Merry Christmas Update (the past 6 months.) Check out previous postings for the full year...

What better occasion to update our blog than Christmas!? This past year has been the most stressful, life-changing and joyous that we can remember. Not only with the two new additions to our family, but because like so many, we have had significant financial losses and have experienced the humbling fallout that comes with it. BUT God is faithful and He continues to teach us that regardless of the circumstances, challenges and changes around and within, the Spirit of Jesus Christ abides in us and sees us through. Praise Him because that is why he was sent, and that is what we are celebrating now at Christmas.

Here we are on the Washington Ferry bound for our Orcas Island. It was awesome to share this special place with Anastasia and Jonathan. Abbie and Hannah were delightful as they eagerly shared all their favorite hangouts with their siblings. Jonathan and Anastasia bring us so much joy in their enthusiasm and energy! We praise God as He keeps deepening the bonds of our family.

Mount Constitution is definitely a must. This is the compulsory photo atop the mountain, which of course doesn't come close to doing justice to this amazing 360 degree marine view of forest covered islands and deep blue waterways. As spectacular as it is, we find ourselves simply enjoying sleepy mornings at our rental cabin or combing the beach.

One favorite and very sentimental tradition is making pottery. The twins had their very first

handprints made. Now we have four handprints to add to those we've collected since Abbie was 4 months old and look forward to future years as the children grow. We also hiked (not enough for mom) found our favorite driftwood for our plaque, made smores on our deck overlooking the most gorgeous nightly sunsets, and basked in weather that was warm enough for swimming in the lake. The kids (including Mike and Uncle Lee) even jumped off the bridge over Cascade Lake! Here are Lee, Brenden, Hannah, Mike, Abbie, Taylor, and Brad. It was a fantastic trip and even more special because it was our first official family vacation with the twins!

We were so happy to be able to spend a meal with Lois and Jon and Kat in Seattle. Here are Jonathan and Abbie sharing a smile and a hug with Lois. We appreciated so much that she was able to meet the twins!

Hannah celebrated her 11th birthday with a splash! Here are her friends jumping off the high rock into our pool! Our awesome house has been on the market since last May, and we have definitely not wasted a single minute enjoying and sharing. As we consider moving yet again(!) it has never been more clear to us that it truly is the family that makes the house!

The twins also celebrated their 8th birthdays in grand style! First, our friend Pancho got us all passes as a Disney employee! The twins got in free because of the birthdays and we all had a wonderful time! Here is Pancho presenting Jonathan and Anastasia with lanyards and special pins to begin their collections! Again, Abbie and Hannah are just the right age and are both so generous in spirit that they delighted in showing Jonathan and Anastasia around the park.

Anastasia's dream came true! We knew she loved princesses when we first met her. It is quite possible she chose us just because of the princess dolls she saw in the photo we brought of her room! Her visit with Belle, Ariel, Mulan and Cinderella was nothing short of amazing. I even wrote a letter about the visit because all four ladies made it so very special for her.

Here are Anastasia and Jonathan with their birthday cakes: Princess and Spiderman. We also had a "First Birthday" Party for them. It was their first time receiving presents. They loved it and they did awesome!!!

You may remember from our first blog entries that Anastasia has strabismus or crossed eyes. Well, praise God with us that this past October she had surgery to correct it and it went better than we or the ophthamologist ever anticipated! The doctor told us that Anastasia has a couple of different issues going on with her eyes and that it would take 3-4 surgeries to correct. Well, it only took one! This was a direct answer to our prayers and a huge milestone for Anastasia. You may also remember that the day Anastasia "shut down" on us back in Ukraine was because we had been talking about her eyes and she was so afraid of the surgery. Well, God strengthened her and gave her courage every step of the way and then blessed her by doing it all in one procedure. Our God is awesome!!!

Here are our trick-or-treaters! Anastasia is (of course) Belle, our friend Emily is the lady bug, Yes that is Mike as the oversized ballerina! Hannah as the bee, Abbie as the eskimo and Jonathan as Captain Jack Sparrow. We still have Halloween candy left, by the way...

Here we all are with the Gold Family on our trip down to Coronado for Thanksgiving at the Golds new home on the island. In the photo are Sunny and Tyson, Jahni, Kellen, Jonanthan(Mikes brother) Jack, Kat, Rose, Abbie, Hannah, Myra, Anastasia, Jonathan (who we call JonJon when we are with them to avoid confusion) and Bailey. They are all such a blessing to us and we are so enjoying having them so much closer. We all had a fantastic time of relishing our blessings of family and of abundance all given to us by God, our loving Father.

