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!

October 9, 2008

Almost 5....Need Help With Ideas

Ella's birthday is almost here. She is going to be 5 years old. We want to plan a little something for her but nothing that is too overwhelming. She has a few babies but she has not been introduced to barbies, princesses, Disney...etc. Any suggestions for her birthday - keeping it simple but memorable as her first birthday with her forever family?

5 comments:

Sabrina said...

If a trip to Disney is out of the question, then maybe a princess party; dressing as a princess, maybe a tea party, or a carriage ride.

Anonymous said...

How about....build a bear party at the mall. It looks like a little girl could have lots of fun in there and make a pretty princess teddy bear!!!

How exciting!!!

Mamapierce said...

We enjoy doing international themed birthdays. The first for my daughter included a brazilian lunch and then dessert. The next year it was chinese, etc. I wonder what the typical birthday would be like in Ukraine?

Anonymous said...

Keep it very simiple nothing to over the top. Take her to a toy store in advance of her birthday and let her browse the toy isle to get a sense of what she might like. Then plan something according to the ideas you get from that trip.

Check out the American Girl it is a doll and you can pick out a doll to match your childs hair, skin and eye color. She might think that is neat. I am sure she is just so happy to have a family that loves her that anything you do for her she will be greatful for.

Tami said...

We have a birthday tradition of filling the birthday boy/girls' room with balloons. I mean FILLED! So when they wake up in the morning they are reminded of what a special day it is.
The kids love playing in the balloons...bouncing around, playing volleyball and dodgeball with them and just piling them up on top of each other.
It's a great, simple and inexpensive way to start the day.

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.

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