I thought I’d let everyone know about some people who are doing amazing things to help orphans right now. You can easily help one or more of these families & make an eternal impact. Please share their stories with others and ask people to pray for them. Pray & see if God would lead you to partner with them in their efforts to further His Kingdom!

The Dell Family:
Ryan and Autumn are dopting Anya’s friend, Nastya from Russia. They are an answer to so many prayers over the past 3 years – many of you have been praying with us for Nastya to have a forever family & God has answered! $15 for one of these cute necklaces will help bring her home to her forever family. Check out their blog for more info!russian-doll-charm

You can also purchase some really cute memo boards that are hand painted by Kim Reed to support Nastya’s adoption. In December, Kim donated the proceeds from her memo boards to two couples adopting from The Congo and this month, she is selling them to help bring Nastya home. Check out the memo boards!
memo board

The Helf Family: Headed to Latvia for another mission trip in February to minister to orphans and single mothers in need. You can donate to help buy shoes for children or cloth diapers for babies. They will put every dollar to great use – meeting physical needs & building relationships with those who need Christ. While donating, you can enter to win a chance to win one of many neat gifts, including an i-pod touch! Enter to win on their blog.ipod-touch

The Legg Family: John and Karen feel God’s call to Ethiopia. John’s family has been friends with our family for many years and in memory of his father’s recent passing, we will be donating toward their adoption. God is moving on the hearts of so many to reach out to the fatherless. Partner with this family as they travel to Ethiopia to bring home their child!ethiopia-map1

The Davis Family: Rob and Laura are adopting from The Congo. Along the way, God has lead them to be involved in the life of Liza, a 16 year old girl from Latvia. You can help them minister by donating to their adoption! Read about their journey to The Congo and about their ministry to a precious girl from Latvia!Liza

The Long Family: Jono and Heather are also headed to The Congo. They have hosted many orphans in their home and were drawn to adopt from a country with great need for orphans to have families. Heather makes beautiful hairbows called Frica Blooms – my girls love them! Take a look at some beautiful hair accessories and learn more about their family and how you could help!frica blooms

The Suttles Family: Cara & Gary have adopted one child from Russia and are now adopting a little girl through Reece’s Rainbow. Reece’s Rainbow is an amazing organization that advocates for children with special needs who are in desperate need of a family. The Suttles have answered the call and are working to bring home Ella. Read more about their story and how you can help!Ella

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Well, we’ve been home just over 6 weeks now and things really couldn’t have gone better! That doesn’t mean we don’t have struggles some days, because we do. We struggle with all the “normal” family stuff as well as a host of other issues that arise when blending a family of children who haven’t grown up together and who face their own personal challenges because of language difficulties, effects from institutionalization, and past traumas. We have just taken things day-by-day and prayed that God will give us wisdom as we begin the life-long journey with our children. Our prayer is that they will follow Christ and allow him to work in their hearts to help them deal with life’s difficulties. We don’t know what the future holds for any of us, but we do know that Jeremiah 29:11 is truth and God has a plan for each of them. Please continue to pray for us – that we will have wisdom in helping the girls heal, forgive, and grow into godly women. God is so good and has blessed us with 6 little people who are truly treasures. We want to be good stewards in guiding them!

Major accomplishments so far: Rosetta Stone English is going great, all 5 girls want to be together all the time, the girls are really bonding with Mom and Dad, we’ve had great talks about adoption, our faith & what it means to be in a safe home, the girls are trying new foods & finding that they enjoy many of them, the girls are so happy in our home and have not second-guessed their decision to be adopted (which wouldn’t be uncommon for kids this age!), all 6 children are really getting along amazingly, & they have a very teachable spirit and have made a lot of progress in just the past few weeks.

Prayer requests: more spoken English (they are understanding most of what we say, but speech is a harder part), that their hearts will continue to soften, that we can work on reading/writing this summer to get ready for school, for Zhenya’s confidence – she needs to believe in herself and know how smart she is (much work in Math needs to be done & she needs some self-esteem in that area), that Kristina will continue to speak more & develop emotionally (she is doing great, but obviously has been very stunted in her emotional growth due to trauma), and wisdom for Mom & Dad in knowing how to handle each and every situation.

Some of the girls’ favorite things: swimming, playing any kind of sports game with Dad, playing cards or board games together, cooking with Mom, reading books out loud before bed, going to the grocery store, staying at the table after dinner to tell funny stories, any kind of celebration (they loved celebrating Dad’s birthday!), playing with dolls, family movie time, school work, and going new places. They have been so much fun!

A quick update in pictures – can’t help but brag on these gorgeous smiling faces! We have all had a blast these past few weeks and the girls are so very happy!

