Update on our craziness!!!

Just to fill all of you in...we are FRANTICALLY packing/fixing up the "new" place/celebrating Luke's birthday/NEED to buy the kids a gift and trying to stay afloat. Although this has been an amazing year for us with the addition of our son, it has also been probably the second most trying in our almost 20 years of marriage. I keep on thinking of the movie "Fireproof" and I would say we are walking along the edge in the fire. We have gotten burned but God is working on my heart and I know we will come out of this with more faith than ever. The kids are awesome. I will be posting less and less as the move gets closer but thank you for your prayers.

Visit Josie's blog. You won't even believe what God is doing. I am excited to step back and let Him work.

Ronda

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Many of you know that we have had the funds donated to get our Josie. However, we received word today that Haiti is changing the law stating that you cannot have biological children to adopt. This apparently goes into effect on Jan 7. We have a little work to do between now and then and need to have our dossier ready to go to Chicago on Dec 27. I know the Lord's will cannot be thwarted but the timing is difficult as we are trying to move. I have listed what needs to happen:
1. Complete Dossier
2. Get notarized
3. Get authenticated
4. Get translated into French
5. Send to Chicage to do ? Something with the Haitian consulate. Cannot remember the term
6. Mail by Jan 4 to Haitian IBESR(Equivalent of Children's Social Services) and be logged in by Jan 6 to so we can meet the deadline just in case.

Thanks for the prayers lots to get done. I have peace this is all going to work out and so my heart's desire is to rescue Josie and allow her and Luke to grow up together. God is so much bigger than the government. So pray as we get this going....Please ask all you know who are prayer warriors to intercede on Josie's behalf.
Thanks a bunch.
Ronda

Basketball Marathon week has concluded...

This has been a marathon week for basketball. Both older girls have played lots of ball and we are all worn out!! I am so excited that Christmas is coming up. Our plans to go to Denver are still in the works and we are praying that we can get our house packed up and ready to go as we have a contract on it and are set to close on the 30th. I can't believe the timing of God. I know it is perfect but I would have chosen to be in by now, the house decorated for Christmas, baking, crafting, enjoying the relaxed holiday season.... NOT! I am trying to do a gazillion things at once. I would ask for prayer to survive. I know the Lord will sustain but I am worn out just thinking about it.
Just wanted to let you all know we are alive. God Bless.
Ronda

Luke lost his first tooth today! Its been really loose since he came but was about to fall out today. So he kept having me try to pull it out and finally it just popped out! They were playing dress up when it happened so he wanted to keep on his dress. This is a dress from my wedding. Its his color at least!!

Yves and Luke

This is Pastor Yves. He is such an awesome man. He is a music major and we thoroughly enjoyed singing and guitar playing. I hope we can have him over to our home again and many of you can meet him. His spirit is so gentle. He told us that Luke said that when he grows up he wants to be a pastor. God is going to use our boy in a mighty way!!!

My Handsome Boys..

It is "OLD"(Cold)especially if you have been in the Carribean...

My Dad brought us some firewood today and this his helpers. They each earned a $1. The kids were thrilled.

We had our family pictures taken last week and here are a few of the ones. They all turned out so good. Many of you will be receiving some in the mail.

I have not posted for a while so I thought I would update on everything that I can remember. We had Yves over and Luke did great. He loves to play the guitar and I will post a photo of them playing. Luke's favorite song is "Trading My Sorrows" He was singing it in Creole with Yves and Nini. Yves told him that he would never have to return to the orphanage. That seems to have given him an extra measure of security as he is sleeping better and doesn't seem as worried when we go places. One thing that we think Luke is doing is "forgetting" Haiti. Yesterday he was talking to Nini on the phone and he handed it to me and said "I don't know what she is saying. Here, you talk to her." We can't imagine he would have forgotten his language but we wonder if he is just deciding this is the new way. I have been holding onto his cool accent and the way the Creole words sound but I think he must feel very secure and happy to move forward which is what we want of course. He did answer all of Yves questions in English and Yves talked to him in predominantly Creole. I guess we do have a very smart boy.

