MATCHING PJ NIGHT!

So before we went to go get the kids from the Ukraine we had purchased these matching pajamas for all the kids. They love that they are the same but it is really crazy to see how big they are on Anna and Vlad. So to compare Allie is 7 years old and only 4 months older then Anna. Vlad will be nine in December and Noah just turned six in September. Amazing to see the size differences. The boys both wear size 6 and we had to split Noahs clothes so that Vlad would have something to wear, he was so generous and picked out some of his favorites to give to him. Anna is just a peanut and she is wearing a size 4-5 clothes and size 8-9 shoes, Allies wears 8-10 clothes and Size 2 Shoes. I guess having good nutrition and milk make a huge difference in growth. They are also doing really great in school Anna is in First Grade and Vlad is in Third, so we have Two First Graders, One Second Grader anad One Third Grader. Anna is picking up sign language very quickly and starting to say the English words very quickly after, she get so excited when you understand what she is saying. SHe is finally calling Kevin Dada instead of MaMa since that is what they pretty much called everyone in the orphanage. Vlad is having a more difficult time with language and communication and we are concerned that he may have a hearing problem so we are going to get the hearing screening and visit the ENT next week. Hopefully we will get some answers to help him out. Things have been going pretty well except the sheer exhaustion of adding two more kids to a two parent working household.

Pics Finally!

So it has been a crazy ride the last few days. Picked up Kevin and the kids Thursday night at Denver International Airport, they came in early so I just drove up and we threw the bags and the kids in the car and took off. No fussing whatsoever about the car seats, they actually think that they are pretty neat and do not try to unbuckle. Thank Goodness!! We went out to eat at Famous Dave's and they are so well behaved out to eat it was amazing. They tried all the new food there and on the plane with no problems. Well that is until the middle on the night when Vlad threw up half his dinner, he had eaten so much food it was crazy. We should have known better but it is hard to say no when you know what they have been eating for their whole lives. We got home and they went right to bed in their new beds no fuss at all and have every night since. Friday we spent the day together as a family and just hung out at home and let everyone get to know each other.All the kids have been getting along so well and not really any jealousy either way. It is amazing how small they are Vlad wears the same size as Noah who is Three years younger and we have had to down size her clothes and shoes several times to finally get her pants to stay up. Seven years old and wears a 4-5 and a size 9 shoes which is still to big. Saturday we took them to the local rec center to go swimming and they thought is was great and did not want to leave, did not much care for the showers though. After that they had the inflatable bouncy castle up and they bounces for quit a while, played basketball and ping pong. Then we went home had some luch and headed to a local Punpkin Run event where we painted pumpkins, took a horse and carraige ride and did a little trick or treating. All of which they really enjoyed. Needless to say they ended up in bed early that night after dinner. Then next morning we took them to church and everyone was so excited that they were home and they were shaking everyones hands and Vlad loved the music and the instruments. We headed home for some lunch and a lazy sunday afternoon nap, very much needed especially for us! Today was columbus day so I had the day off, we figured we would try to get a few things done to get them ready for school, well the day ended up pretty busy. We took both of them to the dentist and got complete x-rays and cleanings, they were amazing!! They said they did better then most kids and they were so proud of their goodie bags with the new toothpaste and toothbrushes. Then we stopped at their school and we figured that we would just drop off shot records and birth certificates. Well they had other plans, when we got there they were totally ready for them, we got to meet their individual special ed teachers, class room teacher and toured their rooms and school. They have each a para ready and two Ukrainian speaking translators to help with their transistion and testing for their IEPs. Then they said so are they ready to start tomorrow and we were so suprised, but said yes since Kevin is still off of work this week so he can be there if he needs to. They were really surprised at how well they did for their ages and they will be Vlad in 3rd Grade and Anna in 1st grade. They plan to have them be in their classrooms as much as possible once they transition. Anna allready says Allie, Lindsay, sit, Dad, Noah and today started saying Hi. After that we ended up heading to the local eye doctor who specializes in children with Downs and figured out what was causing the green discharge for Vlad's eyes, sounds like it will be a life long battle but once we get it under control it will be a minor nightly cleaning and he allready looks and feels so much better. Everything is moving so quickly since they came home and sometimes it just seems unreal, they have acclimated so quickly that it is amazing. We are starting to get a little testing now and I take that to mean that they feel comfortable enough here now to try things out a litte. Sometimes it feels like you are on a emotional roller coaster, you really never know how all of it is going to affect you emotionally. But it is so truly amazing to see how happy the kids are to be HOME!

