I have met this women and I have seen her struggle. I have walked her walk and I have been lifted up, please help me lift her and her family up! If you can not help please pass this along anyway you can to get the word out there and to encourage a family that needs encouraging!
Check out the blog post below:
Ralph and the Crew: Turning my attention to the east...
Monday, September 23, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Our Crazy Trip Home!!!
Well our court application is good and will be submitted Monday and our court date will be October 4th. We found this out Friday afternoon, we were then picked up from the orphanage and went to the train station to get tickets. WE went back to our apartment packed and headed back to the train station with airline tickets booked for Saturday at 2pm. Our train left at 9:20pm; this is truly God's hand because it is really hard to walk in the train station and just get tickets for the same night and not only did we get tickets but we were able to fly out the next morning our God is truly amazing! The train ride was about 9hrs. We got to the train station in Kiev at 6am but there was no driver. We called out facilitator and she arranged a new driver. We went out to meet him and he drove us to the air port. On the way the driver fell asleep and we almost got into an accident. Once we got to the airport we had about a 7hr wait until our flight left. We got on easy peasy other than some angry couple yelling in Russian at the flight attendant but we got on and got to Frankfort no problem. There was only an hour and a half lay over so we had just enough time to grab a bite and get to our plane. WE got on our next flight and got settled and about 2hrs into our flight the Capitan came on and announced that there was a passenger that was having some kind of heart problem and we needed to turn around and head back to Frankfort. After a few minutes he came back on and said that we were too heavy to land in Frankfort so we had to unload some fuel and not to be concerned if we see it out the window. Almost to Frankfort he came on once more and said that we couldn't land in Frankfort so we were turning around again to head to London to unload the sick passenger. We finally landed in London where they got the sick person off and in the hands of medical care then they refueled the plane and we took off once more. We were about 2hrs away from Chicago when you wont believe it but once again the Captain came on and said that there were 6 more people critically sick and they may have to land early. They didn't end up having to land early (Praise God) we finally landed in Chicago at 10:05pm but we were not able to get off the plane until almost 10:30pm. Even the pilot said in all his years flying he had never had so many sick passengers. By the time we made it home it was 12:30am so we didn't get to see the kids but my sister Jessica brought them home early this morning. Rorie had some kind of allergic reaction on her cheeks and a runny noise. Cole gave a little smile and then fell asleep and slept most of the morning. I think he is coming down with something. I guess I came home at the perfect time!!!!
We are happy to be home and getting some rest before the kids come home. We have a list of "To Do's" to get ready for the new littles and I think the next 2 weeks will go fast! Please keep our family in prayer because the thought of doing this all over again to be honest terrifies me!!!
We are happy to be home and getting some rest before the kids come home. We have a list of "To Do's" to get ready for the new littles and I think the next 2 weeks will go fast! Please keep our family in prayer because the thought of doing this all over again to be honest terrifies me!!!
Friday, September 13, 2013
Reality is Setting in...
Today is a very VERY hard day. The excitement of seeing our kids is wearing off and now I am realizing the state they are really in. Our little Geeg is so tiny and not just in the cute way but the OH SO DANGEROUS way. Holding her today she was just so tired, she barely could lift her little head. Every time we visit she has had little broken blood vessels popped all over her face like she was screaming and no one went to comfort her. Her legs are so tiny and frail too, it took all I had not to cry while holding her in my arms. It broke my heart thinking of handing her back over to those care workers. My heart just cried out... LORD do I really have to give her back???? She had food left in her mouth from lunch, it looked as though it was just smashed in her mouth. How do I go home with out her, will she think we are gone and not coming back? Lord strengthen her and give her peace to know we will be coming back and when we do she will never have to know loneliness EVER again.
Jasper is getting more and more comfortable with us but still when I touch him he jumps a little until he focuses his eyes on me and sees that it is me then he smiles and goes back to stimming. His legs are so very tiny and he barely ever bends them or straightens his body out at all. His name means "My Treasure" and when I think of treasure I think of a diamond, so I always tell him I'm going to take him home and polish him til he shines!!!
Silas is strong, he seems brave but for a little boy at 6yrs old he shouldn't have to be. He makes sure to check the room before he does anything. He is not interested in toys... what 6yr old do you know that is more cautious of his surroundings than willing to play with a toy?
