The Twindates 2004-2005

From June 8 - July 12, 2004, the Rose Family hosted 12-year-old twins from Latvia. The boys, Andris and Juris, live in an orphanage in Daugavpils, Latvia -- near the border with Russia. They were part of a program sponsored by The Open Door adoption agency and the Frontier Foundation. This program brings children from orphanages in Latvia to the United States in hopes of helping them find a "forever family." These children are often considered un-adoptable in their native country because they are too old or are in sibling groups.

The following entries are Lorraine's email updates (Twindates) from the hosting program. Click the links to the left to find a specific Twindate.

June 8: Twindate -- They're here!

After a VERY long plane ride and a 2 hour delay out of Newark, NJ, Andris and Yuras arrived safely at 11:30-ish last night. By the time we got home and to bed it was around 1 a.m. But, everyone was up and at it this morning by 8 or so.

This morning we took the boys to Old Navy and Famous Footwear. We let them choose the shoes they liked – and wouldn’t you know it, they quickly zeroed in on the most expensive shoes in the store! Thankfully we were at a store that doesn’t carry $150 shoes – because I don’t think I would have been able to say no! The boys seemed to marvel at the kids shoes with lights in them. Andris (or was that Yuras – hard to tell still) was bummed that the adult shoes don’t have lights in them. Frankly, I am too!

So, they only speak a little English – drink, hungry, thank you, yes, no, etc. But we’re not having too much difficulty communicating. They’re very polite and helpful – hopefully that won’t wear off too soon. The house now has the definite pre-teen boy funk smell to it. Amazing how quickly that occurs!

Right now they are playing with K-NEX in their room and watching Aladdin; Annie and Jimmy are sleeping and I am trying to get some work done before lunch!

We’ll let you know more as we know more!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Lorraine

Right now Jimmy has taken Juras and Andris to go bowling with Arturs and his host Dad, Kyle – guy bonding! So, I actually have a moment to gather my thoughts! These boys are delights! They are so sweet. I realize that this still may be the “Honeymoon” but it’s pretty sweet! They occasionally argue with each other but it’s just brother stuff and it’s very seldom. They’ve begun testing us a little. I think it’s difficult for them to know our boundaries since Annie is two and is REALLY testing us these days! So the boys have tried a few “tricks” like pretending not to hear us or understand us or outright ignoring our requests. They especially don’t like to respond immediately. We’ve been able to deal with it all just fine and haven’t heard any “flack” form them when we correct them.

They’re completely finished learning all of the words we were asked to work with them on (using flash cards) and a few extras that I threw in for them. We’re still going over all of the flash cards daily – they groan, but actually have a good time trying to beat each other to the answer and insisting that I pronounce the Russian word. Next week we’ll start doing some full sentences and having “spelling tests” and see how that goes. I think they arrived with a much larger vocabulary than some, so they’ve had a head start.

Yesterday and today we began working diligently on manners. They want so desperately to communicate that they tend to resort to grunts and groans with hand gestures. Which actually is pretty effective, but we’re working on the polite way to ask for things and to converse. They’re eating it up and I think really enjoy being “polite.”

Today was a very good family day. Jimmy took the boys to the first ever Liberty Hill Church Men’s Ministry meeting at Shoney’s (for breakfast meeting). Then swimming and a trip to Moe’s Southwestern Grill! Annie chose Moe’s (it’s her favorite) and we were a little leery about how the boys would like it, but they gobbled up their chicken soft tacos with lettuce and sour cream (a.k.a. Puff the Magic Dragon) and then ate salsa and chips. They really liked it! We then stopped by a “festival” that was up the street from us and they boys got to ride horses and play in a moon walk. Then we returned home for a quick rest and back out shopping. The best part, however, was that the boys asked to make Toll House Cookies (long story about how they knew what those are) and so we made them. They filmed the whole thing and then insisted on sitting on my lap and watching the entire thing on the replay on the video recorder screen. They are so sweet! We were warned that the kids (in general) would probably be very reticent to hug and not like being touched. This was true on day one but by day three they were coming over and sitting in my lap and putting my arms around them. Andris, especially, like to “hang” on me. Even walking in the department store today he wanted me to have my arm around him – it’s too cool!

The very best part of today, however, was that when we sat down to dinner they automatically put their hands out (we hold hands when we pray) and Yuras asked if he could offer the blessing. I almost cried! He gave a long blessing in Russian, I only understood the word for thank you, which was scattered throughout the blessing. It was so amazing – that was a TRUE blessing!

In general I’m finding that the food favorites are the drinkable yogurt, fresh fruit (not pineapple or cantaloupe) and, as expected, chicken in any form. They also like fried eggs – and ask for them at all times of the day, especially for a snack. They even cook their own (with supervision, of course). We’ve now decided to allow them only at breakfast! These boys are going to eat me into the poor house! They’ve eaten $10 of fruit a day – minimum! I’m going to have to hit the farmer’s market and begin cutting my own (okay, yes, I’m spoiled…) Yesterday they ate a pound of cherries! A POUND! I told them it would make them very sick, but what did I know – they’re fine! Today’s produce adventure was coconuts.

The boys have really enjoyed playing with my nieces and nephew (ages 6 – 12). They especially like playing Soccer and Basketball with them and also with the “Super Soakers!” They’ve also insisted that we go swimming everyday! I can’t complain (although my out-of-shape muscles are screaming a bit). This is the best “diet” I’ve ever been on! There’s no time for me to eat anything extra outside of the healthy meals we prepare for the boys and I’m getting more exercise than I have in years! I’m exhausted, but very happy! Jimmy’s the same!

Jimmy’s “Uncle” Dick passed away Friday so, we’ll be taking the boys to Jimmy’s Uncle’s funeral in Savannah. It took a full day of scrambling, but we were able to clear it with their Chaperone and to get the Russian translator to talk with the boys to make certain that they understand what’s up and that they want to go – which they do. We bought them some Khaki’s and button-down shirts today so that they’ll have appropriate clothes for the funeral. We’ll be leaving immediately after church tomorrow and returning on Monday evening. We’ll return to Savannah on July 2 for a real vacation. We’re also planning to take them to my dad’s lake house in the N. GA mountains.

So, we love the boys. They’re so good for my soul. Annie is getting along with them pretty well, but does tend to get cranky about sharing us with them. Today she was climbing on Andris’ back and watching a movie on Disney. Sometimes in the car I look in the rear-view mirror and see that Yuras is holding Annie’s hand and she’s just laughing and hugging his hand!

We will be having a Welcome to America party for them on Sunday, June 27 after church (around noon-ish, I’ll get paper invites out soon). We hope you’ll be able to come meet the boys then, or, if you’ve already met them, just to hang out and have a good time. In an attempt to introduce them to a plethora of American foods we’re doing a covered dish dinner (yes, also in an attempt not to have to cook for three days J ). Please bring your favorite American food to share – just don’t bring cantaloupe, they won’t eat it! We’ll just hang around for the day. The kids will probably play with Super Soakers and we have a “kiddie” pool, so you can bring swim suits for the kids if you like. If everyone shows up and prefers the kids not to get wet, we’ll nix the water activities. We’ll also have croquet for those adventurous and completive sorts.

Okay, so that’s a LONG update. Sorry for that. I’ll try not to gush so much in the future!

While Jimmy has the twins at the Braves Game and Annie is at “school” I’ve got a moment to send an update. Hopefully y’all got the pictures.

The boys are still as sweet as can be! They’re really bonding well with the whole family. Other than a few short “guy activities” I’ve been with them 24/7 since they arrived and it’s been a joy! Every now and again I want to scream, but mostly I just smile. Even when they’re “bad” they’re still pretty good! There haven’t been any behavior problems outside of what you might expect from any 12-year-old. They’ve tested me a couple of times to see if my boundaries stick and for the most part they do.

Andris is very sweet and sensitive. He’s the one who tests the most and when he does, Juris tends to be extra good to sort of get a chance to show off what a “good boy” he is. It’s a little of that sibling competitiveness we all have with our brothers and sisters. Andris gets his feelings hurt easily, but stuff just rolls off of Juris’ back.

When I first met them I thought I’d never be able to know who is who, but now they’re beginning to look very different to me. Andris has a look he gives me (and probably everyone from whom he wants something) that will one day melt women’s hearts and even now probably gets him places! After puberty he’s going to be trouble with a capital “T.”

We had the opportunity to sit down with an interpreter and Inneta, the “Social Worker” from the boy’s orphanage. She was able to tell us a little of the boys’ history and how they came to the orphanage and a tiny bit of their family history. Jimmy and I have decided to keep that confidential at least for the time being. We’re reminded that their history is “Their” story and not ours to tell. Hope y’all understand. Suffice it to say, there’s nothing earth shattering, or that should give anyone any worries if we are led to adopt these boys.

We made it to and from the funeral in Savannah in one piece (emotionally as well as physically). Our only stumbling blocks were boredom and carsickness. We discovered the universal language for “I’m about to barf!” when Juris said “Uh, uh” and I turned around to see him covering his mouth and heaving. They made it out of the car just in time to projectile vomit in unison. Ah, twins! Naturally, since the trip is 5 hours each way and all we went to do was go to a viewing and a funeral, the boys were substantially bored. But they survived and stayed in pretty good spirits, despite the Dramamine-induced four-hour naps!

While in Savannah they got some spending money from Jimmy’s parents and I took them to Toys R Us where I was introduced to the bizarre world of Beyblade. For those of you who do not have 12-year-old boys, this is some sort of top that spins very fast and battles other tops. I’m not really certain what it’s all about, but it’s important to them and they get excited when they talk about it and so the explanation to me was mostly a bunch of crashing and fighting sound effects, a few English words and a handful of Russian words. I’m sure I haven’t seen the end of Beyblade.

The boys are still enjoying swimming and playing with “cousins.” At the America 101 class that they are attending this week they learned about Family and the English words for the various relations. They were excited to have a term for the relationship of Alex, Christopher, Stephanie and Samantha (cousins).

The time seems to be flying by so quickly I just know that it’ll soon be time to send these boys home and I won’t know what to do with myself! Jimmy and I will be in serious and constant prayer for the next few days about adoption plans for the boys. On June 23 we will be required to make a commitment to either pursue adoption, not pursue adoption or still continue praying about it with the realization that others may decide to adopt the boys while we’re still praying.

These boys are just so incredibly great! We’ve had some ups and downs and some bumps along the road, but these are great boys. Today we really started seeing the real “them” when Andris used Juris’ Beyblade (I’ll explain later) and Juris leapt across the room and kicked Andris who in turn connected with a right hook! After the tears were cleared and the tempers cooled, it seems that all is well and the behavior sufficiently chastised. Boys!

We’ve had a great weekend at the pool and at Acworth Beach. Grandma (Jimmy’s mom) is in town from Savannah, so everyone’s getting adequately spoiled. Grandma gave the boys some spending money and they, naturally, spent every cent (and a few more) on Beyblade, which is evidently this crazy spinning top that you battle against other tops. There’s even a cartoon to show you how cool these tops are and how the monsters who live in them can come out in the ballets (at least that’s my take on it all). I haven’t yet simultaneously had the patience and opportunity to explain tax to the boys, so once again, they were puzzled when their math didn’t work out at the register. They were both very upset that they’d miscalculated and didn’t have their 10% for the church. Guess it’s time to explain!

The boys now both regularly hug us and want to hold my hand (except in public). They’re responding to some of the boundaries that Jimmy and I have set, but we’re finding it tough to know them ourselves. Unlike with Annie, we need to have all of the rules already in place and agreed upon right now. With Annie we develop the rules and boundaries as necessary. We really feel like parents now!

