Call from Helen

I got a call from Helen Vipass yesterday that made my day! Helen Grimshaw is a wonderful lady that works with Helen Vipass at Hope for Children. She was told during the summer hosting that she had cancer in her retina. 7 doctors confirmed this diagnosis. She went back to the doctors this week and PRAISE GOD - There was NO Cancer!! The doctor's could not figure out why, but we know why! Because God is BIG!!!!!!!!!
Helen confirmed that Edgar is starting a new school on September 4th. It is a boarding school but it is in Riga. He will stay there during the week and go home on Fridays. This is better than last year's school where he only came home for summer and Christmas! I asked her if they would be refrigerating his medicine and she said she would make sure they do! Edgar seems excited about starting school which suprised me. He is usually opposed to anything involving school. This school really seemed to make an impression on him. Helen said that it is a new type of school in Riga and doesn't seem to be as formal. Schools in Latvia are apparently a lot more formal than American schools. Fun is not in the schools' vocabulary. Hopefully Edgar will do well at this school!
I have gotten accustomed to talking to him and seeing him on Skype almost every day. It is going to be hard to only get to talk to him on weekends.
As for an update on the Student Visa - The Language school is still waiting on approval. Helen said that once the school has approval she will go the head of the Orphan court and discuss the situation. This way we will know how things are going to go before we even have an official court date. We are all praying that things will go smoothly and he can be home by Christmas!
I will keep you posted. Keep praying! Phil 4:6-7
Love,
Krista

Letter from Latvia

We were so excited to open the mail today and find an envelope postmarked Riga, Latvia! I was expecting to find a note from Edgars. But it wasn't, it was pictures of Edgars and his friends, along with a letter from Natalija his caregiver. I took the letter to a friend's house so her son could translate the letter for me. He couldn't read all of it because Latvian is his native language and not Russian. However he was able to get the main idea. Basically she was just thanking us for our heart for Edgars and telling us how much he dreams of having a family to call his own. She also said that our calls mean a lot to him. It was neat to get the letter and to see the pictures of him in Latvia. We are praying that someday soon we can make his dreams come true and become that family he has dreamed of calling his own!!
Love,
Krista

Update

It has been almost 4 weeks since Edgars went home and we miss him more everyday. We are able to talk to him frequently and see him via Skype, but it just isn't the same as having him in our arms!
Just yesterday I got an email from the principal of The Language School stating that she had received the money to apply to accept international students and she would be starting the application process today. Typically the process takes 90 days. So it is looking like November before the school can issue an I-20 for us to send to Latvia. We are hoping that this will allow us enough time to bring him here by Christmas and he can start school after the Christmas holidays.
I will keep you updated as we know more but right now it is just a waiting game!
Love,
Krista

Why Latvia

People often ask us "Why Latvia?". The most important reason is that God has turned our hearts toward Latvia. There are a disproportionate number of orphans in Latvia for the size of the population. Often times families or individuals who have the desire to help simply can't for a lack of resources. There is little hope for the orphans to recieve help in Latvia. Here are some heartbreaking statistics and facts that have been shared with us:

Last year a survey was taken of over 1000 children in Latvia. Here are the results:

• 54% of surveyed children do not have enough to eat
• 62% do not have sufficient clothing
• 44% don't have electricity, heating, hot water or cold water at home
• 39% said they cannot turn to doctors for help with medical needs
• 52% cannot afford to buy the medicine they need
• 80% live in families where parents/guardians drink heavily
• 79% said they don't wish to study
• 53% don't have the study materials they need
• 66% said they don't have anyone to talk to, to share their thoughts with, ask advice of
• 32% think of commiting suicide

The statistics are even more heartbreaking for the orphans of Latvia:

• The older an orphan gets, the chances for his/her adoption drastically decrease.
• Each year many orphans between 15 to 18-years-old leave the orphanages.
• Most of these orphans have no one to turn to for help.
• About 10% of them will commit suicide after leaving the orphanage before their 18th birthday.
• 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution.
• 70% of the boys will enter a life of crime.
• Only 27% of these youth will find work.