WELCOME HOME!

Well everyone is finlly home!!!!!!!!!!!! Pictures to follow and when we get settled more I will write some more. Just know that everything is going well.

GOTCHA DAY!

So Kevin said that Monday was a really good day! OUr attorney and driver picked them up to go get the kids and they had brought snacks. When they go there the orphanage had planned them a going away party and they gave each kid new out fits and winter coats. Wow was he surprised. They had also purchased a electric fireplace for their room with our donation money. Then he got back and got the passports, he said it was pretty awesome to see the kids, passports and birth certificates all together in one place, made it real. They went to get tickets on the night train and they were sold out so then ended up on the exspress train which left early and they did not have much time to pack and get to the train. Nico picked them up at the train station and then in the morning they went to the embassy, they said that they should have visas ready by Wednesday, medicals are done and they should fly out on schedule Thursday. Kevin definately seemed in a much better mood having the kids with him. He said he had to teach them how to eat a hamburger and drink threw straws. Anna seems to think it is a game to see how many times she can get him to take her to the potty, silly girl. Can't wait to have the whole family together and the kids here are getting very excited to meet Vlad and Anna and also have their Dad home. He has spent a total of 33 days in the Ukraine. Keep the prayers coming until the land at 5pm Thursday.

Desperately Need Help!

Well we are in a bit of trouble. Kevin called and they keep finding additional ways for us to have to spend more money. Right now he is short the money we need now to process the documents at the US Embassy to bring the kids home. We need to have an additonal 800.00 to Kevin by Monday at the latest so that he can get these kids home. He is getting very frustrated and we need to wrap this up and be done with all the red tape. We are desperately begging that if any one can donate any amount to try to make up this difference. Please contact me by E-mail if you would be willing to give us a hand in bringing them home. Keep praying for us that God will be faithful.

Hubby is Frustrated!

I feel so helpless when he calls frustrated with what is happening and he feels like they do not understand what he is saying. They would not let him take the kids today because he was a DAD and he was a MOM they would have, they said he couldn't handle it. If any of you know my husband you would agree that he probably would handle it better then me that is for sure. He is the one who was raised with a downs brother and is way more comfortable in the Ukraine them I was. They are having difficulty understanding the attorney and he wonders what the extra charges are and is not getting anywhere. Another 800.00 for passports that was not expected, I don't know where we are going to keep coming up with this extra money. I guess we will do whatever it takes to get everyone home but as it stands right now I have to come up with at least another $800.00 just to get him home and that is if no other mystery charges come up. Looking like ramen noodles and mac and chees for the rest of the month.

God is Good!

So they managed to get both birth certificates done today. Kevin said it is pretty cool to see them with our names on them, they are our children!!!!! And also his luggage was returned today so that is a big relief. So now it is up to how fast they turn over their passports, they say three days. But we just saw them do Austin's is the US in hours so I know it can be faster.

11th Day is Here!

Well as we were all sleeping My husband has been running around all day trying to get all the documents done in one day to be able to get to the passport office by 4pm to apply for their passports. Praying that everything went well and that right now they are on their way to the drop off the Birth Certificate at the passport office, it is 3pm there right now. Also that by a miracle they will complete them in record time so that he can bring Anna and Vlad home quickly. I am so blessed to have such an awesome husband who is willing to go back and brave the culture shock again to bring his kids home and a Godly 13 year old son who stepped up to volunteer to help his Dad bring his new siblings home. One of the great blessings of this whole experience is that you can never look at your world tha same way again. And we know that through the difficult times is when we grow in maturity the most.

My men are getting ready to leave!

My husband and oldest son are leaving today to go back to the Ukraine to get the kids. The 10 day wait period is up Tuesday and they will be ready to hit the ground running to complete all the necessary paperwork, passports and visa to get our kids home. Please pray that all goes smoothly and the guys have som special time together.

Update of Photos!

