Our Children Across the Globe

When Ryan and I were dating, we decided to sponsor a child through World Vision, a mission organization committed to helping ease the pain of poverty and disease while communicating the love of Jesus Christ. We chose a precious little three year old girl from Lesotho, South Africa. Here is the first picture we received of her.

Isn't she precious? Well, this little girl grew over the years.

She is now a beautiful 14 year old young lady.

Several years ago, we decided to sponsor two more children, one for Anna and one for Luke.

Here is Betinha. So cute. Every time I look at this picture I want to take out a tissue and wipe her little nose clean.

Maybe she's a little handful.


And here is Baphelele. Precious. . .

. . . and maybe a little shy.

Here are some shots of Anna and Luke holding their pictures. We took these to send to the kids so they would know we received their photos.

All three children are from different parts of South Africa which is a total coincidence since World Vision works with kids all over the globe. I think that's God's way of telling us we need to go visit all of them one day.
They all live in communities plagued by famine and disease. Mostly we receive positive updates of all that is going well in their communities: wells being dug, schools being erected, food, clothing, and health care being provided. We receive their pictures and personal notes and drawings. They always look very healthy which is such a victory itself. We have occasionally received letters of sadness informing us of the deaths of fathers, mothers, and grandparents. We suspect these are deaths from preventable disease, deaths that may not have occurred had they lived in different circumstances. They seem so far away, theirs lives so difficult and unfair.
But lately I've been feeling their closeness. When I hold their letters and pictures in my hands I realize I'm touching something they've touched. The physical distance between us is not really that far. We're a part of the same world. We have the same needs. We're watching them grow just as rapidly as our own children.
Aren't they just wonderful? It really is amazing to be a part of their lives.
We would like to ask you, our friends and family, to remember them in your prayers each time you remember our own children. And if you would like to know more about child sponsorship, visit worldvision.org.

Mmmm Fall!

WE LOVE FALL!!
Each time the weather changes and a new season begins, the Baders welcome it with open arms. (Except for nasty winter, of course, which is the season to celebrate all things dead and brown.) We always look forward to the changes: the changes in weather, the changes in activities, the changes in nature. In winter, we look forward to the warmth and flowers of spring. In spring, we look forward to summertime swimming and barefeet. In summer, we anticipate fall's cool (but not cold) evenings, pretty leaves, pumpkins, Halloween & Thanksgiving, cuddling up under blankets to read, and making s'mores on the fire pit. I love taking pictures of the kids in a big pile of leaves or cuddling up with some big, fat, pumpkins! Of course, we all know what comes after fall, but we'll not dwell on that.

To the Zoo

Our fall break consisted of a couple days to relax, a day for play dates, a wedding, a church picnic, and a trip to the Knoxville Zoo. It had been a few years since Anna and Luke had been, so they were super excited. Caroline had no idea what the long drive was all about but she did enjoy the cool animals and catching a cat nap in her stroller. Anna and Luke loved EVERYTHING. They excitedly ran from each area to the next until we had seen everything (and none too soon since our enthusiasm had thoroughly been drained after several hours.) This was a very nice day trip for everyone and helped add a little excitement to our fall break.

Trip to Pittsburgh

We traveled to Pittsburgh, PA for Ryan's cousin's wedding a few weeks ago. The drive was less than desirable, but seeing Ryan's family was great. Ryan officiated the wedding, which was outside at a beautiful golf course. It was lovely, and we wish Bryan and Christy all the best. Unfortunately, I took no pictures of the wedding itself. But I made sure I got some of Great Grandma and Grandpa Bader who are faithful blog readers. We love you all!

Hooray for Nebulizers!

These are some shots I took of Caroline at the doctor's office recently. She looks pretty happy, so you'd never know that just a short time before this visit, she could hardly breathe. Basically, over the past six months, on three separate occasions, she'd gone from absolutely no symptoms of anything to labored breathing worthy of panic over the course of just a few short hours.
We (Ryan, myself, and the doctors) are perplexed about what is causing her lungs to respond so violently. We thought maybe she has a seasonal allergy that was causing the trouble, but the results from a blood test indicate otherwise. She's not allergic to anything. She's not catching some type of sickness. Her lung tissue just seems to suddenly react to something and swell. Weird.
Luckily, modern medicine has come up with something cool called a "nebulizer" that works like magic. We simply squirt a little medicine into a machine that turns it into a mist which Caroline then breathes in while wearing a sad little mask. It takes about 10 minutes, which can seem like an eternity, so we sing songs to pass the time. Caroline's favorite is "The Wheels on the Bus" just in case you were wondering.
Anyway, this little modern miracle turns Caroline's frown upside down as you can see above. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll discover the answer to her lung phenomenon. Until then, we're starting to run out of ideas for cutsie toddler songs that don't get irritating after repeating 11 times. Any ideas anyone?

You ain't foolin' me!

Caroline is a pretty good eater. She has, however, recently rebelled against raw carrots. This is disconcerting not only because carrots are healthy, but because they're my tried and true stand by for a no prep way to get vegetables into the growing bodies of my children. You can pretty much count on carrots with most any lunch we have. So you can imagine my horror when I saw Caroline spit them out recently. I thought, "What's this? You don't like the carrots? Oh, no. What does the rest of the world do at lunch time with no carrots? We have a peanut butter sandwich, a quarter apple, milk, and . . . well. . . what? We've gotta get a veggie in there somewhere. Maybe I could steam some broccoli. Or how about some yummy sweet corn? Maybe a nice side of peas. Oh, but wait. I forgot. I don't really do the whole cooking thing at lunch time. I put off that horrid practice until the evening hours when I force myself to turn on the stove. Whatever shall we do?" Hey, maybe I'll let her dip them in some peanut butter. Yeah, that's it. Camo the carrots! She'll never know the difference. Here you go Caroline. Here's some peanut butter and some yummy orange . . . umm . . . sticks! yeah, for dipping. What are you doing Caroline? No, baby. You've gotta bite the sticks. Come on Caroline. Don't just lick the peanut butter off. It's a really yummy orange STICK. BITE it! Please? Just bite the orange stick, dadgummit!! Good grief. Now I've gotta go and turn on that stove. And it's not even 5:00 yet.

Soccer?

Growing up, Ryan and I both enjoyed sports. Between us, we've played basketball, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and football (well, powder puff and intramural, but that counts, right?) We've always hoped our kids would also enjoy sports. I've always thought I'd be open to them playing whichever sports they chose.
However, the day Anna asked to take up soccer, I was less than thrilled. I know nothing of the soccer world, other than the fact that touching the ball with one's hands is frowned upon. Nevertheless, our firstborn is now a ballet dancing, piano playing, soccer girl. I'm enjoying watching Anna and asking as many questions as she is. Why is she going that way? Why did she just pick up the ball? Why doesn't she just shove her out of the way? I think #3 is a boy. Yep, I'm sure of it. Go, Anna, go!! No, the other way!