Psalm 122:1~

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD Psalm 122:1~

It took
2 Hours to get
18 children ready for church
in 1 house
with 3 bathrooms
36 shoes worn
18 outfits ironed
3 boxes of Pop-tarts consumed
2- 15 passenger vehicles used as transportation

Watching our children worship the Lord with their cousins.. Priceless, Timeless, and a Blessing from the Lord!!

Happy 4th of July to YOU!!

From all of us... and our Mimi too!

Proverbs 16:9~

A man’s heart plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Thank you so much for all of the love and prayers you have poured out to us and to Eben and Joel.

We have felt your prayers and God has given us a wonderful peace.

We have close family members who are very interested in adopting Eben and Joel's sister. They are a wonderful family. We are very excited about this possibility! Please pray the Lord would guide and direct all involved through this process, and that God's will be done.

We hope our experiences do not discourage anyone from adoption. We have had our share of heart aches along the way, but the blessings have far outweighed them.

If God is calling you to adopt please do not lose heart. It can be a very emotional roller coaster. It can be a frustrating and turbulent process, but it will also bring you closer to God..and the end result will bless you for eternity.

Over the years I have received many e-mails from those who have been called by God to adopt, but who are facing the fear and the uncertainty of the unknown. There are so many unknowns in the process. There is so much out of your control. It can feel like beginning a journey without a GPS or a map...

It can feel very much like Abram and Sarai when God told them to leave their family and home..
God had given them no map. And yet they went and followed in faith holding to the promise that God would be with them.

Or Noah when God gave him plans to to build an ark because a flood was coming..

Or the disciples when Jesus sent them out to preach the Gospel..

How afraid and unsure they all must have been. They inspire me so because when God said "Go!" they went..


One of the reasons I love the Bible so much is that it does not shy away from the very human frailties of the people in it. If it were written by man these would have been glossed over, but God knew that we needed to see a John the Baptist who doubted while he was in jail. We needed to know a Peter who denied Christ 3 times and to see how Jesus still loved and accepted him. We needed to see that we are not alone in our doubts..we can feel very much like Thomas and need to feel the wounds in His hands to know He is real.

If God is calling you to adopt (or calling you to any unknown situation) trust Him and that He will be there. He loves you and will guide you and will help you with all of your doubts, and uncertainty and fear. He will not condemn you but encourage you to take the next step. He will be there holding you throughout. Do not let fear stop you from what God is calling you to. He will be there and He will provide all of your needs. There may be times when you can't see God working with your eyes, but you can know in your heart that He is indeed working.

When the finances seem impossible..He is working.
When some friends and family discourage you..He is working.
When bureaucracy seems to be working against bringing your child home..He is working.

God has placed another wonderful opportunity before us. Please pray as we walk this road that God will give us clarity and wisdom and peace. We know that no matter the outcome that His will will be done and we will praise Him. We are so thankful that He is working out His will in our lives and family.

Q & A~

I apologize for being so bad about answering questions. I am never sure whether or not to answer them in the Comment Section or as a new post.. and then I don't answer, but the questions haunt me in the night. Please forgive me for being so slow to answer.

If You have a question please leave it, and I'll try to answer ;o)

*Totally random pictures added just because.



1. Are you and Jim crazy?

I have received this question several times lately (mainly in real life) so I thought I would answer.

Yes. Maybe. No. Are we crazy? I 'm not sure.

Last week our Youth group went to Ecuador for a Mission Trip. Our Youth Pastor shared with me that at one point the children they were ministering to were singing to them, and a chaperone leaned over and said, "Jim and Renee don't seem quite so crazy anymore... do they?"

All of our children are a precious blessing to us. We are so honored to have each one in our home.

So, we may be crazy, but we are also blessed.


2. Where do you get your children's bathing suits from? Where did you get your Airplane Teeter Totter from?

BJ's Wholesale Club. It is probably the answer to most any purchasing question for our family. They love us at BJ's, and we love BJ's.
3. Do Eben and Joel speak English?
Their English is amazing. They are shy with people initially so you might not know it, but they speak very well.

We do have our little cultural quirks. Someone was speaking about feeding the children goldfish, and as we walked away Eben said, "Mama WHY would they feed the children goldfish?" I showed him the Pepperidge Farm Goldfish the next time we were at the store to prove that there are not crazy live fish feeding Orbunis here in America .