We so much appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes! We’d love to be able to hook up with each of you all individually, but we’re finding that we simply don’t have any time for even the stuff I’d already planned. The boys really enjoy spending time at the pool – so a standing invitation is open to come swim with us here. The boys get car sick VERY easily, so traveling is limited. We either have to schedule an extra half hour travel time for pulling over for the boys to get sick, or plan to have them groggy for the remainder of the day if we give them Dramamine to keep them from getting sick, So it’s actually been pretty nice to stick pretty close to home. It’s not something I’m very used to!

Please remember that we’re having a potluck dinner on this coming Sunday afternoon. We’ll start around 4 p.m. and go until y’all decide to go home. We’re asking folks to bring a dish to share – something American that you enjoy so we can give the boys a true taste of America. I had planned to send out invites, but alas, I can’t find them and, well, I’m not likely to have time to look any more, so consider yourself invited! If you need directions, please e-mail me and I’ll provide them!

(Note: Photos do not appear here. Latvian law forbids the posting of photographs of state wards.)

Friends:

I’m sitting here at the dentist’s office and the boys are back with the dental hygienists. I guess they’re in separate rooms because I can hear them shouting to each other in Russian. It sounds like they’re just asking about what’s going on – it doesn’t sound like panic. So, I thought I’d pull out the laptop and write y’all an update.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) started this week and I had to resort to bribery to get them to go on Monday night. There really wasn’t an option about them going – they had to be with me and I am working at the VBS, so they HAD to come. But they heard the word Bible and the word School and were not happy about going. As I pulled up to the park with music blaring out our windows (their request) they saw the decorations at the park pavilion and were amazed that was the VBS! They still weren’t sure about wanting to be there and mostly sighed and groaned and sat off by themselves moping as we waited for things to start. Sounds like typical 12-year-old boys, huh?

As soon as things got rolling they seemed to perk up and by the end were running crazy and chasing Pastor Josh and VBS worker John Davis all over the park with water bottles. It was a blast to see them rough-housing with the men! They really needed that! The second night there was only a little bribery needed to get them to go to VBS and now the currency of Hershey’s Kisses is established. Probably not the best idea I’ve ever had, but it’s working for now!

Tonight we’ll go back to VBS (for those of you who aren’t familiar with the format it’s a week of craziness where the kids come together and do games. Crafts, snacks, etc all around a theme that teaches Bible principles – this one is called Lava, Lava Island and has a Luau theme.) The kids are actually looking forward to tonight because they’re going to get Pastor Josh (a.k.a. Pastor Poopseek – phonetic spelling of a Russian term of endearment that they’ve adopted for him. It was originally a name I chose to call them because it means baby doll, but I made the mistake of explaining to them that in English it sounds like poop and sick and now they think it’s hysterical – I digress) They’re planning and plotting against Pastor Josh and it ought to be fun to see what evolves tonight!

A cool thing that’s occurred is that they love the music for this VBS. I had the CD in the car and needed to listen to it so that I’d know what was going on. Now each time we get into the car they demand to hear it and for it to blare! The most adorable thing is when the music isn’t on and they try to sing it by themselves. They get a lot of the words right, but some of the time they’re just singing general sounds. It’s precious, but don’t tell them I said that!

They still like to hang and hug on me. When we arrived here at the dentist, they were naturally nervous and sat on a sofa on either side of me, put one of the large sofa pillows on each of their laps (so they had security) and clung to me. They were acting like they were just being silly, but I think they were a little scared. I don’t blame them. I’m scared when I go to the dentist and I know exactly what’s going to happen! I’m even nervous right now, just wondering how they’re doing…

They’re still great kids, but are now truly comfortable here and starting to misbehave even more. It’s all pretty normal stuff – manipulation, hitting each other, saying “no!” to me when I ask them to do things and whining when I turn off the TV. It’s all stuff we’ve been able to handle pretty well.

This week Jimmy’s mom was in town and with her help I’ve almost gotten caught up with the laundry. It’s a never-ending battle that seems insurmountable. I’m overwhelmed at the mounds that collect in the hampers, on the floor, in the bathroom and all over the house. With swimming every day we’re going through two to three outfits a day plus two towels a day each! That’s a LOT of laundry! Thankfully I had the foresight to get some free laundry detergent from my parent’s company!

We’re still stuck on eating at Golden Corral, but have added Sweet Tomatoes to the repertoire. They’re quite fond of the soft serve ice cream, especially the self serve variety! I hope to be able to broaden their food horizons in the next couple of week, but it’ll take some doing!

I can’t believe that their visit is half over. I just can’t allow myself to think about it – it just breaks my heart. I love these boys and want this visit to just keep going!

Please remember the party this Sunday afternoon and let me know if you need directions.

The boys are finished with their dental appointments. Andris has 1 cavity, Juris 5 small. We’ll be back for fillings on July 6, but at least for now, the boys actually like the dentist!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Lorraine

Ahhhh.. do you hear that? No?

Well, it the sound of utter silence. It’s a rare and now coveted sound in our house.

Jimmy and the boys are taking a just-before-bedtime swim and Annie is asleep. I don’t know where the dogs are, but since they’re quiet I frankly don’t care!

Tonight, just before they left to go swimming, the boys gave me a silver heart locket for my charm bracelet. It was so sweet! Evidently, they picked it out at lunch today. They spent the day with Jimmy at his office. Every once-in-a-while they do something so sweet it makes me wonder how I could ever want to wring their necks!

This has been an odd week for us. Last week the boys had some difficulties. Just testing us and pushing against the limits. This week it’s my turn. I woke up Monday in a bad mood and that didn’t change until 7:30 p.m. when Jimmy sent me away to Starbucks for some coffee, reading and much needed time alone. I returned rejuvenated and feeling like myself again!

Last weekend offered the best and the worst activities so far. On Saturday we went to Stone Mountain. Now, most of you know that Jimmy and I aren’t exactly athletes. In fact, you might go so far as to say we’re pretty much out-of-shape. We arrived at the park at around 2 p.m. and parked near the exit of the parking lot near the lawn where the laser show is. We trotted into the ticketing area and bought all-activity passes and headed for Crossroads. We had a blast there seeing the 4-D movie and eating a Funnel Cake and seeing a friend of ours in the Rain Wizard show. Note that I did not say drinking water.

The boys thought it would be fun to climb the mountain, so we decided that was a good activity between Crossroads and the Laser Show. Reading the incredibly unreliable map they offered us at the entrance of the park, we saw a trail that led from the Crossroads area to the “Walk Up” trail. It was just this small, friendly little red line that was only about two inches long. So we headed off. Note that I did not mention getting a drink.

We headed up the Cherokee Pass and ended up in the middle of the woods scaling granite on paths only two feet wide. After what seemed like days, we finally reached the “Walk Up Path” where we headed further up the mountain. The boys wanted to run, but, alas, Jimmy and I could barely walk. To avoid passing out, we had to stop and rest every 10 minutes or so. The boys were as miserable as you can imagine and we were even worse. At one point, as old men and four-year-olds were skipping past us, we could see what looked like a roof ahead and we quickly pushed ahead to finish the climb and get the much needed water – only to discover that it was a resting landing and picnic area. Now what masochist would carry a picnic up that awful rock just to eat at the halfway point!!! So we trudged ahead. I’ll spare you the rest of the details, but let’s just say that a 90-year-old Mountain ranger and a free bottle of Dasani water came into play and we’re all alive. My advice – don’t climb the mountain – it’s just a lot of rock – really, there’s nothing to see but granite. Take the sky buckets up and look around. You’ll enjoy the sights much better. Also, when the literature says that Major Credit Cards are accepted a most shops and restaurants, they don’t mean at the top of the mountain. Bring Cash, and lots of it.

So, having survived Mount Stone, I slogged back to the car to retrieve our “luggage” and Jimmy and the boys took the train around the mountain. As I spread our blankets on the lawn and lay down with feet up the hill and my head down hoping that this would relieve some of the throbbing in my feet, I recalled the crazy stuff my mother used to do made everyone stare and embarrassed me to no end. So, it’s finally happened, I am my mother…. I realized that I’m finally at the point where I don’t really care what other think of me when comfort is concerned. Thankfully Annie was being mortified by MY mother and didn’t have to witness HER mother making a spectacle of herself.

Sunday was the party that we held to let a lot of our friends meet the boys. We had a great time, even if it did frighten our young friends away from ever having kids. The boys were glad to see folks they’ve been hearing about and even more glad that we were serving sweet tea. Speaking of sweet tea. We’ve had to begin regulating how sweet the boys can make their tea. After witnessing one of them putting seven sugar packets into already sweet tea, we’ve decided to draw the line! No more sweetening already sweet tea. There’s also a Gummi Bear limit at Golden Corral (a.k.a. “Favorite Restaurant”). It’s not a popular decision, but an important one nonetheless.

We had one of the biggest laughs to date last week and I forgot to mention it. It still makes be giggle when I think about it. We first read about the boys in an e-mail which contained a tiny one paragraph bio of the boys that was created from interviews with them. It said that Andris wants to be a professional soccer player and that Juris like to draw cartoons, especially Babar. Now, that seemed a little odd to us – Juris liked to draw a cartoon of an elephant from stories written for very young children… but, we thought, “well, he’s an orphan from Latvia, maybe they don’t have anything more cool there.” So, when we sent things to the boys, we always included pictures of soccer balls and of Babar, the elephant. I even got on eBay and searched (and almost purchased) posters of Babar to hang in the room.

After two weeks of being here, I was surprised that Juris had never mentioned Babar. Until one night the boys were carrying on and on for the umpteenth time about these cool warrior “tops” they love to battle with and the corresponding cool Japanamation-looking cartoon. I finally realized that the interviewer had misunderstood Juris’ English and thought he said Babar when he was really saying Beyblade – the meg-sensation, globally acknowledged coolest toy on the market, according to many 10-year-olds. So, we all got the biggest laugh out of all of us thinking weird things about the others because of all of the pictures of this silly elephant everywhere!

Okay, I’m rambling and getting long-winded now. So, suffice it to say, we’re still having a blast, continuing to set and enforce boundaries, growing in love everyday and wishing that their visit didn’t have to end on July 12.

They’ve just arrived home from swimming and are trying their best to wake up Annie. I guess that it’s physically impossible for twelve-year-old boys to close doors quietly and to refrain from spitting at each other and then retaliating. Maybe they’ll remember it after they have to stay up all night with a screaming two-year-old. I think I may put her in their room tonight if she wakes up… but probably not, she’ll probably end up in our bed… but I can fantasize, right?

Thanks for all of your prayers and support –

Sleepless (but happy) in Atlanta

Lorraine

Our time with the boys is quickly drawing to a close and I’m getting a little depressed. Perhaps it’s the sheer exhaustion and total lack of sleep. Or maybe it’s the fact that I have no idea what I’ll do with myself after Monday morning when I take the boys to the airport, but the gloomies are definitely setting in.

The boys leave at 12:30 p.m. on next Monday, July 12. We have to have them at the airport by 10:30 a.m. and can’t go to the gate with them.

The past couple of weeks have been great. The boys have really become a part of the family. They’ve passed through the “terrible testing” phase and entered into the “I’ll push the boundaries, but now I recognize Mom’s ‘evil eye’ glare and don’t want to know what comes after that!” phase.

I’m now convinced that video games are a tool of the devil and that it turns my sweet little angels into belligerent, lazy bone-heads! Jimmy’ thinks I’m crazy J So, they’re limited to 30-minutes a day of “approved games” and if they groan, moan, complain or refuse to comply when I tell them their time is up they lose their evening “Snickers” bar. We’ve continued the bribery and have upped the stakes from Hershey’s Kisses to the snack-sized Snickers bars. IF they have a good attitude all day then at night they can have one small bar. It seems to work, and is actually less sugar then they were wanting at night in having a traditional dessert – but don’t tell them!

