Heidy in French Country..........

My friend Daleea, at.... http://jewels-of-my-heart.blogspot.com/ made this dress for Heidy. She is thinking of making and selling more of different styles.....

Of course the poodle, Lilly, had to be in all the pictures too :-)

Heidy was tagged....

Heidy was tagged by her friend.... Sophia of http://our-journey-for-sophia.blogspot.com/

Rules are:
Post 10 bits of random info. about your child and tag 10 others.



1. I am almot 4 years old, on April 10... My Grandma's birthday too!!



2. I came home from Guatemala when I was 23 months old.



3. I didn't like my mommy for a few days. She was there when my foster mommy left and it made me mad.



4. Now I am a mommy's girl!!!


5. We are getting a new sister, She will be named Eden, she is my "sissy from Afaca" that I have prayed for, for a long time!!



6. I have one big brother, one big brother in law and 2 big sissys and one big sissy in law.



7. I have a funny sense of humor. I make people laugh a lot.



8. I have a boyfriend, my mom says he is too old for me. His name is Jason, he is 22 and I am only 3, but I am almost 4!! But I really like him!



9. I love to swim, I can't wait for summer!! I can swim the length of our pool 2 times!!



10. I had hip surgery when I was 2 1/2 and was in a body cast for two months and then in a brace for 1 month. I had Congential Hip Displacement. My leg was never in the hip joint so they had to put it in there. Though it didn't stop me from doing whatever I wanted, like jumping on the trampoline or swimming or running and walking or riding toys or anything!!!



Now... to whomever wants to be tagged, consider yourself tagged!!!


Here is my Guatemalan daughter in a Guatemalan dress, holding a Chinese flag at a Chinese New Year party and saying the Pledge of allegiance to the American flag in America. Does anyone else see how funny that is????

Heidy's Readoption 3-19-08

The state we live in requires that a child adopted in another country, even though they came home on an IR 3 visa, be readopted to receive a domestic birth certificate. So we finally did this with Heidy. It was a fun time actually.

First of all, a week or so before we had to go to the Sheriff's office, so they could present Heidy with her summons. The sheriff was at the court hearing so Heidy "knew" him. They hit it off, he has a 3 year old son. I think they were planning a play date!!!

They called me to the stand first, because our attorney said I was the expert!! HA! But he asked me all the important questions and then when they called Mark to the stand, they asked him the basic name, address, etc. But then they said, Were you in the court room when we asked your wife these questions? Mark replied, Yes. The attorney said, Do you agree with her answers? Mark said, Yes. So they were done with him!!! It was kind of funny.

The Judge Steve, Heidy's attorney John, and our attorney Bill, Mark, Heidy and me.

The Judge made the declaration that she was ours again :-) , and he declared her name change from Heidy Susana to Heidy Lynn Susana.



We can now get her domestic birth certificate and a passport, to go with us to Ethiopia when we go!!! It takes two months to two and half months to get the birth certificate by mail, so I am driving to Springfield today to get it. Then we can send in her passport!!

Easter Party at Pre School 3-19-08

This the Easter part at Heidy's preschool. I am late posting pictures, I have been running back and forth to my parents because of my mother's knee replacement. She is doing well by the way!!

Heidy being coy???

Coloring eggs....

Heidy and Chloe, these two girls can't be serious in a picture together, I don't think!!

Heidy playing the game, carry the egg on the spoon!! Heidy, I don't think you are suppose to hold the egg on!! It was raining that day and we had to have the egg race and Easter egg hunt inside!!

After the egg hunt....

The loot...

I don't know what she was doing in this picture, but I love the picture.

She had a fun day!!

Easter 2008

Our Easter weekend started with Skyler flying off to Florida on Saturday morning. She went to see Milady and Chad. It is her Spring break and even though I couldn't go because of my Mom's knee surgery we felt like Skyler should. I hope she has a great time!!!

Giving kisses good bye!!

