Thursday, December 27, 2012
Oh, My, what a terrible blogger I am. I knew it had been a long time since I last posted anything, but then I looked--almost 3 months! Yikes! Sadly, I don't have any amazing news to post or really much progress. But we are still here and we are still pressing on! Our court papers have arrived in our children's country and we are just waiting on the edge of our seats to receive our court date. We had been hoping for a January trip to have court, but with all the recent political "stuff" that has just exploded between our country and our children's birth country we don't really know what to expect. But we are choosing to trust in the one who holds our sweet children--and who holds our hearts in the midst of this turmoil. Please pray with us that the cry of the orphan will be heard and that hearts would be softened, and that the fatherless would find the love of a family.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Be a Part of the Puzzle!
We are now well into Fall here, in Northern Minnesota. The trees have dressed for the the occasion and are now beginning to shed their colors and get ready for a long winters sleep. A chill is in the air, and we may actually get our first flakes of snow later this week. The weather is changing, the seasons are changing. We feel a lot of change happening around us as well, as we move forward with our adoption of our two precious Babies.
These past two months have been difficult, to say the least. But we are still here, and we are still fighting to save these sweet little ones. I am so thankful that I am healing well from my surgery. It will have been five weeks ago tomorrow--how can time pass so quickly? I am feeling great and so thankful to be able to care for my family again. We are so thankful for sweet friends and family who stepped in to help with meals and with our children those first couple of weeks.
Valerie is loving her pre-school three mornings a week. Her highlight is riding the bus. She LOVES the bus. It is too cute. Freddie and I are deep into the adventure of 1st Grade homeschooling this year. Aside from the daily battle over handwriting exercises, it is going really well and we are both enjoying the activities, books and the time spent learning together.
Although Tim and I have traveled to meet our Babies, we still have a long road ahead of us to complete our adoption. Right now we are in the middle of gathering all the documents that we need to submit for court in EE, as well as finishing all the training requirements for our children's Birth Country. We are hoping to have this completed by the end of the month. Then we wait for a court date to be assigned. Honestly, I have no idea how long we will wait for a court date. We will pray and trust that God will provide the date in His perfect timing. Originally we were hoping to have our Babies home by Christmas. While this is still possible, it is looking less likely, as we see how slowly things have been moving in-country.
While we work on documents and wait for court and prepare for our Babies, we still have to work on raising funds for bringing our little ones home. For the last two months we have not seen our RR grant move or our chip-in grow. With travel and surgery I have not had time to do any fundraising at all. And then yesterday, a VERY generous gift from friends of ours to our chip-in. Thank you so very much! Your gift is such a blessing to us and such an encouragement--it not only helps provide much-needed funds for adoption expenses, but it lifts our spirits and helps us feel the support of our community, family and friends. Thank you for being such a blessing to our family!
I have watched several other families do a Puzzle Fundraiser, and I have loved the idea. I bought 2 puzzles a while ago and have been waiting for the right time to launch it. Well, this time seems as good as any to begin! This is how it works. Each puzzle piece is "sold" for $5. When you "purchase" a puzzle piece, we will write your name on the back. When we have sold all the pieces and put the puzzle together, one one side will be a beautiful picture, and on the other side will be even more beautiful--a mosaic of those who came along side us to be part of the puzzle of bringing our Babies home. We will frame the puzzles in a way that both sides will be visible, or perhaps we will photograph the Name Side and hang it next to the photo side of the completed puzzles.
The St. Basil's puzzle has 300 pieces, and the Noah's Ark puzzle has 500 pieces. That is 800 pieces! There are several ways that you can "buy" your puzzle piece. There is the chip-in at the top right of the blog; OR if you want to give a tax-deductible donation, you can do so through the Reece's Rainbow donation give button (with the photos of our babies), a little under the chip-in on the right side of the blog. OR you can just give the donation to me personally and tell me that you want to be part of the puzzle! Please, if you give on RR on chip-in, be sure to let me know, so that I can add your name!
Help us spread the word, and Please consider being Part of the Puzzle to bring our Babies Home!
