Catch Up - Friends in Ohio

When I go somewhere out of state, I've been making it a habit to connect with old friends, new friends, and online friends. Because the adoption world is so spread out, it's hard to go anywhere without being able to do that.

Our trip to Ohio (see previous post), was no exception.

When I found out we were going, I wanted to go visit Sarah's quilt shop.

Sarah is a young lady who runs a quilt shop with her mom. She also happens to have Down syndrome. I've read her blog for a few years, and I was looking forward to meeting her!

After the GPS got us lost, we finally found the beautiful little quilt shop. We had fun chatting with Sarah and her mom and of course, shopping from all the beautiful fabric.

If you are ever going to be in Cleveland, I encourage to go check them out! Their website is here, and you can also read Sarah's blog here.

Oh, and Elijah was apparently tired of riding in the car because when we buckled him back in when we were leaving, he signing "May I please be excused?" Ha! Nice try buddy!

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And then came the surprise of the weekend. I had mentioned on Facebook that we got to Ohio, and Summer messaged me wanting to know where, because they wanted to come see us!

So, long story short, that awesome Spitz family packed up for a road trip and came to visit us at the hotel!

We swam, we ate, we talked, we played, and we had soo much fun!

When Summer and Dave were in Ukraine adopting Bellie, they met my mom, who was just about to bring Elijah home. I met them for the first time in DC last summer, and then again in September and May when I went to watch their kids. And that's it. So our families really haven't really met. Until they came to see us! :)

I'm so glad they finally got to meet, and I got to see my Spitz babies again, even if just for a few hours!

Thank you for coming Summer and Fam! ♥ you!

A Happy Easter! (+Shawna & Seth update)

Just had to share this first. I blogged about Shawna and Seth a couple day ago. The next day I found out Seth was no longer available for adoption, he was taken into domestic foster care. :( I hadn't blogged about it yet, but guess what I found out tonight!!! SHAWNA HAS A FAMILY! Soo happy for her!!! Please keep her and her family, as well as Seth in your prayers!

♥♥♥

Yes, this is in part copied from my mom's blog, but I wrote it so I can steal it. ;)

We're with family this weekend, and yesterday we had the egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's. Elijah and Jonathan quickly got the hang of it if they didn't remember from last year, but I don't think either of them realized that there was candy inside!

Jonathan

Elijah

Rachel

Rebekah

Isaac

Anna

And... this would be where my camera stopped working so no pictures of me. Not that I would have posted them anyways. :)

And some pictures from this morning (from grandma's camera)...

Best picture we got of Rachel in her dress... she wasn't in the picture taking mood. This beautiful Ukrainian sparkle dress was Little Miss Ruby's dress (one of the way cute Nance kids I got to take care in Kansas). She generously donated it to a blog auction to help her new big brother, Maxim, come home from Ukraine. Rachel loved wearing it today, even if she didn't want to pose for a picture.

Elijah was all dressed up too.

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Sometimes Max comes to visit

For the 3rd year in a row, we've gotten a visit from our friend Max during his time in the US. This years visit took place almost 2 weeks ago. It was soo great to see him, if only for a few hours. We all love Max!!!! A couple pictures from our time with him when he shared at church.

Anna, Max, me, and Isaac

I am part of the mission committee at church, and this year, we launched a drive to collect 2013 items for Max and his ministry in 2013! It's only March, and we are at 560+ items!

We had a nice size group (for how unadvertised it was) come to hear him, and a dessert social afterwards. He treated us to some absolutely amazing stories of how God is working and what he is doing through Max and True Hope Ukraine.

Max loves seeing how much bigger the boys are every year! He met them both when he visited my parents when they were over there adopting the boys.

Visiting & making new friends

Posing by the mission spotlight board about him.

With the Mission Committee Head... aka my dad.

And with the committee head's wife. Please note the double cups of coffee and treats, he had a 5 hr drive ahead of him. :)

If you don't know who Max is, aside from this post... he is an amazing young man, who runs a ministry in Ukraine ministering to the hopeless. My dad and I met him while on a mission trip summer 2010, and he visited my parents when they were there with both adoptions. I blogged more about him here.

Please, please, please take the time to watch this video about the new project Max is working on. You will not want to miss being a part of the amazing work God is doing!!!

**Oh and fun little tidbit of info. The lady seen in much of the video walking around with Max, in the black jacket and pink scarf. That would be Stephanie, the mother of the kids I took care of while she was in Ukraine adopting little Max[im]. She was able to spend quite a bit of time working with Max and his team while she was there!

Please consider partnering with Max and support the renovations of the True Hope Center. Former orphans caring for orphans, that is what is going to break the cycle.

Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day

Last night we went to Monkey Joe's (a inflatable jumpy thing place-I'm good at explaining things) with our local Ds support group to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day.

Jonathan just wanted to sit there and bounce. He didn't like that he couldn't walk very well.

"Oh there you are... stop stalking me."

Rachel

Rebekah

Contrary to what this picture would have you believe, Chunky Monkey like the slide. Just wanted one of us to be at the bottom before he went down.

Elijah getting ready to go down with Anna behind him.

Ha! This picture cracks me up. Just chilling at the bottom of the slide.

Isaac at the top, and a blurry Anna.

Is there a rule about going down head first? If there is, leave it up to Elijah to break it! ;) Great sensory input for him though!

We weren't the only family there though.. there were a bunch of other cute kids too!

Like Mr. Lucas! Adopted from the orphanage I visited in Ukraine!

And Micah, Lucas's brother, adopted domestically. You can visit their mama's blog here.

And Ruby and her family! Sister to Lilya (who I assume was there... she's the only one I didn't see!), who is from Ukraine, her family paved the way for our adoption, and I traveled with them to NDSC in July. This was the only picture I got of her
that's focused enough to post! She didn't stop moving, not even to say hi to me! :)

A fun night, celebrating some fun kids!!