Not Just Another New Year's Eve

This has been a very busy week for us. Our visas arrived today! Yippee! Waiting on the visas seems to have been a stressor for many adoptive parents. Glad that is one less for us to worry about. Here's a list of what we've been up to:

1. We bought backpacks to take on our trip. We will each have a backpack as our carry-on and we will pack essential items in them - those things we can't live without in Russia:
   -Copy of our dossier
   -Important travel documents
   -Dress clothes for court
   -Miscellaneous hygiene items
   We will let you know how they work out
2. We are starting to gather items to take with us and organize them on the bed in our spare bedroom. Currently, it looks like a cyclone hit the room but I am convinced this is the only way to get everything organized in time.
3. We bought long underwear - everyone says we will be glad we have them.
4. We also bought hand and toe warmers, just in case. Our search for adequate boots is not going so well. We've found many stylish boots but not very warm - we will continue the search this weekend.
5. We bought some fold up slippers to wear at the orphanage.
6. We have been working on a photo album to leave with our little girl. We are almost finished, it has 17 photos of us, family, our house, and our pets. We still want to add captions in both English and Russian (a bit of a challenge but I hope we can finish it).
7. We are trying to plan some activities for when we visit our little angel. She is 9 years old and we hope we can break the ice and spend some quality time with her. We were told we will be able to visit her three times when we are there. Here are some ideas so far:
   -Bubbles
   -Play-doh
   -Coloring books and crayons
   -Drawing tablets and markers
   -Etch-a-Sketch
   -Puzzles
   We sent a photo of our cats to be made into a puzzle through Creative Memories.
   (We hope it arrives on time)
   We thought it would be fun to put it together with her and then leave it with her.
8. This weekend we will shop for boots and a coat for Don.
9. We also still need a few gifts for the people who will be assisting us in Russia. We will try to finish shopping for those items also this weekend.
10. We have our cash but need to check the bills to make sure there are no marks, creases, or tears.
11. Our goal is that we have all shopping and errands completed by Sunday afternoon. Classes start on Monday so we will both be very busy with the new semester.

If you have any other ideas, we are very open to them. Please leave a comment.
Tonight is New Year's Eve, we have no special plans, just to relax.
Blessings,
Elizabeth

The Last Christmas Without Our Little Angel

We went to Candlelight Service this evening at our church. Nick (Don's son), his girlfriend, and her family joined us. The service was very nice and special to spend it with family and friends. Church on Christmas Eve helps us to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

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

We had a quiet evening after the service. We spent time talking about family and planning future Christmases as we hope to grow our family in 2009.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Donald and Elizabeth

One More Trip To Tampa!

We went to Tampa today for fingerprints, again! I can't really remember how many times we've had our fingerprints taken, 3 or 4 I think. I will have to check my "adoption mementos" box. I have saved everything from appointment cards, emails, postage receipts, and even the "next in line" number tabs from Immigrations. I think these keepsakes will make interesting entries in a memory book for our little angel.

We are very busy right now making lists and preparing for our upcoming trip. We are trying to keep our posts up-to-date so stop by again soon to see how we are progressing.

Thanks for sharing our journey,
God Bless,
Elizabeth

Our Build A Bear Arrived!

When I came home from work today, our bear had arrived. Don put it on the dining room table unopened. He said he wanted to wait until I came home to open it. Isn't that sweet? He's a keeper!

We were very excited to open the box, see the bear we built, and hear how our Russian greetings sounded. Our bear had a green ribbon around the neck - perfect for the season. Then the moment of truth, we squeezed the paw and.......................................................

Hey, we sounded pretty good for beginners. This is what we said, first in Russian then in English (we'll give you the phonetic pronunciation for the Russian):


Elizabeth:
Mee OH-chen' SCHAHS-tlee-vee beet' tvah-yey seem'-YOI!
We are so happy to be your family!

Donald:
Mee OH-chen' teb-YA LYU-beem!
We love you so much!

