MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tarun thinks Christmas is cool! We had SO much fun. Thank you, Auntie Dawn, for my cool new stocking! I can almost fit in it!
It didn't take him long to figure out that inside those pretty wrapped packages were fun things to play with. He would play with his toy for a few minutes and then was back to check out another present. It was so fun to see his big smiles and he was so excited when we got his train set going.
He had fun making Christmas cookies too. Very quickly he realized the best part was eating the dough! With 7 in the family we didn't end up with very many cookies in finished product.:)
We feel so grateful and blessed to have our precious little boy in our home. How awesome it is to celebrate Jesus' birthday and share with him the joy of giving!

Presenting: TARUN ISAAC EWEST -- US CITIZEN

What an awesome day! And what a great Christmas present! Today we legally adopted Tarun as our son and he then became a US Citizen! The judge even had a gift for Tarun! A very cute and cuddly teddy bear.
We are so grateful to all of you for all your love, prayers and support throughout this incredible journey. Have a wonderful Christmas and watch for some fun pictures of Tarun's 1st Christmas! Love to all!

So much to be thankful for!

It's snow! Tarun had so much fun playing in the snow for the first time! He had a little trouble staying on his feet with the big heavy coat on though. He really didn't want to come in but his big sisters were cold so we bribed him with some hot chocolate. He thought it was very yummy and drank the whole cup full!

Tarun had to have tubes put in his ears because he had fluid in them and the Doctor was concerned that it would cause more difficulty with him learning English. He was such a trooper and what a cutie in his little hospital gown. He also enjoyed the trip to the car in the wagon. Even mustered up a little smile for the picture! Today you would hardly even know that he had surgery.

Today we celebrate Tarun's first Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for. We praise God for His incredible blessing of giving us Tarun! Oh the joy that he has brought to our home! We are so thankful that God chose us to be his forever family!

Fall Fun

Oh, it's those beautiful smiles that warm my heart each day! He is getting stronger all the time. It's amazing that he has gone from only taking a couple of steps and falling to just about running all over the house. His new word for the fall is "pun-tin"(pumpkin) and he loved going trick or treating. Now he's learned another word, "cany"(candy) which is always followed by a huge smile!
The girls in the picture with Tarun are his friends that have also been adopted from India. The older girls are from the same orphanage as he is from. They have had a lot of fun getting to know him again.
Tarun is having so much fun with his brother and sisters. He's never lacking for a playmate as we usually have to designate whose turn it is to play with him. He seems to enjoy it and not be overwhelmed by all the attention, so that is good!:) He has certainly brought great joy to our home and we are so blessed to have him in our family. Happy Fall!

Life as an Ewest

Wow! I still find myself watching Tarun play in my living room and am amazed that he is really here! What joy he has brought to our lives. He continues to amaze us with how quickly he learns things. He's added "Thank you, Bye-Bye, Pizza, Mama, Dada, car and color" to his vocabulary of English words and babbles on and on in either Hindi or baby giberish, we're not quite sure which.:) He also loves to give 5's and a thumbs up. It's adorable how excited he gets when his accomplishment are rewarded with cheers and applause.

We couldn't believe how much he loved going to the waterpark. No fear here! Only giggles and smiles. Until we were done, of course, and it was time to get out of the water. Probably never having had the opportunity to shiver before, he was not quite sure what to think of that and tried very explicitly to tell mom something. If only she could understand his language!

We've enjoyed the visits of many friends, including Simran and Gagan who were from the same orphanage. But it's been a long year since he had seen them and they've had to work just as hard as everyone else to win his affection.

Tarun is a good eater and gobbles down pretty much whatever we give him with the exception of fruit and yogurt. He sleeps through the night for the most part but has decided that he really doesn't care so much for bedtime. We've added a bright nightlight and a boombox with the radio playing all night and that has seemed to help alot.

Tarun is such a wonderful addition to our family and we are incredibly blessed! Thank you all for your love, prayers and support!
The Ewests

Home Sweet Home!

