Alicia’s Adoption Day

We waited in the front room. She bounced a balloon around, a remnant from her party on Saturday.

“Who’s coming today?” I ask.

“Mommy and daddy!” she said with a grin.

“And what are you going to do with your daddy?”

“My daddy is coming and he is going to give me candy.” More smiles. More balloon bopping.

“And what are you going to do with your mommy?”

“My mommy is going to give me cookies.”

The door bell rings. She squeals, giggles, and runs to hind under the desk to surprise them when they walk through the door.

With minutes to spare before the ride to the court house they whisk their little one upstairs to get all dolled up in crisp new clothes. Hair pinned up. Shiny white patten leather shoes. And a smile that won’t stop.

Some quick pics on the porch. The sweet social workers hurry all out to the cab. I crouch down next to Alicia and wrap my arms around her body. Flashbacks to her tiny newborn body resting against my chest. “I love you,” is all I can squeak out without tearing up. A hug and kisses on both cheeks for the proud parents. Reciprocal gratitude.  Propped up on her mommy’s lap with her face against the window we wave happy waves.

Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Alicia. You are so very blessed. And we are so very blessed to have had you step into our lives these four years.

- Angie

Alicia’s Grand Birthday Party!

On Saturday afternoon we witnessed one of the hundreds of ‘firsts’ for Alicia’s parents. They threw her a birthday party for the first time! It was so fun to see the house decorated with balloons and full of people celebrating the life of this little one. Volunteers, Dreamers, friends, and now family gathered around the table to sing Happy Birthday and Feliz Cumpleaños to the four year old.

The bonding is going well. All are very excited about the upcoming court date on Monday or Tuesday when they get to take Alicia with them.

Reality will hit the others after that. I have a feeling that the youngest ones will be the most affected, especially Isaura. Please continue to pray for us as we transition to a houseful of school aged kids. Thanks.

- Angie

The Yellow Bag

I came through the door of the girls’ room. Her parents were trying to solve the conundrum that is velcro shoes and failing miserably. They laughed and tossed their hands up in the air as their little girl showed them how it’s done. In the middle of her task of pink shoe fastening she caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye. She ran towards me with arms open wide and the hugest smile I have ever seen on her beautiful face. She lunged forward and embraced… the plastic yellow bag I held in my hands.

“The photos! The photos!” she squealed pawing at the package like a kitten with a ball of yarn. After a quick introduction and many kisses on both cheeks from the Italian ‘mami’ and ‘papi’ I pulled out my stack. I handed the most recent photo to Alicia and let her show it proudly to the other children while I talked with the parents. They were so grateful to have the pictures of when she was just a newborn. The dad returned to tending to the daughter and the mother rescued the print from her little hands and placed it safely back in the bundle.

We all headed outside to take some more pictures in the sun. What a precious little family! They told me about their plans for their daughter’s birthday party at the orphanage on Saturday afternoon. I look forward to chatting with them more about their story. Sometime early next week they will get to take her to stay with them as they finish up all the paperwork before they head home. I just love adoptions!

Aren’t they perfect?

Have you ever seen a happier girl?

Alicia was quite talkative as she told me about the airplane they would be getting on to go to their house. Let’s keep praying that the transition time keeps being just as wonderful as it has been so far.

- Angie

Alicia’s Parents Come Tomorrow!

Alicia’s parents come tomorrow! I am doing my favorite thing in regards to adoptions: getting photos made to give the mama and papa. So fun!

Here’s a tiny sample:

Here’s a video of when she first came to the House of Dreams way back in 2008.

And when she took her first steps. Go girl!:

She is the youngest Dreamer. After the adoption is finalized then all the kids at the House of Dreams will be school aged. We are entering a new era!

Please pray for a strong bond with her mama and papa. Please pray that the other Dreamers have hearts full of grace during this transition as they say good-bye to their littlest sister.

- Angie

Prayer Points

For those of you who love to pray for the House of Dreams:

So thirsty after a romp in the park!

Petitions:

1. Alicia’s adoption to take place soon
2. Paperwork issues on Roberto’s and Fernando’s cases to be resolved
3. The monthly budget to be covered by consistent donations
4. As we move into the winter months for health for the kids and smooth transition with the staff as we adjust their hours
5. The direction of the Lord regarding the advancement of the land project

Thanks:

1. That the need for English tutors during Marisol’s absence has been met by volunteers
2. For all the people who step in to cover the financial needs of the home
3. For our capable, loving, and innovative director, Marisol
4. That the children are well cared for
5. For a strong spiritual foundation being laid in the lives of the Dreamers

I appreciate your prayers. God bless you!

- Angie

 

Home Alone

Last school year, Joel, Fernando, Isaura, Juan Daniel, Bridgit, Vladamir and Alicia stayed home all day because they were too young to go to school. This year, Joel, Fernando, Isaura, and Juan Daniel all started kindergarten. Brigit was adopted last year, and Vladi was adopted about a week ago. That leaves Alicia.

Alicia is now the lone Dreamer in the house during the day. Don’t feel sorry for her though, she is absolutely loving all the attention. She plays, colors and helps the morning tia with laundry and cleaning the house. She’s having a blast.

Please pray with us as we are hoping that Alicia will be adopted sometime soon in the very near future.

