So much fun around here!

But first to start with the not so fun news. On Christmas night my father had to go to the hospital. It was determined that he had pneumonia and kidney stones. He is finally on his way home as I type this entry! Unfortunately my sister Glennda was admitted to the hospital this morning with a kidney infection. The doctors have put her on antibiotics and are keeping her overnight. She should get to come home if her blood work comes back ok and she can keep her fever down. Several years ago, while in elementary school, my youngest sister Dyan has surgery on her kidneys. Let’s just say I have increased my water intake dramatically to hopefully keep from joining in on the family kidney drama!

We have so many great memories from this year’s Christmas. I have found myself choked up a number of times with how thankful I am for this past year and that Blake was with us to celebrate Christmas. I am also so thankful for how wonderful Brady and Madison are as a big brother and sister! Here are just a few pictures that show some of our excitement!

Madison and I on Christmas Eve

My handsome boys on Christmas Eve!

Blake with Santa’s milk and cookies.

Christmas morning. Our tradition is that the kids open their stocking gifts. Then we eat breakfast, read the Christmas story, and then take communion as a family. After that they get to open their ‘big’ gifts.

This picture cracks me up. The kids have always loved to do what the adults are doing. That includes things like putting on deodorant. So you can imagine the fun they have with their very own deodorant.

They each loved giving gifts to each other!

Blake was grateful for every single gift he received, but he really enjoyed his new truck.

Madison can now practice her tumbling moves in the basement.

Brady was elated to get a brand new bed. He was actually excited to go to sleep that night!

I hope to upload more photos soon. Until then I will leave you with this…

From a family member’s Christmas letter…. I have really taken this to heart!
“On our tombstones it isn’t really important the date on either end, but the dash in the middle and what we did with it – how will people remember us? Will they remember me for the towels I folded so neatly or the stains I worked so hard to get out of clothes, or how many times I ran the dishwasher? Probably not. So my only New Year’s Resolution is to really live life to the fullest and prioritize what is truly important – to seek God first and to share his everlasting love with the world around and then to create memories with my husband and children that will live on.”

Christmas and birthday party are getting near!

People ask me almost daily “So, what does Blake think about Christmas?” Well…. He has reacted the same as he has in about every situation since he has been home. He goes with the flow. He is excited, but no more than he is on any other day. He joins in singing Christmas carols like he actually knows the words. He hovers around the advent calendar each morning waiting to see if it is his turn to open it.

When Brady and Maddie were much younger, Justin and I were not… shall we say ‘active’ Christians. So Christmas was solely about gift giving and getting together with family. Now that we have matured in our faith the focus has shifted more to the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, helping others in need, being tremendously grateful for family, and of course still gift giving. Blake understands that birthdays are a time for celebrating and so he is very excited for Jesus’ birthday aka Christmas.

I remember at one point in the adoption process last year, my mom suggesting that by this Christmas we would have our new family member celebrating with us. I thought she was being very optimistic and I was full of doubt. Boy oh boy am I glad she was right. We are so excited to have Blake home for this Christmas!

Here are a few pictures to share….

First visit with Santa. Don’t you love Blake’s hair sticking up in this picture! And look how grown up Miss Madison seems!

Here are Blake and Madison at Blake’s Christmas party. Brady ended up getting sick right before it was time to head out so he and Justin stayed home.

Here are our Salvation Army bell ringers. It was reported to me that Blake was the best bell ringer ever. He would go up to people and smile, hold out his hand with a candy cane in it and ask “Candy Cane?”. As soon as he got the people’s attention, he would then say “Money”. I guess everyone that it was so cute or felt guilted into giving. One person even had to go back into the store to get change so he could donate. When the person came around to collect the kettle, he graciously let Blake keep his jingle bells as a token of his first experience!

December 8th - Such a blessing to our family.

This is the day we met Blake for the first time! On one hand it seems as though it was just yesterday that we were in the cozy Vlad Inn meeting new adopting parents and making the trek to Artem, and on the other hand it seems like Blake has been a part of our family forever.

When we woke up yesterday morning we had snow on the ground for the first time this year. Seeing the snow covered ground and bare trees really helped bring back a flood of memories from a year ago. I remember the eerie feeling of landing in Vlad for the first time and wondering what on earth we had gotten ourselves into. I remember the lighting, workers, smells, and food of the Vlad Inn. I remember sitting with the Martin and Pitman family for hours talking about what to expect through the adoption process. I remember our December 8th appointment with the MOE that we almost didn’t get to because our papers hadn’t arrived from Moscow on time – then at the very last minute they showed up. I remember seeing Blake for the first time and being so drawn by his smile and outgoing personality and so taken aback by his orphanage haircut, smell, and green tights.

We cannot say enough how incredibly blessed we are to have Blake home with us!

Keeping the blog up to date is nearly impossible these days. Here are a few pictures to share with you. Ohhh and on Sunday night Justin got all of his crops harvest. I am so thankful to have him back at home in the evenings and on the weekends. We have missed him tons!

