Life with Faith

So, while I was at a Mom's event this weekend, someone asked, "Do you blog about your life with Faith?"  I remembered I used to while I waited, and when I was getting her, but that I hadn't in a very long time.  Why? Because life with Faith, is busy!!!  My hands, these days, are busy signing away, picking up barbie shoes, or giving baths, to be whirring away on a keyboard.   However, inspired by that day, and this amazing story, that God has allowed to continue I will post a quick update.

Faith is doing amazing, I know cliche - but its all I got.  When I look at this little girl, who came to us barely a size 2T (at age 3.9 months), and is now almost at 5T (at 5.3 months), I am amazed.  When I think about this girl who could only give a thumbs up to express joy, and a very nasty scowl to express dislike, can now ask me where everyone in the family is when I go into her room in the middle of the night when she's woken up screaming, is astonishing!   It occurred to me the other night, after such an episode, that this ability to communicate had brought to her more than just words, but the ability to relieve her fears and anxieties.  As I answered that Daddy was sleeping, AJ was sleeping, Ian was in his room playing video games, and that Mommy was in the livingroom on the computer, and watched her face just melt into peace, that these things must have been weighing on her all this time, but she had no way of asking  -- it wells my eyes with tears now to think about it.  

We have struggles, its not all smooth sailing -- she still closes her eyes, and even sometimes starts to hit me if I am trying to sign to her at Mass.  She still thinks its ok to TOUCH ever single thing she comes in contact with, even after being told several times NOT to touch it.  She still tries to open every door we encounter, which after she let herself OUT at my sister's house has been a real fear for me, and a forbidden behavior for her! She still loves bedtime some nights, and ABHORS it others -- when it is NOT her plan to go to bed, she can be a mighty big stinker!  Refusing to cooperate with even the simpliest of bedtime routines, getting limp like a noodle, and obstinate like a bull!!   Like all 5 year olds, she likes this her way or the highway, and is constantly trying to assert her independence, find her way, and push all boundaries. but boy do we love the SNOT OUT of her!!!

Faith has the cutest little face, that gets cuter with pigtails, those crazy purple glasses, and goofy grinded down straight tooth grin!!  She cracks herself up, laughs ridiculously loud , that contagiously brings laughter from all those around her.  She is a huge helper, the first to grab the other end of the laundry basket, push the 'start' button on the dishwasher, or lend a hand with the vacuum cleaner.  She hugs like a bear, cuddles like a kitten, and steals our hearts like a fox!!!  We can't believe that God would love us so much to allow us to be her parents, and continue to pray for the GRACE to do the best by her that we can.  We look at our children, and praise God for His goodness, especially that I am able to be home to school them , providing us even more blessings and opportunities that would not exist if they were in school.   She learns as much for her 2 big brothers as she does from me!! 

So that's what Life with Faith is like these days ... who could ask for anything more!!

China's Lost Girls

This show was amazing, what a flood of memories and emotions it brought back!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/80238/explorer-chinas-lost-girls

Here is one China Girl who isn't lost anymore!

This is a picture of Ian and Faith at the swim up bar in Jamaica!  Uncle Joe and Aunt Cheryl took us there for a week.  What an awesome time we had, the weather was great, the people there at the Iberostar hotel were awesome!  Faith, Ian and Adam had a wonderful time as did Allison and I.

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2100568&id=1564947730&l=75d3cad9e5

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

It was Faith's second Christmas in America and as a Gingras and what a difference a year makes!  She knows so many signs and is so comfortable around our family and friends that it doesn't cease to amaze us!  She is now an integral part of our Christmas traditions! We did so much with her this year!

• A trip to Edaville Railroad.  She loved the train ride and signs train now every time she see's a picture of one.  
• Visited Jordan's Furniture to see the Enchanted Village and LITE show.  She loved the fake snow!
• Went bowling again, Faith seems to really like bowling!
• Went to see Festival of Lights and walk around there and say hello to Santa Clause.
• Saw the Heritage Plantation lights and rode the merry go round.
• Went to the Christmas Store on RT 18.
• She loves signing tree now too!  Trying to get her to add the Christmas sign in front of it.
• Sadly the snow is just a bit too much for her still but soon!  She seems to really want to go play in it.

I loved watching my dad play chase around the kitchen table with her on Christmas day!