These past two months have been difficult, to say the least. But we are still here, and we are still fighting to save these sweet little ones. I am so thankful that I am healing well from my surgery. It will have been five weeks ago tomorrow--how can time pass so quickly? I am feeling great and so thankful to be able to care for my family again. We are so thankful for sweet friends and family who stepped in to help with meals and with our children those first couple of weeks.
Valerie is loving her pre-school three mornings a week. Her highlight is riding the bus. She LOVES the bus. It is too cute. Freddie and I are deep into the adventure of 1st Grade homeschooling this year. Aside from the daily battle over handwriting exercises, it is going really well and we are both enjoying the activities, books and the time spent learning together.
Although Tim and I have traveled to meet our Babies, we still have a long road ahead of us to complete our adoption. Right now we are in the middle of gathering all the documents that we need to submit for court in EE, as well as finishing all the training requirements for our children's Birth Country. We are hoping to have this completed by the end of the month. Then we wait for a court date to be assigned. Honestly, I have no idea how long we will wait for a court date. We will pray and trust that God will provide the date in His perfect timing. Originally we were hoping to have our Babies home by Christmas. While this is still possible, it is looking less likely, as we see how slowly things have been moving in-country.
While we work on documents and wait for court and prepare for our Babies, we still have to work on raising funds for bringing our little ones home. For the last two months we have not seen our RR grant move or our chip-in grow. With travel and surgery I have not had time to do any fundraising at all. And then yesterday, a VERY generous gift from friends of ours to our chip-in. Thank you so very much! Your gift is such a blessing to us and such an encouragement--it not only helps provide much-needed funds for adoption expenses, but it lifts our spirits and helps us feel the support of our community, family and friends. Thank you for being such a blessing to our family!
I have watched several other families do a Puzzle Fundraiser, and I have loved the idea. I bought 2 puzzles a while ago and have been waiting for the right time to launch it. Well, this time seems as good as any to begin! This is how it works. Each puzzle piece is "sold" for $5. When you "purchase" a puzzle piece, we will write your name on the back. When we have sold all the pieces and put the puzzle together, one one side will be a beautiful picture, and on the other side will be even more beautiful--a mosaic of those who came along side us to be part of the puzzle of bringing our Babies home. We will frame the puzzles in a way that both sides will be visible, or perhaps we will photograph the Name Side and hang it next to the photo side of the completed puzzles.
The St. Basil's puzzle has 300 pieces, and the Noah's Ark puzzle has 500 pieces. That is 800 pieces! There are several ways that you can "buy" your puzzle piece. There is the chip-in at the top right of the blog; OR if you want to give a tax-deductible donation, you can do so through the Reece's Rainbow donation give button (with the photos of our babies), a little under the chip-in on the right side of the blog. OR you can just give the donation to me personally and tell me that you want to be part of the puzzle! Please, if you give on RR on chip-in, be sure to let me know, so that I can add your name!
Help us spread the word, and Please consider being Part of the Puzzle to bring our Babies Home!
 |
| First Puzzle to Complete: St. Basil's Cathedral 300 Pieces |
 |
| Second Puzzle to complete: Noah's Ark 500 Pieces |
Saturday, September 8, 2012
A Journey of Faith
This post is long overdue, I know. The last six or so weeks at our house has been nothing short of crazy. Between getting our travel dates just before our long-planned family trip to the East Coast to spend time with Tim's family, and drama with getting passports and visas squared away, to almost calling off the trip overseas and delaying it due to health concerns that ultimately resulted in me having major surgery last week....ya it's been a little crazy here.
It has been a very stretching time as we have felt overwhelmed and been tested to the limits of our emotions, our faith and of our physical abilities at times. But God has been with us all the way and continues to prove Himself faithful. And we press on in obedience to the one who calls us His own.
Sometimes when we are walking in obedience to Christ, the journey of our faith takes unexpected turns and we end up places where we never dreamed possible. Sometimes these turns bring unspeakable joy and beauty. Sometimes they bring anguish and pain. Sometimes the same twist in the journey brings both.
