River Rats

Nathan came home Friday afternoon to a very excited family.  He was able to stay up til 8PM, then we were all up bright and early to pull the kayaks out of storage.  

[If you like our beach bag, you can snag your own over at the Minus 1 Project! and help them bring home their little one from Korea ;-)]

 Ellie was pumped.  First of all, she got a new life jacket since Reni was inheriting her old one.  Here she is smiling because we're approaching a rather large and loud waterfall.

When you don't give a child a paddle, they get bored and try to do things like throw their water bottles in the river.  His sister tried this on her inaugural kayak ride so Mommy was prepared and had quick hands to catch it before it could be lost forever in the depths of the Kentucky River.

This ride has been anticipated since we purchased our "boats" (as the kids call 'em) four years ago.  You see, when we bought the two kayaks (a single and a tandem), we bought them in anticipation of having a sibling for Ellie someday.  The tandem has the capability of holding two child jump seats, one of which has been Ellie's seat back in the roomy back compartment where Nathan sits.  Saturday morning we installed the second one in my front compartment, up between where my feet rest.  Let's just say it's convenient that Reni doesn't have feet because I don't know that there would be room for 4 of them up there!  This set-up will suit us perfectly though at least through this summer.

 Not bad for over my shoulder, if I may say so myself.

 Reni wasn't upset about riding down the river, but I don't know that he really understood the hooplah at first.  Trying to get him excited by showing him his sister and Dad in the back.

All he wanted to do was eat "nah" (snacks).  That was Ellie's favorite part at first too.

Oh my goodness, what a cool dude.  I just had to include both pictures.  Shades or no shades?  Watch out girls!

 NOW he's figuring out this river thing.  This is kinda fun!

Ellie's showing interest in paddling!  This is good because I'm thinking next summer she might be taking over my seat and I'll be in the single ... where I will have much more leg room. ;-)
As we were packing everything up to return home, Nathan and I remarked how happy we were with our kayaks -- such a great family activity to get us outside and doing something fun altogether, enjoying the beautiful nature practically in our back yard!

Come back for photos from Ellie's Kindergarten awards party, riding bikes, and news about our decision regarding Ellie's schooling for next year.  SO much to share!

Virtual Reality

Anyone who knows me well, knows I am a fan of technology.  From the Canon DSLR cameras that we have been using to film here in Japan, to the Skype web calls that have helped make the distance from home feel smaller.  Japan is a land of technology.  I learned yesterday that many public women's bathrooms have a motion sensing sound machine in the stalls that "flush" to cover potentially embarrassing sounds.  There is little you can't find sold by vending machine, starting from the familiar drinks and snacks to toys and even lingerie.  There are no ticket windows for the trains or subways either, only an ATM style machine for the tickets that are then taken by a machine at the turn style to let you in or out of the station.  On the train, most passengers are texting away on their phones. (Interestingly, talking on your phone in enclosed places like the train or restaurants is considered rude and doesn't happen much.  Maybe we can make that catch on in the USA!)  With all of this technology around us, it is easy to be surrounded by people, yet feel disconnected.  Sometimes it is even hard to know what a 'real' relationship feels like.

On Thursday morning here in Tokyo (Wednesday night in Wilmore), I was able to get through to Cydil and the kids for a treasured Skype video call.  Cydil corralled Ellie and Reni long enough to bring them downstairs to the computer with our webcam and I heard the welcome "Do Da Do plop Do Da" Skype ringtone.  As the audio picked up and the video turned on, I heard Elisona complain, "I don't want that daddy!  I want the real one!"  She dutifully answered a few questions about her day at school, but got bored with her 'Skype Daddy' pretty quickly.  Reni giggled when I pretended to tickle his belly through the screen, but he didn't last too long either.  Cydil was soon distracted by Reni's dirty diaper that I could neither see nor help remedy, so the call ended with Cydil continuing to hold down the fort in my absence and me getting some breakfast to be ready for another day of videoing here in Tokyo.  Ellie counts days by the number of 'sleeps' between events, so for the last week or so the number of sleeps has been steadily decreasing.  I am actually typing this from the Tokyo airport and will post it in Chicago, so the number of sleeps is down to zero!  Yesterday Ellie told Cydil, "First I'll see his feet. Then I'll see his belly. Then I'll see his face and I'll say, DADDY!"  That picture will keep me motivated through the 11+ hour flight!  Ellie will have her 'real' daddy back!  One hug is more powerful than hours of Skype.