Another very cool thing was going to the signed Mass in Hopkinton with Fr. Shaun Carey (a deaf priest) the Sunday after Christmas and signing with people we met afterwards.  It really taught me that I need to have a New Years Resolution of getting much better at practicing and learning sign language for her if I want to communicate with her as she progresses.  I can't always have Allison around to translate!

This year I need to reflect on how blessed we are that God chose us to do this and how blessed we are with family and friends who have been so supportive to date.  Blessed that Faith FengHua Gingras is so well adjusted and how easy a transition it was for us and for her.

Peace - Kevin G.

Faith the Copy Cat

So as I sit here in my big chair with Faith next to me I ponder what a whirlwind year it has indeed been!  She's accomplished so much!  Right now I type this on my computer and she works on her computer right next to me, Faith is a copy cat!

Her brothers use her copying to teach her things like how to be a punk rapper as you can see below!

But what a totally fantastic year it has been!  Oh, sure Faith tests us here and there but so do Ian and Adam and most every normal child!  There are many times that I test Allison's patience as well :) but overall it's been great.  Faith is doing Little Gym and Physical Therapy.  Allison is teaching her and a bunch of other folks sign language once a week!  I have a lot of catching up to do to learn ASL!!

I was reading older blog entries and thinking back how much I leaned on God a year ago.  This was our last day in Wuhan (Faith's province) a year ago.  I was praying so hard then.  I still pray, I still lean on God but I need to get back to where I was a year ago - no - not Wuhan - I mean my prayer life.  I need to get back to that trust, that faith and reliance I had.

Well, life is good!  It's been great hearing from all the other families we were with in China about how their kids are and have been through the year.

Well, I think I've ping ponged from one subject to another enough for now.

PEACE!

KG

A year already?

It was one year ago today that we got on a plane to start our journey to China!  It seems like we have had Faith as part of the family forever but it's been just under a year (we got Faith on November 2nd 2009).  So much has happened within that year!  I remember the first group of photo's we received, I think back in March or April of 2009 when we made the decision that Wu FengHua was the one!

She has grown so much bigger now physically and mentally. I'm glad she wasn't this heavy when I had to carry her around Wuhan and Guangzhou!  She can also communicate so much better.  She knows so many signs.  Stop, Potty, Rabbit, Horse, Oops, Stop, Eat, Kiss, Squirrel, AJ, Mom, Dad, Bless, God, Jesus...the list goes on and on!  We have even been able to tell her to go get Ian for dinner and she did!  Allison knows how many total words and communicates with her so much more.

Our journey to China was so flooded with prayers thanks to everyone!  We still pray but now the prayers are of thanks to God!  Thanks for all the wonderful people who watched our kids while we were gone, thanks to all who prayed and continue to pray for us, thanks to everyone who assisted in any way, shape or form, thanks for bringing Faith into our family, thanks for getting us home safe from China, thanks for the wonderful year we have had with Faith and thanks for many more to come!

It's been an interesting adventure from the start and I'm loving every minute of it!  To close please check out the video of Faith and Pete Bouchard (I call Pete her boyfriend)

PEACE!

KG

NH Vacation and communication

Communicating is going very well with Faith now.  On October 5th I was able to tell her to got get Ian from his room for dinner.  Ian knew what she meant!  That was a big moment for us!

We went to New Hampshire on October 1 thru October 4th  and had a great time. We tagged along with the Toste famly.  Ian, Adam and Faith loved all the rides.  Faith even took the front seat in the Bamboo Shoots ride!  She loved the splashdown!

We stopped at Story Land on Saturday, then Santa's Village on Sunday.  I think the bumper cars were her favorite ride at Santa's Village, we did that ride a LOT!

Then on our way home on Monday we were going by Clark's Trading Post and decided to stop in there for the Train Ride and Bear Show.  That was pretty cool!  Wolfman didn't scare Faith at all!

We also stopped at the Basin for a bit of a stroll.  My recommendation is to NOT stop there to use the toilets, they are NASTY!  Whenever we stopped the car Faith would sign play.  No matter where we went she thought it was time to go on rides!  The kids were great with her.

One issue we had was sleeping.  We only had two beds and I don't even think they were queen sized.  If Faith was in bed with us she would get too excited and just want to jump around and play.  Allison put her on a bunch of blankets on the floor and felt terribly guilty.  Faith, she fell asleep within moments of hitting the floor thus the floor became her bed for the trip.