Easter morning for Heidy. She loved her basket, She wanted to take the Ladybug sprinkler out then and hook the hose up and it was 37 degrees!! She loved the little Easter apron and cookie cutters for her kitchen! Her Easter Dora movie and ABC music CD. The only sweet thing was sugarless bubblegum.

After church, Heidy ran to the drums, she loves to play them and they let her!!! Don't they know the word NO??? Heidy was excited about church too, because Jason and his family sat right behind us and when we were standing up singing, Jason held her. She complained later, it wasn't very long though!!!

She and Alyssa had matching dresses, and no we didn't plan it!! Heidy is lavender and Alyssa's is pink! Alyssa was also born in Guatemala.

Mady and Heidy and their babies.

Chloe and Heidy being silly!!

This is the only good picture of Heidy I got, there was too much activity in the gym at church.

It was a great day!!!

FFF # 7 Easter Memories

This is Heidy's first Easter home with her Bubby Jordan, Sissy Rachel (Jordan's wife), Sissy Milady and Sissy Skyler.

Last year in Kentucky at my mother and father's house. Look how much her hair grew!!!

I love Easter!!

They Chose Me

I love this, please watch and listen.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3MdQP3OK4s

Thanks,
Debbie

Prayer time

Last night at bedtime prayers for Heidy, she was praying...

"Dear God, be with Mommy and Daddy and my sissy in Afaca, Help her to not be crying for her Papa and when she comes here she will not know us, not me or my mommy or my papa (daddy) or my sissy, or bubby Jordan or sissy Rachel, or sissy Milady or bubby Chad, or Gina or Donnie or MaciChina, or Peyton or Dillon"

and then she kept praying for other things and other people like my Mom in the hospital.

It almost made me cry!! I am so glad that Heidy is learning the power of Prayer and who Jesus is!!

And then I think of this prayer, I read on Jessica's blog....

An Orphan's Prayer

I am waiting... somewhere far... far... away on the other side of the world. I may not know who you are or what you look like, But somehow deep in my heart I know you are out there. That one day you will come and find me. It's a long journey, and it takes a lot of time... I wish it could be easier. But I know that the ones who come for me will not count the cost. They will only see the joy of finding me. For now I abide in the fields of the fatherless, Day by day wondering why I was born here and not somewhere else? Asking... why my life couldn't have been different? It is so lonely... Even though I am surrounded by hundreds of other children, I know that something is missing... I know in my heart I need a place to call home. My arms long to be wrapped in a father's embrace... I long to be saved by a mother's love... Gazing out the orphanage window, I offer a prayer of hope, "Oh God please help them come quickly." Even as I lay in the darkness each night somehow I feel assured, That no matter how lost I appear I am not alone. Holy hands guard my steps; sacred fingers wipe my tears, touching my lonely heart. The one who made me, The God that knew me before I was born, Hears me every time I call. He whispers His promises in my ear. I listen with hope to His voice. But what I worry about most is that no one wants to look for me. The fields are vast and there are so many scattered all over the earth. I wonder how one little child, so lost, can be found? Yet He calms my heart and assures me that He will find you. That He will make sure that you hear His voice clearly. He has promised me that He will make a way through the fields, That He will personally cut a path, and lead you right to my orphanage door. My prayer is... When He speaks.... please don't forget to listen... When He calls don't be too afraid to go, For I am waiting... somewhere, far... far... away, On the other side of the world to come Home.
-Author Unknown

Is my other little girl somewhere praying this??

Lord, Help us to listen!!!

My Mom

*Edit* My mom came through with flying colors!! She is doing well. Not in much pain and sent me home at 3:30, because it was raining so hard and getting foggy and it took me two hours to get there this morning!!! Once she woke up from the surgery she didn't sleep again until tonight!! Thank God she did so well!!