Our new thing today is that Luke has a very wobbly front bottom tooth. He is worried it will hurt when he eats but seems to want me to wiggle it a lot. If it were my girls I'd just jerk it out but I am a little afraid he'll think I am a pain inflicting monster if I am not too careful.

We are trying to gear up for Christmas. I am holding out that we will be moving over the holidays and don't want to overdecorate. We are still showing the house and have yet another showing tomorrow evening. This is literally about to send me into craziness. I am so tired of a clean house. So for all of you who can, live in a cluttered mess for me. Ok?

Have a great day. We are looking forward to all of the basketball starting up. Shelbie hurt her other knee yesterday and so we went to the ortho and got a knee brace for that side.

We'll keep you posted-We are starting a blog for Merilda. Someone came forward to donate the funds to begin our adoption. We still have a LONG way to go in raising the money but at least it is our way of feeling we are step out on faith. Our first step is getting things going in Haiti and that means getting her a birth certificate. So she will begin the process as Merilda Josie Leigh Elpenor. Tim's grandma's name was Josie and his grandpa's was Leigh. Josie means "God will add and increase". Look for link...and you can keep updated.
Ronda

How Do you ride a bike?

How do you learn to ride a bike? You just take off the training wheels and then GO! This am when my dad came over Luke took off his training wheels and just went. Our girls took a few tries and even few days. Laci will be next because Luke can't show her up. It was amazing.

Combine rides and elevator goings...

Today the kids got to go and ride the combine with our great friend(and who our pony is named after) Mr. Doug. They both enjoyed it immensely and are telling Tim about it. Luke also loved Paula's peppernuts. They each got a turn in the truck and experience dumping the grain. Luke kept saying, "the milo go bye bye in the elevator" He really enjoyed the whole experience and is learning his farm equipment. Thanks for a fun day Paula and Doug!

Thank You Sheri and company

Today my friend Sheri came by with her clan of 5. What a blessing their family is to ours!! The girls had catching up to do and one of her boys and our Laci Jo hit it off and were running around like crazy. They had a ball. I am thankful for Sheri's ministry to all women and what an example she is to me. The chocolate cake is a hot item here and so it will be devoured very shortly. Thanks for the blessing of the toys. Luke is enjoying them as I write.

Tonight Tim and I are going to try for our first outing since Luke's arrival. We'll see how he does. Hopefully being in our home and Laci being here will make it all right. I do need a night out with my sweet hubby! Just think we can talk!!!!

Tomorrow a man from Luke's orphanage is coming for brunch. I look forward to getting to know him and see how we can be of help to the kids still there. Have a great weekend.

The prayers of the righteous are powerful...

These past few weeks I have been praying for a friend with some potential health problems. This week she would find out what was going on. This morning as I was cooking and trying to stay in a constant state of prayer on her behalf the Lord brought Luke 8:50 to my mind, "Do not be afraid; just believe and she will be healed." I am amazed that this passage is even directed towards a girl. I was fearful for the path that this friend might have to walk and this just settled my spirit. I was reminded that as I prayed my ultimate prayer on her behalf was to heal her and then she could give God the glory. When I received the news that there was nothing suspicious found in her body I rejoiced because I believe God has healed her because of the prayers of those of us who love her. I know our bodies age but God is so good and wants to answer our earnest prayers. I was speechless and moved to tears. I am so THANKFUL for this answered prayer for my special friend.

This week I was asked if I feel differently for Luke than I do our biological children. The love is the same but the awe at how we got Luke never ceases to amaze me. I prayed for YEARS for other kids and then we got Laci. Then I wanted a sibling for her and never had one. My heart aches thinking if God had answered our prayers, we would not have Luke. I found a list of things I was praying for Luke since we knew we would adopt him. One of the requests was that he would have an affinity for acquiring our language with ease. I honestly look at how easily he has aclimated to us and know that this has nothing to do with us but with what the Lord plans on doing with Luke's life. We were told he has said he wants to be a pastor when he grows up. As I watched him play yesterday, I was overtaken by the thoughts that as I have always known our kids are not ours but gifts on loan waiting to work for Jesus. I was overwhelmed to think that God chose us LITERALLY to be Luke's family. We have always said we would be open to any adoption but God would have to drop him/her in our laps! He has done this for us. Also I wonder what God's plan for Luke's life is. He rescued him out of Haiti and now he is growing up here among us and I know God is going to use him in a mighty way. What a tremendous responsibility for us! Our other burden is getting Merilda. I just think that it would be such a blessing for them to be able to grow up together. I keep thinking of Matthew 19:26, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." We know that if God wants her here then she will get here and nothing can stand in the way. However, we know we will have to rebuke the enemy who will be fast on our heels to prevent this precious child from knowing Jesus and having an abundant life. Therefore I want to stay steadfast on Jesus who commands us to care for orphans.