From an article titled "Plight of Orphaned Children in Latvia":

Latvia is one of the smallest countries in Eastern Europe and also one of the poorest, with children often bearing the brunt of chronic poverty. Since the fall of communism, the ex Soviet Republics have struggled to move towards true democracy and a free economy. Living standards have declined dramatically over the past decade and many families – particularly those with single parents - are living below the poverty line.
Amid these tough social and economic conditions, some mothers cannot cope and either abandon their children or give them up to orphanages. Hundreds of thousands of children in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet countries currently live in such institutions.
These post-Soviet children’s homes and orphanages are overcrowded, run-down, and under-funded. Even in some of the ‘best equipped’ orphanages, children are undernourished and physically small for their age. Education standards vary wildly due to limited budgets and other priorities, and children have very few life or work skills to enable them to integrate back into society. Most lack the proper education needed to be admitted to the secondary educational facilities, or they drop out quickly if they manage this feat due to the pressures of providing for themselves without proper support. The majority of youths have nowhere to go once they reach the age of 18 and must exit the only home that most have ever known. A life in the streets leading to crime, prostitution, alcohol and drug abuse is the destiny of most of these young people.
These orphans are easy prey for sex and slave traffickers. According to Amnesty International, young women and girls, often vulnerable because of economic deprivation or for having already been physically abused, are easy targets. They dream of a better life, which the traffickers promise when they offer them "work" in the West. Instead of getting a proper job, the women and girls find themselves trapped, enslaved, forced into the sex industry.
Trafficked women and girls are exposed to a series of human rights abuses, including abduction, deprivation of liberty and denial of freedom of movement, torture and ill treatment, including psychological threats, beatings and rape. To escape their devastating life, suicide is unfortunately the only option some of these children feel is available to them.

"We know what love is because Christ gave His life for us. We should give our lives for our brothers. What if a person has enough money to live on and sees his brother in need of food and clothing? If he does not help him, how can the love of God be in him? My children, let us not love with words or in talk only. Let us love by what we do and in truth."

1 John 3:16-18

The most American Latvian Boy :-)

Helen says that "Eddie" is the most American Latvian boy she has ever seen! He loves all things American. She said on the airplane he was talking to everyone, taking away his accent and trying to sound American. At our goodbye party on Sunday one of his friends was talking to him in Russian and he said "I'm sorry, I can't understand you, can you please speak in English". Then he told us that he wasn't going to speak in anything but English when he got back home. He said when he goes to school he is only going to speak in English. We told him that might not be a good idea and he could probably get in trouble. He just laughed. I am sure that he has reverted back to speaking Latvian and Russian by now but I don't think he is going to have any trouble adapting to the American culture!!

Safe arrival, sad hearts

The kids made it home safely to Latvia. Edgars called me on Skype this morning. He said the flight was bumpy and there were a lot of tears. There were a lot of tears back in America too!!
It was hard to leave the airport. Hard to come home to a house that felt empty to all of us. Tears came quickly for Patrick and Morgan at bedtime, and for me and Gene, too!!
We are just holding out hope that Edgars will be back in our arms soon. Helen is going to work on getting information from the orphan court on the Student Visa and we are going to work on this end to get him enrolled in school. Once the school gets approved to be able to bring him, then we can go forward. For now we just wait. Patience is going to be our challenge over the next few months. Thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. The phone calls and emails of support over the past couple of days have meant the world to us. We are so thankful to have wonderful friends!
Love,
Krista

Time to say goodbye

Wow...four weeks have gone by so fast! Tonight our hearts are very heavy!
Today I took Eddie (as he likes to be called) to Walmart to pick out some gifts for his brother, Kristaps and his friend, Serges back in Latvia. He also got a couple of things to keep him occupied and some snacks for the plane. We picked up the last of his pictures and finished up his photo album. Then we cooked Shishkabobs and corn on the cob (or popcorn as he calls it) which were YUMMY! The kids played together a lot this evening and then finished it off with Eddie taking a BIG bubble bath! I have to fight back tears to recount the day because tomorrow night at this time, he won't be here.
Last night he said "Krista, are you my mommy?" And I said "Yes, I am your American mommy." He said "Except you don't drink, or smoke or hit" So I said "No, but sometimes me and Gene disagree and we get mad at each other, but we work it out and everything is okay." and he said "Yes, you use your words and not your hands."
Part of the purpose of Frontiers for Children is to show these kids that there is another way than the way their lives were with their biological parents. That conversation showed me that he realized there is another way. Not that our family is perfect by any means, but we have Jesus and we have love and that makes all the difference!!
Love,
Krista

Only a few days left...