We stayed at the Lantern Resort Motel and Campground.  That place is cool, I highly recommend it.  We even got to go on our own private hay ride on Sunday night.

I think it's easy to say that Faith is indeed one of us.  Last night we were playing soccer in the kitchen (shh, don't tell Allison) with her ball and when I said we were finished so I could go fold laundry Faith tapped me on the leg and signed 'cry'.  I couldn't stop after that so we played for a while more.  She can tell us a lot of things now and is learning to express herself more and more daily....

KG

Communicating with Faith

I'm slowly learning to communicate with Faith.  We can tell each other a few things like:

• She can let me know it's time to go potty
• I can tell her to stay here 
• I can ask her if she wants a drink or food and she can tell me when she wants those things.
• I can tell her I love her.
• Can tell her when it's time for bed.
• Am able to say be careful.
• Tell her to throw away some trash and clean up when she's done.
• She loves to tell me it's bath time.
• She tells me she want's to play and can even add things like ball to that sentence if she wants to play soccer.
• I can easily communicate when I'm angry, sad, happy etc... facial expressions are so important.

There are many more things we can communicate.  There are also some frustrating times communicating for both of us.  The other day she was trying to tell me something and I had no clue and it was clear she was getting angry when I just kept signing "what?".

There are also times, like when we were in Plymouth the other night, where I was communicating verbally with Ian and Adam and realized I was leaving her out.  Those are the times when I get frustrated, I want to have these long conversations with her and I realize my lack of sign language prevents that, I need to keep it simple for now if Allison isn't around.

We still have a lot of fun, it's amazing what you can communicate without anything verbal or even signed.  The language of fun is indeed universal!

For some reason running around cracks her up.  She was running around in Plymouth on September 23 and laughing hysterically!

That's a two part sign for smile, I wanted to take her picture so I signed smile to her.  She was quick to copy me!

All the pictures of that night are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kpgingras/2010Fall#.

KG.

Allison has gotten involved as a guest blogger on Sensational Homeschooling in honor of Deaf Awareness Week!

Check it out at the link below!

http://www.sensationalhomeschooling.com/2010/09/literacy-through-hearing-loss-5-tips.html


And what would a post be without a picture?

Just Faith and I in Plymouth

Last night just Faith and I went to Plymouth.  First she sat in the stroller but then she ran free after getting some ice cream!

She still is a little awkward running around but she did great, didn't fall once!  She loved waving to everyone we passed and holding my hand and jogging around.  She did seem to always want to run into the road.  I didn't like that one very much but she did well listening to me when I told her no.  Probably because she saw so many people crossing those nifty looking green crosswalks and we did cross a couple of times with the carriage.  Faith was good staying by the waterfront.  She would run, while holding my hand and crack up.  For some reason running cracks her up.

It is very interesting just sitting with her.  She can communicate fairly well now.  She would sit on a bench and then tell me to sit down next to her so I would.  Then every bench we came across we had to sit down.  She'd sit down first then tell me to sit down.  At one point there were two benches next to each other.  Faith sat on one then told me to sit down so I sat on the other bench.  She promptly hit the bench next to her and signed "sit".  She definitely wanted me to sit with her.  I got the hint.

All in all it was a great night.  We got home and she washed up brushed and went to bed.  Alas, I was out by 9:30, I think she was still up playing with her doll in bed so she outlasted me!  KG.

Today's Gospel

Today's Gospel was Matthew 19:23-30 (click on link to read the whole thing).

The part that struck me was verse 29:  And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.

I instantly thought of Faith's mother and father.  I've often felt a bit odd about her birth parents, how could they give her up, what a horrible thing to do.  This reading, for an obviously Godly reason, made me realize that they gave her up out of love, out of sacrifice for a better life for her.  Could I give up one of my children if I knew it would be for a better life for them?  Probably not.

I know her parents probably didn't give her up for the sake of Jesus' name but they did it to offer her a better life, they knew they couldn't provide for her properly, they did it out of Love, and isn't God Love after all?  Today Faith's birth parents will be in my prayers...

KG.

More stuff about Faith

We have been taking Faith to a lot of appointments lately!  Her ultrasound on her kidneys are normal so her genetic issues regarding deafness won't be worst.  Apparently if her kidneys turned up anything then things would be bad and eventually she could lose her eyesight as well!