We went to visit Jimmy’ parents in Savannah over the 4^th of July weekend. The boys got to see the ocean for the first time and while they tried to act like it was no big deal, their expressions and enthusiasm said differently. They played for hours just jumping the waves and floating in swim rings. We returned to Atlanta on Sunday evening and were able to watch fireworks from the expressway as we drove. It actually was pretty cool and gave the boys a great activity. They searched the horizon for the fireworks as we headed into the city. So we say a small part of six or seven different displays.

The boys have found a new love – Smoothies. I took them to Smoothie King and they’ll never be the same again! They’ve also taken a liking to Chinese food – go figure!

The boys have now been to all of the various doctors and are basically very healthy. We have two more cavities to get filled, but other than that they’re in great shape – perfect eyesight!

Sorry for the short and to-the-point update – but I just can’t seem to get into the groove and even think of anything else to share. So, I’ll just close with telling y’all that if you haven’t yet met the boys, please give us a call and come by to meet them or come to worship at Liberty Hill at 9 on Sunday. And, if you’ve met them and want to say goodbye, do the same and, if you’d like, bring a 4 x 6 snapshot of yourself or your family for the boys to put in their photo album. They’ll be gone in just 4 short days!

So, tonight we began packing. I just thought it would be a good idea to begin so that tomorrow (Sunday) wouldn’t be ALL about getting ready to leave. I’ve already started to have to choke back the tears. We’ve been talking to the boys all day about leaving, so that we’ll all be prepared. We talked about that it will be very sad and that we will cry and that it’s okay to cry. We’ve told them that we will try to bring them back at the Christmas hosting if it is okay with the American government, the Latvian government and all of the other people in between.

Right now I’m exhausted, I’ve just logged my last hours of work for the week – I work 20 – any 20, but I have to work 20! I’ve spent the day at the pool with twelve-year-old boys diving off my shoulders and jumping off my knees and dunking me.

Together we’ve gotten the “best” suntans of our lives. I’ve shared straws with the boys and cut their fingernails – and now I have to send them “home.” It’s been an amazing five weeks.

It’s hard to believe that five weeks ago I spent two days wondering what on Earth I’d gotten myself into and how on Earth I was going to make it through the five weeks! It’s hard to believe that there was a time when the boys and I didn’t understand each other at all. It’s hard to believe that there was a day when they didn’t want me to hug them. It’s hard to believe that I was ever afraid of how to handle them. And, it’s hard to believe that they STILL don’t like hamburgers!

Today was a VERY good day. We went to a “Farewell Party” for all of the Latvian Hosting families. It was good to see the other kids and get to talk to the other families. The kids liked seeing the others, but mostly just wanted to play with us. Afterwards we took them to Old Navy to spend the last of the gift cards and to stock up on cool-weather clothes for their return. Then we spent the evening putting 300 of the “best” photos into a photo album. I say “best” because if the photo wasn’t so completely out of focus that you couldn’t tell what it was – it went into the album. We’ve still got a BUNCH more photos to pick up tomorrow and then we’re getting family portraits made as well.

So, please keep our family in your prayers and the other families as well. It’ll be a rough couple of days, but we all knew it was coming! Also, keep this awesome ministry in your prayers as they prepare to select kids for the Christmas hosting and are being considered by Ukraine and Russian for hosting programs as well. If you are at all interested in this program, please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me. I have had an amazing experience with this and hope that I can share it with as many of you as possible. There are so many needs that even if you don’t feel called to host a child, you can help.

I’ll write you more on Monday after I come up for air and wipe away enough tears to see the computer screen.

After five weeks together and numerous weeks in prayer Jimmy and I are without doubt that God chose this unique hosting program to bring our sons home to us! It’s clear that they have been a part of our lives that was missing and we didn’t even know it. I apologize that we’ve had to keep this a secret from most everyone, but we simply couldn’t risk the boys finding out by overhearing. Latvian law prohibits us from telling them that we’re pursuing adopting them and we don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the adoption. So, now we begin the process of international adoption. Thankfully some of our hosting paperwork will apply to the process as will some of the work we did to adopt Annie two years ago. Be on the lookout, we may soon be asking for help in a fundraising event (a fun one!).

But, all of that joy is just barely enough to cover the pain of having to say goodbye to the boys this morning. To say that my heart is cracked in two is cliché far too small to describe the emotions during the past two days. Last night the boys barely slept. They simply didn’t want to return to Latvia, and the “mama bear” maternal instinct in me said, “Grab ‘em and head to the hills!” But alas, I realize that a life on the run with a pair of kidnapped Latvian twins is hardly a life – so we opted to stay the course and take them to the airport this morning.

Last night there was a time when I wasn’t certain that any of us would be able to stop crying. We sat silent on the sofa – perhaps for an hour – just holding the boys and stroking their heads and hugging them and sobbing. At one point I felt like I needed to DO something and I had no idea what. Realizing that the answer to that is generally pray, I told God that I wasn’t strong enough, that I couldn’t say or do anything, that I needed Him to speak through me – and in my heart He said, “I am.” So we sat some more and just held the boys. After a while the sadness broke and we began talking and then had to go to CVS to pick up the last of the more than 400 photos the boys took back with them.

Although we were clearly warned by others who have come before us, the scene at the airport was not at all what I imagined. It was crazy and there was a lot of hurrying up to wait. After an hour and a half we finally began to move to the security area where we had to quickly say goodbye to the boys. Peeling myself off of the boys was next to impossible and we walked along the line with them, a glass wall divining us. The boys had donned their sunglasses, but we could plainly see the tears. I know it must have been a scene for others to witness – the families of 19 children wailing at the glass wall, watching the kids go through the metal detectors and into the unknown.

A tremendous blessing that we’ve had in the past couple of days has been that the boys began really opening up to us about their wishes and their past and their life at the orphanage. They’ve shared a lot with us about where they live and how they came to be there. But don’t ask, because we’ve decided that it’s their story to tell and we won’t be sharing it for them. Just suffice it to say that they desperately want to live in America forever and want for Jimmy and I to be their Mom and Dad forever.

We’re now faced with cleaning up the aftermath. Those of you who know me well, know that even at my very best I’m a lousy housekeeper. So, I suppose that you can imagine the state of the house. This, too, is probably a blessing. I’ll have a lot of tasks to focus on in the weeks to come to keep my mind off of missing my boys. I’m here at home now and I just don’t even know what to do. Nothing feels right, there’s clearly something missing. It seems as though there’s nothing that I can do until I bring those boys home. Cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, pulling the jungle of weeds – it all seems irrelevant and wrong. I know I’ll have to work through that – the laundry alone will soon ferment!

Thankfully the tears ended as we left the airport. I may have a few more, but I think they all got cried-out last night.

The boys told us, and we haven’t been able to confirm, that they will be going on a cultural exchange trip to Germany at the end of this month. It’s a very strange situation to know that Andris and Juris are my boys -- as much as Annie is my daughter, as much as any child belongs to a mother who bore him -- but to have absolutely no say or even idea about what they will be up to until we can bring them home. I have a peace about it, but my mind races with what they might be getting into. It’s crazy when I think about it, because until a couple of months ago, I didn’t even know they existed and for twelve years haven’t known what they were doing! One of the oddities of adopting an older child, I suppose.

So, we thank you all for being a part of this amazing ride that’s brought us our two sons. Jimmy has always said that he wanted a son. Frankly I had no interest in boys. One husband and two male dogs in the house was plenty for me. So long ago I prayed that God resolve this, because I knew it was important to Jimmy. I asked God to either take away Jimmy’s longing or give me a heart to truly desire a son. Well, I think it’s clear how He answered THAT prayer! About a year ago I was going through Annie’s baby clothes deciding what to sell at a consignment sale and asked Jimmy about the baby swing. He said to sell it, he just had a feeling that we weren’t going to have another baby, that our other children would be older!

Thanks again for all of your prayers and well-wishes and for taking these boys into your hearts! I’ll update you again when there’s something to say, but it may be a slow process, so the Twindates probably won’t be weekly!

Friends:

The first week without the boys is coming to a close and it’s still pretty sad. Not that we needed a confirmation that they belong in our family, but we are now completely certain that we don’t want to have to live without them for very long. We’ve begun to scale the mound of paperwork that we have to complete for the adoption. We’ve scheduled physicals for us (and the dogs!) and begun rounding up birth certificates and our marriage license and filled out a ton of forms. It’s a nice diversion!

Several folks have asked if we know when they will be told about the adoption. The answer is that we’re not certain. But, I believe that it will occur no later than when we’re approved at the first court hearing in Latvia – and if that’s the case we’re looking at October at the earliest. Since I know they’re still hurting, I try to remember to say a pray for them as they wake up and as they go to bed. It know that’s the toughest time for Andris. He’s just so sensitive! When he was here he often cried himself to sleep wishing that he didn’t have to return – a fact that I didn’t know until he and Juris told me the night before they left. Juris is so supportive and loving. He always comforts his brother, often climbing into bed with him. So, it’s a tough time for them both. They are 7 hours off, so that means that at approximately 11 p.m. our time they’re waking up and at approximately 1 p.m. our time they’re going to bed. (yes, they go to bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 6 a.m. – but they get a 3-hour nap in the middle)

We’ve also finally got the house on the market and have actually had some folks come to look at it. We hope to be headed closer to Jimmy’s office soon! It’s been a little weird having folks traipse through our house, but even weirder that it’s clean enough to have folks traipse through it! J

We haven’t yet heard from the boys, so it’s killing us! We’ve sent a couple of e-mails to their chaperone and a letter to them, but so far no response. It can take a couple of weeks to get snail-mail from here to there and vice-versa, so even if they wrote us a letter on the plane and mailed it when they got back (which I’m sure they didn’t do – they’re 12!) we might not get it until the end of next week!

Monday we’re mailing off their birthday package. If you have a card for them (they’d love to hear from you and also to be able to show off the cool cards and all the cool folks they met) I can come get it from you or you can get it to me by around Monday. Please e-mail me or call me and let me know and I’ll make whatever arrangements are needed. Please call my mobile – I really never answer my home phone. My mobile number is (404) 580-3800. They’d also like photos of you and your family, if you have any to spare that you like. You can also e-mail me a note with a picture, if that works for you! I’ll just print it out and include it.

Our prayer request is for a swift return of the boys and for God to remove all obstacles between us and them! Also, for our sanity!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support!

Lorraine

Great news! We got an e-mail from the boys! They’ve arrived safely and are missing us. That’s really all they said, but it was the greatest couple of sentences I’ve ever seen written! The best news was that they’ve given us a time to call them on the phone! I can’t wait to talk to them.

Today I’m sending off their birthday package – a little later than I’d planned, but Annie’s stomach virus got in the way! We’re sending them a lot of cool Spiderman stuff and a bunch of cards from friends and family they met in America. I also included some pictures of some of y’all so they’ll remember us all! I think they’ll like it. Speaking of pictures, I’m attaching a couple of pix that we had made at The Picture People right before they left. The one titled “Allen Rose Family” is of us and my father, step-mother and nieces and nephew. The one titled “Double Trouble” is self explanatory as is the “Roses.” The files are all relatively low res copies so as not to slow your download if you’re on a dial-up. Let me know if you want a high res copy for any reason. While I can’t imagine why you’d think to put them on a Web site, I’ll remind you not to post these photos on any Web site. It’s against Latvian law and therefore could jeopardize the hosting and adoption programs in Latvia.

We’ve put everything in process for the adoption. Now It’s just a matter of gathering documents, waiting for appointments (Doctors, Social Workers, etc) and then praying that our INS approval arrives VERY quickly.

