Simply Pictures

Seth, Samuel and Gloria ....

are officailly ours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Unfortunately, we did not get to see them today :( as we were on a great paperchase.  We spent 7 hours in the car, driving, waiting, driving, waiting, driving .... you get the picture.  A super praise is that we completed the paperwork for each child that needed to get done.  The second praise is that we survived the drive.  Things are on target and our return date of July 16th looks promising.  Praise God!


We had to visit two regional offices.  This painting was in the hallway of one of the regional offices.

This is us looking cheesy under the pretty painting.

Believe it or not, this is the back of the regional office.  The building has business space on the first flour and the remaining floors are apartments.

A fun cobblestone street. PA peeps - not everyone has cobblestone streets.  This street reminded me of my hometown.

Our daily sleepytime shot of Little Man

I know they are not the pictures you were hoping for ... hold tight until tomorrow - I promise there will be lots of cuteness tomorrow.

Until then ... All the Best!

What a week!!!!

This past week was a whirlwind of preparations.  Many friends gave to us this week ... they gave time, talents and money.  They helped with the cause of the orphan and played a huge part in making a home for our new children.  We will be eternally grateful and humbled by the outpouring of love and support we received this week.

I would like to thank April, Brandy, Christi B, Christy S, Doug and Cricket, Heather, Holly & young men, Janet and her girls, Jessica, Sara, and Stacy and her super crew for all they did this week.  Without each one of you something would be missing and we would not be ready for the kids to come home.  From the depth of our souls, we thank you for being the hands and feet.



So what did we do this week?????
We took apart and put back together two cribs to move them into different rooms.
We assembled three cribs.  ....did you do the math???? Yep, that is 5 cribs!  Wowza.


This girl is JUST like her mama ... she had natural talents with the socket wrench ;)

We made-up the beds

We picked up a new bench for the table and now have enough room for all!

The kids watched a million hours of Little House on the Prairie

We organized cupboards.

We moved over 1000 books ... yep, we have a lot of books.  When you homeschool, you need books ;) Moving the books, enabled us to remove 4 bookshelves from the school room and freed up floor space so we can all do school together :)  

Speaking of school ... I am rethinking second grade curriculum ... but that is another story ;)

This inside corner was filled with bookshelves. The unblocked window made the room feel brand new.

We moved out loads of furniture to make the office/playroom into a play/therapy room.  Woo Hoo!! - Lots of floor space!   HA!!! See all those toys ... they made no haste in putting that floor space to use!

We sorted, purged, packed away, organized closets and filled dressers.  I think we have four million pieces of clothes.   Then we shopped for more clothes LOL ... We needed specific sizes, fill in pieces and shoes!   Gotcha day outfits were purchased and are very cute ... I know you are dying to see them, but you will have to wait just a few more days.

We still have work to do when we get home, but everyone has clothes and a place to sleep!

Prayers Needed

I wrote the other day about my friend Catherine you can read her blog here and her newly brought home daughter Victoria.  Vicotria is still in the hospital.  They were planning to insert an NG tube tonight as she was still losing weight.  They have started a chromosone study and are testing for celiac along with all the other usual tests.  She did have an MRI and Victoria's brain showed shrinkage from malnutrition.  She is also starting some therapy by bracing for her hands and ortho is looking at her legs to get some sort of brace to help her legs.

The doctor said that if Victoria had been adopted two months later, it would have been too late.

Please pray for the Lord's hand to be layed upon her and for her little body to gain strength and begin healing.

Help For a Friend

July 5th ends our ten day wait, as such we are traveling this coming weekend. This is all a blur, it is happening so fast. After seeing what my friend Catherine is going through with her little girl ... I am more than eager to get our children home.

You can read about their journey here  We are praying they will not have any medical issues requiring hospitalization.  They need help, if you are in Atlanta, she needs physical help with family responsibilities and I am sure a visitor would encourage her spirits.  They could also use financial help. A chipIn has been established to help their family. Please give if you can and pray either way. Donations to the family can be made ... here

Orphans no more!!!!!!

Seth, Sammy and Gloria are orphans no more!!!!!!  

Praise the Lord, He heard our prayers and answered yes!