Here are some photos of the Orphanage and the girls in her group with the necklaces on that my brother made for us to bring. He also knitted hats and scarfs and the house mother really liked them. Sorry blogger is being fussy with the pics so I will just write and update. Since we last talked we made a trip back to Kiev to get the second referral for Vlad and then returned back to the village to file all the paperwork. That was a crazy day of running back and forth but our attorney got it all in and by the end of the day we had the court date of the 17th which is this friday. We found out that the place we were staying in the village wsa taken for the next 10 days so we had to come back to Karkov and stay at anb apartment there until court. It is a very nice apartment which has everything we need but it means that they made an exception for us that we have to visit the kids everyother day for two hour minimum before court. Usually they make you visit daily but since it is an hour drive there and back it makes it tough and very exspensive on our end. It gets very boring sometimes but we have been exsploring the city and getting alot of walking in. We have found another pizza place a grocery store and of course finally the coffe shop to get internet. Talk Soon.

Court on the 17th

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we have a court date. It is the 17th which is this coming Friday, I will try to post more pics tomorrow when we have a day off from visiting the orphanage. Please pray for a uneventful court and waiving of the 10 day period.

Well Today was better!

We had to make a final decision today if we were going to go back to Kiev and get the referral for Vlad.It has been an emotional week and very exhausting. We were very torn he has taken to Kevin but wants nothing to do with me, I am just another MAMA. Some of his behaviors were concerning and we were wondering if he would bond and be able to listen and behave. Nothing serious but we wantede to make sure we were taking everyone in the family into consideration and what life was going to look like. I am not a stay at home mom nor do I want to be at this point in life, I love my job and yes I do miss being at work. I work with some awesome women who have been so supportive and I just never want to take advantage of them, you guys rock! Also with Kevins variable schedule we need to make sure we could do it logistically. So we talked to the kids last night and explained the situation and they were shocked that we were even questioning not bringing him home. I told them that he had an attitude and was going to take so extra work and patience and Lindsay told us that she has plenty of attitude some times as a teenage and we never gave up on her. She also called me out for taking it to personally that he did not like me. And she reminded us that the reason that we are here is because that is what God called us to do and we have to stand on Faith not fear. That we were under attack and that Satan was trying to cause us not to agree to get his will done. I sure am lucky to have such a great kid, well I have the best kids in the world and I can't wait to hug each of them. They are being so brave and they said as long as they have us we can get through anything as a family. During this process I have realized how lucky that we truly are and how blessed we are. The conveniences that we have in the USA are amazing and I am going to learn to stop and look at everything with much more appreciation. Thnak You God for opening our eyes today and giving us a great visit with the kids. he made it very clear in several ways today that we needed to bring him home to his family. Will post more pictures later my body is so sore that I do not want to get up and walk across the room to get the camera. 3 hours of walking a day makes me wish that I had working out on the eliptical more before we left. Knots in your calf and shin split but you just kepp walking to see the kids. PERSERVERANCE!!!!

HAPPY 6th Birthday NOAH!

September 4th is NOAH's Birthday and we are sad to miss it. Today is the Buddy WaLK in Wyoming and the sponsors give everyone tickets to the University of Wyoming Cowboy footbal game so I know he is excited for that. I hope you have good day Noah MOM and DAD love you so much and can't wait to see you soon. Here are some pics of his party before we left.

Thursday!

So what our day consists of is wake up at 8am shower, eat banana and walk to orphanage to see kids. Takes about 45 minutes to walk there, although we are getting quicker and the weather has been so nice, cool and rains at night. Stay there until they eat lunch at noon. We walk back for a few hours rest and then walk back again at 4pm until about 5:30pm. Walk back to apartment and then we have dinner at the little pub downstairs, usually a burger pattie (what kind of meat I do not know but it is edible so I do not want to know) and homemade french fries which are really good. Tonight we braved the ice cream cone from one store and it was pretty good. Each day seems a little easier to survive here. Survivor Ukraine Ha! Although each day away from our kids back home seems more difficult, we pray every day for speedy court and waiving of the 10 days if not waived I will have to return on the 19th without Kevin.
One of the weirdest things is the animals just wandering around, we are all used to wild cats but wild dogs and we saw this cow out front out apartment. There was a herd of little piglets in the middle of the road today and the roosters crow in the morning.

PICS

Travel to Region.