Meanwhile, we’re working on coming up with a couple of fundraisers to help raise the nearly $30,000 we’ll need to bring the boys home. We’re considering an Art Auction, a concert and a Gold Gathering (where folks donate their old gold – broken chains, single earrings, etc. none of it’s worth much alone, but when you consolidate it, it can really add up.) If any of you would like to help with any of these or have some ideas you’d like to pass along, please let me know!

In the meantime, we’re just so happy that the boys are safe and that we’ll get to talk to them!!

Friends:

Sorry to hit you twice in one day – I promise not to do it again. At least not unless there’s a great reason.

But, as I was packing up the package of birthday presents for the boys I looked at this big pile of small gifts all wrapped individually in Scooby Doo paper and Spiderman Paper. And I realized that while I didn’t spend very much money at all on the gifts, this is probably more than they’ve ever gotten! They said they usually get one gift for their birthday and a cake. So, I was thinking that I’m setting a standard that the other kids might be sad to realize they won’t get.

I was wondering if it would be possible to find 60 or so families (there are about 60 kids at that orphanage) to be special “Pen and Prayer Pals” to the kids in the orphanage. It’s a great way to show the love of Christ and to teach our own kids about sharing and caring. The idea would be for individuals or families to become the “Pen and Prayer Pal” for one kid and then pray for that child daily and send them little notes throughout the year and then send them a birthday package of an inexpensive, age-appropriate gift at their birthday time. This would include providing the funds for shipping to Latvia.

Now, I don’t know if this is even possible through the orphanage or if they’d even want it, but I before I offered to do it, I thought I’d take the advice of our pastors at Liberty Hill church in finding 5 other people who agree with this ministry and want to participate in it before starting it. So, if you’d be interested in participating in this, let me know and I’ll pursue it with Frontiers for Children and the Orphanage that the boys are in.

Thanks!

Lorraine

I’m finally writing another Twindate! Many times I started to write, but since we were in the doldrums of the waiting game and no news, it only depressed me to try to write about nothing!

So, here we are. It’s September 2 and we’re well on our way to getting the boys home! We’ve completed our Subsequent Home Study – that’s what they called the update to the home study that they needed to do. Yesterday we met with the Adoption Agency and finalized the “To Do” list and it’s pretty short. While the boys are completely cleared for adoption, they aren’t yet cleared for International Adoption. It turns out that the orphanage didn’t know how to do that, so our agency has gotten them in touch with their attorney and in a couple of weeks that should be taken care of. The last couple of things include getting some documents signed by our physicians (physicals already completed, just need new signatures) and then getting our INS fingerprints done next week.

It should take a couple of weeks to finalize our Dossier, then a week or so to translate and another week or so to get our approval (at which point the boys will be told) and then we could travel for our first court date by mid-October! YIKES! It’s suddenly become COMPLETELY real to me! That doesn’t frighten me or cause me anxiety at all – but it does make me very excited. So finally I’ve moved from being profoundly sad that my boys were gone to being excited that they’re on their way back!

If our first court date is on, say October 15 (just for argument’s sake) then we could have our second one by November 1 and then bring them home by Thanksgiving. Now, that’s if everything runs very smoothly – and we know that we are the guinea pigs here in this region, so we’re hoping for Thanksgiving and preparing ourselves for a wait as long as for Christmas!

Each week we call the boys and our awkward, stilted, strange little conversation is the highlight of our week! The boys are improving in their English skills. We sent them to English Camp for a week and I think that helped. I also think that being forced to speak to us in English once a week for 30 minutes helps keep them in practice. They started school yesterday, so we don’t know when we’ll get to call them next, because our standing appointment was at 2 p.m. their time on Thursdays, and now they’ll be in school at that time. I’m sure we’ll get it worked out! I just can’t wait until the boys get to be told about the adoption. I wish I could be there to see their faces!

Today we took our house OFF the market. We’re simply too far into the adoption process to make such changes. It would mean a new home study and that would start a couple of the waiting clocks all over. So, we’ll be in Woodstock through the end of the year at least. I suppose it was good practice – having to keep the house clean and all! The boys will probably be happy, because it means that they’ll still have the neighborhood amenities. I’m just bummed that Jimmy will have to continue with his 2 – 3 hours a day commute!

Our fundraisers are going pretty well. We have a GREAT Pampered Chef party and raised about $400. We are truly blessed to have such generous friends and family. It’s just amazing to see the outpouring of support for our boys!

Christian Rock Concert, Saturday, October 2 at 7 p.m. at the Cherokee County Arts Center in Canton.

The church Missions Team is organizing this. It’s featuring popular Christian Rock performers Job’s Turn, White Stone and Chrisy Marsilio. If you’d like tickets to that, they’re $10 in advance and $12 at the door. There will also be a silent auction of gift baskets (perfect for Christmas presents).

We’re half-way there! While we’ve collected a bunch, we still need to double the amount we have before the jeweler says we should send it off. So, if you have any old gold, beat up or broken chains, single earrings, bracelets, out-of-style pendants, send them our way. You can mail them to: Lorraine Rose, 302 Chesapeake Ridge, Woodstock, GA 30189 or bring them to the Concert (mentioned above). Any little tiny bit will help!

If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation toward the adoption expenses, there are two ways to do this. You can bring the donation to the Concert (mentioned above) and make it payable to Liberty Hill Church and put “Missions – Rose Family Adoption” on the memo line.

Okay, this isn’t a fundraiser, because it’s free, but I didn’t know where else to put it! Michelle and Kyle Irby (another family at our church who are adopting through the same program as we are) and ourselves, with the help of our church are planning the first ever “Every Kid Deserves a Family” Adoption Symposium for October 2 from 2 – 6 p.m. We are so excited about this we can’t see straight!

Our mission is to help get information out to the community about adoption. We’ve got a number of agencies, ministries, government agencies, and other experts lined up to set up information tables. They will also speak in rotation for 15 minutes at a time on the stage and then there will be an expert panel discussion from 4 until 5 p.m. We think that this will be a great way for people to find out about many adoption options all at once and to be able to get their questions answered and hear a number of opinions! We also think that this will help people to see that adoption is doable! No matter how much money you have or don’t have. And, most importantly, we hope that this will help get children into homes! If you or someone you know has EVER considered adoption or would just like to know more about it, this is the place to be. You can drop in anytime form 2 until 6, and I highly recommend the Panel Discussion at 4. Then, if you’re in the mood, you can buy a ticket for the concert that night (see above).

We’re still trying to figure out how to do something closer Intown. Our idea of a concert with Jimmy and friends performing and an art auction haven’t panned out. We just can’t find a place to hold it and I’m so busy trying to keep everything else moving forward, that I can’t really concentrate on it. So, oh well!

As always, we think you for your continued love and support – especially the prayers! If you want to read the previous Twindates, just visit www.RoseManor.org and click on Twindates!

At the bottom of this I’ve listed a CHANGE in the fundraising contributions concerning Open Arms. Please scroll down for that important info.

Adoption is a strange and stressful process, and we knew that coming into it. So, here we are, just months away from getting our boys home and months into the tedious process of the adoption paperwork. And it’s frustrating. We’ve gotten fingerprinted, interviewed, photographed, photocopied, we’ve written in for government documents only to realize weeks later that the wrong type of signature is on them. We’ve filled out enough forms to fill a small van. We’ve dotted our i’s and crossed our t’s. We’ve asked questions and gotten conflicting answers. We’ve asked more questions and gotten no answers. We’ve had meetings and gotten check lists. We’ve had letters of recommendation faxed and mailed, written and re-written. We’ve gathered money, saved money and fundraised. And now… we’re still at it! And we’re tired! It’s a strange and stressful process, and we knew that coming into it! But, we’re blessed and excited and happy and faithful! I feel like three or so people are living inside of me, each with a different disposition! Of course, the post-hysterectomy hot flashes aren’t helping either!

We talked to the boys again today – we now have a standing phone call time of Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time (4:30 p.m. Latvian time). Their English seems to be improving. The conversations are getting more interesting. I didn’t have to resort to asking about the weather until at least 7 minutes into the call! The boys are in school now and say that it’s all going well. Someone got in trouble, but I’m not really sure what it was that happened. But, the boys assured us that it’s nothing big… BOYS!

We’ve asked them to measure themselves so that we can compare it to their height here. I just have to know if I still have little boys or if they’re soon going to be looking down at me! They say that it’s gotten cold there now. Weather.com says that it’s in the 50’s and 60’s in Latvia, so it’s not too cold! The boys have asked that we send them their Beyblades. So I’ll be packing that up and shipping it off.

If you’d like to include a note to them, please e-mail me asap with a short note. You can type it in the body of the e-mail or attach a Word or Publisher document or a JPEG file. It means SO much to them to get to hear that people in America still think about them and care about them. Remember, though, they DO NOT know that they are being adopted. So don’t mention that.

Right now, in addition to getting everything lined up for the adoption, I’m helping to plan an adoption symposium for Saturday, October 2. This should be huge and I hope will help many children find homes and many parents find their children! If you or ANYONE you know has ever thought about adoption, this is the place to get some great information. It’s totally free! Just shoot me an e-mail or show up at the Cherokee County Arts Center between 2 & 6 on October 2. Later that evening, there’s a great Christian Rock Benefit Concert to help raise money for our adoption and the adoption our friends that Irby’s are completing.

Speaking of the Irbys… Kyle and Michelle are in the process of adoption Arturs. He’s a great 15-year-old boy form Latvia. Their adoption has hit a number of crazy snags. Please keep them, the adoption and everyone related to the adoption in your prayers. It’s a very frustrating time for them.

We have a CHANGE in the fundraising situation. Thankfully, it was caught before any money was inappropriately deposited. Please do NOT send any money to Open Arms. Any money that was sent, is being returned to me and I’ll let you know when I get the checks so I can send them back to you. The information that we got was incorrect, or has changed. So, Open Arms cannot put money towards our adoption expenses.

Here is the ultimate, hopefully end-all answer. If you are going to make a donation towards the adoption expenses for Andris and Juris, please make checks payable to Liberty Hill Church. DO NOT write anything on the memo line. Send the check to me at 302 Chesapeake Ridge, Woodstock, GA 30189 and attach a note saying that it’s for the Rose adoption. The church ill cut us a check when it’s time to pay expenses. I thank all of you for being patient!

The dossier is the compilation of a bunch of documents that Latvia requires for consideration of us as adoptive parents – all of which have to be presented in a very particular fashion. We had such trouble compiling these documents in just the right format. I had to get my doctor to complete my medical clearance three times before it was right. It’s not that I wasn’t healthy or had medical problems – no – it was just all about the proper placement of the stamps and signatures and on the third time it was because the notary had signed her first and last name only, instead of her three names, as she was registered in the state computer – arrrrgh! Then -- can you imagine – we went through three different styles/types of marriage certificates before Jimmy finally went down to Fulton County Probate court and had to wait for a judge to sign an affidavit that we are actually married and that the attached marriage certificate is real and true! Craziness!

You know, at the onset we were given an idea of what all we needed to collect for the dossier, but never did I imagine that it would take this long or be this frustrating! I mean, for goodness sake, it’s just a few certificates, a few copies of some things, an autobiography and some letters. How hard could that be to do? There were times in these last few weeks when I’d deliver what I thought was the last of the documents to the agency only to get a call or e-mail a day later asking for something to be a little different or something additional, etc. I spent the last couple of weeks vacillating between being on the verge of tears and on the verge of becoming a psycho killer! It’s the most uncomfortable, uncontrollable, feeling of helplessness I’ve ever experienced – well, maybe next to having to put my boys on a plane to return to Latvia. We know our boys, we talk to them every week, we hear their little voices and we can’t get there fast enough, but we just weren’t able to get everything ready to be sent to Latvia. I barely have a hair left on my head!

