Another New Year's Eve

Well, it is just another New Year's Eve. Don and I really thought we would end 2006 with an expanded family. We are feeling a bit down about this but realize we are not alone. There are many PAPs out there waiting along with us.
As we bring 2006 to a close, here are some of the things we are on our knees praying for:

• All the families waiting to adopt from Russia.
• All the children in Russia waiting to be adopted.
• The Russian Officials involved in the reaccreditation process.
• The adoption agencies waiting for reaccreditation.
• That we can remain patient and understand that everything happens according to God's plan.

"For I know the plans I have for you," delcares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,
Elizabeth

The Reason for the Season

Well, several months have gone by since I posted on our blog. We are working on completing our homestudy update. I have to admit, I never thought we would have to "redo" so much paperwork.

As we are waiting for our adoption, it is important that we always remember the reason for the season.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

Merry Christmas to all,
Elizabeth

Publish or Perish, I'd Rather be Scrapbooking

Lately, I have been dabbling a bit in scrapbooking. Now, I am not an expert by any means but it is enjoyable.

This passion began with Fred, our first exchange student. I wanted to send him home with some memories of his time with us here in America. I began taking photos with my trusty Cannon Sureshot Camera, running to the One-Hour Photo for quick turn-around, and cropping the photos and pasting them along with cute captions into an album. By the time Fred went back to China, I chronicalled his entire trip with us. He really liked his album and will have a memory of his visit to America.

I enjoyed my scrapbook experience so much that when Lara (our exchange student from Spain) arrived, I was much more experienced. However, I found that developing rolls upon rolls of film at the One-Hour Photo was getting quite expensive. I finally succumbed to advancing into the 21st Century and bought a new digital camera. How did I ever survive without one!

Anyway, during Lara's visit, I chronicalled her experiences with photos and also made her a scrapbook to take home. She was quite surprised by the gift and shared with her family once she arrived home.

Since these experiences, I have been creating albums of old family photos, my baby photos, and current family photos. I am really enjoying scrapbooking and find myself spending free time working on my albums. It has become a great creative outlet for me. However, there is a bit of a problem with this, I am spending so much of my free time scrapbooking that I am neglecting my scholarly duties. As a professor, I must publish in order to earn promotion. Yes, I am one of those who face the inevitable "publish or perish" dilemma.

It seems we are always trying to find balance in our lives. Family, work, recreation, church, God, etc.... What is the key to balancing so many activities and responsibilities? Don and I have had many long discussions on how our family life will change once our adoption is complete. We have no answers just hope that all will fall into place and that we will be able to make wise choices.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Peach Cobbler, Blackeyed Peas, and Paella

Since Lara would be leaving us this week, we wanted to make her last weekend with us fun. On Saturday, we went to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. We had a very nice time and Lara knew many of his works as well as the history behind them. It was very interesting to get her perspective.

On Sunday, we decided to make some traditional foods. We had an American-Spanish feast. Our menu included tapas (Spanish), paella (Spanish), blackeyed peas (American, Donald's favorite), and peach cobbler (American, my favorite).

Laura and I spent the day shopping. First, we headed to Barnes &Noble for some books. We found a wonderful Spanish cookbook that Laura informed me was very common in Spain. Laura bought a new edition of The Princess Diaries she said this series is very popular among the teen girls in Spain. She also enjoys reading English versions as she can expand her English reading abilities. Laura is quite remarkable!

Next, we went to Williams & Sonoma (my favorite place to shop!) for a paella pan and some Calasparra rice. We also checked to see if they carry Spanish olive oil. Lara brought us some from Spain and I wanted to see if I can buy it here in the future.

Next, we went to Fresh Market to purchase our ingredients for the paella. Donald is allergic to shrimp so we opted for chicken, mussels, and vegies - are you getting hungry yet?

Now, I have to say that I have never cared for paella. However, since Laura wanted to cook and she says paella is one of her family's specialties, I had to try it. Well, what a wonderful meal we had. First, we enjoyed shopping and getting everything ready for cooking. Next, we had fun cooking together, and finally, the meal was "to die for"! It was excellent, if I might say so myself.

All good things must end one day (Who said that anyway? Wasn't that in a song from my teen years? Does anyone remember it?).

Today was a very sad day. We took Lara to the bus at 7:00 AM. We were all in tears. She has been such a joy. I have to admit, I was not so sure I would enjoy having a teenager in the house for 3 weeks but it has been very enjoyable. We also shared a lot of our cultures with each other.

