Flying thru February

I have no idea where this week went... really.  So fast.

Nathan got home Saturday afternoon (last week) and we were all thrilled to have Daddy home.  Ellie was still in the throes of her cold/fever and didn't make it to church on Sunday, so Nathan rested with her at home and I took Reni ... which threw Reni for a loop because Nathan had just gotten home and I was taking him away from his dad already.  For the next several days Reni watched us like hawks, happiest when we were altogether (love that boy!).

Then I got sick, and then Nathan got sick. In the midst of colds, coughs (for Nathan, quite violent and painful), and sniffles we had an 18-month post placement appointment in Lexington with our SW, an OT evaluation of Ellie (back up in Cincinnati), church board meeting, 6 parties stay in our 2 guestrooms (since Sunday),  and a host of other unusual appointments on top of our standing weekly meetings/homeschooling.  Did I mention we are speaking tomorrow night at our student fellowship, Global Cafe`?  I shouldn't be surprised that there's always lots to do when you come back from a trip.  And I'm remembering why we never travel during the semester if we can at all help it!

All of that was a bit easier to manage because we found out who will be moving into our position at the student center after we leave.  Beginning this process of transition has been really revealing to me as I start to uncurl my fingers of 'ownership' on this place/work/ministry that has become the bulk of our life for the past 13 years.  I must confess that while in Albania my heart was distracted the first few days, knowing that interviews were taking place at that time for our replacement.  And while our boss asked our opinion, the decision (thankfully) wasn't ours to make, and I found myself praying a lot, giving it up to God.  Whenever my heart was anxious, I lifted up the future of the ministry here at Asbury, probably more intensely than I have at anytime during our tenure, I'm ashamed to admit, finding peace in the knowledge that God had plans in store for the center that were bigger and greater than I would know.  By the middle of the week in Albania I found my heart at peace with whomever would have gotten the position.  But I can't share that just yet!

Mom and Dad Waggoner arrived late last night and we're all excited to have them here, the kids in particular, of course.  Last night we were sitting in the living room catching up and PaPa would periodically reach over and tickle Ellie (while she was sitting between him and Nonna).

She finally looked up and Nonna and asked, "Why does PaPa tease me?"

"Because that's how he shows that he loves you,"  Nonna replied.

"Is that because he doesn't know how to hug and kiss?"

Ah, Ellie.  You never cease to deliver something quoteable, each and every day.

I don't have a photo, so I'll leave you with the graphic that we're using as our publicity piece for Sunday night.  If you live locally, you're welcome to join us!  6PM:

Travel pics

Monday morning at Rinas...

 Reni got the notion that apple juice would be more enjoyable if served from his dad's empty creamer cup...

After the first flight, we didn't have time for pics. 

It's Friday and I think I'm more tired than the first day home.  The children seem to have conspired to keep me from sleeping.  This morning Reni was up at 2:45 and never fell back into a decent sleep, crying about every 30 minutes until I let him out of his crib when Ellie awoke (who had freaked out because I moved to the couch for a little bit of shut eye).  We're having a battle of the wills over making choices right now (that's Reni and I).  I always try to give him choices but if he doesn't like the options he just gets mad.  That meant that he didn't eat much for supper in protest (and it was something that he usually enjoys) ... and so he was probably hungry when he awoke in the middle of the night.  When he asked for a cheese stick in bed, I acquiesced but when I delivered it, he was mad that I had unwrapped it for him, so he threw it back at me and asked for a different one.   Yeah, so much for any middle of the night favors.

Right now he's laughing and making jokes with me -- I have no idea how.  I'm wiped.  I can never sit for more than a minute or two at a time (this post is even a challenge to complete).  "Mommy, I need a drink!  Mommy, get my cars!  Mommy, where's my blankie?  Mommy..." I know, typical stuff, I just need a nap.  And a personal grocery shopper would be nice too.  Oh, and could that person swing by the bank and post office on their way? ; )  Nathan's going to be home in 30 hours...

