A Day Well Spent!

She sees a cat and claps

Getting tickled!

Loving on Andy

Andy loving on Hope

Today was such a good day. Hope woke up in a good mood and wanting Andy. I fed her breakfast while he held her. We are just amazed at how much healthier and “alive” she looks in such a short time. Albina and Aurelia (our favorite translator) picked us up around 11:00 a.m. Our first item on the agenda was to find a potty. Hope has not had a BM since we got her and Aurelia and Albina thought it would help to get a potty. They said that in Moldova and especially in the orphanage that as soon as a child can sit up, they are placed on a potty at appropriate times. They do this because diapers are expensive. They said she probably didn’t want to use her diaper. After finally finding a potty (went to three places), we had no success! In fact, she cried and seemed to be scared of it. During our “potty” expedition, we visited a supermarket. Hope was so excited pointing and “talking” about everything. She even got excited about seeing detergent.

We ate lunch at a really neat place outside the city. It is new but built like an old fortress. It was designed by a German architect. We were the only patrons at the time, so we got excellent service. It was made of wood and natural stone. Hope enjoyed soup, chicken, bread and strawberries. She never seems to get full. The waiters were dressed in traditional Moldovan costumes. While, the restaurant is new and the bathrooms were very nice, the toilet was a hole in the floor. Beth opened the door to the stall and turned right around and headed back out. Then Aurelia explained to her that she needed to “squat” over it.

Then we rode out to a village close to town. Some of the homes had been abandoned by people who had found work in countries like Romania or Russia. Some new homes looked nice. Aurelia said these were owned by rich people. They heat mostly with coal and have no AC. Most of the homes had a small plot of land for growing vegetables, strawberries, and grapes.

After a few more stops, we headed back to the apt. I scraped the meat of an apple and fed it to Hope per Albina’s instructions. We still have had no success with the BM. I thought I brought a remedy for anything. I even brought Pedia-pops, an antibiotic, and “gas” medicine, but I didn’t bring anything for constipation!!!

Beth played with her on the floor and Hope started giggling and laughing and loving all over her.

She was hugging her and climbing on her. She also hugged on Andy earlier today and slobbered on his cheeks. She just grins when she hugs them. I haven’t experienced this yet, but I know my time is coming. She did come to me this evening and I held her while we took an evening walk. We put little tennis shoes on her today that she loved. When we put her pj’s on she screamed when we took her shoes off. We had to let her go to sleep in them. Beth got her to sleep tonight. She and Beth are so precious together. While Hope will eat anything, she hates the new experience of getting her teeth brushed nor did she like getting a bath.

On another positive note, she gets so excited when she sees cats and dogs. She clapped several times today when spotting one of them. She has also made a lot of sweet baby talk today. Beth and I really think she said “bubble” today as well.

Tomorrow we have a few loose ends to tie up including picking up her visa at 3:00. We hope all you have a wonderful Monday celebrating Memorial Day.

A Wonderful Day!

Finally, she lets me hold her!

Sweet big sis and little sis

Laughing at Beth

Getting her hooked on TV already

Hope is beginning to show a little personality!

On Friday when we picked her up, she looked so weak and unhealthy. In the back of my mind I was thinking have the doctors missed some diagnosis such as leukemia. We were very concerned about her. Then changing her clothes and diaper, we realized just how small she was! She went to bed on a pallet around 9:00 and slept until 9:30 Saturday morning. She wasn’t scared when she woke up which was surprising. By the way, the orphanage director was so grateful for all the donations, so thanks to all of you for helping us fill three really large duffle bags with items. We also helped the orphanage by buying carrots, potatoes, and other items. Again, thanks to those of you who sent cash donations. Vegetables are very hard to get this time of year, so they are more expensive.

We were on our own Saturday - no driver or translator. We walked to a restaurant and market. Hope would only let Andy carry her. On the way, we passed an event in the park that was like a local talent show. There were also lots of children an balloons. Hope loved this. She is very curious and aware. We tried to keep a hat on her, but the wind kept blowing it off. She liked this and loved wearing the hat. We completely blew her orphanage schedule our first day with her. We returned to the apt. about 3:30 which is the time she usually wakes up from her nap. She went to sleep immediately and we woke her up around 5:30. As a result, she was awake until midnight! This is why I didn’t update the blog last night - I spent three hours trying to get her to sleep. She finally let me and Beth play with her and hold her after her nap. She really attached to Beth and Beth got her hooked on the Cosby Show.

