New Update Photo...

We received this picture today:

And I played around with it:

Playing Around With Photo Editing Programs...

Just for fun - - since we're done with homeschooling for the day.

Unintentional Blog Sabbatical...

So it's been a while. Initially, I hadn't been posting because we simply didn't have much adoption news to share. We're still in Second Legal which seems to be slow right now and I haven't heard about much (if any) movement lately. Then, the storms started hitting. In light of the devastation taking place in Haiti, I felt like anything I might post about it would seem trite and couldn't really convey our deep concern and sadness over the suffering there. This past week, I was thinking about how I really needed to update the blog, but we were enjoying a visit with my brother, sister-in-law and precious nephew - so I never got around to it. Now that I've listed my excuses for the huge gap between posts, here are some updates...

We received Asa's monthly report (no picture yet) and he has gained 3 pounds and grown 3 centimeters since I visited at the end of July. I'd like to think the spurt was from the extra love he got when I was there but I guess a lot of it might have to do with an unreliable scale at the orphanage. ;o) He is growing, though, and we're thrilled. The update also said that he is polite and is becoming more verbal; he knows and calls all his friends by name. He was starting to do that when I visited but I'm sure his vocabulary has increased exponentially since it just explodes at this stage. It hurts so much to think about missing all this: new words, potty training, cuddling up together and reading board books.... I love everything about toddlers. Asa will be three in December. I'm missing it all.

While I'm on the subject of what we're missing, I was reminded this week of what Asa will be missing. Regardless of when he comes home to us, it won't be until at least 2010 that he'll meet his uncle, aunt and little cousin. I was still clinging to hope, even up until early this year, that Asa would be home before October... my brother and his family leave in two weeks for Amsterdam as church planting missionaries. Their plan is to live in The Netherlands for five years with a short furlow mid-way through. We are so excited about the work they'll be a part of, but there's definitely an element of sadness in knowing that my brother won't be here when our son comes home. We said goodbye yesterday, after one last visit, and it'll be Skype for the next few years...

Finally (wow, this got long after nearly a month between posts) Asa's orphanage weathered the first of the storms pretty well. But last week, we received news that the White River did end up flooding the village and the road was, essentially, washed out. Food was being carried in via donkey and there has been some damage to the generator so candles were being used at night. We haven't gotten a more recent report, but our hope is that the water has receded and things are returning to normal. [UPDATE as of 9/18: it is still raining quite a bit in the evenings and the village is still flooded.] Please pray for the children of the Crèche Enfant de l’Jèsus and the people in the surrounding village of Ti Mache. Here are some pictures:

The gate into the orphanage compound: water covered the road and came up to the wall.

The road to the crèche looks more like a rushing river.

Ending this post on a happy note: I'll be there in five weeks.