Monday, February 23, 2009
Roller Skating Parties
Most of the time...we were on the floor, but we did get a couple of upright shots!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Gothcha Day!!!!
Eighteen months ago...
ONE year ago...
These were taken the day we got them...i seem to have forgotten the heat, but remember the awesome feeling of finally holding our children :-)
This was our first night that i felt normal...we went out to a restaurant with a missionary couple. And yes, that is the best we could look under those conditions...you're just lucky you can't smell though pictures!!!!!!
ONE year ago...
These were taken the day we got them...i seem to have forgotten the heat, but remember the awesome feeling of finally holding our children :-)This was our first night that i felt normal...we went out to a restaurant with a missionary couple. And yes, that is the best we could look under those conditions...you're just lucky you can't smell though pictures!!!!!!(we should've taken a picture on gotcha day, but didn't - never really good at the picture thing?)
Yes, we did buy this table to fit the kids. When we look at it we see "empty seats" - we wonder if we will be called to adopt again.
My "little man"....
Kp - such a precious, sweet girl :-) -obviously we don't share the same genes...lucky for her!!!
(it was on Monday, but just now posting pics...)
Needless to say, trying to get 8 kiddos between the ages of 2-8 to look at me at the same time, was beyond challenging!!!
Yes, we did buy this table to fit the kids. When we look at it we see "empty seats" - we wonder if we will be called to adopt again.
My "little man"....
Kp - such a precious, sweet girl :-) -obviously we don't share the same genes...lucky for her!!!
(it was on Monday, but just now posting pics...)Monday, February 16, 2009
Hamburgler
Here is a little story...
Yesterday, we all went to Burger King. Someone thought that our family of 6 needed 10 cheeseburgers. Another of us thought that was too many. We each had one for lunch, and one of us had two.
So if you can do math in your head, that leaves 3 uneaten cheeseburgers. Went to a roller skating party and had pizza for dinner (those pics are coming soon)...came home.
Today, went to get the kids the left over hamburgers for lunch...no hamburgers. Hmmmmmm...maybe it was the "Not Me" that lives in our house that ate them. OR maybe it is the one who has super high cholesterol and blood pressure that ate them...it better have been Not Me.
Yesterday, we all went to Burger King. Someone thought that our family of 6 needed 10 cheeseburgers. Another of us thought that was too many. We each had one for lunch, and one of us had two.
So if you can do math in your head, that leaves 3 uneaten cheeseburgers. Went to a roller skating party and had pizza for dinner (those pics are coming soon)...came home.
Today, went to get the kids the left over hamburgers for lunch...no hamburgers. Hmmmmmm...maybe it was the "Not Me" that lives in our house that ate them. OR maybe it is the one who has super high cholesterol and blood pressure that ate them...it better have been Not Me.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
FRED dropped DEAD!!!! ...i hope...
My friend, Fred, is finally dead. I think.
I say, I think, because he has been know to come back. But this time it has been a few months since I have seen him. He wasn't the only problem, the medicine had its own set of "issues." And then there was the one time he brought a friend!!!!
Now that he's gone, I miss him a little. He was my little companion. Proof of where I'd been.
Yeah, on second though...sooooooo, glad he's gone :-)
I say, I think, because he has been know to come back. But this time it has been a few months since I have seen him. He wasn't the only problem, the medicine had its own set of "issues." And then there was the one time he brought a friend!!!!
Now that he's gone, I miss him a little. He was my little companion. Proof of where I'd been.
Yeah, on second though...sooooooo, glad he's gone :-)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
One Year Ago Today
One year ago today...
I was sitting here thinking about what I was doing one year ago today. The vivid thought of me standing in the middle of my room at the compound pathetically weeping came to mind. I found myself there at the end of a long day...a very long, hard day.
The nights were getting longer each night. The generators were no longer working and we had no a/c at night, but had to sleep with the windows closed to keep the bugs out. Very hot, and we didn't sleep well. That morning was a blur...i know that we were waiting to see if we would get the papers from the Consular, and see if we could leave earlier than expected. We eventually got the go ahead and made the arrangements. The novelty was starting to wear off and the stress was starting to take hold of me. My "keeping it together" was starting to wear off when I thought we were going home sooner than expected.
I remember meeting with their family. It was an experience that I just can't and haven't been able to accurately describe, even to this day. Maybe I never will. You stare into the face of these children's mother and promise them a better life. You are taking their babies...and she is giving them up. They were all very unemotional, but that doesn't mean their mom especially wasn't being crushed inside. The words of Willette will forever echo in my head, "Give the lady back her child." She said this to their mom in reference to give Kb back to me after a hug. Ugh...my heartstrings were tugged.