Eben and Joel love to pick up little catch phrases from movies/DVD's. They say "Shame, shame, shame" just like Gomer Pyle. Eben's new favorite phrase is "I'm toast." Joel's is, "That''s cool Mom." They are too funny.





4. Are the Wee Boy's Glasses real? And.. Where do you get them?

Yes, the Wee Boy's glasses are quite real. He is extremely far sighted. He also has Strabismus . He will always need corrective frames.

Because his vision is so poor he wears his glasses all the time. He can't stand not to have them on and even prefers to sleep in them. We purchase them from Solo Bambini. They are soft framed so they don't dent his skin when he lays down with them. Our insurance covers only part of the cost as they are out of network. The frames aren't too expensive, but his lenses are.



5. Are you pregnant?

Apparently there is a rumor going around church that I'm expecting. I am not.

Note to self: Don't wear cute, loose, peasanty shirts that are in style if you have 11 children..It messes with people's minds ;o)


6. Where did you get the Roman Roads T-shirt?

It was a hand me down from the Hereford Family :o)

If I forgot a question please ask away.

Have a Blessed Day!

From Sweet Pea~

I love my Big Brothers..

They are cool..

They take me in the kiddie pool..

They give me a place to rest..

And think that *I* am the best..
They'll put my binky in on the double....

And will even hold it whilst I get into trouble..
They brush my hair while I eat...
And are always sweeping me off my feet.

I love my brothers yes I do..

and judging from these pictures ..

I have a "thing" for my Binky too.

Please don't tell my Mama ...

She'll take it away..

Can you say Drama.. ????

Job 1:21~

the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Job 1:21~

A part of being a Mama is being a comforter. I enjoy this role very much. It is very rewarding to be able with a kiss and a kind word to make your child's boo-boo's go away.

When Eben and Joel first came home they were baffled by the kiss the boo-boo routine, but they quickly warmed to it, and now readily come to me to help make their owies better.

As those of you who have adopted older children know there are many boo-boos of the heart you can't simply kiss and make all better.

One of the hardest things Eben and Joel have dealt with is that they have siblings who are still living in Ghana. They love their siblings very much. They love them and miss them every day. They have wonderful stories and memories of them.

We would have gladly adopted them with Eben and Joel (and even had our homestudy written to reflect that once we learned of them), but the extended family did not put them into orphanage care.

A few weeks ago we learned that the siblings were indeed coming into care... we hoped and prayed we could adopt them, so they could all be reunited and live as siblings once again.

Last Friday we were told that this would not happen as Ghana believes we have too many children already. Honestly, this news has been heartbreaking for us all.

Thank you so much for praying for the opportunity which was set before us. It was a blessing for Eben and Joel to see that we were ready and willing to love their siblings and welcome them into our family.

We don't understand the how and why over this, but we do know that God is good, and we praise Him. Jim and I can not make this all better for our boys, but God can bring healing.

Please pray for wounded hearts to heal, and pray that God would raise up a family that these precious children can go home to.

Thank you so much for your prayers. They have humbled and blessed us greatly.

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: Luke 12:48~


It is easy to sink into the bliss of being an adoptive parent - but it is important to always remember that the bliss comes at great expense - often the heartbreak of a birthparent left without options, or the hopelessness of a child's prospects in their broken birth country, or the death-knell of an incurable disease, or the ramifications of poverty on a small life.

Adoption is not the answer - it is a band-aid and it is absolutely necessary, but something needs to be done about the problems - poverty, disease, war, racism, economic disparity - that leave children in this chasm.

It is imperative that those of us who walk down this road vow to always engage ourselves in solving the bigger problems - the very problems that brought our children home to us. Find an organization that is addressing these problems and send your money, give your time, advocate on their behalf.


I read this on THIS BLOG

last week. The words are true and convicting.

Our sweet children from Ethiopia will go to bed tonight with full tummies. They will not cry in the night from hunger. I will not have to desperately search for a morsel to nourish them...I can simply go to my pantry or (gulp) two refrigerators stocked with food.

That is not the case for many tonight in Ethiopia. UNICEF estimates that 6 million Ethiopian children under the age of 5 are at risk and that more than 120,000 have only about a month to live.