Sometimes we approach God like we do vending machines.  We robotically attend church and punch our spiritual time clock.  We have turned relationship into religion.  Not only does that substitution leave us empty, it does little to attract others to the Good News. One of the reasons the church is so small in Japan is that most non-Christians think Christianity is like all of the other religions they know about - a list of do's and don'ts.  There are some strong believers that are working hard to change that perception.  The earthquake and tsunami have made many in Japan long for something more real.  The church is seeking to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Through their work, some Japanese are experiencing the comfort of God as a loving Father for the first time. Isn't that what we all want? A hug from our real daddy?  How amazing that we serve a personal God.  Our heavenly father is more than words in a book He is a personal God who wants to be involved intimately in our lives. Time and space are not obstacles for Him!  

One More Sleep...

Ellie has been counting down the sleeps since Sunday.  This morning she rubbed her eyes and said, "One more sleep til REAL Daddy is here!"

"Real Daddy" is Nathan-in-person versus "Computer Daddy" (Nathan-on-Skype).  Last night she told him, "Daddy, I want you here so you can hug me!  Then I can play with my swords."  (Last week he showed her on Skype a gift he bought for her and Reni: padded samurai swords).

We got a happy surprise with news that Nathan would be landing about 7 hours earlier than originally planned.  This means that after Ellie's end-of-the-year awards party tomorrow afternoon, we can ALL go to the airport and pick him up.  As usual, Ellie had a special way of describing her seeing her Dad again and it went like this:  "First I'll see his feet, then I'll see his belly, then I'll see his face and say, 'Daaadddyyy!'" (Referring to watching him come down the escalator -- evidently her memories of this airport arrival with Reni are pretty fresh).

And how do I anticipate Reni's reaction?  In typical Reni style, he'll probably punch the air with a fist, grin, and say, "Yay!"

Thanks for praying for the kids and I during these 15 days home alone.  Overall, it has gone really, really well but we'll ALL be glad when Daddy is home.

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Happy Birthday, Babe!  Your birthday was officially over in Japan about 15 minutes ago, but you still have 12 hours and 45 minutes remaining here in the Eastern Time Zone!  I read your blog and it looks like you were treated well by your hosts and team members!  I tried three different takes to get the kids saying something to you on camera but it didn't turn out so well -- maybe if I had your mad video editing skills we could have had something cute. ;-)  Ellie kept singing Happy Birthday to her brother -- perhaps because singing to someone not present was too abstract?  Ah well, you know our girl.  When she has it in her mind to be silly, silly she will be!

We love you, appreciate you (even more when you are absent! ;-) ) and can't imagine life without you.  You are an amazing dad, friend, partner, team mate, and much, much more.  We celebrate you today and thank God for the gift of your life!

Love, me.

Kids Pics for Daddy

After noticing that Reni's hair looked like we were going for the Justin Bieber 'do (plus looking for something to do with the kids after school on Thursday), I determined it was a good time to take Els & Rens in for hair cuts.  They did great, so after getting back home we went outside to get a pic for Dad.  

The whole "posed thing" wasn't very successful, so I just let them play and kept snapping away...

Reni's favorite way to engage his sister is to tackle her. 

The next thing on my appointment list is to get Ellie's glasses tightened.  I don' see how they can possibly do her any good like this!

Peekaboo (or, as Reni calls it, "Peek Boo") still tickles the two of them

Reni presently finds it hilarious to say the word, "Pizza!" very loudly.

Cool!  Ants!

PEET-ZAH!!!

I think Ellie could have a future as an animal trainer.
She took Reni's piece of chalk then proceeded to say, "See the chalk, Reni?  Follow the chalk Reni!"

I think she wanted to entice him into the woods like Hansel & Gretl (except in stead of woods, it's an overgrown hedge row).

From our friends Arthur and Hanna...

Bring Him Home from Arthur Rasco on Vimeo.

Arthur is a beautiful cinematographer and editor (we met him when he worked with us at WGM -- now he shares his talents at Samaritan's Purse).  Take a moment to watch this brief (48 seconds) video.
Their link has been over on the right margin of our blog if you want to check back on their unfolding story.

