New Nephew, Great Day with Kids & Things to Pray About...

New Nephew...

     Monday night my sister, Priscilla, gave birth to a healthy baby boy!  His name is "Solomon James" and he was 7lbs 1oz 19inches.  We praise God for this wonderful gift!  Solomon has an older brother, David Isaac, who just turned 3 years last month and an older sister, Isabella Grace, who is 1 1/2 years.  Pray for mom and dad as they adjust to 3 little ones...

David & Priscilla with Solomon 

Solomon James born April 13, 2009

My sisters & best friends: Jessica, Priscilla & Amanda

Great Day with Kids...

     Today was not only a beautiful sunny day in Ukraine but a fun day playing with the kids.  We enjoyed tea and coffee with the orphanage director while she finished some paperwork needed for the court and SDA first.  Then we had a solid hour playing outside with the older two kids.  We each had some one on one with the two of them which was very nice.  Grace is quite the acrobat and James is also athletic.  Tony played a little basketball with him which was fun to watch when I wasn't at the slide or balance beam with Grace.

     Around 4 PM we got to get the younger two.  Sophia and Joy were so excited to see us.  They immediately grabbed their notebooks we had given them the day before and brought them with them.  We got to go up to a larger playroom to be with the kids... much better than the younger children's sleep-room from the day before which provided a bit too much temptation to jump from bed to bed - ha ha.   As you can imagine, four children who desire attention and affirmation in an open room is quite an active experience.  :)  We had a great time going from child to child, laughing, drawing pictures, etc...  I asked the kids their favorite colors and traced each foot for a hint of shoe sizes.  The older two know their sizes which is quite helpful for the future.  Each gladly shared their favorite colors asking ours in return: James (black - who does this sound like?:), Grace (red), Sophia (yellow) and Joy (red).  

     Overall, we had a wonderful time today with the kids.  James did ask us before we left, "When can you take us away from here?"  We tried to explain that we have to wait a couple weeks for all the paperwork to be completed but that we would visit everyday that we can.  He seemed to understand and so we ask that you would pray for each of the kids as they process as well as wait.

More Things to Pray About...

     1) Please pray for very important updates to our homestudy and immigration paperwork that has to be finished before next week.  Our fabulous Lifeline Children's Services team (namely Jana) and New Beginnings team (Renae) are working very hard on this.  Pray they will be able to get the Immigration paperwork faxed to Ukraine and necessary documents apostilled ASAP from the state.  This is very critical.  Thank you.

     2) Please continue to pray for God's wisdom as we navigate through this adoption journey... adopting a sibling group of 4 children.  We are continually blown away by God's grace and the privilege to love these four.  We need His wisdom and His guidance as we do.  Thank you.