The Dr. thinks that Faith may have slight Autism, Allison has noticed it too.  I guess my ignorance is bliss!  She will also need a lot of physical therapy to help her to start walking better.  She still walks around like a little drunk Chinese kid!

I went out and got a pool for her and AJ earlier this summer, not sure if I blogged that yet.  They absolutely love it and with the heat we have had it's been great.  I've even been known to sit in it and relax from time to time!

We are off to my company picnic today.  They have carnival rides, free food, games and all sorts of things.  Should be interesting trying to chase her around there, we will be bringing the stroller for when we need a break!  I can't wait to take her on the big slide, you know the one with the potato sacks. AJ is very much looking forward to it!  Ian is at a Catholic Middle School leadership retreat this weekend at St. Thecla's in Billrica.  He's having fun so far, at least that's what his phone msg said last night.

Oh well, signing off for now....KG.

Saturday morning ponderings

It's only been almost ten months since adding Faith to our lives.  It's been a long strange trip where she has learned as much about us as we have learned about her.  God continues to guide this long strange trip but I find myself putting my trust in Him less and less each day and that isn't good.  I need to lean on His strength like I did in the beginning, like I did as I took my seat on that plane to China!

We have found out that she is deaf due to a genetic anomaly so she has indeed been deaf from birth.  She had a checkup recently and her Dr. said that she is indeed progressing as far as walking but not there yet.  There is also a possibility of autism.  If she were autistic she would be considered highly functional but it's something we will deal with when we know for sure.  It's tough to just watch her and analyze all this since she was unable to communicate without just yelling and hitting until she was four and Allison began to teach her sign language.

Faith is learning a LOT of words.  She still won't look at us long enough for sentences but that's slowly progressing as well.  Allison is done choir so she sits with us at Mass know and signs things to Faith when she can get her attention.  We aren't sure the exact number of words but she knows but it's over 100!  When we go on walks with her she will sign rabbit when she sees one.  She tells us to sit down all the time.  Potty was one she learned in China, she can tell us when she's taking a dump now as well so we don't have to smell for it (TMI???).  She can sign play, bath, stop, now and many others.  She understands a lot more of what we sign to her than she can sign back.  I still need to teach her "get daddy a beer".

The town has installed our signs as well around the house.  They actually put three of them up!  One at the front of the house lot and two as you approach the house from each street.  Not sure it's helping as cars still fly past here.  I should tell the Raynham P.D. that they can park in my driveway and have a ticketing field day, they could nab speeders as well as folks who don't stop at the two way stop sign at the end of the roads.

Faith still loves our trips we take to either the beach or the canal for a bike ride on Monday nights.  The beach is a bit much for me however, she's a tough one to chase around and you can't yell at her to stop when she is running off on you so I prefer canal bike rides where I can lock her in the seat behind me and know where she is.  We had to take a break from them a couple of Monday's due to the crazy hot weather we had in July, the hottest on record, hope August is at least reasonable!

Today we are off to see some relatives from Allison's dad's side of the family.  Adrionna is going to be rededicated for her relatives in Tiverton RI so we have to head down there at 9am.  Faith will get to meet some more new relatives!

Well that's enough ramblings for early morning, last day of July 2010.....KG

CAWLI Cousin's Reunion

We traveled down to Mystic CT on Saturday July 18th for our first CAWLI Cousin's reunion!

We met up with four other families who were with us in China.  It was great to see some of the other families that we traveled with and spend a day with them at Harkness Memorial Park in Waterford CT.  It was a hot one but everyone had a blast and the kids got along great!  Faith seemed to really enjoy seeing Olivia again.

The fun event of the day was wagon trains!  John Anderew (in the blue wagon) loved pulling everyone and anyone in the wagons!  Faith got a lot of free rides!

The park was awesome!  Lot's of quiet roads going through it, right on the Long Island sound (no swimming) so we could wade into the waters.  It was an awesome day!

We stayed in Mystic that night and had an interesting stay at the Ramada Mystic.  The sign we were welcomed with should have been a tip that not all was in order there.

