From her sister's eyes

Sweet  (because she is sweet)

Angel   (she's an Angel from above)

Rainbow (we found her on Reece's Rainbow and hope to see a rainbow when she comes home:)

Amazing (it's who she is)

Hope      (she is hoping to see her forever family soon)

*written by Addy, 7

Celebrations

This evening, my parents came into town for dinner and we spent time sharing our adoption journey and celebrations.  The process, paperwork, and logistics seem daunting to them, but they are excited about the greatest reward.  Andy and I know it is tiresome, but the moment she walks into our arms, the paperwork chase will be forgotten and the journey will so be worth it.    I was sharing with them the recent celebrations in the Reece's Rainbow community and other adoption blogs that led us on our path. 
"We all need to hear the good in the world," they said. 
So the purpose of this post is to celebrate the good in the world...

1.  Our part of the home study will be completed in less than a week, and then it can be written up.:) One step closer to our little girl...  We are waiting to order birth/marriage certificates because we need to be careful they do not expire within six months.

2.  Our Child Specific Petition has already been sent to her country.

3.  Sasha has a forever family.  He is a little boy who my blogging friends have been advocating for and hoped to find a family.  An AMAZING life has been saved!!!

4.  Josie, from Confessions of the  Chromosomally Enhanced, is breathing better.  She is still in the hospital, but is a fighter.  She, along with another Josi, were "Red Thread" connections this summer.  Check out Josie's blog.

5.  My parents, and others, are praying for some of the families who I have been sharing on our blog.  They may never meet, except through prayer. But, Miracles are happening!!

6.  Andy printed little cards with our blog address/Reece's Rainbow/Sarah's picture and passed them out at his business meeting in Houston.  Families have been impacted by reading these blogs/websites and perhaps another will be moved towards saving a life.  We've already received calls today about what they have read:).

7.  I stopped at my neighbor's last Saturday to share our news. (now that I'm teaching, I don't visit like in the summer:(.  She was so happy and excited for us and showed me her "Sarah" from student teaching.  She also read this story in Parents' Magazine that day and gave me the magazine. I found this family blog in June, late one night when I couldn't sleep, and was deeply moved. Another red thread.  Monday evening, my friend went to the county fair and saw another "Sarah" she taught who was in college.  She is constantly sending me more "red thread" connections. 

8.  Some families who are traveling in Sarah's country now have been emailing me travel tips and places to stay.  Andy will be most likely be working some of the time while we are over there and will need phone and internet capabilities. (He's a satallite office!)  Another family is traveling soon to her orphanage and will try to get some new pictures for us:)  What a sisterhood Reece's Rainbow is!!!  I am blessed to be a member!

9.  Wednesday, my kids had a movie at school for a reward.  When I asked Addyson who she sat with, she said," I made a difference in Austin's life today because he was sitting by himself and I asked him to come over with us!"  Daily, I am asking them to make a difference and now it is becoming part of their language and actions!

1o.  Sarah, My Name is Sarah, made the front page of her newspaper telling their story about JEllens Fabric Store and its mission to employ adults with Down Syndrome and Autism.  Way to Go, Sarah and Joyce.  You're an inspiration to us all!!

My friends, there is so much good happening all around us.  Look for it, Live it, and Celebrate those special moments.

Josie's Joy

    I began following this family early August before we decided to adopt, as it became a  part of our Red Thread.  Josie's mother writes about the love for her daughter and her sister, both chromosomally enhanced.  This family is filled with compassion and celebration of life.  Josie has been in and out of the hospital recently and is back in again tonight.  Lift Josie up in your prayers, pray doctors find the source of her breathing issues, and pray for Josie's family...

Confessions of the Chromosomally Enhanced

Our Little Princess

Being deeply loved by someone

gives you STRENGTH;
Loving someone deeply
gives you COURAGE.

Thanks to the The Fritz Farm for these new pictures of our Eastern European Princess. 
What a precious gift they gave us.  Filled with gratitude...

