Nathan's Little Friend

age seven

 

Nathan cares about little creatures and how they may be feeling. I love that about him! Once we get all re-settled (and I have no idea how long that's going to take!), I think I'm going to get him a few show bunnies to care for, snuggle with, and show at the fair. 

The Fair - Entries

 

 

 

Nathan's aquarium

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark's Bunny in Egg (felt)

 

 

 

Nathan's Christmas Entry (felt)

 

 

Luke's Torn Paper Entry

 

We are busy with last minute Fair Entries. :)



Autumn

Supposedly it is Fall now even though it is still nice & warm here (just the way I like it!). We are keeping busy with three soccer teams, home school and preparing all of our fair entries. The boys always enter in many categories and John & I are going to compete this year too.

We are missing Romeo, enjoying our new kitten (we call her "Princess Poo Poo" - hope that little problem of hers improves soon! Aaak!) and continuing to work on our home to prep it for sale. We have so many questions still  re. trying to sell, moving to? for a temporary place to live, building, home study, adoption....and sometimes it is very overwhelming. But, we continue on & look forward to the future, especially the opportunity to adopt more precious little Princes or Princesses. I feel so ready for more children - cannot wait to welcome them into our family & our hearts forever! It is HARD to be patient and to wait! There are children that are desperately hoping for families to belong to NOW! The need is great!

Moving forward ...the best we can....day by day....

"Jewel"

Look who showed up mewing for help on the road in front of our house.

I was NOT looking for a second cat but the timing just might have been perfect.

 

 

 

Little Jewel on Mark's lap



Good Byes

We said our final good byes to our much-loved Romeo today.

Sad, sad times.

This is him at about 12 weeks.

 

 

This is a really funny memory we have of him when he got caught getting into the cat litter box again!



Trying...

...to cope the best we can here. John & I are going to go meet with our wonderful, tender hearted Vet one more time today, to consult re. Romeo. I doubt it will change the end result, but I think it will increase our understanding & peace of mind, which is so valuable.

John commented the other day that he was so glad that it is not one of our kids that is so sick & that is for sure! But, it still hurts and that's OK. Love is always the right choice even if it hurts. So much better to love & hurt than to never love at all.

Last year, at about this time, we all drove to Iowa and back (which is an 18 hour drive maybe? each way) to get this darling little pup. We named him Romeo or Royalair's This I Know for "fancy". We hoped he would eventually be my next TDI dog (licensed therapy dog) and a wonderful family pet. And he was. But he had several health problems, none were severe, but they kept appearing, until this past month when they got serious. He apparently has a mysterious immune system disorder that causes  all kinds of bad things & is 100% resistant to even aggressive treatments, which we have tried. Yesterday, my wonderful vet performed another exam of Romeo along with blood tests. Then we had a meeting.

The reality is that Romeo is basically dying - the immune system disorder has been causing him to lose weight, coat becoming dull and he has to be in some discomfort although it is not at all obvious as he remains his happy, silly self. Another major concern is that the illness seems to be reaching his brain and is causing some odd behaviors which are made more serious because of his size - he is 100 lb +.

So, are facing a very rough week of having to say good bye to our sweet, gorgeous and only one year old dog.

Note: Our vet does not think that the breeder we got Romeo from is at fault at all. We have been impressed with Royalair German Shepherds in the 15 plus years we've known them.

Mercy Project - Addressing Child Slavery in Ghana

This is a relatively new ministry that I was asked to blog about, and after learning more about it, I was very willing to do so! It seems respectful of the Ghanaian culture- of the village leaders - and offers a creative way to help end child slavery in Ghana.

As I understand it, what this ministry does, is go into the villages that depend on fishing to survive. They are the ones that have child slaves to hep them on their boats. The Mercy Project workers begin to meet with the village leaders and, over time, introduce them to the idea of farming fish - that is, raising the fish in enclosures. This method yields better harvests for the fishermen and eliminates the need for the child slaves.

Once there is no need for the slaves, Mercy Project takes custody of the children & brings them to a safe place where they can recieve medical care & counselling. Efforts are also made to reunite the children with their families.

I have tried  & tried to load an excellent video that explains the project better than I have, but it just isn't working for me. Grrrr! I did manage to get it posted on my FB page though, so if you are on FB, please go check it out. It is NOT graphic, but I could barely manage to watch it as the little boys pictured could so easily have been my precious sons (also from Ghana). These are real children. Real needs. Let's learn more & and ask God how we might be involved. There are so many things we can do. Get the word out! Not everyone is aware that child slavery is alive & well today. Pray! Support financially! Go and help out hands-on in Ghana or in other parts of the world! Why not?

Here are few pics of precious little boys that are slaves in Ghana.... (pics provided by Mercy Project)

You can learn much more at www.mercyproject.net