Ellie woke up saying she was sick.  She has a runny nose and is sneezing.  This could be a fun day.

On other, less inwardly-focused news, Nathan has been in frequent contact with me from New Jersey.  It sounds like Pop Pop had a really special memorial service yesterday, complete with the military regalia for his WWII service.  Dad Waggoner nearly didn't make it to the service as he was hospitalized over night the previous evening for what appears to be diverticulitus.  I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers as they fly home today.

Have a good weekend!

Home

The children and I walked through the front door of our home last night around 8:30.  Of course it's good to be back, but I've been struck by a torrent of feelings that make this homecoming different. My feet are now in two different worlds.  My body is in Kentucky but my mind keeps jumping back to what will be our home in Albania and considers what that will look like.  I feel like someone just gave me a new set of glasses and all familiar things suddenly look different.

Like this morning.  While the surroundings of my 'things' make this feel like home, knowing that it's only home for a few more months is indescribable (not bad, just ... bewildering?).  All of a sudden I notice things that I took for granted before.  Things like wall-to-wall carpeting, rooms that are uniformly heated and not all closed off individually by doors, that I can walk around my house in bare feet, that I know how to find the perfect water temperature in the shower easily and I can bend over without hitting my head on a glass door or tile wall. I've been to Albania nearly a dozen times and noticed these differences, but it's it's not the same now.  I can step out my door (here) breathe deeply of clean country air, but I don't catch the scent of frying onions that seem to hang in the air around the Tirana pallati we will call home.  I look at the walls and wonder, "Will that photo fill a space on another wall, thousands of miles away?"

Switching gears...
I feel like I owe a follow up to yesterday's post and petitions for prayers.  If you lifted us up, thank you!  God was faithful and while each minute of the day was full, everything we needed to accomplish was tackled.

We were pleased to make a quick trip from our hotel to the Cincinnati Airport to return the rental van and pick up our 5 pieces of checked luggage.  Mom and Dad were even able to purchase a few pieces of gently used luggage from an airline's unclaimed luggage department.  After a lunch of soup and salad (oh how I'm going to miss 1000 Island dressing), we dropped off Mom, Dad, and the kids and found a men's store nearby where Nathan bought a sport coat, pants and shoes for his trip to New Jersey today.  There was a buy-one-get-one-free sale which took the sting off the sticker price a little bit.  Now Nathan has 2 new outfits for our time of support raising!  They promised to have the pants hemmed in time for Nathan's departure later in the day.

As for the missing wallet... We checked online and were relieved not to see any unusual activity in our accounts, so we figured we must have it -- somewhere. After emptying 4 large bags of belongings, checking pants pockets and whatnot, Nathan remembered to check one last place:  a little zipper pocket on the front of our L L Bean duffles that we only use for stashing zip ties.  The last remaining bag contained the missing wallet.  We were so thankful that God protected it from theft throughout the various airports that bag traveled!  Nathan guesses that upon arrival in Albania he put the wallet in that pocket where it wouldn't get misplaced in the apartment or forgotten in a drawer.

We enjoyed a good meeting with Ellie's physician at Cincinnati Children's.  Thank you for your prayers for that.  I will try to share about some of that soon.  I'm really grateful that her doctor was very patient to answer our questions and explain things in a manner we could understand.  I was also grateful to learn that now that Ellie's "in", she's a patient as long as she has the need and that we can keep this physician and clinical team throughout Ellie's childhood.  It looks like regular evaluations (every couple of years or so) will be a part of Ellie's development so we can keep an eye on her needs as they wax and wane.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time and we needed to get on the road before our bodies succumbed to the lack of rest accumulated over the previous 48 hours.  We said goodbye to Mom and a very sick Dad.  Yesterday his cold took a bad turn and he spent much of the day in bed with a fever.  It was concerning and a reminder how such travels take a toll on Dad and why he feels that trips back and forth to Albania may be fewer and further between.  He wasn't well enough to travel to Illinois today and will try tomorrow.  Mom got on a plane and flew to Florida for a missions conference at a church which is a strong supporter of the Albania ministry..

