Miriam Turned 11 years old!

A few days ago on January 14th Miriam turned 11 years old! She chose for her breakfast food Fried Rice and for her birthday dinner Chinese. We had egg rolls and dumplings from Costco. The red velvet cake is also from Costco. Costco is a busy mom's best friend. Miriam got her wished for MP3 player and the clothes from Target she had picked out herself. Daddy also took Miriam, Anna and Meseret out to eat the next day at the Golden Palace for more Chinese food.



Here is Miriam with her daddy...the first love of her life.

Here is the picture of 2 1/2 Miriam Qiao Xian when we first ever saw her face. This was her photo from our agencies waiting child list from China. As soon as we saw her sweet serious little face we knew she was meant to be our daughter. It took almost a year to get her home.

Here is Miriam with Anna a few days after Miriam came home from China in fall of 2003. They were pointing at the map where their new sisters Mulu and Yasab from Ethiopia were waiting to come home to our family. This was back in the days when Anna and Miriam still let me dress them in matching outfits. Now their own individual personalities shine through too strongly to wear the same style clothing.

Miriam's birthday was a few days ago. 11 years old looks like still a little girl when you write it out. 11 years old sounds still like a little girl when you say it out loud. But when you look at 11 year old Miriam she doesn't look like or sound like a little girl. She is for sure a young lady. Of course I think she was born "mature". Always so responsible for her age. Always stepping forward to take care care of others. So much so that her nick name for years was "mommy two". Meaning she acted like the the "mom" of the family. I just adore her. I just adore that she has such a huge heart for serving others. So much sometimes that we have to keep reminding her to let others do for themselves. She is a beauty too. Inside and out. Happy Birthday Darling. You are this mom's dream daughter. Loving. Kind. Always ready to lend a hand or a hug when needed. I love you honey. If you are this great at 11 years I know you will "wow" us all at 12, 13, .... 14 years old... Sigh...time will fly but I can still hold you in my lap today.