So they sat there on the steps of the compound all day. They walked there from miles away. I just kept thinking, how are they going to walk away? How do you say goodbye? Then it turned to trying to gain as much information from them as I could, so that in years to come I could give Kp and Kb as much information about their past as I could. Just a stressful day.
Then the fevers came.
As we were sitting on the steps, Kp and Kb were acting strange. At first I thought it was because of their family being there, but when I picked Kp up, she was burning up. We had them say their goodbyes...as best as could be done, and took them to our room. Now what? We were in a foreign country with no reliable hospitals. I was not letting anyone stick anything into them. But what did they have, how do I fix it? I knew it wasn't anything like my kids would have a home: a fever cause of a cold. I wanted to be home. I wanted the comforts of home...a doctor or an ER with reliable services that didn't demand cash payments up front. I flipped out. (I will interject here that there were several "issues" with us/other families along the way, and I kept my cool. But these were MY kids and they were burning up faster than I had ever see kids get sick!)
We eventually found the lady who ran the compound. She called a pediatrician friend of hers who came TO the compound. Malaria. Which I figured at some point was what they had. She gave them each a huge shot, and gave us a slip of paper to tell us what to get from the "pharmacy" the next day. Praises sent up to God for providing a doctor!!!!
Then it turned to ... will they let us on the plane??? We have to get the kids to "act" normal. We NEED, I need to be on that plane. God has never given me more than I could handle, so I knew He would get me on that plane because I could "handle" no more...
All flights (the 3 per week!) that leave, leave at night, so we had a good 24 hours to let the kids rest and prepare to leave. Their little bodies are so resilient. They were back to "normal" by mid afternoon the next day. Unfortunately...trying to calculate 3 more shots, 24 hours apart, through several time zones, left for some interesting situations. But we were home, 2 days later - one week sooner than planned.
Bottom line? I didn't think I could handle any more that day one year ago. But GOD, had planned it all out for me, and there was no need to worry or stress...he was caring for me in my time of need!
I was sitting here thinking about what I was doing one year ago today. The vivid thought of me standing in the middle of my room at the compound pathetically weeping came to mind. I found myself there at the end of a long day...a very long, hard day.
The nights were getting longer each night. The generators were no longer working and we had no a/c at night, but had to sleep with the windows closed to keep the bugs out. Very hot, and we didn't sleep well. That morning was a blur...i know that we were waiting to see if we would get the papers from the Consular, and see if we could leave earlier than expected. We eventually got the go ahead and made the arrangements. The novelty was starting to wear off and the stress was starting to take hold of me. My "keeping it together" was starting to wear off when I thought we were going home sooner than expected.
I remember meeting with their family. It was an experience that I just can't and haven't been able to accurately describe, even to this day. Maybe I never will. You stare into the face of these children's mother and promise them a better life. You are taking their babies...and she is giving them up. They were all very unemotional, but that doesn't mean their mom especially wasn't being crushed inside. The words of Willette will forever echo in my head, "Give the lady back her child." She said this to their mom in reference to give Kb back to me after a hug. Ugh...my heartstrings were tugged.
So they sat there on the steps of the compound all day. They walked there from miles away. I just kept thinking, how are they going to walk away? How do you say goodbye? Then it turned to trying to gain as much information from them as I could, so that in years to come I could give Kp and Kb as much information about their past as I could. Just a stressful day.
Then the fevers came.
As we were sitting on the steps, Kp and Kb were acting strange. At first I thought it was because of their family being there, but when I picked Kp up, she was burning up. We had them say their goodbyes...as best as could be done, and took them to our room. Now what? We were in a foreign country with no reliable hospitals. I was not letting anyone stick anything into them. But what did they have, how do I fix it? I knew it wasn't anything like my kids would have a home: a fever cause of a cold. I wanted to be home. I wanted the comforts of home...a doctor or an ER with reliable services that didn't demand cash payments up front. I flipped out. (I will interject here that there were several "issues" with us/other families along the way, and I kept my cool. But these were MY kids and they were burning up faster than I had ever see kids get sick!)
We eventually found the lady who ran the compound. She called a pediatrician friend of hers who came TO the compound. Malaria. Which I figured at some point was what they had. She gave them each a huge shot, and gave us a slip of paper to tell us what to get from the "pharmacy" the next day. Praises sent up to God for providing a doctor!!!!
Then it turned to ... will they let us on the plane??? We have to get the kids to "act" normal. We NEED, I need to be on that plane. God has never given me more than I could handle, so I knew He would get me on that plane because I could "handle" no more...
All flights (the 3 per week!) that leave, leave at night, so we had a good 24 hours to let the kids rest and prepare to leave. Their little bodies are so resilient. They were back to "normal" by mid afternoon the next day. Unfortunately...trying to calculate 3 more shots, 24 hours apart, through several time zones, left for some interesting situations. But we were home, 2 days later - one week sooner than planned.
