What a day!!!

     The day finally arrived!  Our baby girl, our only birth daughter, getting married!  We had two weeks to prepare for the big day once we got home from Ukraine.  The alterations got done, the shoes were bought, matching ties for 5 guys....the list went on and on.  We took three helpers with us to get us through the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.  It was a job getting 8 kids clothes, shoes, toiletries, plus our clothes.  We almost left my dress!!!

     We arrived on Friday just minutes before the rehearsal at 4:30.  All the kids needed to come as most of them were in it.  Emily was a junior bridesmaid.  Jack and Philip had baskets of programs that they gave out at the door.  Anya had the guestbook for everyone to sign.  Tom and Ben walked me down the aisle.  They were all so proud to be a part of this wedding.

    Dave had the best job of all, walking his baby girl down the aisle.  She was radiant and joyful as every bride should be.  I couldn't take my eyes off of her.  She only has eyes for Bryce and I hope someone took a picture of him seeing his bride. 

 

The program was absolutely wonderful.  The scripture reading was from Song of Solomon.  Dave and I had just bought a wedding picture with the scripture on it that was used in the wedding.  It was a God thing.  Liz picked the song, A Thousand Miles by Mark Schultz, one of our favorite artists.  We were so pleased!  Dave said a blessing over the couple.  There was not a dry eye in the house!

 

After the wedding the photographers took our pictures again because we missed some people on the first try.  Can't wait to see the one of all the Daulton children except Molly.  Dave goes to pick her up on the 19th.  One of the many thoughtful things they had at the reception was a memory table.

 

So Brian and Daniel and my parents photos were on display with others from Bryce's family.  It was a sweet touch.

 

It says, "We know you'd be here today, If heaven weren't so far away"

 

The reception was so fun!  They had a great DJ, a photo booth for the young and young at heart to have their pictures taken with silly props.  You got to keep a copy and they glued the other copy on a scrapbook page.  What a great idea!

 

I did not know where our table was but I figured it was the one with the coloring pages!  They had crayons on top of a page with a bride and groom riding off into the sunset.  One of the neat things they did was after the traditional bouquet toss and garter toss they did a teddy bear toss for the kids!  My great niece caught the teddy bear!

 

 

Dave and Liz danced to Butterfly Kisses and I don't know how he got through it.  I was a mess!  He said he and Liz talked the whole time and he didn't even hear the song.  That's how he did it!

 

 

One of the great things about a wedding is seeing relatives.  All four of my sisters made it there which made everything sweeter!  Three of my sisters and my niece Mandy were in an automobile accident on the way to the wedding on Friday night.  It was raining horribly and there were a lot of accidents.  They hydroplaned across three lanes of traffic, never hit anyone, and ended up facing traffic.  The guardrails stopped them and people were whizzing by.  A lady in an SUV stopped and called 911.  She told the girls she was going to pull her SUV out so traffic would have to go past her.  She waited for 911 and then left.  They never got her name.  She was an angel.

 

This is a picture of me and my sisters at brunch the morning after.  Such a good time was had by all!

 

 

Dave leaves this Saturday to pick up the last Daulton kid!  We are still short by a few thousand and could use your help.  Thanks for coming on this journey with us!

A Day to Remember

    
     We had been in country for 24 days waiting for court.  Time is not the same in Ukraine and I'm not talking about the time difference.  They move to the beat of a different drummer for sure.  They always seem puzzled by our fixation on schedules.  Time is unhurried there.  BUT we had changed tickets twice, our plane was leaving the next morning at O Dark Hundred and we needed to be on it!  Our Philip's much anticipated 17th birthday was in two days and we needed to be there!  This didn't seem to make much of an impression.

     We were told by our facilitator who knows a little English,  that court would be at 11:30 or 12:00.  That came and went and no word.  We went down to see Molly before she became officially ours. 

 

She calls us Mama and Papa but doesn't understand what that really means.  How could she?  She's never had a family.  The orphanage director came down with us to Molly's room and posed with us.

 

 

Tatiana is a wonderful woman and a great advocate for these kids.  We went back upstairs to her office to wait and wait.  She got busy signing papers so we were hopeful that court maybe would really happen after all.  We were looking through pictures and found a publication with Molly's picture on it.  She was just a baby!

 

 

 

At four thirty Tatiana motioned for us to come with her.  We have no translator so we mainly smile at each other and play charades.  She had a car and motioned for us to get in.  We went on the very bumpy roads to get to the courthouse and our facilitator wasn't there.  He is Tatiana's son however so we knew she was in contact with him.  They at least can talk to one another!  We were more than a little relieved when we saw Andre pull up with our translator and social worker.  Whew!!

 

When we were waiting in the hall our translator, who they used when we got Marina Joy, told us that it was a holiday in Ukraine.  Guess what it was?  Adoption day!  She told us it was an official day of Hope and Love in Ukraine.  How about that???  God did have a plan after all!!!

 

Court was in the same small room with the same nice judge.  He smiled as he went through the documents and saw all our children.  We amuse him.  He did say that Molly had never had a visitor, that no one cared for her at all.  I remember hearing those words nine months ago when we adopted Marina Joy.  Both girls are from the same baby house.  Molly was transferred there at the age of 3.  They've always known one another. 

 

We got the decision at six thirty.  Marina Joy and Molly are now sisters.  Fourteen children, two call heaven their home but 12 are left here with us.  Six boys, six girls.  Perfect!  We are so blessed!

 

Thank you all for going on this journey with us.  We aren't done yet!  David goes back for Molly on the 19th.  We had to get our fingerprints redone last week.  Hopefully they'll make their way to Ukraine next week.  Our daughter Liz is getting married this Saturday.  What a busy blessed life we have!  Thank you for your prayers and your support!  If you would like to donate to help us bring Molly home you can do so on this page.  God bless you all!!