pictures, pictures :)

Enjoy the pictures!

Vietnam heart baby needs more prayers

The little baby in Vietnam that I told you about awhile back, is in need of more prayers.

After a series of bumps, baby Sinh is finally on her way to Singapore as I write this. We were hoping to have her seen by the doctor who did SaraGrace's surgery, but after the little entourage was already enroute, we learned that Dr. Shankar was going to be on vacation.

Things are a bit up in the air at the moment, and we do not know if there will be a doctor available to assess her until Monday. I was given the names of two cardiac surgeons, but was not told if they would be willing to do a surgery free of charge.

Baby Sinh needs to be assessed at any rate, so that is the first step. We tried to have her assessed in Vietnam, but that proved a bit fruitless as the 'video' they sent of her echocardiogram was not actually downloaded from the computer. They took a video camera into the exam room and tried to tape what was playing on the computer! Needless to say, it wasn't very helpful to SaraGrace's doctor in Singapore who attempted to review it. The frustrations of medical care in a third world country....

We have been told that baby Sinh's health is deteriorating, so we are hoping and praying that we are not too late to try to save her life. If her heart has been too damaged by the high blood pressure caused by her heart defect, there will likely be nothing the doctors can do. If the damage has not been too great, her heart defect is one that can be surgically corrected.

Recent photo of baby Sinh

If you would like to pray for her, these are the specific requests:
**That she will be taken to a doctor who has a heart of compassion and is willing to do the surgery free of charge
**That if she is operable, the hospital would QUICKLY approve the funding
**That all the logistics for the group from Vietnam would be taken care of in Singapore--and that the funding for their airfare, hotel, etc., would be donated.
**That if God wants her life to be saved, He would intervene in a miraculous way (He already has, but more miracles need to happen!)

If you are interested in donating to help her, donations can be sent to:
Faith International Adoptions
RE: Vu Thi Sinh surgery
535 E Dock St. # 103
Tacoma WA 98402
253-383-1928

I believe in the power of prayer...and I believe that my God is able to intervene to do the miraculous in this little girl's life. Our SaraGrace is living, bouncing proof of that!

We're home! :)

I was hoping to post some pictures of all the kids greeting their new baby brother, but alas...Jeff had to leave for Italy 12 hours after we got home and I think the cable that I need to transfer pictures from the camera to the computer, is in Italy with him. He will be back late Saturday, so maybe on Sunday we can post some pictures.

Jacob did well on the trip home--thank you for praying! The day was quite long, since we got up at 4AM and got home at 1AM--so were traveling for about 21 hours (they are 2 hours behind us). He really was a trouper through it all.

The girls are madly in love with him--he is going to have a lot of Mama's. :) They are all taking turns feeding him, playing with him, and exclaiming over how small he is.

I managed to come home with an unwelcome friend in the form of Montezuma's Revenge, so we are not moving too fast around here, but we are thankful to have Jacob home. Pictures coming soon.... :)

4 HOUR FLIGHT DELAY

Just in case any of you were planning to come to the airport to see Jacob, I wanted to let you know that we have a 4 hour flight delay out of Guatemala City. That means we will miss our connecting flight out of Ft. Lauderdale. The next flight gets us into Detroit at 11PM--and I'm guessing that none of you will want to be up that late! :)

Too bad we didn't know about the 4 hour delay when we got up at 4AM. Oh well....

Adios, Antigua

We said adios to Antigua today. I am so glad we were able to spend the weekend there. It was relaxing and pleasant-and I think we would have been bored out of our minds in Guatemala City. Antigua is a ‘happenin place’ on the weekends—with many tourists and local families out in the city square, bands playing and people just enjoying some time off work. It was a very festive atmosphere which we enjoyed experiencing. One thing we have never seen before…the horses wear diapers! No kidding!! I think the folks at Mackinac Island should take note. Whenever we have been at Mackinac, we spend the day dodging large horsie pies, which not only look gross but emit a very offensive odor. ha

Ever wonder where all those old school buses go?

We will be getting up at 4AM tomorrow (Tue) to catch our flight home. If anyone would like to meet Jacob, we would love to see you! We are flying Spirit airlines into Detroit from Ft.Lauderdale and our flight arrives at 7PM. Jacob will not become an American citizen upon arrival because Jeff and I did not see him prior to his adoption being final in Guatemala. Don't get me started on the logic of that USCIS rule......