Day 1 of 4 without Daddy has gone relatively well.  The laundry is now all done and most of our e-mail correspondence is also caught up on.  Tomorrow it will be time to get back to the books for Ellie!

feet on US Soil, travel adventure continues

It is nearly 6AM and I am awake.  Not unsual for the jet-lagged traveler, however I really thought my tired body would want to sleep more than four hours after 24 hours awake with only an hour-long nap between three flights.

We are in Florence, Kentucky, where our travels all began, the day after our ski retreat (remember that?).  This is good.  How we got here is another story though.  And perhaps the lack of sleep has magnified some of our little travel hiccups to be more than they are, but who among us doesn't like to share these kinds of stories we experience?

Our little adventure was probably inevitable when our flight from Munich was late leaving because we were waiting on passengers from Italy and Poland to join us.  Then, because there was an inch of snow on the ground and it was 'snowing' (which was not even visible out of my plane window -- there would be an occasional drop of precipitation on the window that melted away within seconds), we had to go through a 30+ minute full de-icing of the plane.

Upon on arriving in Newark (late, of course) we made it through passport control and waiting for our bags.  Eventually four of them arrived.  Then,  a full 15 minutes after that, the last bag arrived.  How they got separated, we don't know.

Then, for some reason we cannot figure out (including the customs folks who had to go through our bags), a screener insisted we go through agricultural inspection (the little doggie did not find anything to get excited about in our luggage -- we know better than that). ARGH!!!

Now we were down to 35 minutes before the departure of our last leg of the journey and we still had to re-check our bags.  That went quickly but by the time we got to our terminal, the TSA agent informed us that we did not have boarding passes (which may not have been so surprising to us had we not been so tired and stressed).  Apparently (I was entertaining children during check-in at the beginning of our journey so I was clueless), Lufthansa in Tirana didn't have the capability to print us passes for the last leg of the journey so now in Newark we had to go up a level to visit the ticket counter.

Now things were looking bleak.  The ticket counter calls the gate.  The gate says they will wait, but due to the time the ticket counter couldn't print us boarding passes, only cards to get us through security.  We have a glimmer of hope. They wave us to the head of the line so we are screened for the fourth time that day.  I tell Dad, "It will all work out.  Don't worry!"  Mom and the kids finish screening first, so they run ahead of us to the gate.  Minutes later, we arrive at our gate breathless to see the jetway being pulled away from the aircraft and no sign of Mom and the kids.  After several minutes of confusion, they show up (Mom went to the wrong gate), but it didn't make any difference, it was too late.

It's a little before 8PM and our options our few.  There are no more flights to Cincinnati the rest of the evening.  We could a.) get two rooms at the airport Marriott ($$$) and try again at 6:30 in the morning or b.) try to fly into another nearby city like, say, Dayton?

With little time to think, we agree to be re-booked on the flight to Dayton.  We already had a paid hotel reservation for the night in Florence and a full schedule of appointments here in Cincinnati on Tuesday morning and since our bags were already tagged and headed to Cincinnati, it seemed like the best way to not further disrupt any more plans would be to go to Dayton and figure things out from there.

Minutes before boarding the flight to Dayton, Nathan finds an option for a minivan in Dayton that won't break the bank to get us from Dayton to Florence (possibilities had included a charter van, taxis, as well as 2 rental cars since most rental companies were out of vans).  Our cost savings from not staying in Newark had appeared to be vanishing, but Nathan found a reasonable solution.

We get to Dayton and Reni is OUT.  Ellie had just fallen asleep before landing and was completely out of it.  It was like she was trying to cry but didn't have the energy or tears.  She kept saying pitifully, "I can't yawn!  I can't yawn!"

We arrive at the rental counter to pick up our van and discover another problem.

