Paperwork Frenzy

Sorry I've been quiet for a few days. We got word yesterday that some of our paperwork hold-up may soon be over. It was exciting news and kicked us into gear to complete more paperwork. Our goal--all current paperwork complete by Tuesday, January 27. Please pray for us as we complete the official dossier that will go to Russia. We excitedly anticipate the day we will bring D and V home.

The Airport

The airport was today. Time to say goodbye to the 14 Russian Orphans who have been visiting Tulsa this week. Host dads fought tears. Host moms gave up the fight and let the tears flow. Young host children were extremely distraught over saying goodbye to their new friends. Lots of hugs and wishing we could say, "See you real soon."

Anton was himself, through and through. Mr. Personality was as charming as ever. All of the host families and adoptive parents walked the kids up to security, said our final goodbyes and watched as they went through security and headed to board the plane. All the way through the lines at security, Anton kept wilding waving with both hands, calling my name, Juuuuliiiiii, and blowing me kisses. We will miss him terribly. We pray for his forever family. For them to hear clearly from God. For them to know without any doubt that God will equip them to care for Anton's needs in incredible ways. We pray for Anton's safety, for him to seek God, for him to use his leadership skills in positive ways to honor God, for him to find his permanent home soon.

Geography Fair

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We appreciate so much the families that participated in the Geography Fair and Fundraiser for Dima & Vova last night. Thank you to Laura Barnes for coordinating and to Osage Skiatook Homeschool Association for bringing everyone together. Christy Rowden has blogged about the evening and put up some incredible pictures.

http://momof2girlygirlz.blogspot.com/

URGENT NEED

Why the urgency? The kids leave on Sunday. If someone has a tiny bit of interest and can meet the child while he is here they will save an entire trip to Russia. Once the kids leave on Sunday that opportunity is lost. This is an intense week of trying to find homes for these precious children and we're nearing the end. Please spread the word any way you can so that Sunday morning we know there is at least someone interested in each child. Here is the link to four of the children that would love to meet you onon Saturday. Without any interest, it is likely they will age out of the system very soon and be left with grim chances.
http://russianorphanlighthouseproject.blogspot.com/2009/01/still-waiting.html

So helpful!

Anton is always looking for ways to help around the house. Today he was carrying groceries and even looked for places to put them away when we got home. He loves to cook, also. Last night he was very specific with how to cook the Pelmini. Tonight he is excited to be peeling the potatoes and has asked several times if we are going to mash them. He must really like mashed potatoes. Wish I could show you his cute way of making a mixer sound over the pan of potatoes.

Krispy Kreme & Fish

Today started with an early morning at the dentist. Thank you to Dr. Mongrain and Mary for a great visit. We appreciate their generosity with lighthouse project. Then we joined the group for a Russian version of The Lion King at Circle Cinema. Now Nathan and Timothy realize what it is like for Anton to watch an English movie with them. They at least knew the story line of this one.

This afternoon Anton was quiet and a little mopey. It was a great day for a taste of home. We went to the EuroMart at 71st & Memorial. It was just what he needed. He picked a few of his favorites and a few things he wanted us to try and picked up a treat for the fund raiser on Saturday. Then Anton hosted a feast for us with Mackeral, pelmini, Norwegian cheese, cok, hot strawberry tea, and a type of sunflower seeds. It was quite delicious. He enjoyed the cooking and you could definitely tell it was not his first time in the kitchen. We also got some sardines for tomorrow. He was delighted and I was glad to see the spark back in his eye.

Then driving home we saw the red light. The Krispy Kreme Donuts were HOT!! We stopped and he was enthralled with the machine that makes the donuts. We probably spent half an hour watching the machine, even when it ran out of donuts. He was very intrigued with how it works. He liked the donuts, but I think he liked watching them made even more.

He ended the day playing wii with the Thomason's while we went to a meeting. Thank you very much for your ministry to Anton while we were gone. He had alot of fun and loved seeing the mustang.

A Thousand Words

We are having a blast with Anton. He is always smiling and cutting up. He keeps us laughing. Those big eyes and dimples make the best puppy dog face ever. He is adorable, charismatic and charming. Today we had free lunch donated by Chik-Fil-A. (Thank you very much for your support!) Anton was given a balloon. Next thing I knew he had come back with a balloon for each of us and knew exactly which color each of us needed. He is always opening the doors for me and checking to see if I need anything. He is very sweet.

