feeling complete

What an awesome day! I'm so blessed to have Alina back in my house! Thank you to all of you that offered support in any way. I couldn't have done it without all of you. :)

We waited for what seemed like FOREVER at the airport. They landed early...but you never know how long it will take them to come through customs. It was after 5pm before we saw her face coming down the ramp from "incoming international flights". I barely recognized her with her long hair down and not in braids. She HAS grown. She saw Steve first and went straight to him and gave him a HUGE hug. I was so close to crying....but I held it together. She was very quiet at the airport and for the ride to dinner. But it didn't take long (before we got our food at Fudruckers) for her to open up! :) It felt like we didn't miss a beat from where we left off last year!

She brought back her same suitcase that we sent her home with last year. It was SO heavy! We got home to realize 90% of it was GIFTS!!! Just like last year...she brought little for herself (a few pair of underwear, pjs, one shirt and 3 dresses). Not even a toothbrush. She even brought a gift for our dog! It melted my heart and made me sad all at the same time as she kept handing me stuff out of her suitcase. She brought a game (kinda like Bingo) for the boys and we played a short game before we took baths and went to bed. She was asleep by 10pm and I'm curious to see how long she sleeps in the morning.

My family feels complete again! :D

The journey has begun!

Alina is officially on her way to America! It started today with a 9 hr bus ride from Mogilev to Moscow. Their flight left Moscow at 9:50pm our time. They will fly from Moscow to Germany...then Germany to here. She lands at 3:30pm tomorrow in Charlotte!

Once she gets here she will have spent 13 hrs in the air.

It will be 10:30pm Belarus time when she gets here.

PLEASE pray for safe travels for her and all the other children that are traveling with ABRO this week.

We can't wait to see her!

tick tick tick

Time is ticking away....Monday will be here before we know it. Alina's flight comes in at 3:30pm. I can't wait to see her smiling face as she walks down the ramp for incoming international flights. I know her time here is going to fly by...it seems like we just started fundraising to get her here..yesterday! Friday my priority is to get her room set up. I don't have much to do in there...but I feel like I need to have a goal. The boys are VERY excited about her coming back. I think we will make signs for her bedroom, balloons and I bought her an "American Girl" type doll that will be wrapped and on her bed when she gets here on Monday night.

Please think of all the children all day on Monday as they take their LONG journey to the US. SAFE TRAVELS!

Here is the visa picture we received...she has definatly grown. I'll do my best to update this blog while she is here. The boys have both made All Star baseball so we will be very busy. I promise to do my best!

We met our goal!!!

I want to say a BIG thank you to each and every one of you that have helped us reach our goal of $2100 to get Alina here this summer. If you bought a Yankee Candles, Poinsettias, AutoBell Carwash Tickets, Tupperware or simply gave us a donation you have helped us reach out to this precious 9 year old girl once again this year! We couldn't have done it without ALL of you! Last year we ended up paying $500 out of our own pockets in order to get Alina here. This year we were able to raise ALL the money! :) This money goes toward her travel expenses and visa. All our money has been turned in and we are just waiting to get her visa picture. The kids will be arriving on June 20th and I have a lot to do to get things ready before then. I still need to purchase bedding and go through her clothes from last year. I'm sure time will fly between now and then! I can't wait to see her smiling face!

25th Anniversary

Today is the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident....the meltdown of Chernobyl. On April 26, 1986 one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded when a testing experiment went wrong. The Soviet Union didn't report anything to the public for 72 hours after it happened. It sent radiation clouds drifting all across Europe. A total of 31 people died that day...but many have lasting effects such as cancer from the exposure to the radiation in what is now Belarus.

THIS is WHY we bring Alina here each summer. We give her 6 weeks of breathing CLEAN air and eating CLEAN food to help boost her immune system. Just being away from the radiation (that is STILL there) helps her so much in the long run. The American Belarussian Relief Organization is a WONDERFUL thing! If I could help ALL the people effected by the meltdown I would. That is why we need more people to get involved. If you are interested in helping in anyway...finacial support, hosting a family, volunteering your time, anything...please let me know or visit www.monroeabro.org

We can't wait for Alina to get here on June 20th!

Today my heart is heavy thinking of everyone that the ABRO organization can't reach out to and to all of those dealing with health issues from this nuclear accident.

I love being a part of great things!

I LOVE being a part of Union County Mommies. It's a WONDERFUL support group. I don't know what I would do without the friends I've met since becoming a member of this site. They support me in more ways than they can imagine! I'm just glad I was able to be a part of a GRAND thing to help a fellow mommy and friend in need. Just follow this link, read, and you will understand what I mean.

http://themommiesnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-moms-response-to-helping-friend-in.html#comments

I'm so behind!

Well, so much for keeping this updated more often. I just don't seem to have time to update as much as I would like. I'm going to try to do better.

Last week I FINISHED my quilt! I still haven't taken pictures of it, but I do LOVE it! Momma, Sumer, Courtney and I all went to the laundromat to wash them and ate potato soup at my house to celebrate. :) I love that it's finished and the boys love to snuggle under it. Now I just wish I had another project to work on. We think our next project is going to be aprons. I'm so proud of myself for actually learning to use a sewing machine and taking the time to FINISH a quilt. Yes, it was an easy quilt pattern but I completed it on my own! I'm sure I'll treasure it forever.

Pictures to come....