We were able to visit the special needs orphanage today, that is run by Steve and Shyral Olson. Next to getting Jacob and meeting Melissa, it was a highlight of the trip! The kids are absolutely precious and get such wonderful care and nurturing. The home is called Amor del Nino and the Olsons have been running it for 10 years. What a stark contrast between this happy, clean, place filled with love and the hospital of utter despair that we visited the other day. The children are all bright eyed and full of hope of a future. AND….they are ALL available for adoption!!



I absolutely fell in love with little Hannah. She is eight years old and has OI—better known as brittle bone disease. Kids with this condition break bones VERY easily and consequently some of them end up with very twisted limbs. Hannah also has a younger brother named, Jose, who lives there with her. They are both in wheelchairs. Hannah was very shy when I met her and didn’t want to speak—although she speaks perfect English. After I joked around with her a little, she started to warm up. We went off to see the babies and when I came back, I stood next to Hannah. All of a sudden a warm little hand slipped into mine! Hannah looked up at me and when I kneeled down to talk to her, she said, ‘Do you remember me?” My heart stopped. I knew she meant, “Do you remember my name?” I was stricken because I didn’t remember…so instead, I asked her to tell me all her names. She had about 6!! Thankfully, it saved the moment and I told her that I would never forget her, or her name.



Soon the courtyard filled up with children who had been told a visitor was there. They came in with looks of curiosity on their faces. Shyrel introduced us and I opened the suitcase and pulled out the first bags. I wish you could have heard their, “ohhh’s and ahhh’s” as they saw what they were about to receive. It was so adorable! They all waited patiently—albiet a bit anxiously—to get their bags. Each child said ‘thank you’ very politely. They carefully and excitedly examined each item. Some of the children ate the candy first. Some played with the bubbles. Some put their Salvation bracelets on and began to adjust them to the correct size. No matter what they chose to play with first…one thing was the same…their SHINING EYES. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to be there and hopefully the video will reward our small group as they see the kids getting the things they donated.






Chloe….honey….Hannah loves the color pink. When she saw the pink poodle that you donated out of your stuffed animal collection, she wanted it soooo bad. I was able to pull her aside and give it to her. I took her picture with it and I told her you would pray for her. Taylor…the little cars you bought for the boys were a huge hit! When the boys saw those cars come out of the suitcase, they squealed, “CARS, CARS!!” (In Spanish—but I knew what they were saying!) They were nudging each other and pointing to the cars. There were only 7 or 8 boys, so they each got two cars. They were soooo happy!



It was pure joy for us to spend those precious few minutes with the children---and humbling that such a small gift could bring so much excitement. We have it within our power to do something to ease misery and spread joy. There are so many children in this world who do not have a Mama or a Daddy to care…to remember their birthday’s or care enough to know that they like their sandwiches cut in triangles instead of squares. .


“Will you remember me?” It is the cry of a child’s heart. Does anyone care? Will you remember me when you are gone?

“The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people….I have heard them crying…and I am concerned about their suffering….So now, go. I am sending you…’
Exodus 3:7, 10

Hola!

Mother’s Day is nearing it’s close and we have a few more pictures to share of our day today. Jacob is doing well—is very active and starting to get bored. He likes to get out of the hotel room and see things. Haha He had his first taste of whipped cream today on top of Daddy’s banana split. He LOVED it! He did not sleep well last night and was up a lot between 2AM and 5AM. Needless to say, we are tired. ha.

We didn’t do much today except wander around Antigua. We were not able to visit the special needs orphanage, so we hope to do that tomorrow. We are anxious to pass out those gift bags!

Jacob said, ‘Mama,” today!! He probably wasn’t trying to say Mommy, but it was still neat to hear him say it.




Cool Dad and Baby….


A family of street musicians...



City bus in Antiqua



Corridor at our hotel--it's much more beautiful than our room--smile


A beautiful flower in the gardens at our hotel

Ryan, Taylor, Jillian, Molly, Chloe, SaraGrace and Jordan--we MISS you and LOVE you! We'll be home soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hola and Happy Mother’s Day!

