We certainly are that.  Happy.  Very happy.  We have our ten children to thank for that one.  Among our children is Billy Ray, who will be ten years old this year.  We adopted him into the family last fall and it has been a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years'.  Billy Ray has brought our family a sense of purpose; it's now gotten to the point to where we cannot imagine life without him.

Billy Ray came to us from Nashville, Tennessee.  He had been in and out of the foster care system since he was only six years old.  The boy had a reputation of being wild and out of control.  He was known to destroy things at random and go off on explosive rages.  He was very hard to live with, but then we discovered part of the problem: he was found to be learning disabled and very hard of hearing to the point where he needed to be fitted with hearing aids.

He's now a much quieter, if happier, little boy.  He loves to spend his days building models of airplanes and cars, and he loves to draw, create, and write stories or poems.  He loves helping me fix things around the house or tinkering with the car or truck.  He is very good with his hands.  Now, Billy Ray does have problems socializing with people he doesn't know, but at least he no longer goes off into his own little world.  

Billy is happiest being with people he knows.  Strangers still make him wary.  In situations where he is around people he doesn't know, Billy Ray wil duck behind my leg and turn quiet, quieter than what is normal for him.  Once he gets to know somebody, then he's their friend for life; a better buddy couldn't be found.

In addition to Billy Ray, we added another child sine then, another little boy we have named Christian Daniel.  He is six, and like Billy, autistic, but I am sure that Billy will help his new little brother with fitting in to the family.  After all, he knows all about it: he was once in the position where Christian is at currently.

We have four girls (Olivia, Elisabet, Cadence, and Rose Marie), and six boys (Travis, Taylor, Teague, Billy Ray, Harrington, and Christian).   

We are a regular Baker's dozen, even though our last name is Brownstein.  LOL

Well, we're getting ready to go the St. Patrick's Day parade, which is going to be held at the local high school; the parade starts at four.  We'd best hotfoot it over there, so we can all get a good seat.  I am sure the boys wlll go ga-ga over the fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars, and I am sure the girls will enjoy the high stepping cheerleaders and majorettes, as well as the horses.  

I will write in here another time; until then, this is Wilbur Brownstein saying so long!  May God bless you all abundantly, and above all, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

~Wilbur.  :)