This is exactly where we find ourselves right now. As we have sought after God and followed His leading, He has been faithful and has brought is along to just where He wants us and has made His plan for our family clear to us. But so different from what we were expecting. This has been a time of grieving loss as well as counting blessings. And always clinging to our Savior as the One who orders our lives and has ordained all our days.
Let me share our first trip with you and the twists and turns of the Journey:
It was a really difficult trip and I am still reeling from the exhaustion—more emotional than physical. When we got to Russia and met with the MOE (Ministry of Education), Orphanage Director and the caregivers and nurses at the orphanage, they all urged us to not adopt Joshua. They told us that in the last few months he had developed some very troubling behaviors and they were very concerned that he would not be a good fit with our family. Last month he began taking an anti-psychotic medication. This was like a kick in the gut and we felt like everyone was “against” him.
Of course we got Joshua’s official referral and we had 5 visits with him. The first two visits were hard, as Joshua really did not want to be there. He was moving constantly, refused any physical contact, did not speak and lacked any show of emotion. He did enjoy the toys we brought. We figured that he was shy and scared and that he was feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated, we gave him space and grace and as much love and attention as he would accept. Visits 3 & 4 seemed to be going much better. Joshua would sit with us for a couple of seconds before moving on. He was allowing us to pick him up briefly to reach for toys on a shelf, and we taught him to “high-five” with us. He still was not showing much emotion, and we only saw a hint of a smile here and there. We figured that most of his “issues”were caused by lack of stimulation, boredom, lack of instruction in proper behavior.
Then visit 5 happened. At first things seemed to be OK as we were outside playing with his groupa, and then Joshua had a psychotic episode where he became very violent toward me. After spending hours with him and seeing no emotion, It was shocking to see his full out laughter as he tried to hurt me. Oksana (our adoption facilitator), who was with us and witnessed the whole thing, said I turned white. I could feel myself shaking. It was like he was a completely different child. The caregivers told us that this was reality for him. I felt our hopes and dreams for him shattering. He is very big for his age, and very strong. Our daughter is very small and more vulnerable with her having Ds.
It was a very quiet ride back to our hotel as we each went over what happened in our minds and knew we had to make a decision that evening as we had just one day left in the country. Devastated does not even begin to describe how I felt (and still feel). We wept and prayed, and we both knew that we would not be able to bring Joshua home, as it would be putting our other young children in serious danger. I am beyond sad. We were prepared to deal with Joshua’s medical issues, but the mental health needs are far more than we feel equipped to handle. We spoke with Oksana (our in country facilitator) and late that evening and told her our decision that we would not be able to accept Joshua’s referral. She was relieved to hear that and agreed to make arrangements for us to go to the MOE in the morning for a new referral.
It was hard to go back for another referral with our hearts breaking so much, but we knew that we still wanted to adopt, and that there are so many children with medical needs that desperately need families. This time, the choice of the referral was from the MOE, and the Director of the Orphanage gave approval of the child for adoption.
So, the Blessing in all this sadness is that we have accepted the referral for TWO little ones who are have the same medical needs as Joshua and who also desperately need to find a forever family. Baby Girl is 18 months old, and Baby Boy is 21 months old. We are still working on the names. Strangely enough, both babies look like my husband, Tim. I am still feeling incredible sadness and guilt—I will always love Joshua. But we know that we made the necessary decision for our family. And there are two sweet babies who will be orphans no more. Please keep us in our prayers as we grieve Joshua and rejoice in our Babies. And please joins us as we continue to pray for Joshua and for a family to step forward who will be equipped to meet all of his needs.
This journey has been tough, and we still have a long road ahead of us as we will be making two more trips to the country where our children are waiting. Our next step is to gather the papers that need to be submitted for court. And we continue to pray and let God heal our hearts, as he also heals my body from the surgery.
And we continue to put our trust in God's provision for the expenses that are still needed to complete this adoption. We will need about $20,000 more, in addition to what we have already raised and paid ourselves. The additional child fee is about $10,000, and each trip to the country will be about $5,000. If you feel led to help out with the financial aspect of our adoption, we would be so very thankful to have you fight with us for the lives of these precious orphans!