She came such a long way just in one day. We are so amazed. We are headed to a village outside the city this morning, and as usual, I am running behind. I will try to update tonight. Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday. We miss you Sunday School class!

We Have Hope!

HOPE'S FIRST TIME IN A RESTAURANT

Hope riding in the car after we left the orphanage.

ANDY TAKING HOPE OUT OF THE ORPHANAGE

Much of the day was spent getting Hope’s temporary visa, so she will be allowed into Romania to get a permanent visa. What we were told would take no less than five days will now be done in two. We are scheduled to pick her visa up on Monday at 3:00! Andy and Albina tackled this challenge and Andy having an American passport made all the difference. The embassy official was much more cooperative toward Andy than toward Albina. Once again, we are humbly grateful to be Americans! Our embassy appt. has been moved to Tuesday instead of Thursday - YEA! This means we should be home Wednesday night.

Finally, around 4:30, we picked Hope up from the orphanage. We took her around to several employees to say goodbye. One of her caregivers cried which was so touching to us. Our favorite caregiver was not there which was disappointing. When we took her to say goodbye to the doctor, she grabbed Andy and hung on tight. She did great on the car ride to the apt. She sat very still in Andy’s lap with her hands folded taking in all the sights and sounds. While she was very curious, she was not overwhelmed by sensory overload. She was just very calm.

At the apt., I quickly changed her into some what more fashionable clothing, and we headed to Andy’s Pizza for her first restaurant experience. Of course, we didn’t feed her pizza. Instead, she had a bit of soup and bread. She also had her first taste of Goldfish. She seemed to be a little shocked at first, but loved them.

On our walk home, we saw several cats. This evoked more excitement from her than we have seen. She was pointing and making sounds. We were so glad to see this. We tucked her in on a pallet on the floor, and she went to sleep with no problem.

For all of you who are wondering if I ever got to hold Hope today, let me just say yes but very little! She is attached to Andy and just tolerates me. I was prepared for this, so I am handling it fine. I do look forward to getting a little attention soon.

Thank you for all of your prayers. I was up at 4:30 a.m. with butterflies about the day. I am glad to report that I experienced Phil 4:6-7 as the day went on.

Beth Meets Hope!

Kat, Ally and Beth

Beth meets Hope for the first time.

First, let me explain the top two pictures. On Tuesday, Beth had two friends over, Katherine Rowell and Ally Sanders. They had the great idea of painting their arms and legs. I am not sure who initiated this idea, but the name Beth does come to mind. We got some great pictures and stained clothes out of this idea. Our white Bichon, Molly, came away with purple and pink ears. I was told it was an accident, but I have my suspicions.

Now, I get you up to date on our second trip to Moldova. We arrived in Atlanta with six very large bags to be checked along with three carry ons. We were not able to print our boarding passes from the kiosk, so we proceeded to a line (with all of our luggage!) in order to talk with a Delta agent. However, we were told we needed to be in another line (the kiosk assistance line), so here went again. However, the agent who told us about the different line, came over and pulled us out of this long after just a few minutes. We think she felt very sorry for us! She took such good care of us, and we were on our way feeling much lighter having checked all our large baggage.

When we got to our gate, our name was called out, and we had been bumped to first class!!! The flight had been overbooked. What a blessing. Beth did a great job during the journey even during the eight hour lay over in Frankfurt. When we arrived in Chisinau, another plane de-boarded, so the airport was packed and the customs line was long. Customs was passing people through quickly, so we had no problems.

Despite requesting Albina have two vehicles at the airport for all our luggage, she arrives in one small compact Toyota along with Marina (more about her later). I was thinking no way are we going to get all our luggage along with five people in that car, but we did. It was not a comfortable ride being in the back seat with two large suitcases and three people on the road filled with pot holes to Chisinau, but we survived. On our way to the orphanage, Albina handed Hope’s passport to Andy! She had gotten it today. We didn’t ask any questions about “how,” we were just so glad to have it!

We arrived at the orphanage late. Hope’s group had just gotten in bed. We think the caregiver woke Hope up for us (we were not quite clear on this), because she really cried when we took her. While we didn’t like to hear her cry, it was good to know she could protest about something. It was reassuring just to see this emotion. We took her outside, and she began to notice Beth. Beth was the only one who got a little smile from her. She liked being outside, especially watching and listening to two dogs close by, but she seemed very tired. After our visit, we were able to kiss her good night and put her to bed. Tomorrow, we will get her “for keep.”