Yesterday afternoon we went with our adoption agency facilitator, Melissa, to visit a local children’s hospital. It is actually a place of residence for the children that we saw, most of whom had cerebral palsy. There were some other American volunteers visiting at the time, so some of the children were already out of their beds and in wheelchairs. We headed inside to meet some of the other kids. The smell of urine hit us in the face as we entered the dimly lit room lined with cribs covered with mosquito netting. Children were lying silently, staring at nothing. The hopelessness and loneliness were palpable. I spotted a baby girl lying silent and unmoving and headed toward her crib. On the way, I overheard Melissa and another Christian man discussing a little boy named, Alex, who was nine years old. They said he needed a feeding tube and was going downhill fast. I had no real intentions of heading toward Alex’s bed, but I felt compelled. When the man picked him up, I could not believe Alex was 9 years old. He was the size of a three year old and incredibly thin. One thing was immediately noticeable about Alex. He had an AMAZING smile. It lit up the room. Each time he was kissed or stroked, he rewarded us with a big smile. He could not speak, but his smile said a thousand words. The man put him back in his bed, put his crib rail up and went to check on the next child. Something in my heart turned over. I do not cry easily, but tears sprang to my eyes and I knew that God wanted me to pick up Alex. I put his crib rail down and pulled back the netting and said, “Hola, Alex.’ Ohhh..he is so precious. He looked at me and gave me a big smile that lit up his eyes. I picked him up—I don’t think he weighed more than 25 pounds. He was soaking wet. A feeling of intense anger swept over me as I realized that not only are these precious ones languishing in their beds, but they are lying there in urine soaked clothing. Could any existence be more miserable? I sought out Melissa, who took me to one of the staff and asked them in Spanish to change Alex so that he would be more comfortable. After that, I was able to take him out into the courtyard. When he realized he was going outside for some fresh air, his whole body squirmed with excitement! He was so happy to be going outside. This might sound odd, but when I looked into his face and saw his smile and joyful eyes, I kept thinking of the song, “The Face of Christ” by Chris Rice.

See you had no choice which day you would be born
Or the color of your skin, or what planet you'd be on
Would your mind be strong, would your eyes be blue or brown
Whether daddy would be rich, or if momma stuck around...at all

So if you find yourself in a better place
Can't look down on the frown on the other guy's face
You gotta stoop down low, look him square in the eye
And risk a funny feeling, cause you might be dealing...
With the Face of Christ

Looking into Alex’s eyes, I truly felt like I was looking into the face of Christ. Each time I did anything for Alex, he would look at me with eyes full of appreciation and flash me a big smile. I had a bottle and was trying to feed him, but most of what went into his mouth, came back up or dribbled out of the side of his mouth. He tried so hard to swallow—but he just could not make the liquid go down, even when I just gave him a few drops at a time. I hope and pray he gets a feeding tube soon. The joy went out of his face as I placed him back in his bed. He looked so sad and fragile. It is heartbreaking that he doesn’t have a Mama or a Daddy to rock him and let him know that he is a precious little boy.



There were so many other children—all needing to be held and loved. They lie there day after day, staring at their mosquito netting and waiting for a volunteer to come and hold them. I came away wondering if there is something more that can be done for them? Melissa tells me that any donations would not stay at the hospital, but would be sold by the nurses. It is a helpless feeling to see the misery—to know that God calls us to care for ‘the least of these’ and then to walk away. Is it enough to hold them for a few minutes, pass out some stickers, blow bubbles and then leave? It sure doesn’t seem like it. Their eyes begged to be remembered, to not forget their suffering.



I had some sticker sheets left over from the gift bags we made (that we will take to the orphanage tomorrow). I gave one sheet of stickers to one of the boys and it was so cute to see how excited he was! Melissa blew some bubbles for him and he was swatting at them with his sticker sheet. He was so full of personality. Unfortunately, I do not remember his name. Before long, some of the other children who were able to operate their own wheelchairs, came rushing over to get some stickers. It was so cute.


Here is Roberto…he has a few stickers on his shirt…and he liked hanging around Melissa. One other little guy came over for some stickers but when I tried to give them to him, he could not grasp the sheet. I was able to tuck them into his lap, though, so he got his stickers.

