Eva Claire

It's such a beautiful name and comes along with a beautiful story that only our God could author.

(the intro...)
The weeks leading up to Ukraine trip 2011 were busy.  About two weeks before the trip Carmen walked into our room at work at and said something along the lines of "I am so sore, my lower back is really hurting..." and I said something back like "gettin' old's tough..." just giving her a hard time of course...b/c really she isn't old...and Carmen and I spend A LOT of time together and can joke around like that.  A few days later still feeling sick, I said something like "better now that weeks from now...be sick and get over it...we have to travel across the world...work to do, kids to love on!" She agreed and we kept trucking.  In the next few days she felt worse instead of better and we started discussing things like "what IF Carmen can't go..."  She was miserable and could not get any answers on why!  I told her top priority was her health and feeling better and we would figure out the rest.  those were the words out of my mouth and I totally meant them, because I love my Carmen, but I will admit on the inside I was flipping out!   when travel plans start unraveling...you can start feeling so discouraged.

the saturday before we left, i think i stood frozen at my niece's third birthday party on the back deck with tears falling out of my eyes because i was so worried about Carmen and the thought of the unknowns regarding the trip.  i told my family she was sick, and at that very moment was unsure if she could travel.  and in started the questions re: the trip.
Will you go anyway?  Will you cancel?  Will someone else go?  You won't go with out another therapist?  That doesn't sound good.  etc.

And i really did/do understand their reasons for all the questions...they love me, and want to make sure i'm not running around eastern europe hollering "i'm from the you-nighted states y'all!!!" (this is a joke, but i really think maybe my dad and bryan thought this was a possibility...y'all!:)  but it was almost more than i could take.  i was trying to be brave and trusting of His plan, but i wasn't feeling brave at all.  I prayed so hard for God to heal my friend and for us to leave together on the trip we both dreamed of doing.  Working for 2 solid weeks in the orphanage that we left our hearts in the year before.  Carmen has a strong LOVE for ukraine, orphans and those with special needs, why would God keep her from going?!

talks began on who would step in if Carmen could not travel.  I am usually such an optimist but I was not that week.  I was thinking, "yeah right...who is going to step up and travel to ukraine with 3 days notice?!?"  You see, I can forget who is in control of every detail...He's got this under control..and knows better than I do.  For sure.  Kym said she was going to ask Abby..and honestly...I thought IF Abby could go I would be SO excited, but I thought to myself, or maybe even said out loud...I have talked to Abby...she won't go!  She just got back from Guatemala...she has no plans of traveling to eastern europe.  and then the next day i got news that Abby was IN for traveling to Ukraine with 3 whole days to get ready.   i think her text said something like "i might have just squealed!"   of course she was also heart broken for Carmen, but was jumping at the chance to return to Ukraine.  apparently Abby had been praying that if someone couldn't go on the trip for what ever reason, she would be able to fill their spot.  WOW.  and i was thanking God for Abby.  i knew she would be a perfect travel partner, and she was already one of my very favorite people.

(the trip...)
saturday morning bright and early i was the first one to arrive at XNA, and I was in a bit of shock...mostly because it was 4:00AM or something crazy.  next rolled in Abby and then Matt and Ginny with Blanca.  A few minutes in the line and we were standing, tickets in hand to head out!

i probably emailed carmen those first few days and said something like- "this would have been great for you and I, we would have done the best we could, we would have loved until we were exhausted, but having Abby here...and her knowledge and skills to work with the children's physical needs is SO important."  in my mind, it was settled...carmen got sick, abby came...and we could better serve the children.  i was so thankful for the blessings God had poured out on us and couldnt' have been happier to be there, serving and love along side beautiful and sweet abby.  that's what I thought.  but there is so much more.

a couple of weeks before the trip we had received an updated picture of a sweet little baby we had met in 2010.  since the day we had left she had been in the exact same isolation room.  the thoughts of the days and nights i had filled with who knows what since that trip-and her still sitting in the same spot made me sick.  abby wrote on her blog that while we were there I asked the doctors if we could see Nastia, and I don't even remember asking, I just remember seeing her.  i remember them bringing her into the gym that day and we tried our best to comfort her.  but it was just too much- to be moved from her familiar environment and taken to a big room with strangers was just too much for the sweet little girl.  the next day we approached her in a different way.  We went to her room in isolation and gloved/masked up to work with her in the environment she would be the most comfortable.  i remember standing behind Abby as she squatted by her crib and my insides were doing flips because i could barely stand the thought of knowing this is where she has been for 18 months since i had seen her last.  abby was beside her crib smiling and talking to her through a huge mask on her face.

