Three Years Ago

I can hardly believe it's been three years. Three years since we met this fiery little dynamo who has so completely changed our world.

I know blogging around here has been scarce lately. It's that learning curve I'm riding.  But I'd be remiss if I let this day go by without looking back on what God has done for us. I wrote about it HERE and HERE, in honor of the first two anniversaries of meeting our girl.

And HERE is one of several posts we wrote that day, in Xi'an, meeting our girl and digesting all the God was doing in us and for us. My personal favorite is THIS one - Daddy's first love letter to his girl.  He made me fall in love with him all over again with that one!

But here's my favorite thing about marking days like today:  seeing the way she has grown and blossomed, marking the day with a picture and looking at all the little and big changes in her face, in her eyes, in her smiles.  Enjoy the journey with me....

The very first picture we captured.

She was shaking so hard and crying from such a deep place,
that I wondered for a brief moment how we would do this together.

Finally, after about 1/2 hour of switching from me
to her new Baba and back, she calmed down enough
for us to look at her breathtaking beauty.

One year later, her beautiful personality was shining through.
My favorite part of our first year together was watching us
all fall in love with her and with each other again and again.
She blossomed so much that first year!

There was no doubt in her mind by the two year mark

that she is the apple of every one's eye in The Gang's house.

I remember feeling such a sense of settled-ness in her,

even amidst all the changes she was experiencing last year.

Today, in her beloved piggie pj's.
Spunky, exuberant, demanding, and oh! so! eloquent!
She's such an amazing kid.

Happy Family Day, dear Li'l Empress!

You have been a joy and a blessing to our whole family.

Today is one of my favorite days in our whole life together.