God Had Done It Again!

Our son, Dow, in India

"Street children"

God is amazing! Albina made it to Bucharest to submit our parerwork by the skin of her teeth! Her purse had been stolen the week before along with her passport and visa. Due to diligence and perseverance by our adoption worker, Albina picked up her passport and visa just prior to boarding the train on Tuesday. All went well at the US Embassy in Bucharest. Albina received Hope’s new birth certificate today and an important letter from the embassy in Bucharest. She will begin the process of applying for Hope’s temporary visa and passport on Friday. This is the real praise. The expedited passport that would take two weeks will now just take one week! Therefore, we will be able to leave on Wednesday, May 20th. We should be able to take Hope from the orphanage on Friday and into our family. Our visit/interview at the US embassy in Bucharest will probably be on Thursday, May 28th. This will put us back home on Friday in time for Andy to watch Dow’s first tennis match in the State Qualifying tennis tournament! God is good and in control!

I want to remind everyone that the Orphanage Shower was canceled. We appreciate all the items that you have given to us for the orphanage. We have three very large duffle bags full of items! Thank you all for your continued prayer support. Hopefully, our next update will be when Hope is with us!

God bless!

P.S. The pics above are of our son, Dow, on a mission trip to India in Feb. 09.

Adoption Update!

Hope with caregiver

On May 7th, Hope officially became part of the Birchfield family! Once the judge signed the order, there was a 20 day waiting period for any family member to come forward and agree to adopt her. We can travel to Moldova to take custody of her now, but we can’t take her out of the country.

I will try to explain the situation. While Moldova has a US Embassy, no one there has the authority to issue a permanent or immigrant visa. Therefore, we will take her to the US Embassy in Bucharest, Romania during our second trip where they do have the authority. In the past, this process has gone smoothly. However, since we are the first family to adopt from Moldova under new guidelines, the process has become very complicated. Political tension between Moldova and Romania is not helping either. If you will recall, the Moldovan President ousted the Romanian ambassador following the riots of the April election. Now, Romania is requiring that Albina present documents in person on our behalf even before they will give us an appt. for Hope’s visa application. Albina will travel to Bucharest (8 -9 hour) drive on Wednesday, May 13. Her appt. is at 1:00 pm. That is 5:00 am Alabama time, so if you happen to be up, please pray. If things go well, she will apply for Hope’s passport on Thursday. It supposedly takes two weeks to get an expedited passport.

Getting Hope’s passport is just one of the many, many details that need to be worked out in order for us to travel on May 20th. Just looking at the situation, it seems impossible. However, we know that with God all things are possible! We are really pushing for this date, because we are sooo ready to be united with Hope and if the trip is delayed, Dow will not be able to travel with us. Dow has a very important tennis tournament scheduled to begin on May 29th. It breaks my heart to think about leaving him again and also that he would not have us with him at this tournament. Please pray that all of these details just fall into place and that Hope’s passport can be expedited within 3 - 5 days instead of two weeks. Ultimately, however, please pray that we will just trust God’s timing in all of this and remember that He is in control and sovereign.

Pics above: Hope with two of her care givers.

Orphanage Shower!

Outside of Hope's orphanage

Hope's bed

What a precious child!

The judge in Chisinau signed the order and dated it 4/17/09 instead of 4/21/09 which places us four days closer to getting Hope home!!! We hope to return around May 21st for our second trip. Our heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who prayed for us and continues to pray. We also appreciate that so many of you offered to give us a regular shower for Hope. However, after seeing the orphanage, we felt led to request items for the children. Thanks to some sweet friends, we came up with the idea of an “ORPHANAGE SHOWER.” We are very excited about this, and you will find a list of items below if you would like to participate. We will be taking these items with us when we return. Shipping these items directly to the orphanage is not recommended due to some corrupt customs officers.

The “ORPHANAGE SHOWER” will be held at First Baptist Church, Montgomery on Sunday, May 17th at 4:00 pm. More details will follow regarding the exact location within the church.

ITEMS REQUESTED

Towels and washcloths

Basic school supplies

Desitin or Retinol (Adams Drugs)

Small plastic stacking or developmental toys

Soft durable children’s clothes sizes 6 mos. to 6 years (somewhat plain)

White flat crib sheets

Boys and girls underwear

Boys and girls socks

Blankets for small beds

Boys and girls shoes

Toothbrushes and toothpaste

Hair brushes, bows, barrettes

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Last Day!