My heart goes out to the people of Ethiopia. As a Mother I can not imagine how hard it would be to be in this impossible situation. I can't imagine the pain of watching your children starve and being completely helpless to stop it.

As THIS CLIP shows Ethiopia is in DESPERATE NEED of our prayers of help. Rising food costs and crop failures are leaving many without the food to live.

If God leads you to give than please give, but most of all pray.

Deuteronomy 31:6~

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Deuteronomy 31:6



Have you ever received a phone call that just left you spinning?

We received a call last Monday that has me feeling like Sweet Pea does when her 5 yo brother dances with her (She loves it when he twirls her around and around); excited , thrilled, and more than a little nervous.

We may have a very wonderful possibility set before us. When Jim told me of the call my reaction was literally "Oh my God!".. Not in a taking the Lord's name in vain way, but in a awestruck reaction that the Lord God is always working. He has heard and answered our prayers.

I have to confess that I have been more than a little afraid. I was afraid of dashed hopes and broken hearts...not just mine and Jim's... but our children's.. if things don't work out the way we want them to.

However, as I have prayed about this situation God has shown me time and again that just this opportunity is a blessing and to rejoice in it. He has truly blessed us. We know He goes before us, and we are so thankful that we are walking this road with each other.

I am sorry this is so vague, but if God brings us to mind please just pray that His will be done, and that He will be glorified!

Proverbs 31:28~

Her children arise up, and call her blessed....


O.K. that may be a stretch.. :o)

However, today after we came home from the pool I gave the children popsicles. Upon receiving his our six year old pronounced me "The only girl in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD who "RULES!"..


Not quite the blessing Proverbs 31 was talking about, but I'll definitely take it.

Matthew 11: 28-30~

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11: 28-30

Wow, 5 months ago today Eben and Joel came home.

I look back over the last 5 months and I am amazed and blessed at how brave and strong and wonderful our boys are. I often think if it were me who were placed half way around the world with people whom I didn't even know.. I would surely just curl up in a ball and cry for years.

Yet, these dear children have bravely faced a new culture, new parents, new siblings, new food, and new customs. They have not only adjusted but thrived, and that is a testimony to what amazing boys they are.

When they arrived Eben and Joel's relationship was very typical of siblings who have spent time in an orphanage. Eben is very much a caretaker. He had been Joel's caretaker for his whole life and he had done an awesome job.

We watched as Eben always made sure Joel had enough to eat, was happy, obedient and taken care of. If there was a special treat to eat or a new toy Eben made sure Joel had one too.... even if it meant giving him his.

Eben had no idea how much we loved him. He had no idea how much we loved Joel. He didn't realize that we were there to love and care for them, and their every need. He didn't know that we would be there in the night when they were scared or hold them when they were sick. He was in survival mode, and even though he could see our large pantry stocked with food, it didn't compute that it was his and Joel's. He was bearing the weight a responsibility that was no longer his to bear.

So many times in parenting my children I have found God teaching me truth about Himself. When we are adopted into God's family He loves us with an everlasting love (more perfect than Jim and I could ever achieve as earthly parents). He is there to meet our every need and has a whole storehouse (pantry) of blessings ready to bestow on us. He yearns to carry our burdens.. and yet often I am like Eben was with Joel. I think *I* have to do everything on my own. I worry..I fret..I don't rest in His storehouse of blessings.

I am happy to say that at some point Eben began to trust us and our love for him..and for Joel. He longer frets over him like a worried father, but like a brother. His step is lighter and there is a joy that should belong to a child.

I pray I can learn the lesson so well to trust all to my Heavenly Father for He is perfect and good and desires nothing more than to care for His children. He wants me to turn to Him with all my needs great and small. He delights in caring for His children and is truly the perfect Father. May I trust in Him each day.

Thank you Lord for these precious children, and for being so patient with me.

Wordless Wednesday~

Have a Happy Wednesday!

I was so touched by this article about this young man adopted by another AAI family. What an incredible young man !

Life on this planet is not so peaceful. Even the coming summer Olympic Games in China has bared the ugly side of human existence that we all would like to hide from. Sometimes we can't hide, because it hits us square in the face with 24-hour TV news channels that blare out the death, the destruction we inflict on each other.

