These are the hands I'm holding......

These little hands already have me wrapped! This little lady's personality is coming out and she is such a curious little booger!! She is going to have so much fun with her brothers and sister! My heart is jumping inside my chest!

Our First Visit

Baby House #5 is where we went for our visit with baby A! We both immediately recognized the outside of the orphanage from THIS video!!!! We had watched this series of videos prior to leaving and never imagined it would be the same house!

After about 2 hours of meetings with the MOE and the orphanage director we were taken into the meeting room. I was expecting them to bring A into us but she was already sitting down waiting on us! She was all dressed up in her very best dress of black velvet and red taffeta. Her dark hair was pulled up and tied with a HUGE bow.......it covered her little head, it was so sweet. She came over to us to say hello and she twirled so we could see her beautiful dress. She brought tears to our eyes, it was precious!

We learned earlier in the day that our sweet girl has only been an orphan for about 9 months but during that time she had been passed between homes. She has been through a lot during her short life and she is such a brave girl. We were warned that she was very shy and she didn't bond well with anyone. I sat on the couch while Curt was talking and began to pray for God to prepare her heart for us, that she would not be afraid. We were prepared for tears, prepared for the worst, but that never came! She grinned, babbled, held our hands, sat in our laps and I even got a hug when we said good-bye.

I am anxious to watch her transform from this fragile, shy child to a confident girl who runs, plays, laughs and twirls like a princess. It will happen and I am just so thankful that I get to be part of it all.

We see her again this afternoon, I am already anxious for her!

Krasnoyarsk Day 1

The past 3 days have been a blur, in fact, I think we actually lost a day somewhere. It is Monday morning here in Siberia. We arrived at the Krasnoyarsk airport at 8:00 yesterday morning. From there we went to our apartment and laid down for a nap......that nap turned into almost 10 hours of sleep. We woke up, got showers (so happy to smell normal again), and then headed out to buy a few groceries and eat dinner. We had a difficult time trying to find a place to exchange our money for rubles. Of course no one speaks English, but we knew that would be the case. We ate dinner at California Pizza.......we didn't know what to order but the cook nodded and gave us a simple pepperoni pizza! It was pretty good and it was super cheap! We got a whole pizza and 2 drinks for less than $10! We walked around the city a bit and then came back to the apartment to rest some more. We are trying very hard not to look like tourists, but I am not sure it's working!

We soon realized that it was church time in S.C., so we called using facetime on our phones....IT WORKED! We were able to chat with our church peeps and they were able to hook the phone up to the speakers during service. Curt did morning announcements from Russia!!!! We also were able to watch most of the service.

We just skyped with the kiddos, they were very excited. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see toothless grins!!! We miss everyone and are looking forward to seeing you all soon. We will travel to see our little girl in just a few hours.....I cannot explain the feelings I have. I have been praying all morning for her heart, that God would go ahead and calm her down and prepare her for our arrival. Please continue praying for all of us! God is getting ready to completely rock our world. We are never going to be the same after this experience. The lyrics "break my heart for what breaks YOURS" are screaming in my head. Break us Lord, break me!!!!

We made it!

We arrived in Krasnoyarsk at 7:00 am on Sunday, which is 7:00 pm on Saturday evening back in South Carolina. We had a CRAZY trip over, which I do not care to repeat!!!! We began the journey with a delay out of Charlotte which made us land late in NYC. We had some friends meet us there to take us to lunch. We had to rush, so we weren't able to see very many sights other than some parts of Queens. It was just really nice to see Dan and Daneal and talk about church and God and life as church planters. On the way back to JFK, their poor car broke down, so we had to catch a cab and leave them on the side of the road. They did make it home eventually! We got checked in at JFK, I had a SPLITTING headache, so I was miserable. We boarded the plane and then the bottom fell out. We sat on the plane for 2 hours waiting for the storm to pass over. The flight over was alright, very smooth. We were very thankful when we landed in Moscow. We were 2 hours late, but the man that met us there was very nice and helped to get us checked in for our final flight. We had a long layover so we explored the Moscow airport as much as we could. We grabbed some lunch at "The Hippopotamus". Watched MTV Russian style......that was interesting by the way. Who knew that the Jane Fonda workout attire was so popular???