Communist era apt. building - everywhere in Chisinau

Christian school choir

Cristina Hope's friends

With some very sweet caregivers

Priceless!

I mentioned earlier this week that we visited a Christian school sponsored by the Baptist and/or Pentecostal church (still not quite clear). This organization also provides a home for many of the children at the school. The home is just outside Chisinau and is set up in about 10 homes. House parents in each home take care of about 10 children. We also visited there. It is a very good environment for the children. Many of the children were removed from the street and placed with this organization. It is a light shining brightly in what can be a very hopeless place.

As we were touring one home, I spotted a beautiful painting of an older Modovan woman in one of the bedrooms. This really got my attention, because I love art. We were told that one of the boys at the home was the artist. He is 16 yrs. old. I surprised even myself (and especially Andy) when I blurted out if we could buy it! We were allowed to and it has already become a treasured piece to me.

Back to the school. We attended an Easter celebration service there this morning and we were so blessed. The children had worked long and hard in preparation for this and it showed (see pic above). The vice president of the school translated for us. She explained that many of the children whose parents were unbelievers were present for the program. The school provides a very good education along with extracurricular activities such as music. We spent a lot of time with the vice president, Doru. She said the center (school and children’s home) was under constant attack by the “authorities,” because they accused them of putting things in the minds of the children that weren’t very good! This is heavy burden on the center’s administration. We plan to bring back basic school supplies to them on our return trip. They were so grateful for this.

Then it was time to see Hope. She felt better this morning and enjoyed some more cheese and juice. Yes, we really must do something about her wardrobe!!! I can’t wait to put some cute clothes on her and some that actually fit. You will see her with her caregivers in one of the pics. They are so kind and it seemed to mean so much to them just to have their picture made. The children in the picture are in Hope’s group.

We left around noon and returned to the apt. However, on the way we were only with our driver who speaks some English. We stopped along the way. Andy and I both understood that we were stopping to get a sandwich. You can imagine our disappointment when we discovered that we were at the apt. manager’s office to pay for our apt. It was not that we were not planning to pay, but we were hungry! We are not sure how we both missed the translation!

We had our last visit with Hope this afternoon. We enjoyed our time outside. It was very warm, but you can’t tell it by the way they insisted on bundling Hope up! We actually could have been in shorts, but most everyone we saw today had on sweaters and/or coats. At the hearing, I wore sandals. After the hearing we were standing outside along with some of the women from the court room. They were all so concerned about my feet being cold. They told me I needed some warm winter shoes! Hope will have to get acclimated to wearing less clothes in the south. Hope was very partial to Andy today. It is such a joy to see them together. Andy has another little girl who has him wrapped around her finger! Yes, Beth, you are the other one! By the way, congratulations to TPS for defeating MA in boy’s tennis! We both handled saying goodbye to Hope very well. We do hope the time is no longer than 30 days. We plan to return when the kids get out of school around May 19th.

Afterwards, we did a little more souvenir shopping and then headed back to the apt. We are getting packed up and ready for the long trip back home. On our return trip, we leave at 8:00 am Saturday and travel to Frankfurt. From Frankfurt, we fly to Cincinnati then to Atlanta where we will drive home. We hope to be at church Sunday morning.

I included the picture of an apt. building (ours did not look like this, fortunately). There are dozens and dozens of these sad, forlorn buildings all over Chisinau. They are left over from the Communist era. They are all in major disrepair, but this is where most residents live. They are just so sad to me. There is some newly constructed apartments, but these are too expensive for the average citizen to afford. Being in Chisnau is like going back in time about 40 to 50 years ago. It is strange. Most everything is old but not in a good way as in “antique old.” There are some nice areas downtown. On our second trip, we plan to travel to a village and experience the rural life of Modovans. I am anxious to see this.

Once again, I can not adequately express our thanks to all of you who have taken this journey with us. We appreciate all of your prayers and emails so much. You all mean the world to us!

Hearing Day!

She loves juice - wish we had a sippy cup

Looking over a petal

Cristina Hope with nurse

Hope did not feel very well this morning. We think she may be teething. She didn’t smile very much. I can’t tell you how much I just wanted to rock her to sleep and hold her! Of course, I couldn’t do this, because of the orphanage schedule. The care givers have all been so gracious and kind to us as it is. Every time we get Hope out of her room and return her, the other children begin to cry and try to come with us. It takes awhile to settle them down. I keep telling myself that they all have parents who love them and will be re-united with them soon. I truly hope this is the case.