As the time nears for Edgars to go home, the tears are coming more frequently for me and for him. None of us want to say goodbye. Especially not knowing what the future holds. I know that God is going to take care of him, but it doesn't make it any easier to let him go. Please pray for us as we go thru the next few days. We are trying to make the most of every moment.
Gene's family came up today and we went to the park and grilled out. We had a great day. Edgar managed to step in a nest of yellow jackets and got stung three times. It was scary, but he is okay. We thought for a little while we might have to take him to get a shot, but we gave him Benadryl and he was okay.
We had a long talk at bedtime about when he goes home. I asked him to keep reading his Bible and praying every night just like we do here. And I asked him to remember that when he doesn't have anyone else, he has God. I hope that he will remember that when he has hard times and we can't be there to wrap our arms around him.
Going thru this process has been probably one of the hardest things that I have ever gone thru in my life. But I know that God is carrying us thru it. It is truly life changing and no matter the outcome, I am grateful for the experiance. After all, it is in the valleys that we grow.
Love,
Krista

Update...

It is the transmission that went out on my van. I don't know anything about cars, but something about the rings and pistons were broken in the bottom of the case. It is going to cost us $1800 for them to rebuild the transmission. I read on the internet that this is common for Fords. It is only a 2003, there is no reason it should need a new transmission! But we recognize that it is an attack and we are just going to keep pressing on!!!
Love,
Krista

Dentist, rock climbing and car trouble

Today was a challenging day. I had to go to Columbus for a meeting for work so Gene took off work to take care of the kids. Edgar had his final dentist appointment today. Last night we made cookies and brownies for Dr Mike and Mrs Vanessa. They have been so nice to give up their lunch breaks and do all of this work for free. After the dentist Gene took the kids rock climbing at Escalade Climbing Gym.
On the way home from Columbus my van was acting weird. The dash kept shaking on and off and it was concerning me, but thankfully I made it home without issue. When I was on my way to meet Gene and the kids for dinner my van started acting really weird and even though I had the gas pedal to the floor it wouldn't go over 20 mph. At Christmas my van acted up and it was just a small part that needed to be replaced so we thought it was that part. Gene ordered the part and bought some stuff to clean it. We ate dinner and then while they went back to the gym I went home to get some work done. I didn't get half a mile from the gym when my van wouldn't go anymore. The engine was running fine, but it might as well have been in neutral because no matter how much I pushed the gas, the engine revved but the car didn't go. Gene thinks it is the transmission. We had to have the van towed to a shop. Its only 3 years old so I can't believe the transmission would go out already. I am praying it is a small part that is going to cost very little.
Everything has been falling into place for us to bring Edgar on a Student Visa. A $3000 transmission job will seriously hinder us being able to do that.
I was teasing Edgar and asking him what he was doing to my van since at Christmas while he was here it broke down and it has been fine since then until now. He laughed and told me a crazy story about him opening his dad's hood and unhooking some wires so his dad's car wouldn't work and then when his dad would leave he would hook them back up, then a few days later unhook it again until finally he got caught. I asked if he got in trouble and he said no, his dad was very happy.... Sometimes we don't know what of his stories to believe, but I made him promise not to do that to our cars anyway! hahaha!
The next few days are going to be very emotional for all of us, add to that the stress of car trouble. We just have to remember to keep our eyes focused upward and He is going to take care of us!
Keep us in your prayers!
Love,
Krista

Only one week to go...