the little girl literally came alive before our very eyes.  we sat her up in a bumbo seat and i did the silly thing while abby gently massaged her shoulders and assessed her physically.  she had the sweetest smile and we soaked up the time with her.  we also took a quick video that morning in which the first sound you hear is laughing and then abby saying "muh-muh-muh" to her.  Very sweet and funny, because I am pretty sure that will be an important sound for her to call her momma by one of these days.  once she was use to us we took her to the gym and had a totally different experience than our previous time in the gym.  she enjoyed sitting up, the attention, and the toys, specifically the star stacker that played music.  her smile will melt your heart.  later in the afternoon we got to go back and see her again and take her to a room across the hall where the caregivers left just Abby and I to work with her.  we took turns holding her and she loved the musical toys and rocked back and forth to the music while sitting her her bumbo seat.  so cute and so encouraging.   we pulled back the long white lace curtains and looked out the window.  i remember saying something like, "hey sweet girl, that's outside, and there's lots to see in this big world..."  and it was fall in ukraine, the sky was grey and it was chilly, the trees where beautiful oranges and yellows and leaves floated slowly to the ground.  it was like something from a movie.  holding a little girl, inside a giant place full of children that need families to love them...and just staring out the window to the beautiful world outside.  a world that is only feet away-but might as well be a world away for many of these children.

(the amazing part....)
what i didn't know that afternoon was this:  i was standing in a room with a mother and daughter.  not the typical mother and daughter but the kind God plans and knows and is born in someone's heart.  God.  Only God

that afternoon or the next day, i can't remember which, we (meaning Abby talked, and I nodded) got into a lengthy discussion on why "nastia" should be moved to a room with other children.  it was a quite the back and forth conversation.  every reason abby gave, they had a reason they couldn't...the conversation was very respectful but intense.  i think i added things here and there, but for the most part i sat and listened as abby advocated for this little girl.  ultimately we wanted her to have a family, but in the mean time we wanted to have her in the best location for her development.  what's funny is how strongly abby felt about getting her moved and what she needed...fighting for her like a mother would.

the next day we were told by olga that they had made the paperwork official to move "nastia" from isolation to the baby room and would like our help in the next week to get her moved.  i felt a huge relief and wash of emotions and abby began to cry.  once again, another moment where it was very clear that there was something very special between abby and the little blonde girl we loved.

the week ended and abby, matt and ginny left.  i went back the next week with our TEAM and was excited to help facilitate the move from isolation to the baby group.  unfortunately we got news that nastia had a high fever and could not be moved, and then news that she was in the hospital.  i had text abby the news.  we were so sad, our group stopped and prayed for her together while standing in the orphanage gym.  praying for her health and that the move would take place in due time.

to wrap up the next several months after lots of praying, daniel and abby are adopting nastia and naming her Eva Claire.

so, the last time i saw little miss eva claire was the afternoon we spent in the room across the hall from her crib.  she was happy and we snuggled her and loved her.  and now the extremely beautiful part is she has a dad and mom fighting to get her home to fayetteville, arkansas.  can you believe this story?  i still have moments of complete disbelief and i am so thankful to know abby and daniel and watch this story unfold.  i hope that when she is living just miles down the road from me, they'll let me come over on a chilly grey afternoon, when the yellow and orange leaves are falling slowly to the ground in fayetteville, arkansas and hold Eva Claire and look out the window at the beautiful world outside.  the big beautiful world she will live in with her mom and dad.

Please pray for Eva Claire, Abby and Daniel as they navigate this journey to 

bring their beautiful gift home!

"Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of light with who there is no variation or shadow due to change."  James 1:17

the things "pinterest" gets me into...

pinterest makes me want to do all kinds of crafty things, like spend 3 hours making a wreath with flowers.  i am thinking of doing a different one in some brighter spring colors.  our flower beds are more white/purple/pink/green...but this was the colors on the example wreath i had, and it was like i couldn't think outside of them.  i get stuck like that.  but i was pleased b/c my little craft endeavor would have cost under $15 dollars except i had to buy some more hot glue sticks.

 a grease splatter screen is great for tracing circles.  i knew that would be dual purpose some day! :)  the spiral is the start of the flower.  

 i had pearl pins left over from wedding stuff, so i used them as centers for the flower.  by the way, that wasn't even in the example.  i like to claim good thinking occasionally. :)

 several hours later here's what i had!  

and this morning i climbed up in the attic and found my wreath hook.  

 

the end. 

Viva Las Vegas

weekend in vegas pictures!

we stayed at caesar's and enjoyed being right by the shops and great restaurants!  

 i wore another Granny Smith shirt while in vegas, this is a new find, I got more clothes the weekend before last and am loving them.  

we had lunch at serendipity's which is one of my fave NYC places.  it's good in vegas too.  

frrrrozen hot chocolate (before my lunch even came!)

