Our Yana

Monday was a very special day for our family. Not only did Grace come home from the hospital, but we got to celebrate seven years with a very special girl!

I can remember the first night that Yana came to live with us like it was yesterday. She was so sweet and silly and scared.

And now, look at the young lady that she has become!

We are so proud of our precious daughter. She has matured immensely in this past year. Her love for God and for others has deepened, she has learned to serve others with real joy, she has stepped out and tried new things, and she has become both more vulnerable and more bold. She is really growing up!

Usually, we make Russian food for Yana's adoption day, but since we had just gotten back from the hospital, Yana was more than happy to go out to our favorite little Mongolian grill.

We always buy our children something special from their home country for their adoption days. This year, David found a beautiful Ukrainian egg with an icon of Jesus on it to give to Yana. We also have blessing books that we write in for every birthday and adoption day. The children really treasure these books. And of course, we sing "Happy Adoption Day," and I cry (every.single.time).

Yana learned a new game from her friend, Alyssa, that she wanted to play. She soundly beat us all!

After cards, we all played charades. Our family loves to play charades. Below, Jadon is acting out the "Hallelujah Chorus."

Since David and I both studied philosophy, we like to pick really tough book titles for our charade subjects. Lily was so funny. She kept yelling out things like, The philosophy of God, and Marx and Hell, before we even started acting out the book. We all laughed so hard.

The favorite of the night was, Immortality, the Other Side of Death, acted out by Adam. Try acting out the word, Immortality, syllable by syllable, the next time you play charades! Fun, fun, fun!

Oh my goodness! I am just so grateful for this beautiful girl. She has been a gift to us every single day of the past seven years. It hasn't always been easy (this growing-into-a-family thing), but it has been absolutely worth it, every step of the way.

We love you Yana! Happy Adoption Day!