It has been a very stretching time as we have felt overwhelmed and been tested to the limits of our emotions, our faith and of our physical abilities at times. But God has been with us all the way and continues to prove Himself faithful. And we press on in obedience to the one who calls us His own.
Sometimes when we are walking in obedience to Christ, the journey of our faith takes unexpected turns and we end up places where we never dreamed possible. Sometimes these turns bring unspeakable joy and beauty. Sometimes they bring anguish and pain. Sometimes the same twist in the journey brings both.
This is exactly where we find ourselves right now. As we have sought after God and followed His leading, He has been faithful and has brought is along to just where He wants us and has made His plan for our family clear to us. But so different from what we were expecting. This has been a time of grieving loss as well as counting blessings. And always clinging to our Savior as the One who orders our lives and has ordained all our days.
Let me share our first trip with you and the twists and turns of the Journey:
It was a really difficult trip and I am still reeling from the exhaustion—more emotional than physical. When we got to Russia and met with the MOE (Ministry of Education), Orphanage Director and the caregivers and nurses at the orphanage, they all urged us to not adopt Joshua. They told us that in the last few months he had developed some very troubling behaviors and they were very concerned that he would not be a good fit with our family. Last month he began taking an anti-psychotic medication. This was like a kick in the gut and we felt like everyone was “against” him.
Of course we got Joshua’s official referral and we had 5 visits with him. The first two visits were hard, as Joshua really did not want to be there. He was moving constantly, refused any physical contact, did not speak and lacked any show of emotion. He did enjoy the toys we brought. We figured that he was shy and scared and that he was feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated, we gave him space and grace and as much love and attention as he would accept. Visits 3 & 4 seemed to be going much better. Joshua would sit with us for a couple of seconds before moving on. He was allowing us to pick him up briefly to reach for toys on a shelf, and we taught him to “high-five” with us. He still was not showing much emotion, and we only saw a hint of a smile here and there. We figured that most of his “issues”were caused by lack of stimulation, boredom, lack of instruction in proper behavior.
Then visit 5 happened. At first things seemed to be OK as we were outside playing with his groupa, and then Joshua had a psychotic episode where he became very violent toward me. After spending hours with him and seeing no emotion, It was shocking to see his full out laughter as he tried to hurt me. Oksana (our adoption facilitator), who was with us and witnessed the whole thing, said I turned white. I could feel myself shaking. It was like he was a completely different child. The caregivers told us that this was reality for him. I felt our hopes and dreams for him shattering. He is very big for his age, and very strong. Our daughter is very small and more vulnerable with her having Ds.
It was a very quiet ride back to our hotel as we each went over what happened in our minds and knew we had to make a decision that evening as we had just one day left in the country. Devastated does not even begin to describe how I felt (and still feel). We wept and prayed, and we both knew that we would not be able to bring Joshua home, as it would be putting our other young children in serious danger. I am beyond sad. We were prepared to deal with Joshua’s medical issues, but the mental health needs are far more than we feel equipped to handle. We spoke with Oksana (our in country facilitator) and late that evening and told her our decision that we would not be able to accept Joshua’s referral. She was relieved to hear that and agreed to make arrangements for us to go to the MOE in the morning for a new referral.
It was hard to go back for another referral with our hearts breaking so much, but we knew that we still wanted to adopt, and that there are so many children with medical needs that desperately need families. This time, the choice of the referral was from the MOE, and the Director of the Orphanage gave approval of the child for adoption.
So, the Blessing in all this sadness is that we have accepted the referral for TWO little ones who are have the same medical needs as Joshua and who also desperately need to find a forever family. Baby Girl is 18 months old, and Baby Boy is 21 months old. We are still working on the names. Strangely enough, both babies look like my husband, Tim. I am still feeling incredible sadness and guilt—I will always love Joshua. But we know that we made the necessary decision for our family. And there are two sweet babies who will be orphans no more. Please keep us in our prayers as we grieve Joshua and rejoice in our Babies. And please joins us as we continue to pray for Joshua and for a family to step forward who will be equipped to meet all of his needs.
