Photo Update

I don't have much to say today. There is nothing particularly special going on, nothing really noteworthy, but I do have a lot of photos that have been filling up my phone that need to be shared :)

 

Warning! Some ridiculously cute pictures are to follow, proceed at your own discretion ;)

 Tia helping Maida put on her shoes and getting all ready for church. 

 

 

One of Maida's favorite pastimes (along with my six year old sister, Bella) is to try everything that belongs to our mom on.

 

Silly girl :)

 

She also likes to imitate all her older sisters in playing instruments :) Her favorite ones to play are the violin and harmonica.

 

I think we have a bit of a fashionista on our hands!

 

Last Saturday we helped a friend with their adoption yard sale to help bring home their little girl (She is from the same orphanage Maida came from and is a very close friend of Sevi's!).

 

A couple days ago my mom the three younger girls and I went out to get some things for our garden.

 

 

 

 

And this is what happens when the little sister is tired of Yaya (big sister) Gabby taking pictures and Yaya Bella nagging at her to stand still and smile.

 

It's neat to see this two grow closer as sisters, they are not always the best to each other (just being honest) but each day improvements are being made and they are growing closer and closer together.

 

Sevi, your family is waiting for you and can't wait to take pictures with you and to watch you learn and grow with us as a family.

We are coming to get you as fast as we can.

 

 

 

Gabby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hair Time

  Maida's hair is finally long enough to actually do!

          

She has not had her hair done since quite sometime ago while she was still in Congo because they shaved her head (with a straight edge!) more often then not.

                                

       My mom was ready for a new do :)

                               

                                                        The finished product! 

                        

 

All About Sevi

I promised a while back that I would get a post up telling you all the story of how we began the journey of bringing Sevi into our family and a post you shall have!

It all started about six months ago, we were in the middle of the process of bringing little Maida home. We anticipated every update, every photo, and every video of her. With those pictures and videos of Maida though came photos of the other kids in her orphanage.

We saw kids get matched with families and go home with their families. As they left we would see new faces of children in our photos. But one girl specifically stood out to us.

She was always there, even as other kids came and went. She was always in videos watching kids get things from their families, we never saw anything for her. She would stand on the sidelines and smile, genuinely happy for all the other kids.

Pretty soon our conversations about Maida coming home became Maida coming home and what should our family do about this other girl, then: Maida coming home and wanting to do something for this little girl as well, and finally to: we have to find out about this girl and bring them both home! So we called our agency and inquired about her. She was not matched with a family and they had little hope that she would find one because of her age. Well we wanted her! But we found out that due to rules we would have to be home with Maida for several months before we would be approved to adopt again. This was hard for all of us. Was God closing the door for our family and this little girl? We didn't know what to do. We prayed together and just waited. We didn't want her to have to be there for another month let alone six months or a year. We decided that we would advocate for her, sponsor her in going to school, and help anyway we could and leave the rest to God.

Finally the end of October was approaching, it was time to go get Maida. As my mom and I prepared for the trip we knew it would be hard, very hard, to meet this precious girl we now know as Sevi and have to leave her behind. We wanted to make the most of it for her though, so we bought her some things and planned to spend time with her specifically in our two weeks in country.  

The first day we went to the orphanage (like I said before) all the kids were inside taking naps. We made our way through the rooms looking for Maida. When we came to the girls' room the nannies had already started waking the kids up. The first girl we were greeted by was none other than our Sevi :)
We knew when we first laid eyes on her that she was just as sweet as she appeared in her photos.

This was us with her the first time we met her

We loved her instantly, and that made it all the harder... Days passed. My mom spent most of her days at the hotel bonding and getting to know Maida. When I wasn't with my mom I was with our in country coordinator visiting orphanages, our most frequent stop was Sevi's orphanage. While I was with her she taught me words in Lingala and different games, we laughed and played, held babies together, and started forming a bond of our own. We were always together, she was never far from my side and always had her hand slipped through mine.

 When my mom came with me she would take pictures and video of Sevi, letting her play with our camera, hugging her and wanting her to know that someone loved her.

 My mom and I would occasionally look all knowingly at one another. What were we to do? What was God wanting from us? We wanted this little girl so bad and we would be devastated when we left her. 

My mom had brought up Sevi to our in country coordinator when we first got there and told her that if no one adopted her before our six months home with Maida, we would still take her. Well, one night Maida was asleep and my mom and I were up talking, about to go to bed. We heard a soft knocking on our door. When we opened it we were greeted by our in country coordinator (she was staying in the room just across from us ^^). She came in and sat on our bed and looked at both of us, grinning from ear to ear. She then proceeded to tell us that she just got off the phone with our agency. She told our agency about all the time we spent with Sevi, how we interacted with her, the bonds that had already formed between us, and that she couldn't imagine a better family for her! We just about burst through the roof we were so excited! Was this really happening? Were we really able to bring Sevi home? We would still have to leave her, but with the knowledge that we would be back. We contacted the family at home and told them, we were all stoked! I don't think any of us slept that night :) 

The next day we were supposed to go see Sevi and get the privilege of telling her she had a family if she wanted one (we wanted to make sure it was what she wanted to do) but that morning Maida contracted malaria, we knew we wouldn't make it that day. After we found a pharmacy with the right medicine (it took us quite awhile to find it!) and got it into Maida's system she was doing much better. So the next morning we headed out to go see Sevi. My mom and I were practically jumping up and down we were so happy, and nervous. We knew it wouldn't be an easy thing for Sevi to leave the only place and things she has known all of her life (no matter the circumstances kids always feel safer and miss the familiar). We grabbed Papa J (remember our translator/guild/friend?) and asked him to translate what we were saying to Sevi. She listened intently to Papa J as he told her and explained to her for us. Without hesitation she said yes!

