Happy Birthday America!

This July 4th was extra special.  One reason is because our family has grown by two children that have now been American citizens for 8 weeks.  My appreciation for being an American has really grown in the last five years, so I was extra thankful to know that Lena and Will now have this privilege.  While I know our country has some serious issues, I have also had the experience of being in countries like Haiti and Moldova and have become more aware of the plight of other countries.  I am thankful that our three youngest children now live in a country where they have access to good health care, education, and Biblical teaching and living!  As I have learned to think more "globally" I have learned to be more thankful for my blessings.

My thanks goes out to so many who suffered and died for our country in years past and for those still serving.  Also, thanks to the families who have sacrificed and continue to do so.

While Will certainly doesn't understand all it means about being an American, he certainly enjoyed saying "Happy Birthday America"  about a thousand times.  He and Lena certainly know what the American Flag looks like now and they let everyone else know too!  They loved celebrating the 4th at the lake.  Will even loved the fireworks but Lena wanted no part in them!  We all missed our Beth though!  She is in Haiti for six weeks.  Two down and four to go.

Thanks for everyone who continues to pray for us.  It is really a miracle at how well they are adjusting and while the days are hard, we could be dealing with many more serious issues.  They are bonding, attaching, eating well, and sleeping well.

Lena and Will on their first kayak ride

Lena and Hope putting sunscreen on Caroline Colee and of course Will is telling them the right way to do it!

Hope learning to ski

Will learning to ski

Daddy with his little girls.

Lena

Will enjoying time with Pearson Colee

Will, Lena, and Hope wearing Mickey and Minnie (Will loves Mickey)

Will with big brother

Chris and Caroline Colee

Lena was just up for grass skiing

Hope made a new friend!

Another Day on the Lake!

June 14, 2014

Lena

Hope contemplating

Lena strolling her baby

Lena checking on Hope

Will jumping off hi dive by himself!

Hope jumping off hi dive with Dow

Just a sweet pic

Hope's 7th B'day!

It is hard to believe Hope is seven years old and headed to First Grade at Eastwood in August!  As all children do, she started looking forward to her birthday six months ago and she loved every minute of her special day.   Thanks to everyone who called, gave her a gift, a card or a birthday hug!  A big thanks to Paige Morrow who made lion cupcakes after I waited to the last minute and to Vicki Parma who helped with the kids so I could run birthday errands Friday morning.

Hope loves steak and on her birthday, she got a big one!

One of her favorite gifts - thank you Nicole Pinkham

Will got a little something special

So did Lena

Hope really didn't want to eat her lion cupcakes because she loved them so much!

Lena, Hope and Will

Trying to blow out the candles but the giggles were getting in the way!

Update and Special People!

As I mentioned earlier, we discovered that Will has holes in both eardrums, so off he and I went to Children's on Wednesday.  We saw Dr. Audie Woolley, pediatric ENT and had a hearing test on Will.  He has mild to moderated hearing impairment in both ears - bad enough for a hearing aid if he had no further intervention.  Of course, we will try the surgery route to patch the holes but you can only do one at a time and there is a time period of 6 mod. in between surgeries.  His first surgery is scheduled for Sept. 8.  He can't swim for 6 weeks after surgery so we wanted to wait until after summer.  He also has a heart murmur so we have to get that checked out this summer before surgery as well - poor fella!  But he just takes it all in stride.  I think he sees everything as an adventure!

Two people have been such blessings in our lives and God brought both people into our lives in a unique way.  The first is Dora Stan who is from Romania.  She and her family have been in the US for a number of years and is fluent in both English and Romanian.  I was at Ann Amster's house one day and Rebekah Tankersley comes over and we started talking about the Will and Lena.  The conversation turned to language and Rebekah began to tell me about Dora.  We had lunch last summer (2013) and when we finally got the children home, Dora came over.  She and Will communicate beautifully and can even talk by phone.  I call Dora and ask her to explain something to Will on the phone and she gets him to tell her back so she knows he understands.  For example, Dora explained to Will how church would be the day before his first Sunday.  She has helped us soooo much!  She has also helped the children understand why we don't want them doing certain things and Will has been able to share some of his feelings and fears with her that we otherwise wouldn't have know about.  Thank you Dora for all your help and your sweet spirit.

Dora with Lena, Will and Hope

The second person is Pat Amerson.  We had looked for someone to help for quite sometime, because we expected the children home so much earlier.  We had not had any success.  While Hope and I were in Moldova, Jeanne Tuley spent a day with us.  She was in Moldova on a mission trip with her church.
She told me about a lady that had worked with Jay and Scarlet (her son and family) for years and was looking for another family.  Little did I know that Andy was talking to Jay about Pat while I was in Moldova.  Mrs. Pat started working part-time before Will and Lena came home and now she is working full time.  She loves the children and has been very patient with them!

Mrs. Pat with Lena and Will

Lena blowing bubbles

Will blowing lots of bubbles

Lena on her first zoo train ride

Will and Hope

Trying to pet the goats

First trip to the Montgomery Zoo for Will and Lena

Lena's Sunday School Debut!

