Happy Birthday, Allison!

Our oldest daughter, Allison, turned 14 today.

I know parents say it all the time, but....where did the years go?

In a nod to her wonderful-ness, Allison used her own money to buy flowers for ME today.

My kids are the best gifts ever!

But Still, I Am One

Please take four minutes and forty-seven seconds to watch this video.



Lots of people are asking, "What can we do? How can we help?" This video has inspired average people, just like us, to think about how to help. We think about Amelia, and Little Boy B., and it's impossible to comprehend it could be OUR CHILDREN who are starving. Our children are safe. But many, many more children, children whose parents love them as we love our kids, are starving.

A highly-regarded international aid organization, Doctors Without Borders (aka Medecins Sans Frontieres) currently has a matching gift program that will double any donation...$10, $25 or more.

Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres has been distributing a highly nutritious food product called Plumpy Nut (click here to read a 10-8-2009 article from Foreign Policy magazine or click here to read a 60 Minutes story about Plumpy Nut.)

To make a donation to Doctors Without Border, you can send a check to Doctors Without Borders at the following address:

Doctors Without Borders USA
333 Seventh Avenue, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10001
ATTN: Charlie Kunzer

In the envelope should be a note to Charlie that includes your name, donation amount, that this gift is for Meghan and Amber's Fundraiser (for the matching funds) and that your gift should be dedicated to nutritional fund and the Janus Charity Challenge 2010.

To donate with a credit card, please make the donation at the Doctors Without Borders website here:

https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=197&hbc=1?ref=main-menu

There is also a phone number if you prefer to call Doctors Without Borders.

If you donate via the website, send an email to Charlie at Charlie.Kunzer@newyork.msf.org with the same information as requested above (your name, donation amount, statement that this donation is for Meghan and Amber's Fundraiser (for the matching funds), and should be dedicated to nutritional fund and Janus Charity Challenge 2010.)

PICTURES!! and Ras Kassa's

Woo-hoo, my camera is finally up and running again.

So, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure, starting with the most current:

Some sweet friends took us to Ras Kassa's in Boulder tonight.
Thanks, George, Sarah, T.J. and Grandma Jackie!

Amelia liked our server, and our server liked Amelia!

What she REALLY liked was the little spoon and the little cream pitcher...and using the little spoon to feed herself a little cream!

Feeding it to Daddy was pretty fun, too!

Here we are...minus Allison--what a teenager,

she was at a football game tonight!

I have lots of teeth and we had a great night!

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Getting ready for "school"....

Amelia's hair is growing and Mommy can make piggies!

Meelsie's salon is the kitchen counter!

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Now, let's travel waaaaay back to the summer! I now (finally) present, "The Summer In Pictures:"

Sprinkler discovery...

This is so super fun!

I'm goin' back for more!

(Random Alert!) Grammy got a six-toed, stub-tailed kitten...in the Ozarks...while Allison was at Kanakuk. We really did look quite hill-billian, driving around in the Ozarks with a portable litter box and this kitten named Lambert!

Mom and Meels at the IAN picnic.

Pondering the meaning of iced tea.

Sweet sissy love!

All decked out in her swimming gear!

Father's Day at Rocky Mountain National Park.

A lil' more sweet sissy love!

THE END!

COURT DATE!?!

(This picture is for Amelia. If she was going to pick out her favorite picture in the world of a surprised person, er, monster, this would be the one.)

We had email, voicemail and phone conversations with our coordinator today.

OUR COURTDATE IN ETHIOPIA IS NOVEMBER 18!

Nobody knows exactly how this has happened. Yes, our file has been re-opened in the Ethiopian court. But we haven't even sent all of our documents over yet! We haven't even applied for our I171-H yet.

We don't know how this came about, but we'll take it!

We will pray now that we can complete the U.S. immigration piece in record time so it won't hold us up from traveling.

Crying Out...Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Sunday, November 8 is Orphan Sunday. Check out the Christian Alliance for Orphans for more information.

