before they departed

Alison and her funny guy, Will, left earlier this week. We'd all enjoyed a blissful seven days of love and laughter! To mark the special time, I wanted to make sure I had a photo of everyone in the family with their favorite 5-month-old little boy. I'd already taken pictures of Zhenya and Eliana with William, but this post includes photos with the rest of the gang.

You'll see William's tongue out in most of these photos. During the last couple of days Will was with us, the silly boy was almost continually trying to roll his tongue. In those moments when he forgot his passionate pursuit, there was always someone around from our extra-large family to remind him by rolling his or her tongue. I was left out of all this fun because I'm one of those folks who can't roll my tongue. Can you roll your tongue?

When William was placed in Hope's arms, he was quite interested in tasting her. Perhaps this was because he was born in October everyone has been wearing sleeves. Maybe? Perhaps...?

One lick became two before we could get Will to turn toward the camera.

Love this guy's sparkly eyes! Even when he isn't smiling, he still looks happy. God has been so kind to give him delight in his world.

And when Will smiles, we find we can't resist smiling with him.

In fact, when William smiles, the whole room lights up.

The Bible says that grandchildren are the reward of old age. William's grandpa and I are relishing the sweet reward of having this precious child as one of our grandtreasures.

These two were buddies during Will's visit.

As were these two.

When John got home from work, William used his lap as a throne.

Christina had been volunteering at the horse therapy ranch near our home, but when she returned I got a photo of this auntie and her little nephew in his pajamas just as the sun set.

Now that our grandson has gone the house just seems too quiet.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Mrs. R:

As we begin to wrap up preparations for the celebration of Christ's birth on Christmas, Mr. R. and I continue to thank God for our family's WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. For a full week, we had all of our children and grandchildren in our home (with the exception of Sarah who is serving in an orphanage in Zambia). We experienced the most glorious fellowship. I took this photo on one of the evenings as some of that rich love and laughter was taking place in the kitchen.

Birthday Season Wraps Up with Nathaniel's 15th

One of the fabulous aspects of being a super-sized family is that we never run out of reasons to celebrate. Last week we marked Nathaniel's 15th birthday. 

The weekend we celebrated, Nathaniel's brother-in-law, Eric, was visiting from Boston. He helped Faith make Nathaniel's cake.

This wasn't just any dessert, however. This was to be a traveling cake. Nathaniel asked to celebrate his birthday in our favorite nearby park.

This birthday celebration was enhanced by having dear friends, Jamie (pictured here), Marcos and their son, Samuel with us. They'd come from Illinois to celebrate high school graduation with the family the day before.

Once we settled in the park pavilion, Nathaniel opened his gifts, and we ate that traveling cake.

As much as Nathaniel enjoyed the gifts of love from his family members, what made this his "best birthday ever" was having the American couple he first met in his Russia there to help him mark his birthday.

The two of us first met this faith-filled duo who have huge hearts for orphans in Moscow. These links tell some of the story of the time we shared in that beautiful city getting to know Russian children that we would be able to add to our families through adoption if we felt so led. Jamie and Marcos have been Nathaniel's greatest cheerleaders as he's adjust to life in America and in a family. Their prayers have been worth gold to us!

(Marcos and Jamie are in the midst of adopting again, this time two sepcial-needs toddlers from China. To learn more about their adoption journey, click here. I know they would truly appreciate your prayers!)

Now nearly three years later, these four children share what I believe will be a lifelong bond. After all, they have something very unusual in common ~ having been fatherless children who spent years together in the same orphanage. It's no wonder Nathaniel dubbed this his favorite birthday. He was surrounded by the friends with whom he was rescued by the Lord from hopelessness. At age 15, his future couldn't look brighter!

Reminded { CAFO 2014 }

This past week, our family attended the Christian Alliance for Orphans' (CAFO) annual summit. We joined several thousand who are on the front lines in the care of vulnerable children around the globe. Those who gathered in Chicago for CAFO 2014 represented 35 countries. Each brought his or her own stories of God at work. Each came to be refreshed and renewed in their commitment to answer God's clarion call woven throughout the Bible to "defend the orphan" (Isaiah 1:17).

Most likely, when orphan care is mentioned, adoption is the first thing to come to mind. While that may have been one of the few ways to make a difference for the 147,000,000 orphans in the past. Global orphan care takes hundreds of different forms and more and more is emphasizing care for the children within their own country. Globally, creative efforts to meet the countless needs of the "least of these" have grown exponentially during the past decade. Adoption is now just one manner of caring for the fatherless.

Adoption does happen to be the orphan care arena to which the Lord has called our family. Adoption is how Jim and I became parents when the Lord placed our oldest daughter, Anna, in our arms through the courageous choice of her birthmother. Several years after the birth of our twins, the Lord grew our family through three separate adoptions as we added trios of older Russian children to our number in 2001, 2005 and 2010. As my beloved husband once put it, "Adoption is what we do as a family."

Attending CAFO 2014 reminded Jim and me of God's heart for the orphan. Being surrounded by so many who love the vulnerable renewed our determination to shepherd well the children who have come to us through adoption. While at CAFO 2014 we were deeply blessed to meet a handful of Eastern Europeans who are serving the orphans sacrificially in their countries amidst difficult circumstances. They embraced our role as an adoptive family wholeheartedly, and we were deeply encouraged by their love.

The two days of CAFO 2014 stretched us from early morning to late in the evening. We learned much during the plenary sessions and in workshops. We came home tired, but it was a good kind of tired. We returned home empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue on in the work we've been called to by Christ. Jim and I also returned to home ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with others who are called to "visit the orphan" in whatever manner the Lord might call them.

On our way home yesterday, we stopped briefly for a refreshment break in the incredibly picturesque town of Galena, Illinois. Galena was founded in 1826 and is the birthplace of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.

Sarah - age 20

While Dad was purchasing a snack for the kids at a coffee shop, I took advantage of the day's beautiful lighting to snap some photos of some of our precious kiddos. 

On the left, Christina, 16 and Faith, 14 

Matt, age 18

Nathaniel, age 14

Once we had food and drink, we slowly wound our way up main street. We weren't alone! A good portion of the mid west seemed to have decided Galena would be a perfect place to celebrate one of the first truly spring-like days of in the northern part of the country.

In addition to many food shops that emitted tantalizing aromas, the town is also home to a number of antique stores and shops carrying home-decorating treasures. I was drawn to this unusual peacock wall hanging.

As we ambled down the street, a fierce-looking watch dog eyed us warily from one of the shops.

We finished our stroll by taking a group photo.

(Sadly, John was unable to join us due to work.)