Not Tonight!!!:(

            In the midst of getting our dishwasher fixed (by none other than my Husband, he ROCKS as Mr. Fixit!!!), I was doing my best to remain calm before our first home visit.  I compared it to having my observation at school by my principal:  I know I'm doing an okay job teaching, but it's still nerve-racking beforehand:(.  I rushed home from school, ran to the bank, and picked up the kids at latchkey, all before 5pm.  When I walked into their school, the power was out!  (We live less than a mile from there.)   In my head, I'm thinking, "Please, not tonight.  I want to get Part 1 of the home visit over and move forward in the process!!!"  As we entered our neighborhood, pulled into our driveway...the garage door would not open:(

        Ladies and Gentlemen, our power was out and we had 2 hours until she came.  The kids were reading, Andy was finishing up with work calls and paperwork, and I was lighting candles all over the house.  We decided to call her at 6pm if the power was not on and let her make the decision whether to reschedule.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat, and I ran Addy to Girl Scouts. At 5:55pm, the power finally came home!!! Yeah, us:)    I was shouting with JOY!!!!  One hour to go.  When I got home, I looked out the window and a car pulled into the driveway.  I told Andy,"I guess she's early.  Maybe I've got the wrong time."  I've been forgetting many things lately!!  Sure enough, I looked in my calendar and wrote the time down as 6pm, but when I communicated to Andy the time, I added an hour:(  Oh well, it all worked out.)    More important, the power came on 5 minutes before she arrived.  Isn't that something?!!!  Or part of the MASTER Plan to work on trusting even when things go differently than what I want.  Or perhaps I'm learning to roll with the little inconveniences daily, that when the big challenges happen, it won't knock me flat!  What's important is I'm learning something daily to grow as a wife, as a mother, and as a individual who is passionate about making a difference in the world around her!!

A MASTER Plan

The elementary where I teach sends home with students their class placement  on the last day of school.  Teachers receive their list for the upcoming year, but I always stick it in a drawer until I come back from summer break.  This year was no different.  In August, we had a Meet The Teacher time before school started.  For 2 hours, my students and their parents walked through my doors, looked at their room, and introduced themselves to me.  It was a quick meeting, and I tried very diligently to put names and faces together.  I did remember a family that had a strong accent when I spoke to them.

    During the first few weeks of school, I work to build a compassionate, caring learning community.  We spend time sharing, celebrating, and talking about our lives.  One day, we were sharing something unique when a boy, D, shared that his parents were from a country in Eastern Europe.  Of course, I was so excited and I began asking D questions.  Come to find out he can speak the same language as our Sarah's country!!!!  I could hardly believe it!!  D is now in charge of teaching a Word of the Day during our morning and closing meetings!!  How about that!!  I have my own language tutor from a fourth grader.   
Life is GREAT!!!

  Before I saw what I saw the last day of school, before I read the family blogs, before I thought about adoption and Down Syndrome, and before I was even shown this is the journey to go on, a young boy was placed in my classroom who speaks the same language as our little Sarah's country and would be able to teach me and my class conversational language from Eastern Europe.  I shared with a friend my story the other day, and she said, "Shelly, you found out the WHY things have happened sooner than some.  Count yourself blessed."  
I do and I am.

    I have grown so much in the journey thus far.  I'm learning to laugh about inconveniences and happenings. (Such as:  the dishwasher breaking a day before our first social worker visit and our kitchen is torn apart:(  I'm learning to do what I can and leave some things for another day. (I'll never be caught up at school!!)  I'm taking time to celebrate the small things. (My son loving his new cooking class /Cub Scouts activities and my daughter teaching her brother math games at home.)  I'm learning to take deep breaths and walk away when someone says something insensitive about adoption and Down Syndrome. (It's only happened once, but it left me speechless.)  Mostly, I'm seeing the world in a new light.  In a few short months, Sarah will be seeing everything for the first time and I'm looking at the world around me with a sense of awe and wonder. 

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

HOPE

I found this book from my fellow teacher bloggers called Hope is an Open Heart by Lauren Thompson.  The author was inspired from the aftermath of 9/11 and was trying to help her family find new Hope in their shattered world.  The book is filled with breathtaking pictures, along with an inspiration on every page.
  
    *Hope sometimes feels far away, but Hope is always there.

    *Hope is the warmth of strong arms around you.

    *Hope is knowing you are loved.

    *Hope is finding happiness in the simple things.

    *Hope is daring to do something you've never done before.

    *Hope is a candle flame in the darkness.

    *Hope is knowing that things change and that we can help things to change for the better.

  At the beginning of the year, I had my students and parents write their Hopes and Dreams for the year as inspiration and reflection.  Some may change, while others may stay the same.  What's important is that they are written down, concrete.