It's not always bad to be different...

I am writing this post from Tokyo, Japan.    I am leading a team of media students  who are trying to bring some of Japan back home to the USA through videos about the Japanese church.  Between the camera equipment we are hauling around and our lack of Japanese language skills, we tend to stick out here a little bit.

It is no fun to stick out.  I think there is something in all of us that wants to belong, to be normal.  There is maybe nowhere in the world where this is more true than here in Japan.  I have been told that the worst thing in the world for most Japanese is to be labeled as different.  So imagine how lonely it must be at times to be a Christian in a country where less than 1% of population claim that distinction! 

Today I met a young believer in the local university who attended a Christian high school here in Tokyo.  It is not uncommon to hear of high schools that were begun by Christians decades ago and still go by the name of 'Christian,' so I asked her how many other Christian youth were in her grade at school.  She told me that she and one other girl in the school of more than 200 were Christians!  That's 1% Christian in a 'Christian' school.  She spoke of the privilege she had to study for a year at a public school in Texas and of all the Christians she met there.  She added, "Not all of them were Christians though, so there was more work to be done!"

The challenge of reaching the youth in Japan seems especially daunting.  The pressures and schedules of school make it nearly impossible for even kids who grew up in Christian families to attend church during their high school years.  I have walked through the city these last 5 days and have been burdened with the fact that many of the youth I see have never known a single Christian they could call a friend. 

So how does any of this relate to fatherhood or adoption?

The Tokyo area alone has about 35 million people living in it.  99% of them - 34,965,000 (approx the populations of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky combined) are spiritual orphans waiting to hear of a pursuing Father that wants to adopt them into his family.  It has been great to be working with missionaries and Japanese Christians who are working hard to introduce the Father to these orphans.

Luke 10:2  He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Hangin' in there

Daddy is in Japan and we're holding down the home front in a chilly, soggy Kentucky.  I am due a post, but have been dreadfully bad at pointing the camera at my own children these days.  The photo above was taken on the day Reni turned 21 months, about 2 and a half weeks ago.  I thought taking his portraits in prosthetics would be easy.  NOT.  The boy just wanted to walk!  Duh!  This is Nathan's new favorite photo of his son.

In lieu of any real news, I'll share some videos that you may have missed if you don't follow our Twitter feeds.  First up is Reni trying out a wrap-behind walker courtesy of his physical therapist, Lee Ann.  We're going to see how this works this summer for giving him some independence outside in his legs.  If you're familiar with our general area (probably only if you're a current or former Asbury student), Reni walked across the street, around a parking lot a bit, then crossed West Main Street, past the new Media Comm building, across the Cage parking lot and halfway up the hill to the new physical plant!  We only stopped because we ran out of time!  He was thoroughly enjoying exploring on his terms. We cheated and hitched a ride on a golf cart back home courtesy of some phys plant workers who couldn't resist stopping to cheer Reni on in his hard work.

This particular walker is good for his form because he doesn't learn out to walk leaning forward.



This next video is just some cute, happy, giggling kids, enjoying each other on the playground on Mother's Day.  I can't describe how special it is to me to see them interact and love each other.  Reni ADORES his big sister and his first words everyone morning as I lift him out of his crib is her name.  Ellie loves to tease him (in an affectionate way) and encourage him to say the WRONG thing.  Gotta work on that "example" thing, with Els. ;-)



Finally, Aunt Rebecca shared a link on Sunday from a local new segment featuring her Lynchburg AMBUCS chapter's dispersement of their first bicycles.  While for obvious reasons we couldn't be present to receive Reni's tricycle, his photo (from last week's blog post) did air at the beginning and end of the segment.
You can view that here:
http://www.wset.com/story/14649072/organization-provides-cycles-for-people-with-disabilities?redirected=true

Click the video player in the right-hand margin.

Finally, if you want to follow Nathan's travels in Japan, you can read those here:
http://asburywgm.blogspot.com

Blessing Upon Blessing

Over Easter we got a wonderful surprise shared with us by Nathan’s sister Rebecca.  We’ve been anxious to share it here on the blog, however we wanted to wait until things materialized before breaking the news officially! 