Sadly three weeks have flown by and we only have one more week before we have to say Goodbye! It has gone so fast. We have had a great time. At the very least we have given Edgars an awesome summer, went lots of fun places, taught him about God, loved on him, gotten his teeth fixed and gotten answers about his medicine. That is a big, huge praise!! I still am praying that we can offer him more. We have not met any families that are interested in adoption and money has not fallen out of the sky to pay for the visa. However, God is big and he has a big plan for this special kid. I am keeping the faith.
Last weekend we went camping and had a lot of fun. Edgars caught 12 fish and he has asked us for a fishing pole to take back to Latvia. We went swimming at Lake Allatoona and the kids wore Gene out - standing on him, climbing on him and using him to catapult them into the water! We all got a lot of sun and Edgars is very proud of his tan!! :-)
Monday we went to the dentist and Edgars got his tooth pulled and three fillings. He even got to put his tooth under his pillow and found a surprise from the tooth fairy this morning! He said he saw me do it. I promised him it wasn't me! (It wasn't! It was Gene! hehe)
Then we went to Stone Mountain for the afternoon/evening. It was hot, but we had a great time. The night finished off with the laser show. Edgars loved it! He didn't care much for the pictures on the mountain but he LOVED watching the building behind us where the lasers came out.
Pray for us this week. Emotions are running high. I can feel myself start to tear up whenever I think about it. I have noticed the tears are coming a little quicker for Edgars as well. It isn't going to be easy, but I am glad for the experience all the same!
I uploaded the pictures thru last week on Photoshow if you want to take a peek!
Love,
Krista

Good News from the Dr!

Doctor Schultz, the endocrinologist just called to let us know that Edgars' bloodwork came back good. His thyroid level was normal. His Growth hormone was in the low range, but he expected this. He said it isn't out of range, so that is very good. He said with the proper dosage, getting the hormone every day and keeping the medicine refrigerated it should be in normal range in no time! This is great news!!!!!!
Love,
Krista

Swimming in the buff :-)

Last night we went swimming at the home of one of Edgars' friends, Ineja. All the kids were swimming and having a good time when all of a sudden Edgar yells "Help me, Krista!" I hollered back to him "What do you need help with?" He says "My bathing suit, it is downstairs" I looked over and he was completely in the buff! We were all laughing so hard we could hardly help him. I didn't have my bathing suit on so we got one of the kids to retrieve his suit from the bottom of the pool. Gene held a raft around him while he put it back on! The boy is so skinny, even tying it as tight as it would go it barely fits! I think next time we go swimming we will safety pin it! But it gave us all a good laugh!

Just for you Jackie :-)

A good friend of mine told me I needed to share some of the stories I was telling her on my blog. So here is a couple...

Last night our small dog Bo got locked in the boys room. While he was locked in there he had an accident and pooped on the carpet. I cleaned it up and everything was good. Then later when Edgar was praying he said "Thank you God that Bo pooped on the carpet" I started giggling. He said "What Krista?" I said "Why did you thank God that Bo pooped?" He said "Krista, we are supposed to thank God for the good and the bad!!!" He is right. Even the poop on the carpet! :-) At least we have carpet for him to poop on!!

Then later that same night, I was praying and telling God that I really needed a word from him about what we were supposed to do and if we should bring him on a visa and if so how would we pay for it, etc... He gave me Matthew 17. I was reading it and it wasn't making any sense. Then I got to Matthew 17:20. He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
I read the note at the bottom and it said "If you are facing a problem that is too big for you. Take your eyes off the mountain and place it on the God who has the power to move that mountain." It gave me chills! Point taken, God! I know you are big enough. I'm moving out of the way, You can do your work! :-)

Love,
Krista

2 weeks gone by already!