Please pray for my mother today, she is having a knee replacement. I will be back and forth for a while, I will have my laptop and keep in touch. I will also have my cell. They live an hour and half from me and it is pouring rain right now and I leave in 15 minutes at 5 am!!

Thank you so much!!
God bless your day!
Debbie

FFF # 6 Spring Fever

We are so ready for Spring here!!!

I love these pictures from last Spring!! Our grass is still not green and we have really only had 2 days she could go outside that were pretty!!!

Come on Spring!!!!

If you still haven't heard our news, read the post below......

An Adoption Story...... Shortened Version -- Announcement # 2

A long time ago, I read a book.... "The Family Nobody Wanted" written in the 1950's. It is about a Minister and his wife that couldn't have biological children and they adopted child after child of different nationalities until they had 12 children. It is an awesome book, I just reread it this week. See, it was so good and so important to me that I kept it all these years. I was a teenager when I read it the first time. I knew then that I was supposed to adopt two little girls, that God wanted me to do that. Why girls? I don't know. But that is what I was supposed to do. Maybe it is because in most countries girls are treated differently and worse than boys. They are mistreated a lot. When we got married, Mark didn't want to adopt. For 24 1/2 years he wouldn't even consider it. He had his reasons. And over the years I would mention it every now and then. But no. Some friends, Trevor and Jackie, adopted some children, and I think on about their 4th adoption, there was an article in the newspaper about it. Mark told his administrative assistants, "I am going to be in trouble when Debbie sees this"... I think then God was talking to him and he wasn't listening!! Fast forward a few years from that article...


In March, 2005, our pastor was preaching a series of sermons on the "Fruits of the Spirit". The one on "Faithfulness" got Mark's attention. That night we had a talk and he told me that he was going to pray about adopting and he wanted me to pray to see if God still wanted me to adopt. So for about 6 weeks we went on that way. On the first weekend of May, we had a guest speaker at church and he spoke on "A Step of Faith" on Tuesday after that, Mark called me from work and said he thought we should go ahead and start the process. We did start the process that week!! We decided to adopt two girls, and they would be from Taiwan. We thought that it would be good because we have friends that are missionaries there and we could take them on mission trips to see their homeland. Well, God had other plans.


Heidy "found us" on Precious.org, she was born on Mark's moms birthday, she had a German name, Mark is full blooded German, she had a hip condition that was similar to one Mark had as a child and was in traction for a full year at home. The big plus, is that she was already with the agency that we had decided on. So we called about her and found out she was available, we asked for more information and medicals to take to an orthopedic doctor. We got it the next day and talked to the doctor and prayed about it and over the weekend and Mark and I decided that we wanted her and told our agency on, Monday October the 24, 2005. The catch was, she wasn't from Taiwan... Our little girl was born in Guatemala!!!


Over the next month I got our dossier together and got it to Guatemala and in a few months she came home. Her "Forever Family Day" is March 23, 2006. Her adoption took only 5 months from us accepting her referral until her "forever family" day. It was one of the most exciting, rewarding things we have ever done.


Well, leaving out a bunch of the story, but our agency started working on an Ethiopian program. That is where we felt called to go next, so much for Taiwan!! But it took so long for that program to get up and running that the ole devil, the liar himself, put doubts in Mark's head. So for a long time, I didn't know what we were going to do, even though I still felt we were supposed to adopt again.


The 2nd weekend of February Mark had asked God for a sign. One night, being the famous channel flipper that he is, was flipping channels and got to some channels he never watches and there was a show on a Science channel, about a tribe of people in Ethiopia and how the boys got to be men by running across the back of bulls naked and if they fell, they would have to try again to become a man, and the girls were beaten and showed scars on their backs and everything. He thought to himself, it is a fluke... Well, he decided to go away and think, like he does at times and he went away over night to think and pray. It was the 8th of Feb. When he got there it was a beautiful day and was going for a walk and called me and said pray for me, so I did and told him that whatever he decided for our family I was fine with. If he didn't want to adopt then I would be fine and if he did I would be fine. :-) When he got back to the hotel, he said, I prayed and asked God to show me what we were supposed to do, he said he told God, I have heard of this done and I'm going to open my Bible and I need the answer to be on that page. Well, his Bible opened to Jeremiah 13. Have you ever read Jeremiah 13? He said he started reading at verse 20 and got to 23 and it read "Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard it's spots?" He said, it was like OK, God I get it! He is at peace with it now...... And excited!!