He also loves to play and play hard he does. He really wanted a picture of himself today at the Putt and Jump (Thank you for the disount!) He wanted a picture of himself doing a flip. I tried hard and have about 30 pictures of our trials. I told him he was fast and I was slow.

All are in bed because we have a very early day tomorrow. Please pray that Anton finds a family by Saturday. I'm going to leave you with some pictures. Julie

Mission Trip Update

Mission Trip Update: Our route has been changed from west to east. We are now going through Moscow. Go figure. Who knew there was a path through Moscow to get to Cam bodia. The location of where we will minister may be changing, also. Please pray for clear openings and direction. An exciting change may be occuring that will take us into an area that has not been open before. We are all excited to take the step. Julie

Can you say mischevious?

Anton was convinced he did not need a bath tonight. Since he played soccer this afternoon and we have an early morning tomorrow, there was no choice about when he had to take his bath. Now. We had been rough housing and cutting up so he thought I was teasing about his needing a bath. He even tried to convince me that he would wash his hair, but not his body. Finally he got a stern "Anton" and the motherly look from me as I pointed to the bath tub. He understood and was very quick to get to the bathtub. And of course when he smiled that big dimpled smile I quickly forgot the brief moment of frustration.

Anton had been somewhat withdrawn today. Maybe he was tired. Maybe a little homesick. Maybe he has indigestion. Hard to tell. But tonight we found another outlet for his creativity and he was wound up and ready to go again. He even got a little mischevious. Ken and Kristi tried to find the Russian word for mischevious or ornery so we could ask him if that describes him. We couldn't find the word. Anyone know?

Highlights of the day: We worshipped together. Anton even sang some of the songs. David & Rhonda Graham brought their family over for lunch. My brother and his family came over for dinner and a wii showdown.

What a blessed day!

What a blessed day with our new Russian friend, Anton! He slept great after getting to bed late and this morning joined us about 10:45a. As I started breakfast he came to the kitchen to help with the eggs. He pointed to them and gave me the thumbs up sign. That is a great way to communicate. Thumbs up is good. Thumbs down is bad. It was helpful that he was comfortable enough to let me know what he liked. And, boy did he like them. He gave us a thumbs down for bananas but he has eaten three of them since then. Perhaps he knows you eat things that are good for you even if they are not your favorite.

While I finished cooking, Anton got an apple and was cutting it with a bread knife. I gave him a sharper, safer knife and went back to cooking. Timothy came to tell me that Anton was carving his apple. I thought that was a strange way for Timothy to describe cutting up an apple. But, then I realized he really meant that Anton was carving the apple. Anton carved a beautiful swan from the apple. Not your everyday skill around here for a 13 year old. Obviously he has talent. He's also been drawing with his new art supplies that my neices brought to the airport last night. Great gift, girls. Thank you.

At the airport Anton received a beautiful picture from our young friend Leisel and an elaborate sign written in Russian from her brother Jude. It was obvious they had put alot of work into these projects. Thank you, Leisel & Jude. Anton was somewhat overwhelmed last night with gifts, pictures, signs, etc. But today he enjoyed the picture and read the sign at length. He then proceeded to tell me all about the sign...... in Russian. There are some times when we just all stare at each other trying to digest what we just heard. Nothing digested this time. But it did lead me to learn Becky DeNooy's favorite phrase.

'I don't understand'= 'ya ni po nyeh my you'

Gestures become an integral part of communication between people that don't speak the same language. It's amazing to me how much humor can come through even when you shouldn't know what the other person is saying. We had one of those moments today when eating cherry tomatoes. Anton showed us the little tomato and said, 'angleski' which means American. Then he cupped his hands together to show a larger tomato size and said, 'ruski'. We all laughed. He had told us that American tomatoes are tiny and Russian tomatoes are large. Needless to say we had another laugh at the grocery store when we showed him all the sizes of 'American' tomatoes. We also had fun at the story going from one item to the next in the produce section, getting thumbs up or thumbs down. Anton can make some pitiful faces, especially when David is trying to convince him that grapefruit tastes great.

We spent a great afternoon with most of the Russian Orphan Lighthouse Project group at the Oral Roberts University Women's basketball game. At half time, the kids were center court waving to the cameras. They all had fun getting together. Two of them even tried to catch chickens in the pot. We enjoyed seeing all of the kids interacting with each other. You can really see their personalities shine through when there isn't the language gap. Thanks coach for a great afternoon.

