Miracle number 1 in Adoption

"I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High." Psalm9:1-2
A miracle to see - our Kevin sleeping with our Sophia. This is the boy who "will never hold her. She is your responsibility, not mine" has grown to "HI baby!"

So, you could give timelines of adoption just as a pregnancy. It is after all a birth of a child. Isn't that what a pregnancy is, a birth? Nafkot has been growing in my heart day after day just as all my children did. So, you could say we are in the first trimester. I sent off the dossier this week and it is on its way to Washinton D.C. What is a dossier? Some crazy french thing I guess. :) It is a whole bunch of paperwork, birth certificates, marriage certificates, bank statements, medical statements, reference letters, tax forms, power of attorney, etc. I will



say the second time around is soooooo much easier. So our next step is waiting for a court date. I am hoping to get one in the next 3 months. I'll keep you updated. Please keep our new little one in your prayers as we got some medical tests and her blood work doesn't look great.

Sophia is growing like crazy. She can now say Meow, Woof, justin, caycay(caleb), kevin, mama, again, nick. She is finally mostly walking (and falling). It is fun to watch her waddle. She loves to hang out with me in the kitchen and help fold clothes. She is already at a 12-18 month size. She is definitely a curious girl. She loves playing with all her brothers.
Caleb continues to amaze me with his funny personality. He is just always smiling (unless he just got in trouble, which is often). He is starting to figure out how to sound out words and spell. He understands it so well. Everything is just so dramatic with him.
Giovanni continues to be our quiet serious little guy. He tries so hard to do things. He is slowly understanding word sounds to spell. He really wants to learn. His writing skills are great and he understands how to write. He loves to draw pictures. He drew one of Nick playing hockey and Kevin farting in his face (I guess I could say tooting to be more appropriate, but then it wouldn't be the Raskells).

They love to dance and I introduced them to Toby Mac (a Christian rap artist). They have fun dancing in the kitchen.
Kevin is working like crazy and going to school. Nick just started tennis, so he is going to be busy. Malcom should be home in about 2 more months. We MISS you Malcom!
So, such is our world of chaos. Giovanni's birthday is in a couple of weeks. My parents and Grandma are coming to visit that weekend. It should be fun.
Well, kids are going crazy. So, time to go.


I know, not the safest activity, but man it is funny. STAIR SLIDING! This is Giovanni's 5th attempt. He had a ball!

Carnival Raskell - All the boys wrestling and having fun.

Our friends who are in Ethiopia right now picking up 2 of 3 children. They are going to get pictures of our beloved new little one!

Even better, Kevin stair sliding. Note the cell phone pictures.

You can't really see it, but we afroed (did I spell that right) the boys' hair and put the pick in it. They liked it.

La-la-la-la we have smurfs!

Giovanni sporting the fro.

A new Raskell

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27

So, I know it has been awhile since I posted. Life has been, well, busy. I really never thought it would be so tiring to be a mother of 6, work 40 hours, and still manage a household. Sheesh, I am tired!

I wanted to let all of you faithful friends and readers know that we will be adding another Raskell to our family. Her name is Nafkot and she is a 2 yr old Ethiopian girl. We met her while in Addis Ababa at an orphanage and she stole my hubby's heart. We are about 6 months away from picking her up. I am hoping to be better about posting here and keeping everyone updated. She is really a sweetie and she looks like Sophia!

We are waiting for documents from our agency to start our dossier. I have already started compiling parts of it thanks to a heads up from my friend. Once we send in the dossier it will be sent to the agency, then to Washington DC and then on to Ethiopia. From there we will wait for a court date. Once our court date is successful (assuming God still wants her here) we will wait for our embassy date. We are using a different orphanage and agency so our embassy date will be later than before. We are assuming 8-10 weeks after court we will travel.

This was a tough decision. Before we left Ethiopia, George had said "I think we should bring her home." I said "Yeah, right. If you are serious YOU are doing ALL the paperwork." Well, months later, through prayer and God's leading I started the paperwork not HIM. I guess working on the paperwork helps make her a reality a little more. Some moments God comforts my heart and I know everything will be ok, other moments I want to fly overseas to hold her and take her to the doctor to make sure everything is ok. She had TB a few months ago. I prayed to the Lord "If you want her Lord, take her. Let her be healthy and free. If you want her here, heal her and prepare my heart for her." Monday morning I heard she was in recovery and doing well. God had answered my prayer and my heart now loved 7 children instead of 6.

God has been so faithful to us since we followed His will and not our own. This whole process is in His hands and He has made every step possible.

We are hoping to pay for this adoption solely on grants and donations and fundraising. We have been blessed so far and we are only about $4000 short (travel and embassy stuff). He has blessed us with everything else so far. So, keep posted. I am working on eventually selling bracelets and tshirts as a fundraiser. I know God will mutliply these too! He is so wonderful and faithful to those who trust in Him.

So, on the other home front (yes, Ethiopia is a home front and I will always have a special place in my heart for it). Sophia turned 1 last week. To match her age, she has 1 tooth. I think all the other teeth will pop in at once. She has done really well after her tubes and we haven't had 1 ear infection since. She loves daycare and they love her. She is starting to throw tantrums which is quite funny. She still refuses to walk as crawling is easier. She has added nice, thank you, shoe, caleb, reading and singing to her list of accomplishments. She loves to dance too!

Giovanni is doing well. He loves school and enjoys to continue to look at books and magazines. If only he would look at the words and not the pictures. He is such a lover. He loves to just sit and cuddle. What a sensitive little man!

Caleb, is well, Caleb. If you have ever met him, he is our funny man. Everything is always funny. He laughs and laughs and talks and talks. I think we will have our hands full. He enjoys video games. Kevin is very proud of him as he has "skills" for video games. Too bad he only gets to play them when Kev watches them. :)

Nick is doing well. He just started working with his brother Kevin at the car wash. Only a month and we have already heard "I don't want to work." Too funny. Hockey is going great and he is the superstar. He had a luncheon he was picked for for sports. He put together a dodge ball team and won the tournament last week. He is just a natural sportsplayer.

Kevin continues to go to school and work. We see him more and more as he matures and wants to hang out with us. I even got a Valentines hug! (we never get hugs from him) He has matured so much and he loves his little brothers and sister.

Malcom is at Sheppard AFB and will be shipped to Germany after Tech School. He is pretty excited. I wish it were closer so we could see him, but what an experience!

We have another young man living with us, Justin. He is a friend of Nick's and he is staying with us while attending school. He is also working at the car wash.

George is doing well. He has a cold now so he will be out of commission for awhile. :( He continues to amaze me as a father to a little girl. Boy does she melt his heart!

Well, now that I have babbled forever! I hope all is well with you all. I will post more pictures later as I haven't downloaded a lot them.

Blessings,
Sandra

So, Kevin and his friend decided to attempt this crazy jump. Kevin landed on Jake. It was hilarious!

Kevin and his baby sis!

Kevin, Jake and the little boys.