They are all so precious!

Let me clarify something. We were previously told that the government and officials would be on spring break from April 16 -27. We were also told that all the parties involved with the hearing were willing to come in just for it. However, we learned just last night that the spring break is only for the schools and universities. We were glad to hear this, but it just goes to show how difficult communication is between two languages and a translator. Moldova celebrates Easter this weekend with Monday being a holiday. This is the most important holiday in Moldova. They attend church late Saturday night/early Sunday and bring special cakes/breads to be blessed. Then they gather with families for a special meal in which the blessed cakes/breads are eaten.

This afternoon we were picked up from our apt. about 1:20 for the hearing that we thought was scheduled for 2:00 pm. We traveled to pick up the translator, Aurelia (she is our favorite). We waited and waited. Then we got a call from Albina to come and meet her and that Aurelia had been detained at work. By this time, it is really close to 2 pm. Andy is getting worried and mentions the time to our driver, Yon (he speaks English fairly well). Yon then informed us the hearing was changed to 2:30. Ok, so we leave to meet Albina. We switch cars and now Albina is driving which is very scary! We faced four challenges: 1) we are running late, 2) Albina is not the best driver, 3) traffic in Chisinau is very chaotic (Andy says it is very mild compared to India) and Albina has to get gas for crying out loud!!! After getting gas, she points out that we have seven minutes before the hearing so not to worry. I really haven’t figured out the traffic patterns in Chisinau. There are no lines marking the lanes and I rarely can tell if a street is one way or not. Albina would pass a long line of cars parked at a light and get in front of them and the whole time she would be saying sorry, sorry. Obviously, I was a little rattled by the time we reached the hearing. Aurelia walked in just as it started! I immediately felt comforted by her presence.

Most adoption hearings in Moldova last about 30 minutes; ours lasted two hours! We really liked the judge. She was personable and very thorough and deeply cares about the children in Chisinau. Andy, of course, spoke for our family. He did an excellent job. The Holy Spirit was at work within him guiding him in his words and mannerisms. On the other hand, I couldn’t even remember how old Dow was when asked by the judge. I am usually very calm about situations, but I was a nervous wreck at the hearing. The hearing was fairly orderly, but much different from hearings in the US. For example, when one party was giving a report, the other parties were talking and Albina’s cell phone kept ringing. Also, the clerk took notes by hand. At the end of the hearing, the judge indicated that she would make her ruling on Tuesday when all of the written reports were due. While she did not say for sure, she implied that the ruling would be in our favor. She had very kind things to say about us at the end of the hearing.

So many times on this trip, I have asked myself what in the world are we doing in a tiny country in eastern Europe working so hard to bring a little girl to the US? Also, out of all the orphans in the world, why Hope? I am sweetly and gently reminded that God has specifically (and I do mean specifically!) guided us here and to her. This reminds me of God’s awesome love for each one of us. Hope is part of God’s plan for us and we are part of His plan for Hope. He is weaving our lives together in a beautiful way.

We appreciate all of your prayers and emails more than you will ever know! When we returned from the court hearing, I began reading the recent messages, and I just became overwhelmed by your love and excitement. Please know that each email/message is treasured. I am saving them for Hope to read one day when the time is right.

I have to say one more thing about Andy. His strength is truly amazing. While my emotions have been up and down, he has remained steadfast and focused. He has not wavered despite the challenges and recognizes the hand of God in every step of this process.

We have to say goodbye to Hope tomorrow. This is going to be difficult, but at the same time I can’t wait to see Dow and Beth. Leaving here will be bitter sweet. There will be a 30 - 45 day waiting period from Tuesday of next week until we can make our next trip to bring Hope home!

By the way, the top left picture of Hope was taken with the nurse at the orphanage. I included this picture, because Hope gives this little look often and it just melts our hearts!

We love you all!

A Sunny Day in Chisinau!!!

Playground at orphanage

Cristina Hope loves to be outside

Not sure what to do with a ball - she will learn!

Sad playground equipment

Where to begin? Well, first I have to say praise the Lord for sunshine! We had a full day of it and along with a good night rest made Chisinau more appealing. Yesterday was a very hard day both physically and emotionally.

