I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars. And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. ~Isaiah 45:2-3
Friday, August 27, 2010
Rollercoaster RIDE.....Day 18
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
**UPDATE...Day 15**
We had our 2nd SDA appt. for Levi and everything went well:) We are picking up our referral for him in a couple of hours. So tomorrow morning we will go through the same steps we did with Charlie minus the meeting with the orphanage director because he already went through Levi's file with us. Once everything is complete our facilitator will be able to submit us for COURT! We should have our court date & time late thursday or friday. Yay! Please join us in praying & believing that our date will be soon so that we can move forward with the adoption & also so we can return home to hug and kiss on our children during the 12 day waiting period. God is good & we are thankful:)
Just to Make you laugh....Day 14 & 15
I promise we are trying to stay outta trouble at the orphanage. LOL
Today We are WAITING...We were told not to go to the orphanage this morning because we SHOULD be having our 2nd SDA appt. Yay! But....We are still here waiting. Hopefully we will get a call soon. Please continue to pray that things progress & we get a court date soon.
..but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
Monday, August 23, 2010
Groundhog Day......Day 11,12, & 13
Sunday, we went to the Children's hospital to see if any children wanted to go to church with us, and they did!!! We took 3 children via walking & bus to church and then returned them to the hospital after. What little sweethearts!! We had Pizza for lunch with the Peipon's (my new favorite food here) and then had our evening visit with the boys. We did Wheels on the bus, The Lord's army, Jesus loves me & of course Pat-A-Cake with Charlie. When we sing The Lord's Army of course we stand up & do all the movements. I am sure the workers think we are Weird American's, and Levi looks at us like we are definitely Weird. Or maybe he is just in Awe!!! lol We had dinner with a sweet family from NY that are adopting 2 sweet little ones & we finally left the restaurant when they started turning the lights off on us. Great fellowship & wonderful conversation. Hopefully they are huggin on their little one's as we speak:)
Today is flag day here & tomorrow is their Independence Day, so there are flags everywhere and stages, and activities going on. I am sure we will be right in the middle of it all tomorrow:) We had a great visit with the boys this morning & have hung out at our apartment this afternoon. Storing up energy for our evening visit!!
They both want in Daddy's lap
The most exciting thing about today is that 7 of our 8 children are starting school today.....We are missing many first's, but know that God's hand is on this whole thing and that it is His timing not our own. So incredibly thankful to our wonderful family for everything they are doing to help with the kids and thankful to our amazing kids for understainding that this is all part of God's plan for our family & soon there will be TWO less orphan's in the world! We Love ALL of you & miss you bunches:)Friday, August 20, 2010
Today's Visit....Day 10
Today we woke up to cooler weather & rain!!! We have gone from high 90's to 60's. For all of you adoptive families that just went home, sorry you didnt' get to enjoy the COOL!! LOL This morning's visit went great. We had a good time with both the boys. Every day we find new things about them that we didn't know...
Things we have learned about Charlie:
- He does not like to be taken back to his groupa at the end of our visit
- If you tell him to put his tongue in he WILL
- He loves to play Pat-A-Cake, Wheels on the Bus & The Lord's Army
- He is NOT interested in coloring, but likes to look at books & will try to repeat us
- He can now say AGAIN PLEASE (In his little husky voice)
- He does not like Levi to get too close to him
Things we have learned about Levi:
- He LOVE, LOVE, LOVE'S to ride the tricycle(especially down steep hills. Ha!)
- He loves to lay his head on your shoulder
- He Loves to play with books & will color in a coloring book
- He likes to lead the way, but always wants to make sure you are close behind
- He has flat feet and the cutest little duck walk
Clapping for himself...Yay!!!!
God Continue's To Stand Beside Us as we WAIT for our court date....This is the hardest WAITING part of our whole journey so far. Please continue to pray that we will hear soon:)
Very WELL Said....
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Progress.....Day 9
The Lewis', Diston's & Us - Pizza Yum!!!
We have also been blessed to spend time with children at the Children's Hospital here. What a blessings to be able to sing and play with such beautiful children. Although I do believe the nurses thought we were crazy singing and dancing around. LOL They said they have never seen adults do that. Too funny!! Thank you to the Peipon's for letting us join them:)
Now on to the progress.....We recieved a phone call from our facilitator around 2:30 saying someone would be picking us up to bring us to the notary to sign a document asking for the 2nd SDA appt. for Levi which means that Charlie's paperwork is complete:) Yay! This means that as soon as we have our 2nd SDA and Levi's paperwork is complete we will have a court date! The only bummer is that Mon & Tues are a holiday here. So please pray that this does not slow the process. Also when we arrived at the orphanage for our evening visit, we found Charlie inside getting his picture made. So we brought Levi in and they both got their pictures done for their passports!!! Yay! They even showed us the printed pictures before we left. One more thing we can mark of the list. Our morning visit was good. The boys are warming up to us more & we have a learned a few words to help us communicate with them better which has helped. They are very obedient, but the language barrier is a nuisance. In addition to that because we do not already have a child with DS we are trying to learn what is orphanage behavior & what is DS behavior. Challenging:) LOL Tonights visit was cut short due to the photos, but Levi was having a BIG time on his little tricycle & Charlie was a little grumpy because he had gotten a shot. (I'm guessing an immunization he may have been missing)
***Please continue to pray that the process goes smoothly and quickly. We are missing our children already & can't wait to return home. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures...
