Hezekiah Ezekial is one of the best things to happen to our family. 

We adopted him a year ago from Guatemala.  He was an orphan; he had no family, and when we saw his picture that the adoption agency had sent us, we could not say no.  So we adopted him; it took about a year and a half for the entire process to go through.  Not as long as a lot of adoptions, granted, but long enough for us; there were days we didn't think we were going to hear anything or wonder if we were ever going to get our child.

When Hezekiah came, it was the best day of our lives.  We picked him up at the airport; I am sure he was overwhelmed by the noisy welcome we gave him when he came off the plane.  It's a wonder we didn't send him into psychotherapy!  LOL

At first, he was incredibly scared and shy, but as time wore on, he got used to us as he learned a new language; we, in kind, learned some basic Spanish, so we could halfway communicate with our new son.  We learned what he liked (or disliked), and we took things one day at a time, so he wouln't become more overwhelmed than what he already was.  We had to play it by ear.

Hezekiah is perfectly healthy:  all boy.  Not one sign of defect or disability.  He is as smart as a whip and has adjusted to attending school in the United States, where he is in the first grade.  In fact, he is so smart, he has been placed into the Gifted/Talented class at school; we are very proud of him at how far he's come in the short time he's been with us.

Like all boys, Hezekiah can dream of many ways to get into trouble.  That's okay; we can deal with it when he gets mischivious.  LOL  He loves baseball and "futball" (soccer); he has proven to be an exceptionally talented young athlete.  He loves to swim, hang out in our treehouse in the backyard with his brothers Henry (8), Otis (10), and Freeman (12), and play with his two younger sisters, Opal Grace (5) and Nevaeh Marie (2 1/2).  He is always on the go, from the time he rises in the morning until he lays his head on his pillow at night; there is no slowing him down or stopping him!

Hezekiah is the third child we've adopted.  We adopted Henry from Vietnam three years ago and Opal from China four years ago.  Our other children (Freeman, Otis, and Nevaeh) are our own.  We had more than enough love in our hearts, so we added to the family by adopting children nobody else wanted.  (Henry and Opal both have special needs:  Henry has spina bifida and walks with crutches; as for Opal, she has epilepsy and mild cerebral palsy; she walks with a limp and wears a brace on her affected leg.)

If we could adopt some more children, we would do it again in a heartbeat.  These children have so much to offer, and there are so many waiting in foster care, orphanages, hospitals, or other places; and so many of them have been hurt in ways that they should have never been.  This is why we took in Opal, Henry, and now Hezekiah.  So we now have six children.  And we would adopt a dozen more!

I will continue to write as time permits; right now, I have to get Neveah and Opal up from their naps.  I will write again soon; you haven't heard the last from us, the Ross family!  Take care and God bless!

~Love, Gwynyth Michelle Ross of West Covina, California.  :)

*to be continued.*