Angel with Cross Pictures

When I posted about our trip last time, I posted a picture of this statue. Someone had asked for more explanation on it. Here is the information I have. The city's name means "City of the Cross". From what we have researched and understand, this city used to be an underground hideout for Christians who were fleeing persecution. I am assuming that the statue is symbolic of the name of the city and what it originated from many years ago. It is right next the the town square (you can see it in the background). I will post more pics of the square soon.

Birthday Package

The boys' birthday is June 6. We had hoped to have them home by then, but are glad to have a court date within a month of it. When we realized that we weren't going to have them home, we decided to send a small birthday package. It is pictured above.

We tried to keep everything small, light, and inexpensive. We sent one of the boys some stickers and a frisbee. The other son got a nerf mini football and some stickers. We got each of them one of those hairballs (ball with stretchy appendages) that lights up and flashes when you squeeze them. We also got them some more viewmaster reels, assuming the viewmaster is still up and working.

Then I found these cool "postcards" that you attach a picture on the front of and can record your voice onto. I took a picture of the kids holding up a "Happy Birthday" sign in Russian and attached it to the front. Then we all recorded the song "Happy Birthday" onto the voice chip. It only took a few tries, but we did it. They will have no idea what we are singing, but it will be our voices and they will hear their names. I had to cross out the button on the back where you record and I translated the words, "press here" where they had to push to listen to it.

My son wanted us to bake a cake and put it in the box for them. I told him this was not a good idea. Therefore, we bought individually packaged Rice Krispy treats for all of the children in the orphanage. I think that made him happy.

The package weighed a little over three pounds. It cost $26 to get it to Russia in 4-7 days. The postal worker informed me that after that, it was in Russian hands. Who knows how long that will take!! I just hope that they receive it somewhere close to their birthday or at least before we get there.

COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this is a picture my oldest daughter took of my 3 others when we got the news!!

We had taken my oldest to the doctor because of a bad elbow. We'd had really bad news about how it needed an MRI, a bone chunk is getting ready to come loose, too many years pounding in gymnastics, etc, etc, etc. That is my life. I was so down. I'm tired of orthopedic offices. I could have gotten a degree in orthopedics and opened my own family business by now!

Anyway, we ran lots of errands and returned home. I needed to unload groceries, but decided to check emails first. Here's what I found:

Hi Kim,

Happy news!
Your court date is July 3 & 4th.

I started screaming and bawling uncontrollably!! We had been told August. We had been told they wouldn't know anything until at least June 5. Here we are on May 25th and we have a court date for July 3rd & 4th!!! We had been praying for a "miracle court date". God has truly blessed us with one!! Thank you God!!

I got on the phone to call my hubby and was crying so hard he couldn't understand me. He kept saying, "Calm down. I can't understand you." I would say, "We got our court date." He'd say, "What? You have to stop crying. What?" I would try to calm down(all in vain) and say, "We're going to get our boys!!" He'd say, "What? Stop crying. Is it good or bad?" Through the tears, I said, "Good. Good." Finally, I calmed down and was able to share the awesome news with him. Every phone call has been another round of emotions. I am on top of the world. It is really happening!! We're going to bring them home!! Thank you God!

For all of you still waiting, it really does happen. I almost hesitate to be so excited when I know how many of you are still waiting and praying for your turn. It will come. I can't wait to share in the excitement of your special news when it comes.

Courage of Grace

This is a totally non-adoption post. However, it does involve a child and parents fighting to save a life. Therefore, it is similar.

After our move last summer, one of our main goals was to find a church home. After trying many places, we ended up finding the church we now belong to. It is an incredible place to worship and serve God. We are very blessed.

Shortly after beginning to attend there, we joined a Sunday School class. Our kids have their own classes and services. Our twin daughters kept coming home talking about a little girl that had cancer. We soon put two and two together and realized that it was our Sunday School teacher's little girl. At the time she was undergoing chemo and sported a cute bald head. We also found out that she was a twin. Her twin had the most gorgeous head of curly blonde hair. They are now 7 years old.

Well, about January, they were told that there were no signs of cancer anymore. Then, one month later, when they retested, they found tumors again. She has a very rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma. Because of its rarity, not much research has been done on it. Since Feb., her situation has declined rapidly. The tumors have grown and she is in terrible pain. Her pretty curly blonde hair has grown back in, even with chemo treatments going on, but she is miserable. She has no desire to eat and all of the meds she's on (daily morphine, etc.) makes her sick to her stomach and she throws up. She is losing weight and the growth difference between her and her twin is very marked.

Today she is having surgery to put a new port in for her treatments. They are also hoping that a new trial drug will be approved because she is their prime candidate to use it on. It is neuroblastoma specific.

My request is for lots of prayer for this sweet little one. Her name is Kraleigh Grace Burnett. My twins are friends with these little girls. My twins cry for each other and hurt for each other when they fall down and get a scrape. I can't imagine what her twin feels! Kraleigh needs prayer for healing and for wisdom of the doctors, and for her appetite. Her parents, Rhett and Misty are very godly people and their faith is so strong. However, can you imagine going through this? I can't imagine it at all!! Please pray for them also, for their strength and peace in this trying time. Also, please pray for Calysta, her twin.