As you seek the Lord, give him your hearts desire and if you have something that needs "fixing" from healing to finances to jobs to kids... Just Believe and God can take care of them in His time.

Blessings!
Ronda

It's Official...

It is official-we can no longer speak of Luke in front of him. Today Laci was saying that Luke wouldn't share Lexi(a little girl who was adopted by a family in Wichita. We watched her today) Luke pipes up and says, "Well Laci got to sit by her 2 times and I only sat by her 1 time." So I guess that means he is understanding pretty much all of what we say. I sat down and wrote all that he knows to add so we would not forget. He knows his name, his birthday, how old he is, his phone number, whose boy he is(the correct answer is Momma's boy), whose hunting buddy he is, whose baby he is, his colors(most of the time) and the names of all our pets(4 horses, 8 cats, 3 dogs) He sometimes gets the girls mixed up which is funny. He also is learning his sounds of the letters and that is helping his speech. We play a game where he says he needs to go to bed and I snuggle him and then I ask him a lot of questions about things. He is getting pretty good at it.

I attached some photos of the last few days. Of the shower items, he loves them all but I knew he would love his suit so thanks to Jennifer's crew for that! The orange shirt is from by brother's family. He looks really good in bright colors. Then we had Nee Nee here today and this is a picture of the kids. I am officially hooked on wanting to get Merilda. It would be so neat to have her here. Shelbie and Courtney are going to Haiti in May and so I look forward to the video and the pictures they will bring of her. We are praying for the Lord's provision of the inital cost to start her paperwork. I was told today by the coordinator we need about $1000.00 We have to file a I600 and also get fingerprinted for immigration and to prove we are not bad people. I think the Lord placed this desire here for us so we'll just have to see how he decides to provide.

My time at home is winding down for which I am very sad but I knew it would come to an end. I feel all postpartum at times and am sad as adjusting is hard yet I remember with each of the girls I loved getting to know them(as babies) and just not worrying about much. The showing of the house is going good but I am about worn out trying to keep it picked up. That is getting really old. Thanks for praying for us. I know the Lord is doing a great work and my time is not HIS.

More from today...

I keep having wonderful memories of today and want to add all that I remember. Thank you to "Aunt Velma" who gave an awesome comparison to our adoption in Christ and the adoption of Luke . If you are reading this and you are not adopted into the family of God through salvation, please post a comment and I will get to you. You don't want to miss out on this free, life changing and eternal gift from our Savior, Jesus Christ!

I forgot to thank Lesli for the great decorations and also to Paula who loaned her camera to Jason so he could take lots of pictures.

On another note, I wanted to record some cute sayings of the kids this weekend. Laci told me as we were leaving "See ya later at the showerbath!" I am guessing her Daddy made up some funny story of what we ladies do at showers to celebrate our weddings and our babies! We also play a game called "what we like about ...." It has to be a character trait and nothing physical about that person. Last night Laci and I were playing as we took a bubble bath in our Jacuzzi tub and she told me she liked that on Sunday I smell much better than I do on other days. So I apologize to those of you who have had to endure my odor as I was unaware.

Luke's greatest adjustment has been that he is slightly afraid he will be returning to Haiti at some point. We were filling a box to send to Haiti and I told him it would be going with Pastor Yves(Eve) to Haiti for the workers whom I listed by name. He told me very emphatically that "No, I am staying with my momma" So we now play a game about how Yves will come to our house, have dinner, look at Luke's room, toys, pony, bike, visit with Momma and Daddy and then we go to the door and wave goodbye Pastor Yves. He just laughs and says, "Luke your baby?" then I say forever and we kiss and hug and kiss and hug and giggle and kiss and hug. I can tell that he is starting to get it that he will always be here. I can see a difference in his security because he has realized this. Today as I left for the shower he yells bye Momma. That is an improvement from where we started. So he knows I'll be back.

