We met her first when we were trying to find a home tutor to help us learn ASL.

We first met her near the end of summer, when we started doing trade work for tutoring lessons.
Its hard to try to sum up a person, and with our Eli, she is the type of person you’d have to meet, because its hard to explain! Every time we are around her she radiates a joy that is uncontrollably contagious!

She tells delightful stories of her life that get everyone laughing!
One that made me BUST up laughing was when she was very young, and her family took her fishing for the very first time. She is the only deaf person in her family, so there were some miscommunications, that made for some funny moments, but she always had a way of looking at them with a sense of humor!
I wont tell the whole story (cause its a LONG WONDERFUL story!) But it ends with her mother popping out fish eye’s and using them to play “fish eye bowling”!!!!! LOL
To this day, she HATES FISH! hahaha (I dont blame her a bit!)


We celebrated her birthday yesterday, and had a WONDERFUL time!

(Thank you LeAnna for making an AWESOME death by chocolate cake for this!!! Your cakes ROCK OUT LOUD!)

We enjoyed EVERY bite, and even every breath of that chocolaty goodness!!!
She made sure to think really carefully about what to wish for before blowing out her candles!

(Cute isn’t she!!!!)

Our girls spend half the day (I’m not exaggerating!) on crafts, and cards for Eli! And they were SO PROUD as she looked through each one with tenderness!


We had a surprise for her, that made for tender moments that made all of our “chocolate centers” turn all gooey & mooshy!

We gave her one of our computers. She didn’t have one at home, and we got talking and figured we had more then we ‘needed’!
The expression on her face was PRICELESS!!!!!!

That night, she honored us, by giving us all a sign language name!
We have been told that receiving a sign language name is something that is almost ‘earned’. The deaf individual that picks out the name usually puts lots of thought into it, and they have to get to know you to better to know what sign would fit your personality!
And, we had a VERY touching experience as she explained the meaning behind all our names! She also gave each of us a glass magnet that she had made for us. Each one had been decorated in a way that matched our personality, and/or ‘sign name’. They are BEAUTIFUL!
(Thank you Eli!!!!!)


She has 2 amazing cats that she rescued!
Stormy (on the left) and Chippo (on the right)

They are sweet animals! It has taken time for them to warm up to us, because they are a little shy! BEAUTIFUL aren’t they!?

Well, now all of you know who Eli is when we mention her!
We have officially made her part of the family now. For my girls its like having another Grandma. Everyone LOVES going to see Grandma. They love a good Eli hug!


LOVE YOU ELI !
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!!!!!