Loves that Swing!
A return demonstration of Pat-A-Cake...We do it about 25 times in a row. Each time we finish he says AGAIN(in his husky growling voice) Now we're working on Again Please:)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Brother's....Day 7 & 8
He did come around after a while & decided it was'nt so bad:)
This is the ONE lone swing & they LOVE it!!
HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!!!!
Today is the day that Charlie would have been transferred to the institution, where he would have had little hope. On monday the director said to us as he went through his file, that he only had two more days. It breaks my heart to see how many other's will never have a family and instead spend the rest of their short lives in an institution:(
We Love you Charlie!!!
Levi is SO Ticklish!! And about every 5 minutes he holds his arms up & says Mama:)
Monday, August 16, 2010
Meeting Charlie & Levi...Day 6
The children were all playing outside so the director lead us out to meet Charlie & this is what I received when they told him this is your mama....
We spent only a few minutes with him and we were off to meet Levi.... Now, Levi was extremely focused on spreading a little blanket out & simply did not have time for us. His goal was to just pretend we were not there. Ha! So we hung out & played for a little bit & then had to go back into the building to pick up documents and head to notary. However, as Levi's little groupa came through the door, Levi spotted Sid, and this is what he got:)
Our afternoon visit was great! We spent the 1st hour with Charlie & then his groupa went inside & we were able to spend the next hour with Levi. Charlie (AKA Wild Man) was so excited when we went to get him from his room. He squealed & laughed. We went for a walk, blew bubbles, played on slide & swing & LAUGHED....Boy does this little man have a great laugh!!! He is ALL boy:) He threw himself on the ground when we returned him to his nanny, but it was very short lived. ~~~~ Levi (AKA Cuddle Bug) was not so sure about going with us, but he finally came to me & laid his little head on my shoulder. After a little walk, he decided that he might try letting Papa hold him for a bit & that's all it took for Sid to become his new best buddy. We played with a puzzle & made roaring animal sounds. He would take each puzzle piece and roar & then show it to his Papa & smile. When we returned to his groupa he look at his nanny and said something and then laid his head on my shoulder & said Mama. Love it!!! He fussed only a little when they had to go inside, once we told him Paka Paka(goodbye) & Zaftra(tomorrow)and then he waved as he went inside.
~What a SWEET...SWEET...SWEET day God Blessed us with today~
Ok..I kinda like this guy:)
Maybe if I hold her REAL tight she won't put me down:)
Levi working hard on that puzzle
A little balancing lesson!!!
God wants to be glorified!!! This whole thing is His!!!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Metro Madness.....Day 4 & 5
This is who I'm hangin with!!!
One of the many exotic zoo animals...
**Today God has filled my heart with a new peace. Confirmation that his hand has been in every part of our journey to bring our sons home. He has worked everything out in his timing, on his own agenda, not mine. I will continue to follow Him wherever He leads. Never again to sit back and just read the stories about other's doing amazing things for Christ, but actually doing them. Because I know that there is NO risk involved when I am obeying my Jesus.**
Friday, August 13, 2010
Life's Good...Day 3
We left the SDA on foot & walked & walked again. We saw many of the cathedrals & ate at an Irish Pub(Ha! I wish this were Ireland). So far the food has been yummy everywhere we have been. We had no problems on the Metro. Woohoo!! And we only had one "What happens in EE stays in EE" with the Wojcik's:) Ha!!! LOL......
Charlie's Referral Letter
McDonalds Menu
Sid joining in some wedding pictures....lol
Entrance to St. Sophia's Cathedral - over 1000yrs old
A Nice little reminder!! Thank you Jesus for making this possible...
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Metro & Monkey Dude...Day 2
After lunch with our facilitators & lots of information, we headed back to rest & then out to explore & meet the Wojcik's at TGIF's. We did manage to get off the metro at the correct stop, then we walked, & walked & walked. Finally after asking about 6 people, all we can manage to get was a $6.00 taxi ride around the block. Ha!!! We knew we we're close:) After dinner we walked around, purchased a microphone so we can Skype with the kids, and had a confrontation with a Monkey. Hmmm...Weird I know, but as we are taking pics in the fountains the man makes his way into our pics, and then tells Sid that this is his work & he must pay!!! He wanted $6.00. He made a big scene and as usual I hit the road while Sid smooth talked the guy. Needless to say we will be avoiding that area in the future.. LOL Last, we went the wrong way on the metro, got off and went back the other directions, Sid fell UP the steps for about the 4th time today, & we crashed in our apt. Home Sweet Home:) Here's some pictures from today...
SDA Entrance
"The Infamous Monkey" Yikes...
Time frame For the next few days:
- Pick up referral papers at SDA for both boys Friday 3:00
- Meet boys at orphanage on Monday
- Wait to hear appt. time for 2nd SDA appt
- Wait to hear time for court date