Judah Matthew Cassius

Jonah's first meeting with Judah went well. Jonah says he is the most beautiful boy you have ever seen meaning he is so pretty he looks like a girl with super long eye lashes and his hair in braids too. He spent an hour and a half with him the first time and said it was just wonderful when Judah fell asleep in his arms. Jonah says that I will melt when I hold him for the first time.

Daddy's first time seeing his youngest son.

Look at that face!

I guess in Liberia all boys have shaved or super short hair and corn rows are reserved for the girls. That would explain why when Jonah showed people Judah's pictures they would say, "Oh, so it's a girl?" He is a pretty little thing though. :)

I love this picture.

Gotta love the tongue. And yes, that is our house in the background. We sent a photo album to each of the boys after we found out who they were. He plays with it often.

What a gorgeous smile!

Finally, asleep in Daddy's arms

Judah's second time meeting Daddy

This time Jonah said he saw a difference in the way Judah was toward him, like he remembered him and felt more comfortable. He doesn't think he will have any trouble adjusting to his new life but it may change if he is there for much longer. They also said he has been very needy lately, maybe because he has been sick, but it makes me sad to hear that and know that I can't have him with me.

Big Brown eyes

Eating the cookies Daddy brought

My baby is crawling!

Isaiah Ryan Thomas

What a joy it was to get these pictures. Jonah very thouroughly enjoyed his day with his boys and can't wait till Isaiah comes home. Isaiah didn't say a word to Jonah the whole day but was clear by his actions that he wanted to be with Jonah. He would always return to Jonah's leg to hug them after every transition and wanted Jonah to hold him too, Daddy was more than happy to oblige him. Jonah sang him some songs and was able to get him to quietly sing along and hum some too. Isaiah would answer with a nod of the head to Jonah's questions so he understood what he was saying at least. He brought cookies and Coke for the kids and said that Isaiah ate half the package. Before he left he told Isaiah how much we love him and that he will be back soon with his new Mommy to bring him home. I CANNOT wait to get that boy in my arms. Isn't he such a handsome little guy?

Isaiah wanted Daddy to hold him

Eating lunch and drinking coke Daddy brought for all the kids. A REAL treat!

Finally, a smile!

Isaiah wanted to sit next to his Daddy and carried that chair next to Jonah to sit.

Isaiah was very shy, didn't say a word. He did warm up later in the day though.

Jonah's first time meeting Isaiah, second with Judah

Update to "Lots of babies"

I wrote a previous post about a friend of mine that is pregnant from embryo adoption. Well, yesterday was a very scary day for her because she started to bleed heavily and she was sure that she had lost her baby/ies. At the clinic they drew blood to see if her beta had lower and then decided to do an ultrasound. They found a pocket of blood under her uterus that could have been caused by inplantation or possibly one of the babies not making it. Amazingly she is pregnant with TWINS! They were able to see the heartbeats nice and strong which was a blessing as it is still very early and her first ultrasound wasn't scheduled until the middle of March. God is so good! I can't wait to hold those miracles in my arms! (hopefully they will be boys but I'll be excited either way).

A daily Devotional

My Auntie sent this to me yesterday before we found out that Judah wasn't as bad as I had first thought but I find this to be a great rememberance in ALL the trials I have faced over the years. I am truly honored! Prayerfully you can get something out of it too.


The fine print
by John Fischer

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT)


These verses are what I call the fine print of the Christian life. When you sign up, you sign up for this, but unfortunately, not too many people read that far into the contract, and not enough leaders point it out. So when bad things start happening to us, we think something went wrong with our faith. Not necessarily. In fact, it’s an honor to think that your faith is worthy of being tested.

It’s a reverse spiritual principle that nonetheless is true: We get beaten down so that Christ might rise in us. It’s the whole idea God has of avoiding confusion. See, he doesn’t want people confusing human power and achievement with his power and what he is achieving in and through our lives. If all Christians were super-Christians, people would be impressed with them. As it is, God wants people to be surprised at us, not so much impressed – surprised that we can keep on believing, given what has happened to us. Surprised at us – impressed with God. That’s the way it should go.