Lena did great in SS today!  This was her very first time in a structured classroom setting.  She was very serious but interacted appropriately and even created her first Sunday School art work.  A big thanks to Mary Ruth Wolf and the other teachers in her class.  Will, on the other hand, had a melt down when I took him to his and Hope's class.  As a result, he ended up sitting on the floor with me in Lena's class.  Will is having a hard time separating from me other than with family.  This is an issue we prefer to deal with rather than the opposite, so in a strange way we are thankful for it.

One Day/Five Families!

This past Wednesday was shaping up to be a challenging day.  Andy and Beth would be out town and Dow had a full day of work, and Pat Amerson (who helps me every week day) had to leave at 1:00.  On top of that, I had a very important important at 10:00 am (had to have my hair cut and colored!).  What looked to be a very difficult day ended up being full of blessings.  I had five different families help out in different ways.  Christy Colee came to the house during the all important hair appt. to help Pat; my neighbor, Hope Mardre, came after Pat left to play with Will and Hope while I napped with Lena.  Hope even brought a friend and her son who she had already made plans to visit with.  Then Hope went to Davis and Sara Denney's house to play and eat dinner.  Brad and Kelley Phelps brought dinner and Ann and Mary Evelyn Amster came to help give baths and get the kids in bed.

I went to bed feeling very blessed and loved by my Heavenly Father by providing through His children who also love me!  Thanks to everyone who helped that day!

First Lake Experience!

We spent the night at the lake last Sunday night.  Now we have a twin mattress for Hope and a queen mattress for Lena and Will in our bedroom at the lake.  The same room that was built to be our private retreat!  They did well at night and loved everything about the lake (minus Lena and the wave runner).  It is just a challenge keeping up with them!!!

A Little Reality!

So far, I have published cute pictures of the kids with us having fun and enjoying doing new things with them.  And we have done a lot of that.  There have been a lot of great times but there have been some  "ugly and low" times too.  I don't want to sugar coat our past three weeks because it has been hard and exhausting!

Will has a hearing impairment so he talks really loudly and A LOT!!!!!  Can I say it gets a little annoying at times - do you get the picture?  Every English word is said over and over and over and LOUDLY, did I mention LOUDLY!  He also loves to tattletale especially on Lena and boss her!  He is quite the pouter and attention seeker/demander.

Add Lena to the pot!  She is like a two year old in and 3 and 1/2 yr. old large body (she weighs more than Will or Hope).  We've had to child proof our entire house and she still takes one on one looking after.  She can get into anything!!!!!  She is strong willed and can be gone in a second.  She knows no boundaries.

Will and Lena do not know how to play or pretend and they have no interest in tv or computer ( iPad apps for a little while sometimes).  Mostly they like activity and lots of it!!!!!!

Throw Hope in there who is used to do being center of attention for five years and is  very sensitive.  She is now having to share toys, take turns at home and share Mother and Daddy, Dow and Beth and not eat in bed or drink her milk cuddled up on the couch.  She too likes to tattletale and gets her feelings hurt very easily.

Adjusting is hard but so far it is all normal stuff that we expected for the most part.  But it takes lots of patience - in fact supernatural patience and love that comes from the Holy Spirit to get through the day. He is supplying and a lot of friends are praying for us daily.

I just don't want to mislead anyone and let them think this is all fun and games, because it is not!  However, there is a Peace being provided by the Holy Spirit that we are right in the center of His will.  As I have been reminded so many times, it is the best place to be but often the hardest and most challenging place to be.  Why?  Because He wants us to be dependent on Him!  Had I rather be lying on a beach in beautiful resort or eating at a cafe in Paris or sailing on a cruise than caring for my new extended family?  No, I am content!  Did that contentment just happen?  No, God has been preparing me for this journey.  Why do I want to be in the center of His will?  He bought me with the greatest price of all, He redeemed me, He adopted me, He will never forsake me, He is the great promise keeper. All glory and honor to Him.

 Also, He has provided so many people to walk this journey with us.  In fact, Sunday morning I was home alone with Lena and she was being such a "stinker!"  I cried out to the Lord and said I need a break (notice I didn't nicely and humbly ask).  Shortly after I got a text from Andy that said the Colee family wanted to take the kids swimming that afternoon.  Thank you Lord and the Colees!

Gotcha Day, May 6 - by Andy

May 6th is "Gotcha Day" for Will and Lena. This was the day our family had been awaiting for a long time - the day that Will and Lena would leave behind their lives in eastern Europe and become part of our family. Excitement was high that day a few weeks ago in Chisinau, Moldova, as we were driving to Will's orphanage. When we are almost there, our agent, Albina, calls and asks if we have clothes for the kids. We had packed clothes for Will and Lena but they were back at our apartment - all the way across town. Albina explained that the kids could take nothing from the orphanage - not even the underwear they were wearing. We turned around and went back to get new clothes. About an hour later we get to the orphanage.

Will said his goodbyes to friends and caregivers - including Ana, who had cared for him since he was seven days old. Then, he stripped off his old clothes and put on new. Leaving his home for the past six and a half years, Will Birchfield walked out of the orphanage with new clothes and a new name!

We then load up and drive to Lena's orphanage where we go through the same steps. She takes off layers and layers of old clothes, puts on new outfit, and walks out of the orphanage as part of our family. To me it was a striking, living picture of what Christ has done for us. He has replaced our filthy rags with robes of His righteousness and adopted us into His forever family. In Christ, we are now and forever children of the King of kings!

Will getting changed

Lena getting changed