So J and I are picking up momentum with our adoption. Yeah! We just finished publishing a letter to friends and family.....so hopefully you will be receiving one soon! I will also try to put it here for your viewing pleasure!

I had an awesome talk with Scott at the Gladney Center for Adoption this past Friday. In addition to adoptions they invest back into the country which has huge huge huge value in my eyes having grown up in a third world country. Check out this website:

http://www.adoptionsbygladney.com/html/services/human_ethiopia.php

I cannot keep from crying every time I visit the thought of adopting and the orphans out there that need help and love!

At the train museum with Papa O and Shosho

Train Museum with Papa and Shosho

H's face after following his new diet

Here's H's face after following his gluten free, corn free, and dairy free diet along with taking some natural supplements. I am so glad that I can avoid coating my baby in steroids!

H's Eczema before and after the diet modifications

Here is a picture of H's cheeks at one of the worst points.

Creative Eating: Zuchini Pancakes

As some of you know, H has severe eczema especially on face. This along with some other concerns (ie irritability, colic as a baby and a small appetite) has lead us on a journey for his health. At this time he is corn free, gluten and wheat free, dairy free and a few other "frees". As you can imagine this challenges a lot of our western cooking to say the least! We have given up a lot of things but one thing that we cannot live without is pancakes...I guess my boys got that love from their mom! I have come across this great recipe today and thought I would share it. Of course, it is someone else's recipe that I modified to meet our needs. Whether or not you have special nutritional needs like H, most moms want to get more vegetables in their children's diet so here's a recipe for Sweet Zuchini Pancakes. They were delicious. I just finished cooking the last 2 and the kitchen smells like cinnamon!
http://cookingequipment.about.com/od/breakfastrecipes/r/zucchinipancake.htm

*Keep in mind, I made several changes to the recipe and they turned out delicious! I substituted the butter for canola oil, all the flours (corn and wheat) with brown rice flour and substituted 1and1/2 tsp cream of tartar plus 1/2 tsp of baking soda for the baking powder. I substituted 3/4 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup water for the milk in the recipe.

End of the Summer Tea Party!

Here are the neighbor girls and the boys. I watched them three days a week this summer. We ended our time with an evangelistic tea party. We made a craft of decorating a gift box and talked about gifts. We talked about how Jesus is a gift to us and we can be a gift back to God. Every child made a small wordless book to go in their box. This book tells the story of our sin, Jesus' redemption of us and our new life when we believe in Him. Luke has already told God that he accepts Jesus' death for his sins and that He wants to be friends with God but all three girls prayed and told God that. K the oldest one, I believe was completely sincere and realized what she was saying. The other two, well, a seed is planted and I know that they know. So then, we ended our little time with a celebration of hot chocolate and brownies and played a game passing a gift around and unwrapping it. What a great culmination to the summer! My desire in keeping the girls was to plant seeds and show them Jesus.

H's Dedication

Sometimes you have to get creative! For us, creative meant that we did not dedicate H at church like expected on Sunday. Instead, we were together with Grandparents for breakfast, scripture reading and quick prayers (the wind was chilly) on Sunday. It was such a sweet and special time and as a mom it will make for a special memory.

We had to get creative because H had been diagnosed with strep throat on Friday and we did not feel comfortable going to church with a sick baby. But we didn't want to miss out on dedicating him. Both my and J's parents were in town for this special event. If you are reading this and you weren't with us, we wish you were there. You are special to us and we treasure your input as we try to raise 2 godly boys..and hopefully and baby girl soon too! J's and my parents- thank you for your godly input, example and support. We love you.