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.