It’s important to know this so that the things that happen don’t throw us into a tailspin. Paul wrote in the passage above that troubles, confusions, knock-downs, and drag-outs are all to be expected in a life of faith, and they are not just something to suck it up and endure, they are what will actually release the power of God in our lives. We encounter death-like experiences so that Christ’s life-like nature may clearly be seen in us, despite what is happening.

Let me try and say this again. This is not just endurance training through tough times. This is God’s strategy for ministry through us. There is no other way for it to be done. His strategy is his power and strength through our weakness – his life through our death. This doesn’t just happen to some Christians; it happens to us all if we desire to be effective in our faith.

So don’t forget the fine print today, and allow the troubles you face to springboard you into finding God’s purposes even in this. He had this planned all along. It’s even in the contract!

A day with our boys

Well the day is over in Liberia and I am wondering how Jonah's day was with Isaiah and Judah. I absolutely CANNOT wait to see pictures and videos and hear all about them. No offense honey, but I think I am looking forward to that just a little less than I am in seeing you again. Hey, at least that's not the #1 thing I'm looking forward too, right? Only 4 more day left and I am SUPER busy with things, thank goodness. These kids seem to keep me on my toes, I wonder why?

Stop the insanity!!!

My baby girl is growing up and I am NOT liking it one bit! Today I had on my list of things to do to get the guest room straightend up (it was honestly a disaster) for our friends that are coming to stay in March as well as to have it nice when Jonah comes home; he REALLY likes an organized house. Anyways, back to my story. As I was rearranging the closet to hold more boxes of things I thought it may be time to take out Sarah's rubbermade of old clothes from when we first got her at 4 years old to put in her room so that I don't forget to try things on NEXT winter. Well, I got curious (as did Sarah) and we opened the container and started pulling things out. Alana wanted in on the action too and I decided to try some dresses on her that Sarah wore the winter she came (she was 4 yrs. 4 mo). They fit PERFECTLY! My 3 year old, who doesn't turn 4 until June is fitting into clothes Sarah wore a year from now (does that make sense?). I am upset that I didn't think about this before as it would have saved a little money on clothing this winter although we didn't keep many things from that time because we weren't expecting for her to stay so we didn't invest the $. Well, we went through the whole 4T/4 and 5T/5 container for summer too and the majority of things fit her except a few pairs of shorts were too big in the waist. Some of the shorts Sarah was still wearing the summer she turned 6! The whole time Alana was beside herself with the excitement of wearing "Sissy's" things and all the while Sarah was pouting that I didn't buy her hand-me-downs to wear. I tried explaining but Sarah still wasn't happy that she wasn't getting any new clothes today. We nipped it in the butt pretty quick but I could tell she wasn't happy.

Although it was fun to reminice (sp?) on what Sarah was like as a little girl I am hating the thought of my BABY girl getting big enough to be wearing her big sisters clothes. Funny I was just telling the girls this morning how much I couldn't wait for another baby girl to dress (while looking at a catalog). I'll leave you with Alana's response to that,

"But Mama, you have 2 baby boys coming now, you can't have a baby girl too!"
Oh the comments of a 3 year old, ya gotta love it!

Last e-mail from Liberia

I got this e-mail from Jonah this morning and it was so great to get! I am feeling better and better about Judah having malaria as obviously Jonah didn't say anything in his note and the more I research it the better I feel because he is getting such good treatment for it and got it quickly. Hopefully he will be up for playing with his Daddy tomorrow. 5 more days till Jonah is home!!!

