Greetings!  

My name is P.J. (Paul James) Batchelder.  I live in Eugene, Oregon, with my beautiful wife of twenty years, Missy (Melissa), and our ten children, most of them adopted.  Our children range in age from two years on up to the age of 12.  

Most also have special needs.

We adopted our first child, Ashford, when he was a year old.  That was 11 years ago, and he's grown into a very handsome, witty young man with a caring heart.  (Just like his old  man.  LOL)  He came to us from South Korea.  Ashford has seizures.

After Ashford came our first daughter, Bree.  She is 11.  She's blind and deaf.    She came to us from Colombia.

Next comes our twins (both were born to us; they're our "natural" children).  Their names are Emmett and Ephriam.  They are identical, two peas in a pod.  They are nine years old; they turned nine four days ago, on Christmas Day.

Now we move on to Azevado, who is nearly eight.  He has spina bifida and walks with crutches (or uses a wheelchair for longer trips).  He came to us four years ago from the Honduras.  He is a regular spitfire; nothing really slows him down.

After Azevado comes six-year-old Bionda Graciela, who is from Ecuador.  She has cerebral palsy and mild mental disabilities.  She is our resident giggler; seems that she is always laughing.  She is a joy to have around!  

The spotlight then shines on Finley Grace, who is five.  She has autism and other problems.  She requires a lot of supervision and patience, but underneath her aloof nature is a sweet-natured, giggling little girl just waiting to burst out.  Finley came to us from Guatemala.

Flint, our four-year-old, was abused as a baby; he now has seizures, is blind, and is brain damaged.  His is a really tragic story.  We took him in because nobody else was; his was a desperate case.  We haven't been sorry.  Flint is a sweet little boy who, like Bionda, is our resident smiler/giggler.

Flint requires 24-hour care, but we are more than happy to tend to his needs.  We love spending time with him (and the others).  Flint arrived to our family from Haiti.

Flint is the one who requires most of our time, as does Finley.

Finally, meet two--year-old twins Drake and Disney, who are developmentally delayed due to being born four months premature.  They don't walk or talk yet, but seem on the verge in doing both.  They are as lively as kittens.  They, too, require much in the way of patience/supervision.

Drake and Disney came to us from the United States, from the state of Georgia.

So that is our family.  Life is never dull with ten active children around.  Between scheduled doctor's visits/appointments, therapy sessions, surgeries/hospital stays (as in Flint and Azevado's cases), as well as sporting events/games (as in the cases of Emmett and Ephriam), our lives are jammed-packed with activity.  We are always so glad when baseball season is over; that way we can actually relax and spend more time with our kids.

When we can't be there, my mother, who lives nearby, watches over Finley and Flint.  That way, in case any problems crop up, she can be there to manage things when we can't.  She is a godsend.

I will be writing from time to time with periodic updates about our family.  You haven't heard the last from us, the Batchelders!  Until then, take care and may God bless you as much as He's blessed us!  This is P.J. Batchelder signing off!

~P.J. Batchelder, Eugene, Oregon.