So we left for Karkov by train Tuesday night, slept on the train and arrived at 6:20 am. Got picked up at train station and drove 200 km to orphanage. We got to see both kids. Found out that they are both healthy and have no heart problems. They have a really nice orphanage it even has a pool and a school. We were told that they just returned yesterday from a camp in country for special needs kids. These photos are from the train and our new room. We were very lucky to find this place there is literally no lodging and we almost had to stay at a lady from the orphanage house. We will be staying here until Sunday night when we go back to Karkov ans catch the train back to Kiev for Vlad's referral and then return until court to the region with the kids. Both kids took very well to us and we had a good visit. They are treated just like the other kids and are expected to keep. They cut Alyssa's hair and it looks just like my sweet Allie back home. Vlad is a little smaller then we anticipated, the clothes will be baggy on the way home, he might end ud getting hand me downs from Noah.

Got our referral for alyssa!

So we got our referral paperwork this afternoon for Alyssa which means we get to go see the kids. We are leaving tonight at 10:20pm for Karkov. Good thing we slept until 2:00pm this afternoon, we were up early in the morning talking to the kids back home. It is tough being away from them. So we found this really neat little pizza place tonight for dinner and I think we will probably eat there again when we come back. Here are some more pics of the pizza place and around our apartment. Looking forward to meeting the kids tomorrow. Yulia said that they are so excited that we are coming for the kids because the workers faught really hard for them to have one more chance to be placed and we are their last chance. She said we will love them so much they are very smart and great kids! That's good cuz we are only used to having great kids!! Love you guys!! So the Sonny with a chance. So I am sure that you guessed one of the channels is Disney. We are getting a kick out of watching their music videos. The picture of the pizza place has all these girls in front they all where skinny jeans and high heals, I don't know how they do it. Well better go get ready to leave!

We are there!

So we made it to kiev allright, all the flights went perfect connections and layovers were great and meals on the plane were very good. Lufthansa was a great airline and they took very good care of us. We arrived at 2:30 Kiev time and were meeted at the airport by Nico who was very nice and he took us to exchange money, get some water and brought us our apartment. From there we crashed so that we would not be tired for our appt this morning. At the appt we found out that Alyssa was abandoned at birth and parental rights were sighned away then. Sad to think that anyone could just walk away from their child. We got a few pictures of her, one baby picture one from about a year ago and one from April this year. Serge our representative tried very hard for them to give us both referrals at once but they would not do it. So we wait for our documents tomorrow between 4-5pm and then it sounds like we head after that to the orphanage. We will be able to meet both children but then after we fill out the paperwork for her we will have to come back to Kiev to get the second referral, so that should delay us only about 2 days.

READY SET GO!

Getting finished packing and making sure we have everything. Seems like I am forgeting something. The kids did not want to go to bed and were crying. It was so hard to watch them cry, we are going to miss them so much. So muching the last few weeks with school starting, Grandma and Grandpa coming and Mom and Dad leaving to get their new brother and Sister. Pray for patience for my mother and father in law and safety for our travels please. It all is not sinking in yet not sure when it will all hit me.

We Have A Date!

So today we got our travel date! August 30th at 9am. So we will be leaving on the 28th to go get the kids. Now we get crazy and start getting ready. To busy to write more right now lots to do.

Preparation Continues

So this weekend we finally got moved into our new room in the basement Yeah! It does feel a little weird being downstairs but hopefully it will help Kevin sleep better with his crazy shift work schedule. Girls room is painted and dressers are done and filled with all their clothes. Stille need to find a canopy top for Alyssa bed but that is easier said then done. The dressers we were so lucky we got hem at a University sale for $10.00 each and sanded them downand they were solid maple, so we clear coated them and they are beautiful. We are trying to get everything done and realy hoping that we will get our travel date this week, we have a sneaking hunch that it will be the first week of school. Which means everyone else has to be ready and all the school paperwork filled out and back pack, lunch boxes and sports schedules ready. Keeping me busy enough that I have not had much chance to think about travel and get nervous, but finally I am letting my self get excited to go get the kids.

SUBMISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah today is a day to celebrate. We were submitted to the SDA yesterday and now I can finally let myself get excited. I have held these darling kids close to my heart but feel as if I have gaurded it for so long waiting for thins day. Thank God and to everyone that has been there to get us to this moment. I will keep you posted and keep getting ready to leave as soon as they say GO!

Hopefully Today is the Day!

We are praying that today will be submission day! I can't wait to finally aloow myself to get a little excited about going to get the kids. I feel like I have been hearding the Jeopardy Theme song in my head for weeks now. All the other kids are getting ready for school and I feel sad that they are not here to get ready to. All in God's Time. Thanks for all the prayers we will et everyone know as soon as we hear something.

