Memorial Day...will be remembered

Ben(my older brother)took the older ones (whichever ones wanted to go) ice-skating.I didn't go, because I just didn't believe I would have been able to ice-skate.Someday I want to try it (with help).Anyway they had a great time! Some of them were naturally good at it and some were getting the hang of it.Ben was quite a chick-magnet,so I heard.Few girls that were there were falling down on purpose expecting him to pick them up.The funny thing was he wasn't very comfortable on his own skates, so when they were coming towards him he would become afraid of falling down himself.It was just funny to hear my sisters telling me all of that.When they all came home we all had a party at our house.It was a Hawaiin type of party.We decorated the outback of our house,swam pretty much all day long then some at night,played water-baloon toss,later we had a big dinner and roasted marshmallows.It was a fun day...a day that would be hard to forget.That's how we celebrated our Memorial Day! During the day thought of those that sacrificed their lives fighting for our country did come to my mind.I can't imagine how hard this day must have been for those who lost loved ones in any type of war.Life is a battlefield...no matter where you go, you will always have to face hardships.One of my sisters asked me yesterday ,if I could change one thing about the world what would it be.I was about to say that I would want the world to have world-peace.Then instead I told her,happiness. I would want to see everyone happy.Happy and thankful for what they are blessed with,even when they are facing a trial.I know that true happiness comes when we are sattisfied with having and knowing that Jesus is all we need.It's not easy,but would we be willing give up the one thing that means the world to us all because we love Jesus? We should be,it's easier said than done,but we should be!

So far so good...

These few days with our new additions to the family have been different, but good too.It feels very different around the house right now,especially with the two little boys.The toys are put to good use and are all over the house now.I gave up trying to help clean them up until the day is over.Judah and Jesse are very young,almost two years old.They are very laid back,don't whine too much and are good eaters.As most babies do they still need much care and attention,our daddy is very taken with them.Honestly he adores those boys and spends alot of time with them.I haven't seen him this happy for a long time and it makes me happy to see him enjoying being a daddy. Sari, I can't deny it,I just love her.She is 7 years old.She is very sweet and very quiet.She has a very beautiful smile!I can't wait to see her get comfortable in our family and just show her true self.She is also very hard working ,and motherly to Judah and Jesse.I've heard that she was the one that did alot of taking care of the two boys in Ghana and also heard that she is used to hard work.I wonder what is she feeling now!She probably feels like she has to serve and take care of her two little brothers.Or maybe she has already realized that she doesn't have to worry about that, and that we will take care of her and the boys. Anyway having them here with us has been great, but I have to admit that we are still not used to this new way of living.The kids still have to adjust to our family and we all have to help them with that.I know that as time goes by everything will start to become easier.With God all things are possible!

Memories of the Black Sea

Swimming in the rain,swimming when it's sunny;during the summer that is the main thing that we do as a family.Sometimes we would go to the beach,which happens to be my favorite place to be at.Other than that summer plays out by itself, it always has!Thanks to the adoption my siblings are already off of school now.They are very happy! Talking about swimming I was reminded that...I was born in a city called Illichevsk and it was located beside the Black Sea.The orphanage I was living at is standing in a place called Izmail.My orphanage owned a camp"Globus"(in English that would be "Globe") right by the Black Sea.When school was out we would spend the month of June at the orphanage.July comes we are all ready to go to the beach.We would pack up and take a long road trip on the buses that I would say were rented for the trip.Traveling to the Black Sea was never easy, because the buses were stuffy(not many vehicles in Ukraine have air-conditioning).Many of the kids would get sick on the way and end up vomiting.I was one of the few lucky ones that felt very sick but didn't end up throwing up.Anyway as soon as we made it to the Black Sea the bus disasters were always forgotten.We got to spend July-August at that camp every year.Everyday we would get a chance to swim in the sea.It was my favorite thing to do there and one of the things that I actually miss.Truthfully I would say there were many good moments while I was living in Ukraine that I will never forget,but being at the beach was the greatest! I was just going to post about how much fun my siblings were having swimming in the rain this past Monday.They really did! Then memories of my swimming experiences came to my mind and so I just felt like sharing them.I wasn't the only one in my family that got to spend most of their childhood summers at the Black Sea.My siblings Cate,Leah and Joseph were adopted from the same orphanage,so they did too.Whenever Cate,Leah or Joseph share about some of their experiences at the orphanage I can actually see images of their life in my mind because I experienced mine at the same places.It's neat!God is so amazing!!!

Welcome home little ones...

Samson is now our Jesse

Samuel is now our Judah

Rita is now our Sari

It's a blessing to have them home!

30 is our # now

On Mothers Day we all made this flag for our mom.It has hand prints of all the kids that are living at the house right now.That is a total of twenty-three out of twenty-seven.The good news is that today is our last day being a family of twenty-seven children.Tomorow we will meet our new adopted twin brothers and a sister,and become a family of thirty children.Twenty-six children out of thirty will be living at the house.I can't belive that it's actually happening.As soon as they adjust into our family we will make sure to add their hand-prints to our family flag!!! We've been praying for this adoption for a very long time and it's hard to believe that it already has happened! God has heard our prayers and deserves all the glory!

Center Point Church Picnic

This morning instead of having church at our usual place we all went to a house owned by two members of our church.Their names are Roger and Nancy Hendershot.They are very good people!Both of them worked very hard today to make sure everyone had a good time.The place they live at was just gorgeous and so big(what I mean is they own alot of land).My whole family agreed that it would be a fun place to live at!I'm glad I got to come to their house and experience this day with my family.My mom's best friend Mary and her children came along with us.It was a very nice time for all of us.The first thing we did there is a church service.Then we all ate lunch.During lunch the head pastor and his wife of the church came and sat at the table I was at and we all got to talk.I felt honored to have an opportunity like that.They asked me a whole lot about my life and shared some about their own. Later on my family and Mary's family went on a trail through the woods to get to the fishing area.The little ones enjoyed fishing!!! I got to hold a fish and let it go free,I believe that was my very first time ever doing that.Besides fishing there were other things to do.Some people got to shoot clay pigeons using I think a real shotgun,interesting huh? It was a good day of fun,for my whole family and church family!

A prayer answered...

We received such great news today!!! The visas that we've been anxiously waiting for came in.So now for sure my parents will be able to travel to Ghana and bring home our three new siblings.We were hoping we would have received this news last Tuesday but God had a different plan,he wanted us to wait a little bit longer.Best of all we know that the answer is yes,this adoption is something that he wants for our family.

God does answer our prayers it might be a yes,no,or not now.Either way don't give up praying!