I was vividly reminded of the chaos we hear and sometimes see on TV when I listened to the story of Ashenafi, who they know at North Kitsap High School as Ashy Carlson, an 18-year-old adoptee from Ethiopia who's amazing foot skills for the Viking soccer team are the best I have seen around here.

Carlson was a key component in the Vikings' drive to get to the postseason. They ran out of gas one win short of the Class 4A state tournament, but it wasn't for the lack of trying on the part of Carlson. His quickness at forward, his ball skills, and especially the inspirational story he carried with him helped lift the Vikings.

For nearly eight years Carlson lived on the streets of Addis Abada, the capital of Ethiopia before David and Cathy Carlson of Poulsbo adopted him.

Carlson's turn for the worse started when Ashy's mother died at childbirth and his father soon after disappeared. His younger siblings were sent to an orphanage, but because he was nine he was told he was too old to join them. So he was on his own, swallowed up by the streets where thousands like him live. READ MORE

Please pray for this dear family who have been a blessing and an inspiration to so many of us. May Jesus hold them close during this time.

According to the Tennessean, Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.

Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.

The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.

“It appears to be a terrible accident,’’ McPherson said.

No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.

Singer/songwriter Chapman, who recently was inducted into Music City Walk of Fame, is one of contemporary Christian music’s most recognizable and most awarded names.

He and his wife Mary Beth have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest.
The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah’s Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt.

With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called “Change for Orphans”. He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.

“I don’t know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.

“He talks about his kids all the time. That’s his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that’s for sure.”

The tragedy was announced during Wednesday-night services at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool.

And word spread throughout the tight-knit Christian music community on Wednesday evening.

Styll got the news not long after Maria’s death.

“I’m confident I can speak for everyone in the community to say we will do everything we can to support this family, as we would do at any time, but especially at a time like this,” he said.

Most of the Chapman family was at Vanderbilt children’s hospital after the accident and could not be contacted. The long, gravel driveway leading to the home west of Franklin was blocked off by Williamson County sheriff’s deputies.

A day at the Pool/Water Park...






Some of our little ones prefer to observe..

While others want to be IN the action...


Eben took to swimming very quickly...

While Joel needed a little coaxing..

And a little help from his big brother..



I always love how days like this..

Make little ones so very hungry....

And so very sleepy!

What a blessed day! Thank you Lord!

Psalm 105:1-2~

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
—Psalm 105:1-2

God has truly been good to me. I am so blessed to have these beautiful faces to call me Mama. I am so blessed to have Jim as my husband.

I couldn't help recalling today that last Mother's Day we were in the middle of updating our homestudy to adopt Eben and Joel. And today they are here. They are home. God brought them home. I had tears of thankfulness as Joel was cuddled up close to me in church. My heart was blessed as Eben quietly took my Bible to turn it to the Scripture Passage for me. He gets the bulletin each Sunday and looks for where the Pastor will be preaching and then marks my page. I can't imagine our family without these two precious boys. They are gifts from God!

Our church has partnered with an orphanage in Uganda, and as a church family we are collecting school supplies. As I look at the pics of these children, my heart breaks. My children were these orphans. When I used to see pictures of orphans they would kind of be a blur. Now I see each face. I wonder if they are full of smiles and yearn to cuddle like Joel. I wonder if they are hard working and caring like Eben. I wonder what their favorite colors are, and what they dream of in the night.

Anita has an interesting breakdown on her Blog. If 14% of Christians adopted ONE child there would be no orphans left. Amazing to contemplate. What would God have us to do?

A special thanks to my cousin Noel who snapped the pic on the way to church this a.m. and did the impossible..got everyone looking at the camera!!! Thanks Noel!!!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!!!

We were so blessed to have my Mom aka Mimi come for a visit this past week.

I love watching my Mom with our children. It reminds me of what a great childhood she gave me.
Mom always had time for us. We never doubted that we were important to her. She always talked with us... really talked with us. She made everything fun, and was always teaching us.
She wasn't afraid to spoil us with the occasional treat...
And she was never too mature to have some fun.
Thank you Mom for being the best Mom and Mimi. We love you! Have a Happy Mother's Day!

The other night I took all 11 children to Baskin Robbins for 31 cent ice cream night. It was quite the adventure as 968,000 people descended on Baskin Robbins to jockey for their 31 cent scoops. It was kind of like a challenge from the Amazing Race , but not really...

