It's a grand old name

     We are so very excited about adding to our family once again and have been "nesting" as we make room for one more.  We should be able to travel sometime in august and get this last girl home.  We've known Heather for three years.  When we were in the orphanage in November to get our Marina we spent a lot of time with Heather.  Well, she came running every time she saw us and demanded attention!  She adopted us then!
     This will be our fifth girl and we've not run out of names like I have for the boys.  There are eight of those boys!!!   We've decided to name her after my mom.  It will be mom's 27th grandchild, her thirteenth granddaughter.  She would love it that someone is finally going to use her name.  There was an old song she use to sing to us that went like this....
     For it was Mary, Mary, long before the fashions came,
     But in society, propriety they say Marie,
     For it was Mary, Mary, strong as any name can be,
     For there is something there, that sounds so square,
     It's a grand old name!

     It is fitting that Mary Monica gets a namesake.  We will call her Molly which was also mom's nickname.  I believe her dad called her Molly Mae.  It fits this little one to a tea.  Love you mom!                                                         

A Giant Leap!!!!!

I stand amazed and humbled at the same time.  Just three days ago our total donations stood at $89.50 and I was feeling very alone.  The grant we applied for didn't come through our fund raising has been  for our conference entitled, Change Our Future,  on July 27th in Kiev, Ukraine.   It's easy to get discouraged in this adoption journey and feel the weight of it all on your shoulders. 
That's how I was feeling Monday night as I checked my FB account.  I decided to check my blog to see if the paypal had gone up.  I lost my breath when I saw the total......11,114.70!!!  In just one day!!  I showed it to david as tears of joy ran down my face.  My first thought was the incredible goodness of God and my next was how undeserving I am.   I've had so many doubts and tried to carry this myself and yet...... He is faithful.
This has given me the boost I needed to believe this will all work out.  We still have a ways to go but are so very encouraged.  Thanks to all of you who are being His hands and feet.  We are grateful.

God bless you all!!!!!!! 

Countdown has begun!

Our dossier was finally submitted last Wednesday and the countdown has begun!  We have an upcoming missions trip leaving on July 21st and we were hoping to get the first part of the adoption process over at that time.   We've just found out that we will probably travel in the second part of August.  Bummer.  One thing we've learned in this life with this group of kids is how to be flexible so onward and upward!
We are presenting our third annual conference on Children with Disabilities in Kiev, Ukraine on July 27th and it is shaping up to be an awesome conference!  Last summer we had 14 people present at our conference and we imagined it would be bigger this year.  God has shaped our conference into something entirely different and better!  We do have three presenters from the states, excluding us, and we are thrilled about their involvement but the rest of the presenters live and work in Ukraine to make life better for children with disabilities.   So instead of us telling our Ukrainian friends how things are in America for these special kids and showing them how things can be, we will have presenters who can show them how they are making changes in their own country.  It is so exciting and we are humbled that God is using us.  If you would like to make donations toward this conference you can send a tax deductible gift to: Father's Heart, 3808 Poplar Hill Rd, Suite D, Chesapeake, Va.  23321.  Make checks out to Father's Heart.
We will return from that trip at the beginning of August and most likely leave again in just two or three weeks.  We have to do this in stages this time rather than stay over there 26 days like we did with Marina.  I will go with David for the first two trips as I have to be there and he will go back and pick up Heather on the third trip.  We covet your prayers!  We have no idea how we are going to pull this all off but believe that God is able and we rest in that.  (most of the time!)  If you want to donate for the adoption we have a paypal on this site or you can mail it to Father's Heart.  We thank you in advance for your prayers and generosity.  Please share this with your friends!
Just a picture before I go.
Marina Joy enjoying her mom's sweet tea on the front porch.  Does life get any better than this?

God bless you all!

Strutting our Stuff!

It was a great night at the Royal Courtyard where 20 models got to go down the runway for the first time ever.  Some were in wheelchairs, some used walkers, some held onto their assistant for dear life (like my Emily) and some you could hardly get off the runway!!!  This was a promotional event for Endless Expectations LLC, a company dedicated to making amusement park rides accessible to the handicapped.  I wish I'd been able to get better pictures but I'll share what I was able to do.
Emily, Anya and Marina took part in the show and the whole family had a grand time! 

Miss Marina was blown away by the music and the people and when it came her time to go down the runway she ran like a pony and clapped her hands.  I was able to get a still shot.

The girls got their makeup and jewelry done by the girls there and looked so pretty.  I was worried they wouldn't make until their names were called but they did a great job!