Between the 4 of us SEASONED INT'L TRAVELERS we only had 1 drivers license (me) and 1 credit card (Mom).  I know, we really should know better, but nearly 20 years of traveling to Albania and I think we can count the times we have used a credit card there on a few fingers (still a cash-based society).

Now we had a dilemma.  The rental agency policy is that the credit card be in the same name as the driver.  The manager came out and given that the credit card was a 'company' card (for the Foundation), they maneuvered around this little issue by requiring mom to sign off on all the paperwork too and we were soon on the road again by 11:30PM local time.

Thanks to a diet Coke from the Wendy's drive through (and the fear of being pulled over and discovered to be driving my two children passed out on their grandmother in the back seat minus  carseats), I was able to stay awake relatively easily until we got to our destination around 1AM ...

Some items for prayer today...
We really need the Lord's help in locating Nathan's wallet.  In his weary state last night, Nathan cannot remember if he brought it with him to Albania (which wouldn't be his normal habit, but we didn't leave on this trip from home) or if he left it with some items stashed in our van in the hotel parking lot.

A cursory exam of the van last night did not reveal the wallet.  We cannot find it in any of our four carry-ons and I don't remember packing it in our checked luggage yesterday morning in Albania.

This is important because Nathan's parents arranged a rental car for him to drive up to Columbus later tonight to join them in traveling to New Jersey for his grandfather's funeral.  He needs both his driver's license and a credit card to get the rental car.

It would be nice if our luggage arrived on the morning flight from Newark to Cincinnati this morning.  To minimize the amount of stuff we would have to carry with us through airports (I told you we had 4 carry-ons and a stroller plus 2 kids between Nathan and I), we stuffed our bulky winter coats in our checked luggage.  The temps are around freezing here in Cincinnati.

Sometime this morning we need to buy Nathan a suit for the funeral.  Nathan has a suit, but it's at home, 2 hours away...

This afternoon at 3PM, Nathan and I have an appointment with the team at Cincinnati Children's to discuss Ellie's evaluation results.  We are so thankful that our travel snafus haven't prevented us from missing this appointment, however it would be nice if we could wear some clean clothes to this appointment. :-)

Thank you friends and family!  We'll keep you posted!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Traveling Day

Today we go home!  I apologize for no post yesterday -- it was busy, busy!
This morning we leave around 10AM (Tirana time, GMT+1) for the airport and land at 10:15PM in Cincinnati.  My parents are traveling with us!  YAY!
Tuesday afternoon we have the meeting at Cincinnati Children's with the Behavioral pediatrician that we met in September to learn the results of Ellie's evaluations.  We will sleep over in Cincinnati and then I will drive home with the children Tuesday night.
Yesterday morning we received the news that Nathan's beloved Pop Pop Champion is now with Jesus.  Nathan will be going on up to Columbus Tuesday night to join his parents in driving to New Jersey.
As you can see, we have a lot of traveling before us, particularly Nathan.
I will try to post again shortly after we arrive in the States!
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf!

To Elbasan and Back

Today happened.  I've wondered for months what it would be like.  Then it came, and now it's gone.

Unlike the dry, hot summer of 2010, our trip across the mountains to Elbasan found us driving through fog and/or falling snowflakes.  Steamed up windows clouded the breathtaking view of Albania's best feature: her mountains.  Instead of one child to corral, I had two, egging each other on with chants of "Go car, go!" or renditions of "Jingle Bells" (spurred on by visions of snow).

When we arrived (in a steady rain), our greeting did not disappoint.  My FAVORITE Sister (sorry, I have a favorite) opened the gate and my heart and my face smiled.  God was so good to let me see her again.  Then we looked up and in spite of the rain and cold, the windows from the playroom opened upstairs and Duzi and some children peered out and cried, "Oh! Reni!  Oh Reni!"

We went inside and dropped our items to give greetings and hugs.  Reni looked around a bit bewildered.  Ellie was pulling on our arms saying, "I want to see the babies!  I want to see the babies!"