Here comes Santa Claus...This is the Real Santa, too. All others are merely Santa's helpers, you know. We meet him every year at Lake Arrowhead Village on our annual Thousand Pines Family Camp with Los Altos. It was great to share the joy of whole weekend with our church family, again deepening bonds as only God can. Each season with the twins brings such richness to our traditions. Abbie and Hannah are especially excited for them! We just love our big sisters :)

Note: I don't mean to make it sound like we don't have our struggles, because our work is definitely cut out for us, but the rewards are so great and God so graciously blesses our meager efforts. Any time I review photos and even as I write this blog I am reminded of how far God has brought us, when often times all I can focus on is how far we have to go.

Oh, Tannenbaum! Cut down from Gunthers Tree Farm on the way back from Thousand Pines.

Hanging the ornaments on was also a joy as each of us is reminded of our blessings over the years.

One of Abbie and Hannah's favorite traditions is our treasure boxes in which we get a treat and a treasure from God's word each day in December. All the scriptures point to the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It never fails to instill awe and wonder over our great God who planned from the beginning to redeem us because of His great love for us. Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Every One!

Wow it's been a long time since I've blogged!!!! So much has happened...We've reached a few milestones: Anastasia and Jonathan started school, Abbie became a teenager and Hannah promoted to Middle School! Also...our first family portrait!

It has been so amazing to see the twins learn to speak English so well and to see Abbie and Hannah become such awesome big sisters. God amazes us with his grace every day, giving us strength, love, wisdom and energy for the moment without fail...He reminds us that He has made each of his own, without him we are lost and with him we are alive through his Son, Jesus Christ!

Abbie and Hannah performed as Mad Hatter and Dormouse, respectively, in Alice in Wonderland. They were in the "tea party" scene together and really brought down the house! Abbie is laughing it up backstage after the performance.

Hannah's teacher, Mrs. Kwalk, came to the performance.

Performance night was also Abbie's 13th birthday, so we had a celebration with Robert, Terrie, the Bracco girls, Katie and Joan. Then it was off to the theater!

We are so excited that Mike's brother Jonathan (you may remember that's who Jonathan was named after) and his family are moving to San Diego from Washington. Here are Jon and Kat in front of their beautiful new home with the children.

The twins are so enchanted with all the fun stuff that goes on at a community school. This is "special persons day" with Grandma Myra. They were amazed that Grandma got to come to school, too!

The talent show was another of those fun events. Hannah did a dance number with several of her friends that was a huge hit with all the students, especially with little bro and sis!

The twins had such a fantastic school experience at Weaver! Here they are receiving Citizenship awards from the prinicipal.

So proud and surprised! Jonathan and Anastasia had no idea they were getting awards, let alone that Mom, Dad and Abbie would be there to see it!

Abbie's school year ended two weeks before Weaver, so she got to participate in all the year end activities. She is such a supportive and encouraging big sis!

Hannah's promotion ceremony was beautiful. She has had a fantastic experience at Weaver and has learned so much. We are so proud of her accomplishment!

What amazing strides have been made since our last post! God is faithful to provide our needs and to show himself worthy of all our praise! This photo was taken while we decorated for easter. Not knowing what, if any, Bible teaching Anastasia and Jonathan had in Ukraine, we were not sure how to proceed in attempting to communicate with them about Jesus and his resurrection which we were now celebrating. They both were very enthralled with the spring pastel colored decorations and lights we pulled out of the boxes. They loved the personalized baskets we had made for them. They also were very interested in the crafts Abbie and Hannah had made over the years. One of the crafts was a watercolor painting with three black cross silhouettes that Abbie had made. I pointed out to them the cross in the center and said "Jesus" as I acted out dying by putting my hands around my neck with a choking sound and eyes closed. They recognized Jesus from "Jesus, amen" during prayer. Then they did something amazing: Jonathan put his arms out wide and his head down. He knew Jesus had died on that cross! Anastasia then kept saying "three" which I thought meant the three crosses, but she was not satisfied until I kept guessing. She kept saying "three" then she put her arms up above her head in exuberance until I knew she was referring to Jesus being raised from the dead! They knew this story already! They know Jesus! Look closely at the first photo and you'll see them acting it out!

What a blessed Resurrection Day for us to worship together as a family knowing that Anastasia and Jonathan were worshiping the Savior along with us! Here we are after church easter morning.









