Really!!

Today I took Grace to the eye doctor and she needs new glasses.  Her farsightedness has actually improved a little, but her nearsightedness has gotten worse.  The doctor tells Grace he is writing her a prescription for new glasses.  She says "OK, but please don't give me blurry ones".  He sort of chuckled and said "No, I don't do that".  She replied "Yes, you did for my mama!!  I have looked through her glasses".  She was dead serious!!   Really!!

15 Second call

I  got a 30 second call from Grace today.   I answered the phone and heard "Hi, mama.  I am having lots and lots of fun.  I love you a lot.  Bye" Clunk..,she hung up.  I don't know if she thought she had gotten the answering machine or what.  Needless to say, I guess her fear of me "getting stolen" while she is at camp has past.   So all of your prayers are working!! 

Off To Camp!!

Grace left this morning for church camp!!  She will only be gone for three nights and I know she will have a great time.  She loves her Sunday school teacher and she knows a lot of the kids going.  Plus her papa will be there but with the boys!!  This is a rather large camp with about 600 kids there this week.  I think the age range is about 9 to 12 years old.  Our church is actually taking 150 kids.  Some of the kids go to our church and some of the kids are part of an at risk program in our community that our church sponsors.   So many kids from that program don't know how to swim, have never been to a camp or even out of our town for that matter.  What a wonderful experience for them!!

Please pray for Grace!!  She really, really wanted to go to camp but we could tell she was starting to worry last night.  Some old fears started creeping in.  When we prayed before bed she added a P.S. and said "please God don't let mama get stolen while I am gone".  She then made me promise that I would lock doors, shut the shutters, etc.,  Then this morning we loaded the car and she ran back in the house.  She came out about 5 minutes later and said "I am sorry but I had to write mama a letter".  Right before she got on the bus, she hugged me and said "this feels like I am leaving for Ukraine"  "No!! No!! No!! Sweet girl of mine, you will never have to leave for Ukraine again!!!"
 "will you miss me, mama?"  "Yes!!, Yes!! Yes!!  I will miss my daughter and her papa!!!"

It became official.., one year ago today

 

One year ago today, a judge and jury of two said "yes" to Alona Grace becoming our daughter.

What a change in one year!!  She has grown 3 1/2 inches,  speaks English really well and is becoming more secure in the fact that we love her and aren't going to reject/abandon her (which we thought was a given from day one).  

Then

Now

hat

Unforgettable day

May 26, 2011, I will never forget the day!!  It was the day we had been waiting for and dreaming about for so long.  The sight of our daughter barreling around the side of the orphanage yelling "mama, papa"!!  She literally jumped into our arms.

 This was not the only unforgettable moment of the day.  The real surprise came when we started dealing with the director.  One year later and I still find it hard to put into words.  Well, I actually did put our experience into words many times as I was writing this post but then decided to delete it.  The whole experience was just so wrong. 

Thank God that our daughter never has to walk through these gates again. 

One Year Ago Today!!

One year ago today we were at the SDA looking at the file and signing the paperwork to adopt our daughter.  After 15 months of waiting for this moment, we couldn't believe how fast and simple it was.  I think our entire appointment was only 20 minutes long.  We waited longer for our driver to pick us up from the apartment.   Fast forward one year and I am now trying to find 20 minutes without interruptions to write this blog.  I think Grace must say "mama" every five minutes..., but I wouldn't have it any other way.

One year ago yesterday

One year ago yesterday we received our SDA appointment.   Our dossier had been submitted on March 30th and almost a month had passed without an appointment.    We couldn't help but be a little nervous because the SDA was changing ministries and there were rumors of them shutting down temporarily.   Our facilitator kept telling us not to worry; but she had submitted another family's dossier on the same day as ours and they had received their SDA appointment 10 days later.   I knew God was in control of this situation and His timing would be perfect.., but I still checked my e-mails every 30 minutes.

Finally, early on the morning of April 27, 2011 we GOT IT!!   I literally had to stop the car when I got the call.  I started crying and shaking.  It is one of those "I will always remember where I was moments".   

P.S.  Not that my opinion matters, but I hate this new blogger layout.