Christmas lights at the Greeley Griswald's

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!!

Graedy

Elise

Elijah

Graedy's Birthday and Bowling!!!!! 12/21/08

Elijah's first time bowling

Elise even bowled without bumpers

I am so happy finally 11 years old and reminding mom that I will be driving in no time.

Bowling was so much fun, a new birthday adventure.

Our Sneha waiting afar.......

More news from India -CARA needs a new letter confirming that we want to adopt Sneha with her special needs even though we have two biological children of our own. We definitely want to adopt her and bring her into our family. We knew we would adopt her even before I went to India to meet her. One year ago I went to India for a week to spend time with her and while there I wrote a letter confirming our meeting and our desire to make Sneha part our forever family. We hope our Sneha can come home soon after the New Year.

It's Almost Christmas!!!!!

My big snow angel- Brent

Graedy is very excited for his birthday, Christmas, and vacation.

Elise was out sleding in zero degree temperature and this is what the air did to her cheeks after only one hour. They were red with big white spots.

My three best presents under my tree Graedy, Elise, and Elijah.

Elijah's first Christmas tree and first American Christmas ever! He enjoy's and is very interested in the real Christmas story. Santa on the other hand is a problem that we have been discussing for a couple of months. One night he cried for the children in China that santa doesn't visit and he was only comforted knowing when we talked about needing to tell China about Santa.

November 29, 2008

Do you like Elijah's perm????? Just kidding it is a wig. Our son from China had his first Thanksgiving and we forgot the camera!!!! Time was well spent with family at the farm.

Remebering November 2005 in Great Falls, Montana. What a difference three years can make. This year Thanksgiving day Graedy ran a Turkey Trot- 5miles with his best friend Joseph in Windsor, CO. Elise helped Grandma Jean the day before Thanksgiving make three homemade pies and set up the dining room for the coming visitors. She is quite the good cook!

Our Sneha waiting in India- twelve months and two weeks. We were sad to hear of the trouble in India. We need your prayers for the people of India and for our Sneha that we can safely bring her home. We are still waiting for our INS approval so that when India gives the ok we have the papers to go get her. The process before us still is waiting for the NOC from India and then her papers travel through the courts for three court dates.

The flag of India.

The flag of Ghana, where our other daughter Pearl waits. The ball is finally rolling to get the paperwork started for Pearl. The process is rather simple, but each part of the process takes time and of course we can't get fingerprinted for Ghana until the homestudy is submitted is to USCIS.

The Friday, Saturday, and Sunday following Thanksgiving were spent with Elijah, Elise, and Graedy all sick. I just had a thought with five kids they could all be sick at once or it could possibly drag at for weeks at a time. Time to stock up on OJ and vitamins and rest for Mom.

October 2008/ November 2008

Elise 2008



November 2, 2008 Elise's 9th Birthday!!!!!! We can't believe our baby girl is already 9 years old.
She had her best friend Skyla stay over night. We enjoyed friends, family, cake, and ice cream, and of course the movie of Elise's choice "Camp Rock" . Her bed now has a cool "Camp Rock" comforter and sheets.


Graedy's first official 5K race!!!! He has always loved to run to from the minute he learned to walk he wanted to run. He likes to run with his best friend Joseph. He participates in running club and has run well over 100 miles.

October 2008


















New pictures of our Grace Sneha. She looks so grown up and even is growing hair. Yeah!!! We can't wait until she comes home. We are just waiting for the first step our NOC and then her case moves onto the courts. We have heard the court process can take months. So please pray she will be home before next fall. We have a family sponsorship on Reece's Rainbow where we found her. Just go tohttp://www.reecesrainbow.com/ and then go to adopting families.


October 31, 2008

Elijah's first official Halloween in America. Elijah's favorite was the play-dough. They had a great time trick or treating with cousins in Greeley. A year for a lot of firsts.

Elijah's head is still healing and he has to be on seizure medication for up to a year post-op. He bumped his head and had a seizure, but the neurologist thought it was from the bump and not just random. The good news is no more EEG's for six months if he stays healthy.

New and exciting news for the Arnold Family we are proud to annouce the next expected addition our daughter to be Pearl from Ghana, Africa. We have just started the process and hope to have her home within a year. Africa has been on Brent's heart for along time . Pictures will be posted in the future after our dossier is submitted.

September 2008

Our Elijah ,the little funny guy! We never could have hoped for a child to fit into our family any better. He is just as stubborn, willful, and competitive as Graedy and Elise. God placed him in our home with all of us in mind. We are so thankful that he is here!!!!

Our Miss Elise the girl who is gifted with the flare for decorating and a big help when her heart is so inclined . I walked to the rythm of my own tune and in good time. An inspiration to all kids who want to know how to cook and bake. A true lover of animals.

Graedy our fifth grader is now in flag football and loving it! He just seems to be naturally gifted with grace and strength. He is very dilligent about his homework and reading. He is now so thoughtful of his little brother and very helpful.