Saturday Fiesta

There seems to be a Fiesta going on today at our hotel. The pool area is jammed with tents, tables and people. It's fun to watch! :)

Jacob continues to do well. He gets up once during the night and wants a bottle. I think at 10 months we will be ending that soon. haha (He will soon be going to the Karin P school of 'sleeping through the night without waking up Mommy'.) For now, we are just giving him a bottle and he goes right back to sleep. He is sooooo smiley and has a very engaging personality. He is getting used to being held constantly and now he cries when we put him down. :) We're already ruining him. ha. He can crawl as fast as lightening, so we have to be really careful when he is sitting on the bed with us. There is no carpet in our room, so we don't want to set him on the floor. He'll have plenty of opportunity to do that when he gets home.



I have really been enjoying the experience of a new culture. I am trying to drink in every bit so that I can tell Jacob all about it when he is older. Jeff says it is very similar to Mexico. The people here seem very accustomed to seeing 'Gringo's' so we are not a novelty like we are when we are in China. Everyone is very nice and they like to interact with Jacob. He always rewards them with a big toothless smile. :) Oh...he has one little tooth on the bottom. He chews on anything he can get his hands on, so I'm sure more teeth will be coming soon.

We are still marveling at how tiny he is. I put some 12 month sized shorts on him today and they come down to the middle of his calves. Too funny! I told him that everyone will think he is much younger and be amazed at how 'advanced' he is for a child 'his age.' hehe


We went to the open air market this morning. Very cool...a lot like China with knock-offs and the assortment of local hand-made crafts. The Chinese knock-offs are copied better, though. :) While we were there, Jeff spotted a young guy swaggering by, trying really hard to be cool. His pants were hanging way down so that you could see several inches of his boxers, like the kids in the US. However, he had a pink shirt on that said, "World's COOLEST Mom." Jeff has been chuckling over that for the past few hours. Obviously, "Dude no comprendi Englais" :)


There are some coffee plantations near here and the coffee is AMAZING! Ohhh...I love it! Starucks eat your heart out...this stuff is much better! :) And yes, Jeff is cracking the Juan Veldez jokes... Sigh...what will I do with that man?

We found McDonald's and Burger King but they didn't look anything like they do in the states. There is probably a city code here in Antigua for the way things look. They just had small signs outside of buildings that looked like all the other ones. We took the traditional picture of baby with Ronald McDonald (and thankfully didn't have to eat there).

The food here is wonderful! Living in the midwest, we have not had the opportunity to eat much 'real' Central American food. It is delicious. :) There are really cool city buses, too, that are colorfully painted.

We have Jacob--and he's precious

I can't get in to my AOL account-big surprise....grrr.... I hope you guys are checking the blog directly. (Dianne...maybe you can forward these to the group when they come to your inbox??)


We were taken directly to Jacob's hogar when we arrived. It was really nice and reminded me a lot of Hope Foster Home. Jacob was waiting for us in a baby swing and smiled when our guide spoke to him. I kneeled down in front of him and then the tears started to flow. He didn't like a stranger getting so close. They had our picture over his bed, but I don't think he recognized us. :) They explained his routine, gave us two cans of formula, a box of baby cereal and a bottle. Then the director wrapped him in a blanket, kissed him and handed him to us. They told us he is a very calm child-and that has been true. He has done very well. Jeff even got him to smile last night
We had to meet our guide at 6:45 this AM to go to the US Consulate for our visa appointment. We passed--and Jacob's visa will be ready for us on Monday afternoon. There were lots of families with babies at the Consulate. It is always neat to watch the new families that have just been formed.

>




I have had a migraine every day this week and have been in a fair amount of agony since we got here--so if you would please pray that they go away, I would be MOST grateful. THANK YOU!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

In the airport in Ft.Lauderdale

We are sitting in the airport in Ft. Lauderdale...safely ensconced here until our flight to Guatemala in 4 hours. :)

I hate flying. Truly. I shouldn't complain...I know it is so much better than a covered wagon or stagecoach...but I find myself envying those with iron sinuses. Mine resemble an empty 2 liter pop bottle with an Oreck vacuum cleaner sucking the life out of it.

Would you believe that our pastor actually smirked when he saw the amount of luggage we had?! The nerve....hehe I explained that we had stuff for the orphanage... He seemed unconvinced at my protest that I had packed as light as possible. At over-hearing my explanation, Jeff rolled his eye and gave a derisive snort. I am surrounded by doubters. hehe

We had a very eventful morning. As we were getting ready to leave, I realized that my passport was missing. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that our 3 year old, SaraGrace, had spirited it off, so I called my friend, Susie, who is babysitting her. When put on the phone, SaraGrace chattered happily, but questioning her proved fruitless. We started searching high and low, everywhere we could think of--but no passport. I was supressing the hysteria that was threatening to bubble up in my throat, and praying that God would show us where it was. Still....nothing.