I also want to make a plea for their finances. I know most of you that read this blog are just as strapped for cash in this adoption frenzy as we are. However, if you feel led to help, they have tons of mounting medical bills. There has been fundraiser after fundraiser and the need is still great. They are literally battling for her life. Here is the website that documents their battle and shows pictures of sweet Kraleigh: www.courageofgrace.com.

Thanks for helping if you can, and most of all, for praying.

One month ago...

One month ago... we wondered what our children would be like as we drove through the Russian countryside.

One month ago... We laid eyes on our sons for the first time.

One month ago... we held our children in our arms for the first time.

One month ago... I measured their tiny fingers against mine.

One month ago... I watched their blue eyes light up as they discovered all of the new things we had brought for them.

One month ago... I melted at their smiles(even with all of the tooth decay).

One month ago... we played ball and chased bubbles outside on the orphanage lawn/concrete.

One month ago... we walked hand in hand as we strolled through their little village.

One month ago... I watched as they painted and colored and stretched plastic lizards until their tails broke, squealing with delight.

One month ago... we gave them what I think was their first stuffed animals.

One month ago... we fell in love with two little boys, our sons, on the other side of the world.

One month ago... we were told, "You'll be back in about a month to bring them home. Everything is in order."

Today... my body aches to hold them again.

Today... we don't know when we will return. We have no court date.

Today... is one month closer than we were, but I still feel so helpless.

Today... I pray for God to hold them in His mighty arms, protect them, watch over them, and keep them safe and well until we can get them.

Today... I pray that they know we love them and we will be back as soon as possible to bring them into their forever family.

Sweet, sweet boys, we love you and miss you terribly.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there who is home with their children, everyone with a referral, everyone on this adoption journey no matter where you are in the process (soon to be mommies). You are all incredible people!!!

I want to say a special Mother's Day to two people. Happy Mother's Day to my precious Mom! You are wonderful!! Have a great day! Sorry I can't be with you. Happy Mother's Day, Tori! You knew how I would feel today without ALL my kids with me! Thanks for being an incredible friend!!

Here's a poem I found for all of you waiting. I'm sure it's been posted somewhere before by someone, but I'll post it again anyway.

KISSES IN THE WIND

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.
I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.
Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.
Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

Author unknown


We love you boys and hope to be with you soon!! I pray you catch my kisses today!

Once again, Happy Mother's Day everyone!!

Poster Child

Here's a picture of Eden with her neon yellow cast. The doctor said it was a growth plate fracture in her wrist. I don't know how many times as a gymnastic coach I have said, "If you fall backwards, don't put your arm behind you. Just land on your bottom. That's a great way to break a wrist." Similarly, Eden has heard this about a million times. Now she is the poster child for it. Now when someone at the gym falls backwards and starts to put her arm down, I just say, "See that little girl over there. That's what she did and that's why she is in a cast." For some reason my kids like to learn their lessons the hard way. I can't imagine why! Neither my husband nor myself are hard-headed or stubborn. Ha! Ha! (Mom, if you read this, you can't comment! :-) )

Thought I'd give everyone a laugh today. This was our door hanger in our hotel we stayed at while in region.

Updates- Non-Adoption

I updated everyone on our adoption stuff last time. Nothing is new on that front except our paperwork has now been sent to Moscow. Better late than never, I guess.

Here's some additional things that have been going on in our crazy world since returning from Russia:

1. Our oldest daughter, Hannah, had surgery on her hip last August. She has had a long battle with recovery. She was a very active and successful higher level gymnast and was sidetracked over a year ago with hip pain. After 5 months of testing they discovered that she had torn cartilage in her hip due to a malformation of her hip socket and a flattened ball. They did surgery to repair the tear and other damage, but can't fix the shape of the ball until she is done growing. We had a check-up to see if she could be released. The doctor said her ITB band was still super tight and gave her more stretches. Then we asked about a spot on her back that has been troubling her for months. He thinks it is a tumor. She is having an MRI done and going to see a spine specialist.

2. Daughter #2, Eden, falls on the trampoline at her cousin's birthday party(after being warned to be careful). She either has a bad sprain or growth plate fracture in her wrist. We go back to re-evaluate today. This, of course, happens two weeks before her State gymnastics meet, which was this past weekend. She did one-armed vault and balance beam. She had to scratch floor and bars.

3. Damon is digging out of work finally from being gone a week. He is self-employed and lost his secretary right before we went to Russia.

4. We are trying to finish up schooling for the year. My second grade twins should finish everything but Math this week. My 6th grade daughter has about 3 weeks left and my Kindergarten son has about two weeks left. Schooling over the last few weeks with travel and additional paperwork sure has been tricky! We use every opportunity we get. For example, while waiting on our 29 new documents to be apostilled at the state capitol, we did a tour, talked about the Senate and House, discussed many aspects of Oklahoma history that was exhibited in pictures throughout the capitol, reviewed different forms of artwork on display, etc. I can't wait to be done with school this year!