The Kras flight was the best yet. We were seated in threes, so a young guy named Nikita sat beside us. He swore that we understood Russian and so we did our best to speak with him. A young girl behind us named Anna translated for us. We learned that Nikita had been on a cruise ship playing volleyball with his team. One of his team members sat behind us and we called him "big hands". Nikita had just gotten married to a "very beautiful" girl.....he could actually say that in english. We laughed the whole time, he was very funny and he sure did love his vodka!

Curt and I laid down for a nap at 8:30 and Curt is still asleep at 6:16 pm!!!! I hope he sleeps tonight. Tomorrow, our journey continues as we meet with the MOE (ministry of education) and then visit the orphanage. We cannot post pictures online of her "face" online anywhere! Now, I am going to try to get Curt up so we can go make some pictures and get some COFFEE!!!!!

3 days.....

3, THREE, TRES.....however you say it, that is how many days we have left before we FLY to Russia!!! I am experiencing mixed emotions. For starters, I am afraid to fly!!! I have flown over the ocean before, no biggie, but I was 17 not 30!!!! I am also stressing about leaving my children for so long. I know they will be in great hands and those great hands will have even greater back up hands, but still I am anxious for them!!! I am nervous about meeting our daughter! Will she like us? Will she smile? Will she let me hug and kiss her?

Curt and I had the opportunity to meet with THIS couple for dinner last night. We had a BLAST, they were so much fun! They will be arriving in Russia the day after we leave the country for their 2nd trip. They had so much helpful information for us. They showed us pictures of the important people we will be meeting and informed us of customs within the country. I feel more relaxed after talking with them. I am hoping deep down that our girls are in the same orphanage and maybe know each other. That would be quite an amazing story to tell!

We are still raising money. The 2nd trip is looming in the future and the $$$ are HUGE! Here is a list of costs coming our way. We have pretty much exhausted all of our resources. I am trying to sell a cello outfit!!!!!

1. Plane tickets $3,000

2. Hotel fees $3,000

3. Medicals in Russia $1,600

4. Foreign Fees $7,000

Any amount you can donate will help!!!!

Chickfila Fundraiser

So many things to be thankful for today! Thankful for the AIR CONDITIONER.....I cannot imagine working out in the heat like my husband does all day! I am thankful for my wonderful mother who helps me out so much with my kids. If it weren't for her, I would never get all of this adoption stuff completed! I am also thankful for awesome friends who show up without being asked to help us set up for our event! I am thankful for friends across the state who are donating toward our adoption, got $200 in the mail today!!!!

Our Chickfila fundraiser was a success! We had a great turn out for all 3 hours! We won't know until next week what we actually raised, but whatever the outcome, I know God is all over it! Another praise for today.......LRBC, the church I grew up in, had bible school this week. All the money brought for offering was donated to our adoption and also my cousins adoption. We were given over $200 tonight!!!!! God is just continually blessing our efforts. Why do we worry, He is in complete control!

Bluegrass Extravaganza = HUGE SUCCESS!!!

Saturday was a very long and tiring day for not only us, but our friends and families as well. The morning began with Krispy Kreme doughnut sales in Abbeville and CF. These yummy boxes of friend dough were donated by our dear friend Rena Rhodes! Total sales were somewhere around $650!!! WHOOHOO!!!

Immediately following the sales, Curt, myself, Brandi, Addam, Thomas, Teddi, Emmi & Mar Mar loaded tables and chairs and then set up the Livery stable for the BIG event!! The plate sales were to begin at 5:30, but at 4:45 we had a couple come in the Livery and hand us a $100, they didn't even say a word. We kept saying thank you, but they smiled and walked down the road. What a blessing! The Livery was packed, at times there was standing room only! We ran out of food and had to turn people away! Our total for the day was somewhere around $3,500!!!! We are so thankful for all the amazing people in our lives who made this event such a huge success. Carrie, Nanny and Mom made delicious cakes. Brandi, April, Austin, Addam and Brittaney all served the food. The bands were amazing! My dad helped us clean up!!! God places people in your life for a purpose and I am so thankful to have each of these people in my life!!!! It was a great day, a blessed day!!! We are closer than ever to bringing our sweet baby home!

My friends Heather who helped pull the pork the night before the event, she is pretty fantastic!

Ricky ran the sound......he always makes me laugh!

Diamond Hill Bluegrass Boys, my father in law in yellow!

Thomas Richardson Quartet, so much talent!

My Bro and Sis in law.....love them!

Brandi and Brittaney, two of the sweetest girls ever!