We will probably consider participating in the foreign exchange program in the future. I strongly recommend it. We enjoyed both of the students we hosted. And our experiences definitely took our minds off the delays with our adoption.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Patiently waiting for word about our little girl,
Elizabth

Things Are Beginning to Happen

We heard today from our Agency. The Ministry of Education in Russia announced this week that they are beginning to accept paperwork from agencies for reaccreditation. This is VERY good news. Our agency is confident that they will receive their reacreditation in February 2007.

We are very greatful for this movement in Russia. It seems we have been waiting so long to hear anything positive. We are praying that everything moves along without major issues and we will be hearing about our beautiful little girl early in 2007.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

With restored faith that we will be bringing home our little girl soon,
Elizabeth

Didn't I say "No Cat Zone"

Well, as you can see the idea of a "no cat zone" failed. However, Lara really did not mind. This big boy is Pinkey and he is quite cozy in Lara's bed. Yes, I know you are asking yourself "why would they name a monster cat like that Pinkey?

Well, it was easy. First, he was supposed to be a she. Second, he was this little tiny, cute, white ball of fuzz when we met him. He had a pink nose and ears. We fell in love and the name made sense at the time.

Lara seems to be settling in. She is a delight. Lara is very personable, curious, and her English is excellent. She is open to trying new things and really enjoys cooking. We cooked together today. I told her we were having salmon, asparagus, and salad for dinner. She immediately wanted to help. She had never had asparagus steamed. She said they fry asparagus in Spain. So, we steamed half and fried half. The asparagus was a hit. We all enjoyed both types. I think the next few weeks will be a lot of fun.

Still no news about our adoption.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Still waiting,
Elizabeth

Passing the Time by Hosting Another Exchange Student!

It has been several weeks since I posted. We have been very busy; it seems sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day! We are preparing for another exchange student. This time a girl, 16 years old and from Spain. She called us Sunday to introduce herself. Her name is Lara and she speaks English very well. We have a sense this experience will be different from our experience with Fred.

I have been preparing her room - I wanted to make it more "girly" than it was for Fred. I moved around the furniture, dug out some angels, teddy bears, and dolls to put on the shelves. Next to her bed, I have a round table with a pretty heart shaped doily and a vase of fresh flowers. Lara arrives tonight and I hope she will feel at home. She will be here for 3 weeks.

She told us on the phone that this will be the first time she has been away from home without her mother or father. We are praying that she is comfortable in our home. We also have 4 cats and she has never been around animals. Cats are a challenge in that they do what they want. Cats are not as easy to train as dogs, in my opinion. Our bunch do respond to words and commands such as:

• "do you want a treat?"
• "out"
• "get down"
• "your're bad"
• "good boy" or "good girl"
• "lay down"

We will have to work on keeping them out of her room. We have designated Lara's room as a "no cat zone". However, our cats are very lovable and they may just win her over. Afterall, Fred liked them.

I will try to keep this blog more up-to-date. However, being busy is a "good thing" when you are a PAP (preadoptive parent). We are still waiting to hear some news regarding Russian accreditation updates and NGO status of our adoption agency. We have been told everything slows down in Russia during July and August due to vacations. Sooooooooo, keeping busy is good for us right now.

We have faith that everything will work out according to God's plan. In the meantime, we are on our knees praying.

I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God. Psalm 38:15

Patiently waiting,
Elizabeth

American Food and Cats

Our experience with Fred (our Chinese exchange student) has been wonderful. We have learned so much about the Chinese culture and have been surprised by many differences and similarities.

One of the major similarities is the strong family bond. Fred spoke of his mother and father frequently and the importance of family. He has called them several times to update them on his experiences.

Fred shared with us that education is very important to the Chinese. I haven't decided if this is a similarity or a difference. However, I thought it was interesting to share. Apparently, many families work hard to be able to send their children to specialized high schools that prepare the students to get into the BEST universities in China. Fred attends one of these high schools in Shanghai which is over 1000 miles away from his home. The curriculum is very stringent and, although there are some sports activities available, the focus is on academics. Fred wants to major in some type of math or science; he thinks probably physics. When we asked him what he and his friends do on weekends to relax, he looked at us with an incredulous expression and responded, "we study."

