Kathlena's Bed

David and J.Michael have been working on building Kathlena's bed for a few weekends now. We are nearing completion. We hope to pick up a twin mattress soon and finish the drawers and it will be ready for our Russian Princess who will now be living in the jungle hut.

Here are some pics. of the progress.

Going to Nana Camp

Well we took a little trip to visit my parents a.k.a. DooDad and Nana. We had a wonderful week of fun riding go-carts (see video clip below), shopping, playing Wii, playing Mexican Train together, Golf, and weathering a huge storm. It is always fun to visit my sweet family. They are all anxiously awaiting Andrew and Kathlena's homecoming and are already making plans to meet us at the airport with banners!

Thank you, Mom and Dad for your life long support of me and all our adventures! I could not have chosen better parents. I love you both dearly.

J.Michael playing Golf with Uncle Todd and Doodad. Getting a little lesson from Uncle Todd.

Look at how high the Lake is! It is almost up to the green. We had a bad storm that took down many trees. 50mile an hour winds and 3 inches of rain in 2hrs but oh was it gorgous the next day and once all the roads were clear the road crew took a break for an afternoon round of Golf.

Everyone made it to the green! Way to go J.Michael!

Meanwhile, Emily and Mema were playing a serious game of Wii Tennis. Check this out!

I think Emily was winning but Mema was coming back!

Of course the boys had to have some Wii time too. Yep! you guessed it they are playing Wii Golf!

Our last morning there....Oh! Yes, Go-Cart riding. The trip would not be the same without the family Indy 500 race! Here is a clip of the fun and pic's to follow.

J.Michael a.k.a. Road Rat

Uncle Todd a.k.a. King Bondo

Doodad and J.Michael neck and neck! Emily a.k.a Road Princess

Doodad covered in track dirt!

Russian Orphans You-tube

Okay, missing my kids so I was surfing you tube watching video about Russian adoptions again. Here are a few videos about Russian orphans-you will need tissue. I cannot get to my Russian babies soon enough but, the Lord is holding us both close as we wait for His perfect timing.

Russian Orphans

Russian Orphans 2

I will probably post a series of "Daily life" around the Shiflet Home as there is not much to report at this time on the adoption progress but as soon as we hear anything...I will post the latest news! Thank you for hanging in there with us and praying us through our wait.

Status Quo

David and I had a phone conference with our AAI caseworker this morning to go over our status. All necessary paperwork has been completed at this time and we are awaiting our court date. At this time we are only guessing that we will be traveling some time in May. It is our hope to receive 2 weeks notice as this is the most we would receive but we are better prepared this time since we know what to do with visa's, booking flights, hotels, etc.

We will be traveling this time to Moscow instead of St. Petersberg since we must exit the country through the U.S. Embassy which is in Moscow. Much of our discussion with our caseworker was preparing us for court and explaining the procedure. I have mixed feelings as the court part is intense but at the same time rather short and should be uneventful...none the less it is what finally gives us custody of our two precious Russian gifts. Again I am reminded..."The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." Proverbs 21:1

And so we wait to hear the longed for words...It is time!

The House by the Dvina

We are currently studying Russian History in the Shiflet Home School through the biography of Eugenie Fraser, The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood. This book begins in Russia in the 1880's and follows the generations of a family who lived through the revolution; including the author herself. She died only five years ago at the age of 96 but left behind a precious legacy in her book on the region of Archangel and it's history during Imperial Russia and through the revolution of 1917.

This is a very descriptive and well written book that engulfs you into another time and place. I must say I have been so drawn in to this story especially knowing it is the birthplace of two of my children. Archangels, a place that has endured many harsh winters as well as the desolation of the Soviet regime, can be described as place that possesses generations of survivors. This book is a time capsule to a place that only exists the minds of those who were there and lived to tell about it. Eugenie Fraser is just such a person and penned this detailed account when she was 80yrs. old. I am grateful as it is a link to my Russian children's birthland, written beautifully to capture this amazing old city.

Emily and J.Michael love this book beg for just one more chapter. The sound a mother loves to hear from her children who are enraptured in a good book. For those adopting from Russia or just interested in Russian history I highly recommend this book. You will find it hard to put down.

Charlie and the snake

As I awoke to the sound of barking today, not unlike other days really because the dogs are usually barking at something but today would be unlike any other. If you are Hank the Cowdog fans this story is going to sound all to familiar to you.

As I was saying Sally Mae...er umm I awoke to the sound of barking. J.Michael aroused quicker than I, ran out to investigate the situation. He quickly gave a report that the dogs had found a snake and not just any snake but a copperhead. I must admit I really did not think that it was a copperhead as we have had false sightings before. J.Michael was quite adimant though and said that Charlie was slinging it in his mouth. I am thinking that this is not good...I then ask J.Michael if the snake was dead and he replied "I think so it has lots of teeth marks in it" but apparently it wasn't because by the time we reached Charlie the snake was gone. Again, I am thinking maybe this was not a copperhead but the infamous "faking death long enough to get away" hognose snake that we have encountered many times in our backyard.