Jonathan and Anastasia loved hunting for eggs after worship at Los Altos.












God is our provider! We were put in contact with a very special translater who is a Spirit-filled Ukrainian woman. She and her family came over to decorate eggs and to speak to the twins about Jesus in Russian. She brought Bible picture books in Russian. Nastia and Jonathan were hungry for God's word and had heard many Bible stories in Ukraine. Praise God.






Abbie and Hannah have been so supportive and helpful with their new siblings. I cannot say enough about their big hearts. They have also been very honest about the challenges they face. Once in a while they need some space. We have learned that keeping the boundaries intact is crucial. More than ever we have delineated whose toys are whose and we've emphasized respect for each others rooms. Here Abbie is up early for the big egg hunt at home.





Hannah and Nastia were particularly proud of their egg creations! For the sake of the twins, Hannah has been wearing her glasses all of the time even though she only needs them for distance. She has been such a good example in so many ways. She has also come to an understanding about the 'down side' of having a little sister, and it has made her more empathetic with her big sis! I love her honesty and am so proud of how much she is maturing.



Anastasia has come such a long way since the last post! She is positively blossoming. We have more and more days of just delighting in her fun and energetic personality. Clearly fairness is important to her and the more she is convinced we are fair the easier it is for her to go along with the program. It also helps when we can explain and have her understand what is going on. Sometimes we have had to ask her to comply even when she cannot understand, (like at the dentist) Those are the most difficult. In those moments Mike and I have been very convicted about our own lack of trusting God when we don't understand his ways.


Jonathan is always ready with a smile! He is also blossoming as he settles into his new family life. He often empathizes with his sister and encourages her to comply. He is also blessed by her as she often communicates for the both of them.








These special cookies were sent by Aunt Sylvia and each one has their name on it!












Grandma and Grandpa Henderson came for a visit last week. Anastasia made an important connection as a result. Every time we talk through a translator, we are in the habit of communicating that we are their parents forever. After Grandma and Grandpa's visit in which we explained that they were "Momma's Momma and Poppa," With wide eyes, Nastia asked in Russian, "Momma and Poppa will be my Momma and Poppa when I am grown?" To which we answered, "Da! Da!" "Yes! Yes!" You should have seen the sweet smile that came across her face as that realization set in! It reminded me of the feeling I get when I hear Jesus say, "Come you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest!"

Jonathan, who likes to be called "JonJon" now thanks to our friend Todd Johnson, is often content to let Nastia do the talking, but we know he is taking everything in and is very happy with the reassurance and love he feels from us. Every time the translator tells him we are his parents forever, he just gets the biggest smile on his face and wraps his arms around our necks!

So much of the past month has been spent simply "nesting." We are getting into rhythm as a family. One of the twins favorite things is obviously swimming. We swim almost every day. Maggie and Bailey love to play along, too.

Every day brings new understandings on all of our parts. The language is coming along as well. The twins start school Monday. They both will require dental work. They each have 9 cavities. We are on a waiting list for them to be under general anesthesia for the the work so it can all be done at once. They also go for a follow up visit with the ophthamologist who will determine at that time when Nastia will have her surgery. It is truly amazing all these precious little ones have been through and all they still face to adjust here. We know God has brought us together and will continue to sustain us with his mighty hand! Praise Him!

What a week! We got a great deal accomplished thanks be to God who is our strength and our guide! We had lots of fun and lots of challenges. The twins had two rather extensive trips to the doctor. One was a check up and the other was the ophthamalogist. We also played, watched dvds (their favorites are Shrek and Spirit, which happen to both be on the soon-to-be-revised official Rosenthal Family Favorites list) swam, played some more, kept up our regular routines of getting Abbie and Hannah off to school and back and to and from rehearsal and basketball games.

Most of the time Anastasia and Jonathan were both cooperative, but other times we met serious resistance. It was quite apparent after a couple of days that Nastia does not like the car and she actually fought hard against getting in the car, putting on the seat belt and getting out of the car. She has made great progress though. It really helped to talk to our friend Zorina who has been an interpreter almost on a daily basis. At least Nastia now knows we understand she gets car sick and we only take the prius and the van instead of the fj cruiser which has little visiblity for smaller children.

One melt down was particularly intense, but we all learned that Momma and Poppa's resolve is solid. Since then, the battles have come to a much quicker end. We can see her figuring out her new environment and testing its limits, and see the incredicble importance of keeping her world secure and predictable.