Oh, It is SO good to be home! We were going to post before we left for the airport but there was a festival on the road to Delhi so the roads were shut down and it was going to take us a couple extra hours to get to the airport so we had to hurry up and get going. Sorry I didn't post last night but I was so tired I think I was falling asleep walking around. It was wonderful to be back in our own beds and Tarun must have liked his new bed because he slept for 10 1/2 hrs and then came and snuggled with mom for another hour. He's having a great time with the abundance of toys! I think he's not quite sure of what to think about all the attention from his sisters, especially when they start arguing over who gets to hold him next. He has now added Thank you and pizza to his vocabulary.
I'm posting a few pictures that I wanted to post before we left. The one picture is Tarun with Rajeev, our liason. Thank you, Rajeev, for all your work to make Tarun part of our family. Thank you for all you do for these precious children. We love you, friend!
The next picture is of Tarun playing peek-a-boo. The next one is at Sikandra, a kind of fort type thing that we toured. Lukas is feeding the monkey some kind of seeds.
Thanks so much for journeying with us and for your prayers and encouragement. Lots of love to you all.
Amy, Scott, Lukas, Allyson, Nakita, Paje and Tarun Ewest

Visa is DONE!!!

Tarun's Visa was completed today and he's set to come home! The time at the embassy went very quickly for which we are very thankful. We are enjoying Rajeev's hospitality at his beautiful home! As you can see in the pictures, Tarun enjoyed his first experience of swimming. He quickly learned to splash but we weren't quick enough to get it on camera. The monkey that you see was just outside our hotel window. Last night Tarun picked up the remote, pointed it at the TV, and started changing the channel while Lukas was watching it. Then he looked at us and grinned. What a smart little guy! Lukas was very happy to find a Dr. Pepper at the embassy while we were waiting so we had to take his picture with it.

I guess that's all I can think of to say for now. We sure love and miss you all and thanks again for all the posts. Except I can't help but wondering, Where is Laura, my blog stalker friend?

Allyson, Nakita and Paje, This momma's missin' her baby girls very, VERY much and looking forward to being home with you again. I know you'll have fun with Auntie Dawn as I believe she is picking you up today. Don't forget we're sending hugs across the world to you!

Hey from Scott:

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the prayers for Tarun's adjustment. It was obvious that many people were praying specifically for that. I can't imagine it going any better! All the Twins updates are much appreciated because I haven't been able to find them in any of the newspapers here?!? For my girls, I've been storing up many hugs and kisses for you and am looking forward to being home with you again!

Enjoying Agra!

Hey Everybody! We are glad to get back on line to share our journey. We are enjoying our precious little guy so much. We can't believe how he is changing and opening up in just the very short time we've had him. His giggles and laughs are coming more and more along with lots of words that we have no idea what he's saying but enjoy listening to his sweet voice. He loves the books I brought and we asked for the book that we sent the orphanage and when they brought it out, he immediatly took it and started looking through it. You could tell he knew it was his so they must have looked at it with him.

Rajeev felt sorry for Lukas as his tummy is not always agreeing with Indian food, so we stopped at McDonalds and Lukas enjoyed a yummy fish sandwich! Today after we visited the Taj Mahal, Scott found a stand that had Mountain Dew so he is a happy man. Our hotel here in Agra is wonderful. It even has a pool! Very nice!

We love and miss you all and once again so enjoy reading all your encouraging notes, prayers and verses. As you can see, some of these pictures are from before, but we wanted to share them with you.

Sending lots of hugs and kisses to Allyson, Nakita and Paje. We can't wait for you to meet your new brother. He loves to point at your pictures and it sounds like he's trying to say your names. Have lots of fun with Aunt Dawn and a huge thank you to Bill & Michelle and Dan & Shani for loving on our girls and taking good care of them while we're gone.

Sending love from India!

GOTCHA DAY!!!

Here we are! Finally we hold our precious little boy in our arms!! Our hearts are rejoicing and praising God! Thank you all so much for your prayers and messages. They mean so much to us.