 

this wonderful chocolate thing is at Bellagio.  yay!

 we did the zip line over freemont street downtown.  it was really quick, and fun to say we did it.  i think at night when all the lights are on would be better, but we had dinner/show plans both nights so we didn't make it down there.  on another note you had to weigh before you went down the zip line due to their weight limit, and fun fact of the weekend was I weighed a pound more than my husband.  (currently he's in the kitchen eating cake and i'm not.....so maybe the scale will tip in my direction:)
it'stime to stop eating stuff like frrrrozen hot chocolate.  

 

bryan isn't really into taking pictures so i just have him take mine...i told him when we're old he'll be glad i have all of these pictures.  

 they said caesar's sits on like 85 acres or something crazy like that and that the bellagio and the next casino down would both fit on their property.  i do have blisters on my feet from all that walking.  

 i love the decorations inside bellagio.  their fall stuff is my fave, but their spring stuff was fun too.  

 atrium at bellagio 

 view from the tram to city center

 

we also went to see Viva Elvis at the Aria.  i LOVE elvis!  It was really good, I am always amazed by cirque shows b/c people who can hold themselves sideways from a bar are crazy athletic...and when they start doing flips from ribbons hanging from the sky...i do get a little anxious, but keeps my attention!  :)

my airplane photography!  i'm pretending this is the grand canyon.  

My favorite parts of the weekend were all the great restaurants.  We snacked at Beso's which is owned by Eva Longoria, Wolfgang Puck's Pizzeria, Seredipity's, Cheesecake Factory, a random mexican place...and I had coffee's and fruit tarts in the morning from Payard's chocolate place inside Caesar's!  I practically skipped out of bed every morning to go down stairs and get one (not as good as my Mama Carmen's coffee though).  It was great.  We were suppose to eat at Tao friday night and Bryan came down with a stomach bug Friday afternoon so I dined on Sushi at our hotel while he was miserable in bed.  He felt much better by the next day and 12 hours of sleeping, so all was well.

Thankful for a fun trip!

Lena Beth's 1!

Sweet girl turned one on friday and we had a fun time celebrating little miss.

Give me that cake! :)

LB's birthday cake made me in the mood for strawberry cake.  Here's my layered strawberry lemon cake from today!

And since i eat and make all of that cake, I do some running.  Not enough by any means, but some.  My aunt Debbie and I did the LR 5K Saturday morning.  We had a fun time!

the zip tie antenna's on my shoes made me laugh.

i like things that make me laugh, repeatedly.

i say all the time "facebook, i will delete you" because it's such a time waster for me.  but i would have missed Hadleigh rockin' the sweatband that she apparently wore all day sunday, and even tried to wear to church sunday morning.  oh, hadleigh...you are a funny girl.  i have looked at this picture 10xs this week and it makes me laugh every time i see it.  happy tuesday.

 

partying all weekend....

i'll be glad of my blogging one day when i print all of these for a scrapbook and i can have these to reference where all the time goes. :)

headed for fort smith friday night to stay with my dad and celebrate my papa's birthday on saturday.

joe and i took a ride on his new motorcycle.  he's pretty excited that he's only spent $13 on gas in 3 weeks.  so that's a winner i guess.  i even tried not to lecture him on being careful, although i did mention it a couple of times...i figure there will be enough people to take care of that for me. 

granny made this cake per papa's request and it was GOOD, and it's probably also why my jeans are too tight.  and i'm going to be a food photographer. :)

opening birthday cards!  i failed on my job as family photographer and didn't get any other pictures.  but the birthday fella and the cake are the two most important of the day.  

celebrated shawn's birthday saturday night with an evening of bowling at fast lanes.

 

bryan, greg and paul

brandi and zeke were in town at the last minute, so they came over sunday and ate and hung out until early afternoon.  it's fun spending time with them since we hadn't seen them in a year.  but the fun part is we don't really miss a beat.  

annalyse and sabin sitting under our entry way table.

 so fun to catch up with our college besties and for me to see my "marg", short for marguerite.  i am trying to remember how it all started, but in college we started calling each other marguerite and it has stuck.  and we have shortened it to "marg" and now we have annalyse, our new smallest marg.
we love our weirdness.  

treasures...

b's granny is turning 90 years old today!  she's quite a lady, and we love her so much.  she has lots of clothes she doesn't wear any more (you get quite the collection over that many years..spanning decades.  so fun), and i have been picking through them finding some new treasures for myself!  bryan told her the other day that i have been wearing her clothes, and she said she has more for me.  yippee.  i am so excited!  here's some iphone pics of a few of my new treasures....

fun.

i think i am going to add a flower pin and wear on Easter...maybe.

i wore this one already, and added the belt.

off to work I go..in Granny's jacket :)

today's winner.  scary facial expression, yikes.

i'm so excited about my new special clothes and b LOVES his granny so much, so i think he likes that i am wearing her stuff.  he said a few of the clothes he actually remembers her wearing when he was little.  so funny.  happy wednesday!

and not that granny will read this, but happy 90th birthday, we love you!