We were so thrilled. We holed up in a room away from the other kids for a while and showed Sevi pictures of her new family. I'm not sure if it really set in for her until she saw the pictures of her new home and family. After she saw that she just lit up and took us around the orphanage telling the other kids that she too has a family, a mama, papa, big sisters and brother!

We left and told her we would see her again the following day before we had to leave for home. Well, the next morning we had a LOT of complications with our luggage and how it was getting to the airport and ...etc we could not leave the hotel until that was figured out. So Our coordinator and Papa J decided they would bring Sevi to us! We were so happy to be able to spend our last few hours in Congo with Sevi! It was not what we had imagined as we were busily running around, but it was a sweet time. Sevi said goodbye to us on the steps of St. Annes (our hotel) she had mist in her ours and it broke our hearts, but we kissed her, hugged, and told her we would be back SOON! 

We are busy right now filling out paper work and raising funds to get her hopefully by June. 

 

  

We are asking 150 businesses, churches, and organizations right now to buy a box of Helen Grace candy bars. If you know anyone who owns a business, shepherds a church, or is involved in an organization please share this with them. If we do this we will have finished raising our remaining funds and will be able to go get our Sevi.
Each box is $100.
To purchase a box you can order by mail, directly through my blog, through our agency, or through Sevi's Facebook page.

Everlastingspring@hotmail.com

www.facebook.com/sevikatherinewantstocomehome

You can also contact me at: (951)515-4205

Gabby

A Thousand Kisses for Sevi - End Results

After all was said and done we counted up our kisses for Sevi on the night of Valentines day. We have a total of 749 kisses in her jar! Granted it was not as much as we were hoping, but I know and my family knows that the Lord will provide and in His timing too. It is hard, so hard, sometimes to fully trust God with the situation, but we just have to remind ourselves that He does a much better job than we do!
Keep praying for us as we wait on Him :)
Gabby

Maida Style

This was just to cute not to share! A little someone was helping "clean up" the garage tonight with her big sisters and mama :)

And yes, she is wearing glittery Christmas ribbon around her head (it's going to be a pain trying to get all that glitter out of her hair! haha)

A little time for Maida

I think it's high time I update you all on how Maida has been doing these past several months that she has been home. (I will update you all on Sevi's fundraiser tomorrow morning).

It has been three months since Maida has been home. Can you believe it?! It feels like forever yet at the same time only yesterday that I walked into that orphanage with my mom and met my sister for the first time.

In these months that she has been home she has blossomed physically (really, she grew 3 1/2 inches in two months!) emotional, and mentally. Attachment has never really been a problem for her (although there is always struggle, especially at first) and we are so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with that. She does have a bit of an attitude though :) She loves all of her big sisters and brother. I frequently find her hanging on me, calling me, and wanting me to play :) Her English skills are also growing in leaps and bounds. One of her favorite phrases to say is "Maida do it!" :)
 With her starting to prefer speaking English, Lingala has really taken the back seat. She still uses it and has specific words that she uses daily, but I find myself sometimes having to remind her what a word is. I think this is a good thing (that her English is growing) but it makes me sad as well. It will be a part of her that she has lost and my mom and I both know neither of us know enough of it to help her really keep it. I also don't know what Sevi will feel like when she comes home and sees Maida again, but realizes she doesn't really understand her anymore. We are all trying to soak up as much Lingala as we can though so we can help both Maida and Sevi in this regard.

I will write a post specifically for Sevi here soon after this fundraiser ends on the 14th, but for today I will leave you with some pictures of this pretty girl.

 

 First morning home

 

 My little sister Bella showing off her Rhino necklace from Congo :)

 

 

Maida meeting her niece Rylie for the first time. There is just a year and a half difference in age between them. How fun that will be for them, getting to grow up with each other!

 

Meeting her one and only big brother Andrew (we have seven girls now including Sevi, but only one boy. I think my brother secretly digs the attention ;) ) 

 

And her one and only sister-in-law Amy :)

 

 

My moms birthday was on the day we landed in Congo (I know right?!) and a certain six year old didn't want her Mama's big day to go unnoticed.

 

Maida's first interaction with the violin, her destined instrument. We all play different string instruments (I play viola and violin) but my mom is set on violin for her...we shall see, I think she would look great on the harp ^^

 

Feeding Mama "fufu" (a pasty stickier version of porridge made from a root veggie they grow in Congo)

                                    

 

 Meeting Grandma and Grandpa :)

 

 

Meeting everyone at our Korean church.

 

Christmas day

 

This was tonight at dinner. Yes, she was indeed trying to eat the bone...

 

Almost all the girls,

 

I can't wait for this one to be added to our group of crazy, funny, loving, girls.

 

Gabby



Update on Sevi

Our in country coordinator just left for Kinshasa again this past week. We are all so excited to get some updates, news, and hopefully photos of our Sevi girl! I did hear that she got the pictures we sent to her of our family. They said that she was so happy to get them and walked around the orphanage showing everyone, telling them that she too has a family now.

       

Just melts this big sisters heart! I can't wait for the day where she doesn't have to wait for us anymore, where she doesn't need a photo to convince everyone she has a family because we will be right there with her, holding her hand, making her laugh, wiping her tears, being family. Oh how I can't wait! I pray that the Lord will help me to be patient in this waiting.

                            

On another note (but one that is related) we only have three days left till valentines day. THRE DAYS LEFT!!! We are trying to get 1,000 kisses for Sevi by valentines. So far we have 428 kisses in her jar (thank you all so much for our support!). We need 571 more kisses to reach our goal. Each kiss is only $1. $1 can make all the difference in the world to this little girl!

Help us to reach this goal and to give "A Thousand Kisses to Sevi" this valentines day!

Gabby