I believe there is a movement building at our church, and peoples' hearts are being broken for the orphans. I know of many families who are going after orphans and bringing them home, who are fostering parenting, who are providing care for orphans. God, may our numbers increase!

There are 145,000,000 orphans in our world. This is, truly, a number that is too big for me to "get." What I can "get," is that Dave and I fully love two of these orphans. Our hearts and lives are changed forever because of them. How to comprehend that every single, individual orphaned child is so very close to God's heart? Deserves a home and a family?

I am currently re-reading There Is No Me Without You. This book changed my life as we were preparing to go get Amelia. It doesn't seem possible, but....now that I have been there....now that Amelia is our girl....now that we are longing to travel for our son....it's even more powerful and more painful to read this book.

I found myself awake early this morning, wondering how much more we might be able to do. How much obedience can we pull off? Even if we could afford more adoptions, how many more kiddos could we squeeze into our house? How much more financial pressure could Dave withstand? (Smile....sort of.)

Dave wants to look for work opportunities when we travel to Africa this time. God, will you open these doors for us? Show us the doors. We want to walk through them. Hand in hand with You, we want to change the world.

Neighbors

I just "met"--over the phone--another IAN family who live just a few miles from us! Right here in Longmont! They have older kids, too, and they are waiting for a court date for two baby girls. Can you imagine? So, so, so sweet and so super fun.

Hi Kelly....look forward to meeting you soon!

Medical Exam

An IAN traveling family--the dad is a pediatrician, the mom is a nurse--recently came home from a loooooong trip to Ethiopia--check their blog to learn about their extended journey. (They added two babies to their family, so they are now a family of eight kiddos!)

While they were there, Marty and Kendell examined all of the referred children at Sele Enat. Amazing, huh? What a gift!

So we have Little Boy B's most current medical and developmental information. It looks like he is four years old (not five years old). And he is small, wears a size 3T (experience with Amelia tells us he'll catch up!).

He does all the developmental things--hops on one foot, counts, draws, plays ball--that you would expect any little kid to do. And he is healthy. Thank you, God!

The scary part: His caregivers report that he PLAYS HARD. I'm a girl mom! I don't know about this hard-playing stuff!

The sweet part: Kendell reports he will snuggle "till the cows come home."
Awwwww!

Shout Out to Allison

Way to Go, Allison!

Even though she is brand new at Westview Middle School, Allison won the Student of the Month Award today. We are so proud of her!

Just a few kids win this award each month. Allison's teachers nominated her because she is an excellent and conscientious student, because she works hard, she's kind to everyone and she showed herself to be a real leader on the volleyball court.

The school celebrated these great students this morning with a fancy breakfast. The principals brought the students to the front of the room and shared a bit about each of the kids. Allison's photo and the information about her will be on display in the school entry for the next month.

After the not-so-great year at a different school last year, it is so wonderful to see Allison's confidence returning. And isn't it just like God: but for the tough time last year, the positive and fantastic experience she is enjoying now wouldn't be so sweet. He is a redeemer! And He teaches His lessons to all of us....even our kids.

Game Changers

Check out this link to an organization called GameChangers. It is a cool partnership between Architects for Humanity and Nike.

With Hanna Fanta's permission, we submitted a proposal to Children's Heaven to GameChangers. If it wins, Architects for Humanity will design and build a permanent structure for Children's Heaven! Let's hope and pray the judging team sees the need for a real, useful, facility for Hanna and her girls!

While you're at it, check out this link for the Frehiwot Wondye Memorial Run. Frehiwot was a "sister" at Children's Heaven who took her own life this summer. Sixty-five of Frehiwot's "sisters" at Children's Heaven are running the 10K Great Ethiopian Run, a road race in Addis Ababa that attracts over thirty thousand runners. These girls are running in memory of Frehiwot, and as a way to raise some much-needed funds for Children's Heaven. These girls are overlooked. There is little help or hope for them in Ethiopia. Will you donate today?