I pray you have a blessed week with your loved ones and thanks again to ALL of you who are part of our lives.
Ronda

Luke and Josh on the left

Thank you Lord for the blessing of friends....

I am not sure how I can express the overwhelming generosity we have experienced because of all of our friends. I cannot begin to thank all of you who have given things to us. The new things are wonderful and the toys already loved on by another child are such a blessing to all of us. I have posted some pictures of the shower given to me by my precious friends/family. Thank you to Amy, Paula, Abby, Lesli, and Aunt Bonnie for hosting a special afternoon. Also Heather and Martha as you can see the toys your kids played with are well-loved here at our house. Darth Vader did not visit here tonight but our special friend Jason loved the toys as much as Laci and Luke(and Tim). May God shower you with special blessings in the coming weeks!

Thank you Lord for the blessing of friends....

Oops wrong button

Sorry! I hit the wrong button and accidentally posted before I wrote. My previous title was "Mighty to Save" I love the lyrics to this song:
"Everyone needs compassion. A love that's never failing. Let mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness. The kindness of the Savior. The hope of nations.
"Savior, He can move the mountains. My God is might to save, He is mighty to save.

I listen to this as I face the mountains in my life each day. I look at us trying to sell our house in a failing economy, adopting from a country that is difficult, and trusting in the Lord to provide as I need to be home to get Luke settled. This song is by Hillsong and listed on youtube. It is such an inspiring message. I have started to make sure that when my mind wanders I focus on music to worship or scripture memory. I am wanting to fill my mind with what the Spirit would want and not give in to my fleshly desires. A DIFFICULT JOURNEY but well worth the refining process!!

Ok so for my post. Today was a great day. Courtney's playing basketball for the Warriors in Wichita and made the all tourney team in the tournament this weekend. An unexpected blessing for her. She is fun to watch and I look forward to watching Shelbie as well. We'll be divided this year but it should be fun as each of our girls enjoy this sport(maybe as much as their momma!)

Tim was invited to go to the K-State game with the best man from our wedding. Kurt is such a fun guy and while he was here Laci asked if we could have him over to play sometime. As you can see by the photo, he is a big guy. He came with a camo coat for Luke with hat and gloves. Kurt put him on his shoulders and I told him that when Kurt got tired he'd need to get down to which Luke replied, "No down". So we'll see how Kurt is when they arrive home. Laci is so cute she looked forward to our girl day all day and about half way through she kept asking, "when is Daddy and Luke coming home. I am lonely." I am overjoyed to see she loves this little guy like he has been here forever..

Tomorrow I am being honored with a shower for Luke. I am so overwhelmed by the kindness and goodness of our friends. I cannot even begin to describe it. God has been so good to us through many of you. We love you all!

Mighty to Save...

Hello from Busy Land!!

Hi!! What a busy and fun day we have had. I don't have much to report other than Luke is speaking almost entirely in English. It is amazing that only a month has passed and he can understand almost all we have to say. There still are a few things. Today and woman told him he was a big and strong boy. He said, "No I am not. I am Luke Beougher." I don't know if I shared or not that we are going to probably need speech therapy. He leaves off certain sounds. We are working on phonics and as I have him say sounds he leaves some off. So as we understand pretty much all he wants, others would have a hard time.

God has really been convicting me of all the "EXTRA" junk we have around and so we are de-junking in preparation for our move. (No house sale yet) For Christmas I would love to send a care package to the workers/kids in Haiti. I was told that they don't really celebrate birthdays due to expense and if you get something it is a single piece of candy. If you would like to be a part of sending things, let me know. We are compiling a list of things. One I know of is electric hair clippers for the boys. They cut their hair with a straight edge blade.

Have a great weekend. Luke will be heading to his first football game at K-State with Tim and the best man in our wedding almost 20 years ago. Where has the time gone!!

Ronda

One month ago today...