"I finished working at the clinic today, and I'm still very healthy - Praise God! I talked to Melodie finally today and I'll be going to see the boys tomorrow at 10:00 am to spend the day with them. I can't wait. I wish I had better means to bring cold drinks, food, candy, and toys to them. Sat. I'm going to try and recuperate and pack. It's been high stress and going a million miles an hour since LAX, yet the time away from you and the kids seems like it sludges by. I can't wait to get on that plane! I will have enough funds to make it through the trip. I had a Kru drum and a Tonga drum set-up to buy prior but we'll have to next trip. Funds are too low and too many people happened to get involved and make it chaotic and also make it a purchase for others, etc etc. There are some awesome Christians I've met. Others it seems like they always have an angle to get you to help them. People are always hanging around the rich "White man". It can really tire you out. You can't just relax. I hope to possibly swim in the Atlantic tomorrow. Sun. will be a long day with the local Ocean View Church. I should have a ride to the airport with Lilian with ACFI, but Melodie offered also. I'm glad you got you see some photos of Judah. I can't wait to show you all of their photos. I may not be able to call or e-mail you again until I'm in DC. My DC/LAX change over is too short for picking up luggage and going through customs, so I thing I'll miss my flight. I'll probably have to call in sick for Tuesday. I'll call you from DC to tell you what final flight and time it will be at LAX. I love you very much! XOXOXOXOXO Give the children big hugs and kisses. I'm glad you had a great trip in Pville. I'll see you soon. I love you."

Please pray for Judah

Judah has malaria. Please pray for him, I am so worried that I will never get to hold my baby boy that I have already fallen in love with. They say that he is responding well to treatment and I believe that God is bigger than all this. Pray for complete healing!

News from Jonah

Jonah called me this past Saturday while I was still up north. I was coming back from breakfast at a friends house when he called and had to pull over so that I didn't lose him. We had a good talk and it was wonderful to hear what he had to say. Since he has been there he hasn't been doing much medical work at all. There is a ACFI (the org. he is with) conference and they wanted him to attend. It has been held in many different villages and he has been the only white person there the whole time. He has been called out of the blue to come up and talk(in front of 300 people), give a word and tell the people about himself. Each time he had no warning but God is good and each time he had something on his heart to share.
The main part of his medical work was to go back to Shephard's Village and look the boys over again. They are much sicker than what he first thought, throwing up blood and just not good at all. They really need to get to a higher care medical clinic but unfortunately there is no money left at the orphanage to do this. Pray for these boys! Also, he has been fixing and bandaging owie's on the children at the Dixville orphanage, just minor stuff but very much needed as they can get infected VERy quickly.
When I had talked to him he had not been able to go and see Isaiah yet and wasn't sure he would be able to before he left as he is running out of money. Because of the conference he wasted $300 for room, board and food at the main orphanage but hasn't been there many nights and has had to pay for more food and lodging. He is worried that he won't have any money left to go see Isaiah and to get himself to the airport when it is time to come home. No, there are no places to get cash and the use of credit cards is nonexsistent.
I saved the best for last. Jonah got to spend an hour and a half with Judah and said just amazing. I wish I could put the emotion in the words as he told them to me, it was priceless and I was crying as he talked. He said that Judah is the most beautiful little boy he has ever seen and that they hit it off right away. Jonah had him laughing and they played together the whole time. Finally Judah fell asleep in Jonah's arms and his comment about that is that it was "just wonderful". It was SO good to hear that my husband fell in love with this boy, his son. With all our other adoptions it had been a work in progress with falling in love with our kids because they came so unexpectedly. We both had that same reaction when we got the boys' referral and over time slowly started falling for them, and we didn't even know them! Of course I fell first because I am a woman and I didn't realize that Jonah felt this way till I talked to him. Attatched is a picture of our baby with his new Daddy, worth a thousand words. Notice how small Judah is, 10 months and 2 days but yet his Daddy's big hands span the length from his arm pit to his hip. I can not tell you how happy this picture made me but at the same time how much I longed to have my baby in MY arms and HOME at last.

An e-mail surprise!

As I was writing out the other post which happened 3 days ago Jonah was writing an e-mail to me. Here is what he says minus all the personal stuff of course...