Bottom line? I didn't think I could handle any more that day one year ago. But GOD, had planned it all out for me, and there was no need to worry or stress...he was caring for me in my time of need!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Places Not to Go with Three in Tow
I took three of my kids with me to the Social Security Office the other day. There was a security officer there with the whole get-up (gun and all). Kp was TERRIFIED of this man and why he had a gun. Why did anyone have guns, she asked? Well, I did my very best to convince my little one that this man was actually there to protect us, not harm us. She didn't take her eyes off him the entire time we were there...my heart broke as i realized that none of my other kids even noticed him or his gun :-(
Taking the 3 to the SS Office anyway??? Well, that is one SMALL waiting room for 3 curious kids, not to mention we got there 40 minutes before closing and weren't seen until after the office closed. I was SOOOOOO ready to leave! (yeah, i know, should've got those numbers for the kids LONG ago, but.....)
Kb asked me the other day, "if i am bad, i will go back to Africa?" EVERYTHING in my world grinded to a haul. "Never, never, ever, ever, ever will you be sent back." We then went onto a lengthy conversation about how he will always live with us NO MATTER what. I think my little guy who doesn't ever seem to be paying attention, knows what happened to...well, we all know who...
Taking the 3 to the SS Office anyway??? Well, that is one SMALL waiting room for 3 curious kids, not to mention we got there 40 minutes before closing and weren't seen until after the office closed. I was SOOOOOO ready to leave! (yeah, i know, should've got those numbers for the kids LONG ago, but.....)
Kb asked me the other day, "if i am bad, i will go back to Africa?" EVERYTHING in my world grinded to a haul. "Never, never, ever, ever, ever will you be sent back." We then went onto a lengthy conversation about how he will always live with us NO MATTER what. I think my little guy who doesn't ever seem to be paying attention, knows what happened to...well, we all know who...
Monday, February 9, 2009
We Found Him :-)
God is good. I am daily reminded that His sovereign plans for our lives are just so much greater than I can fathom.
We got a call, out of the blue, the other night from a man we traveled over to Africa with when we all were adopting. He has been back to the compound 3 times since his initial trip. This time he was calling to let us know that he just got back and while he was there, had several talks with Sa. Since Sa left, I was in faith that God is bigger than me (yes, i had to keep reminding myself of that) and that he could care for Sa far better than I could... Then to find out that the same guy who adopted children at the same time as us, who has gone over several times, and who is going back in March, has had much contact with Sa - also has a link to us!!!! God has provided an advocate for Sa! Now, because of a lot of political stuff going on in the country now, i am not going to share what is going on...but know that Sa is okay. I use it as a relative term though. He is constantly being harassed for being "rejected" from the United States...let alone the day to day harassment because of his disability. The bottom line is, he is miserable there and there is not the best place for him, but God has provided someone to watch out for him...someone who is fighting on his behalf :-)
We are going to put together a small care package for Sa, if you would like to add a letter or a note of encouragement. I know that our friend will personally get it to Sa. I am unsure of when he is going, but if you want to send something...get it to me by the first week of March!!!
PS: We did get a glimpse of why they weren't replying to our emails or requests for information about Sa, but it is better left unsaid on an open forum...although i would love to shine the light on things done in the dark...i will leave that for God to do?
We got a call, out of the blue, the other night from a man we traveled over to Africa with when we all were adopting. He has been back to the compound 3 times since his initial trip. This time he was calling to let us know that he just got back and while he was there, had several talks with Sa. Since Sa left, I was in faith that God is bigger than me (yes, i had to keep reminding myself of that) and that he could care for Sa far better than I could... Then to find out that the same guy who adopted children at the same time as us, who has gone over several times, and who is going back in March, has had much contact with Sa - also has a link to us!!!! God has provided an advocate for Sa! Now, because of a lot of political stuff going on in the country now, i am not going to share what is going on...but know that Sa is okay. I use it as a relative term though. He is constantly being harassed for being "rejected" from the United States...let alone the day to day harassment because of his disability. The bottom line is, he is miserable there and there is not the best place for him, but God has provided someone to watch out for him...someone who is fighting on his behalf :-)
We are going to put together a small care package for Sa, if you would like to add a letter or a note of encouragement. I know that our friend will personally get it to Sa. I am unsure of when he is going, but if you want to send something...get it to me by the first week of March!!!
PS: We did get a glimpse of why they weren't replying to our emails or requests for information about Sa, but it is better left unsaid on an open forum...although i would love to shine the light on things done in the dark...i will leave that for God to do?
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