I had left a roast cooking in the crockpot so the entire house smelled delicious when we returned home today. There is really no way to adequately describe Anton's reaction. I truly wish I had a video of him. He went to the crockpot, drew in a long breath with his eyes closed and he gently waved his hand in front of his nose as if he could wave in more of the aroma. Because I enjoyed his show so much, he kept repeating it until the roast was completely gone. He really is an adorable child.

One last moment to share. The clothes we had gathered for Anton are all too big. He is much much smaller than we anticipated. So today we went shopping and needed to get pajamas. Everything we found that fit him were much too childish for a 13 year old. So we found some small men's lounge pants with a drawstring. Needless to say, they needed 6 inches removed from the bottom. After dinner, Anton and I were sitting next to each other on the couch while he played video games with the guys and I hemmed his new pajama pants. When I finished, Anton leaned over and quietly said, 'thank you.' I looked up to see his big dimpled grin and shining eyes. It was obvious he meant it.

Sleep, Bananas, Duh, Hi

It's a slow morning at our house. Nathan and Timothy are finally up after a very late night, but Anton is still very asleep. Poor thing traveled 36 hours to step off the plane to a huge crowd that was very excited for the arrival. I can't imagine traveling across the world to stay alone with a family that speaks very little of my own language, eats different foods... I pray he will know from our smiles that he is loved, that we want to care for him and help him in any way we can while he is here.

Anyway, for those wanting to learn some Russian, I thought we would start with some very easy words.
yes= duh; banana= ba-nahn; hi=pree-vyet Simple enough? More words to come.

Glad to know some of the students from our communications class are following the blog. Have fun with your assignment.

Anton has arrived!

He's here. The plane was delayed with the weather in Chicago so we just arrived home at midnight. It was great to see so many people at the airport! Wow! Thanks for all the support of the kids. Anton has a smile that lights up his whole face. He is adorable. He knows how to say 'thank you' and 'My name is Anton.' in English. It was cute watching our young friend who wasn't too sure he wanted to say 'minya zavoot Jude' and then Anton broke in in English to tell him his name. We look forward to everyone getting to know him this week. Goodnight. Julie

24 more hours

In 24 hours the children will be here from Russia. I can hardly wait to meet them, to get to know each of their unique personalities, and see how God matches each of them with their forever family. Join us at the airport tomorrow night at 10:00 if you would like to share the excitement. Julie

Fundraiser - Geography Fair

Here is information on a fundraiser that Osage/Skiatook Christian Homeschool Association is hosting to raise money to help us get D and V home. We are very thankful for their efforts and everyone's generosity.


Homeschool Geography Fair
Hosted by Osage/Skiatook Christian Homeschoolers Association
Saturday, January 17, 4:00 - 7:00pm
Eastside Baptist Church, Collinsville
Open to all homeschoolers.
Cost is $15 per family
Each family will provide a display of their country, a sample of the food from that country, and copies of a passport page. (A website will be provided for printing the passport pages. Each child will collect their pages and then assemble their 'passport' at the end.)

To sign up and choose your unique country contact Laura Barnes, 396-3605 or 688-9570.

This Geography Fair is a fundraiser for D and V, two Russian orphans who are being adopted by David & Julie. Please come support the adoption, even if you don't have a presentation at the fair. ($5 fee at the door for those not presenting). There will also be baked goods and a concession stand with family-friendly prices to help raise funds. Thank you!

The kids are on their way!

Please forgive me for the parts I had to edit out of this information that was just sent to us from Becky, our project coordinator.

"For those of you wondering where they are and wanting to live vicariously, this is the trip plan: They left the capital of the ... region, ..., by overnight train at 6:20 p.m. local time Thursday, which translates to 9:20 a.m. CST. They will arrive in Moscow about 12 hours later (6:20 a.m. Friday local time, about 9:20 p.m. CST tonight), where they'll be picked up and brought to Moscow's Domodedevo Airport. They will depart Russia at 2:30 p.m. local time Friday, January 9, which will be 5:30 a.m. CST Friday. After a flight scheduled to be 11 hours, they will arrive in ... at 4:30 p.m. CST, and will clear customs and immigration before their 8:15 p.m. CST flight to Tulsa. They should arrive at 10:10 p.m. CST into Tulsa. This translates into 7:10 a.m. Saturday Moscow time, so they will have been traveling over 36 hours, not counting the trips from the orphanages to Cheboksary, some of which might be several hours away by white-knuckle car ride. "

They will be here tomorrow. We are so busy making our welcome sign in Russian, letting everyone know about events, trying to stay calm. It's so exciting to meet precious children who know little or no English yet just traveled 36 hours to possibly meet their forever families. Wow! Were you that brave when you were 8-14 years old. I don't think I was.