Eventually we made it upstairs to 'the playroom' and tried to get Reni to relax a bit more.  Instead of warming up to all of the faces looking at him, he tensed up even more.  Refusing to let us even take his coat off.  While we'll never know his mind for sure, several of us believe he thought we might be dropping him off.  He clung to us for all he was worth.  I felt badly for Duzi, but she seemed to understand.  It was a bit overwhelming to know where to start.  I wanted to visit with the Sisters and caregivers, see which children we recognized and inquire about the ones who were gone.  I told you in my last post about Joel (who needs a family).  They were anxious for us to see him, photograph him, video him, etc.  Meanwhile, there were kids grabbing at our camera, pulling on pants, and one who was repeated banging his head into our legs for attention.

We had brought Reni's prosthetic legs along, but it was clear he wasn't comfortable enough to be set on the ground to show off his mobility even without his prosthetics.  After about 20 minutes and Nathan eventually sitting down on the floor with him, Reni relinquished his grip and ventured a short distance away to pick up some large legos.  As soon as another child came and set himself down in Nathan's lap, Reni stormed over and told the child, "That's MY daddy!"

A few of the kids were pretty curious about Reni and were touching his hair and clothes, at which point Reni started whining, "They're touching my hair!  They're touching my body!"

We brought a copy of Reni's Adoption book for the orphanage and everyone was quite curious to look though it, checking out photos of those who were at the orphanage at that time and seeing how much everyone had changed in the last 18 months (Reni left Elbasan on August 13, 2010 -- almost exactly 18 months ago to the day).

Before we left, Reni relaxed a bit more and allowed Sister Mary Faustina to hold him briefly, though when he thew himself backwards in her arms to look at the ceiling fan, she remarked, "Oh Reni!  We have forgotten how to hold you!"  (Which, if you've ever held him before, there is a nack for holding a top-heavy child, lacking the full length of his legs).  Can you believe that she still (correctly) remembered exactly which was his bed?

I was so, so glad to think to invite Duzi with us to lunch.  I would find out later that it would mean the world to her.  No other adoptive family had taken her out to a restaurant, ever, not to mention it gave us more time with her alone and a chance for Reni to interact with her outside of the orphanage.

If you are more recent to our story, Duzi was Reni's godmother at his baptism when he was about a month old.  She chose his Christian name, David, which she believed was prophetic for Reni (that he would someday dance before the Lord like David danced). Duzi believed that investing one's special attention and love on one child who really needed it was a gift.  She told me again today, "... not the cutest child, but the child who really, really needed to know he was loved."  I believe that when we met him, Reni knew he was loved by at least one person, Duzi, and her love transformed him.  It gave him confidence, it taught him how to receive love and give it in return.  I told her today that her gift has allowed him to have healthy relationships with people and will ultimately allow him to have a relationship with his Heavenly Father.

She told me today that it took her heart a year to grieve Reni's departure.  I told her that we knew he grieved the transition from Albania to our family for at least 1 month (in spite of having about a month of twice daily visits with him before custody). She told us though that seeing him today was the best medicine for her heart because she could see that he was happy and thriving, and that his development exceeded her expectations.  We met our friend, Kerri (a dear missionary friend to Albania from South Africa whom we met shortly after our arrival in Elbasan in 2010), after we left the orphanage and she sweetly translated for me with Duzi over lunch.

Kerri told me that Duzi kept saying how very happy she was that we came today. Her gratitude and happiness was so evident and that made the trip so worth it (though that was not necessary for us to consider the trip of value, it was still worth it for us to express OUR thanks to the ladies at the Sisters of Charity home).