Through a series of what we believe were God-ordained events, Reni has received an amazing blessing!  Before I share what this is, I need to give a bit of background information so you can get a picture for the amazing-ness of this awesome gift!

Last month Rebecca received a call from the Red Cross to travel to a small town a few hours from her home to assist with their emergency response efforts after a tornado ravaged the area.  From what we understand, over the course of performing her duties, Rebecca discovered that one of the other volunteers by her side regularly worked with individuals who are mobility-challenged.  During the time they were supposed to be sleeping for another long day ahead, Rebecca shared with this individual (Nancy) about our Reni and a little bit of his story.  In response, Nancy was excited to tell Rebecca about her involvement with an organization called AMBUCS, a group close to her heart after they blessed her son with a new degree of independence through a therapeutic cycle after he became paralyzed in a diving accident.  

Nancy told Rebecca that she was starting an AMBUCS chapter in Lynchburg (where both of them happen to reside). Would Rebecca be interested in getting involved in the local chapter at the ground level?  [If you’re not familiar with AMBUCS, it’s “a non-profit service organization dedicated to creating mobility and independence for people with disabilities.”]  Furthermore,  Nancy said their chapter was looking for their first individual to sponsor and could they sponsor Reni?  From what we understand, they are not just sponsoring him for this first tricycle, but future tricycles as he grows!

We submitted his measurements and a week and a half later (yesterday), this box arrived at our door!

P.S. We are getting a helmet -- we just had to try it out before Daddy left for Japan a few hours later...

Isn't this the coolest tricycle you've ever seen?

Nancy and Rebecca, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!  Our summer got even more fun!

Refreshed

I think it's kind of interesting that after a post about how out of control life feels during these weeks, I am writing about how I allowed myself (with Nathan's strong encouragement) to step out of the craziness for a day to attend a retreat this afternoon in Louisville on Rest and Reflection for adoptive moms.  It was such a blessing, I wish I could have brought all of my adoptive mom friends!  Talk about a place where people speak your language!  And these were all moms who love the Lord and want to raise their kids to love Him too; who know that only His healing is sufficient for the hurts of our children's past but that he can bring restoration and in the process change us too.  The retreat was a pre-cursor to the Summit VII by the Christian Alliance for Orphans, held this year in Louisville.  Unfortunately, this is the only part of the Summit that I would be able to attend, but I rode up and back with my friends Amy and Jackie, so even the time in the car was a special, blessed time!  One of the chief organizers of the women's retreat happens to be the sister-in-law to one of our former college professors and fellow church member, Dr. Steve Hillis.  THIS Dr. Hillis (Susan) is one of the leading international researchers on HIV at the CDC, and happens to have adopted 8 children from Russia!

In her introduction to the afternoon's event she shared an analogy from scripture which I had never really considered through the eyes of an adoptive parent.  Her reference point was Psalm 107 in which the psalmist remembers the rescue of the children of Israel from the captivity and slavery in Egypt by crossing through the Red Sea.  This was followed by their subsequent wandering in the desert before crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  Even if you haven't adopted, you have probably seen how moving a child from a situation of abandonment or institutionalization is only the beginning of bringing them into the place of promise, rest, peace, and security within a permanent family -- that the space 'in between' the two bodies of water can be a lonely, difficult place, the journey slow and arduous, with paralyzing giants looming in the distance. But provision comes from God in doses of 'manna' to supply what we need for each day, for each fear, tantrum or meltdown.  Dr. Hillis pointed out the recurring theme in Psalm 107 that for each problem, there was a prayer uttered ("Then you called out to God in your desparate condition..."), He came through with provision, which was proceeded by praise.

The attendees were broken up into groups based on the age of our children.  Since my heart has been heavy for decisions we have to make soon for Ellie (more on that later) I chose to join the mothers of 5-9 year olds.  Our group went immediately to a room with five stations intended for each participant to have a time of quiet reflection.  Later portions of the afternoon would include a small group discussion time and another segment would feature a panel of "expert" moms.  Back in the reflection room, one of the stations was devoted to seeking a word from Scripture and Bibles were laid out under a wooden cross.  I decided to go to the Psalm just referenced by Dr. Hillis.  Before I could turn to 107, I stopped just shy of it in the latter part of Psalm 105, part of the same collection of "historical" psalms which includes the 107th.  In considering Ellie's journey from her "Egypt" to the Promised Land he has for her, I wrote these notes from Psalm 105 with her in mind:

He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,

He equips in abundance

   and from among their tribes no one faltered.