The major difference for us has been related to religion and politics. As I discussed previously, we just cannot imagine living without the freedoms we enjoy in America. Don and I are Christians and we took Fred to church with us. He went without hesitation but made it clear to us that his religion was science. Of course, this opened the door for Don to have a discussion about creation versus evolution. I am not sure who enjoyed that "debate" more Don or Fred. Regardless, we hope we planted seeds.

The students had an assignment to write an essay about their experiences here in America. We were very surprised that Fred wrote about the food and our cats. Apparently, many of the students really did not like American food. Fred has eaten everything we prepared. He wrote about eating hot dogs and cracker jacks at the baseball game and said he really liked hot dogs. Here is what Fred wrote about our cats:

There are 4 cats in my host families' house. All of them are lovely. In China, I've heard American's regard their pets as their own children. That's true. However, in China, especially in some poor areas, some people feed cats only for catching mice. So maybe cats in America are lucky. I like cats and these days, I spend a lot of time playing with cats. They don't speak English that good.

We really got a kick out of his essay.

Last night we attended the farewell party. The Chinese students put on a show for the host families that included karate demonstrations, games, art, and singing. It was wonderful! Fred gave us a photo of the three of us (taken at the welcome party) in a beautiful frame. Fred leaves us on July 10. I think we will be very sad. We have enjoyed this experience immensely and are considering hosting another student later this summer.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Mark 16:15

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Independence Day and Our Freedom

Last night we took Fred, our exchange student from China, to a minor league baseball game. He thoroughly enjoyed the game, hot dogs, and cracker jacks. We stayed for fireworks after the game. The songs played during the show were all patriotic as well as those dedicated to our armed forces. I found myself wondering what Fred might be thinking. How does this celebration compare to how he would celebrate a national holiday in China?

In chatting with Fred, we have tried to learn about his culture and life in China. I asked him, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" He looked at me and said, "In China it is illegal to have more than one child." Da, I knew that! But it is a question we Americans ask when trying to get to know someone. We take so much for granted in our country - most of all our freedom.
I cannot imagine not being able to have freedom of speech, religion, or having children!
Lord, I am so grateful for this wonderful country I live in.

By the way, Fred loves ham & cheese sandwiches and Cheez Nips!

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12

Praising the Lord everyday!
Elizabeth

Waiting

Webster's New World Dictionary defines "wait" as to remain (until something expected happens); to be ready; to await; and act or period of waiting.

As we continue to wait, we decided to host a teen age boy from China. You may ask, "Where did this come from?" We are asking ourselves the same thing! However, we are sure God put it on our heart to do this.

We met someone on June 10, 2006 who mentioned being a host family for Chinese exchange students, we said that it sounded interesting and we would like more information. June 15 we received a call with more information and June 17 we had a home visit and signed the papers! Our exchange student arrived on Friday, June 30, 2006. Whew!

Now if adoption was this easy, think of how many orphan children worldwide would have forever families sooner!

At first, our student did not seem to speak much English but as he relaxed, we discovered he is quite proficient. He asked us to call him "Fred". Apparently, all of the teens in this program have adopted American names. Interesting! We spent the weekend getting to know each other and he started his classes today. Fred will be with us until July 10, 2006. He is in class Monday - Friday 8:00am-12:30pm then his group will go on field trips 12:30pm-6:00pm. His days are very full.

My major dilemma has been what to fix for meals. Fred has never been anywhere outside of China. Saturday, we all had coffee cake prior to meeting the group of students for a picnic with hamburgers and hotdogs. Sunday, Don fixed pancakes and we had roast beef w/potatoes and carrots for dinner. Today, Fred had cereal and milk. Again, we were not sure how he would like this but he really enjoyed his Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal!

Host families are responsible to send the students with a sack lunch everyday. That was another challenge for me but I decided to pack a usual American style lunch. So, Fred will have a ham & cheese sandwich, Cheese Nips, fruit salad, Capri Sun, and Mini Chips Ahoy. I hope he likes this. We will see! I am planning on making macaroni and cheese (my favorite comfort food) and lasagna. We will probably go to Taco Bell and McDonalds at some point also. So far he likes everything (I think his parents told him to be polite so he wouldn't tell us anyway). Who would have thought something we take for granted could be such a challenge!

We took Fred to church yesterday. We were not sure how he would react, but there were actually two other families hosting Chinese students also. I think that helped Fred feel more comfortable. We gave him a Chinese/English New Testament so he could follow along. We have a very contemporary service and he joined in singing and clapping. He told us he has never been to a church before. When we asked him what he thought about it, he responded, "I always thought church was serious, this church is fun!" Praise the Lord for our opportunity to witness to Fred.

