MERRY CHRISTMAS

What a wonderful morning it has already been. We woke up this morning and had a great time with our family opening gifts and hanging out with each other! We know that the gifts and presents are fun but we talked with the kids about the real meaning of Christmas and the fact that God loves us so much that he sent his SON to be born in a stable so that someday we may live with Him forever. May we celebrate his birth today and share the love that He has for us with those around us!

We are so thankful that we are able to celebrate this year with "all" of our children. Last year at this time we did not yet know of Anjali--only that God had a special child chosen for us somewhere in India and we were getting very excited to know who she was. God knew (when we didn't) that she would be here with us this year to celebrate the gift of His Son! We are so thankful and filled with excitement that God chose us to be her parents and siblings. We have been given a wonderful gift and are so thankful for all of our children!

May you feel God's love today and thank Him for the greatest gift of all--HIS SON!
Blessings to all of our friends and family on this special day!

God is so good!

One month ago today we arrived home with our new daughter and sister Anjali. The past month has brought many changes for our family but we have learned through this journey that God is good and that he doesn't make mistakes. This sweet girl just fits so well into our family and we think that our family is just right for her. She is really adjusting so well and has amazed us all with the new things that she learns each day and the love she shares with all of us. She is beginning to talk pretty well and understands much of what we say to her. We give God all the thanks and praise for his plan to have her a part of our family. We are so privileged to be her parents and brothers and sister and we know that we truly followed God's call.
We are so excited to share this Christmas with her. The other day she was helping mom wrap presents by getting tape ready and putting the wrapped gifts under the tree. She thinks most of the gifts are for her as she points to them and then to herself and says "for me." She seems excited to open the gifts!
We have been teaching her (along with Grandma Judy) who loves her more than anybody and she replies "baby Jesus." It is so precious and we are so excited to be telling her about the One who was born in a stable many years ago for her and all of us. We wish you all a blessed Christmas and may you celebrate too the birth of our Savior, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. May you be blessed by God's goodness this Christmas and in the year to come.

Home for 2 weeks

We can hardly believe that we have been home for 2 weeks already. We continue to be so thankful that we were not caught in the middle of the terrorist activity that occurred in Mumbai last week and that we have Anjali home with us. We thank and give God praise for his perfect timing and plan in this journey. Please continue to keep the people of Mumbai in your prayers as this came as a shock to them as well. Mumbai will always have a special place in our hearts as it is Anjali's birthplace and where we first met her.
Anjali is doing great. We were talking as a family the other night and we all said that it feels like she has been with us so much longer than 2 weeks and that we couldn't imagine life without this precious little girl. She has been an amazing blessing to our family and we are once again reminded that God knows all of the details and that our family was the perfect family for her. She is learning so much every day and is really picking up on English quickly. Every day she says new words and tries to tell us what she needs or wants. She is eating really well and tries new foods often. One of her favorite things to eat is Rice Krispie bars--she will go to the pantry and try to find them as I had to put them up out of her reach. She also loves to eat popcorn at night with Austin and even fell asleep the other night while she was eating it. One thing we have discovered is that she is so ticklish. She loves to play with the kids and has the best giggle when they are playing with her and tickling her. She loves to see them when they come home from school in the afternoon.
We had a great day his past Saturday when we went out to cut our Christmas tree. We missed Austin as he was invited by a friend to attend the high school football championship games that day. The weather was perfect for being outside and we had a great time looking for the perfect tree. Anjali seemed to have a good time on the wagon ride and walking in the field.
The hardest part for her continues to be bedtime. Please pray that this will become easier for her in the weeks to come. Once she is sleeping she sleeps well but it is getting her to that point that is hard.
This Christmas Season we have so much to be thankful for. We thank God each day for this beautiful new daughter/sister he has blessed our family with but more importantly we thank Him for the gift of his precious son Jesus Christ who was born in a stable so many years ago for you and for me so that we can have eternal life with Him. That is something to thank Him for!!