He grants strength/endurance

He spread out a cloud as a covering, 

He provides protection

   and a fire to give light at night.

He gives comfort/safety 

⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought them quail; 

He hears and provides for physical needs

   he fed them well with the bread of heaven. 

He gives Himself

⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

He revealed Himself through miracles 

   it flowed like a river in the desert.

His provision is abundant

 ⁴² For he remembered his holy promise
   given to his servant Abraham. 

He is faithful

⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing, 

He rescues

   his chosen ones with shouts of joy; 
⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations, 
   and they fell heir to what others had toiled for— 

His blessings are undeserved

⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts 
   and observe his laws.

So that [she] might know

   Praise the LORD.^[a

As we meet tomorrow morning with Ellie's teaching team to discuss her schooling (there are so many unknowns related to her future and the best strategies to help her reach her potential), this was a wonderful reminder that God has provided her (and us) with all our family needs.  His provision comes daily like manna for each situation that rolls our way.  As we seek further testing and evaluation this summer at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, this was a timely reminder that He is sufficient, He is trustworthy, and He has gone before us.

In ways that she understands, we try to daily communicate to her the special plan God has for her life and the joy and fulfillment we find in being a part of that plan. This historical psalms were intended to help the children of Israel remember the great and mighty ways God worked on their behalf.  The amazing thing about the word of God is how it IS so living and active to be so relevant to our personal lives today.  As I read the passage above, thanks to Dr. Hillis' analogy and the Holy Spirit, I'm reminded AGAIN of the way in which God worked so many miracles to bring Ellie (and Reni) into our family.  How can we do anything but trust the God who rescued her to hold her future in his loving and capable hands?  How has he helped you?

Where We've Been...

School is out!  Yesterday we said goodbye to another class of Asbury students.  It hardly seems real that the year which started just hours after bringing Reni home from Albania wrapped up yesterday afternoon.

I know the blog has been uber quiet this past month.  As you have probably surmised, life has been quite full -- and sadly, I've been so busy living life, I haven't had time to stop and document it or else forfeit precious hours of sleep (which are already too few)!

Here goes a quick recap of the last couple of weeks since Easter in Ohio (or otherwise known as, "Cydil's list of excuses"):

1.) We wrapped up a series of classes we have taken at church to be part of lay ministry (including prayer, serving communion, and becoming eligible for more leadership responsibilities).  We love our church and appreciate the opportunity to deepen our involvement and service to our brothers and sisters there.

2.) We have also have been playing the role of host & hostess a LOT!  First up was an end-of-the-year lunch with campus ministry colleagues.  We said goodbye to the Colemans who have been leading the OMS Center these past five years and enjoyed some reflection with others who share the same love and concern for our Asbury student friends.  We used the excuse of three dinners in 10 days to buy some pretty potted bulbs to set out centerpieces.

3.) A few days later we hosted an appreciation dinner for our graduating seniors who have served on our student leadership cabinet.  Our traditional gift is a personalized calendar with collages of photos from the past four years for each month (thank you www.shutterfly.com for this quick and easy gift!).  These are a lot of fun to create and seem to be well-liked (I've even gotten photos of them hanging on walls of new apartments)!  Nathan helped one of our musicians write a parody tribute song (to a popular Billy Joel tune).  We ended the night with a few tears and special prayer time.  After 12 years in this position, saying "goodbye" doesn't get any easier but we have also found it so rewarding to stay in touch and see what their years in college prepare them for as they transition to full-time adulthood.

4.) We got a request for further documentation from the I*R*S regarding Reni's adoption tax credit.  Have any of you recent adoptive parent friends NOT received this lovely letter?  Thankfully I kept decent records, but creating a report, ordering, cross-referencing, collating and copying 36 pages of receipts was nothing I had allotted time for.  Adding stress to the matter was the fact that we received TWO copies of this letter, causing us to question if they were wanting receipts from Ellie's 2006 adoption (from which we still had a small balance remaining from her tax credit).  45 minutes of waiting-on-hold-later we discovered that no, the 2nd copy was just for our records.  I know that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but in our day, 45 minutes is precious!  The silver lining to this situation was that a typo on our tax return resulted in a nearly $600 error -- which was caught because the gov't was holding our refund until we provided the receipts for our adoption expenses.

