Here He is!

How exciting it is to introduce our soon-to-be 7th child, and our first adopted son from China. We first saw his adorable face on October 23, and our LOI was sent in on October 24. We received PA on October 29. We have decided to name him Hudson after the missionary Hudson Taylor who served in China during the mid to late 1800's. I read his biography to the older children a year or so ago. He lived for the Lord and for telling others the Good News of Jesus. His life story is amazing so if you have never heard of him, read his biography. As I read the book, I knew if we ever adopted a boy, his name would be Hudson. (David agreed although he was a bit hesitant at first :) ) This little fellow will turn 2, sadly without us, on February 20, 2010. In his original file, he was described as "quiet and introverted". I thought that would even out our family as we have several strong-willed children. They shall remain nameless, but if you know us well, you know exactly who I am referring to!

We are in the midst of the paperwork madness. Our homestudy should be in the hands of the US immigration folks next week, and we hope and pray to receive our fingerprint appointment next week as well. Our dossier, minus the immigration approval, will be sent next week to DC for authentication at the US Consulate and the Chinese Embassy. We are praying for God's timing which is perfect. God's timing is usually not early and many times late- by our standards, but always perfect because He knows exactly what we need and when! I keep telling myself that over and over. Hopefully Hudson will be home sometime next summer.

Look at who has grown up quite a bit. We received this new picture and an update last week. Not only has he changed physically, but guess who is no longer "quiet and introverted"? Yep, God has quite a sense of humor. The opening sentence of Hudson's update was . . .is a very strong willed child." No! Can't be! What happened to "quiet and introverted"? Hopefully, this is typical personality for an almost 2 year, and this "strong willed" phase will pass- before next summer- please!!!

There you have it! We are all so excited to be on this journey again. Ellie wants a sister, but other than that, the children are thrilled to be gaining a new sibling. God has placed adoption on our hearts and called us especially to the plight of the orphans in China. Many may think we are "crazy or sick" (yes, we have been told that), but we are not here on this earth to please man. We are here to follow God's commands and to be like Christ. Caring for orphans is commanded in scripture so we feel we are doing exactly what God would have us do. So many may ask us "Why?", but we feel God will ask "Why not?"

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Too Funny Not to Share

Ethan and Lilly were outside playing- in their clothes- and then came in, went upstairs, and came back down looking like this. The older children and I decided that Ethan definitely needs a little brother. Good thing we are going back for a BOY! More on our little one soon! Back to Ethan and Lilly as the story gets even better. They went outside in their swimsuits with the strict instruction of not getting wet. As they were playing outdoors, Katie overheard Lilly say. "Ethan, we can be naked like Adam and Eve in the garden." Thankfully, Ethan knew better, and the bathing suits stayed on :) I am impressed with Lilly's recollection of the Bible story, but a mom can only let imaginative play go so far!

Smocked Clothes For Sale

Rosalina "United Nations" jumper size 3T. Great for all year: short-sleeved blouse in warmer weather and turtleneck or long-sleeve blouse in winter. Price:$25 plus approximately $5 shipping.

Rosalina Christmas bishop size 3T. Beautiful! I found our older daughter's Christmas bishop in a box in the attic- size 3T so I only need one of these dresses. Don't you need the other one???? Price $30 plus approximately $5 shipping.

These are brand new dresses with tags. I purchased them this summer before looking in my hand-me-down box in my attic. And, now that we are ******* again, I need $$$$ much more than my daughters need these dresses. They are size 3T.

Leave a comment with your e-mail if you are interested or have questions. And tell a friend if you are not. Thanks :)

Happy Reformation Day

Do you recognize any of these precious little ones? Tonight they were Laura Ingalls, a cowgirl, Obi Wan Kanobi (sure I butchered that spelling, I can hardly say it much less spell it :), spiderman, a ballerina who decided half way through the night that she was in fact a princess, not a ballerina, and last but not least a Chinese princess. We visited grandmoms and grandad, an aunt and uncle, and ended the night at our old church where we had great fun visiting with old friends, playing games, and eating delicious speghatti. Oh and I forgot the kids' favorite part- trunk or treat!
We have discussed a more important reason than "Halloween" to remember October 31 and that is the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On that date in 1517, Martin Luther hung the 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to protest the abuses of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther was the "Father of the Protestant Reformation" and helped secure much of what we enjoy today as Christians in terms of our theology and having the scriptures to read rather than depending on the priest to read and interpret them for us.

Also wanted to say, I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately as we have been rather busy here. I am not able to say exactly what we've been busy doing, but it is all for a good reason. I'll share more soon :) By the way, I did leave a little clue!

We seldom take a silly shot, but mom called for one - after so much sugar, it seemed fitting. Our little characters manage "silly" quite well! That is except for Ellie who is more of the serious type (like her mother) and was too busy noticing her crazy siblings.

This is only after 2 stops- both at grandmoms' houses. Can you sense the sugar-high that Ethan already has? We were predicting he would be the first to complain of a stomach ache. He very wisely chose to pass on dinner and thus was not the one with the stomach ache by the end of the night. That would be Ellie. She tried to eat supper, but she too made a wise decision and stopped after only eating a third of her food. And if you know Ellie, she does not normally leave any food on her plate. I just knew she was going to be sick. Thankfully, she fell asleep quickly and slept all night. I say this in jest, but yet it does concern me at how little self-control my younger children have. And we were trying to limit their intake of candy.