This journey has been tough, and we still have a long road ahead of us as we will be making two more trips to the country where our children are waiting. Our next step is to gather the papers that need to be submitted for court. And we continue to pray and let God heal our hearts, as he also heals my body from the surgery.
And we continue to put our trust in God's provision for the expenses that are still needed to complete this adoption. We will need about $20,000 more, in addition to what we have already raised and paid ourselves. The additional child fee is about $10,000, and each trip to the country will be about $5,000. If you feel led to help out with the financial aspect of our adoption, we would be so very thankful to have you fight with us for the lives of these precious orphans!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
We Have a Travel Date!!!!!!
SO EXCITED!!!!! The last few days have been a whirl-wind of business as we try to wrap our minds around this--we are finally going to travel to meet our sweet boy!!! To make matters more complicated, we are away from home, visiting with Family on the East Coast as we work out our travel plans. But that is OK--we are beyond thrilled to finally have our invitation to meet our Joshua and really get things moving with this adoption.
Who wants to know when we are going????
August 18th!!!!! In just a couple of weeks that I know will fly right by!
I hope to blog more soon, but just couldn't wait any longer to share this amazing news that we have been waiting for.
Mama and Daddy are coming, our Sweet Boy!
Who wants to know when we are going????
August 18th!!!!! In just a couple of weeks that I know will fly right by!
I hope to blog more soon, but just couldn't wait any longer to share this amazing news that we have been waiting for.
Mama and Daddy are coming, our Sweet Boy!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Winners Announced!!!
The Giveaway is officially over and we have drawn the winners!!!! Before I announce the names, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this fundraiser! We deeply appreciate every donation, every Facebook share and blog share. This fundraiser was a success because of everyone who stepped in to help us with the overwhelming task of raising enough funds to bring our sweet Joshua home.
The Giveaway Blog post received 888 views, 30 people donated, and an additional 21 others shared on facebook or on their blog. All together there was a total of 765 entries. Two of the generous friends who donated, did not even want to be entered into the giveaway.
We used random.org to create a randomized list of all the entries, and then used the random number generator to select the winners.
Through this giveaway, $2,155 was raised to help with adoption expenses!
Now, the winners:
Prize #1, the Kindle Fire goes to........Connie Lindquist!!! Congratulations, Connie!!!
Prize #2, $25 Target Gift Card..........Jay and Adair LeMaster
Prize #3, $15 Starbucks Gift Card.......Pat Addler
Prize #4, $15 Cold Stone Creamery Gift Card......Liz Blauer
Prize #5, $15 Bath and Body Works Gift Card.....Kathy Hackenberg
Prizes 6-10--The following each won a handmade bracelet: Julie Frank, Mary Singleton, Kari Termont, Rose Burpo, and Addie Talley
Prizes 11-15--The following people each won a handmade coffee sleeve: Tanna Smith, Jamie Carpenter, Justin Burpo, Rachel Kleinenberg, and Bonnie Blom
Prizes 16-20--The following people each won a handmade Key Fob Key chain: Natalie Krier, Katie Carpenter, Lori Mulkey, Daniel Carpenter, and Faye Reigert
Congratulation to everyone who won!!! If you won a key chain, coffee sleeve or bracelet, please email me or send me a message on Facebook, or comment on this post, to let me know your color preference, or special order. My email address is: heidihopkins0607@hotmail.com
Wait! There are a couple more Winners!!
I thought it would be fun to have a few "surprise" winners, so, here it goes!
First person to give goes to.......Addie Talley!
Last person to give goes to........Emily Riegert!
The person who shared the most often on Facebook.....Connie Lindquist!
The persons who most often "bumped" my post of RR group.....Jessica Gorrell and Lori Mulkey!
Then I chose two random numbers from the list of those who gave and shared......those lucky two are............Cindy Stevens and Heather Dismuke!