It wasn't long before we had pretty much confirmed it was a poisonous snake of some kind as we found Charlie with his head swelled up like he had eaten a watermelon whole (see pictures above) and it was still in his mouth. He was a little stumbly which gave me great concern so, I ran into the house and put watered down kefir in a suringe(the kind you use to marinate turkeys with) and squirted some in his mouth followed by two children's benedryls (chewable) which I keep on hand only for the dogs. This works for dogs with bee stings as well-another story for another time. Anyway, I didn't have but 2 left and for his size Charlie really needed 4 but I proceeded to grab up some herbal remedies too.

I rubbed clove oil on the puncture wounds...3 total along with thieves spray. I then put some olive leaf tincture in water, using the suringe and gave him several more suringes full of water. By this time he is swelling up nicely...Emily took pictures of course, see above. One of the important things is to give them lots of water to flush out toxins. I also made a poultice of bentonite clay, charcoal, and plantain in mineral oil and held on the wounds. Then I also gave Charlie a suringe of bentonite clay, charcoal and water to draw the poison out from inside and flush it out his system. As I was giving him this I noticed he seemed warm so I reached for my Yarrow and made a tea for him and again gave him this in the suringe. The kids and I prayed over Charlie and waited.

We watched him closely over the next hour and he did not show any signs of worsening so I continued to give him the yarrow tea, bentonite clay water, olive leaf, garlic, and kefir. Amazingly over the next few hours not only was he not getting worse but he was acting like himself and the swelling had gone done considerably. PTL!!!

Some may be thinking...why didn't she just take him to the vet? This did cross my mind especially at the thought of it being a copperhead most likely that bit him. Charlie is almost 10yrs old and has survived some serious illnesses through medical intervention that most dogs do not. I have been working on him for the past 6months to treat him naturally so, I just believed he was strong and that the Lord could heal him through the herbs so that is what I did.

I was called out to the yard again around 3pm when Charlie decided to make sure proper credit was given for his work. He brought us the dead copperhead. Pictured above...he is proud of his work. Mystery solved...it really was a copperhead after all.

I am happy to report that by 8pm , twelve hours later, Charlie is his old self again. He is out on patrol with almost no swelling left at all. He is a good dog and I am so thankful that he rooted out the copperhead and protected us. All in a good days work for the head of the Shiflet Home Security.

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Charlie back to his old self today(24hrs later) with no signs of the previous days incident. Amazing recovery. PTL!!

Okay, I know this post is not about adoption but one day Andrew and Kathlena will love Charlie too and I thought they would appreciate hearing this story. :)

News from Abroad!!!!

I am so excited to tell that today we received an email from Kathlena's orphanage. Praise the Lord!! They said that "she is waiting for us so much!" and that she has been sick with a respiratory attack but is doing better now. Please pray that she stays healthy.

I have sent another letter and more pictures to her hoping we will get another response. No word from Andrew's orphanage but, we continue to send letters in hopes that he is receiving them; they are just not able to respond to us.

David is in Guadalajara, Mexico but I was able to reach him with the news. We are so grateful to the Lord for this encouragement on the day we left her almost 2 months ago.

The kids and I were doing some research on Archangels history and while searching Google earth we believe we have located Andrew's orphanage via satellite...it is so cool! Take a look Andrew's Orphanage His orphanage is the "H" shaped building closest to the main road. We found the hotel we stayed at and J.Michael and I followed the river recognizing the iron bridge, logging buildings until we came to the turn off for the orphanage. It is truly amazing how much we were able to remember...much of what you saw posted in our video is what we were following to find it. Here is the hotel where we stayed Pur Novolok of course when we were there in Feb. the river is frozen. I am not sure how often the Google earth is updated but the pictures appear to be in the summer time. The hotel we stayed in was easy to spot as it is shaped like a ship and near the Dvina river.

I was reading another friends post who is also adopting and waiting to bring her children home. I was so blessed and convicted by her post on "having joy in this time apart". I must admit I have not felt much joy of late as time seems to move so slowly and the frustration of paperwork has taken hold. I see how my attitude has been very "down cast". Proverbs 12:25 "Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad." "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5. It was very good to have news from Arkhangelsk and to know something about my Kathlena Hope.

Kathlena's Fish

Emily, J.Michael and I were in Michael's recently shopping for various craft items for projects when we stumbled across a sweet reminder of Kathlena.--

The last day we visited with her at the orphanage we were able to observe her with her group and caretaker. We watched them eat lunch, clean up, and then play a game. The game was a magnetic fishing game. All of the kids were allowed to take turns trying to catch the fish. Kathlena was very excited about this game and loved to try and catch the fish.

While at Michael's J.Michael spotted the very same game. I couldn't believe that over 6,000 miles away we had stumbled on something familiar for Kathlena. Of course we had to buy one thinking it would be a great game for the plane trip home and something to break the ice as she leaves everything she has ever known. We praise the Lord for sweet reminders like this of our precious Russian children...you are always on our minds and close to our hearts. Missing you is so much harder than we ever imagined--we love you and hope to be coming quickly.