Sisters...

We've had the privilege of parenting 3 lovely girls over 5 years ago for a year. Rarely, you are able to keep in contact with children when they leave foster care, but in our circumstance we have. It's been amazing to see these beautiful sisters with incredibly different personalities blossom into young women.

Here's Niki! Niki's been back in our lives since the summer of 2008. She's such a sweet and wonderful soul. She was baptized (though it was against her birth families' wishes) in March of 2009. She lived in her own apartment nearby for a period of time, but circumstances brought her back to us. She's such a pleasure to have in our home. She is such a good role model for Alyona to follow. I think it has been a blessing to have Niki here for her. Niki is always our "forget me not."

Next, is Keri. Keri is such a sweetie, always willing to help out with anything. Keri graduated in the spring of 2009 and is living in Twin Falls with her family. She's the only sister out of the 3 who hasn't returned to live with us, but it's great to have her visit. She's a really good ice skater (even though she has only skated a handful of times in her life) and loves to come up in the winter and skate. Keri still lives up to her nickname, "falling rain, crashing thunder."

The youngest of these sisters is LeRissa. This child has some amazing talents which include singing and acting. We had a rocky start 5 years ago, but now have a great relationship with her. (We decided our clash was mainly because she and I have very similar and very oppositional personalities.) LeRissa is 17 and is working on her diploma at the Wood River High School (and has been living with us since August.) LeRissa is full of life and animated; I can almost see a future Hallie in her. She has really brought a special LIFE into our home. Her nickname has always been, "walking disaster." LOL!

I can't believe how blessed we are with Niki and LeRissa here. I was worried how things would work since another miracle of ours, Alyona, had only joined our family a year and a half prior. However, it has been amazing how perfectly everything has fallen into place. Like I said earlier, Niki has been a wonderful role model for Aly. Aly has been blossoming more and more - it is really amazing to watch her grow. Cole and Hallie seemed to hit a growth "jump" as well. I have seen the Lord's hand at work when families adopt more than one child in a short period of time, but I didn't quite understand how it would work in my own life. Now it has, and it is a wonderful miracle.