Over the Pond

Today the paperwork was released from customs and should be on it's way to the facilitator for translation. We are standing firm on faith that God has prepared the path to Submission on Thursday and a travel date shortly there after. We are struggling with this time frame and trying to get the rest of the kids ready for school before we leave. Hard to shell out money for school supplies and clothes when every extra penny has been saved for the adoption this summer. I know relax God will provide for all the children. New favorite verse: 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly out weighs them and will last forever.

SLOW MOTION!!!!!

I feel like everything is going in slow motion. We are still trying to gather 4 documents to redo and send over to Eastern Europe. I know that we live in Wyoming and here in the old west things move a little slower, which normally I truly LOVE! But come on allready people light a fire under it we have two kids to go get and it is getting harder and harder to be patient. OUr dossier is ready to submit this week except for the docs we are waiting on and it is driving me crazy trying to get people here to try to cooperate and get them done correctly. It seems so simple but yet they act like it is so difficult. Time is runnin out before we have to redo a bunch more. Please pray that we can get the new paperwork over there at least so that we can be submitted next Thursday. God has a plan and I know he is preparing our path, I will try to have peace and trust in his faithfulness.

God Bumps!

Well we sound out that our police clearances that we need will take two weeks until we get them because the person that signs them is out for vacation. Then being disappointedenough we found out that the SDA is closind for new submissions from July 1st- July 14. So God must need some more time to prapare our path. I can't say that I am not disappointed but I want this to be in his time not our time. This Momma is getting very anxious to meet her children. Kevin is going to be the one taking the leave so I really need to know that they are home safe and Daddy is with them. We are trying to be prpared and have our waiver packet to fill out, health insurance forms filled out and are ready to just go get them. But I am leading each day with the faith that he has a perfect plan.

LOTS of PRAYERS needed!!!!!!!!!

We got word today that three of our documents need some changes. Please pray that we will have willing hearts when we go to have these redone and that it will be in a timely manner. Also that God will provide the additional funds to send them over exspress so that we do not lose to much time. We are still prayerful that we will be able to get them home before school starts.

DOSSIER ARRIVED

Today the paperwork aririved in the Ukraine and now the next step is translation and then submission for approval to the SDA. So again we wait patiently know that God is in control and we prepare to leave our kids behind venture out in the word and bring home our missing family members. Please pray that things will go as God has planned and that we have the patience to endure this waiting game.

DOSSIER SENT

Finally got all the paperwork back from the Secretary of State and sent the dossier last night. It was really tough handing that over to the Fed Ex Guy. But that is what we have to do to get the kids so you have faith and let go. Kids are coming home from camp tomorrow and we had a great friend of the family help Kevin frame the closet in this week. Such a blessing!!!! Thanks Matt! Also last night I have a great conversation with another downs mom in our town and I look forward to getting to know their family, they have a little boy who is 4 1/2. Well better head to work got to keep earning that vacation time. Have a blessed weekend and please keep us in our prayers that our date will be of God's perfect will.

USCIS Approval Letter

We received the approval letter from Immigration today that we are approved to adopt, Hopefully the official document will come in the mail tomorrow and then we can get this Dossier accross the pond. After we send it we are looking at 5-6 weeks to travel. Starting to let myself get excited now. Tomorrow Noah is graduating Kindergarten and it is the last day of school for the other kids. Please pray that out daughter Lindsay gets a job as a CNA this summer. She is a junior in highschool and just finished her certificate and hopefully if she can get a job they will pay for her test. SHe id getting excited because she is starting to get college stuff in the mail since she to the ACT. The older kids are heading to church camp next week, Lindsay voluteers for the Junior High camp so she gets to go with Austin and then goes to senior high camp the next week. then the week after is Vacation Bible School, I guess we are trying to fit in as much summer as we can before we have to travel. Have blessed week Everyone!

AMAZING GOD!!!!!!!

We found out today that one of the benefactors for Reece's Rainbow, the group that we found the kids through, has donated $5000.00 to our adoption fund. I have been so blessed in the many ways that God has chosen to show himself faithful through this journey. Also to see how he is touching hearts and drawing us nearer to him is amazing. Should I be surprised, NO but I am always amazed and I will give him all the glory! We are so close to being financially ready now, just need to sell the rest of those pizza card and we are pretty darn close. We are also lucky that my husband is getting a ton of overtime but that means he has not had any time to get that closed done and I am trying not to get to anxious about getting the kids rooms done. But all you ladies know that it is driving me crazy. Anybody out there we wants to build a closet is welcome to help.

