Faith Danielle and Miracle DaSha'.  Our two newest family members!

My name is Toni Ridgeworth.  I live in Palo Alto, California, with my husband, Toby, and our (now) six children, most, of whom, have special needs and are adopted.  I'm a housewife; my husband, meanwhile, works in real estate.

We adopted our children from Russia (Tevin Dmitri, 12), Yemen (Fahad Therese, 10), Poland (Annechka Marija, 8), Korea (Kelvin Patrick, 6), and now the U.S. (Georgia--Miracle DaSha' and Faith Danielle, who are four-year-old twin sisters). 

We couldn't be any happier than we are right now.  And just in time for Christmas, too!  What a miracle God has brought into our lives!

As I said, most of our kids are children who have special needs.  Some (like Tevin and Kelvin) are only mildly handicapped (learning disabilities or mild CP); however, our other three children (Miracle, Faith, and Fahad) have significent medical problems that require specialized care. 

As an example, Fahad has chronic lung disease that requires oxygen therapy (she wears oxygen at night or when ill) while Faith is blind and has diplegic cerebral palsy.  As for her sister, Miracle, she has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is mentally disabled, with the mind of an 18-month-old infant. 

It's hard, but we do manage; it is only by God's grace (and the help of nurses, family, or friends) that we are able to do it.

This Christmas is going to be especially memorable.  Already people have donated money and toys to help us out.  Raising a family like ours is expensive:  medical bills and other necessities to keep the children fed/clothed/educated is outrageously expensive.  We will have a Christmas for the ages; we are grateful to all who have helped us and/or have showed support for our little family.

We applied to adopt Faith and Miracle back in the spring of this year; we only got them about a month ago, and it's been a huge adjustment on our part, especially when it comes to Miracle's medical situation.  We weren't used to handling a child with so many handicaps; yet God's given us the strength to be able to take care of her, and I think we've done a pretty good job because she hasn't been in the hospital yet.

We must be doing something right! :)

Well, the phone is ringing; sorry to cut this so short.  I will write in here again; you haven't heard the last from us, the Ridgeworths!  Take care, and may God bless you mightily!

~Toni Ridgeworth.  :)

P.S.:  May you have the merriest of Christmases ever!!