April 11, 2011, Montpelier, Vermont~

Ravenna Eddiston here.  Sorry for not writing; the kids keep us busy.  I hope you understand.

Things have been going as well as can be expected.  We are enrolling our youngest child, three-year-old Canaan, in pre-school; hopefully he will be accepted in the fall.  We've tried several places, but either they were already too full, or else they weren't what we desired, so we had to move on to another place.  So far nothing, but we are trusting God that we will find the right one that will meet our expectations.

Paul and David, our two older boys (they're 12 and 15) are busy with school activities: right now they're in baseball, and we go to their games just about every weekend, cheering our sons on.  We really enjoy it and meeting other families.  And the boys can release pent up aggression and get some good, clean fresh air, not to mention, beneficial exercise!

Our only daughter, Mukhtar Grace, who is seven, continues to do well in her therapies.  She is learning new things each and every day.  Right now our big project is for her to learn to tie her shoes.  She hasn't really mastered it yet, but by God, she's trying!  We praise her and tell her that she is a wonderful little girl and that we love her, even when she does it wrong.  Nothing destroys a child's spirit faster than negativism! 

Her speech is improving slowly; we are beginning to understand her better.  She no longer sounds like she has a mouth full of marbles, but she does have a noticable speech defect, in which she is trying very hard to overcome.

Mukhtar is very well loved by her brothers, but she will put them in their place if she feels that they've invaded her territory.  Her brothers have learned to accept her limits and accept her just the way she is.  Mukhtar is a beautiful addition to our family, and we are just thrilled to pieces that we finally have the daughter we'd always wanted!

We are running around like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to get ready for Easter.  Greg and myself (as well as our two oldest sons) are taking part in the Easter Cantata at our church on Easter weekend, and Mukhtar is trying to learn the words to "The Old Rugged Cross".  She's doing fairly well, but sometimes she forgets the words, and then we have to work some more with her on remembering the song's lyrics.  She is going to sing that before our Cantata.  I am sure she will do a good job; we will have to keep on encouraging her is all.

We may eventually adopt another child or two in the future, but we will wait until the busyness of the upcoming Easter season (and the summer vacations or plans) settle down somewhat.  We will probably shoot to try to adopt child #5 in the fall or winter.  Hopefully we will have another child by this time next year.  We'd like to have another daughter, but another little boy would be nice as well.

Well, I have to run.  David and Paul both have baseball practice tonight; they have to be at the field in an hour.  We will then take the kids out for Dairy Queen if Mukhtar doesn't wimp out and go to sleep; seems that she has to really fight hard to keep her eyes open once the time hits 8:00!  LOL  We just might have to carry her to bed if this happens (which it usually does! LOL).

Take care and may God bless you always!  I will write in here again soon!

~Love, your friend in Vermont, Ravenna.  :)