I can't believe it has been one month that we have had Luke. It has been a month full of blessings as well as adjustments but all in all this has been an experience I would have never wanted to miss out on. Here are some things that I have learned in the past month:
1. That if God loves us as unconditionally as we have loved this little boy then we are selfish not sharing the gospel with everyone who needs to hear.
2. That kids will delay naptime/bedtime no matter what language they speak.
3. That boys are loud! Rowdy! Giggly! Fun! Loveable! Cuddly! Kissable! Snugglie!
4. That Prince Charming is just that-Charming!
5. That twins don't have to be from the same country
6. That the older I get the more I love a messy house.
7. That God's timing while elusive and unknown is ALWAYS the best timing.
8. That older siblings are a tremendous help and I don't tell them enough
9. That it is possible to learn a second language REALLY fast and actually know what is being said.
10. You can't hit the toilet from the hallway(Luke tried to do this but thankfully Tim stopped him)
11. Life is SO short and we sweat the small stuff.
12. In one short month, the phrase, "Hey, that's mine" is learned.

I catch myself staring at both kids in wonder and just can't imagine our lives before adoption. The entire process has caused me to re-evaluate who I am deep in my heart and look at myself and see if I am who God wants to me be. I have seen that I am so full of me that I don't always empty me of me and fill me with Christ. I want to model this to my kids. One scripture that we clung to in the last few stressful weeks of the adoption was Psalms 91. I love the part where God covers us with His wing. We have felt the mighty hand of God in our home this past month. There have been rough times but it is usually because we have gotten out of the wing of our Almighty one. Today we made cookies and tonight we will have a one month party to celebrate our new boy. Laci is so awesome and although sharing her position in the family with someone else has been hard(but very needed) she is doing amazing and watches out for him. I laugh that as he is older he will become her protector. He does not like anyone to threaten the boundary he placed around me. He now allows Tim to kiss me and isn't as threatened. Last night when we played knights, I was the only one he wouldn't stab with his play sword. He loves to snuggle, kiss, hug...At night when he wakes and we go to lay down with him, oh boy. He will try to lay all over us and squeeze us and kiss us and snuggle us. It is pretty cool. Today as we watched a singing video Laci announced, "Luke those people are not in our world. I think they are in another one." She asks us that a lot. We think she wonders if they live close. I asked her if she meant dead or alive and she just looked at me so I don't think that was it.

I posted some of the photos we took this past week. We love the sleeping ones. Courtney took those and I love both angelic faces!

A day in the life of the Beougher twins...

Today was a fun day. I took Laci to piano lessons and Tim and Luke stayed here to do the guy thing. While we were out Laci and I registered at Walmart and Carter's for my upcoming shower. My Aunt Bonnie came and met us at Walmart and while we were there they announced on the loud speaker that Halloween costumes were a dollar. I purchased these and some others for the kids to play in. They are hilarious running around here giggling. Laci just asked Luke, 'Hey can you breathe under there?" Apparently she can't. I received a text at Walmart to pick up BB's. Hence the other pictures of the kids shooting at pop cans. Luke likes Tim's guns(yes we are very careful with them). Tim wants to have a male hunting buddy really bad and so we are glad that Luke already is showing interest. :) Laci is such a trooper and is learning all about what it is like to have a brother. I think she is really enjoying being rough, loud, muddy, and playing with boy toys.

We have a house showing tomorrow and pray they are the "ones" hee hehe. Tim is sitting here beside me as we are filling out grant applications for our adoption. Also looking to see what money we can get to adopt Merildia. Thank you for your prayers. May God Bless your Sunday as you worship Him.

Quiet time...or NOT!!

Today I had a lot of little things I needed to complete without my 2 helpers and we have been working on resting in our beds. HAHAHA We have not succeeded too much at this by the way. Today it is 3 trips to the bathroom, (2 short and 1 long), lots of noise, Laci and Luke giggling, Luke crying that his elbow he hurt yesterday was hurting, Luke cleaning up his bed, then to conclude the afternoon-Mom , I am hunbree. Mom I am humbree, Mom, I am humbree....Multiple times. Then "Bring me some wa TER please." He is really speaking a lot but I can see we need to really work on being quiet while not driving mommy crazy. hehehhe All the while Laci is singing a video movie, wrecking her portion of the room(Luke trying to pick it up), they were lying down together. Oh yes, I know they should be seperated but he seems to need her there(or so he has us tricked into thinking that) Courtney is currently hiding herself and trying to video all they are doing. How dull we must have been before adding a loud and charming little boy!!!!hehehehe

Grab some tissues!