"I haven't been able to call you again because of cell phone issues, none available, etc. and I ran out of minutes the night I called you - exactly 5$ talking. Everything is going OK, I'm still trying to get to see Isaiah. Hopefully on Thu. I'm now at ACFI HQ 5th St Sinkor. I started working at the clinic today. Whoa is it crazy, a stream of sewer runs through the whole slum right in front and around the clinic. Feces everywhere. Please pray that I stay healthy. The clinic is old, dark, smelly, hot, and good missionary work. Pray all goes well there. I miss you and the kids terribly. I'm counting down the days until I see you. No more 2 week mission trips without you! Give all the children a big hug and kiss for me, and tell them I love them. I had to talk more at the convention on Sat/Sun. Monday Jimmy, myself and 32 kids in a 8 passenger Toyota bus, on a 4 hr trip from Buchanon broke down for 4 hrs - the kids had no breakfast or luch prior. We had no food or water. Great trial! I had to feed them from the bush market. The bush villages are exactly like they would have been 300 years ago. I've met at least 1,000 new people from 8 different countries. Many Christians beg for help, contact, anything. Many Christians here but very much in need of more prayer and help. I had my first alone time since the 11th today. Praise God! There are many stories and things to tell you. Also the Lord put on my heart to start witnessing locally also in our own home area. I would like to start a Witness Release Program, with training Bible studies, prayer and going out in 2's in our local impact areas. I pray you are well and having a great time. I love you! I love you kids!"

I absolutely cannot wait till he is home and I can hear all his stories. Obviously God is doing mightly works in Jonah. Please pray that he will stay healthy!

Our trip

This weekend (really 4 days) I took Sarah to Northern California to stay with some very dear friends of ours for the weekend. The friends we stayed with are Sarah's best friends parents. It was such a nice weekend of fellowship and visiting with old friends that I don't normally get to visit with when we go up to see Jonah's parents. I thouroughly enjoyed myself and Sarah was beside herself with getting to spend a full 4 days by Olivia's side. On our way driving in to El Dorado County Sarah told me how good it felt to be back home. She said it with such emotion that I thought she was going to start crying. When we go visit Jonah's parents we usually go a back route and she doesn't get to see the familiar drive she was used to when we lived there. She was overjoyed to see the Costco we used to shop at and begged me to stop there. I miss it too, more than I thought I would actually. Maybe some day we will move back? Who knows?

Wake up call!

I finally got to talk with my dear, sweet hubbie! He called last night as I was swept away in dream land but more than happy to return to talk to him. We got cut off after 10 minutes so I didn't get to say goodbye but he filled me in on what has been going on. Here's the rundown:
- It is HOT! And there are a lot of mosquito's. Um, didn't I tell you that already hunny?
- The airport scene was more than insane and he says that you really have to experience it for yourself to know just how horrible and comical it really is.
- He was on his way in a few minutes to spend about a half hour with Judah at the foster home on his way to Buchanan to work in the clinic from 2 to sunset
- He said that the plans had been changed 4 times when I talked to him and it was only 8:30 in the morning.
- He is hoping to see Isaiah on Friday but since Acres of Hope is moving the orphanage to their new building it's unsure as to whether it will really happen.
- He is trying his best to understand Liberian English but finds that he gets so frustrated with it!
- He spent some time with Randall and the other boys at Shephard's Village Tuesday and had a great time. He said that Randall, along with 3 other boys needed to see a doctor as he thinks they may have TB or Hep, could you pray for them?
-The boys at SV are basically just taking care of themselves, there is one overseer. But he said that they are all happy and praising God! They have nice bunkbeds and each of them have the pictures and letters that their Mother of Love families have sent up on their walls.
- At the Dixville orphanage where Jonah is staying he says it is pandemonium. 500 kids, not enough caretakers, also taking care of themselves for the most part, washing their own clothes doing as they will.
- When Jonah walks around the compound the kids follow him asking for him to take their pictures and remember their names to find them families. They keep asking him who he is there to adopt and when he says he is just there to help they ask him if he can adopt them. So sad, these kids just want homes.
- While I was talking to Jonah I could hear kids in the background, he told me that there were about 40 kids on his porch waiting for him to come back out.

