One Less

Something that is near and dear to my heart is adoption. I'm not sure why exactly, but since I was in High School, it was something I had a heart for and always knew I would do one day. This led to me reading adoption blogs and enjoying the stories of other orphans saved by a family. These blogs led me to Reece's Rainbow. This is an organization that helps kids with special needs in foreign countries get adopted by sharing their story and helping families raise money to bring them home! I browse the list every now and then of newly committed families and read the excitement on their blog posts!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos with you so you can see how adorable these kids are and maybe get a little stirring in your heart too!

Bethany

Girl, Born December 2006
Osteogenesis Imperfecta
melx-23

UPDATE Dec 2011: “Bethany has just passed the course of treatment and the doctor-orthopedist has told that there are wonderful forecasts for Bethany’s walking independently. There is no need for any surgery for Bethany to start walking soon without any help. She needs to get orthopedic footwear and to do exercises routinely in this footwear 3-4 times a day. Bethany is simply gold child: obedient, kind, never whines, very strong desire to study and develop, can already long and with interest to be engaged in doing something. She has one more talent: she sings very well. Bethany will definitely be an honors’ student and pride of family.”

Bethany is adorable! There is even a little video of her that shows her spunky personality. She seems like she'd be a great daughter!

Timothy

Timothy H.

7G9G-27

Date of Birth: January 2008

Timothy is usually very cheerful. He knows how to feed himself. He loves to play with children and toys. HIV+ He does not have any siblings. Additional photo available.

I love Timothy and his hazel eyes and strawberry blonde hair! So cute. I may be partial because I think he looks a lot like G when he was a kid.

Meade

Meade

Boy, Born January 7, 2007

Meade is so handsome! He has been diagnosed with HIV, but is medically healthy.

Meade is so handsome. Go check him out along with John Mark, Meredith, Leah and tons of other sweet kids.

A lot of these kids are in bad situations. They may be left in a crib all day, not have nourishing food to eat, no love and affection. Some kids are transferred to an adult mental institution at 5 or 6 years old! It's tragic to think of a little kid in a scary place like that. Hope you check out their sweet faces and feel led to do something. In the least, you can tell people about them. Pick one or two and advocate for them, pray for them, or donate money. Or if you want to be really bold, bring one home!

I will tell you that prayer works. I picked two little boys to start praying for each day and two weeks later they had a family. Then I started praying for another little girl and a few weeks later she had a family! It's amazing what God will do when you ask!

The List

Every year we have a list of house projects we want to do. We usually do about 1/2 of them...or fewer. I thought it would be a good idea to post a list to help keep us on track! This way we can come back a few times in the year and check our progress.

The List

* Hang the mantel and everything else currently sitting on the floor!

* Paint and update the downstairs bathroom

* Paint the mud room/Add organization

* Update the downstairs bedroom with new desk/paint

* Paint and hang curtains in living room

* Make cloth panels for bedroom closet doors

* Paint craft room

That's the short list. I'm sure there about a million other things to do...that's just all I can think of right now. Here's to completing more than half! I have lofty goals :)

Welcome!

So I've jumped on the bandwagon...and started a family blog. I feel like it's obligatory any time you start a new blog to write a "Welcome" post. Is that true? In any case, we'll see if this one lasts longer than Molly's blog (which I plan to add to again!).

This will be mostly for family and friends and ourselves. We'll try to document life while living in a zoo. Anything from trips to house projects to exciting news (none yet, don't worry).

Mary