A New Start

Happy New Year!!!!

A new year.  A fresh start.  The possibility this year holds.... for good or bad.

Somehow, I feel as if I am in the same place as I was last year at this time.  I look back and I see good things like my first mission trip and fun vacations with friends and family.  I also look back and see a failed adoption, diabetes, a heart attack, seizure, and failed IUIs.

We have been on the waiting list to enter an adoption program in St. Vincent and the Grenadines since April.  We were told that it would not come available for us until January, possibly December but not to count on that.  On November 29th, we got an email saying that we were being invited in to the program!  (I remember the date because we were out watching a special showing of some Star Trek episodes in the theater.)  So, that is what we are doing.  We have started the paper chase again.  Home study update, dossier, and passports renewed.  All that lovely and fun stuff.  After our dossier is complete and registered, the wait for referral could be up to 18 months.  Here we go again...

I like this program.  I want to be excited about it but I don't want to get my heart broken again if this doesn't work out.  Please pray for us as we put ourselves out there again.

...ups outnumber the downs

A week ago we had the best Saturday.  Everything was nice and peaceful.  Paul got to spend time on the Xbox with a game he really likes and I knitted while listening to a great audiobook.  We had fun just being home and relaxing.  Later, we watched some TV and made some hot tea.  To end the day, we made more hot tea, raided our board games for dice, played Yahtzee, and listened to music from itunes.

I remember thinking, "This is great!  I need to enjoy these days more often."

Then I have the days where I wake up and just have this blah feeling.  I can't put my finger on it but I just have this feeling that nothing ever goes right and nothing ever will.  Ugh!  I hate those days.

Why can't I hang on to the good days longer?

Dear Lord, Please make my ups outnumber the downs!

Halloween comes early this year!

I am a horrible blogger.  I don't keep it updated as often I should.  Then again, I don't keep my house, dishes, or laundry as updated/cleaned as often as I should either.  Hmm, must be a theme in my life.

Quick Update:  Everyone is now healthy!  No new news on the adoption/baby front.  Still just trying to see where God takes us.

Now to the fun stuff!!  Halloween came early this year.  We were able to attend the Halloween Party at Disney World!  If you are going to attend a party at Disney, you must have a Disney theme, right?  We thought so.  We went with friends so three of us dressed up like characters from Mary Poppins.  We had Mary Poppins, Bert, & Mrs. Banks.  I was Mrs. Banks!  Once we knew who we were going to be the search for the perfect costume began. 

What to do first?  Ebay for a dress pattern and call mom to inform her we are making a dress.  She was so very excited!  (I hope you can hear the sarcasm there.)

Next, a fun trip to JoAnn's for fabric and materials.  I felt so crafty.

 

On to the pinning, pinning, and more pinning

 

 

After all that pinning, there was much discussion over the instructions and eventually we got this...

 

And this...

 

And when you put them together, you actually get a dress...

 

Now we all know Mrs. Banks was not this plain.  She need something extra.  Like a belt...

 

And a sash...

 

But not just any sash, it must be a "Votes for Women" sash!  This part took some thinking.  How do I get "Votes for Women" on there and it be big enough to read and it won't fall off when I'm zooming around on Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain?  Answer: Paint!  I think I might be most proud of this sash.  I think it turned out very well.

 

You could see-thru the fabric, so we printed of the words until we felt like they were the right size.  Then placed the paper under the sash and traced over the letters.  Some matte fabric paint, small brush, and patience, I filled in the letters.

 

Add a hat with another matching yellow sash around it, and you have my version of Mrs. Banks!

 

 

The Halloween party was so much fun!  We got lots of compliments!  Of course, some people didn't get it and I was afraid of that but we all looked great together!!

 













Just to sum it up....

I know the story about our mission trip has really been stretched.  It is because I am a horrible blogger and forget to post.  This post is just to finish everything up.

The day after Paul's big event was Sunday, and we only had two days left of our trip.  On Sunday we went to one of our missionary's churches, where we had a wonderful service and got to meet several of the people who attend the church.  Some of us stood up and talked about our time in Costa Rica and then several church members stood up and gave testimonies of how good God has been to them.   One of the church members stood up and told a story about how an adoption they were trying to complete several years ago got shut down.  They were not able to, or did not, make another attempt, but they talked about how good God was to come in a fill the emptiness.  It was very encouraging. 

Later, the men helped the missionaries move their furniture.  They are moving to a new house soon.  Even though everyone told Paul not to help move, he did anyway.  I would look up and he would have something new in his hands.  He kept saying, "I didn't come here to sit around."

That was pretty much the last of our work in Costa Rica.  On Sunday and Monday, we had a lot of free time since the trip was coming to an end.  We worked hard on this trip, but we had free time too and that just added to the fun of it all.  We made it home really late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, however you want to look at it.

I'll admit that at points throughout the trip I was a little discouraged that I wasn't changing the world.  I wanted to make a lasting difference not just bring the kids candy.  Then it dawned on me.  First, I don't have to, and can't, change the world in one trip.  Second, we got a chance to be God's hands and feet and really love on these children for the time that we could.  God, for some unknown reason, thought I should do this.  I can't wait to go back!!