    I pulled this book off my shelf today, and began thinking of our little girl in Eastern Europe.  What are my Hopes and Dreams for Sarah?  I've been pondering this question all afternoon and will be writing my Hopes and Dreams for her as part of her memory book.  Hope is an Open Heart will be displayed in her room as part of the book collection we'll be creating for her and as a testament to the Hope she will have in our home.

For now, Sarah's Hopes and Dreams are:

     *HOPE is holding tight to your Mother's hand.

    *HOPE is your Father's good-night kiss.

What are your Hopes and Dreams for you child?
 

A family in need...

Lyla's family needs our prayers and our thoughts tonight...they've found out their soon-to-be daughter is in a hospital in EE at a very critical stage and not doing well.  Her soon-to-be mother received an email that their daughter, Lyla may not be well enough to be adopted.  I've known our Sarah a little over 3 weeks, and cannot imagine going through this.  Lyla's family is so close to traveling to her.   As you go to sleep, pray for this family. They will go through the night waiting on word of their daughter, Lyla.  They are in need of so much prayer, love, and support.  Please join me in lifting them up tonight...

What We Cannot See At The Time

If ever I believed that small acts can make a difference, it has been on this amazing journey thus far! In June, I began keeping a journal of all the feelings, hopes, and signs pointing us on the road less traveled. I'm so glad I did because not only will it be a story to share with Sarah, but a testimony of how when a door closes, a window opens filled with treasures. Our story continues to add chapters as we learn about those who loved our child before we ever knew her. I have already been asked to share our story with a small group at church and in our kids' classrooms at school. Yesterday, another RED THREAD connection to Sarah was made!!!

In March, a young lady in her 20's was led to be a Prayer Warrior for Sarah. She blogged about her. She advocated for her. Most of all, she prayed for Sarah to find her forever family. Before I even learned of Reece's Rainbow, before I even thought about adoption, and before we were even to begin our journey, a young woman was praying for a child she has never met, a child she saw on a website, and a child who would find her forever family in August. This young woman is living life to the fullest advocating for orphans and is making a difference!! Her blog is  Life to the Fullest. Melany, we are so grateful for your prayers. You made a difference for our little girl!!

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Never underestimate the power of what your small act can do to change a life forever!!!

The Name Game

 How do you choose a name?  Our family and friends have a tradition that you take one letter and name your children from that letter.  Addyson and Austin were named from that very tradition.  But, when it came to our little princess, an A name wasn't fitting.  Our family sat in our library throwing out names, but we still couldn't agree.  At her Great-Grandmother's birthday celebration, Addy took my notebook and pen and began a list of names she liked from A-Z:)  She did a pretty good job:) 

    Over the weekend, I kept coming back to the name Sarah.  It didn't fit with our "tradition", but then neither do I.  Everyone in our family has the same initials, except me.  The kids were desperate to have a name, and Andy liked Sarah with an H.   We found a name!!!  Then, I began reflecting on why this name was to be our daughter's name.  That, in itself, is more powerful and more meaningful than the name.  

The name Sarah is a result of the many Sarah's that came before ours and paved a path.

    *Sara was the little 3rd grader, who made an impact on me and started the "red thread" that linked our families together.

    *Sara has the same birthday as our little Sarah, in Eastern Europe.

    *Sarah B from http://angeleyesadoption.blogspot.com/ was kind enough to answer some questions over the summer that began charting our path to adoption.   She wrote about her experience, she wrote from her heart, and she wrote to make a difference.  She never realized the difference she was making  until recently. 

    *When we first announced we were adopting on our blog, we called her "Our Little Princess."  The meaning of Sarah is Princess.

The most important reason of all:
    *Sarah, from  My Name is Sarah http://sarahely8989.blogspot.com/.  I found this blog over the summer and kept coming back to it.  Sarah is 21 with Down Syndrome who blogs about her life, her hobbies, and more recently  her job at the family's quilt store.  Sarah is an inspiration to the endless possibilities that Our Sarah, Bridget, Alina, Zoya, Nadia, Joquain, Sofia, and other special needs children can achieve.  She gives hope to everyone around her.  Her favorite fabric designer even flew into Cleveland for the grand opening of their store.  She made a difference in my life, and the life of our family.  One day, I will travel to Cleveland with our Sarah to meet the Sarah from Jellen's Fabric Store who made a difference!  What a reunion that will be:)

Our Sarah will be rich with love, rich with a heritage of those who came before her, and rich in the meaning of how her name was chosen.  That is all that matters!!!

Sarah