 

Em had to hold up Justin Beiber's picture for the next shot.  I think she held it when she went down the runway!

Tom and Ben got into the act too!

Just a few more before we say goodnight

Lani wouldn't look at me but she was there with her new haircut!

 

Jack was trying to hide his second plate of food!

 

We sure enjoyed ourselves at our first ever modeling event.  Thanks Endless Expectations for including us!

Goodnight all!

 

A Mother's day gift

Mother's Day was upon me and I was in labor that day.  I remember it so well.  As I lay in the hospital I heard a nurse coming onto her shift remark,  "Is someone having a baby today?  It's a great day to have a baby!"  Well you must have heard that because shortly after that you came into the world.   I still have the rose made out of pink netting that the ladies auxillary brought to me.  Memories. 
Brian Joseph Daulton, May 10th, 1981 - September 24, 1985.  Born on Mother day, died on my birthday. You were the sweetest boy these eyes have seen.  You flew through life with every flag unfurled.  Your life....  I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

You died when you were only four,
I always thought there would be more.
More time to laugh and run and play,
More love to give another day.

You were so young and sweet and fair,
Your shining blue eyes and your blonde hair,     
Taken away without a cause,
Taken away so now I pause,
To look back and remember when
The days were full of my Brian.                                                


Love you forever,
            Mom


            



This is one of the last pictures we have of Brian.  I wanted to share it with you.  Although his death affected me profoundly it also taught me lessons that I've never forgotten.  The broken hearted are close to the Lord.  He ministered to me (when I would let Him) and He drew me closer to Him as time went by.  He has restored my soul and given me compassion and opened my eyes to see life differently.  To treasure life more.  To reach out to those who are hurting too, for we all have pain.

It is one of the reasons we adopt I'm sure.  We want to be a part of God's redemptive work.  He welcomed us into His family through adoption.  We are just doing what God does for all of us.  Adoption.   It's a gift in so many ways.

Here is my mother's day picture today.  My children gathered around me to bless me on this special day.  God is good!

                     

Happy Mother's Day!       Love, Jane

It's May!

We've been having so many computer problems I have not been able to post anything.  Our laptop crashed and we found out the motherboard is fried.  It's only a year old!  I have just now been able to download some pictures from my camera onto this new laptop so here goes....

These were taken at the Unbaby Shower that Dana Steele threw for Marina Joy.  Cara Suttles hosted it at her house and it was so much fun!  Marina got a lot of new clothes and two precious lamps for her room.  Thanks ladies!

These are pictures of Marina Joy and Emily celebrating their birthdays at our favorite Mexican restaurant!

It was a Happy Easter for all!  We were blessed to have Liz and Bryce join us this year.  We missed Mike as he was in Japan.  Our Bill was working of course!   Restaurants are hard to get away from on holidays.  All this kids hunt for baskets after church and have a blast!  It was Marina's first easter and she looked beautiful!

What a sweet picture of marina!  I think one of the kids took it!

Another Mexican shot!  This one is of sweet Anya.  I couldn't resist!

I found this Ukrainian outfit that we bought for Anya.  She wore it when she was a little one.  Isn't Marina sweet in it?

These pictures were taken at Special Games that is held every year for the students in Chesapeake who have an IEP.  It was an absolutely beautiful day and all the kids were winners!

One last picture of Marina on her way to school.  She's gained 12 pounds in four months and grown almost two inches!  What a joy to watch her blossom!

 

This is beautiful Heather.  She is soon to be twelve yet wears a size 2T.  We've known her for two years and she has our hearts.   We've been working in orphanages for ten years and have never thought about adopting again until we met these two little ones.  Our dossier is almost ready and we are hoping to get this adoption done in two trips this summer.  Please help us bring this little one home.  Help us give her a future and a hope!  Please pray for us and tell your friends about us.  We thank you all for your love and prayers.

 

Marina Joy Turns eleven!

I haven't written in here in a long time.  Partly because of computer problems but mostly because of time.  There are never enough hours in the day.  Marina has been with us for two and a half months and everyone is moving over to make room for one more.  She rooms with our Lani who is our lowest functioning child.  Lani has Down Syndrome and is autistic so she is more limited in what she can do.  Marina has turned out to be a real blessing for Lani.  Lani gets such a charge out of this little girl!  They sometimes bathe together and Marina loves to wash Lani's hair.  It's amazing that Lani will put up with this from MJ but she does so willingly.