One thing I took away from today was the power of saying, "Thank you."  I know that not every international adoptive family has the means or opportunity to return in person with their child.   But even if a visit isn't possible, I know updates are deeply appreciated, as several times this morning the ladies conveyed their appreciation for the various photos we have sent them of Reni over the past year and a half.  I can only imagine that as a caregiver who invests herself emotionally in the lives of the children for whom she cares, it must be so hard to hand those children off to virtual strangers and never see them again, and in most cases, never know what happens to them.  In returning to say "thanks" we wanted these women to know that their work is appreciated -- that it is not in vain -- that they have the power to influence a child so much during a pivotal time of development.  I was sobered to hear Duzi tell us that in her nearly decade-long tenure we are the only family (international or domestic) who has ever come back and said "thank you." I tried to explain that there are many, many reasons why families do not return or can not return... and that doesn't mean they are not grateful.  However, if you've considered doing it and can do it -- you won't regret it!  And you'll most definitely give a gift greater than you can understand.

Reni eventually warmed up to Duzi and was soon joking and laughing with her.  My heart was smiling -- no, bursting that she could see our son as himself, and that she could be the recipient of the smiles and jokes and teasing that we get to experience every day  -- his precious personality for which she had prepared the soil and planted the seeds and until then, she had not gotten to fully enjoy. At one point, they held hands and danced in their chairs while Reni sang, "I like to move it, move it!"  Now, two and half years later, she got to hear the child she named say his name, in a voice until now, she had never heard utter words.

Over lunch she shared with me how her experience taking care of children has opened her up in new ways to understanding God's love.  I told her that adopting Ellie and Reni taught me new things about understanding God's love for me too; how he pursued me and loved me, special needs and all, and paid a large price for me.  It was a precious point in the conversation with her and I wished so much that we could have had more time to keep talking.

Before long, it was time to say goodbye -- the children were tired and we needed to return to Tirana for other appointments.  We dropped off Kerri and Duzi and climbed back up the mountain road in our faithful VW van, through the snow and fog, eventually descending again, this time into a rainy Tirana.  The next time I return to Elbasan, it will likely be via the 'new road' and tunnel through the mountain which will cut a 90 minute trip by 2/3.  Albania, Albania -- how you constantly change!  But thank goodness, some things remain the same.

First arriving in the entryway of the orphanage...

Receiving a card from his orphanage friends ... they also gifted him with a piece of cloth from one of Mother Teresa's robes (worn at one time by her)!

Checking out Reni's adoption book (above)

The little guy above, was struggling to walk 18 months ago.  Not anymore!

The little boy above is a real peanut -- a whole year older than Reni, but quite a bit smaller and just as sweet. Nevertheless, he's really grown and progressed a lot since last year.  Click here to see a photo of him in Mom Waggoner's arms in 2010.

Oh my goodness -- the fella above... last year, Ellie truly thought his name was "Yo"  (the Albanian word for 'no').  That's because we (and every other adult around him) was telling him, "Yo! (no!)"  This year he seemed to be much calmer, and even more charming. I think Nathan would have stuffed him in his backpack and brought him home with us!

This (above) is JM!

Nathan couldn't find his boots at first...

A familiar sight... a Sister came up to me and told me that Ellie told her the little guy at the far right (with dwarfism) was her favorite.  Perhaps she's grown fond of little boys with short legs since she was here last? :-)

Oh, how I love this woman!  I probably won't see her again until heaven... (below) I wish we had a video of this kiss!

Duzi peruses our gift to her -- a photo book of Reni with a photo a month since we brought him home.

Reni enjoys some board books given to him by Duzi.

We had a little bit of time to kill before any restaurants opened for lunch at 12, so we went to the hotel where we stayed and had a coffee.  Here Reni is 'running away' from Duzi.

We eventually made it over to the restaurant for lunch -- it was worth the wait!  YUMMY!  Have you ever had a thick slice of cheese coated in sesame seeds, pan fried and served with a side of cherry preserves?  It was so good!!!

 Our crew at lunch.

Some reading that complements this post:

On the pain of being a temporary mama:
http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2011/12/what-i-want-you-to-know-being-temporary.html

http://www.wearegraftedin.com/4216/no-fear/

On the power of being loved:
http://www.wearegraftedin.com/3999/her-nannys-love/

Rainy Evening Report from Tirana

It's a quiet evening in Tirana.  Falling rain has chased all the animals and people under cover.  Their are no dogs barking, no horns beeping, and no music blaring.  The heater quietly blows warm air beside me and there is little sound to remind me that I'm in a large city.