Actually, from past years I have learned the secret to 31 cent scoop night. Feed your children dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon and run out the door. When we arrived at 5:20 the line was merely out the door. When we left it was out the door and wrapped around twice. I can only imagine what it was later in the evening.

We love a bargain, and a challenge, and ice cream...








Speaking of challenges...

One of the most frequent questions we are asked about is laundry.

Laundry. Since Adam and Eve took a bite out of the forbidden fruit it has been something mankind has had to contend with.

Now I am not a perfect laundress , but we have a system that gets the job done..Well, most of the time.

-Jim blessed me several years ago with a Whirlpool Duet Front loading Washer and Dryer. Oh, what a blessing. If we are ever forced to evacuate our home I will be begging Jim to strap these to the top of the van. They are a serious help in conquering piles of clothes.

-We choose to have quality clothes over quantity. This has helped so much with laundry. If there are too many clothes in the drawer things don't get worn, and clean clothes end up in the hamper. We try and keep control over how many clothes each child has.

-We do about 3-4 loads of laundry a day. I put wash in first thing in the morning and it is my goal to have all loads folded and put away before I start dinner.

-We do laundry by room. It goes like this.. Big Boys Room, Girls Room, Little Boys Room, Jim and My clothes. Those are the loads instead of combining the family's clothes and then separating them. With this method you aren't running all over the house to put away clothes. You only have to go to that room. It also helps in keeping socks in control. It is much easier to sort socks for 4 people than a huge pile of socks for 13.

-There are days when due to busyness or sickness we get behind, but we just keep plugging on. I will always remember the sweet ladies at Layla House cheerfully washing by hand clothes for 150 children and hanging them to dry. I have no reason to complain!

That is our laundry system. It works for us. We all work together to get it done. All of our children over 7 know how to work the washer and dryer, and they all assist in some part of the folding process.. Hee, Hee...some unfold what we are folding, but they like to "Help" and one day they will be a great asset in this process.

Psalm 19:1-2~

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

Ephesians 1:15-16~

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:15-16


Thank You "Uncle Cop Mike" for coming to visit us...

Thank you for your love...
Thank you for your service...
Thank you for the laughter...
And for showing our boys that real men love Jesus...
Thank you for blessing us by sharing your time with us. Thank you for the dounuts too!..We love you and miss you already! You are in our prayers!

Hee, hee and we have a feeling your time at work taking down the bad guys may seem a little more quiet and peaceful after your time here.

Our week..



We have 20 days left of school...Yippee! Even though we do school lightly through the summer it always is *so* exciting to finish up books.

3 children have (or will) celebrate Birthdays this week... Here is Birthday Boy #1...

He wanted Veggie Dogs, and Veggie corn dogs for his Birthday Lunch..



Here is the ice cream cake he wanted. We are such diligent homeschoolers ;o) that we even put math problems on our birthday cakes.. They solve the problem and only then can they blow out their candles. I kid... we forgot the number 6 for his cake. Hopefully, he won't be sharing this with his therapist one day ;o).


4 children went to the Dr. this week...



(Look who is now officially ON the growth chart for the first time! Go Wee Boy! Up until now he was too far below to chart to plot.)

4 children went to the Optometrist..
(Eben and his New reading glasses)

7 out of our 11 now children wear prescription lenses.. I think our Optometrist just told his wife to go and pick out that new car she has been wanting ;o)..

7 children received haircuts..

7 are now enrolled in Tae Kwon Do ...



(Yes, we have enrolled them in a class where they are learning to yell, and fight..We have ..No. Common. Sense. Actually, it is a very nice program run at a church, and taught with Christian Principles.)

We have 5 Superheroes who have taken up residence..



From left to right we have.. Green Lantern, Superman, Aqua Man, Superman 2, and Batman..
I know you could tell that just by looking, but just in case your didn't remember Aqua Man wearing a black scarf I thought I'd clarify ;o)

We took a few trips to the park...




Where Sweet Pea tried to escape 1,890 times. Because when you are 16 months old, slides, swings, playhouses and jungle gyms don't hold a candle to a sidewalk leading to the parking lot ;o)


There were also thousands of hugs, kisses, laughs, and cuddles. Every night I look at our children sleeping and can't believe how BLESSED I am that God has entrusted them to me for this short time.