I forgot to mention you might need tissues

Videos of Luke's Orphanage on youtube

For those of you interested, there is are 2 videos of Luke's orphanage on youtube. Just search all gods children orphanage fedja. The opening picture is a little Haitian girl in a cream colored dress. It was added 2 days ago on the 5th of November. There are quite a few of Luke in there. He is the little guy always smiling or goofing off on the tramp. The little girl crying being held by a man is Merildia-Luke's sister. She is 2. They remind me of each other with their big expressive eyes and thick lips. It is a great way to see some of where he came from. The kids wear uniforms to school at the orphanage. They also got a new trampoline there. The little girl with the great eyelashes is a true orphan. She is just precious and has a little sister who is 2-3. The picture of her is her little face kinda serious with her long lashes. (HINT HINT for those of you who might like to adopt) Not all of the kids are up for adoption. Some of them just live there as there families cannot afford to keep them. Most of the kids have only 1 living parent. It is not unusual for the living parent to live on less than $1.0o per week. Can you imagine? The caucasian woman in the pictures sticking her tongue out in some of the photos escorted Luke to the US for us. I love her and we are becoming fast friends. Enjoy the video!

1st Haircut and Mr. Doug's Big Tractor

Today we went over to our good friends the Unruhs' and Paula helped me with cutting Luke's hair. No, he is not in pain. Just performing for the camera. He comes up with these awesome faces and so he did this for Courtney. I even saved it for his baby book!

Then we went outside and he loved the farm equipment. He is learning the names of big implements and could not get over this big "tractor" We are working on combine but big tractor is stuck in his mind. He loved it!

Yesterday morning Laci told me she was going to "help train Luke to not clean." We have told her that we need her help in teaching him things. I guess she sees how neat he is and what a problem it is(we are loving how he likes to help us pick up) So we laughed at her perception of cleaning. When I came home from the store yesterday evening, the twins were such great help so we secretly joked that he is rubbing off onto her and training her.

We are off to Pump it Up this morning. We are going with our friend Abby and her girls. Hopefully a lot of energy will be worn off!!!
(As I have reread my blog I see lots of errors. Please forgive my typos. I am usually hurrying and not wanting to forget any thing and the don't reread each time.)

We have a court date and other prayer requests...

We have a court date to finalize our adoption. It is on the 12th of Decemeber. Everything is going well legally except that the Immigration officials have Luke's birth certificate and we need to find another copy. So I would ask that you all pray that another one can be obtained with EASE from the Haitian side of this. I feel at peace but want to have all our ducks in a row. In order to get our adoption credit we need to have this all finalized by the end of the year. In addition we cannot get healthcare on Luke until he is in our name legally. If we had to we could apply for a medical card but would rather not go that route if we can avoid it since we have a family plan.

Also I would ask that you continue to pray for the house situation. We dropped the price today and hope that will bring a new set of lookers. The market is slow but God is big. Our desire to downsize would not only decrease my need to work but would potentially give us some extra cash to pursue Merildia's adoption. Since this adoption process started we have felt the blessings of giving to others. We are feeling what we have missed out on by not giving more of our money towards things that scripture mandates.


One funny thing today is that Luke got stuck in his sleeping bag. He was climbing in it and didn't turn around and thought he was in there forever. His heart was beating wildly and he was sweating profusely. I was talking to my friend Sheri and so she now knows we are still alive!!

Luke is speaking quite a bit of English. We are going to video him in hopes to put it on here so all of you can hear his really cool accent. He says "What are you doing?" "Oh my worb(not word)" "I don't know". I know he will lose the tone he has but it is so fun right now.

Today I have been trying to meal plan. I have inventoried all my food and meat and made meals for at least 6-7 weeks. I am hoping this will help save in the food area. I am also starting some poultry/beef/venison bases to have on hand for fast meals. I will tell you the kids are climbing the walls and we are now headed outside. Tim has no idea what he is going to walk into when he gets home. heheeh
Have a good evening.