We had just such a wonderful day at Tarun's orphanage. We saw many precious children and got lots of video tape. Amy has two hands full of henna, both front and back. Tarun is SO sweet and snuggly! He started to fuss just a tad when we went to leave, but Daddy snuggled him in(because mommy's hands still had wet henna on them) and he was just fine. We've even gotten some smiles and a few giggles! We have truely been blessed! Tomorrow morning we head back to Dehli to process his visa. We will try to keep you posted.

Love and miss you all!

Sorry! It seems we have a very slow internet connection so am not able to post as many pictures as I wanted too. I guess that will have to work for now and we'll have to try agian in couple days when we get to Agra.

Tomorrow is Gotcha Day!

Hey Everybody! Thank you so much for all your posts. We can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear that you are all journeying along with us. We just arrived in Chandigarh and checked into our hotel. Rajeev is wonderful, just as everyone said. I won't be posting any pics today as I am using his computer and internet.
Lukas says:
I've been having lots of fun in India. I had a great time at Bethesda and the kids wanted me to stay. I am even more excited to do Marathon for Missions this year because I know it will be helping these kids. Uncle Shaker took us for pizza. It was AWESOME! He said to tell you, Pastor Gene, that since he did that, you'll probably have to preach about controling your emotions, on Sunday!:) Today on the way to Chandigarh, we got to see 2 elephants walking down the side of the highway. They were cool!


Thanks so much for the continued prayers and hopefully we can post some pics of Tarun next time!

We love you all!

A great day at the Children's home

We had a wonderful time yesterday at the Children's home in Mumbai. What a bunch of beautiful of children! Lukas tried to teach them "Who's the king of the Jungle?" Mitchell, you and Austin willl have to help them learn it some more when you come! Those of you who are doing Marathon for Missions, Go get those pledges! These children need your help!:)
Today we are touring Mumbai and doing some shopping. Tonight at 8:00pm we fly to Dehli. We appreciate your prayers for that as well. Only 2 days till we go to see our little boy!!!

Allyson, Nakita and Paje, We love you lots and miss you and send lots of hugs and kisses! We will try to call you when we are in Delhi.

Lots of love to all and thanks for your prayers!

We Made It!

Wow! What a journey! It was definitely not boring! We could definitely tell that you were all praying for us as we were switched to different flights, gates, and waited for 3 hours before our plane could take off. 50 people didn't make the flight to Mumbai due to weather, so we were very thankful for God's mercy once again. When I have more time I will try to give the details, but for now we are visiting Irene and Cheker. Today we will be going to the Children's home to see the children.
It is truely amazing to be here and Cheryl was right, India is very hot and muggy and the driver's are crazy!:)
We met Zipporah, she's adorable!
Allyson, Nakita and Paje, We love you and miss you and send you lots of love, hugs and kisses. Hope your having lots of fun.
We will try to post again soon with a few more details.

The Passport is DONE!

We received notice last night that Tarun's passport is done!!! Yea, God! We have been blessed with another miracle! Thanks to all of you for your prayers.

Tomorrow's the Day!

So hard to believe that we are finally going to get our little guy! The laundry is done, the suitcases are packed and we are ready to go!

Our plane leaves at 2:05pm tomorrow and we arrive in Newark around 6:05(est). We leave Newark at 8:20pm(est) and arrive in Mumbai, India at 9:00pm(India time)(approx. 9:00am-central time) on the 24th. We are excited to stop in Mumbai to see our missionary friends and the children at Bethesda orphanage. We will stay with them Friday and Saturday and then fly to Delhi Saturday night.

That is the first part of our journey. Hopefully we will be able to find internet access and keep you updated.

We still have not heard anything on Tarun's passport, so we greatly appreciate your continued prayers for that.

Thanks for journeying along with us!

Scott, Amy and Lukas

Ready or not! Here we come

Only 1 more week till we fly to India to get our precious baby boy! At this time our flight is scheduled to leave Mpls at 2:05pm, Wednesday, July 23rd. We are still waiting for Tarun's passport to be done, so appreciate your prayers for that.