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陈嘉琪-penny

@pennymiller

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Learn to accept and face your fears, and when you look back, you'll see that they weren't so terrible after all

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Yesterday Penelope had her long-awaited final craniofacial surgery! (Pt1 )❤️ (Sharing these photos with Penelope’s permission)

This surgery is actually going to be in 2 phases so she will have one more in a couple months to fully complete it all which was a decision that her team and wonderful surgeon here at Vanderbilt made recently in order to give her the absolute best outcome long term. This surgery is moving her upper jaw forward considerably which will be so very good for her and something that her doctors wanted to wait for until she was fully grown.

When her doctor broke the news to us that he really felt like this last procedure needed to be in two parts so that they could move the jaw more carefully, allow for more bone growth and bring it forward further than if they did only one surgery, we knew it would be a longer and more intensive recovery. However, her doctor told us, “If this was my daughter, this is what I would do to give her the very best outcome.” We are SO grateful to have such an incredible team here taking the very best care of Penelope! ❤️

She has been doing well since yesterday and thankfully not in too much pain. 🙏🏼 She will be on a soft diet for at least 6 weeks (so we made her a delicious meal the night before surgery & had a some special time together as a family) and then she will have the 2nd part of surgery 2-3 months from now.

We are so proud of this sweet girl, for her bravery, resilience and beautiful heart. She told me the other day, “Mom, I want to share this process with others because I think there are probably other kids who will need this surgery and might be afraid and it could help them feel better to see what it’s like for me.” She truly does have such a kind and generous spirit and we’re so happy for our sweet girl to be able to finally be completing this chapter soon! ❤️❤️

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Happy mid-autumn moon festival! 🌙🍁🥮💛

We had a lovely time last night celebrating together with family and friends! Per our tradition, we again made dumplings, and it was really sweet to see Penelope teach our friends how to make them too. 🥰

Then we took our moon cakes and fruit tea to the patio and enjoyed them outside under the moon while sharing stories from China and Penelope shared some from her childhood that were really precious. Very grateful for this special time together and hope that all of you who celebrate also have a wonderful time! Zhōngqiū jié kuàilè 中秋节快乐 🧡🌕🥮✨

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August Photo Dump 🔥 August is always the busiest month in our year. 3 birthdays & an adoption day always make it an adventure!

Started out celebrating Penny turning 21 & she wanted to try drinks from around the world at Epcot, which we thought was cool & waaaay better than her trying to waste it on Broadway or something. 😂

Linky turned 11, which is like, “Holy cow, what on earth?!” But he has been in such a happy mood all month, I think he knows it’s his birthday month. He’s been so smily & snuggly the whole time!!

It was so hard having another birthday for Jude & not even being able to talk with him because he’s out on a ship for a couple months & can only really check in whenever they stop to refuel. Love seeing his smile every time!

Couple highlights outside of that were getting to make some amazing content with @journey.more at @boltfarmtreehouse, which was just beyond perfection. So thankful for a few days to get away just the 2 of us!

Then getting to enjoy dinner at @jeff_r_peterson @elpetersondesign’s home & see the INSANITY of the most incredible remodel ever with @wells.construction.design. Like it’s absolutely perfect!! Beyond that their hospitality just blew us away & we stayed way past bedtime, laughing. 😂 It was awesome. More nights like this, please!

Feeling like I’m making real progress on my fitness goals & so thankful for the guys around me - my Dadurdaze & Father Figures bros who push me week in & week out! Hoping to break 200lbs in September, which I haven’t done in 20 years & I’m so pumped.

Seeing The Odyssey in 70MM IMAX with my bro @thedubyabee was the best movie experience of my life! Love this dude!

Closed on a couple of super rad real estate projects & homes with some amazing clients. Always blown away by the caliber & quality of people I get to meet & feel so honored to get to work & serve to make it happen with & for them! Such a blessing!

September starts the “ber” months which means I will probably start pushing to put up the Christmas tree at the home! At a minimum, I’m pumped for fire pits & hot tub evenings & cooler temps. This is my favorite time of the year by far and I am so happy we made it!

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#ad We always were taught not to play with our food growing up, but honestly, life is too short not to! 🤣Especially when it’s @fruitbythefoot! Who would win the Fruit by the Foot Challenge in your family?