This evening we are going to a minor league baseball game (pray it doesn't rain). There will be fireworks after the game. We thought it would be a great introduction to America.
Baseball, hotdogs, fireworks! I might even bake an apple pie!

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5: 14-16

Making the time pass faster in the waiting room,
Elizabeth

Pennies From Heaven

We are still in the "waiting room". Don and I have realized that this delay could be a blessing in disguise. As many of you know, adoption is an extremely costly endeavor. We have saved and saved but it never seems to be enough. We have been operating on faith that God will provide for our adoption and He has. However, we still have many upcoming expenses that we still will need to pay.
I have read many adoption blogs and was surprised to see that several families have established fundraising activities for their adoption expenses. Don and I discussed this and feel we just could not ask anyone for money. Soooooo, I have been thinking and trying to identify ways we can increase our savings. We are already on a budget and watch our spending on eating out and entertainment. Here are some of my new ideas:

• I decided to try to use coupons and put the money in our adoption savings.
• I always throw my change in the bottom of my purse, now I am saving it in a jar and will eventually roll it and add it to our adoption account.
• I am one of those people who have a closet full of nice clothes in many sizes. I am always hoping to be able to wear them again. I have decided to take them to a consignment shop and save the money earned for our adoption. Today, I identified 5 pant suits (1 still has the price tag on), a skirt, and a top that I will be taking to consignment. I have many other outfits but thought this would be a good start. I will let you know how it goes.
• We have some collectible items and other things that we could sell. I am thinking about putting them on eBay. I have never used eBay and not sure how it works. One of those shops that will sell items on eBay for you just opened up here. Maybe I should stop in there when I take my clothes to the consignment shop. Has anyone ever used one of those stores before?
• We could always have a yard sale - hhmm - yard sales are not fun in Florida in the summer time. Maybe we'll delay that one until late fall.
• I could cancel our satellite MLB Baseball package but I think that would cause a lot of stress around the house :-)

Still thinking of more ways. We are interested in money saving ideas that others may have. Please post your suggestions.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Blessings,
Elizabeth

How We are Spending Our Summer Vacation

As we wait for the reaccreditation process in Russia and the referral for our precious little girl, we are reading, researching, and studying everything we can about adoption, Russia, and the Russian language.

Here is a list of the books we have been or are planning on reading-most of these deal with adopting from Russia or caring for adopted children. We are still looking for some readings dealing with Russian life and culture:

• Cline, F., & Fay, J. (1990). Parenting with love and logic: Teaching children responsibility. Colorado Springs, CO: Pinon Press.
• Gardner, M. (2003). Adoption as a ministry, adoption as a blessing. Enumclaw, WA: WinePress Publishing.
• Keck, G.C., & Kupecky, R.M. (2002). Parenting the hurt child. Colorado Springs, CO: Pinon Press.
• Kincaid, J. (1997). Adopting for good. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
• Maclean, J.H. (2004). The Russian adoption handbook. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse Star.
• Melina, L.R. (1998). Raising adopted children. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
• vanGulden, H., & Bartels-Rabb, L.M. (2004). Real parents, real children: Parenting an adopted child. New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

Here is a list of the resources we have found helpful in our struggle to learn Russian:

• Russian in 10 minutes a day
  This is a workbook with flashcards and labels to stick on items around the house - excellent for those who are visual learners
  Available through Bilingual Books, Inc
  www.10minutesaday.com
• Teach yourself russian conversation
  This is a CD with a booklet - reviews basic conversations that one may need when traveling in Russia
  We found this at Barnes-Noble
  Available through McGraw-Hill 1-800-722-4726
• Russian: The short course
  A Pimsleur Language Program
  This is a CD - reviews basic language and conversations - we like it better than the Teach Yourself CD because it drills you over and over. You will be able to speak some Russian in 30 minutes and feel good about what you can say.
  Available through Recorded Books.com
• LearningRussia.com
  Free downloads for your computer
• Master Russian.com
  http://www.masterrussian.com/blday_greeting.shtml

Here is a list of websites we have found helpful:

• Adopt-a-Child
  http://www.adopt-a-child.org
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travel Guidelines
  http://www.cdc.gov/travel
• Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption
  http://www.frua.org/
• Joint Council on International Children Services
  http://www.jcics.org
• Lonely Planet
  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/
• Russian Adoption Medical Services
  http://www.russianadoption.org
• Russia Travel
  http://russia-travel.com
• US Embassy in Russia (adoption page)
  http://www.usembassy.ru/consular.php?record_id=adoption

We are interested in any additional resources others have found helpful. We are especially interested in readings related to Russian culture. Please post your suggestions.

