April Birthday Number Two

We celebrated another birthday today.

Exactly one week after Amy turned 10, Oksana reached her 8th birthday.

A few weeks ago, Oksana told us she was hoping for a big stuffed dog.

A great God-given joy for these adoptive parents is being able to grant the often simple wishes of our former orphans. From our perspective, life just doesn't get much better than this!

As soon as Oksana had unwrapped her giant bull dog and pulled him into an embrace, Mr. Beaver asked her what name she was going to give him. She stretched out her arms to study her new toy's face and said decidedly, "Daddy." Mr. Beaver was a bit unsure of the implications of having a giant stuffed bull dog named after him. However, upon seeing her affection for the pup, Mr. Beaver has chosen to see Oksana's naming choice as an effort to express her love for him.

We've had a number of ups and downs with Oksana over the past year. The suffering she experienced as a very young child has evidenced itself in number of ways that have touched the whole family. She's learning now what most kids learn at two or three. Despite the hard times and challenges, God has showered us with his grace, and we all treasure and deeply love this dark eyed beauty who is now eight years old. We cannot imagine life without her! We thank the Lord for the unspeakably good gift of Oksana. His love and goodness never cease to amaze us.

Picture credits go to Daria, Cassandra and Tatiana