We got there and before we went over to Mary and Jay and Olivia's house we had to check in and clean up and stuff.  Allison was trying to catch the weather and as I walked by the TV it made an interesting noise and went off.  Ian, Adam and myself were just going to go to the pool when Ian yelled "The TV is SMOKING".  It was indeed!  I unplugged it and Allison called room service.  Long story short, Ian, Adam and I went to the pool anyway and when we got back we had to switch rooms.  Then off to Mary, Jay's and Olivia's and for dinner we had:

That's Mystic Pizza from the movie.  Much like Cheers in Boston looks nothing like Cheers from TV, Mystic Pizza is very different from the movie.  Julia Roberts doesn't even work there.  

We stayed the night at hotel "almost burned down" and went to Mass at St. Patrick's church in Mystic.  A nice little church that had Central Air so that was a bonus!  After that we spent the day at a playground and then an afternoon stroll around Mystic.  We got to see the drawbridge in action so that was cool as well!

Special thanks to Jay and Mary for organizing this, we hope to make it a yearly thing now!  

All the photo's can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kpgingras/2010CAWLICousin#

Summer 2010

Well the summer of 2010 has been going GREAT!  Faith is one of us indeed, she can cause trouble when she wants to be we love her as much as we love Ian and Adam.  God has brought this joy into our lives and we couldn't have asked for it to be better!

Here is a rare shot of all three kids together...

Faith loves our beach trips as you can see above.  She loves pretty much everything that has to do with water!  Also, one of her favorite activities after our trips to Scusset is  a stop at DQ for some ice cream, Faith LOVES ice cream.  Did I stress that enough - LOVES ice cream! 

She also really enjoys all of our friends pools!

We even went out and got ourselves a little redneck pool that we can hang out in.  Faith loves it (so does AJ, Ian - not so much).  It's small, 8' diameter and only about 3' deep but it's good enough.  Faith loves to dive under water and jump around in it, she's the only one small enough to do that stuff!  I just love relaxing in it with the kids!

Been a good summer so far, lots of neat trips to Lexington and Concord and Plymouth and the Zoo.  In a couple of weeks we will head to Mary and Jay's and Olivia's in Mystic CT to have a kind of reunion.  Very much looking forward to seeing all the China folks again!

PEACE!  KG.

Fathers Day 2010

Well it's my first Father's Day with Faith, what a great addition to a Father's Day to Ian and Adam. 

I love the way Ian and Adam are with her, they make great big brothers.  Faith is already learning sign language faster than me, I knew that wouldn't be long!  She is so comfortable around us, loves mom more than me now but that's cool, she's with Allison more than me so that makes sense!

She is learning ASL now and doing it well but it's still frustrating sometimes when you just don't know the signs to communicate with her.  A lot of times she knows what we are signing but doesn't know how to sign back.  There are also times I have no clue what she wants.  We do manage but clearly patience, perseverance and prayers are going to help, I just need to remember to use them!!!

She's learning just to get things on her own as well.  She knows where the snack drawer is and likes to help herself to it a LOT!  We have to monitor that!  Same with the juice bags!

KG

Monday nights at Scusset Beach

http://picasaweb.google.com/kpgingras/ScussetMay172010#

We started our weekly treks to Scusset Beach on Monday May 17th with the Toste family.  May have been a bit early as it was indeed chilly there.  The water was painfully cold to stand in.  Faith understood not to go into the water.  Instead she played in the sand, ran in the sand and just had a generally great time.

Faith loves the beach and had a great time playing with her brothers Ian and Adam.  They dug a huge hole and jumped in it, played in it and just chilled in it. 

She has grown so much since we met her in early November and has developed a lot as well!  She knows a LOT of signs and her stability has improved also.  It's fun watching her run in the sand, she runs and cracks up while running.

There will be many more Scusset trips this summer, I promise!!

KG

Faith from summer?

http://picasaweb.google.com/kpgingras/ChinaCamera#

We sent off a care package prior to heading to China with some clothes, toys and a camera.  We sent it around June.  All we got back was a camera and we just stumbled across the photos so I uploaded them.

It's amazing to see how much she has grown and how much she has gained with respect to weight and height....

A bit of Americana for Faith

Photos of Herring Run and Plymouth

Well, we took Faith to see the Herring Run then off to Plymouth so she could see the Mayflower and the Big Old Rock.  Not sure she fully understood what it all meant but that's ok, we had fun! 

She isn't a sturdy walker on our grass.  You should have seen her on the beach in the soft sand!  A couple of face fulls of sand and even a bit in the mouth but all was well, she had a great time.  AJ had fun too dune jumping!