But now, the dossier is on its way and we’re back in the waiting game. The dossier will arrive sometime this week or early next week. Then on Wednesday, October 27 it should go into translation and hopefully come out of translation on the following Wednesday (going into and out of translation only happens on Wednesdays). Then they’ll review it and hopefully approve us for adoption. There’s always a chance they’ll need additional documents, but who knows. Ideally we’ll get our approval letter within a week or so of that and then get our letter that is telling us that we’ve been matched with Andris and Juris and asking us if we accept this match (which of course we do.) That could take a week or so. Then we’ll ask them for the soonest court date they can offer and hopefully travel by mid-November for our first court date.

At this same time, the boys are being cleared for international adoption. We don’t expect any problems with this – but you never know. Thankfully they have already been cleared for adoption, this is just an extra hearing to clear them to be adopted by a foreign family. The court hearing for that takes place on this Friday, October 22. For some of you that date might ring a bell – yes, ten years ago this Friday Jimmy and I and 300 of our closest friends celebrated our wedding! Ten years – can you believe that I even stayed alive for ten years, much less that someone could put up with me for that long! But I digress!

I don’t know at what point the boys get to know that we’re trying to adopt them. Nor do I know who gets to tell them. I just wish I could be there to se their little faces!

We are the guinea pigs in this region. It’s my understanding that no one in the history of Latvia has done an international adoption from this region. So, we have nothing to judge how long the process will take. Since we are adopting from Daugavpils, which is a region that is at the opposite end of the country from Riga, the capitol, we’re hoping that they are a little less rigid with the rules about setting the hearings.

Here is what, technically, as I understand it, has to happen between now and when the boys come home:

Our hope and prayer is that things move very quickly. Ideally (but we don’t dare actually hope for this) the court will offer us a first court date in the second week of November. We’ll hop on a plane for Latvia, spend 10 days with the boys and then have our first court date. Then, in a completely ideal and hopeful world, they’ll give us a second court date a few days later and maybe even waive the 20-day waiting period and we’ll just bring the boys home. This is just a dream, though. While it is possible, it’s not probable. So, I guess what I’m saying is that we have no idea how long the rest of this will take. It could take days, weeks, or months.

So, please keep us in your prayers. We only want God’s perfect will for this. We completely trust Him to direct us as to how to move, but sometimes it’s frustrating nonetheless. We’re still trusting God for the money necessary for the adoption. And, as we expected, He’s provided just as we need the money. We’ve been able to meet each of the payments. This adoption, like Annie’s, is a testament to God’s goodness and provision.

We thank you all for all of your prayers and help. For putting up with my crazy moods as I deal with the good and bad news that comes and the frustration of being rendered helpless. I’ll keep you posted. Hopefully we’ll have news more often now that things are rolling.

This is just a quick note to let y’all know that we heard form the Adoption Agency today that the boys were indeed cleared for international adoption on Friday!

We’re FedEx-ing a few court documents to the CIS (formerly known as the INS) and that should wrap up their questions for us and we hope to get clearance soon on this end to immigrate two children to the US.

The next item is that our Dossier (all of the documents that Latvia needs to approve us) should go into translation in Latvia on Wednesday and then come out of translation the following Wednesday (November 3) and then they’ll need a couple of days to review it and then a couple more days to send us a letter, so we should hear – theoretically – that we’re approved and get our invitation to travel by about the 10th or so.

Our current prayer requests are for God’s continued peace for us as we delve into the “unknown” part of this process, for Him to remove all obstacles and for Him to allow us many opportunities to share our incredible story of His provision with others!!!

I just got off the phone with LeAnn from the adoption agency and the agency had just spoken with the folks in Latvia and our Dossier is out of translation and on the Controller’s desk as is the boys’ approval for international adoption. We’re the very first ones in this region – hence the title “Guinea Pigs.” They were already aware that we were hoping to adopt those boys, so they’re on the ball. They told our agency that they expect that our approval to adopt and our referral to the boys (technically two steps) should occur simultaneously in the next couple of days. This means that we *could* be traveling in about two weeks for our first meeting with the boys, a 10 – 14 day visit and our first court date. This is still just an estimation on the travel date, but I wanted to let everyone know that we’d cleared the next hurdle (translation) and that we’re getting pretty close!!!!!

Please continue to pray for all obstacles to be moved and that our approval actually occurs and that the rest is relatively smooth sailing! Please also pray for our INS approval to arrive – we’re still waiting on that, and it could hold us up. Please also pray for the other families who are adopting and attempting to adopt through this program. Some have not had as smooth sailing as we are having, so please pray for them!

Also!!! We are now actively collecting the following items to take with us as gifts to the orphans there. Our boys are the first kids to get adopted from there and only 3 others are even being considered for adoption, so that leaves almost 100 kids still at the orphanage. So, we’re collecting:

New Winter Hats for boys & girls in sizes from 4 – 16 years-old. We need approximately 100 hats.
New Winter Gloves for boys & girls in sizes from 4 – 16 years-old. We need approximately 100 pair of gloves.
New Warm socks for boys & girls in sizes from 4 – 16 years-old. We need approximately 300 pair of socks.
New underwear for boys & girls in sizes from 4 – 16 years-old. We need approximately 300 pair of underwear.
New Fleece Pullovers for boys & girls in sizes from 4 – 16 years-old. We need approximately 100 pullovers.

It snows a lot there, so they sure could use water-proof and very warm items. E-mail me and I’ll make arrangements to pick up any donated items. It know that it’s close to Christmas and that y’all have been amazingly generous in supporting us already. So, no pressure. But we wanted to make sure to offer you this opportunity to reach out to the kids.

Look! We’ve cleared the next hurdle! As you can see in the letter below, we’ve received our “Approval Letter” from Latvia approving us to adopt two boys up to age 14. Now we wait for the “Referral Letter,” which tells us that they’ve matched us with Andris and Juris. That could come anytime in the next 2 weeks! Then, of course, we wait and hope and pray that the CIS here in the US will approve us to immigrate the kids.

We’ve recently passed two major hurdles in the race to adopt the boys! On the 9th we were approved by Latvia to adopt two boys up to age 14 and then on the 13th we were issued a referral to Andris and Juris. Since these are issued in Latvia, and last week was a major holiday there (Latvian Independence Day) there was some delay in us receiving each of these, but this morning I got a call from our agency followed by a scanned copy of the referral letter.

We won’t be posting the referral letter as we did the approval letter (above) because it has personal information about the boys. But, suffice it to say, that there were no major surprises and we’re accepting the referral!

On another, more annoying note, I still have the difficulty with my name change to iron out with the CIS (formerly INS). I have a meeting with a CIS officer on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. to see what hoops they’re going to make me jump through. Please keep this in your prayers. Asking God to draw this officer close to Him and to bless the officer and also for God to grant us peace while we meet.

We will be calling the boys on Thursday morning (our time). Hopefully they’ve been told about the adoption now and we’ll be able to have an amazing trans-global Thanksgiving celebration!

Exciting News! We’ve gotten our Latvian approval, our referral to the boys and now a travel date!

We got a call late Wednesday evening giving us permission to tell the boys that we’re adopting them when we called them on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day). What a Thanksgiving this is! The boys’ response was basically exactly what we expected – “Oh, cool!” Then they wanted to make sure that it was soon! They’re very happy – but they’re 13-year-old boys – they don’t gush!

We’re so excited that we can’t actually sit – I think I’m actually levitating right now! Both times that I got calls (first for the permission to tell the boys, then again today with the travel date) I was in the middle of shopping. I’m lobbying to have this officially considered a “sign” that I need to do more shopping – but I don’t think that will fly!

Our appointment with the CIS was annoying, but we now have the name of the person in charge of our file and we’re told to write them and explain to them what’s going on. Hopefully that’ll clear it all up. Who knows. We don’t HAVE to have the CIS approval until our second court date, and right now we don’t know when that will be. Hopefully we’ll have all of this CIS craziness cleared up in time!!

When is the court date?............ We believe our first court appearance is on the 7th, but we have to be in Riga by the 6th.

How long will we be there? ....... We have no idea how long we’ll be staying. Anywhere from 10 – 18 days (they close down the government on about the 23rd, so I can’t imagine we’ll be there after that!).

Is Annie going?......................... No, she’ll be here with my Mom and Step-dad.

Where will we be staying?......... Don’t know yet. Maybe Daugavpils, which is where the boys live, but is a little remote. Maybe in Riga, the capitol city, which is a fairly “normal” city with amenities, but is a 3-hour drive from Daugavpils and gas is anywhere form $6 - $30 a gallon. So, they’re (the folks in Latvia that work for our adoption agency) trying to figure out what will work best.

What about the dogs?............... We’ll have a house-sitter, so the dogs and the house will be taken care of. Also, hopefully, they’ll be able to scout the mail for CIS approval!

Will we have e-mail or phone?.... In Riga there are Internet cafés, I’m told, so I’ll take e-mail addresses along. I’ll send y’all an e-mail address, as soon as I figure out which one of mine is easiest to use. I’ll be checking it when I can. As for calling, there are calling cards that we can purchase, and I know we’ll want to talk to Annie, but I can’t say that we’ll be making many more phone calls than that.

When will the boys come home? Who knows – it most likely won’t be before Christmas – unless God decided to move mountains. It seems likely January, maybe February, but we won’t know until we know… that seems to be the way this all works – it’s really how adoption is – hurry and wait and then HURRY! I think back to how we got Annie – a phone call out of the blue one day and the next evening we brought her home! Our lives seem to always be crazy – but we’re happy. Just call us nuts!

Can you help?.......................... Yes, please pray for our safety, our sanity and also for my name change difficulties with the CIS here in America. We’re sure we’ll be calling on some of you who have offered for a few things here and there as they occur to us, but right now we just have to figure out what we need to do in the next week to get ready to go!

We arrived safely and very tired yesterday. But, after a good LONG night's sleep we're rested and happy. This morning we headed out to Daugavpils (pronounced like DOW-ha-pils) and picked up the boys. We met at the Orphanage and had a very good traditional Latvian "lunch" which was really what we would call dinner. We had a traditional soup with a name that sounds something like "She," salad with tomatoes and cucumbers and some macaroni (they made that special because we're American) and also some kind of meat that pretty much tasted like a swiss steak. It was all very tasty and SO much food.

We then headed out to the Orphan court where a lot of Russian was spoken and then we were granted permission to take the boys back to Riga to stay. We're staying in Pastor Petr's apartment, which is very nice. It was a little scary driving up to the old building and walking up the stairs. We're in a 3rd-floor walk-up. It looked like something out of a scary movie. But, once inside was VERY nice.

We're very happy and well-fed and hoping to get back to the apartment and settle in. Our next court (which is called the "first court") will be on December 17. So, it looks like we'll be coming back on our scheduled flight on December 19th. But you just never know!

I'm writing you from Pastor Petr's office. He's nice enough to let us send a few messages from here.

Let's see -- what else --

It's rainy -- very rainy and it doesn't get light until about 10 a.m. and by 3:30 p.m. it's getting dark. By 5 p.m. it's as dark as midnight. Crazy!

We're at Pastor Petr's house right now. He's letting us do laundry and send e-mail! Yay! We're having a great time here and LOVE Riga. I'd move here, except that I don't know that I could find a job. This is further confirmation for us that we love in-town living. We are enjoying
walking all over the town, sending the boys to the small store on the corner for milk and bread each say, and taking public transportation all over the place.

The boys are doing well and are just great. We're very happy and really functioning as a family. I see now how completely crucial it is for us to spend an extended time in the country that our boys have called home for 12 years. It's really helping us to understand how life has been for them, their customs, their food (yummy) and their heritage. The people here are wonderful. It's almost like a movie -- We see stout little old women with scarves covering their heads yelling at a cat down the road and then smiling at the Americans.

