365 People Pictures: Day 32--Brielle Opening Birthday Gifts

Tonight Brielle opened the gifts celebrating her first birthday. Soon she was surrounded by tissue paper which brought out the pink in her fair complexion. We thank God for Brielle Madelyn! What a gift she has been even in her first 12 months!

365 People Pictures: Days 30 & 31--Young Love

 Our granddaughter, Brielle (12 months) in the arms of her Auntie Jaynie (age 20) during our first day visiting Brielle's family in southern Ohio.

365 People Pictures: Day 24--Baby in her Bling

Brielle ~ 8 months

I was feeling artsy today so I played around a bit in the photo-editing software with this picture of Brielle  I do so love her delicate features and coloring! I took the headband she's wearing to her mama, Anna, when I visited in mid-February. Our family found the inexpensive treasure when we ate at a Cracker Barrel restaurant when traveling in late January. What a find! Perfect for picture taking!

The Wonder of Babies

With my first grandchild due in June and the celebration of Christ's birth nearly upon us, I have been thinking about what a wonder babies are. What a wonder our God is!

Here are more photos of Caleb:

Announcing: NewSong Photography

One of my greatest joys is photography. One of my greatest passions is orphan care. A few months ago, it occurred to me that the two could be combined.

I need more study and practice...a lot more. I can't yet consistently take pictures of the quality that I would like. But eventually, with God's good grace, I would like to reach a professional level and then donate any profits I make from photographing children to organizations that participate in the care of the fatherless.

My hope is to call my business NewSong Photography. Repeatedly in God's word we're told to sing a new song to the Lord. For me this has been difficult. You see, I can't carry a tune; I'm not even able to sing the happy birthday song correctly after the hundreds of times I've heard it in my five decades of life!

However, I've discovered that I can express my own kind of 'new song' through photography. I look forward to the opportunity to serve my Saviour with a camera and computer.

(Here our four youngest children were willing to let me "practice" on them as we vacationed on the North Shore of Lake Superiour in Minnesota in September)

Nathasa (11-1/2), Oksana (7-1/2), Amy (9-1/2) & Nathaniel (12-1/2)

Oksana and Nathaiel were adopted from the same orphanage in Russia, November 2010

This star was the idea of our 16-year-old daughter, Daria. She and her 13-year-old sister, Tatiana, worked hard to get everybody positioned just right. Quite a bit of giggling went on before Daria was satisfied.

Amy (r) and Natasha are biological sisters with 14-year-old Tatiana. They were adopted from Russia in 2005.

Now the sibling bond they share is based on love alone, through a shower of God's grace.

For the Sake of My beloved Saviour's Name:

"I will sing a new song to You, O God."

~Ps 144:9a