Grace Sneha waiting in India.............

Thoughts of summer

My friend Debbie

We are thankful for a summer spent getting to know new friends. Elijah and his friend Luke are both from China brought together here in America. At Timberline church we were brought together with other adoptive families to spread the word of adoption to the world and give our children friends with situations in common and a good point of reference for us parents. We can make a difference in our world one child at a time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SEVEN YEAR OLD ELIJAH!!!!!

Thinking back one year ago and the wait seemed so long. How was life in China how, how was he doing, did he even know that we were coming to get him and thinking of him constantly???? Well thank goodness he is here with us for his first all American birthday --cake, ice cream, cousins, grandparents, and lots of presents.

What a summer-hot, hot, and hotter. We survived and we are back to school. Graedy is in fifth grade at Beattie, and Elise is in third grade at Beattie. Elijah attends first grade at Johnson , the closest elementary with an English second language program.

Brent has finally started his new phase of his life. Out with the old and in with the new!!!!! A chance to enjoy life once again. A career with the same motivation as his life and beliefs in God above. Praise the lord for the man from St. Andrew's with a job lead!!!!!

Our Picnic at Snow Range (Wyoming)

July 21, 2008

Last Friday Four adults and three children cramed into our Ford Taurus for a two hour drive into the mountains for a picnic. With a cooler full of great food and some wood for a fire we were not going to go hungry. This was to be Elijah's first American cook-out. The trip was a nice respite from the near one hundred degree temperatures. A light jacket was required, but no one was complaining. Smores were the final culinary delight of the picnic as apparent in Elijah's picture. What a wonderful day we had with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Michael!

Also, today I decided to try my hand at hair cutting... a task normally reserved for Holly who is formally trained as a stylist. I think the results were pretty good as the boys were happy, but you can judge for yourself.

Haircut Day

Today I decided to try my hand at haircutting--a duty normally reserved for my wife the experienced stylist in the family. I think the results

Photos of India 11/2007 and Sneha

NOW WE JUST WAIT, WAIT, AND WAIT SOME MORE TO HEAR ANY NEWS ABOUT OUR DAUGHTER SNEHA IN INDIA. SO WE WILL TRY TO BE PATIENT AND WAIT FOR GOD'S TIMING.

Remembering India 11/2007

Many miles from here a little girl waits for a family to take her home. It is hard to believe with all the people in the world God chose her for us to meet and someday bring home. Out of all the websites and hundreds of waiting childrens faces God kept prompting us to take one more step....Find out about her, find out how to bring her into your family. I have to admit after finding out about her and all her problems I was scared to death. I talked to two people who knew her personally and the prognosis was not what I had hoped. It is not about what we want or the ideas that we have. What we need is to have a willing heart to say yes, Lord what do you want for us? What are your plans? Long ago Brent and I thought of adoption before we had children. We knew that so many children who are already in the world need homes and families.

Fast forward to fall of 2007. I made the call to find out about Sneha and what we needed to do to get the ball rolling. I called the agency one last time before giving up and the agency said why don't you go meet her in a couple of weeks. What???? My mother's best friend took the trip with me. She had been on many mission trips around the world, thank goodness for her experience.

Remering India

CCAI Picnic and More.....

CCAI Picnic 06/21/2008 -Graedy, Elise, and Elijah had a great time eating, watching Chinese dance, and seeing other families like our own. It was great to see all the children from China in families here in Colorado. It brought back memories of our own trip to China and the great time we had. We hope to go back to China when the children are older. It was so wonderful that Joshua and Lily had the vision to help the children of China- now 8,000 placed in families.

Lots of more appointments this week. Elijah has his brace to stretch his tendon and stablize his foot . His left foot also needed a lift so his leg will be the same length and so he can walk upright and stable. It is working wonderfully so far, we just have to put in the time to incorporate his excercises for his left hand, arm, foot, and leg. A lot of work for a little boy, but he is very determined to be able to someday play sports like big brother Graedy.

As far as swimming goes Graedy is in level 5, Elise is in level 4, and Elijah advanced to level 2. Graedy attended camp this week and had a great time. He had so much fun he forgot to even miss us. A great time to learn about God and to meet new people. Elijah thought he would never come home.

New pictures from Children's

June 18, 2008

Thank goodness that I have healed from one month ago! The 48 staples are gone! Graedy, Elise, and I now are in swimming. Graedy is in level five, Elise is level four, and I am in level one. This is my first summer of swimming. Graedy can swim laps and is learning to flip turn, Elise is learning to swim laps without stopping, and I am learning to float on my front and back.

We have been going to lots of appointments this week. Monday I received four fillings and a tooth blasting to take the iron off my teeth. Graedy received good news no braces for now and good news for Elise plenty of room and no braces for now.

Well, on to my foot. I went to a podiatrist yesterday and today was fitted with a casting for a brace. My goal is to play soccer and basketball by the time I am eight years old.