GARAGE SALE

Today we had a garage sale to clear out the extra stuff to be able to rearrange the kids rooms. It was so windy that we could hardly keep anything on the tables. We had a great turn out but people just couldn't look through things while they were flying away. My husband sold all the extra furniture on craigs list and the rest we boxed up for charity. DONE!!!!!!!!! Now we can get started on the closets down stairs. We also found out about a web site that is called freecyle where is areas all over the country people put their stuff that they want to get rid of on and we ended up being able to give away things that were left so they wouldn't get just thrown out. Pretty Cool! Check it out. Just waiting for the USICIS approval then we are on our way to submiting, very exciting.

Finally made contact!!!

We finally got a call today from USCIS and they requested that the homestudy agency reword three areas. Not bad considering some of the horror stories I have heard. We talked to the agency and thay said they have been getting the same requests from all the ones that are coming out of the Missouri Base which is everyone after April 5th.
They had it changed and sent directly to the officer the afternoon, they have been absolutley amazint to work with and a real blessing. She said everything else was great and the approvalwould be ready as soon as she received the documentation. YeaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So we may be sending our Dossier next week. Did you hear me God that means we still need more money, yes Lord that is a challenge.

MALACHI 3:10 Bring the Whole Tithe to the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. TEST ME in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. You have proven yourself faithful and we look forward to seeing what the Lord will do with his 10% this month, looking forward to pay day.

Busy Week

Well we got our digital fingerprints done on Tuesday and they send them to the FBI digitally while we were there, really cool! We are building closets in the basement and converting our living room into a master bedroom. We went to home depot and got all the closet doors and entry door for $60.00 clearenced out, that is a awesome deal! That way we will be able to get it done and start on the kids rooms, exciting it makes it all feel real. We also started picking up some clothes for the kids and trying to guess which sizes they are, it is fun just imagining them being home. We were also blessed this week by a donor that gave $2500.00 God is truly amazing and we are so thankful that this person allowed God to use them to bring his kids home to their forever family!!!!!!!!! We have also been doing the pizza card fundraiser and discount card fundraiser, it has been working out pretty well and we have made up our investment and everything from here on out is profit. Some of our friends are helping sell some cards and that is helping out alot. No we wait for our USCIS approval and we are ready to submit our dossier and get ready to travel. EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

Forgot to tell everyone that last Friday was Alyssa 7th Birthday! It was a hard day since we are not with her to celebrate our daughter's special day. You got to wonder if she even knows what a birthday is. Good new we found out that they are going to pass Noah on to First Grade, since he is the baby of the class. That means we won't end up having three Kindergarteners. Good job Noah!

HAD TO RESCHEDULE

With much disappointment we had to reschedule or fingerprint appointment. We received the new appointment May 11, two week later. Now things are getting pretty exciting. I no longer can focus only on paperwork and it is a little overwhelming to think of how much life will change in the next few months. I am very excited and I know we will do just fine. Now all the things that need to be in order are all my focus at home. My husband said now that the paper pregnancy is done I must be NESTING! He is right!

Finger Print Appointment

Yeah we got the letter from USCIS for our fingerprint appointment! April 27th, not bad for sending it on the First of April, them getting it April 5th. Don't ever believe the overnight thing if you live in Wyoming it always takes at least 3-5 days no matter what. Sometimes I wonder if it is still Pony Express. So happy to be home from our trip to Michigan for the National girls Hockey Tournament. They lost all their games but it was the first time Wyoming has been to a National Tournament. We stopped in Chicago and took the kids to Medievil Times and that was a blast. Also we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and everyone was surprised at how large it was. We did not even come closed to seeing everything in 5+ hours, but it was alot of fun. Missing my husband, he flew back to Minnesota to help out his parents for another week. I sure do count on him to help out with the kids, he is a great DAD! Plus it seems like everything comes up when they are gone. Very excited to get to send the dossier, you can actually see that it could happen. WOW! PLus we were so lucky to stay with my broher-in-law Keith and Danielle and they are really supportive of the choice to adopt. It makes such a difference if your family doesn't think your crazy, but then again we are always doing things out of the box. Maybe they are finally getting used to it. LOL

USCIS in the MAIL!!!!!!!!!!