If you have the chance, go on a short-term mission trip!!  Start saving now and go!!  For that matter, come to Costa Rica with us when we go back next year. 

Deer Island Adventure

We had some free time and then on Friday we headed to Deer Island.  This wasn't to an orphanage, but to a church where all the kids were invited in to the church for a day of fun.

Getting to Deer Island was interesting.  We drove quite a while to get to a ferry for a 45 minute to an hour trip.

This is just a picture of us on the ferry.

Once across we drove to where we would meet our next boat.  Interesting part was that it was low tide.

We had to walk through this and carry our supplies to the boat.

Loaded the boat and took off to Deer Island!

This was the hottest day yet and the sun just beat down on us but, believe it or not, no one complained and everyone was in good spirits.

After Paul and others carried our supplies to the church, we all walked to the Pastor's house for lunch.

Best fried fish ever!!  Rice, Beans and lemonade.

Fish was fried over this in a cast iron skillet with lard, which makes everything better.

Afterwards we had to let our food digest and these hammocks in the front yard was the best place for that.

There was about 60 kids here this time and so I only had time to get a picture at the beginning during the bible story...

and one as they were leaving.

We had face painting, fabric swatches were we traced their hand and put their name on them, bookmarks, and the guys played with the children outside.  We rotated the children in groups to the different stations.  At the end we gave away candy and some soccer balls.

At the end of the day we took a four hour drive back home.  Chalk up another good day.  This was the day before "The Event" so Paul and I ended up missing the next stop at a church in San Ramon.

.+

Day at La Fortuna Orphanage

After San Ramon, we drove to La Fortuna to prepare to go to the next orphanage.  This orphanage was easier on me than the last.  It was so brightly colored and you could really see and feel that the kids were getting care and attention.  We did the same activities here that we did at the other orphanage.  Here are some pics...

This is the front porch where we sat while the kids listened to the story.  Look at all the colors and the decorations that were even hanging from the ceiling of the roof.

Nail Painting

Letting them draw on fabric swatches so one of our group can make a wall hanging of the pictures

P.S. The boy with the heart on the left tried to teach Paul manners when they were making God's Eyes together.  We only had one pair of scissors so Paul would speak up and say, "Scissors" and that little boy would then say, "Por Favor".  He taught us all to say please that day because we said for the rest of the trip. :)

Helping the children with their God's Eyes

Before we left, we gave all the children and caregivers pillowcase that one of our group made for them.  Each one was unique.

They really liked them.  This little boy came and got Paul by the hand and took him to his bedroom.  He showed off his new case and his stuffed animals.

We also left each child with a stuffed animal and a bag of candy.

This was another really good day!!

Our first stop in San Ramon

I thought I should write about the non-medical part of our trip.  It will probably take up a couple of posts.

On Monday we flew in to San Juan, Costa Rica and then we had our first Costa Rican meal.  Denny's!!  It was late and right by the airport. ha ha  We then drove about an hour to San Ramon and got checked in to our hotel. 

Tuesday we went to the orphanage there in San Ramon.  This was a hard day for me.  I had never been to an orphanage and I didn't know how it would affect me.  I was a little bit afraid to go, if I am completely honest.  When we got there they had a big door, like what I had pictured the big, blue door in front of Home of Hope to be.  The property was surrounded by chain link fence for security purposes.  We walked down a concrete slope to something like a concrete basketball court.  We saw a few children here and there and they were very curious about us.  Once they realized we were there to do something for them, they were very happy and open to us. There were about 9 children in this orphanage.  Some of the girls ran up to get hugs and the boys showed off on the two bicycles they had.  We started out with a story for all the kids.  A lady from our missionary's church came with us and told them a story which ended in telling the kids about Jesus.  Then we broke out into the different activities we had for the kids. 

Paul and I helped some boys make God's Eyes. 

Some of the ladies painted the girls fingernails and then let the girls paint their nails.  Others helped some children make bookmarks with their fingerprints on them.  A couple of our girls did face painting too.  It was sort of like a vacation bible school.

After this we played with the kids for a while.  Paul started giving back rides, which wasn't the smart move on his part.  You know, since he is old and falling apart.

The little girl did NOT want to get down.  When Paul tried to put her down she would wrap her legs around his neck and hold on for dear life.

We brought ice cream and let each child pick out their own stuffed animal.

I knew there was a baby inside and I really tried to avoid going inside.  I didn't know if I could handle it but how do you pass up showing just a little love to this baby.  There were moments when I was looking down into the crib making silly noises that my vision was so blurred by tears I couldn't see her.  Then a friend of mine came in a caught me holding her.  I told her not to take the picture but she did it anyway.

It physically hurt me to put her down and walk away.  I remember every bit of me wanting to turn around but I had to keep telling myself to keep walking.

This turned out to be a longer post than what I thought it would so I'll end here at the end of our time at the first orphanage.