We now have sons, Michael Juris Rose and Joseph (Joey) Andris Rose. They're not officially ours yet, but we signed documents that change their names tonight.

We’re home – and finally have all of our baggage, although the suitcases have seen better days. Most of the laundry is done and I might even be able to sleep a full night tonight – if I can just walk away from the computer! I sure missed my computer and cell phone!!!

This is just a note to say that I’m home, we’re well and we sure do miss our boys. A HUGE shout-out to my girl Susan for sending out all of the updates!

I have pictures (260 of them) and a lot of great stories to share. But I just can’t even begin to figure out how to condense it into something that you can read in one sitting.

Please continue to pray for Pastor Petr, the Espositos who are returning to Atlanta on Christmas Eve and the Hagermans who will be with their adoptive children and away from their other children through the entire holidays. Then pray for the whole name change thing and for my attitude about it – sometimes I get a little annoyed that God doesn’t see things my way and understand that He needs to smite some folks and move them out of my way. :-)

Can’t wait to see each and every one of you. I promise not to hit you if you tell me to quit talking about the trip and my boys – because I will go on and on! You may need to call me or just come over and Shanghai me – I’m very crazed and busy right now, but NEVER too busy for my friends!

A GREAT place to catch me will be at the Live Nativity on Christmas Eve presented by Liberty Hill Church. We’ll be at the Historic Rock Barn in Canton next to Cherokee High School. There’ll be food, a petting zoo, fellowship and every once in a while, Pastor Josh will tell the REAL Christmas Story. It’s VERY casual and laid back. We’ll have plenty of time for me to bore you with the details of the trip! J Please pop in any time between 5 & 7 p.m. Christmas Eve.

We got a word from a friend who is just returning from Latvia that we have a court date for our second court on February 17 (that’s possibly the worst sentence I’ve ever constructed, but I’m leaving it as a model for what not to write.)

As it stands right now, I will be making this trip by myself and Jimmy will stay at home. His mom will come up and help take care of Annie during the day. So, I’m psyched! There’s a chance that my friend, Kim Hagerman, who is adopting Joey’s girlfriend Vera (now Sidney) will be going at the same time – that would be cool.

We’ve still got issues with my name change looming over us, but it’s all going as well as it can. We’ve been publishing the legal notice in the legal paper and on January 14 it will publish for the last time. Our lawyer has written a letter to the judge asking for a special expedited hearing (we’re hoping for it to be on January 15). This would be an “in chambers” hearing and would hopefully be mostly a formality. We don’t know what the judge will say. He could say, nope – and we’ll have to wait for our calendar appointment which we’ve been told is “early February.” The lawyer’s letter was very appealing and mentioned the boys sitting in an orphanage waiting to come home to us – and that this name change is what’s holding it up. So, hopefully the judge will be moved. Please keep this in your prayers. I got my copy of the letter today, so the judge probably did as well.

We don’t expect that there will be any problem in actually getting the judge to approve the name change. The real question is can we get it done and then get the papers to the CIS and get their approval back and in our hands before I need to leave for Latvia. Whew!

We talked to the boys last week (and will talk to them tomorrow). There’s a marked difference in their attitude and demeanor. They seem happier and almost giddy. This is a real joy for us and a relief. In the past, Michael often sounded a little down when we called. But, I guess seeing us actually show up in Latvia and going to court and actually hearing a judge talk about the adoption and approve us must have made it real! Can you EVEN imagine what that’s like? I sit here and try to put myself in their little shoes (actually, they’re not so little – and quite stinky… but I digress). I think about them spending most of their lives wanting a family. Most of their lives wishing, but never allowing themselves to even hope for a family to call their own. I imagine that each birthday makes them feel that much further away from being adoptable. Then they head off to America for a fun summer trip and WHAMMO – their lives will never be the same. While it seems to me that it’s all happening at a snails pace – to them it must seem like an instant. Basically on June 5 they were just a couple of cute Latvian orphans and by mid-March (God willing) they’ll be American citizens living with a family in Woodstock, Georgia. How crazy is THAT! Of course, I’m always a little overly dramatic – so maybe they’re just thinking, “It’s about darned time.”

Annie keeps asking when her brothers are coming home. It’s so sweet. She’s also asking if she can go to “wafia,” which is Annie-speak for Latvia. I’d love to take her there, but I don’t think that a 20+ hour transit time is doable for such an active two-year-old. She’s also coming around to the boys’ new “American Names” but I still think she thinks she’s getting four brothers: Andris, Juris, Joey and Michael. But we’re working on it!

I actually have my CIS approval in my grubby little hands! This is the ONE document that I’ve been waiting for since July! It’s the document that was held up while I had to undergo a legal name change, which was finalized last Friday. So, I’m legally myself – Lorraine Allen Rose – and Jimmy and I are approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Bureau of Immigration to immigrate two children.

I had an interesting experience at court in getting my name changed. My attorney arranged for the judge (who was very busy with trials) to hear our petition at a jury break. So, we went back into the judge’s chambers. There was a lot of formalities – I had to be sworn-in and my attorney asked me a short list of questions while the judge listened with one ear and flipped through my file. In his deep southern accent he just kept repeating my name – Lorraine Allen Rose. Finally he looked at me and said, “Aren’t you some kind of reporter or writer?” To which I replied that I used to be the managing editor of The TowneLaker and Sixes Living magazines (two local publications). He chuckled and said, “of course, I knew you were familiar, I still have you in my e-mail address book as Lorraine Allen Rose!”

So, evidently even the JUDGE knew who I was – it was only the CIS that was questioning my name. Naturally that judge agreed to sign the order and that was that. It was just a funny experience to be recognized by the judge. What a memory he has – it’s been three years since I was regularly published!

So, I leave on February 15 to go for our second court in Latvia. I’ll be traveling with my friend Kim Hagerman who is adopting Vera and Vova (now Sidney and Ryan). Her court date is just a few days after mine, so we’re keeping each other company. I should be able to find out at that court appearance when I’ll be allowed to return to Latvia to bring the boys home. Jimmy and I will make that final trip together. We hope to have the boys home by Easter!

I returned yesterday from my second of three trips to Latvia and boy am I jet-lagged! This trip, while an awesome adventure, was certainly rough on this old body.

I’ve got to say – as always – God is so good! So much could have been very different on this trip, but even things that seemed to be working against us ended up being blessings – He’s weird that way! You’d think I’d learn not to try and second-guess Him!

Long story short – we’re home, the hearing went well, the boys should be home by Easter, we’ve got some new things in the works.

You may remember that I went on this trip without Jimmy. He needed to save vacation days and the monetary savings was pretty substantial as well. I thought I was going to have to go to Latvia all alone (which would have been okay, but scary) but my friend Kim Hagerman (who is adopting Vera and Vova – now known as Sidney and Ryan) was able to get a court date near mine. So, with a few days tacked onto the front-end of her trip and a few tacked onto the back-end of my trip we were able to go together.

Now, those of you who know me well are probably cringing and feeling pretty sorry for poor Kim – having to stay with me 24 hours a day for 8 days – but we actually made great travel buddies and I think I was on pretty good behavior! We had a great time – and I am SO thankful for her as a friend. It would not have been anywhere near the same without her.

We arrived in Riga (the capital of Latvia) on Wednesday of last week and Pastor Petr met us at the airport and took us to a small town outside of Riga called Ogre. We stayed in the apartment that his church owns there. It’s MUCH larger than the Riga apartment, but nowhere nearly as well appointed. It was more like staying in a nice Youth Hostel. Most notable about the apartment was that the stairs were VERY steep and the runners were so shallow that we had to walk sideways. It was very scary. We had three bedrooms each with two beds – which were smaller than twin beds and were really just foam on wood. I got a good belly laugh out of the sight of little 5-foot 3-inch me with feet hanging off the bed when I slept!

The first couple of days I felt pretty sorry for myself that I was staying at this place – it wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t very comfortable, it was kind of dirty and it was far from Riga and I couldn’t figure out the trains. Wanhhh…. But, I convinced myself to think of it as really nice digs for a mission trip instead of really lousy digs for a vacation. The perspective shift helped!

Thursday was my court day. We had to pick up the kids from the orphanage at 10 a.m. and then get to court by 11. The orphanage is 3.5 hours away and the Director will not permit us to simply stop in without sitting down for proper coffee and tea. This meant waking up by 4:30 so that we could be showered (actually no shower – so bath-ed), dressed and on the road by 6 a.m. So, after a scramble to unsuccessfully find an alarm clock and then trial runs with our cell phone alarms (praying that we couldn’t pick up a signal in Latvia – can you imagine the roaming charges?) we finally were able to bed down for a few hours sleep. (this is a theme that runs throughout the trip – there was not much sleep to be had!)

My court was weird. To begin with, my attorney, “Big Ilze,” was in the hospital, so I was going to court in a foreign country without an attorney – but – God’s got this in His hands, so I don’t panic. Then, I get to the courthouse with Pastor Petr, my kids, their orphanage director, Valentina; the orphan court judge; her daughter, “Little Ilze,” the fake social worker/real translator in tow. We were quite a sight. We sat down and the court recorder came and asked for everyone’s passport. It was at this point that Valentina realized that she didn’t have the boys’ passports, so we had to phone the orphanage and have them brought to us. And, the long wait begins.

It wasn’t at all like the local orphan court – it was much scarier and the people weren’t nice and happy to see us. As I sat waiting for the hearing to begin it finally sank in – I was alone! Jimmy wasn’t there to speak for us – I didn’t have anyone to turn to if I wasn’t sure what to say. Here I was half-way around the world in a country where I didn’t speak the language in a room full of strangers at a court where I had no idea what to expect – I was the first American International adoption here for this facilitator – plus, I didn’t even feel like myself – I wearing a suit and high-heel boots, praying that I wouldn’t break my neck.

Thankfully (and I know this is a strange thing to be thankful for) Little Ilze, the translator was very young and this was her very first time translating in court so she was very nervous and shaking. The mother instincts kicked in and I became more concerned about comforting and reassuring her than I was about the hearing, so before I knew it, I was standing up telling the judge that I wanted to adopt these boys because I love them, and they make my heart so full of joy that I can’t imagine not having them as part of my family. It was nerve-wracking because the judge had a face of stone and a completely monotone voice. It didn’t matter what I said or how I said it, or how big I made my “American Smile” his _expression and tone never changed. It was neither threatening nor reassuring. I never was quite sure if I’d answered his question or said the right thing or blown the whole case.

After a LOT of crazy questions and lots of official stuff the judge said, “We will deliberate” and left the room! So, there I sat – wondering if old Stone Face was going to grant the adoption or not. After about 10 minutes he returned and without expressing any emotion at all, granted the adoption and left the room. It was one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had. But, the boys are now legally ours forever! There is just a 20-day appeal period in which I can change my mine – yeah, right, like that’s going to happen.

So, we returned to the orphanage for one of their famous “lunches” which is the biggest and best meal I’ve ever eaten. The boys packed and we piled into the car – me, my boys, Pastor Petr, Kim and her two kids, plus “little Ilze.” It was on the trip back to Ogre that “Little Ilze” (so named as to differentiate her from our absent attorney, “Big Ilze”) admits that although she was our assigned social worker during our very first stay in Riga, and she came to visit with us and check on the boys and report to the Orphan Court how we are bonding as a family, she is not a social worker. She is a first-year Foreign Affairs student at the University. Her mother, the orphan court judge, just needed someone to act as a social worker to make it official, so she appointed Ilze as “Social Worker for a Day.” We got a good laugh out of that. We’d thought she was awful young, and easy-going for a social worker.