We Fed Ex'ed our USCIS paperwork today! YEAH! This is the last paperwork we need to get before we can send our dossier to the Ukraine. It is so exciting. Thank You to everyone who ordered from the Pamered Chef Fundraiser. We made enough to cover apostilles and the postage of the Dossier to the Ukraine. There still is time to order online until Friday. www.pamperedchef.biz/sandypadilla then enter WATKINS for host and shop online. We are on the way to the National Hockey Tournament in Lansing MIchigan for our daughter Lindsay. Very Exciting.

Commited to Marek Today

Well we did it, we commited to Marek and were very lucky to get designated a grant that will make bringing him back a possiblilty. He is 8 years old and possibly Mosaic Down Syndrome and he sounds like he is a favorite in the orphanage. The kids are together and we are hoping keeping them together will help with the transition. The kids are very excited and Noah is happy he is getting a brother too!

Fundraiser Number One- Possibly Child Number 2

First Fundraiser starts NOW Pampered Chef party and catalog Fundraiser. Orders can be placed at www.pamperedchef.biz/sandypadilla. Just pick SHOP and Watkins for Host and 35% of the proceeds go to Alyssa's Adoption Fund. We are considering adopting a second child if we can raise the funds. It is a little boys that is 8 years old and he and Alyssa have been together in a Healthy child orphanage. He will be moved to an institution in August and we think with us would be a better option. So please pass this on and prayers would be greatly appreciated!

Homestudy Done and Draft is on the Way to Proof

They just called and homstudy is done and in the mail to proof, YEAH! Now to decide to use the tax money to pay for the homestudy or to take our daughter to the National hockey Tournament, where all the College scouts are. Once and a lifetime opportunity that she has worked her whole life to do. I know go the Michigan and believe God for the Finances for the homestudy.

Letter to Help Raise Funds

I would like to introduce you to our family. We are Kevin and Andrea Watkins from Laramie, Wyoming. We have four children Lindsay 17, Austin 12, Allie 7 and Noah 5. Some of you may know us personally, you may know us through out parents Alvin and Gwen Watkins and Don and Rita Gallus or someone may have forwarded you this letter out of love. We would like to share with you all, the journey that we have embarked on. Since Kevin and I have been together is has been a desire of our hearts to adopt a child with Downs Syndrome. At the end of the year last year we were directed to a website that facilitates adoptions of Children with DS all over the world, reecerainbow.org. Over the years we have checked into the United States for adoption options and have found out the grim news that in our country over 90% of these special children are aborted. Unfortunately in many countries these children are institutionalized and never have a chance of showing the world their great capacity to love others and be valued members of our communities. There are no shortage of families in the United States that wish to adopt these children but there is a shortage of funds for these families to complete the adoption process. The average adoption of a child from the Ukraine is $24,000 including fees, travel expenses and document preparation. In October, in faith that God would provide the funds to bring her home we committed to Alyssa. When we came across her on the reecerainbow.org web site we were immediately drawn to this little girl. Since then we have been through the process of gathering all the documents and completing our home study. We are at the point that we need to send all these documents over to the Ukraine and wait for our time to meet her. Once that happens things move very quickly and we need to be prepared financially to complete the adoption. Due to the pending Ukrainian elections and possible government changes we have been recommended to try to get our adoption completed as soon as possible. Also we have found out that as of August 1st if she is not adopted she will be moved to an institution and may no longer be available, which means she will be left there for the rest of her life. Due to this process moving so quickly we are still lacking the funds necessary to complete the adoption. We are asking that you prayerfully consider contributing to the funds necessary to bring Alyssa home. This contribution is completely tax deductible for you or a business. To make a donation you can visit our blog at neveradullmoment-andrea.blogspot.com, then click on the picture of her to bring you to our donation page. These funds go to our family fund at Reece’s rainbow and will be disbursed to us when we receive our travel date. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you feel called to do so.



 Thank You and God Bless, The Watkins Family.

Getting excited

Hard to not get excited every step of the way. Finally we are at the point of sending in our i-600a which gives us permission from the United States to adopt and then we send our paperwork and wait for the referral date to travel. This week end we are going to South Dakota, Rapid City for the District Championship for Lindsay's team Wyoming hockey. Big deal if they win they get to go to the Regional Tournament in Michigan where all the colleges do there scouting. She is really nervous. Noah is so excited to see Mt Rushmore,they have been studying the early presidents in Kindergarten and he just loves all the information about them.