For some strange reason I can publish the blog and at least get some emails , but I can’t send any. This is really hard for an email junkie like myself. I feel so cut off from the rest of the world. Okay, enough about me. I know you want to hear more about Hope.

We visited with her again this morning but not until almost 11:00. Since they awake at 6 am, she was sleepy and a little lethargic. However, she perked right up when we brought out the sweet cheese and juice. Moldova has excellent juice in all kinds of flavors. We have to make her take a break from drinking. There was a new child in her group today who cried the entire time of our visit. This seemed to unsettle Hope a little.

We met the orphanage director today. We had been warned that she was very gruff and matter of fact person. I had this picture in my mind of this really large Russian lady who would speak very sharply with us. I was pleasantly surprised. She was kind and not “scary” at all. We have been told that she has done a lot for the orphanage since she has been there. We were told she was pleasant to us because she had been sick and did not feel well. By the way Dow, she thought you were very handsome in your picture and Beth, she loved your hair. In fact, when we show Beth’s picture to people, they always ask if it is natural! We asked the director what we could bring on our next trip and she said Desitin ointment! I can think of a few other things as well. In the visitors bathroom, there were strips of newspaper for toilet paper!

After lunch, we went to the “art square” where we bought some souviniers. Then we went back to the orphanage. There was a mother visiting the new child in the small room where we visit Hope. We were told that a number of the children have parents, but the parents just aren’t able to support them. We think this mom was visiting the new child who had been crying. It is really heart breaking. Hope’s group was going outside, so we tagged along. The children seem to always wear at least two layers of clothing inside. To go outside, they were dressed in coats and hats. Going outside with the children was an eye opening experience. You can see their playground in the pictures - not much to look at! Other than the “playground equipment,” there is nothing else. We brought a few toys for Hope and shared with the others outside. You would have thought it was Christmas! They loved them. Even an older group of children enjoyed playing with them. Toys will definitely be on our list to bring back on the second trip. They have very few toys in their room as well. There are no developmental toys. Hope really came to life more outside. We were so glad to see this. However, she kept coming back to me or Andy!!!

Our last stop for the day was dinner to discuss the court hearing. Albina has worked so hard for this adoption. There are some extenuating circumstances that have brought some challenges, but Albina thinks everything will work out well. Albina is still working on getting all of the extended family (to the 4th generation!) to sign off on the adoption. We will have our best and favorite translator at the hearing which is a blessing. The hearing is at 2:00 pm which will be 6:00 am your time. We would appreciate all your prayers!

Meet Cristina Hope Birchfield

First let me say that I published yesterday’s update on this blog but under “First Trip,” so just click on those words at the top of the page.

We had a full day. We visited Hope twice. She is warming up to us little by little. We brought her something that is called sweet cheese. This puts a smile on her face. She loves it. She also loves juice and drinks straight out of a regular cup. We also met with the doctor at the orphanage. She was extremely nice, but we really didn’t learn anything new about Hope. For lunch, we enjoyed pizza at Andy’s Pizzeria . We also traveled around the city with Albina delivering what we think are notices similar to a subpoena. We went with her just in case we needed to speak with any of the people who will be in court. The employees at the orphanage all seem to be nice and caring. The children seem to be taken care of as best as the resources will allow.

We had two other translators today. One was Natalia and the other was Boris, who is a Christian.

We also saw the Parliament Building and President’s house that had been vandalized. The translators have been very open about the corruption and political situation in Moldova. Chisinau is so gloomy and drab. There are many old apartment buildings built from the Communist era. It is all very depressing to me Parts of it look like a war zone. I am reminded even more of the blessings we enjoy. I am already home sick and can’t wait to see Dow and Beth. It would help if the sun would shine!

Our court date has been moved from Friday to Thursday. There are a few challenges that we will face, so we would appreciate everyone’s prayers.

Pushing On!

Our four will soon be five!

Wow, a lot has happened! As most of you know, Moldova had elections last Sunday and then the streets were full of 10,000 protesters Monday and Tuesday. Most of the protesters were students who feel strongly that the elections were fraudulent since the communist party won control of parliament again. This seemed to have calmed down by Thursday. We then learned that the government and officials take a spring break from April 16 - 27! At this point, we became concerned that we wouldn’t be able to make the first trip until April 25th.