The next few days were amazing. Friday we took a very annoying and cold ride into Riga on the train. We ended up having to wait an hour and a half in the freezing cold for the train to come. But, we ate at our favorite restaurant, Lido, and hooked up with our friend Melissa, who had been our driver on our first Latvia Trip. We’d brought her some stuff from the US that she can’t get in Latvia – Peanut Butter, John Grisham books, etc. The kids went ice-skating and we sat around talking.

Saturday and Sunday the kids asked to “stay at home” for the day – so we did. We just hung out, went for a long walk, threw snowballs, pushed each other into the snow and goofed off. It was GREAT! By the end of Saturday night I was up in my boys’ room talking to them—almost all night! Because we were in a “home setting” I was able to just hang out in the bedroom and talk with them. We talked about the court case, about the orphanage, about America, about school and progressed onto more personal and important “life topics” – ones that are often difficult and uncomfortable to talk about. We covered it ALL. And it was just a wonderful discussion! It was confirmation of how “right” we are as a family. The boys continued to ask questions throughout the rest of the trip – and that was so cool! They are such good, innocent kids and I almost hate that I am bringing them here to the US to spoil that innocence. But, I’m doing it anyway!

We returned to Daugavpils on Monday for Kim’s court. We got to the orphanage in time for lunch (no accident) and then I stayed and went sledding while Kim had her court hearing. The boys took me down several hills on cool sleds. I have a LARGE black bruise on the inside of my thigh near the back of my knee – I think it was from one of the spills we took – but I wouldn’t have traded that experience for anything! I got to meet one of their roommates, eight-year-old Sasha. Sasha has two brothers, Sergei (13) and Zhenia (5). They are very cute and sweet and available for adoption (hint, hint

After a while I realized that Kim should be returning from court soon, and we headed back up to the main house so we could be there to greet them and celebrate. While waiting we went to the “computer room” where there are 4 old PC’s with video games on them. Ineta, the associate director, came in to tell us that Kim and the others were on their way back and that the court had been VERY difficult and that everyone had cried, but that the adoption was granted. When Kim arrived she looked like a mama bear – strong and tall and very powerful. It was a new and different Kim. The Kim I was used to was just soft and funny. She told me that she had a woman judge (which Petr calls “Bulldog”). Bulldog had not allowed Petr to be in the room. She had yelled at everyone, even to the point of asking Big Ilze “Why the hell are you here?” After a lot of screaming and accusations, the judge deliberated and then granted the adoption. I’m just thankful that I didn’t have that judge on the first day, or the rest of our trip would have been very different as we waited for Kim’s turn.

The departure from the kids was not as difficult this time. I cried a little when I started thinking about leaving them while I was hanging out in the boys room. They made me pull it together and tried to get me to promise that I wouldn’t cry when I left. I couldn’t make that promise, but I did promise to try. As we pulled away, I was able to stifle the tears, so the boys didn’t see me cry. There were just a few tears as we pulled from the driveway, but Pastor Petr began singing a Christian Anthem to me, which made me laugh (hard to explain why it was funny, but it was the context in which he was singing the song). Have I mentioned how much I love this man? He cracks me up and inspires me.

As we neared Ogre he told us that he wanted us to come stay at his house for the night, so that we’d be closer to the airport. So we packed quickly and left the apartment a mess (which he assured us was okay). We slept on mattresses in his basement, which for me was made okay by the fact that it was next to the sauna. I was able to relax for a while in the sauna, take a cool shower and fall fast and hard asleep for a few hours before we had to get up and get on the plane for home.

As I type now, recounting the trip, I’m sad and excited, happy and anxious. I need to clean the house, return about 100 e-mails, catch up on work, ready the house for the boys, plan Annie’s 3^rd birthday party (can you believe that!!!) and make reservations for our return trip. I’m not sure if I want to cry, laugh, scream, run or sleep.

Pending available flights, we should be flying out of here on St. Patty’s Day (March 17), arrive in Riga, Latvia on the 18^th, pick up the kids from the orphanage on Saturday, March 19, spend Sunday the 20^th in Riga, do exit physical and embassy appointments on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning, Fly to Warsaw, Poland Wednesday afternoon, do immigration at the consulate on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday and fly home Friday or Saturday (the day before Easter).

Thanks for your prayers, your financial support and your friendships through this – it’s been an amazing experience.

Aside from completing the adoption, here are a few things we’re working on that we hope you may be interested in:

Summer Hosting Program. Remember last year when we hosted these two adorable Latvian boys for 5 weeks? Well, we’re hoping to have another hosting program this summer – but there’s a lot we have to work out in a very short period of time. My hope is to have a program that brings some kids that are available for adoption and some who are not. So, I’m looking to see if any of you or folks you know are interested. It would be this summer, you need to be a Christian family and have a heart to bless some kids. There is no requirement or even expectation that you will adopt these kids. We will do everything in our power to help find forever families for those that are available for adoption. The cost might be around $1,500 per child (guesstimate) and the kids would need to see a doctor, a dentist and an eye doctor while here. We were able to get those services donated for our boys last year – it’s amazing what people will do for orphans if you just ask. Ideally we’d like to have a fundraiser to help defray the costs for the host families. If you think this might be something you’d like to do, please let me know so that I have an idea who might be interested. Please pray about this, and I’ll keep you posted if we’re able to make it happen.

Potential Mission Trip to Latvia – Pastor Petr has a Christian English Camp for kids each summer. Each week 100 kids come to better their English skills. They use Bible lessons and Praise songs to help the kids learn the language. A large percentage of these kids are orphans or indigent kids. Each year many children come to Christ at these camps. I hope to gather a team of 10 – 12 adults to go there for one of the weeks in July to teach at this camp. The requirements are that you have a heart for these kids, a desire to make a difference, that you can be gone 11 – 12 days and that you raise the money for the trip (probably around $1,500 - $1,800). We’ll be doing crafts with the kids and singing. The trip expense figure includes transportation and all accommodations and meals except any special stuff you want and souvenirs. It also includes a sponsorship of one child to the camp – you can sponsor more kids if you’d like. Donations to cover the trip can be tax-deductible. If cannot go on the trip, but are interested in sponsoring a child to go, please let me know!!!

Donations for the Orphanage – Obviously the orphanage could use some things. I’m waiting for the new list of “needs” and will keep you posted about what we’ll be stuffing into our suitcases for this trip. The socks, underwear, hats and gloves were a HUGE blessing to these kids and were certainly being well used!

March 8: Twindate -- We're taking off, but we need some blankets and a welcome party!

There are four important parts to this e-mail – you can skim if necessary, but here’s the Table of Contents:

Okay – we’re coming home on the Saturday before Easter, March 26. Our plane lands at 2:40 p.m. (theoretically). So, we’re having a “Welcome Home” party at our house at around 4 p.m. Jimmy’s parents are coming in town and will already be at our house, so, if you’re available, we’d love for you to be there when we get home. If you’re VERY adventurous, come to the airport and greet us at the top of the escalator leading to baggage claim. Please feel free to check the status of our flight online at www.nwa.com flight NW 8621/*KL 621, in case we’re going to be 4 hours late or something crazy. It’s a North West and KLM shared flight. Or, call our house at (770) 516-1340 and talk to Jimmy’s parents, Jim and Rita. If you’d like, please bring a snack-y type thing or some soda to share. I’ll try to get some chips and stuff before I leave.

If you are not able to make it on Saturday, please feel free to drop in on Sunday any time after 1 p.m. We’ll be hanging out all day – there will be plenty of food! We’ll do an egg hunt at some point, but I don’t know when.

I know, I know, we’re down to the wire, but I just got word form the orphanage that they are in need of fleece blankets. We’ve been pressing them for a while about what we could bring, and they’re just too proud to really let us know. So, finally they admitted that the kids need blankets. I think fleece is helpful because they dry quickly after being washed, and the orphanage doesn’t have a clothes dryer.

Now, I realize that it’s not exactly the right season here in Atlanta to be buying fleece blankets, and this is short notice, but if you’d like to help an orphan stay warm for the rest of their VERY long winter and for years to come, please bring me a small fleece blanket (throw sized, like for a kid on a small twin bed). I need them by Wednesday March 16 (next week) at the very latest. You can bring them to Liberty Hill on Sunday -- I’ll be at both worship services (9 & 11 a.m.) or you can drop them off on my porch anytime, or call and I’ll swing by and get them.

I found some that are perfect for Easter and have Jesus on them for $8.95 each at Oriental Trading online. If you ordered today or tomorrow, they could arrive in time. You can check them out: click here. There are also still some fun character ones at Target, Wal-Mart and Kohl’s.

If this isn’t in your budget (time-wise or monetarily) please don’t feel guilty, your generosity and prayers have already impacted these kids immeasurably!

This is it! The final trip for this adoption. What we’re looking at is leaving Atlanta on March 17, arriving in Riga, Latvia on March 18, picking up the boys on March 19. We’ll have a doctor’s appointment and appointments at the Embassy in Riga on the 21 – 23. On the afternoon of the 23^rd we fly to Warsaw Poland to deal with immigration. Then we fly home on the 26^th. At this point, as long as our attorney has done her job (which I’m SURE she has – she’s been very good) all we have to deal with is the American end of the adoption – mostly immigration and immigration preparation.

Yes, even YOU can be a missionary – all you need is a heart for Christ (okay, and some $$$$, but I can help you with either of those!) Please prayerfully consider coming with me on a Mission Trip this summer to Latvia. Pastor Petr has a camp for kids (30 % orphans) who come to learn English. He uses Bible stories, a VBS sort of format and Praise and Worship music to teach English. Many children get saved at these camps. This camp had a HUGE impact on my boys last summer. I am trying to put together a team of 10 – 12 people to go for 10 days in July to mostly do crafts with these kids and just talk to them. This is an AMAZING time in Latvia – it is only dark a few hours a day and the weather is usually beautiful and mid-70’s during the day! Please let me know if this is even interesting to you!

It’s WAY into the middle of the night and I have been frantically getting my “work” in order – how crazy is it that I’m leaving again right at a holiday when all of my work really ramps up! Thanks to some great volunteers, everything is covered, though!

I’ll just go ahead and issue a blanket apology for my behavior and demeanor this week. If I haven’t snipped at you on the phone or been “less than understanding” with you, I’ve probably cut you off in traffic. I’m realizing – fully realizing – what a complete control freak I am and this last trip is just completely out of my control! We’ve spent countless hours trying to discern what we have to do and what we have to bring and trying to make appointments over the phone and via e-mail with people half a world away. There was a LOT of confusion and finally Jimmy just set his alarm for 2:30 a.m. last night (this morning) and spent more than an hour on the phone switching between the Doctor, our Facilitator and the American Embassy trying to figure out where our paperwork was and when it would be possible to have the various necessary appointments. Seems the Embassy is closed several days this week (we have NO IDEA why) so, it made things sticky. After about 15 phone calls to Latvia we think we have it figured out. It’s been completely crazy, but soon I will board the plane and the stress will melt away.

I just wanted to take a moment to let y’all know that after lunch-time tomorrow, I won’t be able to be reached via e-mail for a while. This time Devera Moeller is the lucky one – she’ll have my computer and will attempt to sort through the e-mails for anything COMPLETELY critical, so, if for some reason you’re e-mailing something critical, say so in the subject line! As before, I will attempt to check my rainrose@mac.com address while in Latvia. So feel free to e-mail me there – who knows, maybe it’ll happen this time!

We’ve got an apartment in Riga see it here. I’m not sure yet if it has a phone or not. I’ll try to get word out.