Wow! It is hard to believe that two weeks are already gone. The time is going by entirely too fast! We had a great weekend and Monday. Friday night we had a hosting event which was a game night. I don't think any of us actually played any games, but we had a good time. Edgar got to spend time with some friends and he enjoyed it. Unfortunately there were not any interested families that came. We were a little disappointed about that.
Saturday we went to our encounter group Bible Study and then two friends of Patrick and Morgan's came over and ended up spending the night. Yes, we had 5 kids! They all had a great time. While they were outside playing Edgars saw a lightning bug. He had never seen one before and so Madison took him outside to try to catch one. The next thing we knew he came in screaming at the top of his lungs. Apparently while they were out there a herd of deer came walking thru the woods behind our house. They were both very shocked by this! Edgars wanted Gene to go shoot them! haha! We had to explain that we would get in big trouble for that!! The kids had a hard time going to sleep because they couldn't stop giggling, but finally around midnight they settled down. Sunday we went to church and then to Pump it Up for a birthday party. The kids all had a blast! It wore them AND us out! Today we took the kids for a surprise trip and drove to Chattanooga. We went to the Tennesse Aquarium and then to the Imax. Edgars LOVED every minute of all of it. He was fascinated by the animals. He kept asking us if he could live there. He kept saying "I love this! I love this". At the butterfly center part he got a butterfly on his finger and held it and we got some great pictures. He had a blast and so did we!
He cracked us up during the Imax. It was 3d and he was trying to grab everything that came at him. He was trying to feed the "fish" his popcorn and talking to them. It was so funny!
No one wanted to come home. But tomorrow it is back to the daily grind of work and everything.
We go back to the dentist for visit number 2 on Wedensday!
Thanks for your prayers! Keep them coming!
Love,
Krista

We survived the dentist!

Today I took Edgars to Children's Dentistry of Woodstock for his first dental visit. The dentist, Dr Mike, has agreed to see him for free and fix everything that he needs fixed in his mouth. Edgars was a little frightened at first. He has had some bad prior experiences in the past with dental work. Ms Vanessa came and took him back and he was comfortable with her since she had taught his Vacation Bible School class. After about 30 minutes she came out to tell me that he was doing okay. After an hour they finally called us back to tell us he was done.
Dr Mike said that Edgars has 7 cavities and one tooth that needs to be pulled. He treated the worst tooth today. It truly needed a root canal but they are not equipped to do that. He said he treated it with a medicated filling which should give the tooth a 50% chance of survival without a root canal. We have to go back for three more visits for fillings and to get the tooth pulled. Edgars was very brave, as usual. He's a tough kid!

When we were on our way to dinner, Edgars told me that they put something over his nose and it made everything funny. I tried to explain the concept of laughing gas! He said Narnia was very funny. Last time I checked, that wasn't a comedy, so I am guessing the laughing gas worked very well! :-)

Tomorrow we go to an event for interested families to meet the kids. Please pray for Edgars to find a family to call his own!

Love,
Krista

Endocrinologist Appointment

Edgars doctor's visit went very well. They weighed him (52 lbs) and measured him (51 inches). Even for his height he is underweight and for his age he is VERY small(In the 3rd percentile). He cried when he saw the chart. It broke our hearts. He was hoping so much that they would tell him that he was closer to where he should be. They drew his blood and are going to run some tests and will get back with us about those. The doctor said based on his age, weight, height, etc he should be taking 1.1 mg of the Genotropin and he is only taking .8 so we will begin increasing that tonight. We also found out during the visit that while he is at the boarding school they are not refrigerating the medicine. The doctor said that this can make the medicine much less effective, if at all. So all these daily injections could have been no good because the medicine was ruined by not being refrigerated! It is so frustrating that the people at his school do not see the importance of maintaining this medicine. Hopefully Helen can talk to them about the importance of the medicine being refrigerated and that they have to make sure he takes it EVERY day! I will update the blog when we hear back from the doctor in regards to his tests.

I promised Edgars that I would take him for a surprise when we were done at the doctor if he was VERY brave. So when we left we went to Walmart to let him pick a small toy. He has gotten in the habit of saying "I Need" about everything. I have been trying to teach him the difference between "Want" and "Need". When we were leaving Walmart Gene pointed to something and said "I need this". Edgars hollered over to him "Papa Gene...want NOT need!" hahaha I told him at least I have taught him something! :-) It gave us a good laugh!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a good 4th of July. We hung around the house and relaxed and then that afternoon went to the Braves game. It was neat to see the huge flag that they spread out across the field. When the F-18 fighter jets flew over it scared Edgars to death! The game was going good and then the rain hit. At first it was only a light rain but then it got harder and harder. We waited around for a couple of hours but finally decided to give up. The kids were very disappointed to miss the fireworks! Luckily we went Monday night to the fireworks in Kennesaw. They didn't get 4th of July fireworks but 3rd of July is close enough!
Hopefully we can get by Stone Mountain while Edgars is here. The fireworks after the Laser show are pretty good!