Court went well, it was very easy and fast.  Having Noah with us was definitely an asset ;)  There were questions about our motives, family, finances, home and community.  The judge did ask if we were Chrisitans, praise God, that He received the glory and the jusdge saw that it was the love of Christ coming for these chldren, not just some crazy Americans!  The judge praised the U.S.A.for allowing it's citizens to adopt special needs kiddos.

We had a really quick visit with the kiddos this morning before court, and I know y'all want to see some pictures .... so with out further ado ...

At the hotel ...

Outside the orphanage

 

Mommy and Gloria

Sammy with his shades

 

Seth ... 

Just a swingin'

We're herrrrrrrrrrrrrre!!!

It was a long travel day, we flew to Frankfurt.  Little Man did great on the flight.  He slept a good bit of time which allowed me to make a to do list.  OH BOY!! I have a lot to do when I get home.

I love these little bassinets they give you for the babies to sleep in while we are in flight.

I have always wanted to go to Germany and now I can say I've been there.

We caught our connection to Big K.  Our driver, Nicolai and our friend Anya met us at the airport.  We drove to Little K, stopping along the way to have a bite to eat and to see the storks.  This is a huge stork nest and there are dozens of little birds that live on the bottom side of the next.  This daddy bird was watching us.  There were a few babies, but we missed them on a still shot.

Tomorrow is a big day and to say I am nervous is putting it lightly.  We know that God has this in the palm of His hand and that His plan is perfect.

In just a few short hours

I it amazing how fast our court date came and in just a few short hours we begin the long journey to the children.  We have a very fast travel schedule this trip, please pray for everything to go perfectly.

Please pray for the children - all of them - the ones we are leaving, the one we are taking and the ones we are going to see.  Please pray for peaceful hearts, content spirits and obedient behavior for the ones that we are leaving here.  Please pray for Little Man to do well on the plane and that his ears would not bother him.  Please pray for Seth, Sammy and Gloria to receive us well.

If all goes as planned we will get to see them right before court and should be able to spend 2 hours at the orphanage.  Please pray that the judge finds us fit to raise Seth, Sammy and Gloria.  Please pray that God will be seen through our court hearing.  We will be in court Friday at 5AM Central Time.

Thank you to all of you that are helping us bring Seth, Sammy and Gloria home. 

Thank you to my sister and my sweet friend for keeping my the kiddos while we make the second stage of this journey.  Please pray for them as they keep the children.  Without them, we could not do this.

If you have a scripture to leave for us in comments, we would love to have scripture to pray through our journey.

iPad2 Giveaway - A Plea for Help

We are giving away an iPad2!!

We are sending our a plea for a bit of financial help... bringing home three kiddos is expensive (but they are worth every.single.cent.!)  our court date is just around the corner and we traveling again SOON!!!!  We would like to raise 5800.00 to help cover our final travel expenses.   If you can help us, we would be so very grateful.  If you would like to see where the money is going, there is a bar on the left called adoption costs that details monies spent and estimates our upcoming expenses. 

iPad2 with Wi-Fi

If you would like something besides and iPad2 from the Apple Store, a $500.00 Gift Card can be substituted.

If this fundraiser does not generate enough funds to cover the cost of the iPad (tax & Shipping), we will split the fundraiser proceeds 50/50 with the recipient.



You will receive the following number of entries 

$10=1

$20=3

$50=10
$100=55
$500 = 200
$1000 = 500

Sharing on FB, Twitter or your blog will get you an entry.  Just leave a comment below telling us where you shared this fundraiser and your name will be entered.

This is NOT tax deductible, this is going directly to our PayPal. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, you can click the button on the right and that will allow you to donate through RR.




Thank you friends!

Court Date

Our court date is THIS FRIDAY >>> We are in the US ... please pray that we can work out flights.  The travel agency does not open for another hour, it's gonna be a long hour. 

WOOO HOOOO!!!! We never thought court would be this week, but praise God!!!!

Furniture for sale

We are selling this furniture to help raise additional funds and to make room for our new kiddos!

Beautiful furniture with ornate carvings.

Solid Wood Bookcase - $550.00 obo
98" wide X 71" tall X 27" deep

 

...Solid Wood Whiskey Cabinet - $250.00 obo
40 1/2" wide X 48" tall X 18" deep

The bookcase/bookshelf is very heavy. It will take two men to move it.