Since Hallowe'en (a little tribute to the UK spelling, there) is upon us, I thought I should post this for those who don't realize what they are supporting when they contribute to those little orange UNICEF boxes. As an adoptive father, you would think I would support an organization that purports to save children (especially orphans). I don't. In short, what UNICEF does is make it harder for children to be adopted into loving families, instead preferring them to be confined to orphanges or the street in their home country.

Granted, I believe their stated goals are admirable. I believe their implementation is skewed and wrong. For more information, please visit the following website.

http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000228.html

And remember, if UNICEF had its way, the two beautiful children you see to the right would still be in Guatemala, possibly in an orphanage or on the street or dead (very possible given our son's illness before we brought him home).

I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again
according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge
both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.

I guess I haven't posted much (nothing) since July. Well, got some new pictures of the kids up. Not much else new to report.

Several weeks ago we were at my parents' cabin down in the Smokies (check out the shameless plug link to the right). While in Cades Cove we ran across some bears. A mom and three cubs. very cute. Some idiots were actually getting out of their cars to take pictures. Just remember, 25% of the population is retarded. That mother bear looked awful skinny to me...

While we were there, we also rode bikes around Cades Cove, hiked a bunch, and generally had a good time. Never once went into town. It was nice. It rained the last night we were there (I love rain in the Smokies). I tried to take a picture of the trees by the back porch, but it didn't turn out well.