Now I don't know what they have had to endure their first 6yrs on this earth but I know it hasn't been easy and I know things have happened to them that would make you cringe and that is enough for me.
Our court application is being turned in today and I have been looking forward to getting it submitted and heading home to see Rorie and Cole and just enjoy the luxuries that my life provides me, but today.... sitting in that tiny room crammed on a little bed with 5people I realized that when I get to go home for the 2wk wait they have to stay here alone. Now I know this is what they know so they should be fine but imagine this for a moment:
Your life for 6yrs has been laying in a bed staring at a ceiling until someone feels like feeding you 2 maybe 3 meals a day that probably last 10mins if you are lucky. That is 30mins a day of human interaction and even then I don't know how much you will be talked to. But one day a man and a lady come and for 2hrs they hold you in their arms, they sing songs to you, tell you stories of what your life will be like and whisper I love you in your ear. For 2hrs 2times a day for a week. Would you want that to end?... I wouldn't!!!
How do I leave? I do I walk away? My heart hurts today, it's breaking I know this will pass and they will be home with us but in this moment Lord I am sad and my heart cries out to you. I know Rorie and Cole are healthy and happy and well taken care of, I can not say the same for my soon to be children. On the other side of things, I know Rorie and Cole miss us very much and there is nothing I can do for my soon to be children except visit them. Visits are hard because there you are with "your child" but you can't do anything with them, you are told where to sit, where to play, how long you can be there and they watch you. I can't feed them or bath them or even brush their poor little teeth. All I can do is daydream about life when we break them outta here. So you can see why the reality is setting in, the reality of their state, the reality of us going home and leaving them here and the reality of all that is still left for us to do before we can get them outta there!
Yesterday at our visit we were able to go outside and our visit time overlaps with the older girls play outside time. One of the girls saw Fred and I playing with the kids and started crying. When one of her friends came over to console her she yelled at her and the only word I caught was "Mama" then she looked over at us and buried her head in her arms. She must have been at least 16yrs old. And I thought how hard that must be to live a life without goals, challenges to make you a better person, people seeing the best in you, having people in your life to encourage you to become all that you can be and most of all to have someone love you unconditionally. My heart broke for her, there is NOTHING for these children here, Nothing but heartache and death, sure there are groups trying to make changes but how many more have to suffer?
Fred and I are in need of prayer... prayer for God's wisdom, strength, peace and guidance!
Jasper is getting more and more comfortable with us but still when I touch him he jumps a little until he focuses his eyes on me and sees that it is me then he smiles and goes back to stimming. His legs are so very tiny and he barely ever bends them or straightens his body out at all. His name means "My Treasure" and when I think of treasure I think of a diamond, so I always tell him I'm going to take him home and polish him til he shines!!!
Silas is strong, he seems brave but for a little boy at 6yrs old he shouldn't have to be. He makes sure to check the room before he does anything. He is not interested in toys... what 6yr old do you know that is more cautious of his surroundings than willing to play with a toy?
Now I don't know what they have had to endure their first 6yrs on this earth but I know it hasn't been easy and I know things have happened to them that would make you cringe and that is enough for me.
Our court application is being turned in today and I have been looking forward to getting it submitted and heading home to see Rorie and Cole and just enjoy the luxuries that my life provides me, but today.... sitting in that tiny room crammed on a little bed with 5people I realized that when I get to go home for the 2wk wait they have to stay here alone. Now I know this is what they know so they should be fine but imagine this for a moment:
Your life for 6yrs has been laying in a bed staring at a ceiling until someone feels like feeding you 2 maybe 3 meals a day that probably last 10mins if you are lucky. That is 30mins a day of human interaction and even then I don't know how much you will be talked to. But one day a man and a lady come and for 2hrs they hold you in their arms, they sing songs to you, tell you stories of what your life will be like and whisper I love you in your ear. For 2hrs 2times a day for a week. Would you want that to end?... I wouldn't!!!
How do I leave? I do I walk away? My heart hurts today, it's breaking I know this will pass and they will be home with us but in this moment Lord I am sad and my heart cries out to you. I know Rorie and Cole are healthy and happy and well taken care of, I can not say the same for my soon to be children. On the other side of things, I know Rorie and Cole miss us very much and there is nothing I can do for my soon to be children except visit them. Visits are hard because there you are with "your child" but you can't do anything with them, you are told where to sit, where to play, how long you can be there and they watch you. I can't feed them or bath them or even brush their poor little teeth. All I can do is daydream about life when we break them outta here. So you can see why the reality is setting in, the reality of their state, the reality of us going home and leaving them here and the reality of all that is still left for us to do before we can get them outta there!
