiliar. Jemma is a very independent child because of her orphanage life and having to care for herself in so many different ways as a young child. She takes very good care of us here; from ordering meals for us, to filling our plates, to even feeding us at times with her chopsticks! She is a very strong child-not a tear shed yet-hoping that might change later. We are looking forward to this new adventure in our life; expecting many challenges... And triumphs along the way!