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!

December 3, 2008

Under Examination...

This morning we had dental exams...all 4 children in one shot. First, I must say to those of you who manage more than 4 children (plus a dog) to any one appointment on the same day consecutively - BRAVO! We managed to make it by the skin of our teeth!

Patrick - no cavities; needs sealants (partially covered by our insurance) and requires extractions (4) before he is 18 and the dental insurance drops him!

Christian - 2 cavities...teeth 3 and 14 - these teeth have erupted with zero enamel to protect them and while Christian could brush better these 2 teeth would still have needed the end result...a crown. Of course he will also need sealant (not covered by our insurance) on a few of his teeth.

Carson - no cavities; requires sealant (again, not covered) on several of his teeth and he will need braces in 6 months.

Ella Grace - no cavities and no sealants required! You go girl!

Cost $649.80
Smiles are priceless!

Then off to take care of Izzy. Our boxer beauty is 12 weeks old, weighs in at 14.7 pounds and is eating us out of house and home - a true Payne. She doubled her weight in just 4 short weeks! Izzy had a full doggie exam today to include her shots and micro chip. She is such a great dog and so cute!

Lastly, today was my 43rd birthday! Thank you to eveyone who sent birthday wishes. I am so blessed to have family and friends like you!

Now, I am off to bed at 1:05 A.M. because at 43 I need my beauty rest in order to stay looking like I am 34!

1 comment:

Tami said...

Happy (Belated) Birthday! Hope you had a great 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.

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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