Yesterday at our visit we were able to go outside and our visit time overlaps with the older girls play outside time. One of the girls saw Fred and I playing with the kids and started crying. When one of her friends came over to console her she yelled at her and the only word I caught was "Mama" then she looked over at us and buried her head in her arms. She must have been at least 16yrs old. And I thought how hard that must be to live a life without goals, challenges to make you a better person, people seeing the best in you, having people in your life to encourage you to become all that you can be and most of all to have someone love you unconditionally. My heart broke for her, there is NOTHING for these children here, Nothing but heartache and death, sure there are groups trying to make changes but how many more have to suffer?
Fred and I are in need of prayer... prayer for God's wisdom, strength, peace and guidance!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Pictures!!!
Wehaveot to have our visit outside yesturday! It was so nice! When I took Bridget from the care provider her eye lit up like the 4th of July! She was so happy to see us! We found that Jasper is not a fan of the swing but loves going for walks! Silas isn't a fan of toys he just isn't interested but whe we were swinging on the porch swing I banged on the back of it like a drum and he LOVED it! Ok ok ok... no more talking here a TON of pics!
I have more pics but my phone only lets me upload so many at a time so ill post more in a bit... stayed tuned!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
The First and Second Meeting...
This morning we got up and got dressed... We went out to the Social Workers office and dropped off our referrals then went back to our apartment and guess what..... we WAITED!!! Then the driver came back and we met our facilitator at the orphanage. They asked us a few questions and looked at our photos, then another lady came in and we moved into a small room. Waiting for us was one of our little guys dressed in pink! I picked him up and gave him a squeeze (he didn't like that much) even though he is a size of a 2yr old (MAYBE) I have to remember that he has not been held and squeezed all that much so it will take time. He was a very busy guy he would fake me out and put his arms up for me to pick him up then once I had him on my lap he pushed to go to the floor... that stinker.
Then they brought in the other two and my heart just melted!!! Our little girl so tiny, her wrists are the size of a quarter. For our morning visit she was quiet and not really responsive. We got a few grins but mostly sleepy eyes, very cuddly! Our other little little guy was like we were told a little stand offish, kinda of nervous but by the end of our morning visit he gave me eye contact and lots of giggles!
Then we had to head to the notary to get some documents done. We WAITED for 2hrs!!! Once we got the documents done we had to head back to the orphanage to pick up more documents. Technically visiting time was over but they let us have a little time with the kids. This time we got to go to a much bigger room and all three kids were very active! Our shy guy was still shy, but we put our little lady on her tummy and she started wiggling all around like an army crawl. She would stop and rock back and forth and sing lalalalalala! She is an amazing little thing, I would scoot away from her and she would follow me and her Daddy... forget about it she has his heart!!!
After our visit and a stop at the store for dinner we headed home to discuss our next steps; With the emotional day we had and all the different possibilities of how the rest of this adoption could go was just to much for me last night. Thankfully my Mom was there for me to talk to... CRY to!!! But today was a million times better I woke feeling refreshed and ready to go see our kiddos and I told myself I wasn't going to worry about things we don't even know for sure about yet. I had to remind myself that God is in control and this is going to work out according to His will NOT mine! That made me feel much better!
Fred got a solid 9hrs of sleep last night and got up this morning more exhausted than ever so that was a real treat (maybe God allowed for that to make sure to keep my mind off of all the stuff I had given to Him the night before LOL) We got to our visit after only getting on one wrong bus once!!! For those of you that don't know the bus system here is much different than at home, there are just a bunch of buses with numbers and they run up and down the street so for us because we don't read Russian it's like playing the lotto when we get on a bus! I do keep a small pad of paper with us to write down bus numbers that work and bus numbers that do not work so far we have found 2 FORSURE buses!