My cup runneth over..

Proverbs 22:9~

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Proverbs 22:9

Thank you for all who donated and prayed for the situation at the Kasoa orphanage in Ghana.

The latest figure I heard is that $1,895.00 was pledged towards the well! Praise the Lord! This is going to be an on going project for AAI as the crisis is not over.

As you can see from the pictures of Kasoa below the need is very great. It is AAI's hope that funds will continue to come in to provide these children with food and clean water.

The classroom at Kasoa..



The kitchen at Kasoa...


A bedroom at Kasoa...Here are the donations Muna and Percy brought to Kasoa today. The funds for these donations came from Eban House . I am so thankful for the next several weeks that these children will have fresh water and food.

It is so humbling to see the conditions these children are living in. We have been blessed with so much. It is our blessing and responsibility for us to be able to share with those in need.

Matthew 10:42~

"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42





I am heading out to take the children to their Tae Kwon Do Lessons and I tell them to get their water bottles. As they scramble to get their shoes, socks, water I check my e-mail and see this e-mail from Merrily Ripley of AAI...

"I am feeling sad but thankful. Today we got the following message from our
coordinator in Ghana regarding an orphanage that has sent us some children
for placement.

THE CONDITION AT KASOA IS PATHETIC , THEY DON'T HAVE FOOD THERE AND THEY ARE
FORCED TO PREPARED BANKU AND THEY STARTED RUNNING TILL TODAY. ["running"
is diarrhea, banku is a corn porridge mixed with cassava, is very cheap but
has almost no nutritional value)

The children that this orphanage has sent to us have had terrible parasites
due to the contaminated water supply. I told Anita to send our staff
grocery shopping for fruit, eggs, and chicken and to buy drinkable water for
them. Fortunately we had an extra $500 on hand there so there will be no
delay. It is so hard to think of kids suffering because there is not good
food or water available. We had plans to raise money so a borehole for
water could be drilled for them. It looks like this project moves into the
urgent category. I am thankful we have folks who care.

Merrily"

I can't imagine not have clean drinkable water for my children. We don't even think about it. We use it freely and without thought.

These poor children at Kasoa not only don't have families, they don't even have clean water or food. AAI is raising money to build a borehole well which will give these children water which can replenish their bodies and not sicken them. If you feel led to give to this project contact AAI HERE and mark it for the Kasoa Project.

Psalm 100:4~

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4


America has 2 more citizens!! On Tuesday we headed to court to finalize our adoptions of Eben and Joel! This officially makes them US Citizens ! What a blessed day!

Joel was a little nervous about this whole procedure, but it was so good for he and Eben to hear Jim and I swearing to the judge that he and Eben will forever be our sons. The judge pronounced that they are now considered our biological children, . They now legally have our last name, and first names we have chosen for them. We still call them Eben and Joel (which we used as their middle names), but we gave them new first names (as we did all of our children). When they are older they can choose which name to go by.

Our atty. took the picture, and unfortunately the camera was on the wrong setting. A friend is trying to help us fix it up a little.
Here are the children who went to the court house with us. We met in judges chambers along with 2 other adoptive families, so we only brought part of the tribe while others enjoyed a day at our friends. It was a good thing as our "partial family" filled up the room!
Afterwards, we took them to McDonald's to celebrate. I know, I know a nutritional nightmare, but an All American treat.

There we introduced them to "The Big Mac". Joel was in love. He wanted to head back to court to change his name to "Big Mac." He ate 2..and was still hungry for more.
Eben shares his Mama's love for "The French Fry".

It was truly a blessed day! We thank God for blessing us with these children!!! They truly are a gift from him.

Spring Break~

We had one of our most blessed Spring Breaks *ever* this past week.

We were able to spend time with my cousin Noel, and with my Mom, my Brother, and my dear Sister~In~Law..


It was a blessing from God. We miss everyone *SO* much, and are counting the days until we can be together again.

A favorite few of the many memories made..

There was great fun shooting rockets off in the park..



A special "Thank you!" to Noel for our garden..

And for our scarecrow whom we adore..
There were treasured talks with Auntie Tak....
And of course, basketball with Uncle Brian...Not to mention the football, baseball, kickball that were played..




Long walks...With Mimi close behind...

We love YOU and miss YOU! You are in our hearts and prayers!