Happy Birthday "Neffy!"

A few short years ago (like 5 of them) my husband and I embarked on what everyone thought was a "CRAZY" journey. The Lord put on our hearts to Foster/Host 2 (yes I said 2) little boys from Russia. Aleksei and Ruslan. They were the smallest boys I had ever seen given their age, and they were loaded with smiles and quirky antics. They arrived with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and a backpack. Church was the very next morning, and we would not dream of missing. One problem, the clothes on their back were not going to work . . . thank heaven walmart opens early. So off we went. I had them try on an outfit each, just to get through the day. Next problem, they would not take them off to pay for them! What to do what to do? Call the security guard over and start explaining! Thanks to one sweet security guard we got to clip the tags and be escorted to the checkout line where I could pay and they could keep their new "digs" on. And off to church we went, happy, smiling, and in matching clothes . . .

We have 1000 great stories to go along with the 3000 pictures I took and memories we made. Our entire family . . . even the ones that wanted to have us committed to a Psych ward, quickly fell in love with the older of the 2 boys. We had an entire month of amazing moments and opportunities. Each day that went by we felt more and more like Aleksei really belonged with us. But how in the world would we accomplish this. My husband and I had not yet any children of our own, and we had not even been married for 2 years . . . Oh and had we adopted Aleksei we would have been like 12 years old when he was born. Not a real perfect situation to be good parents, great friends perhaps, but this kiddo needed a mom and a dad not buddies. When it was finally time to put those kids on the shuttle bus and watch them head out to the airport that would deposit them back in Russia, my heart ached and then it broke into a million pieces. Little did anyone know that my sister-in-law although spending significantly less time with him, was feeling very much the same. She saw him off at the bus station with us, and left crying. That night the "Big Man" aka Pappa Shoe called a family meeting. He wanted to know how WE ALL could adopt Aleksei. Nanna and Pappa were already in their 50's and could not bare to be gone too early for this little boy and to leave him all alone again. We were out given the above circumstances, and the other sister-in-law was already due with #3 . . . about 10 minutes into the conversation Carly's name came up. Her and Josh had already talked about it and prayed about it and wanted to know who to call and how to start! Holy Cow! who would have thought the quietest of the bunch was going to step up to the plate and run with it. what an amazing testimony to God's plans. We had no idea why God asked us to go through the laborious task of paperwork, tests, readings and background checks, but it turned out pretty cool. We now have the neatest Nephew anyone could ask for. He was meant for this family, designed by God to be with us and to bless us in unimaginable ways. I could not imagine our lives with out this incredible blessing. He is kind, generous, thoughtful, loving, stinky at times, funny, artistic, helpful, and above all else he is Aleksei Cole Watson. He is amazing, an undeserved blessing to cherish for all our lives. Thank you Lord for this boy. Happy 16th Birthday "Little Man" we love you completely.

Dustin, Amber, Cole and Chase (and of course Cheif and Buster)!