the lovely award

Today was a day of special blessings!

Our little boy A. at CDA II finally turned the corner. He had a terrible reaction to one of the medicines they gave him on Monday and was totally miserable by yesterday afternoon. After getting two phone calls in a row about him, I made the call to take him directly to the ER (while surrounded by at least half a dozen street people, sniffing their glue bottles). We were so worried, to the point where last night we were wishing the doctors had just admitted him, but finally he is on the road to recovery!

Today was also the amazing VISA DAY!!!! Five of six members of the Alseth family finally have their Bolivia residency visa after nearly 23 months of waiting and endless lists of paperwork. It's a long, long, long, LONG story people, and this is a HUGE answer to nearly two years of prayer! (And we paid absolutely nada in fines and yet all is legal, which is a total miracle.)

Then I learned I was blessed with an award waiting for me at "No Greater Joy Mom" ! Adeye lives in Colorado mothering her five children, including two special girls from China, although her heart is often in her homeland of South Africa. I appreciate her encouraging comments so much and how she says "my friend" all the time, just like my friends from down under. Thank you!

Now for the conditions of accepting the "lovely blog" award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So, a glimpse of some of my favorites....

1) Reflections from Katie - we hope that Katie, a new nurse and sponsor of baby Gabriel (she herself is also a twin), will be able to visit us one day! Her blog is full of lovely ponderings and meditations and how God is working in her life.

2) Psalm 68:5, the thoughtful blog of Amy, a friend in Cochabamba with the extremely challenging calling of reaching out to the city's street population

3) The High Calling, a blog that's a joy to read because the mother truly embraces her calling as wife and mother to two young daughters

4) The Girl Inside, another beautiful blog to encourage young women as they serve the Lord joyfully, no matter what season of life we're in

5) Savvy Little Women OH SO CUTE!! This family of five daughters ages five and under (including two sets of twins) has a very uplifting (yet honest) blog.

6) Helping Street Kids One At a Time, musings of our friend Rehanna about her ministry and vision for young children living and/or working on the streets of Cochabamba

7) Home...Hands Full, HEARTS Full, Quiver Full! This family of 7 children adopted 6 within 4 years.

8) Joel's Journey, a really sweet "journal" of a mother of 13, where she opens her heart and shares from her journey since loosing her young son (one of a twins) a few years ago

9) Scraps of Starlight, a new friend in the UK with three beautiful daughters plus one in Heaven. Her blogs have lovely music...

10) Williams Family Blog - if I feel like we have lots of health issues, I only need to read about baby Jonah to gain a whole new perspective on life! His devoted parents are doing an incredible job raising (and loving) a baby with a very difficult disease.

11) The Mott Multiples, a blog I've just found. They have twins, triplets, and a singleton - fun!

12) There's Not One of Them I'd Swap , Janis often leaves sweet comments on my blog and I enjoy reading her posts on her family

13) The Lockwood Family, a missionary family with a dozen children ages infant to 12 years old in Mexico. They have had many challenges this year but their love for the Lord and each other pours from the words of this blog!

14) Bolivia '09 CDA Sponsorship Coordinator/Volunteer Denise's blog. (Of COURSE it's lovely, it has pictures of my babies!!)

15) And same as Adeye, I have to award "Transformed From Glory to Glory" written by a very God fearing missionary mother in Africa (7 children under age 6 with a sick baby soon to arrive from an orphanage), so count yourself doubly awarded! :-)

Update...

For those who are unsure how to add the award to their blog: Just right click on the award icon above, and save it somewhere in your computer (like a picture file). Then go to the dashboard of your blog, then layout. From there, choose "add a gadget", then the "picture" option. Give it the caption and/or title you want, and upload the little award logo there. Save it, then move it to where you want on your blog.