God is not man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19

Continuing in faith that we will be united with our beautiful little girl,
Elizabeth

Welcome to Our Adoption Adventure

A little bit about where we are in our adventure. I call it an "adventure" because that is exactly what it has been thus far. We believe God has put it on our hearts to adopt from Russia. As you know, once we are called to do God's Will, Satan rears his ugly head. We have had many struggles along the way but with God's love and guidance we have endured. Our journey has been slow but sure! Here is our timeline - keep in mind our journey has been a little slow, sometimes due to finances, sometimes due to delays in obtaining necessary documents (not our fault), and sometimes due to just plain procrastination!

• August 2004
  explored the idea of adoption
• August, September 2004
  Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jean hit Florida disrupting daily routines for many
• October 2004
  made the decision to adopt after much prayer
• October - November 2004
  explored many adoption agencies
• November 2004
  submitted application fee to adoption agency
• December 2004 - January 2005
  began requesting various documents needed for homestudy (ie birth certificates, divorce decrees, marriage certificates)
• January - March 2005
  had doubts about adoption, began to have financial issues (Satan's hand), began to worry about our age and what our families would think
• March 2005
  shared with our families our plan to adopt, everyone was supportive and excited for us
  shared with some friends our plan to adopt, not all were supportive - some think we are too old - this was disappointing and contributed to some of our doubts
• April 2005
  received our guidelines for homestudy, reading list, and ordered books from Amazon.com, continued to have doubts, Satan moved in with us
• May 2005
  banned Satan from our home and lives, focused to keep God in the center of our lives and marriage
• May, June, July 2005
  worked on budgeting strategies to save money
  decided we would forge ahead with adoption and pray that God would provide the finances as we needed them
• July - August 2005
  began homestudy process
  submitted our Dept. of Children and Families background check
  submitted our USCIS I-600A application
  traveled to USCIS in Tampa, FL for our fingerprints
  completed Florida Dept. Law Enforcement background checks
  asked my sister and her husband to be guardians (they agreed yeah!)
• September 2005
  obtained new passport for Don and updated my passport with correct name (names must be the same on all documents)
  completed physicals and bloodwork for homestudy
  submitted paperwork for our homestudy
• October 2005
  home visits by social worker for our homestudy
  Hurricane Wilma hit Southwest Florida
• November 2005
  homestudy completed
  homestudy sent to USCIS
  purchased books and tapes on the Russian language
• December 2005
  received our USCIS Approval (171H) to adopt two children from Russia
  What a Christmas present!
• January 2006
  sent our dossier to our family coordinator for review prior to apostilling
  personal issues requiring travel out-of-state and delay in being able to update dossier
• February 2006
  worked on updating dossier (ie some items not on letterhead from the homestudy, photo album not in current format, etc...)
  Russian government now requiring Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2) on both parents - made appointments with psychologist but the soonest we could get in was March
• March 2006
  completed MMPI-2, takes 3-4 weeks for results
• April 2006
  ready to submit dossier to State of Florida for apostilling and found Don's passport number was incorrect on several forms (praise the Lord I checked everything again)
  revised forms and notarized everything again
• May 2006
  Dossier appostilled and submitted to our agency!
  Dossier in the hands of our Russian coordinator for translation and certification in a region in Russia
• Summer 2006
  Reaccreditation process in Russia
  we are working on our Russian
• We are currently in the waiting room!

Whew! That's our story to date. As I mentioned earlier, it has been an adventure! Now we wait, and wait, and wait.....The last I heard, our dossier has been translated and is currently in Russia. However, our adoption agency is in the process of being reaccredited in Russia. All agencies go through this process annually. Unfortunately, the Russian government has now added another layer to the process. In the past, adoption agencies had to be accredited by the Russian Ministry of Education (MOE). Now, all agencies must be approved by both the MOE and the Ministry of Justice. This change is due in part because of the recent reports of abuses of children adopted from Russia!

During this adventure so far, we have learned the importance of faith, patience, and perseverance. Here are some appropriate scriptures for our journey:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:36

Thank you for visiting our blog. We will be updating it frequently.
Blessings,
Elizabeth