We voted!!

This afternoon I told the kids that we needed to go vote and look how Luke dressed. It is awesome to see how he thinks. He even chose red and white!! He heisted the tie from Tim. He loves it! We plan on getting him his own.

This is Luke's biological sister Merildia. We would love to get the adoption process started to get her. We know that having her here would be such a blessing for them growing up. God will have to provide the funds. We have decided to set up an account with GVCM to help start a fund for getting her here. If you feel led to donate don't hesitate to let us get you the contact information.

Only 1!!! and first verse

Luke and Laci are in superchurch and learn verses each week for candy(like we need any). This week it was exciting for us as Luke wanted to learn 1 Timothy 4:12, "Do not let any one look down on you because you are young" He even said it at superchurch. Pretty exciting. He seems to really be understanding and today while we were driving he looked out the window and said, "Oh my word!" I noticed today he seemed a little more frustrated at times that we didn't understand him. He is so worn out times and every time we get into the van says, "Domme" which mean I want to sleep or bed. He also like for us to sit in the back between him and Laci. We decided today we are going to start carrying pillows in our vehicles to make it easier for us.

I think I shared earlier that Luke loves to snuggle and kiss and hug. We have been working on how and when to kiss and who. So today we have the kids outside and they are playing and I sat down on Tim's lap and began to kiss Tim. He did not like that one bit. He made all kinds of signs towards Tim and me and shook his head no. Then I asked him if I could kiss him and he shook his head yes a whole bunch. Then he wrinkles his nose and looks at Tim and points to me and then shakes his head and says, "No beze" for No kiss. We were not sure what to think as none of the books talked about this. We knew he might bond more with one parent at first but didn't think he would be quite this possessive. So to work it out I kissed all over each of the girls faces(S & C really loved this part) hehe and said "My girls" and kissed his face and said "My boy" He seemed satisfied but kept his eye on Tim. So then I went to Tim and gave him 1 kiss. Luke frowned but didn't asked as upset. About 30 minutes later he came to me and said "One kiss for Daddy!" I said how about 2 kisses and he said "NO 1 kiss" I said "Only 1 kiss for my Luke?"and he held up both hands showing his five fingers and said "10 for El peno Luke" When Tim is around he reminds us that Tim only gets one. Tim laughed and said I guess we'd better make it a good one then. I learned the Kreyol word for married but who knows what concept that he has of that one.

He seems to be sleeping a little better. He gets up at least one time per night and usually we try to go lay down with him. I feel like I have a GIANT newborn that eats A LOT!! He weighs close to fifty and I know he has lost the use of his legs since arriving in the USA. He loves to be carried. We do it as much as we can but my oh my is he solid as a rock! Today he has eaten literally 8 full meals and just brought me a box of spaghetti to cook. I am running out of ideas. Thankfully he likes soups so I have 3 made and feed him 3 bowls at feeding. He ate 7 bananas in a 24 hour period and half of the chicken that I roasted in the crockpot. At first we figured this would slow down when he realized that we have plenty of food to eat(Well we did! heeheh) but I think he just eats like a horse.

He continues to be a blessing for all of us and we love looking at life through his eyes. Tonight Laci leaned over kissed his cheek, looked at me and said, "I love him so much" What a blessing that even though she is adjusting to sharing toys, parents, sissies, and her life that she still feels the blessing of adding Luke to our family.

Thanks to those of you praying for our home. No sale yet but I am reminded in Galatians 6 to "not grow weary while doing good for in due time we will reap the harvest" Tim and I both feel God leading us to sell so but we are ready NOW and at times feel weary. That is me this weekend. Have a great week.
Ronda

BACK TO BASICALLY NORMAL!!

Hey!! Its Shelbie...My mom had some stuff she had to get done so i'm updating

He is basically back to normal. I think its helped spending all that time with Ne Ne.

Yesterday was his first trick or treating experience. He really liked it. We went to our cousin Kim's house and trick or treated in her neighborhood. He got tired after about a block and insisted upon being carried. He got so heavy. both mom and dad and I had him on our shoulders...i know i about died!! But he is a fun kid! lol.