We will continue to practice our Russian. Hopefully, we will get better and be able to say a few more phrases before we meet our little girl.

That's all for now,
Elizabeth

We're Going to Russia - Really We Are!

Well, it is really going to happen: WE ARE GOING TO RUSSIA!
We cannot believe it.

Here is our itinerary:
Jan. 9 - Leave US for Moscow
Jan.10 - Arrive in Moscow
Jan.11 - Take overnight train to our region
Jan.12 - MOE Appointment and meet our little girl
Jan.13 - Visit orphanage
Jan.14 – Visit orphanage and leave on train for Moscow
Jan.15 - Leave Moscow for US in the afternoon

We will meet our precious angel on my birthday - what a special gift! Believe me, God's signature is on everything that has happened in our adoption process. It is just so amazing!

We are asking for prayer as the airfares are outrageous right now and we are very tight on our finances. Please pray that God will provide.

Praising God,
Elizabeth

How to Build a Bear

Today, we built a bear online. We had fun looking through all the different types of bears and outfits. Definitely, a lot to choose from. We tend toward the minimalist side so, we opted for a plain bear in other words, a bare bear :0)

Once we selected our bear, we decided we wanted to add audio. So, we each practiced a phrase in Russian to record. Not an easy task! We were limited to 10 seconds total and we wanted to say our phrases in both Russian and English.
Well, after an hour of recording phrases over and over and over and over in between laughs and giggles, we feel we have a somewhat satisfactory recording. If not, we hope our little angel will at least laugh at her Mama and Papa's attempt to speak her language.

We have not received travel plans, yet. After the length of time we have waited, what's a few more days, weeks, or months?

We are beginning to plan what to pack and try to get a bit organized for the trip. We are hunting in Southwest Florida for winter coats, boots, hats, and gloves adequate for the Russian winter! Ha Ha!

Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. Isaiah 26:12

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Accepting Referral!

After receiving the referral for our little angel last Thursday, we sent her photo and medical report to our IA doctor for review. We had a telephone meeting with him at 4:30PM Friday, December 5, 2008.

Our meeting went well and he was very informative. Unfortunately, the medical report was a bit sketchy and he really could not assure us she did not have any major health issues.

After many discussions and much prayer, we decided to accept her. She looks healthy, she has a wonderful smile, and she has a sparkle in her eyes! Everytime we look at her photo, she makes us smile!

Now, we wait for travel plans.

Could we be in Russia for Christmas? God knows the plan He has for us.
Stay tuned for travel updates :0)
Elizabeth

A Great Video - You've Got to See it

This is a really cool video a friend sent to us.
Enjoy!



A reminder that God is always there for us.
Elizabeth

We Got the Call!

We are so excited! This morning we just finished praying after
our daily devotion and the phone rang. I said to Don, "Do you think
that's America World?" He responded, "It could be, we just prayed
about it."
When I went to the phone and saw the caller ID I could
hardly believe it. I could barely get "hello" out of my mouth. On the
other end of the line was our family coordinator's voice!

She asked us if we were near a computer and we both said "yes". She said she would send us photos of our precious angel. We both just sat on the sofa waiting - then she asked, "Ca you open the pictures?" We realized, we hadn't moved, we were still sitting on the sofa! We rushed to the computer to open the email.

I have to say, when that angelic face popped up on the computer screen, it took my breath away! On my computer screen was the little person who is going to be my daughter. It was such an amazing moment; a forever moment.

Over the past, almost 3 years, we have waited patiently, prayed
without ceasing, and trusted that God had a plan for our family. We
finally saw the face of our little angel. We knew immediately she was
the child God picked for us. She is 9 years old and looks so
sweet.

The next step is to consult an International Adoption physician to review her photos and medical report. We are praying that she is healthy but trust that this is the child God picked for us.


With joy in our hearts and hunting for our dancing shoes,
Don and Elizabeth