So we are adopting again, this time from Ethiopia. A girl, close to Heidy's age.

Not Taiwan again. Taiwan wasn't the place at all, but it was the place to get Mark to start thinking about it.

We aren't sure when all of this will take place and that is ok, we are at peace knowing that it is supposed to be and it will!!

God has had a plan all along and He is making it come to life..... Please pray for us along this journey!!

FFF # 5 "One Year Ago"

One year ago this week, my daughter, who just had hip surgery in December of 06, jumped off the back of the love seat and cut her pretty little forehead!! A friend who is a nurse came over and put steri- strips on it. The Surgeon said it was a good test of the hip because if it hurt her at all she wouldn't have jumped off the love seat!! I guess he is right.


The next day we went to register for Pre school at Wee Kare!! She was so excited!! It was kind of sad for me!! Here she is talking to Miss Cynthia about school.

Jordan

Today is my oldest child and only son's birthday. He is 26.

I am glad you are my son, I am glad you were born 26 years ago today, even though you were 3 weeks late!!! I am glad God gave you to me!

My son is a Christian young man, an architect, a photographer, a musician, a husband, and still my son!

Happy Birthday, My only son!! You are still my baby!! I love you!!!

Titus 3:5 NIV

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

You are a child of God, His treasured possession. He created you in His own image. He chose the day for you to be born. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. http://www.birthverse.com/

Announcement # 1 --- The Thread to Mylee

OK, I GIVE IN.................

The Thread to Mylee ----- http://www.thethreadtomylee.blogspot.com/

Our Pastor preached a sermon series in January, called "Monopoly Money". The focus was that it is all God's money, like in Monopoly, it isn't our money. In the series, our church handed out $50 bills to 50 people and they were to use it to further God's kingdom. Well, I didn't take $50. But God dealt with me in that week, and there were many things that pointed to me helping a friend start a blog to help them adopt their 2nd daughter from China. She will be Heidy's friend, Maci's sister!!! One thing that was that week was a broadcast on Focus on the Family. There was a comment made in the broadcast, Even if you aren't called to adopt yourselves , pick a family that is and help them. Well, we have been called to adopt, we adopted Heidy, but we also feel that we can still help those that are still adopting. There are many scriptures and one is Mark 9:37 " Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.... "

So many people can afford the day to day care of a child, but the initial cost of the adoption is a struggle at times for them.

So, we started a fundraising blog for Donnie and Gina, called The Thread to Mylee. It will have hair bows that we make and stamped cards and maybe eventually scrapbook pages for sale and whatever we else we might think of along the way. We will ask opinions of what the readers want. We will ask friends to have a link to it on your blogs, if they want to. ( I have to learn how to do links) I make a lot of Heidy's bows and am teaching Gina how. I love stamping cards and we have several made. Several more are ready to make too. I love making scrapbooks too. Made one yesterday (More on that another time)!!

The blog is open, but no posts yet. We will post soon and take pictures of card sets and bows!!

I hope you enjoy helping them, as much as I do!!!

Can you tell this is the red hint????

Hints........

Announcement # 1

RED


Announcement # 2

PINK

She is only 3!!!!!! Jason episode.....

Last night we were driving in the car and Heidy was singing, making up songs. We hear this.....

I love you
I want to hug you
I want to kiss you

I asked " Who are you singing to?"

You got it...... Jason!!!
Her 22 year old boyfriend!!!

What will I do with her when she is 13 instead of 3??????