Update (from where we are)

Hello everyone! I first wanted to say, just in case any of you noticed...all references to where we are and the names of the kids have been removed. This is for the safety of all other future adoptions. Organizations like UNICEF are searching for blogs and taking excerpts out of context to stop international adoptions, so from here on out...even when commenting us back, please refrain from using children's names or the country we are in (thanks :-))

Now to the good stuff which will be so hard to summarize in a short posting tonight - as we will summarize the pages and pages in Erica's journal and i have typed several pages, and taken hundreds of pictures. As i write this, they are both laying asleep in the bed beside me.

We had the most amazing experience of meeting the kids yesterday morning, and they are absolutely wonderful! It was a calm and beautiful meeting, - they were very shy and SO quiet, but over the past 24 hours, it has come to feel like they have been part of our family for years. One of the comments we have heard from so many of you who have seen their pictures was that you noticed how sad they looked in their pictures....well, that has changed as they both have the most beautiful smiles that light up their entire faces. K is a princess and W is the tiniest little boy with the biggest and cutest giggle. We have eaten all meals together and they eat every single piece of rice. We have played UNO, watched movies, colored, and sang. Oh their singing they have been singing praise songs they learned in the orphanage and it is incredible - it just brings you to tears. it is an unbelievable privilege to be able to sing "Yes Jesu loves me" with my children from the other side of the world. W will not put down a rubber ball and toy cell phone we gave him. They both speak very well and with the most beautiful accents. While their sizes seem to be smaller for their ages, their demeanor and speaking ability is beyond what we expected. K totally takes care of W in all ways, especially with regards to sharing her food....it would break your heart!

They are the most beautiful children you could imagine - God is SO good.

Today we had an amazing experience. We had an unusual privilege of traveling with an envoy out 45 miles into the bush to spend some time amongst a tribal village who live in grass and bamboo huts and live completely off of the land - we have some unbelievable pictures, and were followed around as we walked through the village by 20+children who were so intrigued by the funny white people. The abject poverty in this country is beyond words, and even the pictures we have to show what we have seen. This experience has already changed us, and shown us that we are so incredibly blessed by God for everything he has given to us.

We took the kids to the beach last night and walked in the waves. although we are only a few hundred yards from the ocean, they had never been here. What a joy to watch them react in fear and excitement as the water came up to their feet. We are able to walk down to a market to by fresh pineapple, Casaba root, and other local fresh fruits which are wonderful. There is so much to say, but our time with the computer is up.

K&K we miss you both so much and cant wait until you get to meet your new brother and sister. I know you will all over each other very much. We will try to post more tomorrow night. Love you all - thanks for caring for our kids and please keep praying.