We definitely tired her out, she fell asleep on the way home.

Faith's Mommies

Last night, little Faith wasn't feeling so good.  She has a icky cough, and this awful inability to puke when she coughs. Yeah fun, but we're grateful we hadn't seen this since Wuhan.  I can handle throw up when there is no possible of me puking 24 hour later germs attached to them, but it is still unnerving especially when it happens in their sleep.  So I choice to sleep on the couch, easier and quicker access to her room if she needed me.  Around 2:30, she needed me.  I brought her out to the couch, laid her head on my chest, tucked her feet between my legs to stay warm (she has a tendency to cuddle up to me with little frog legs anyway - I wonder if this has anything to do with how the seem to bundle and carry the babies that I heard about from my friends who adopted infants?).   This is just one of the many questions about her life before us that I spend so much time pondering about.

Last night, as we lay there, her coughing, and me trying to help her relax so she can rest and get well, I started to again ponder her early life.  I thought about her birth mother, the woman who would have held her just as I was as little baby.  How long did it take them to realize she couldn't hear?  Who's decision was it to abandon her?  Was it the mother's, ashamed she'd brought not only a female to her husband, but one with a handicap?  Did she cry, as she placed her baby down in the parking lot of the hospital probably under the cover of night and run away?  What was Faith's birth name?  Did Faith cry in the dark, without the safety of an adult nearby?  How long did she lay there before she was found?  Abandoned - left without a trace of who you are, a history you will never recover.  Can any of us fathom what this feels like to the million of Chinese girls who will experience this reality every day?

Then came her second mommy, her foster mother.  I am sad I wasn't able to meet her, that I have no pictures of her to share with Faith.  That there is more history I will not be able to complete for Faith.  I know so very little of her 3 years with this family.  Were they loving or distant?  She is so loveable but I am never sure if that is because she never had it, or had so much of it that she continues to crave that closeness?  I did read that children who never make attachments are the ones that struggle to bond with their new families, so I can only assume from her quick bonding to us, that she was indeed loved and nurtured.   Her behavior, and the little information we do have, would suggest she was actually spoiled - given whatever she wanted maybe out of pity, or perhaps that little sly smile won over the men in her life (as it continues to do here!)  What were her days like, she doesn't easily engage with toys and books, she'd sit on my lap all day long and do nothing but cuddle if I allowed her too.  Yet, oddly the minute we get out in public she's a wild woman -- running around, wiggling out of my arms, and generally the complete opposite of how she is at home.  I know all parents say that, but this is more than the usual, there is definitely something to her behavior - I am starting to suspect it is a reaction to the overstimulation that being out of the house creates.  I am sure she was not out very much, and hasn't learned coping strategies with stimulus that comes from being out of the safety and familarity of your home. 

Which brings me to the final ponder of the day - as her third mommy, how safe do I make her feel?  How secure is she that there isn't a fourth mommy in her future.  I do pray, that isn't God's plan for her!!  Not just because I don't want to be dead or divorced lol, but I would be heartbroken to see her have to suffer any more traumatic transitions in her life.  She is truly remarkable that after all this, she continues to trust human beings to care for her, that she allows them to love her and returns it with such complete resolve that it is overwhelming.  I am always having to remind myself its only been 4 months, it does still feel like she's been here forever, the fact that we waited 6 MONTHS from the moment we got her picture to the day we met her, seems a blink of an eye now!!  I know now that there was no way they could have prepared her for our coming, I never received back my photoalbum I sent, so I doubt that she ever saw it.  That day , November 2, 2009, was the first time she'd ever laid eyes on us!!  She let us pick her up, hold her hand, and leave with her, without a tear.   God had to be whispering in her heart, these are the ones I had been telling you about ... these are parents I promised you, thank you my little dear for being so patient with My perfect plan, even when it must have seemed I'd forsaken you.

Faith is Baptised!

Here are the photos!

Like the covenant of Marriage that made Allison and I one family on October 10, 1989 and the covenant of adoption that we took on to make Faith a part of our family in November of 09, another covenant was professed and celebrated on February 21, 2010 - that of Faith's Baptism and becoming part of the family of Christ.

 

It was a truly God inspired day.  Faith even gave the thumbs up after her baptismal bath!  It was an awesome day and we would like to thank all those involved that made it so special, I can't name you all by name - there are too many of you but you know who you are!

Thank you all so much!