Tired but Having a Blast!!

Gene and I are worn out but we are having a blast! We haven't slowed down since last Monday. I am hoping after tomorrow we can hang out at home some! I have got Edgars (or Eddie as he now wants to be called) saying "Chill Out" and that is exactly what we need to do this week!!
Friday we left at 10 am and did not get home until 10:30 at night!! We picked up Helen (Edgar's Children's Home Director) and Kara (Jennifer's Daughter) and we went to US Play for bowling. We had a good time bowling and we all bowled really well (Thanks to those bumper lanes!) haha
When we got done bowling we went to "Chicken and Cheese" for Pizza and games. Then we went to Kennesaw Mountain for a little while. Finally we ended up at the church for the Vacation Bible School Ceremony. Patrick, Morgan and Edgars all did wonderful on their performances. We were very proud of them!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Columbus. We went with Nana and Papa to Hollywood Connection which is sort of like an indoor amusement park. Edgars loved the rock climbing wall and EVERYONE was amazed at how fast he went up the hardest one. The lady that worked there said most people can't make it up it. Edgars made it up in less than a minute. I am beginning to think he is part monkey! After Hollywood Connection we went back to Nana and Papa's for the LONG awaited Shishkabobs! They were delicious!! Then we went to the movie Cars with my brother and his family. It was a cute movie!
Sunday we went and had lunch with Mamom and Grandaddy and then headed home. On the way home Gene stopped at a fireworks store and got a bag full of fireworks (the legal kind). The kids had a blast last night lighting them! Every kid in the cul-de-sac came out to join in the fun!
It was fun but it was hard to get the kids settled down after that, especially Edgars! I learned how to say "Edgars, please go to sleep" in Latvian and when he doesn't listen to me in English I start using Latvian. For some reason then he knows I am serious, and listens. :-)
Things are going great and I can't believe it has already been almost a week! Tomorrow we are going to the Braves game and Fireworks and Wed we get up VERY early to go to downtown Atlanta to the Endocrinologist.
Keep Praying!
Love,
Krista

We made it thru Day One!

Edgars woke up bright and early his first morning in America! He had a great day! We went to the free summer movie and saw Yours Mine and Ours which was really cute. Then we went shoe shopping. Edgars found some Hummer underwear and that made his day!!
We discovered that Edgars medicine is working to help him grow in one area. His FEET! He has grown 2 shoe sizes since Christmas!!! We went to McDonalds and Edgars ate two hamburgers, some chicken nuggets and fries. I took him for a much needed haircut. Then when we came home, there was no slowing down. It was outside to play in the slip and slide, the sprinkler and ride our bikes around the block. Then cook dinner, then eat, then off to Vacation Bible School! I should lose 10 lbs by the time he leaves! he he!
Also, another praise - God is so Good - Edgars' VBS teacher is also a hygenist at the dentist where my kids go. I had called to see if they would see him and they said they could clean his teeth for $110! I was like that is a discount?? Well she talked to one of the dentists and he has agreed to clean his teeth and do any work during his lunch hour for FREE! First the endocrinologist and now the dentist! God is really taking care of us!!
I have found (so far) that hosting is easier the second time around. We didn't really have any getting to know you period. It is as if he never left. Someone asked me the other day if it was going to make it worse that we brought him and we can't adopt him. But the way I look at it...I would rather bring him twice a year for 3-4 weeks than never at all...
Keep praying! It is obviously working!
Love,
Krista

He's Here!

