Louisiana is tickled pink at the news that her friend in California, Kendra Williams, has shared.
Tuesday, the 21st of September, 2004, 4:42 p.m., C.S.T.~
Dearest Kendra:
Oh. My. GOD! I am soooo happy to hear from you!! I am so happy that you and your children are all well; and I am especially thrilled to hear that you may be adding to your Rainbow Family with a little Miracle from Japan! That is AWESOME!!
As you know, I have a daughter from Japan, Gemini In Ai Lee Ranessa, who is now a teenager! (Seems like only yesterday when she first came into our lives at the age of three; my, how time flies when you are having fun! LOL) She is part Japanese on her mama's side, and mostly Chinese (on both parents' sides), and she also has a smidgen of French in her, just to make things more interestin'! LOL I would love to adopt another child from Japan, but I am afraid our adopting days are soon to be history. We now have 50 kids, and raising our brood is getting to be downright expensive; but it is worth every penny! Who knows? We may add yet a kid or two to our family (yeah, c'mon, let's make it an even *52*, says Louisiana while Bill chokes on his soup! LOL); stranger things have happened to us over the years!
I never thought that we would be the parents to the insane number of kids we have nowadays, but God has brought each child to our lives, and we haven't regretted it, not one bit! It's gotten to the point to where we can't imagine our family without ANY of the children; to not have one of the children would be CRIMINAL! LOL We may have some foster kids soon, but plans haven't been worked out yet. The foster care system has contacted us, but we have so far relented because we are already too busy now! LOL Seems that I haven't the time to even BREATHE! LOL
God has blessed us in another way: He provided us with a huge tour bus that we can take with us whenever we travel cross country, and the bus is HUGE! It is big enough to carry all of us, and it has storage spaces for our clothes and stuff (plus we have a trailor to haul even more stuff, like our instruments, wheelchairs, or something!); and it will be cool traveling down the roads of America in this thing! The bus is black with white, orange, and yellow squiggly designs, and it is really beautiful! Seems that some anonymous donor heard that we needed some major transportation for hauling the kids, and here comes this bus! A BUS. A big, FAT. BUS. A BUS!! Can you IMAGINE!! Now we look like one of those famous entertainers who travel the world in their BUS! WOWWEEEE!! LOL I am STILL in shock every time I look at it!!
I am glad that Anna Grace has hit it off with Ronee'. Ronee' loves her too, and she still talks about Anna and how nice she is. I am happy to report that Ronee' will be getting her cast taken off tomorrow; and she is one happy, excited young lady! She has been going NUTS at not being able to use her crutches, and she is more than tired of sitting in her wheelchair! She says her bum is so sore, and it must be as big as Texas! LOL She is such a silly! LOL But Ronee' won't be using her crutches just yet: her arm will probably be weakened from being in the cast, so she will need a few sessions of p.t. to whip it back into shape; and then she should be taking off on her sticks, and once again, I will NOT be able to keep up with her! LOL
But onto more serious matters: I was devastated to hear of that young woman firefighter being killed. So sad, especially since she leaves a husband (and no doubt, several small kids) behind. Such a damn (sorry) shame! I will most certainly keep her family in our prayers; what was her name, and what are her husband's and children's names? That way, I can put them onto the prayer list when I call CCA of G tomorrow! I will most certainly pray for this young lady's family! I know several firefighters, and when they are sick or injured, my heart always aches, and the same applies to those who work as police officers or volunteers, any service organization, really! They work so hard and put their lives on the line to keep us safe, and every so often, something happens, and lives are at stake; and people's lives are changed forever, like with what happened on 9-11-01, when our country was attacked. I lost friends in the terrorist attacks, and I still cry over it; but I have learned to pray for those who are responsible, and I ask God to help them and to change their ways. But most importantly, even though I may not agree with them or like what the terrorists have done, I STILL have forgiven them, and so I pray for them! After all, if I can't learn to forgive my enemies, why, then, should God ever forgive ME?? It's only the right thing to do! God CAN and DOES change lives; after all, he DID change MINE!
I hope the quakes you have had there weren't serious. I have been in a few shakers myself whenever I went to California (the last time was in February, when Ronee' was on "Star Search", and there were a few little minor rumblers then; they made me queasy, and I was nervous! YIKES! How DO you manage to deal with something like EARTHQUAKES out there, just about every day?? I would be going BANANAS!!), and I don't want to experience a BIG one! I'd be throwing up all over! LOL I pray you NEVER have a big one, and I pray NEVER to be IN a big one! YIKES!!
I have been reading that you have been having some fires. Are they near you? I certainly hope not, and if they are, I pray that God changes the winds so you don't have to worry about the fires or losing life or limb in them! That has got to be so terrifying! I pray that you get some much needed relief from this dry spell that y'all have had out there!
I wasn't in an actual hurricane when Ivan came. The results were only the leftovers; but bad enough to cause some minor flooding to our basement. I am glad to say that the damage has since been repaired (thanks to the generosity and thoughtfulness of some of our church folk; God bless 'em!), and things are finally back to normal. We finally got our power back last Friday, and we are getting ready to say good-bye to the company we have had camped out at our place. My friends from Fort Worth (Texas), the Pearsons, have been over, as have two friends from Finland and Greece (I met Sari last year, and I met Nikolas only a few weeks ago; he and Sari have since become engaged!), and they are all very nice! THe Pearsons will be leaving on Thursday, and Sari will be leaving on Friday while Nikolas will leave on Saturday. So for the next few days many tears will be shed. Be praying that we make it through the good-bye session, okay? Thanks!
I HAVE been in several hurricanes (remember, I was born IN "hurricane country"!), and it is something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies! They are scary beyond belief, and they have such power it boggles the imagination! And you can't possibly imagine the damage they can cause! I hope you never have a hurricane; you already have earthquakes, not to mention, the occasional flash flood or mudslide; you DON'T need anything more there in California!
I heard from your friend, Louisa, and she wrote me a very nice letter. I responded to her by writing an EPIC! LOL REALLY, the thing must have been at LEAST eight pages long if she were to print the letter I emailed to her! LOL She seems to be very nice! How long have you known her, and what is her last name? She didn't tell me what her last name was, only the names of herself, her hubby, and her kids! Does she live in Soulsbysville, as you do, or does she live in Modesto or Jamestown, both which are close by? I am waiting to hear from her; I hope she writes back!
Give your little darlin's (((HUGS))), and tell them that the "City of Sandusky in Tennessee" LOL sends them all our love! I am sorry, but I have to rush; it is time to get supper on the table. The kids' are clamoring around me, asking when supper is going to be done, and they look like they haven't eaten in a week (NOT! You never saw such better lookin' kids in your life; they look better than Bill or I! LOL)! Plus the Pom is getting in on the act, she is barkin' her fool little head off! If I don't feed the dog soon, she may make a meal out of my ankle, and I will have a tribe of hungry, angry kids who just may try to devour ME if I don't do something about getting the food on! LOL So, before I am toast, I had better scoot; will write you again soon! Love you, Kendra!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your (soon to be devoured) friend in T-town, Louisiana Mayrah. :)
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Reviewed by Susan Barton
9/22/2004
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Tuesday, the 21st of September, 2004, 4:42 p.m., C.S.T.~