When we got to the orphanage they showed us back to the small room we were first in which kinda stunk because its very small and has 2 sets of bunk beds and not a whole lot of room to move around and play also Fred like I said was exhausted and hot and if you have never meet Fred he isn't the smallest man around so he didn't fit so he laid on his side on the bed to play and can you guess what happened?... He fell asleep!!! When our 2hr visit was up a lady came by and said something to us, we thought we said we were finished (I hadn't eaten and had to go to the bathroom so bad so we were ready to go) but the lady left and never came back. A half an hour later another lady came to the hallway right outside where we were with the kids and then turned off the light and left. As you can imagine Fred wasn't in the best mood and was ready to go, it was lunch time and the kids were falling asleep so I said come on lets got I grabbed a kid in each arm and Fred grabbed the other and we walked out to the lobby. I looked at the lady sitting at the desk and said "Groupa?" she said "Da!" and went and got the care workers and that was that... I guess we have to tell them when we are done!!! Live and learn but we got an extra hour visit with them this morning!!!
Our afternoon visit wasn't as eventful, Fred took a nap and we got to be in the big room so life was good!!! Ok enough yapping here our pics from yesterday and today... Oh did I tell you we had to officially pick names??? Here they are...
Then they brought in the other two and my heart just melted!!! Our little girl so tiny, her wrists are the size of a quarter. For our morning visit she was quiet and not really responsive. We got a few grins but mostly sleepy eyes, very cuddly! Our other little little guy was like we were told a little stand offish, kinda of nervous but by the end of our morning visit he gave me eye contact and lots of giggles!
Then we had to head to the notary to get some documents done. We WAITED for 2hrs!!! Once we got the documents done we had to head back to the orphanage to pick up more documents. Technically visiting time was over but they let us have a little time with the kids. This time we got to go to a much bigger room and all three kids were very active! Our shy guy was still shy, but we put our little lady on her tummy and she started wiggling all around like an army crawl. She would stop and rock back and forth and sing lalalalalala! She is an amazing little thing, I would scoot away from her and she would follow me and her Daddy... forget about it she has his heart!!!
After our visit and a stop at the store for dinner we headed home to discuss our next steps; With the emotional day we had and all the different possibilities of how the rest of this adoption could go was just to much for me last night. Thankfully my Mom was there for me to talk to... CRY to!!! But today was a million times better I woke feeling refreshed and ready to go see our kiddos and I told myself I wasn't going to worry about things we don't even know for sure about yet. I had to remind myself that God is in control and this is going to work out according to His will NOT mine! That made me feel much better!
Fred got a solid 9hrs of sleep last night and got up this morning more exhausted than ever so that was a real treat (maybe God allowed for that to make sure to keep my mind off of all the stuff I had given to Him the night before LOL) We got to our visit after only getting on one wrong bus once!!! For those of you that don't know the bus system here is much different than at home, there are just a bunch of buses with numbers and they run up and down the street so for us because we don't read Russian it's like playing the lotto when we get on a bus! I do keep a small pad of paper with us to write down bus numbers that work and bus numbers that do not work so far we have found 2 FORSURE buses!
When we got to the orphanage they showed us back to the small room we were first in which kinda stunk because its very small and has 2 sets of bunk beds and not a whole lot of room to move around and play also Fred like I said was exhausted and hot and if you have never meet Fred he isn't the smallest man around so he didn't fit so he laid on his side on the bed to play and can you guess what happened?... He fell asleep!!! When our 2hr visit was up a lady came by and said something to us, we thought we said we were finished (I hadn't eaten and had to go to the bathroom so bad so we were ready to go) but the lady left and never came back. A half an hour later another lady came to the hallway right outside where we were with the kids and then turned off the light and left. As you can imagine Fred wasn't in the best mood and was ready to go, it was lunch time and the kids were falling asleep so I said come on lets got I grabbed a kid in each arm and Fred grabbed the other and we walked out to the lobby. I looked at the lady sitting at the desk and said "Groupa?" she said "Da!" and went and got the care workers and that was that... I guess we have to tell them when we are done!!! Live and learn but we got an extra hour visit with them this morning!!!
Our afternoon visit wasn't as eventful, Fred took a nap and we got to be in the big room so life was good!!! Ok enough yapping here our pics from yesterday and today... Oh did I tell you we had to officially pick names??? Here they are...
Bridget (Strong, Exalted One) Charmain (Charming)
One the left: Jasper (My treasure) Frank (Free one)
On the right: Silas (Companion) James (He who supplants: takes over or rules... like a king)
Sunday, September 8, 2013
What an Adventure!!!