The good part is that Jonah is still healthy! Praise the Lord for that! He finally got a good nights sleep on tuesday night and felt much better this morning than he had the day before. Continue to pray that he stays healthy and that he would be able to get lots of work done while he is there. Also, that God will use him to give some love to the children that just need someone to care for them. Not expecting a call again anytime soon but it was SO nice to talk to him. I think I can handle another 5 or 6 days now! But then again, talk to me tomorrow about that ;)

SOOO frustrating!

Today I decided to take the kids to Disneyland to keep myself busy and not think about Jonah being gone. Well, we got there around noon and started right off with rides. I have been keeping my cell with me at ALL times (seriously) in case Jonah tried to call. Well for some reason I put it in the back pack and when I went to check the time (don't have a watch) I saw that there was 2 voicemails, both from Jonah! I was so upset that I instantly felt nauteous and sick to my stomach. I couldn't reach him from my cell because I don't have international calling. So after going to D'land to forget about Jonah being gone, that was all I thought about. Sigh. When I got home (feeling better) I was able to hear his messages better on the answering machine because the ones on my voicemail were too loud. SO here is the news:
He is there safe and sound and HEALTHY! Those prayers worked! He spent the day with Randall today and will be going by to see Judah for a short time on the way to the clinic in the morning. He's gonna meet his SON! Isn't that amazing! They are in the process of moving the orphanage to a new building right now and so he is hoping to get to see Isaiah Friday. He is staying at the Dixville orphanage and it was SO noisy when he called, I guess 500 kids is alot :) Also, he told me that he missed us terribly and can't wait to see us. It's hard being away from your whole family, I'm sure. At least I have the kids. So I am hoping to talk to him tomorrow for a few minutes and will update when I can. I was really shocked that he was able to call but was able to use someone's cell phone. I am SO glad he did!

Lots of babies....hopefully

There is a very dear and close friend of mine that just found out yesterday that she is indeed pregnant and may be pregnant with triplets! It will be another month or so before she finds out how many babies are truly in her womb but I am praying for 3 boys (since she has 3 girls already). The unique thing about this woman is that the babies are not genetically hers or her husbands, they adopted these sweet embryos a few months ago. Embryo adoption is something that I think is amazing. Couples who go through IVF (In vetro fertilization; a process where a sperm is injected into a fertile egg to produce a baby that is then inserted into the mother or frozen for future use) often times produce too many babies initially and after a pregnancy are happy with the way that their family is but do not want to destroy their babies. And that is just what these little embryos are, BABIES! The genetic family will then decide to place their embryos for adoption to couples that can not acheive a pregnancy on their own to give their babies a chance at life. My friend and her husband have the same diagnoses as Jonah and I and have a daughter (3) through embryo adoption already and then a year and a half ago adopted 2 sisters ( 8 and 14) from Russia.
Some people think it is strange to carry another person genetic child in your womb but I think it is an amzing opportunity for a woman that may not otherwise be able to carry a child to do so and also benefit from the blessings of adoption. It's, in reality, the same thing as adoption except you have the benefit of knowing your child from the very beginning instead of missing the first 9 months. I will let you all know how many babies she is having when I find out but could you say a quick prayer for her and those little babes. We want them to hold on tight and stay there for a long 9 months to be healthy!

Having a hard time

I didn't think I would have this hard of a time but I am struggling with Jonah being gone. The kids aren't themselves and even though he has only been gone for 34 hours I MISS him. I don't think the pysical missing and seeing him is here yet since we spend 3 days a week apart and I am used to that, it is mostly because I haven't talked to him since yesterday at 2:30 pm. I am NOT used to that! We have not gone more than a day without taking since we started courting, even when he was gone for 3 weeks on fires right after we were married, I would at least get to talk to him. I know that he is supposed to be in Liberia right now, hopefully already settled in and sleeping but I don't REALLY know! One thing that I forgot to have him do was write in a journal about each day and what he did. This is something that I reminded myself over and over to give to him and ask him to do so that I could read it and know what he did every day but with all the other things going on I absolutely forgot! I am bummed because his explanation about things that he did won't be the same after a week or 2. I am trying really hard to keep myself extra busy so that I'm not thinking about it too much. Tonight I was invited to a friends house for dinner and I am SO greatful for it too! I don't have many friends out here yet, mostly acquaintances but we are getting there. I am sure I will continue to complain about Jonah being gone some more over the next few weeks. Bare with me please, and if it bothers you then stop reading!