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Happy 9th adoption anniversary to our precious kiddos, Penelope XiaoHong and Lincoln JieRui ❤️🎉

Nine years ago, our family was in China officially welcoming these two into our family and it was such an incredibly special time and such a whirlwind! Each year we’ve deferred to our kids on how they want to remember this day and they’ve always really loved celebrating it and reminiscing all of the special memories we made. Last night we were talking about many of the sweet and often funny moments from those weeks. The first photo here was taken for the consulate appointment early in the morning (thus the tired looks on our faces) but we were remembering how Penelope was being interviewed and they asked her things like “Do you want to be adopted?” “Are you willingly going?” “Where will your new home be?” Then they pointed to us and said, “Who are these people?” And she replied, “They are the Americans.” The officer started laughing and said, “But who are they to you?” She said, “Ohhhh, they’re my new parents.” 😂❤️

We’re so grateful for the way that the Lord has knit our family together and it’s such a gift and privilege to be Penny and Lincoln’s mom and dad! ❤️❤️

We are celebrating this evening as a family with some delicious Chinese food and taking the kids to the movie theatre. Some of our favorites 🥰🥟🎉🍿💞✨

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Our Disney trip in 90 seconds 😂❤️
So many fun memories packed into a couple days! When Penelope said she’d like to celebrate her 21st birthday at Disney, I knew it’d be a fun one! 😍🎉🎂✨🥂

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Disney part 2! We had a blast at Epcot yesterday on Penelope’s actual birthday enjoying the rides and sampling some of the yummy drinks and food at the various countries. Penny tried a margarita from Mexico and a fruity sparkling drink with popping boba from China 🥂 Jude even FaceTimed in for a bit toward the end and then we finished the evening at a delicious Chinese restaurant and the prettiest cake that her bestie had ordered back at our airbnb 🎂❤️

So grateful for such a special quick trip celebrating our sweet girl and can’t believe she’s already 21!! 🥹💞🎉🎁✨

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Finished the last moments of Penny’s birthday filming this cute video for her and can I say, the bloopers are hilarious but we got it done! 🤣🎉🙌🏼💕🥂

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Happy 21st Birthday to our beautiful daughter, Penelope Xiaohong! What an amazing woman you have become! 🥹🎉💞

When we met you in China at 12 years old, you had already experienced more change and uncertainty than most people ever will. But watching you grow into who you are today has been one of the greatest privileges of our lives! We are so incredibly proud of you- for your resilience, courage, strength, and the way you keep moving forward no matter what life puts in front of you!!

Can’t wait to see what this next chapter holds for you and we know that the Lord has such beautiful plans for you! Love you more than words can ever say! 💕

We are spending a couple of days at Disney World to celebrate our sweet girl and yesterday was a blast at Magic Kingdom! Looking forward to a full day of celebrating today as well! 🎉🎂🥂❤️

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Our July photo dump ❤️✨

What a month it’s been soaking up the summer moments with our loved ones. We’ve tried to intentionally slow down a bit this summer (especially because August is going to be quite the busy month) and just be present in all of the little moments that turn out to be not so little. What a gift to be able to do so! 💞

From Jude getting to visit home one more time before going out on his ship, to getting our chicken coop set up and moving in our chickens 🐓 to hosting a big 4th of July party. And to so many little moments in between where we continue to see the faithfulness of God in both the beautiful and the hard. Grateful for all of the ways the Lord continues to be kind to us 🙏🏼💞✨

Cheers to soaking up these last days of summer! ☀️💦🌸

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Jude (& all the kids) requested we get Ethiopian food on his last evening with us, and it was such a delicious treat as always! ❤️ The perfect ending to his visit and I love that Lincoln decided to try a little of everything toward the end. 🥹 He was a bit tired from unfortunately having had a seizure that morning but his foodie side still showed up ☺️❤️🇪🇹

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Our eldest son left for the Navy again after getting to spend a few days at home with family for July 4th. It never gets easier saying goodbye, especially because this time it will be a longer stretch apart as he gets ready to go out on his ship for at least the rest of the year.
We pray for him every day and are so proud of his love and service to our country. We love you @judesurafel 💞🙏🏼🇺🇸

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