Ana Carolina Dunn

Today's blog is about our daughter Ana Carolina... that's cat-o-leen-a not car-o-lin-a. We don't have anything against tarheels that's just the way it's pronounced. Ana is 7 years old. She is all girl (i.e., she likes to get her way, manipulative, likes to be the boss, will make you miserable until you give in to her, you know... like all girls do). She is also very sweet. She is thoughtful of others. She was the first one that called us Mom and Dad. When I was in bed sick Sunday she would check on me periodically and come and kiss my cheek everytime she came in. She likes to go to bed early every night. She speaks to you in Portuguese like you understand Portuguese... and I just look at her, smile and nod yes, like I understand. She could be cussing me out for all I know. I don't know if you remember but she was the one who said that she thought her new family was going to beat her up when they met her. Tonight she pulled Mary Jane aside and was speaking to her (in Portuguese, of course) and Mary Jane couldn't understand what she was trying to say but could tell it was serious. So we had Mary Jane's dad come in and translate for us. It seems as though Marlon told Ana that if she didn't act right we were going to leave her behind when we came back to the States. This really upset her. So, we explained to her that she was with us forever no matter what. She smiled real big and said she understood. As far as Marlon goes, my idea is to tell him if he ever says that kind of junk to any of his brothers or sister again, then we will leave him behind when we go back to the States... well, maybe not LOL. We are actually going to meet with all of the kids and tell them that there isn't any reason to fear about being left behind because we're a family, period! We're together forever because that's what real families do.

You know, this whole adoption thing has been very exciting but it has also been very difficult. Not being able to be at home with our friends and family has probably been the hardest thing. But it has caused us to really lean and depend on the Lord. There have been several times when we've questioned God since we've been here in Brazil because it's been a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. But even in our questioning we know that we're just doing what he's called us to do and sometimes it's not going to be easy. We've been walking with the Lord long enough to know that the things that seem to be the biggest struggle in the beginning are the things that are going to have the biggest reward in the end. This is just one of those times where we are having to say, "Lord, we trust you" and just keep doing what we're doing. We love you guys. Thanks for your prayers.

Love ya,

Ana Carolina's Mom and Dad