About Our Family

El Paso, Texas, United States
We are James, Lisa, Patrick, Christian, Carson, and Ella Payne a military family serving our country via service in the U.S. Army. Jim and I have been married for 18 years and have 3 wonderful home grown sons -Patrick, Christian and Carson. We recently adopted our beautiful daughter Ella Grace Ana from Donets'k, Ukraine in September. Jim and I began our Army life together at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas and every assignment thus far has extended unique opportunities and challenges for our family to grow and learn; to become a stronger, committed, and a prepared Army family. Having recently lived abroad for six amazing years, we cannot express how thankful we are for the opportunity to have represented our great country and to discover the cultures and customs of other countries; to become close to the people and learn from them; to open our hearts and minds to the unfamiliar languages and way of life in other countries. Having now moved back to the United States, we are looking forward to discovering what new adventures await our family. Rest assured, wherever the Army sends us we will continue to serve you and our country proudly. Army life, we wouldn’t trade it!

July 5, 2008

Happy Birthday...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our little man. He is so proud to be 10 years old today. This morning daddy took Christian for some one on one time...some breakfast, some shopping, and a little lunch while I baked Christian his favorite cake (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting). We met up with Grandma Balk, Aunt Zenia, and Cousin Astryd for some good 'ole fashioned party fun complete with pizza!
We'd love to hear from you at

2 comments:

Michelle said...

Happy Birthday to another July baby! Hope his day was great!!

7/7/08 12:18
Anonymous said...

Christian: I know this is a late response to your special day, but I know that you had a great one. I was happy to have met you just wish we had had more time to get to know one another better. I can't get over how much you remind me of my grandson, Hunter. You both have such wonderful imaginations and skills. May God richly bless you this year and every year.
Great-Aunt JoAnne

21/7/08 06:57

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This is our "spot" we began at the beginning of our journey in May 2007, to adopt a child from Ukraine. In August 2008, we traveled to Ukraine to bring our daughter/sister Ella Grace Ana home; and on September 12, 2008 we did just that.

While our journey to bring her home is complete, our journey together is just beginning. We will continue to keep our spot here, posting as frequently as we can; and keeping you updated on our next journey in life...maybe a second adoption is in our future.

Please join us by following us by clicking on the "Follow" link to the left and posting your notes at the bottom of any post we have made.

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