Romon

Three Updates on our Three Year Old Dreamers

February 2011: Three Turn Three – A plea for prayer for the adoptions of our youngest children in the House of Dreams.

November 2011: Our Three Year Old Kids – An update of the adoption process. Bridgit was adopted! Vladi was assigned… and then not. Alicia’s case was freed from a mountain of paperwork and she was assigned to a family. (The green words)

January 2012: Today. Updates in fuchsia.

1) …ready to go at any time and are just waiting for assignment to a family. Vladimir got assigned and then due to some complications the parents from overseas decided to back out. Currently a member of our church, who volunteers at the House of Dreams,  is attempting to adopt him. Please pray that she is successful. So, the big news here is that the international adoption is back on. The parents were able to get some things resolved in order to not have to redo the whole process, rather to continue on with the adoption from the place things left off last year. They are just waiting for the green light from the courts to come get their son any day now!

2) For Alicia we are facing issues of paperwork. We are submitting (for the third time) paperwork and forms that were “lost” by social services or the courts. Without going into too much drama suffice it to say that this round of papers need to stay found so that this little Dreamer can be found by a family. I am happy to say that Alicia’s paperwork went through and she has been assigned to a family from another country who could receive word to come get their child any day. We would love for you to rejoice with us on the progress made with her case and pray that the adoption happens soon without complications. To give you a time frame this could happen anytime between this week and months from now. We would prefer sooner than later. Good news here is that things are still moving forward. There have been no problems and Alicia’s parents are also just waiting for the permission to come get their girl. 

3) …My hope is that this year all three of them are adopted. Would you join me in praying for them? Let’s keep praying that Vladi’s and Alicia’s adoptions go through soon. It was mid February of 2011 when I asked you all to pray that these three get adopted within the year. With the glimmer of hope of this actually might become a reality I ask you to not give up praying with us that in these next few weeks some beautiful families are united. Thank you for being a part of these dreams-coming-true stories.

You can print this out and peg it somewhere as a reminder to pray if you like. Thanks so much!

- Angie

17 Resolutions

With it being a new year and all, I had a chance to sit down with the Dreamers and ask them what were their goals/resolutions for this year. Here is what they had to say:

Anne: “I want to be on the honor roll and be the best student.”

Isaura: “To eat.”

Benancio: “I want to go to school this year.”

Estefani: “To learn English.”

Jose: “I want to be older.”

Juan Daniel: “Go to school and start kindergarten.”

Yamil: “I want to learn something special.”

Shirley: “I want to grow taller and buy a cell phone.”

Jhoselyn: “This year, I want to go to the pool and learn how to swim.”

Some of the Dreamers enjoying some Christmas candy they received over the holidays.

Gabriel: “I want to be a better student in school.”

Jose Luis: “I want to make a dinosaur.”

Alicia: “I want my snack!”

Fernando: “I’m going to learn English in school this year. I’m going to kindergarten.”

Vladimir: “I want to have a birthday.”

Emelin: “I’m going to be good this year.”

Roberto: “I am going to learn how to play soccer better.”

These are the resolutions of our Dreamers! I’m hoping and praying that they are all able to reach their goals this year!

*Note: Joel was unable to answer because he decided to take an impromptu nap while we were having this conversation. We’ll have to ask him for his later.

What are your goals and resolutions for this year? Care to share?

Romon

Our Three Year Old Kids

Back in February I posted about our three youngest Dreamers. Here’s part of the post with updates in green.

There are three Dreamers who will turn three this year. Yep, they all turned three.

Two of them are ready to go at any time and are just waiting for assignment to a family. Little Bridgit got assigned and adopted. Yeah! Vladimir got assigned and then due to some complications the parents from overseas decided to back out. Currently a member of our church, who volunteers at the House of Dreams,  is attempting to adopt him. Please pray that she is successful.

We know there are many families waiting for children so the in between people need to move things along so that an adoption connection can take place. This is an ongoing reality for 8 children in our home at this stage.

For the third little one we are facing issues of paperwork. We are submitting (for the third time) paperwork and forms that were “lost” by social services or the courts. Without going into too much drama suffice it to say that this round of papers need to stay found so that this little Dreamer can be found by a family. I am happy to say that Alicia’s paperwork went through and she has been assigned to a family from another country who could receive word to come get their child any day. We would love for you to rejoice with us on the progress made with her case and pray that the adoption happens soon without complications. To give you a time frame this could happen anytime between this week and months from now. We would prefer sooner than later.

…My hope is that this year all three of them are adopted. Would you join me in praying for them? Bridgit’s parents sent us an update that everything is going really well and they are all happy. Let’s keep praying that Vladi’s and Alicia’s adoptions go through soon.

Maybe you can grab these pics to print and help us to pray for them. Thanks!

- Angie

June Birthdays

We celebrated the birthdays of 3 of our dreamers this month!

On June 2nd, we celebrated Alicia’s birthday.  She can say she is three but is still working on holding up three fingers instead of two.

Jose’s birthday was on the 13th, he sang happy birthday to himself along with the others.

Anne turned 9 on the 19th, she wanted chocolate cupcakes.  The preference of most of the dreamers are Amercian style cupcakes for their birthdays. (They have great taste!) Here’s Anne with her cupcake.

If you would like take part in the dreamers birthdays, visit our projects page. 

- Marisol