Hi Blogger World.....It's Lydia!

The following post has been dictated by Miss Lydia (eleven going on twenty) and typed by the faster typist, Mom (who is probably going to be in trouble after Dad reads this):

I am so excited because I finally get the opportunity to tell everyone about the crazy love I have for God. First I want to say Hope and Charlie bring more joy and happiness to my life than you can imagine. I have heard laughing makes you live longer, so I will probably live to be 200 because Hope and Charlie crack me up every day. I also want to announce that we made $30.00 at our bake sale today. The Muddy Buddies were everyone's favorite. We sold out and could've sold more. We are going to do another bake sale on Thursday and I think we might make pumpkin pies. Yummy.

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I love music. I play the acoustic guitar, violin, and bass guitar. I have written 8 songs and I sing. Someday I want to use my gifts to create my own music therapy for people with Down Syndrome, and I also want to use my music to tell others about how wonderful people with special needs are. This is the special calling God has for my life.

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For the next four weeks, my mom challenged us to show crazy love for God by helping others, even if every one else thought we were out of our minds. Of course all of the kids wanted to do something to help orphans who have Down Syndrome....especially me. So we are washing cars, baking cookies, and babysitting to raise money. Today we were driving into the neighborhood and I looked at all of the beautiful houses and said: "If every single house gave some money for Darya, we could have enough money raised for her to get adopted."

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When we got home, mom told us to come look at an email we had received from Mrs. Amy. Mrs. Amy is a friend that adopted a little boy from Reece's Rainbow last year. She had checked out our blog and saw we are raising money for Darya and it made her cry. Her email said she met Darya when she was at the orphanage in the Ukraine to get Micah. We never knew that. She said Darya was in a crib, no one ever spoke to her, no one took her out to hold her, and she was left alone by herself all day long. Mrs. Amy said she needs a home very fast.

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Her email upset me a lot. My heart has been set on Nadine on the Reece's Rainbow site, and I pray for Nadine and Darya all of the time. But now it seems to me like Darya needs a family right away and might need a family more than Nadine. (I wish we could adopt Nadine and Darya). Mrs. Amy sent us a video that she took of Darya when she was there, and Darya looked so sad. I thought, what if that was Hope or Charlie stuck in a crib all day with no one to play with. I can't even stand to think about it.

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So I asked my mom if I raised $20,000.00 could we go get Darya ourselves and be her family. My mom said yes, if I raised that much money she would know it was from God, but she said she didn't think I could do it because that is a whole lot of money. I told her I was going to try my best and nothing is impossible with God. Then she said if I raise $20,000.00 we could even adopt two kids from Reece's Rainbow, and we would try to make the other one Nadine. Now I probably won't even sleep because I am so excited!

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Tonight, Caleb, Natalie and I made 200 flyers to tape on every mailbox in our neighborhood. We are going to set the alarm and get up very early to tape them on everyone's mailboxes. My flyer explains about Darya and asks the neighbors to give just $100.00 to save her life. Caleb and I figured out if every house would donate $100.00, we would have enough money. This is my crazy love. I want to save a little girl that no one else wants. I am asking God for a miracle, and I want him to do it before Thanksgiving so she can get the news that she will be getting a family soon. I know I am most thankful for my family.

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Mom, Caleb, Natalie and I went to a party last week. Everything at the party was sold to support adoptions. One lady, Mrs. Sallee, makes the cutest dresses you have ever seen and calls them Poppy Dips. We bought one for Hope. I love the dresses because she finds really cool retro fabric. She is making the dresses to help raise money for her third adoption from Africa. She emailed us today and has donated three of her dresses to help Darya. Her button is on our blog now, so if you want to buy one of these dresses for $25.00, just email her and tell her you are buying it to help Darya. It will help!

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Mrs. Ondrea is coming over to our house on Sunday to take pictures of anyone who wants to show up to have a Christmas picture made to send out to family and friends. She is a great photographer and I hope 100 people show up. It costs $25.00 to get 4 pictures and all of the money will go to Darya. My mom is giving alot of her money from Hope's book away to help Darya too. Lots of people are helping.

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You might think I am crazy, and if you do, then I am doing my job. Dad, if you are reading this, I miss you and cannot wait to see you when you get home from Africa. I still can't believe you looked out your window and saw a rhino and elephants. I love you so so much. I guess this whole Darya thing is a surprise to you but mom promised if I raise $20,000.00 myself then that would be a sign from God. I'm crazy you know. Ha! Ha!

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Thank you to every single person who helps Darya get adopted.