6 months ago today...everything changed

It was six months ago today that Andrew and Kathlena were given to us. It seems they have always been with us. So much has changed in six months. They are both speaking English very well and have adapted better than I ever imagined. They are so very precious and so very Shiflet now.

*remember to turn off music in the side bar by clicking pause to listen to videos

1st Trip to the Zoo

The girls are enjoying their buck sticks from Daddy's deer for
lunch. When we arrived we had our picnic lunch at Herman
Park first then set out to spend the afternoon at the zoo.

Where are the prairie dogs...apparently this exhibit is under
construction but they had fun playing "prairie dog".

Black bear taking it easy and allowing onlookers a chance

for photo ops.

A recently acquired leopard. Notice the extra skin...

they have put him on a diet as he was apparently getting to
fat...only in America!

We got a rare glimpse of the tiger moving around and getting

a drink of water. They are such beautiful and graceful animals.

Andrew runs up to this fence and goes yummy cows...we

like to eat the cows! These were called Ankoloes I think?

I think Andrew is right these would probably be good eating.

A margay getting his goat's milk lunch.

Look at those paws!

*remember to turn off music to listen to video it is in the sidebar of the blog, click pause on the playlist.

The ocelot does not like to be squirted in the mouth with

the goat's milk but prefers to lick it off of the stump.

A beautiful cat.

A fussa...I don't think I have ever seen or heard of this

animal before. This is where we met Richard the zoo keeper.

The cheetahs stretching. The Houston Zoo has a large variety

of wild cats which is wonderful for our family as we love them.

"What stinks?" Ahh! yes, the new elephant

exhibit. Even a new mansion doesn't keep

these animals from smelling!

Swimming with the piranhas...yikes!

Playing in the mangrove roots. The new rain forest

exhibit is very nice.

"We found Nemo, and another one too!" "Dorey also"

Andrew was so cute when he saw the clown fish in the

aquarium in the Rain forest exhibit.

A rare glimpse of Lou the hedgehog as she has been retired

and only "lives" at the zoo. We were told that she is old and

has done "her time" so she is no longer on exhibit just living

her days out in a roomy cage behind closed doors. The zoo

keeper brings her out on occasion to let the kids pet her and

see a real hedgehog.

Kathlena and I petting the spiky hedgehog from Madagascar.

Andrew taking a turn to pet Lou.

A Shiflet tradition is to collect smashed pennies from the souvenir penny machines. It is a great inexpensive and fun souvenir for kids to collect. When we were traveling to Russia we actually found one in Germany. We found a website off of this one and it tells the locations of them from all over the world. From this website we found out that there was one in Russia...bummer would've been neat to have some from there.

We waited out the rain as long as possible and finally set out to the Houston Zoo on Thursday, Nov. 13. It was still overcast and a little cool in shade which made for a great day to stroll through the zoo. Andrew and Kathlena had never been to a Zoo before and it was so fun to try and explain this whole concept to them. At first Andrew was a little nervous as he didn't like the idea of "seeing" wild animals. Once he understood that they were in cages and could not get out he began to get excited at the thought of seeing some the animals he has only heard about in books.

It has been a while since the rest of us have been to the Houston Zoo too and much has changed. I must say it has definitely changed for the better! The zoo has recently acquired grizzly bears and new leopards. We had a great opportunity to see a Fussa, Margay and Ocelot as Richard the zoo keeper was out feeding them and Andrew got to ask him lots of questions to which Richard was more than happy to share about the animals he takes care of. The Houston Zoo has also recently built a huge Asian Elephant exhibit (to which no $$$ was spared at $5 million) Sadly, one of the newest born in captivity elephants, Mac at 18 months had just died the previous weekend from a virus. There were still 4-5 elephants in the exhibit though. Our trip was great fun. I have missed going to the zoo and glad to have such a nice zoo close by. I am sure we will be going again soon.

Russia makes History

Russia has just passed a historical presidential term extension today. Now the president will be able to serve two six-year terms instead of four. According to AP news report the current President of Russia will now have "more power than the general secretary (of the Soviet Union), the czar and pharaoh altogether. And there is not a single element of control over his authority" see full article at Russian Duma backs presidential changes .

Some additional articles revealing the great possibility that Putin will be back in power sooner rather than later and Russia taking advantage of the change in leadership in the U.S.

Russian vote paves way for early Putin comeback

Sarkozy Urges U.S., Russia to Delay Missile Plans

Future Senator?