The girls enjoyed goofing off after our picnic!

The girls enjoyed goofing off after our picnic!

Kristina had a great time playing before the show!

Kristina had a great time playing before the show!

We brought cotton candy & Caleb ate his before the show even started!

We brought cotton candy & Caleb ate his before the show even started!

Dad teaching the girls to throw a frisby - they loved it!

Dad teaching the girls to throw a frisbee - they loved it!

Trying to get everyone to look at the camera was a challenge - they were all laughing at each other!

Trying to get everyone to look at the camera was a challenge - they were all laughing at each other! We had a great time at Stone Mountain... even if we had to sit through the rain during the laser show - we all got a little wet.

After such a hot day, the rain started moving in & really cooled us off!

After such a hot day, the rain started moving in & really cooled us off!

Katya, Kristina, Anya & Faith are always being silly!

Katya, Kristina, Anya & Faith are always being silly!

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Faith and Kristina love partnering to do anything & especially enjoyed picking strawberries together!

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Zhenya enjoyed eating strawberries while she picked!

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Katya probably ate the most strawberries that day and was so proud of the beautiful berries she picked!

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It was hot, but the kids had a great time!

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Before Belle's pool was open, we pulled out the slip-n-slide... great fun!

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All the kids would live in the pool if I let them - they are great swimmers!

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Zhenya has loved the pool the most, I think!

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Watching Zhenya's personality blossom has been a treat! She is so beautiful inside and out & really funny, too!

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Ever wondered what 6 kids in a minivan looks like? Never a dull moment, that's for sure - Zhenya's face pretty much sums up the craziness!

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Anya and Mom had the opportunity to be on a Savannah radio program to speak about older orphans and their need to find families. Anya did great! Check out www.p143.org

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We were blessed with a 1 night mini-vacation on Tybee Island - wonderful house! Check out www.tybeebeachhouse.com

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The Tybee Island Light House was a hike up 178 steps, but so much fun! Everyone enjoyed the view!

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The beach was a blast! It was a beautiful day and almost no one else on the beach. The kids loved it!

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Kristina was nervous at first, but really enjoyed the water!

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Zhenya, Katya, Kristina, Faith, Anya & Caleb

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This is my favorite picture of the crew! Aren't they adorable???!!!

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When we get home…

May 2, 2010

We know it’s going to take a while for our family to get into the swing of things and for all the kids to really jell. We are praying that God will work in the hearts of each family member to bring us all together. As with any blended family, we know there is potential [...]

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Touring Kyiv

May 1, 2010

We arrived in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon & checked into our first apartment. We didn’t have anything we needed to do until Monday. At that point, we had to go to the US Embassy to apply for visas and then take the girls to medical examinations in order to get the visas the following day. [...]

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Bitter-Sweet

May 1, 2010

While Jack was off on his paper chase with Sergei, the girls and I hung out together – they were no longer residents of the orphanage – they were really & truly ours (well, Jack’s… but what’s mine is his & what’s his is mine, right?). Jack and I went to the orphanage at 8am [...]

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Jack’s Paper Chase

April 29, 2010

Well, Stephanie asked me to write about The Paper Chase.  I don’t know that I can adequately explain such a process.
These events occurred between 8:30am and 6:00pm on Thursday, the 22nd. dum-dum-dum
The process started with going to the Orphange, getting the girls and signing a few documents to check the girls out of the Orphange.  [...]

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How 10 Days Became 15

April 28, 2010

In Ukraine there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period (in case someone comes forward to appeal the decision). For us, the 10th day fell on Friday, April 16th, so the court decree was not to be issued until Monday (the following business day). We had flights scheduled to leave the US on April 17th [...]

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Court Hearing, Volcano & Chest X-Ray

April 27, 2010

They have all been a part of the process over the past few weeks! We have learned a lot about trusting God and in His plan during this time & when everything seems out of control, we can trust that He is not shocked or surprised by events. Living out what we’ve always believed in [...]

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The Best for Last!

April 5, 2010

31 people crammed into a van on our way to eat pizza… FREE (courtesy of the orphanage)

Enough pizza, salad, chicken nuggets, french fries, jello, Coke, Fanta, Sprite and ICE CREAM to stuff all the kids… 1,000 greevna ($125)

The smile on Zhenya’s face the entire time as she hung out with her friends for an unforgettable [...]

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Happy Pasca!

April 4, 2010

We got up early this morning to go celebrate Pasca (Easter) with the kids at the orphanage. We knew the priest was coming at 8:30, so we were there a little after 8am to join the kids in the cafeteria. Each child had some Pasca Bread, a boiled egg and candy (in addition to the [...]

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