You will all receive a surprise from me! :) Thank you all for your love, prayers and support!
The Giveaway Blog post received 888 views, 30 people donated, and an additional 21 others shared on facebook or on their blog. All together there was a total of 765 entries. Two of the generous friends who donated, did not even want to be entered into the giveaway.
We used random.org to create a randomized list of all the entries, and then used the random number generator to select the winners.
Through this giveaway, $2,155 was raised to help with adoption expenses!
Now, the winners:
Prize #1, the Kindle Fire goes to........Connie Lindquist!!! Congratulations, Connie!!!
Prize #2, $25 Target Gift Card..........Jay and Adair LeMaster
Prize #3, $15 Starbucks Gift Card.......Pat Addler
Prize #4, $15 Cold Stone Creamery Gift Card......Liz Blauer
Prize #5, $15 Bath and Body Works Gift Card.....Kathy Hackenberg
Prizes 6-10--The following each won a handmade bracelet: Julie Frank, Mary Singleton, Kari Termont, Rose Burpo, and Addie Talley
Prizes 11-15--The following people each won a handmade coffee sleeve: Tanna Smith, Jamie Carpenter, Justin Burpo, Rachel Kleinenberg, and Bonnie Blom
Prizes 16-20--The following people each won a handmade Key Fob Key chain: Natalie Krier, Katie Carpenter, Lori Mulkey, Daniel Carpenter, and Faye Reigert
Congratulation to everyone who won!!! If you won a key chain, coffee sleeve or bracelet, please email me or send me a message on Facebook, or comment on this post, to let me know your color preference, or special order. My email address is: heidihopkins0607@hotmail.com
Wait! There are a couple more Winners!!
I thought it would be fun to have a few "surprise" winners, so, here it goes!
First person to give goes to.......Addie Talley!
Last person to give goes to........Emily Riegert!
The person who shared the most often on Facebook.....Connie Lindquist!
The persons who most often "bumped" my post of RR group.....Jessica Gorrell and Lori Mulkey!
Then I chose two random numbers from the list of those who gave and shared......those lucky two are............Cindy Stevens and Heather Dismuke!
You will all receive a surprise from me! :) Thank you all for your love, prayers and support!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Last day of Giveaway!
This is it! Last day to enter the Kindle Fire Giveaway! The cut off to enter is midnight tonight. You can donate to Joshua's grant--tax deductable! Or donate using the chip-in. Either way, it all goes to help us bring home our sweet Joshua. You can get a free entry by sharing on your Face book page or blogging about our giveaway. Read here for all the giveaway details:
http://hopkinsfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/2012/05/kindle-fire-giveaway.html
Also--there will be a few additional **suprize** winners that will be announced on Monday as well! :)
Help us make this fundraiser as successful as possible!!
Blessing to you all!
http://hopkinsfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/2012/05/kindle-fire-giveaway.html
Also--there will be a few additional **suprize** winners that will be announced on Monday as well! :)
Help us make this fundraiser as successful as possible!!
Blessing to you all!
Monday, June 25, 2012
One more week to go!
This is the final week for our Kindle Fire giveaway!! If you have been thinking about entering, but you have not gotten around to it--well, you had better do it now! We need everyone to share it with others on Facebook and your blogs (you get a free entry!), and to donate. Really, $10 can make a big difference, if enough people pitch in! Donations to Joshua's grant through Reece's Rainbow are tax-deductible, or you can donate through the Chip In and the funds will go directly to us. How great is that?! We are hoping that we will have travel news in about a week--maybe we will get to have that exciting news along with announcing winners! Wouldn't that be a fun announcement! Since it is peak travel time right now, our air fare is looking like it is going to be more than we were anticipating. It would be such a blessing to us if we knew there was enough money in Joshua's grant to fund our first trip--one less thing to worry about. Please consider being a part of our Journey to Joshua!
Go here for all the details of the giveaway:
http://hopkinsfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/2012/05/kindle-fire-giveaway.html
Go here for all the details of the giveaway:
http://hopkinsfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/2012/05/kindle-fire-giveaway.html
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