We got to the airport about 3:15 today and the kids did not come up the escalator until about 6:30! We had no idea where they were and why they were late. Patrick and Morgan were VERY restless asking every other minute "Where is he?". Finally someone shouted "There they are!" Edgars saw me and came running and jumped into my arms! It was a wonderful moment!!!
He talked the entire way to dinner. We asked him where he wanted to eat and he said "Chicken and Cheese". I was like Where? He said "You know the big mouse?" Finally it occured to me - Chuck E Cheese!! We talked him out of there, promising to go there another night. We ended up at Golden Corral instead. Edgars told me that he had 3 cups of coffee, 3 cokes and a Mr Pibb today. That explains why he has been HYPER!!! After we ate dinner we came home and Edgars reunited with Rusty, Shiloh and Bo. It took us a while to wind down but after a bubble bath and Bible story he was ready to go to bed. He didn't want to do his shots before bed. He told me he has not done them in 7 days because they hurt badly. I hope this endocrinologist can give us some answers!
Tomorrow we will get some new shoes (the ones we bought him at Christmas are well past time to throw out) and a hair cut! He said he wanted an American Haircut! (I'm not sure what the difference is, but whatever! )
Keep us in your prayers and especially the other families who are getting acquainted with children they have never met and speak little to no English!
Love,
Krista

Women of Faith

I went to the Women of Faith conference this weekend and it could not have come at a better time. It was just the encouragement I needed to prepare me for the next four weeks. I hope I caught some Contagious Joy! All the music and speakers were amazing but Avalon sang a song that just really spoke to my heart. It is called Orphan of God...The chorus goes something like this...
There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God. So many have fallen but Hallelujah...there are NO orphans of God!

Sometimes I get so frustrated that we can't adopt Edgars. It breaks my heart to think of him alone 6000 miles away and I can not wrap my arms around him. That song was a reminder to me that even though he has been orphaned by his biological parents...Hallelujah...he is not an Orphan of God!!!!! And as hard as it is to imagine, God loves him even more than we do!

Pray for us...3 more days...and then at least for four weeks we can wrap our arms around him and fill him up with love before that dreaded day when we have to say goodbye again.
Love,
Krista

Praise!!

We have been praying to find an endocrinologist who would be willing to see Edgars this summer and we have finally made contact with one! In a previous blog I had mentioned that a lady at our fundraising yard sale gave us the name of an endocrinologist who would see Edgars. Well, God brought that lady to our yard sale for a reason. After many phone calls and messages Gene finally got thru to a lady at their office. Dr Shultz at Pediatric Endocrine Associates is eager and willing to see Edgars this summer. In fact he has an appointment on July 5th. She even felt sure that they could see him for FREE! This is a HUGE Answer to prayer! We have some obstacles to overcome to make the visit the most that it can be. First and foremost we have to get his medical records from Latvia and somehow get them translated. They need to know results of some specific tests in order to determine if the medicine he is taking is working. We are so thrilled that they are willing to see him. Now we need to pray that we can get the answers they need in order to treat him.
Thank you all for your prayers! Keep sending them! They are working!
Love,
Krista

8 days to go!

Time is flying by and Edgars will be here in only 8 days!! We are trying to finish up preparing for him to arrive. We just have to make some signs for the airport and go grocery shopping and we will be ready! His favorite food is Shishkabobs so we are going to have that the night after he arrives. If this time is anything like December, all he is going to want to do is go to bed when he gets here the first night! Now that Gene has made that trip, he completely understands! Food or anything else is the farthest thing from their minds when they get off that plane. Sleep is the number one priority! Speaking of Gene's trip to Latvia, we finally uploaded those pictures onto our photoshow website. You can view the pictures in the Spring 2006 gallery. The photoshow link is to the right of this posting.

We had our final hosting meeting on Saturday night and it went well. We got to meet the other families who are hosting. Unlike last time we hosted, the other families are not from our church. They are also all new to the hosting experience. We got to share with them a little bit of our experience and let them know that even though it is not always easy, it is very worth it.

Karina, Edgars sister, is flying out today to Belize on a mission trip. Please keep her in your prayers. She will not get to see Edgars this summer, but we are hoping she can at least talk to him a few times. She is also looking into getting a webcam so they can talk via internet and see each other. If you have not heard of Skype, it is wonderful! You can talk to other people who have Skype for free and if you have a webcam you can see each other. If they don't have Skype, the long distance rates are very cheap. Skype is free to download and we spent about $20 for a webcam and a microphone. Edgars home has this set up also and we are able to talk to him and see him! It is very neat!

