Sweet Celebration

This little boy...

Joseph- January, 2007

...And this little girl...

Ruthie- January, 2007

Have taught me so much about the miracle of life.
And this month they both turn 6 years old!

Ruthie and Joseph- January, 2011

This gives my heart so much reason to celebrate!

Happy birthday sweet Ruthie and Joseph. Because of you a piece of my heart will always remain in Zimbabwe. 

Joseph's story can be found here.    And here.                                        

Ruthie's story can be found here. 

Word to the Wise

When in the presence of cuteness that is so cute it is suspiciously cute...

Sleep with one eye open.

And don't say I didn't warn you.

Oh, and this cute and innocent little ball of spunk, she is the same sweet baby I am holding in the picture up there, on my header.

 The older she gets the ornerier she gets.

Yep, that's my girl.

Then and Now #1

So, I thought I would share with you some "Then and Now" pictures of the kiddos in Zimbabwe. It was so much fun seeing how much the kids have grown and flourished in four years.

This "Then and Now" is of Ruth (or Ruthie). I was actually given the honor of naming Ruth when we found her, abandoned, at four months old.

This picture was taken after three weeks on formula. By this time Ruth had already gained a significant amount of weight from when we found her, but you can still  see how thin she was, even then.

For now Ruthie is being cared for by Tecla. She does have some living family members in the village (including a wonderful grandma), but they are taking care of several other orphaned children.

Ruthie is healthy and lively, to say the least. She has the biggest personality of anyone I have ever met, and it is hard for me to remember her as such a fragile baby struggling for her life.

God's hand is undeniably caring for this little one.

A Reason to Celebrate

Happy Birthday Ruth Nothando! My sweet little miracle turns 3 this month! Although we don't know the exact date, we know when we found her she was about 4 months old and, estimate her birthday to be sometime the beginning of September. This little girl who wasn't given a name because she was assumed dead is alive and strong. The name we chose for her is Ruth, meaning "compassionate friend" and Nothando, meaning "loved by God". I am sure she will grow each year to become more and more of both of those things. And that is a reason to celebrate!