Here is our mail one windy day before Thanksgiving. Brady and Madison went out to get it for us and the wind knocked it out of their hands. They went running all around the yard trying to gather it up. They were so aplogetic we couldn't be mad at them.


This was the first time in 10 years that we were home on actual Thanksgiving Day. We had about 28 people in our house and loved every minute of it – even Justin’s burnt turkey and the scramble to get another one prepared in time!



We did get our Christmas tree put up. The ornaments that Blake decorated his sweatshirt with are from one of the sets we brought back from Russia with us.





This past Saturday Madison had her Christmas concert and Brady had a swim meet. Here are some pictures of Madison and Blake from that morning.

November 21st - a day to remember!

One year ago today was when we received Blake’s referral and our lives were forever changed. Click here to see the posts from this time last year. Here are a few of the lines from the post made about November 21st…

From Children's Hope: Heather, you are going to think I am nuts, but I wanted to get a hold of you before the weekend. I know this sounds crazy, but we have a three year old boy that just came available in Vladivostock (Vlad)…

I could not get home fast enough to see that picture! I used the time in the car to pray. Is this God testing us to see if we can do things according to His will? He knows I am a fanatic about planning and schedules. Is He trying to make me realize that not everything is according to my plan? When I got home Justin gave me a huge hug and I lost it. All of the emotion of the past day and a half was exhausting…

We have decided that we will call Children’s Hope on Monday and let them know that we would like to travel to meet this little boy. We are so nervous and scared, but we are excited all at the same time.

This is the picture we saw that day…



And this is Blake now…

November 14th...

It is coming up on the one year mark of some major events for our family. One year ago today our papers were mailed from St. Louis to Moscow. Here is what I wrote on the blog that day…

Off they go!

So we got this email today!

Dear Justin and Heather,
I have reviewed your Registration documents and everything is OK. Thank you so much. I am sending your documents to Moscow today, Friday, November 14. They will arrive in a couple of days. Once you are assigned a region by the Moscow office, I will contact you to let you know where that is. Then you will need to start working on Region specific documents. I will guide you through that process when the time comes. Congratulations on completing the next step in the process and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bischoff

My heart raced just reading it. I mean, I knew they were supposed to go out today, but to get the confirmation made me all nervous and excited!
----------------------
Justin and I both remember breathing a huge sigh of relief that we finally got to this stage of the process. We also both thought we had a few weeks to relax until we were assigned a region and then we would begin more paperwork. Little did we know God had other plans in mind….

It's been awhile!

So much to catch up on and so little time…

The birthday craziness was tons of fun. Blake began speech therapy at Western Illinois University two weeks ago. He seems to really enjoy it and is making great progress already. Our school district had a major case of the flu running wild through it the past couple of weeks. Somehow all of us missed the bug this time around. I thought I would just share some pictures that will show you what we have been up to.

October 22nd was Blake’s Harvest Night at his preschool. Madison decided I needed to dress as a hippie to complement her Groovy Girl costume. Brady wanted to be an Illini Super Fan and Blake is the most adorable monkey we have ever seen.


Our niece and nephew – Trevor (Darth Vader) and Alexis (Lil’ Devil) joined us.


Brady has begun swimming on the YMCA Dolphin swim team. He is very excited. It amazes me how much of a workout the kids go through. I am not that excited that there is a meet almost every Saturday for the next couple of months, but we’ll survive. Of course I had never even seen a swim meet in my life so we have a lot to learn!




This past weekend was so exciting for us! Ryan, Sandy, and Bodi True came to visit from Colorado. We met them while we were in Russia in April and really connected with them. It meant the world to us that they would take time to fly to the Midwest just to see us. We are blessed to have them in our lives. Here is Blake and Bodi.


We carved pumpkins on Sunday after church. My sister Glennda joined us along with Alexis and Trevor. Bodi missed the action though cause he was napping. Blake seemed to enjoy it at first and then lost interest part way through. He did get a kick out of seeing them glowing at night though!





Sandy was a big help to Madison, and Madison loved having Sandy’s attention!


Brady chose a very complicated design and welcomed help from Ryan.

Here is Bodi with his look-alike jack-o-latern.


Bodi would have let Madison haul him around on her tractor for hours (never mind that she is still in her dress and tights from church!)


Blake wanted in on the action too so they came up with this arrangement!


We took a walk out by our pond. Here are Bodi and Sandy.



Maddie and her daddy!


Brady really enjoyed taking everyone for a ride on the ‘bumblebee’!


On Monday, Justin took the True’s out on the farm!



What a great way to spend the weekend!


Hopefully it won’t be so long before my next entry. This weekend we will go trick-or-treating. I am sure Blake will love it! We have been praying for Justin and all of the farmers. This harvest continues to be very trying. Patience is wearing thin and spirits are low. We are hoping things begin to look up soon!