Jonah's gone

At 4 o'clock this morning we got up and drove Jonah to the airport. The drive was too quick and we were there within an hour, I was not ready. My emotions are all over the place as I think about him being gone for SO long! I really should be thankful that he is only going to be gone for 16 days and not a year and a half like some of my friends husbands are in Iraq. He will be in Liberia tomorrow (Sunday) at noon California time arriving with 2 others who are picking up their children from the Dixville orphanage! Right now as I type this he is probably on the runway getting ready to take off as his flight was supposed to leave 10 minutes ago. We are going to miss him terribly! Some things he could use prayer for is:

1) That he won't get sick! Alana, Sarah and I have been sick and usually all it takes is a couple of coughs from one person and Jonah gets it (seriously).
2) That the flights won't wear him down and that he would get some sleep and feel somewhat rested when he gets to Liberia
3) That he will be safe EVERYWHERE he goes!
4) That he will listen to God's leading and be used mightly for the Kingdom!
5) That his meeting with Isaiah and Judah will go wonderfully!

Thank you for all your prayers. 16 days to go and he'll be home! :)

A sweet date

Sunday night I decided to surprise Jonah and take him on a date. Dates are something that we have tried over and over to make a regular thing but it just has never happened because we never have a steady babysitter. Anyways, we had a wonderful time even if it didn't turn out perfect. The restaurant I took him to was closed (should have checked) so we went to another that just happened to have live music. Well being Super bowl there was no one else there and so we got a private dinner concert which was very nice. Then off to the movies and we decied to go see Babel. It was SOOOO horrible that we left. It was vulgar, disgusting, depressing and negative and the worst movie I have ever seen. We were disappointed that we chose to see it instead of Freedom Writers. I really want to see that movie as the teacher Hilary Swank is playing (Erin Gruwell) was a professor of mine in college and I took 3 kids lit. classes from her and loved them. She is a great teacher, even to adults! As often as we go see movies I probably will have to wait and see it on DVD but I am fine with that.
On another note, Jonah is leaving 4 days from now and I am not liking the idea of it at all. We got him all packed Sunday and ready to go and was able to pack a whole suitcase of just donations, mostly older girls clothes as we were told they need clothes right now desperately. Yesterday we took the kids to Disneyland again and had a wonderful time as a family. We always have so much fun together. All Alana wanted to do was go on Matterhorn, she has surprised us the last month with fast rides as a few months ago she would be in hysterics just going on a kiddy roller coaster. This time she also tried Thunder Mountain with Sarah and I and loved that one too. There was a family there that we kept seeing. There were 11 kids with their mom and dad and all of them were different colors. I thought to myself that that was the kind of family I want when I get older and we are well on our way to it! Yeah!

My little guy

After we got the news on Isaiah and his update I was really wondering how big he was. So I got all my kids to line up so that I could see how tall they were and how big around their head is. At first Jonah and I were worried about Isaiah's head being so big at 19.7 inches in circumference but then when checking the kids I found that it's not abnormal at all. Both the girls have heads in the 19's and Malakai's is 20 1/2! I've always known he had a big head but now that his body is growing into it it doesn't look so gargantuan. Isaiah is 2 months older than Alana but is about 4 inches shorter than Malakai and has the same size shoes as Kai does too if not a little smaller. So the good thing is, for the first few months Isaiah and Kai will be wearing the same clothes and shoes but from what I've heard he should shoot up pretty fast once he gets home and we'll be eaten out of house and home and go broke buying new clothes and shoes every few months! I can't wait to get the little peanut home and start giving him some good healthy food and lots of love to grow on!