However, with Andy, you should never count anything out of the question until the door is completely closed and nailed shut!!! As of Friday morning, I never expected to leave this weekend (which explains why I had done nothing to prepare)! We had a long conference call with our adoption worker (who by the way, is absolutely wonderful) in NC. She made lots of contact with Albina (the contract adoption worker in Moldova). Albina said she could get the judge and other officials needed to be available (remember their spring break) if we traveled. Andy was on the phone with US Immigration, a travel agent, and a contact in Romania. It wasn’t until around 3 pm (after the all important premier showing of the new Hannah Montana movie - which is very good) that everything began to come together for us to leave Sunday. I have to say a big thank you to some employees at Sterling Bank, We are required to take the adoption fee in new bills. Moldova is basically a cash only society, so we needed new bills for lodging, meals, etc. We had ordered new cash (which is quite a process) which was supposed to be in Thursday, but there was a delay. Those sweet employees worked so hard gathering up enough new bills for us so we could leave Sunday! Angela Cummins at Sterling told me that it was quite unusual to have that amount in new bills at any given time at the bank. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Angela said God’s hand was certainly in this aspect. Also, thanks to our travel agent who worked diligently to make travel arrangements for us. Thanks to all of you who are helping with Dow and Beth and our dogs. We are also thankful to our neighbor and accountant (Larry Capilouto) who brought our taxes to us Saturday night to sign. He is mailing them for us as well! He even had good news for us on our returns!

I also have to thank Jay (FBC pastor) for his Easter sermon and for using our Hope as an example to illustrate the HOPE we have in Christ. What a wonderful gift this was for our family. We look forward to showing the DVD of the sermon to Hope when she is older. She will be delighted to know that she shared Jesus with others even before she knew Him herself. Thanks also to our SS class who have joined in our excitement and for Tim Riley who prayed such a sweet prayer over us this morning.

I had a hard time leaving Dow and Beth. Please pray that they will stay safe and filled with the peace of the Holy Spirit this week. I was so sad to leave them but so excited about meeting Hope. Andy and I were talking about how we can’t wait to meet her, but she will be absolutely clueless about who we are and why we are there. We are really hoping that she likes us!

Just one last funny thing. I am on the plane right now. It is 6:10 pm CST. I am being entertained by this fella who has not stopped eating and drinking since we took off. He has gone through I don’t know how many bags of peanuts, dinner, snacks, and drinks. He is keeping the airline attendants very busy. I am not kidding, I don’t think he has stopped chewing except to ask for something else to eat or drink!

More Info!

We have learned a little more about Hope recently. She now weighs a whopping 15.4 pounds! The doctor at the International Adoption Clinic reviewed her medical info. and says that all her measurements for her size are in within normal range. According to her birth weight, she was born prematurely. We are hoping that the combination of low birth weight and living in an orphanage is the reason for her small body size. She will also more than likely have some developmental delays due to being in an orphanage. We will just work through all of this. The doctor at IAC also believes she is about the size of an average one year old. We have been so encouraged by others that she will catch up quickly and that we will see a huge difference in her appearance (hair, skin, weight, etc) within just a few months.

The contract employee that our adoption agency has in Moldova says she is very active and resourceful. She says Hope is very bright and knows how to get attention. It sounds to us that she is a normal almost 2 year old. Also, Hope has latched onto a little boy in her group and doesn’t like for any one else to give him attention. This could be trouble!

Last week, I spent hours working on one little glitch in our home study. It was really one sentence that was causing a problem. Actually, it took me, two adoption agencies, and one government agency to work out this issue (well, I hope it is worked out)!

This caused me to think back over this last year. We have spent countless hours praying, planning, completing forms, answering questions, making phone calls, sending emails, gathering information, and waiting expectantly. This reminded me of how God planned and created a place for me. He created a world where I would have beautiful things to enjoy such as a sunset, the green of spring, and DOGS! I love dogs! He also created a planet not too close to the sun and not too far away from it either so that earth would have just the right temperature. He created oxygen so I can take that next breath and a tiny seed that can produce life sustaining nourishment. It is humbling to think that God planned for me! Then He knit me in my mother’s womb to be different from everyone else. He gave me a certain personality, unique tendencies and my very own DNA and fingerprints. He planned for me! I am just in awe.

He didn’t stop there! He knew I would be sinful, so He provided me with a Savior. I am so thankful to be a child of God. He has blessed me to overflowing. I am His forever and joy and peace flow from the Spirit within me. He has proven faithful over and over again. We look forward to teaching Hope all about Jesus and how much He loves her.