Children Are A Reward!

Psalm 127: 3 - 5 "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD;  The fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth.  How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." 

As I celebrated my birthday last month I was taking into account the year that just passed.  Turning a year older can do that to you.

  Wow, it was an awesome feeling!  Many blessings have been poured down on my life from above! Last year at this time, I had no idea that we would now be a family of SIX!  I am loving that our "Arrows" have doubled!  Children are a REWARD!  Thank you, God!

I think that Carolyn understands that children are a reward, too.  She is always carrying around about three dolls in her arms at once!  She is BUSY - just like her Momma!  Here is a picture of her outside the orphanage back in May.

Do you notice the baby in her arms?  She found this baby doll at the orphanage in a broken baby stroller filled with lots of other broken dolls.  She carried it around with her while we visited Sonya and Dusty.  Carolyn shed tears when she had to leave the baby doll there.   We know how she feels - we wanted to bring all the CHILDREN from Dusty and Sonya's orphanage home with us!  Thankfully, some of these beautiful children from Dusty & Sonya's "groupa" have forever families who are working hard to bring them HOME!  We continue to pray for them and for those who still wait for forever families!

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This beauty is being adopted, too!

On the 19th of July it will be two months since we brought home Dusty & Sonya.  They have blossomed so much in such a short time!  We praise God and glorify His name as we watch the wonderful things He has done in their lives!

Dusty and Sonya at the Orphanage April 18, 2011

There were times at the orphanage I wondered IF Dusty would EVER laugh.  He was always so somber and sad looking.  I am happy to report that Dusty laughs and giggles throughout the entire day.  He laughs the hardest when we throw him up into the air.  His laugh is sweet music to our ears!  When at the orphanage Dusty would only tolerate us holding him.  He was not a big fan of too much physical contact - since he was used to being in a crib - ALONE.  Good news again - Dusty is now very fond of snuggling and hugging.  He is turning into a "cuddlebug"!  Thank you, God!

Sonya is growing fast!  Since she and Dusty both got rid of their parasites - nutrition is finally going where it should!  She now weighs 28 lbs - three pounds more than Dusty.  It will be nice when she starts walking.  We quickly get tired out from carrying her around,  although Johnny never gets tired of carrying her and she weighs over half of what he weighs.  They are best buds!  Johnny adores her and she thinks he is the best!  They are great together.

Here is a video from the first time Sonya played in a pool.  She loves the water as you can see.  You can hear Dusty in the background.  He is sitting on a chair with a towel around him.  He loved it too, but I thought he needed to get warmed up.  The water was pretty cold!
  

Dusty is WALKING everywhere!  He LOVES to walk.  When he walks around, he usually does a lot of giggling.  It is very cute to watch how happy he is to be mobile.  In this video, we were at Lowe's "Build and Grow" clinic, so there is a lot of hammering in the background, as well as, Carolyn letting us know she was ready for nap time!  Because of all this walking, we have to have Dusty wear overalls all the time because shorts just fall down around his ankles.  He still has no tush to keep them up, even though he is up five pounds from his USA arrival weight of 20 pounds!