5.)  We got the bills for Reni's ear tube surgery.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Friends, ASK your doctor BEFORE you go in how much a procedure is going to cost. Even if you have insurance.  As a steward of your resources, ask.  I have always believed that if everyone knew the true costs of medicine, our health care decisions would be quite different, and this experience only verified it. But this again resulted in lots of phone calls and emotional energy expended. Moving on.

6.) During Finals Week (last week) we had a fun family night one evening eating at Chick-Fil-A as part of a fundraiser for the Uganda Team.  We also hosted study break/movie nights Monday thru Wednesdays evenings as another excuse to squeeze in some more time with our student friends. Yes -- our job has some great perks.

7.) I also started shooting patient portraits for the Wall of Fame promotion for A Caring Touch Pediatrics (the practice which takes care of Ellie and Reni).  The top photo of Ellie and Reni will be hung in the office. I have five more nights of shoots (about 20 more families) in the next 8 days which will keep me b-u-s-y!  Thankfully I have three different college girls which are working for me off and on to assist in post-production to get these sessions culled, edited, and posted before the end of the month. Yes -- as one thing winds down (campus ministry), I'm ramping up big time in something else!

8.) The washer and dryer haven't stopped running to keep up with the volumes of sheets and towels from the two guestrooms in the center which have had back-to-back guests in them between parents picking up their kids from college or coming for graduation. Thankfully I don't mind this chore and we get to meet some very nice people.

9.) Yesterday we held our last official event of the school year which was a post-commencement reception for 9 families of students. Believe it or not, after knowing some of these students for four years, it is the first opportunity we have to meet their families.  We appreciate the opportunity to express to them our gratitude for their son's or daughter's involvement at the student center.  In addition to our usual fare of cookies, cake, nuts, and lemonade, Nathan grilled chicken tenders and we made potato skins from his over-purchasing for the senior dinner.  After everyone left, we crashed and watched the Derby in between washing up platters and carafes.

Ellie with one of her favorite grads (and frequent sitter), Erin!  Ellie kept our visitors entertained, regaling them with tales and mini games (along with requests for them to sing Happy Birthday to her -- and no, her birthday isn't for another 6 weeks).

10.) Today was mother's day and I woke up under-the-weather.  I wonder why?  After some medicine along with a morning and afternoon nap, I felt much better and after getting the building ready for yet another round of guests (yes, even on a Sunday night!), we picked up Subway and took the kids to the park.  No, I don't have pictures of this, or of Ellie and Reni enjoying the little family of baby birds we have watched hatch and grow in the kitchen window.  I think I will make another blog post of their recent activities and milestones as this one has gone way too long!  Hopefully the next post won't be so long in coming!

The Sparrow Fund

I've mentioned here before about the wonderful website www.WeAreGraftedIn.com (WAGI).  The same folks who created WAGI, are now launching "The Sparrow Fund", an organization created to specifically assist families at at the referral review stage in the adoption process.  They state on their website:

"Adoptive families can become overwhelmed by the financial costs of adoption. Participating in a program [to provide counsel and comprehensive medical reviews of their referred child]  is an added expense that is difficult to manage. There are so many unknowns when it comes to adoption, and we believe that preparation plays a significant part in making the unpredictable road of adoption a little more smooth. 

Just one year ago we found ourselves at that place when we were unexpectedly presented with information about Reni.  We were blessed to have a great pediatrician and other medical connections to look over his paperwork and inform us about life with a special needs child like him.  Not every family is so fortunate and we are excited to support The Sparrow Fund as they seek to offset the cost of some of those pre-adoption expenses and connect families with experienced medical professionals who are accustomed to performing international medical reviews.  As they state on their website, it is those reviews that often bring clarity when it is most needed.

I encourage you to check out their website to learn more (you might just recognize some folks pictured within)! If you know of any families in the beginning stages of the international adoption process, send them the link!  We believe this can be a valuable resource for others!