Today was filled with more visits.  A visit with our friends from Bethany Christian Services, a visit with our friend, Altin, at his office, and an evening spent in Vlashaj for evening Church!  We have a few more visits remaining, and if we can see everyone on our list, it will feel like a successful trip.  So far, so good!

Tomorrow is the big day to travel to Elbasan and we are quite excited for this little reunion.  I hope that we can capture much of it on videotape (it they permit).  If you recall, my departure from Elbasan was hasty because of Nathan's sudden illness.  I didn't feel I had closure, never saying 'goodbye' nor having a chance to convey my gratitude to Reni's caregivers, so I really hope that a few key individuals are present.  

Also, I've learned that we might have had a bit of miscommunication with our friends there and I hope we can get things straightened out.  While we were in Elbasan in 2010, we met a little boy (JM) who had been isolated from the other children for a virus he contracted during birth.  He was a sweet little fella, but given his medical concerns, the Sisters knew he would be harder to place with an adoptive family.  They asked if we would be able to advocate on his behalf, and we agreed to do what we could when and if he became eligible for American adoption.  In April 2011, Sister Rosita e-mailed me to let me know that they were submitting his papers to the Albanian Adoption Committee.  Understanding how the process works here, I knew that JM's future lay in the hands of the AAC and to which agency they referred him.  Unless his file was referred to Bethany, there would be little we could do for him because Bethany is the only agency licensed to facilitate Albanian adoptions to American families.  I tried my best to find out where his paperwork landed, but didn't get anywhere.  Apparently, just 2 weeks ago he was given to Bethany as a referral. Then yesterday, when visiting with our friends at Bethany, I learned that the Sisters were under the impression that we had found a family wanting to adopt JM! GULP!  Can you pray with us first of all, that a family can be found for JM, but secondly, for the Sisters as they receive the news that we do not yet know who that family is?  I'm sure they will be sorely disappointed. 

While we would advocate for any orphan whom we knew needed a family, this little boy is particularly special because Reni's caregiver, Duzi, had chosen JM as her next 'project child' after Reni. And we can testify that her love was awfully special and significant in helping Reni attach to us.  So if JM is under Duzi's love, we're confident he's going to have a heart ready to receive and give love too.  

If you read all that, thank you!  Without further ado, here are the photos!

Reni loves peering out the windows at the passing scenery.  He really drinks it all in!   I'm sure he recognizes that it's all quite different from Kentucky!

Last night we visited a dear brother in Christ, Arjan (Ari-yon), his wife, Luli (which translated, means 'Flower'), and they're baby girl, Anya.  What a sweet, sweet family!

Funny story, as we went to leave from the Beqiri's home, we got trapped in the parking lot by a moving truck who chose a poor place to load.  It wasn't long before a queue of vehicles formed on both sides of the truck, all beeping their horns to convey their impatience.  Eventually, some drivers got out of their cars and voices were raised towards the people loading up.  We thought it might come to something even more 'exciting', but thankfully they were able to get things tied down sufficiently and were on their way after 15 minutes or of waiting.  As we followed them out to the main road, we noticed the 2 guys protecting the goods.  I would NOT want to be riding where they are when that truck has to make a turn!

Here we are with Bob Watanabe (left), Bethany intern from Boston, Taylor (center), and Alma who helped us with both Ellie and Reni's adoptions.  Joann, Alma is going to convey your greetings to Agim!

Ellie quickly got reacquainted with our friend, Ani.

You may not be able to tell from these images, but he's in his 3rd year of pre-med school!

Nathan shared a brief word of encouragement tonight at church from Hebrews 10 and shared about our family's plans to move to their community!  (We got cheers which was very encouraging!)

some awesome friends who put on a puppet show for the kids.  it was all in Shqip, so I don't really know what the plot was, but it was cute, nevertheless.