Russian Orphan Programs

Fourteen Russian Orphans will arrive in Tulsa tomorrow night for 8 days of 'camp' in America. They will be living with host families, learning English, sharing their traditions, and enjoying fun activiites in our area. Please join us at any of these events if you would like to meet them. I'll try to blog every day about our experiences with A while he is staying here.

BASKETBALL, LEGOS, AND GAMES
When: Monday, January 12; 10:00 - 11:30a
Where: Freedom Church, 96th St. North & 177th E. Ave Owasso (3 miles east of WalMart)What: We will be playing basketball, creating with legos, and playing other games. Come ready to have fun! For more information please contact Julie Duncan, (918) 381-1006,

VOLLEYBALL
When: Friday, January 16; 1:00-2:30p
Where: Skiatook Church of Christ, 1900 W. Rogers Blvd, Skiatook enter through the gymnasium door
What: Osage Skiatook Christian Homeschool Association is inviting all homeschool families to play volleyball with their physical education class. To get there from Owasso, take 76th, 86th or 116th St. West to Hwy 75, Go north on Hwy 75. Take Hwy 20 west thru Skiatook. The church is a brown building on the right. For more information please contact Julie Duncan, (918) 381-1006,

What: CULTURAL PROGRAM
When: Tuesday, January 13, 7:00pmWhere: The Church at Battle Creek, 3025 N Aspen Ave, Broken Arrow

For more information about the Russian Orphan Lighthouse Project, meeting these children or possibly adopting, please contact Becky DeNooy, (918)939-8325, visit www.lhproject.com, or follow Becky's blog at www.russianorphanlighthouseproject.blogspot.com Thank you!

Merry Christmas Video

Ran across this video today about waiting for your orphans to get home at Christmas. It says it all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8RW6aHXWQ&eurl=http://abbafund.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/third-day-adoption-video/&feature=player_embedded
OK, I can't figure out how to add in a video so here is the link.

Sacrifice?

Two months ago today, we agreed with God that we would adopt D and V. We knew that God was calling us to adopt. We had even filled out all of the paperwork to turn in for a domestic adoption. We were a little overwhelmed, though, to learn that the children God was placing in our care weren't from around here. We were even more overwhelmed when we heard that the cost for adopting a child from Russia is about $45,000. And He wants us to adopt 2! That is way more than we make in a year. It's more than we have even when we clear our savings, borrow everything that our retirement account will allow us to borrow and get a second mortgage on our house. Wait just a minute! We just eliminated all of our debt except for our house payment. Are we really willing to live under that kind of debt for these two children, one of whom we have never even met? Are we willing to make sacrifices to feed and clothe them? Are we willing to require our other two children to make sacrifices? Are they really sacrifices if we are doing what God has called us to do? We are talking about the God of the Universe, the one who loves us beyond any measure, the one who has our aboslute best constantly on His mind.

Many years ago a friend shared a story that I'm going to try to find. Sorry I don't know the source at this moment. I'll let you know when I find it. The part that stuck in my mind was talking about a diet to lose weight. We often think we are sacrificing when we give up the foods we like. In actuality, we are really sacrificing when we eat the unhealthy foods. We are sacrificing our weight, our immune system, our length of life, our ability to feel good. We are sacrificing what is best for us.

When I apply that to this situation, being disobedient to this call would be the real sacrifice. In being disobedient we would be sacrificing dependence on God rather than on ourselves. We would sacrifice our children learning to freely give what God has provided. We would sacrifice being part of what God is doing to care for His children. The real sacrifice of being disobedient would be the wedge that we would drive between us and our God. So are we willing to sacrifice? NO Are we willing to be obedient to God and do what it takes to get D & V home? Absolutely, YES. That's no sacrifice at all.

Happy Birthday V!!

We're having a birthday party and the guest of honor is missing. Today is V's 9th birthday and we really wish he was here with us as we celebrate. How do they celebrate birthdays in Russian orphanages? Hmmm. We are celebrating with cake and ice cream. 'Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear V. Happy Birthday to you.' You can just imagine the second verse that Nathan and Timothy are adding in , something about monkeys and zoos. Those lines might be lost in translation.