We left our apartment and noon and was told to take our luggage to a concierge at another apartment building. After going the wrong way 3 times we finally managed to get to the right place to check our luggage in. Then we headed out to see what the day held for us. We changed some money and headed to McDonalds for a bite. Luckily they have a picture menu so we (Fred) did really good ordering. Dad you would love the McD's here they SUPER salt everything. After that we went geocaching.
For those of you (Tina) that don't know what geocaching is I will do my best to explain it. You use million dollar technology to find plastic... it's kinda like treasure hunting but the treasure is just the satisfaction of finding what is hidden. You use gps and follow coordinates that people leave for you to find. It really is fun and doing it in another country very cool!
We walked around for 4hrs and got 11caches, we wanted to do more but the internet connection wasn't the best.
By the time we were done we were hungry so we stopped at TGI Fridays, it was nice to read an English menu! We actually hung out there for a long time before we headed back out to see the sites. Here are some pics and side stories we would like to share:
Ahhh the minion!!!
There were a lot of American stores but I was surprised to see a Claire's
Last time we came (about 2.5years ago) there was like one McDonald's now they are like Walgreens; one on every corner!
Not a big Sponge Bob fan but my Nephews and Nieces are; there was also a guy in the squirrel from Ice Age suit but I didn't get a pic... bummer!
This was the main street, on weekends they close it down so no cars and drive an it is open to pedestrians
We saw at least 3 couples that had either just gotten married, were about to get married or were in a play, walking down the street.
Ahh the GAP... I hated it there!!! I love the store but because we stick out like a sore thumb the sales people followed us around the store, I mean like the way Fred follows me when he wants to move me along while I'm shopping (His belly in my back)! I don't think they liked that I was touching the cloths the guy kept trying to grab things first to show me so I would not touch and when I showed interest in a scarf he literally ran and jumped around the store to find me more colors. Then when I picked the one I originally saw he was very disappointed. We went to the line to check out when he started to show us t-shirts that matched when we nicely said no he then showed us tank tops, then socks, then clearance, too pushy I wanted to put the scarf back and leave but Fred said "No, not after all this kid had done lets just buy it and go." We bought it and only after we bought it did I find out it was 32 American dollars, needless to say I was a bit bummed... GRRR!
Aww I love that guy, he is amazing!!!!
That KIA building was our landmark, its how we found where we were. If we looked up and saw that sign we could find our way back to where we started!
This one is for my niece Deb, even though mustaches are out for you, they still remind me of you!
This was our last apartment we stayed in Kiev, it was very nice.
There was a great cache here; this statue was to honor the firefighters that responded to the Chernobyl explosion. (nuclear meltdown)
This is the other side of the KIA sign, we were able to get around very easy actually!
Hard to tell in this pic cuz it's kinda blurry but this is a sporting goods store and by sporting goods I mean guns... Fred's eyes lit up like a kids in a candy store.
As a lot of you know Fred newest love in guns, what was so funny is that our driver (who was the best driver we have EVER had) couldn't speak much English but had gone on a trip that day with his family to a gun museum and out of the blue while we were waiting (of course cuz that is what we seem to do most with this adoption) he pulled out his phone and started showing Fred pics of a missile and then of him shooting an AK47... man I think they became best friends after that. They didn't know each others language but they both spoke the language of guns. I wish I could have got it on video to watch these to men mime out what guns they like and own was so funny! Fred can't wait to bring him back a hat from home!
This was a street library, you use your smart phone and just scan the code and you get the book for so long I thought this was really cool.
This little train lights up and was beautiful.
Other cool sites we saw!
I think it is so amazing that people literally park where ever they want and it's fine with everyone. Those are stairs... geez!
They had a lot of different street performers, we stopped at a few. I didn't get a good pic but we sat right by some Ukrainian Rastafarians and they just started jammin'! Then a bunch of drunk guys started dancing really crazy; we got up and left, LOL!
We boarded our train to Krivoy Rog and settled in for a 9hr train ride!
We are now in our apartment in Krivoy Rog. There are a few English speaking missionaries here so we will have a lot of people to help us get around. The missionary that is renting us an apartment invited us to her church service tonight which will be in English and she is going to show us around this afternoon. Tomorrow is the BIG day we will finally after a year and 2mths get to meet these beautiful children that are going to become a part of our family! Keep us in prayer!
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