Please remember that we’d love to have y’all welcome the boys home on Saturday, March 26 around 4 p.m.-ish at our home. Jimmy’s parents will be here. Please feel free to check the status of our flight online at www.nwa.com flight NW 8621/*KL 621, in case we’re going to be 4 hours late or something crazy. It’s a North West and KLM shared flight. Or, call our house at (770) 516-1340 and talk to Jimmy’s parents, Jim and Rita. If you’d like, please bring a snack-y type thing or some soda to share. You’re all also welcome to come over on Sunday, if that’s more convenient. We’ll be having dinner around 1 p.m. (join us), then an egg hunt at some point. Stop by and help us get through the jet-lag!

Thursday, March 17       Depart Atlanta for Amsterdam
Friday, March 18            Arrive in Amsterdam, Depart for Riga
Saturday, March 19        Drive to Daugavpils to pick up the boys
Monday, March 21         Doctor’s Appointment in the morning
Tuesday, March 22        Embassy appointment in Riga
Wednesday, March 23   Fly to Warsaw, Poland
Thursday, March 24       Embassy Appointment in Warsaw – we receive their visas!!!!
Saturday, March 26        Depart for Amsterdam then Atlanta
                                            2:40 p.m., Land in Atlanta
                                           4-ish,    WELCOME HOME PARTY at our house
                                            9 p.m.   Everyone go home – we gotta sleep!

Thanks for all of your support – because I have such COOL friends, by the end of this trip we will have provided these orphans with (not counting what other families have taken): 25 fleece pullovers, 10 flannel shirts, 28 fleece blankets, 80 Beanie Babies, Assorted Bibles and books, 50 toothbrushes, 24 tubes of toothpaste, 16 sticks of deodorant, more than 30 pounds of candy, more than 200 pair of underwear and 150 pair of socks, 20 pair of tights, 60 pair of gloves and 60 hats, lots of bright and fun hair bows and head bands and TONS of prayers and love. You are making a tremendous impact on the lives of these kids! Thanks!!!!

Remember, if you want to continue blessing these kids, consider coming on the Mission Trip this summer or sponsoring an orphan to go to camp.

The Latvian teen-age boy funk is back – and nothing has EVER smelled as sweet!

So, dinner is on and cooking and I’m sitting down to the computer for the first time since 8 a.m. and I’m looking out the back door at my kids – Michael is swinging with Annie in his lap and Joey is sitting next to them on the picnic table and they’re all laughing hysterically. I wish I could can this! I’m sure there’ll be times when I need to remember this moment, but for now, I can’t think of any! We’re so grateful for the family God has given us – as strangely as we’ve come together – I can’t imagine life any other way.

It’s very different – already – being a mother of three. Where I used to have time to return e-mails as soon as they arrived, I think you’ll all now have to wait until evening for a response. I find that there’s very little sitting involved so far.

The final adoption trip to Latvia (and Poland) went VERY well. I’ll explain, but for those who want the short and sweet, here it is:

We left the U.S. on St. Patty’s Day – and we were frantic trying to get out of town. There was so much to do and so little time. But, packed or not, we got on the over-sold plane and flew to Riga, Latvia via Amsterdam. Our friends, the Hagermans, were traveling with us and they had their two biological teenagers in tow. So we had a clan! I seem to recall thinking it was a long flight and that it would never end and that I was cramped – yadda, yadda, yadda but truthfully, I can’t actually remember that. I guess it’s sort of like what I hear about giving birth – you forget about the bad stuff and remember good stuff.

So, anyway, we get to Riga and are expecting to see our facilitator, Pastor Petr, so that we can hand off the luggage full of donations for the orphanage. The idea being that we don’t want to have to lug it up three flights of stairs to our apartment to just turn around and lug it back down the next morning when we go to the orphanage to pick up the kids. We’d also asked the Real Estate Agent for the apartments we were renting to arrange transportation for us, since they’d need to know how to get us to the apartments in Old Riga and Pastor Petr can’t drive in Old Riga (not many can). So, we get through customs (very easy in Riga) and there’s Petr and our drivers. Petr’s talking to the drivers in Russian and he heads towards the exit and we’re trying to get him to slow down so we can give him the luggage that we want to hand off, and then WHAMMO -- BIG surprise – our kids come running around the corner! Petr had arranged for the Social Worker, Ineta, to bring the kids to Riga! It was a very cool surprise, but really threw us for a loop. We quickly unpacked the donations for the orphanage into Ineta’s van and said a fast goodbye to her and then loaded into vans and headed for the apartments. By the end of the night Kim and I were talking and agreeing that we were sad that we hadn’t gotten to get closure at the orphanage and really missed seeing Valentina (the director) and the other kids. But, we were very happy to have our kids.

So, the next few days were all about Embassy appointments, doctor appointments, and getting passports fixed. They switched the pictures of the boys – Michael’s on Joey’s and vice versa. Which, you might think was no big deal – who but us can tell them apart anyway? But we just KNEW that at just the wrong time – like in front of the immigration officer -- one of the boys would point it out thinking he was funny. But, we finished up all of the necessary appointments on Wednesday morning just in time to check out of the apartment and dash to the airport to go to Warsaw, Poland.

While we were in Riga we were able to hook up with the Cummings family, who are adopting Shannetta from the same orphanage that Michael and Joey (and the Hagerman’s kids, Sidney and Ryan – formerly Vera and Vova) are from. We had a FABULOUS goodbye dinner at our favorite restaurant, Lido. We were joined by Pastor Petr and his family including his son-in-law, James (who serves as driver for most adoptive families, but not us) and his family; as well as Katya, the boy’s music teacher from English Camp last year (who has really become special to the boys) and Melissa, our missionary friend that we talk about a lot. We ended up ice skating (there’s an outdoor rink there) and having a BLAST. This is where I fell twice, but the laughs (and pictures) are well worth the bruises (to the ego and the body).

On the last night in Riga Kim and her daughter Ashley and I caught up with Melissa and met up with a woman named Helen Vipass. She’s a missionary who has created a day center for “street kids” and also several “private orphanages.” These are apartments where kids live in a sort of family setting. The one we saw was awesome and the kids were so sweet. Naturally, while the place is pretty nice, it’s not an actual home and the kids who are available really DO need to be adopted so that they can have families. I think their Web site is www.Hope.lv.

We met two adorable little girls, Inneya who is 8 and Natasha who is 7 (both available for adoption). We also met some older kids, but didn’t really spend any time with them – they were preoccupied on the computer. When we first arrived the little ones were very shy and wouldn’t even let us see their faces, but, soon I started handing out the hair bows that I’d brought and that helped break the ice. When I broke out the candy – the smiles appeared and when I showed them that they could see pictures I’d taken on my digital camera, they came alive. They took off with the camera – taking pictures of each other and of us. We laughed and giggled and tickled and had a great couple of hours. It was a tremendous blessing to meet these kids and the women who work with them. If I could have, I’d have put the two little girls into my suitcases and brought them home.

I spent the next morning packing and cleaning. Then, after a very short flight on a tiny little jet we arrived in Poland Wednesday afternoon. We took a shuttle (actually, we had to take two for the 10 of us – Hagermans and Roses) to the Marriott where we checked in and flopped onto our big comfy “Western-style” beds. It was a nice room, but a VERY expensive one. I’ve already written about the $140 dinner… Poland was really just an obstacle between Latvia and home. We did a little shopping – bought new shoes for the family – and counted the hours until we could depart – somewhere in the middle there we had our Embassy appointment. We arrived a little before our appointed time for the appointment and while standing in line at the Information Window we were spotted by a security guard. Evidently we stand out quite clearly as Americans. A guard stepped out and asked us if we were Americans, when we said that we are and were there for adoption, he opened the little rope in the LONG line to enter and let us go in immediately. As un-Christian as it was, I took great pleasure in feeling important there for a moment as I was escorted by the guard to cut in front of everyone. I repented later that afternoon – sort of – when we had to stand in line with everyone else to pick up the Visa. No special treatment there.

So, the Embassy was finished Thursday afternoon – no bumps or blips except that we had no idea what copies of what were needed and how many the Embassy needed and if we’d get any back – we were a little confused, and ended up paying $1 a page to have the Embassy copy some stuff so we’d still have one for ourselves. We’d built-in an extra day just in case there were problems, and, of course, since it was a holiday weekend (Easter) there were no seats on the Friday flight, we had to stay another day. But, Saturday morning at 3 a.m. we woke up, caught cabs by 4:15 and arrived at the airport by 4:45 a.m. for our flight home. It, too, we completely full and seemed eternal, but was over before I knew it!

Immigration was a breeze and the immigration officer was very nice. We hadn’t prepared the boys for having to sign their names (remember they have new American names) so the officer allowed them to practice first before having to sign it officially!

When we arrived at the airport we were greeted by our friend (and taxi) Devera as well as Michael and Heather, Rocky and Maria, and my Dad and nieces and nephew! It was VERY cool! We got home and there was a group there! We had a terrific welcome home party and kicked everyone out at 7 p.m. to prepare for bed!

So, here it is, Tuesday evening and I’m still knee-deep in laundry. I don’t know if I’ll ever win that battle. The kids are adjusting and I’m learning that having one kid is for amateurs. J I adore the boys and they’re humoring me as I dote on them and hang on them and kiss them.

I can’t tell you all how MUCH I truly and deeply appreciate ALL of the support you all have given us – financial, prayers, emotional, etc…. You have all been such a tremendous part of this way-cool journey! I can’t wait for each and every one of you to personally meet the boys and get to know our wacky family!

Please to pray for the continued bonding of the family, for our Mission Trip to Latvia and for any future adoptions God has in store for us!

I’m just a little bit terrified – my kids are growing up! Annie is wearing panties to school today. I just let the boys go off unsupervised in the neighborhood on their bikes (with walkie-talkies so I can stay in touch) and Joey has a zit! Who came up with this whole aging thing anyway? While I’m certainly tired of changing diapers and the histrionics surrounding the pre-school drop-off, I am not ready for this!

Other than the kids insisting on growing up too fast, things at Rose Manor (as we fondly call our home) are going well. We’re settling into a routine and I’m actually not at the end of my rope yet today! Homeschooling, as we expected, is a challenge. We’ve tried a couple of different tactics and haven’t yet found anything that work very well. Today I put together a few lessons on my own and the boys did pretty well with them. They really just need to build their vocabulary and writing skills.

The boys enjoyed Soccer Camp last week. I especially enjoyed the few hours each day by myself to get work done. They will be trying out for Redwings soccer (select soccer) in June and we’ll see how it goes from there. They’ll probably either play Redwings or Recreational soccer this summer and fall. They had their first gymnastics class just before Spring Break and really loved that. They’re growing accustomed to the patterns here in the US and slowly learning the new required behavior skills. They’re such good boys but their manners just aren’t yet up to my standards. Sadly, they’re still better than some kids I meet!

All in all it’s a chaotic but wonderful life! I don’t have time to return e-mails as often as I used to and I sometimes go two days before I check my voice mail – I now understand why my friends with multiple kids sometimes don’t return my messages. The laundry is STILL piled up all over the upstairs and I can’t remember when I mopped my floors last – but I’ll get to it sometime. In the meantime I’ll just continue to move forward and aim to have dinner ready each night and breakfast ready each morning and to keep everyone alive in the middle!

I just wanted to take the opportunity to once again thank you for your support and let you know that the “Twindates” will come to an end. I’ll certainly still remain in touch with you all as our family moves forward, but at the boys’ request I’ve agreed to quit talking about them so much and not share their lives with everyone all of the time. They just want to be normal boys and just be a part of our family – like any other kid. While they understand the importance of helping others with adoption and staying in touch with the kids they left behind at the orphanage, they, understandably, don’t want everyone to know that they are adopted – they just want a chance to be normal kids with a normal family just like anyone else.

So, stay in touch – send us letters (it’ll force the boys to read!) and we’ll have y’all over for a BBQ when we find the grill!