We ran out of places to look. At that point, Susie arrived at our house with SaraGrace and Molly in tow. Sweet little Molly said, 'Mommy, did you pray?" "Yes, honey, I did." She said, 'Let's pray again." She grabbed my hand and prayed, "Dear God, Please help mommy find her passport. I love you, God. Amen." She opened her eyes, smiled up at me and said, "Did you check your suitcase, Mom?" Well, no...because I KNEW my passport wasn't in my suitcase. What would it be doing in my suitcase? However....a nagging inner voice urged me to look in the suitcase, so dutifully--and full of doubt--I went out to the car and opened the suitcase. I pulled back the clothing on one side and there it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Relief flooded me and Molly and I breathed, 'Thank you, Jesus." :)

Since then, things have been much less stressful. THANK GOODNESS! Our kind pastor, took us to the airport (and we were so happy to tell him he didn't have to get up at 3AM this time!). We still made it to the airport in plenty of time, despite the 30 minute search for the passport. Our flight was on time and now we will be in Ft. Lauderdale until around 6PM.

Next stop is Guatemala City and Baby Jacob! :)



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Countdown begins....

One week from today (Thur) we will have baby Jacob in our arms! We have had an exciting week and I wanted to share how God has once again provided for our family in a miraculous way.

A few weeks ago, a friend in our small group told me that she knew a pilot who worked for Spirit Airlines. She put me in touch with the pilot's wife, who immediately started trying to see if she could get us some free passes to Guatemala.

I gave her our travel dates--May 10-15. This is where you just have to love God's timing. Spirit Airlines is just beginning to offer service to Guatemala. The first day they will offer service there will be....drum roll please...May 10th. :) Don't you love it?!

Then it got a bit more interesting... Spirit Airline has a policy that does not permit pilots to use their passes until a city has offered service for 60 days. So...that meant we could not use the free passes. This precious family decided to plead our case to Spirit Air. The pilot went to the head pilot, who went to the Director of Operations at Spirit. Two days ago, we got the wonderful news that Spirit--as a gesture of goodwill--was going to give us FREE TICKETS! Yes...you read that correctly--FREE TICKETS!

We shake our heads in amazement and awe... :) God just never ceases to surprise us with all the ways He comes up with to meet our needs! :) And we are so thankful for this wonderful family who has worked so hard to make these tickets possible...what a blessing they are!

And in addition to that, we have mysteriously received some cards and letters in the mail recently with financial help--which has helped us to pay down our adoption debt from Jacob and Jordan's adoptions. THANK YOU!! You have blessed our family more than you could know. And to those of you who write and say you are praying for us--what a precious gift that is. It is incredibly encouraging to know that not only are you bothering to read our emails and blog, but you are also praying for us! We are humbled and grateful.

Thank you also to our small group, who has again stepped up and donated many goodies to put in gift bags for the orphans in Guatemala. We can't wait to pass them out!! Our three oldest girls had a blast putting them together today. I will post a few pictures of them having fun, talking and laughing about how much the kids in Guatemala would enjoy getting those bags. Not only are you blessing some sweet children in Guatemala, but you have also made an impression on three little girls in our house--and for that, I thank you sooo much!

Houston...we have travel approval...I repeat...we have travel approval! :)

We woke up to some wonderful news this morning...that we had been issued a travel approval from the US Embassy in Guatemala! Travel dates and a visa appointment for baby Jacob came a few hours later--so now we know when we are going!

We leave May 10th and return home on May 15th (Jillian's birthday). We are currently scrambling to get plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc. :) Our house will be a flurry of activity for the next few weeks!

We have BCIS approval!!

There was a wonderful surprise in the mailbox today!! We received our final approval from the US Government (BCIS)! Now we are just waiting to receive our appointment from the US Consulate in Guatemala and then we will be able to go get Jacob. We are guessing that will probably be about 2 or 3 weeks from now???

We are so thankful that God has gotten us through the BCIS maze once again...big sigh of relief! :)