" Grand" times with the "grandest children"

I got back this week from babysitting for Jenn and Jeremiah as they took their youth group sking.... I had a "grand " time with Ezra and Ella..... It was wonderful to have them all to myself :) Sorry mom and dad we had a blast and ask me again anytime . Ezra could very well be called Easy he is so layed back and happy. He smiles and coos now.... Ohhh how I miss seeing them. Ella has quite an imagination now.... I learned that there are dinosaurs that bite her toes on the side of her bed... She would not let me call her "princess" she told me she is "just Ella". To me though she is a princess but don't tell her I said so. Here are a few pics of our time together.

He's not heavy he's my brother

I watched the dearest sight the other day... Luke was leading Abraham up and down the house from our basement ( where Abraham's braille books are stored) out to the van. Luke was helping guide him as Abe carried over 30 minutes about 20 books to be returned at the post office. Abraham gets braille books from the Library of Congress thru the mail for free. After he is done it is his responsibility to get them out to the car. I asked Abe if he had asked Luke to help... He said , " No, he's just helping me." These kids amaze me all the time with how much they will care for each other... most of the time :)

Luke riding a bike for the first time

Luke's first bike

Santa ( son in law) Bear

Ella with her Santa Daddy... He played the part wonderfully at my side of the family's celebration.

The rest of the 3 weeks

We were able to visit with family and even had the priviledge once again to host on New Years Day the director of our older children from Ukraine's orphanage. She also brought along an assistant and it was so good to share once again with them our family. We hope and pray that much goodwill was shared and because of our visits more children can be adopted. God has blessed us with this opportunity and we feel very gracious.

We have also had lots of illness... Ava was sick with croup and a bad cold and she shared with many of us .... then MK and her visited Jenn in NC and Ava threw up and had diarhea... again she shared.... only this time it was most of us that caught it.... It was not a fun time here this past Sat. thru Tuesday. Everyone of us was throwing up... We had kids all over the floors in makeshift beds with buckets. We did laundry all nite long... partly because we were up and partly because we needed too. I really never want to repeat that again. The good news is we are all better.... I lost count how many times I threw up and even Paul was ill. So who was taking care of things... Cate, and Joseph. They were the only 2 who did not get sick.... yet. Praise God we are all feeling better. I guess after that experience we gained a new appreciation for health.

It has been a rough 3 weeks here and a good 3 weeks

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration... starting with a visit to our vet's farm. He and his wife were very sweet to our family and invited us to their farm on Christmas Eve... to see the animals in their barn. When we got there it was not just a barn but a wonderful home and half the barn was a real barn with animals... This is actually where 2 "real cowboys" live. At least that is what Lily, Isaac, Josiah, Mya and Luke will tell you. The vet lives in a huge stone mansion below this....He had us all come into the fireplace in the barn and he read a story about a cowboy on Christmas Eve.... and it tied into the Nativity story. Everytime Dr. Engstrome spoke with the kids about Levi he had tears in his own eyes... It was very special for us to see him feel this way.

Christmas am was early... and frantic. The kids love this time . I actually enjoy watching them..... They get mad at Daddy and I because we are not opening our presents.... They don't understand what a gift it is for us to watch them.... be happy and so full of joy.