Adoption Updates

Okay, now that I'm done with the trip, here are some quick adoption updates.

You know those papers everyone has pictures of signing after meeting the kids and before coming home... Well, somehow ours didn't get done. We didn't know anything about them. We've never done this before. I think all of the fiasco of the car breaking down, getting to the airport on time, etc. caused our coordinator to forget those little items of business. Therefore, we were the first to do those papers in the good ole USA. What does that do to us? Basically, it puts us back 2 weeks. Our paperwork was just filed this week instead of 2 weeks ago.

Next, we have been frantically doing court paperwork. Because of the switch in regions, we had tons of new paperwork to do for the court. Our agent said that we went from the region with the lightest paperwork to one of the regions with the most. We have been calling everyone in Oklahoma asking for their John Henry on documents. We have gone to a psychologist, received testing, paid $440, and left with a clean bill of mental health. (I guess we pulled one over on them! :-) ) Today I picked up the last of the documents, took them to the Secretary of State, and paid another $290 for apostilling. Then I proceeded to Kinkos to make copies, FedEx them overnight to our agent, and spent another $50. Boy, am I glad we're made of money!! Ha!

Lastly on the adoption front, we found out some disappointing news. After hurrying around to get all of this paperwork done trying to get it ready to be carried into region quickly, we found out that court is filling up rapidly in our region. Apparently there's a run on the court. Rumor has it that it is already booked through July. With our paperwork just starting this week, that means we may be looking at August or later for a court date! That news was rather disheartening, to say the least. I am praying, literally, for a miracle from God! We were told it would be a month to two months between trips. Now we are looking at 3-4 months at least. That means our kids will have a birthday and will go through the summer without a home. That really stinks!! I know that God has all things in His hand and His timing is always perfect. I just hope the time passes quickly.

Trip 1/Day 5 & 6

Well, it has been almost two weeks since we returned and I am finally finishing up about the trip. Next time, maybe I will be able to blog from there a little. I will try. We've had so many kinks since we returned that my days have been filled with the flurry of it all and very little time to sit at the computer and blog or read blogs. Hopefully, I will catch up soon. I will fill everyone in on the "kinks" soon.

Days 5 & 6 were together or maybe it was just a one long day. Our plane left Moscow at 12:30 p.m. On board were several families bringing their children home. One couple had been there almost a month and were having quite a time with their two children. They had adopted 2 girls, 6 and 9. The 9 year old was pushing their buttons. The stewardesses were very helpful. There was one couple with a baby, who I never heard a peep out of. Lastly, there was a very busy couple with twin girl and a boy. The boy was so cute! He kept trying to help with the suitcases. He looked to be about 5 and the girls looked about 3. Although, I have learned you can never tell by size with orphans.

We arrived in Atlanta at about 4 p.m. We had a slight delay in landing because Atlanta had a security scare and the whole airport had shut down for about 2 hours that day! They decided to let international flights land. We then tried to find our way to our next gate. Our flight was later so it wasn't even posted yet. At this point we were exhausted. The airport was nuts!! Everyone's flights were delayed because of the security issue and there were upset people everywhere. We found a little table and got a Coke. After sitting a minute, we found someone to tell us where our flight would take off from.

After a 7 hour layover, our plane left Atlanta for OKC, our last flight! Whew! At this point we had been awake for over 24 hours, with nothing but a slight cat nap. While flying, I witnessed the most beautiful piece of nature I believe I have ever seen. Just about everyone else on the plane was asleep, but I didn't sleep too well on the planes. Anyway, I looked out the window at the night sky. We ended up flying very close to a storm. The light show in the clouds was absolutely amazing. It was so awesome! I watched it forever!! However, soon my eyes were diverted to the sky above. Here was this powerful massive storm raging below and right above was a calm, beautiful, starry night sky. It was incredible! I reminded myself that the next time my kids were scared of a storm, I would tell them the story of what I saw. Last night I had that chance! I also had for myself a beautiful illustration that I am now clinging to with my full being. I guess one can choose to live in the storm and be tossed around and scared or one can choose to rise above the storm and live in the peace and calm that is above. That is a decision I am having to make right now. I will explain more later.

We landed in OKC at around 1 a.m. We made it home and crashed into our own bed! There's no place like home!! I have to give glory to God. Our trip started out with so many possible problems that I couldn't hardly count them all. However, it went incredibly smoothly. There were a few bumps, but nothing like we anticipated. (Since returning, we have learned of one MAJOR problem that occurred, but we didn't know about it until we returned.) He carried us safely on all kinds of planes and in cars with crazy driving. He led us to two beautiful boys who we love intensely and would never have found otherwise, had we not embarked on this crazy journey called adoption. He took care of several hitches, like a Delta strike. We are so grateful for the trip and for all He did for us.

Thanks also to all of you who prayed for us and thought about us while we were gone. We value that so much and appreciate each and every one of you.