"Hydrotherapy" has also proven to be helpful for Nastia in particular. The first day we swam she was very tense and had a such a hard time that we thought she couldn't swim and even had a hard time floating on her back. By the end of the week, though she was swimming like a fish and very relaxed as she practice her back float. Praise God.

A lot of attention has been given to Nastia just because her personality it just so "out there" but Jonathan has benefitted so much as well from observing us with his sister and also responded beautifully. He is used to whining which Zorina talked to him about one night and that seemed to really help him understand. He is a very easy-going kid and loves to help with everything!! He also has the greatest smile and loves to give all of us big hugs!

Both of these children are so precious!!!!! God is giving us exactly what we need when we need it and we thank those of you who are praying for us. Your prayers are clearly being answered. God is also mightily at work through Abbie and Hannah. Their example speaks volumes! As does their love and delight in their new siblings.

Their doctor visits were somewhat surprising. They both tested positive for TB, which alarmed us at first, but after the chest xrays, we learned it is not active. They will however be on anitibiotics for a long time. They are clear for school.

The ophthamalogist discovered that Jonathan's eyesight is actually worse than Nastia's. Nastia's strabismus (crossed-eyes) will be corrected by surgery. The good news is she is using both of her eyes. That is very good since it will help her recovery. Both of them will wear glasses all the time. He also told us that they are still within the window of develpment and should have full recovery of the brain development they lost from the brain not receieving clear images for so long. That window closes at about age 9 or 10. Rejoice with us that their vision will be corrected in time to prevent permanent neurological retardation!

Please pray for their physical and emotional development and for their first day of school which will be April 20. Mike and I also need your prayers for wisdom and discernment as well as for physical strength and endurance. Praise God who supplies all our needs!

Homecoming was such a joy and a much needed blessing after a punishing travel experience. Our flights went swiftly from Kiev to LA. We were even able to get on standby from NY to LA first thing Saturday morning. The twins are excellent travellers we can tell. The acted out quite a bit, however. There were blocks of time (mostly on the airplanes and during transitional times) in which it felt like we were constantly doing battle. The schedule was rigorous enough without having two needy and overwhelmed children in tow, but with our average night's sleep being about 3-4 hours, we definitely were at our wits' end by the time we arrived at home. What a blessing Abbie and Hannah were to us at that time! We knew that coming home to two other children would be a tremendous help for Anastasia and Jonathan, but we had no idea the level of joy it would bring us all. Abbie and Hannah's faces were absolutely beaming with anticipation and love for their new siblings. There was plenty of excitement and love seeing Mommy and Daddy too.

We spent our first afternoon together just playing. Hannah helped Anastasia go through her clothes, all of which Anastasia loved! Abbie taught Jonathan how to play wii which he took to like a fish to water. Then there were pillow fights and tickling matches. Anastasia and Hannah painted their nails. They all watched Tom and Jerry on DVD. I think "DVD" is the twins first English word (if it is a word.) We also walked to the park and played tag. It sounds like a lot of activity but it was so soothing just to do normal family things.

The photo was taken on our walk to the park.

We had the playground all to ourselves.

Bailey appreciated Jonathan's gentle and easy-going disposition.

Anastasia is "all girl" and loved the ponytails Hannah did for her. Hannah and Anastasia took to each other immediately.

Jonathan and Anastasia discovered the scooters in the garage and took what we think was their first ride on them. Apparently there are no helmet laws in Ukraine, because the only way we could get them to wear them was to take away the scooters. It didn't take long for them to make the connection.

Both Anastasia and Jonathan had been eager to swim from the minute they arrived, so finally Sunday afternoon we heated the jacuzzi and swam.

Jonathan loved the bubble bath. He was even swimming in the tub.

Anastasia was so happy to finally swim.

Abbie and Hannah were at rehearsal, so momma and poppa got some bonding time with Anastasia and Jonathan. No one for sure who started it, but bunny ears just popped out all over!

Mike was (is) really sick, but was compelled to infalte his new boat and take the kids and Bailey for rides.

It was a truly blessed first 24 hours! One of the highlights which is not pictured was our first meal together as a family. We had mac & cheese, of course. The highlight, though, was holding hands to pray and looking forward to sharing with Anastasia and Jonathan the fact that they have been adopted not just by a loving human family, but by our Gracious Heavenly Father who has orchestrated the whole adventure from the beginning and who is being glorified in this small picture of his love toward each of us.