Last Homestudy Visit

Last night was the last homestudy visit, what relief it is to have it done. This morning I woke up with a million ideas for fundraising in my head, funny how GOD works the day before I could not think of a thing. Now I have a few great leads. Everyone in our family is starting to get impatient with the waiting process, the kids don't understand why we can't just go get her. Well some days I feel the same. Everyday is a mixture of excitment and frustration. Especially when it is yet another document to redo again and again. But the beautiful thing is the wonderful treasure we will get at the end of the adventure. We are excited to mee you Alyssa, we love you.

PEACE

Just wanted to say Thank You Lord for the peace that you have given me all day. I would truly have been the worry wort about the home study tonight. And I have have no concerns all day, more excitment to get started. My Husband and kids are such a blessing to me that I am sure she will love them to. Tomorrow we are getting our new chairs for around the dinner table, two. That means we will have two new spots open, I am excited to find out if God will fill one or two. I am leaving my heart open to whatever he leads us to. Our younger son Noah says he needs a brother since Allie is getting a sister, he does not want to be alone in the boys room. Well wish me good blessing and a speedy homestudy. Love you All.

Thursday is the Big Day

Thursday is the first meeting with the social worker for the homestudy. I have to say that I am not really to worried. Between the unplanned replacement of the kitchen sink and the call from the principal that Noah had received 4 out of 5 tickets for the day. For talking, yes that shy little boy that would not leave our leg to even go to class at church has now turned into my social butterfly. I guess it could be worse at least he is not beating up people on the playground. I guess I have always lived by the philosophy that if you game to meet our family that is fine, if you came to see our house make an appointment. OOps! I guess she did make an appointment to see our house. Still I have four kids and both working parents, if they expect us to be immaculate to adopt then I guess they maybe have never had children in their home. Which means they would be missing out on a great amount of love, blessings and of course humor! Wouldn't give them up for the world. I am very blessed to have such a great buch of kids and a husband that pitches it to help organize the chaos.

Ready Set Keep Going

Today our file was sent to the worker for the homestudy and we should be hearing from her soon, how exciting and nervous. We really don't know what to expect but I am sure it will go just fine. Also waiting on passports anyday now. We were hoping to submit in February but it is looking more like end of February. This weekend we are heading to a hockey tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah for Lindsay and Team Wyoming Girls. It should be fun, we have never been there before so it is fun to explore new areas. Hopefully they will do well. We had to finally break down and get the suite with the roll out bed at the hotel, we have officially out grown the double bed room. Mostly because Austin is now 5 feet 7 and no longer want to sleep in the same bed as his big sister!I suppose and extra 15.00 a day is worth everyones sanity. Hopefully the roads will be good and we will be able to get back in town on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Miracle Moments

Well I have to say that things have been running pretty smoothly and the last few days have been unbelieveably calm and oraganized for our wild and crazy family, especially since our 10 day vacation in October back to Minnesota to see family. Yesterday was the first day back to school and everyone was in bed by 8:30pm, which meant that everyone got up on time in a bright and cheerful mood and did not fight or argue with each other. WOW! Then they all had a good day at school, came home and did homework and then we went to some friends house for dinner. We do not get to do that very often and it is so great when your friend and both sets of kids actually enjoy playing, slight grumping when we had to leave but no full blown tantrum so we got out of that easily. Still managed to make it to bed before 9:30 for the kids. Today was the first day the Kevin worked days and had to get up with everyone, seemed pretty good. No one got a cold shower, well except for Lindsay who did not get up on time, but hey she made the bus and that is all that matters to MOM. The little ones were in a very good mood again and got ready with little help. Everyone was out the door and I still had time to eat my breakfast before I got into the car and read a few verse in my bible. As I headed off to work I thought how nice that everyone managed to get teeth brushed, backpacks packed, homework done, breakfast eaten and Austin even managed to take the trash to the road without having to text me from the bus that he forgot. Dinner is in the crock pot and my husband is home everynight and weekends, well at least for the next four months. We are going to take advantage of every moment. My resolution this year is going to be,be thankful for the little blessings and enjoy the little moments that brush by so fast. AND THIS TIME THE BEDTIME ROUTINE IS GOING TO STICK!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Yeah and Honey get over the court pants and be happy to have breakfast waiting at work, cuz we sure are looking forward to having you home more.

Miracle Moments