My daughter, Amandita Grace, has been with our family for the past ten years.  We adopted her from India when she was a toddler.  She was only three when she came to our family and we couldn't be happier.

Amandita was born with shriveled up legs that prevented her from walking.  As a result, her birth mother abandoned her at an orphanage; she stayed there until she was three.  Then we saw her photo on a website, and the rest is history, as they say.

We knew when we saw Amandita's photo that she was the one for us.  We didn't care if she was disabled: all we saw was a pretty little girl in need of a family and a home, so we took her.  The day she arrived was the happiest day of our lives; I can't watch the video without crying all over again.  There were many tears (of joy) shed that day.

Amandita has since fit into our family; she is a typical teenager.  She loves rock music, talking on the phone, playing on the computer, hanging out with her friends, writing in her journal, writing poetry or stories, and going to church.  Amandita accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour when she was ten, three years ago and God has done an incredible work in her.  The change in her has been miraculous.  Where she used to be painfully shy, Amandita has become extremely outgoing and compassionate.

Amandita can walk now (with the aid of crutches attached to her arms and leg braces), but nothing slows her down, not even falls.  She delights in everything that life has given to her and she doesn't know a stranger: she is friends with everyone she meets.

When she grows up, Amandita wants to be a teacher or a mother.  I think she would do very well in both occupations.  She loves children with all her heart and reaches out to those kids who are teased or forgotten.  The love she has inside of her is incredible!

Besides Amandita, we have two other daughters: Haileigh Hope (10) and Teagan Michelle (8) (both adopted from China) and three sons: Tyler Mark (15), Johnathan Patrick (J.P.) (6) (adopted from Russia), and Elijah Paul (3) (adopted from Ethiopia).  We are a regular rainbow family, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  Our children have been nothing but blessings in our lives and we would give them the world, we love them all that much!

Well, Elijah just woke up from his nap, so I will tend to him and try to entertain him.  The other kids are at school; I don't expect them home until later this afternoon.  I will write in here again with another family update; stay tuned!  God bless!

~Ricci Maria Fullerton, Garden Grove, California.