Please pray for us as we prepare for his arrival. Pray that the children and chaperones have a safe trip. Pray especially for Edgars that he will find a forever family while he is here!! He needs a Mommy and Daddy to call his own!

Thanks for going with us on this journey!
Krista

Our Yard Sale was a success!

We had our yard sale today and it was very successful! Thank you to all of you who donated! We raised about $350 to help with the cost of Edgars trip! We are excited but also GLAD that it is over. We are tired and hot!! Several people inquired about the hosting program. People were generous and told us to keep the change. One guy bought $7 worth of stuff and gave a $20 and told us to keep the change. It is so neat to see the kindness of complete strangers!
Also, we met a lady who referred us to a pediatric endocrinologist who she feels sure will see Edgars. Gene is going to call the doctor on Monday. Pray she is willing to see him for reduced fees or even better - No fees!
Thanks for all of your prayers! We will keep you updated as things happen - 17 more days....
Love,
Krista

Welcome to our Blog!

Hi Everyone!
Gene and I figured we would jump on the blogging bandwagon to keep you posted about our hosting experience. You can check back here frequently for updates.
I will give a little background for those of you who weren't with us thru our experience so far.
After much prayer we were led to host an 11 year old boy named Edgars for three weeks last Christmas thru a program at our church. (You can see pictures on our photoshow website)
When we signed up to host, we had no idea what an impact it would have on our family. When that little boy came up the escalator at the airport, we fell in love. Of course there were hard times. There was the morning that we couldn't figure out what he wanted to eat for breakfast. There were the times he tested us to try to see if we meant it when we said that we would love him no matter what. There were the times he got mad and stormed to his room because he didn't like our rules. But there were also the times when he made us laugh so hard our sides hurt. Like when he hid in the laundry basket and scared me to death. And when he got to ride in a Hummer, his favorite car. There were also the times he made us cry because we could tell how hard his 11 years of life have been and how much he wants a family. Then there was the first time he prayed at night before we went to bed. We don't have a clue what he said, but it made us cry anyway. We got to watch him reunite with his sister who he had not seen in 2 years which was awesome. And then before we knew it the day came when we had to say goodbye. When he walked away Patrick called after him "Goodbye, You were the best friend I ever had". I nearly lost it. After only three weeks it felt like my child was being ripped from my arms when they took him onto that airplane. You see we thought that when Edgars came that we would change his life. Instead, he changed ours. And we have not been the same since.
We knew going into the hosting that I was too young to adopt Edgars. Latvian law states that both parents must be at least 18 years older than the child they are adopting. We tried anyway. Helen, Edgars Children's Home director at Hope for Children went to the Dept of Family and Children in Latvia but sadly they declined our request. We knew that God has called us to take care of Edgars even if we have to be his family from 6000 miles away. We have called him every week since he left. He looks forward to the calls and so do we. He breaks our heart every time when he tells us he misses us and he wants to come to America.
When noone signed up to host Edgars for the summer hosting we knew that God had called us to bring him. Although we were sad in one way that no one who COULD adopt him was going to host him, we were excited in another way that we get to spend 4 weeks with him!
We are praying that this summer a family will come forward who will want to adopt Edgars. He is a wonderful little boy who has so much to offer.
He found out this week that he is coming with us and he is very excited! All he can talk about is coming to America! He wants to eat Shishkabobs! That was his favorite food when he was here! He ate more that one night than he ate the entire time he was here.
We are having a fundraising yardsale tomorrow to help raise funds. Thank you to the MANY MANY people who donated lots and lots of items! We are so blessed to have wonderful friends!
Also, we found out yesterday that someone has covered the entire remaining cost of the hosting. What a HUGE blessing!!! We do not know who donated the money but we are praying that God blesses them abundantly!!!!!
Edgars flight will arrive around 4:45 on June 27. We can't wait to wrap our arms around him!! Please continue to pray that God will prepare us and him. Also, we are trying to find an endocrinologist who is willing to see Edgars at a reduced price. Please pray that we can find one. We believe the daily shots he is taking may be unnecessary. We would love to get him some more tests to see for sure.
We love you all!
Krista