Afternoon in the Park....

We spent Monday afternoon with Chinara and Adam, our in-country facilitators. We also picked up Ksenia, our translator from our 1st trip to Bishkek. We walked around the park area of Bishkek. Exhibits were set up for the holiday....it's Constitution Day in Bishkek. There were art exhibits (which I enjoyed). The doves in the picture are wedding doves. No one could tell me what they were called, so John Mark, look it up and tell us when we get home. I've never seen dove before with large plumes. One picture is of Ksenia blowing a dandelion.......we told her if she could blow off all the fuzzies, she would get her wish. John Mark calls these blowies. After walking around the park, we went shopping at a large department store. It was 6 floors of mostly souvenirs and electronics. We had fun trying on hats and we found a beautiful dress and vest with matching hat for Anna. We also bought souvenirs for the boys. There was a huge toy store that had the same type toys as America.

Out Our Window

This is the view right out of our hotel window. We are staying at the Silk Road Lodge. It's very nice with everything we need. They even have a pool, sauna, and weight room downstairs. We enjoyed a delicious meal of fried (stir-fried) chicken and rice with vegetables. Yummy! For dessert we had a plate full of fruit covered in some kind of sweet sauce: very tasty. Don't worry when you look at the pictures Mom. It's amazing how they build these new hotels with all the modern conveniences right in the middle of poverty. These are some pictures of that poverty. The woman is actually cooking over that fire in her back yard (in the rain). And I sometimes complain of all the work I have to do. Someone, somewhere, always has life harder. It's easy to see that here.

Pictures........

These 1st few pics. are of the tornado damage between Sheridan and Little Rock. We came through this area right after the tornado came through, and were slowed tremendously because of accidents. I knew there was a reason for us leaving Smackover late. Jerry kept trying to hurry me up but something kept slowing me down. Must've been a God-thing. He gave us traveling mercies. I guess my cousin, Philip, is helping out with the rescue teams. We were able to pull up some Arkansas news on the computer and learned there were 7 deaths, many lost homes, and many without electricity across central Arkansas because of the Friday storms.

In Bishkek!

Our flight from London to Bishkek with a stop in Almaty lasted 9 hours. We slept alot on the plane, but went straight to bed when we made it to our room. We slept for another 8 hours.....with all the sleeping you would think we would be rested; however, I could go back to bed again right now.
It is Sunday morning at home and we just talked with our boys through skype and a webcam, so we were able to actually see them and talk with them. They are being well taken care of by mawmaw and pawpaw. They will go to church and the youth's potato lunch and then this evening they have a birthday party to attend. Today will pass fast for them.

Sunday here is almost over, it is 7:30pm. We will go downstairs and have dinner at our hotel. We are staying at a very nice hotel with all the amenities. The view from our window, however, is quite different. We are actually watching the women cook on an open fire outside in the rain. They are also washing dishes and clothes outside. Sometimes we take for granted all that we have in America. Traveling to a 3rd world country helps us realize how blessed as a nation we are.

It is a national holiday here today and tomorrow. The director of the orphanage will not be there these 2 days, so we can't get Anna until Tuesday......bummer! That's OK. We've waited a very long time for her; what's 2 more days? Today is almost gone. Tomorrow (Monday) we will go shopping and try to meet up with John Wright, the missionary. Tuesday morning we travel 1 hour to Tokmok where Anna's orphanage is located. And then from there we'll go to Almaty, Kazahkstan for our Embassy appointment.

Love to you all,
Melody & Jerry

Flight Into Tomorrow

Hi Everyone,
We arrived in London at 2:30am home time. My boys were fast asleep at home (I hope); and the sun was shining brightly here in London at 8:30am That seemed weird. We flew into the sunrise.....how cool! Next stop......Almaty, Kazahkstan (we will stay on the plane....just like a bus stop) and then to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan which will be 2:30pm Saturday afternoon. It will be Sunday 3:30am in Bishkek...........boy, are we confused!?!

We met a lady on the last flight who is a writer and just had her first book (The Last Payload) published. Her name is Renne' Fletcher and she was very sweet. She asked what we were naming our new daughter. We told her. She said that she would use Anna's name in her next book that she is already writing. Isn't that cool! We look forward to buying and reading her books. It was good to meet you Renne'.

The boys are doing well and in very capable and loving hands. They're staying at Maw-maw's and Paw-paw's (the boys' favorite place). Be sweet boys and know that we love you! Be good to each other. I'm so proud of you two. We love you Mawmaw and Pawpaw. Thanks for being such awesome grandparents!

We'll post again in Bishkek.
Until then, keep praying us there......
Love, M & J

On Our Way!!

Tornadoes, high waters, heavy rains, traffic accidents, and cancelled flights won't stop us. We're on a mission! We are on our way to get our little girl. We'll post more, including tornado damage pictures, later. We're boarding now and heading for Dallas. From there, London, Kazahkstan, and finally Kyrgyzstan.
Love you all.
Melody and Jerry

Two More Days......To WAIT!!

Seems like we've been doing a lot of waiting this last year. Wait for home study approval. Wait for USCIS approval. Wait for dossier to tour the world while gathering signatures. Wait for trip to meet our daughter. Wait for court proceedings. Wait 30 days after court to schedule trip #2. And now we wait again, this time we're waiting for our visas. Travel is scheduled for Friday, May 2nd, so needless to say, this wait is making me a little nervous. It's funny how you get a little lift just when you need one. It's really not funny, I realize it's a God-thing! But, Sunday at church, my son handed me a piece of paper that had these words typed on it: "Someone once shared with me that waiting is part of walking with God. One of the commentaries had an acrostic to help us continue to do what God would want us to do in our seemingly hopeless situations. Here it is. W - Worship God, A - Accept God's timing, I - Impact others, and T - Trust God. WAIT.......WAIT........WAIT. Oooh.....yes, I've wasted time waiting (and worrying) when I could have been really WAITing according to the acrostic.

I'm so excited about what's to come. Real life changes and abundant blessings are in store for our family and I'm ready.......I just hope the boys are ready. My prayer is that God is preparing their hearts and there'll be complete acceptance of their sister. So, for now, we wait, only this time we WAIT the right way!
(But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31)