Today a ton of people were here. Ami and the kids, and Abby and her family and a lady and her husband that my mom works with. It was pretty funny! Luke really enjoys having Ne Ne around!! They can speak Kreole together!

He is catching on so quickly to English! I'm not sure if we are all just starting to understand him, or if he really is getting better at speaking! But its so much fun to speak to him in Kreole. I am finding myself answering people in Kreole. Whenever i do i get these weird looks. Most of my friends are starting to get used to it, but some people that don't know that Luke is from Haiti and doesn't speak English, look at me like I've lost it!

Keep praying for us all!! Peace, understanding and Love!!
THANKS!!!

Our kiddos

As you can see we have superman and supergirl living in our home now. These PJ's light up and the kids wear them around the house trying to fly. I don't remember if I told blogged about how Luke accidentally launched himself into a sliding glass door about 5 days after arriving. He has some scratches on his nose from it. It reminded us of the windex commercial. Kinda shocked him and thankfully didn't do any damage.

I think the language barrier and trying to learn a learn a new language has worn Luke out. I love this picture of him. We have one of Laci as a newborn asleep like this with a bow on her back that has a gift tag that says "From God" I think this is her twin's picture like that. He seems to be really worn out at the end of the day.

This week we can tell he is missing his former friends and life and he is clingy a little more and just quieter. I think he is feeling unsure of what is to come and so we are making every attempt to let him know that he is our son and will not leave here-EVER. He is sleeping with us and snuggles at every opportunity. Many of the adoption books we have/are reading state it is good for kids to grieve and miss what they knew as normal. So we are trying to talk on the phone to people he knew and get with the other Haitian kids. That seems to ease his mind some. We plan on calling Yvonne from Haiti who took care of him prior to coming to the States and having him tell him he is our boy and no one will take him from us. We also feel he needs to know we will see all the people he can from around here that are associated with Haiti.

Here is our trampoline with Tim and his wrestling mania. They love to get in there and just dogpile on Tim. I think having twins is a great way to get into shape. We spend lots of time running, biking, playing, giggling, tickling and eating!!

I would ask that you pray specifically that Luke could supernaturally know in his heart that he is forever ours and that there is no threat of being moved again.

Remembering...

I have not posted much about the days prior to Luke's arrival but we knew from emails he was crying some and so we chose scripture to pray over him. The Lord led us to Zephaniah 3:17-20. We have fallen in love with these verses as we have seen the fruit of God's blessing on our family from standing fast on these.
"Don't be afraid.
Dear Zion,
don't despair.
Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.

18-20"The accumulated sorrows of your exile
will dissipate.
I, your God, will get rid of them for you.
You've carried those burdens long enough.
At the same time, I'll get rid of all those
who've made your life miserable.
I'll heal the maimed;
I'll bring home the homeless.
In the very countries where they were hated
they will be venerated.
On Judgment Day
I'll bring you back home—a great family gathering!
You'll be famous and honored
all over the world.
You'll see it with your own eyes—
all those painful partings turned into reunions!"
God's Promise.

We just read these and see how God is bringing home an orphan to us. What a gathering he experienced at the airport. A great family gathering there to welcome a new life into our home! Luke has been calm and has delighted us with his presence in our home. I also love these scriptures because this paints a beautiful picture of our own eternal adoption and of how we'll all be in heaven at a great family gathering. I just wanted to post this so I would never forget what a great and mighty work we have witnessed. Luke is not here by any of our works. Glory to our Gracious God!!

School

For those of you who did not know, we decided to have Laci do some easy stuff this year for school to help Luke catch up. This morning we decided to start school. He insisted on wearing one of Tim's tie"s and a dress shirt. Courtney said they dress up over there. I have taught him how to use the computer so that I can have Laci doing one thing and him the other for now since she is ahead of him. She is learning the alphabet sounds and he is learning about firetrucks. They are doing different things until the teacher has a place to put them together on each side of her(which is me). Courtney is doing her school over on the couch so I am running between the three.

I would like to ask you to all pray for the quick sale of our home. It is becoming very difficult to maintain and we are wanting to downsize. Thank you!!

Ronda