Emily and J.Michael for the past few years have been involved in speech tournaments. This has been a wonderful experience for them and has given them a greater confidence to write and articulate their beliefs on a given subject. This year they are part of a speech class from our church and hope to be able to take the speeches they are working on and compete in NCFCA tournaments this spring.

Tonight Emily and J.Michael were both presenting their speeches to their Dad, Andrew and I (Kathlena was already in bed). Andrew has been sitting in on the speech classes with me for Emily and J.Michael and really likes to listen to the speeches. After J.Michael gave his speech we turned to Andrew and asked him if he would like to give a speech. He said, "Yes!" We asked what he would like to give his speech on and he told us, "Rrrrobots!" We recently checked out a book from the library called "Can you see what I see?" which is similar to the "I Spy" books. In this book it has a whole 2 page spread of robots made from recycled materials. This book was all Andrew had in front of him to give his speech from. We had not gone over anything with him about speaking so what you will see in the video is from what he has picked up from watching his brother and sister and listening in on 3 speech classes.

*remember to turn off music to listen to video it is in the sidebar of the blog, click pause on the playlist.

I think we may have a senator on our hands...16 minutes of speaking impromptu on a subject. I think he is filibuster material for sure! Notice the intentional eye contact. Great Job! Andrew. I think this is only the beginning of your public speaking opportunities. Oh, ya and did I mention he has only been speaking English for 5 months now! Andrew is now working on a persuasive speech entitled "Why I Need a Police Car Sleepy Bag Tent" special edition for the grandparents!

Mommy's little Helper

Kathlena loves to be where ever Mommy is. She is my shadow and little helper. Her sweet smile and willingness to help do anything bring her Mommy joy and delight. Here is a short clip of Kathlen helping Mommy snap some green beans for dinner. She sure makes you want to go get some green beans and snap them!

*remember to turn off music when viewing video, located in the sidebar of the blog -click stop/pause on the playlist box.

First Post Placement

Whew!!! we made it through the mad dash of our first post placement report. The report itself was really no big deal. Especially, since we love to talk about our kids and how wonderful adoption has been for our family. The craziness comes with the time constraints of we couldn't meet with the social worker until after Nov. 1st(a Sat.) yet we have to have it to our agency notarized and apostilled (in Austin) by Nov. 15th(also a Sat. so really the 14th). Long story short-two carefully orchestrated FedEx envelopes, a really quick and wonderful social worker, and lots of prayers made all of this happen on time (hopefully, as the first leg of the race has gone well so far).

The main purpose in post placement reports is to smooth relationships with Russia and the U.S. Agencies that place children in families from Russia. Pictures are sent to ensure that the children are doing well. I am glad to help, but now on the other side of adoption I really do think that 3yrs of post placement reports is excessive for adoptive families to produce (one year should be sufficient). Especially, when each report costs upwards of $300. This is after a family who adopts 1-2 children has already spent upwards of $40,000-60, 000 to adopt to begin with. Would I spend this much all over again for my children? YOU bet I would, but should governments have this much jurisdiction over the affairs of adoptive families...Constitutionally speaking...no. If the government didn't it would take a fraction of the time and cost to adopt.

Unfortunately, the costs are only likely to go up with the implementation of the Homeland Security Agency and new Hague laws that go in effect as of this year. While in the news you hear of the great things that Hague is going to prevent what is not being reported is how the increase in government agencies involvement and forced compliance with new regulations will result in greater cost to the individual adoptive families (both time and money), fewer overall adoptions as a result and the complete shut down of some of the most poor countries in the world who have the greatest need for adoption. How the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption Might Affect You

Government was to protect the innocent...children who are legitimately in harmful, abusive situations should be removed from their family, but not by means of our current system where the government is unchecked-Children Removed from LDS Compound in Texas. But once children are out of immediate physical danger, job over for the government and it is time for the church to step in and find a loving stable home. Elaborate foster care systems, social workers-namely CPS do not hold a biblical world view of adoption or family for that matter, although many of these individuals are well meaning and even Christians, they are still agents of the state acting in behalf of what is best for the state not individuals. The bureaucracy that exists is unbelievable and many of the CPS agents who are trying to look out for the best interest of the individual child have their hands tied by too many cases, too many hoops to jump through and dealing with an ever increasing amount of responsibility as new regulations are constantly added which translates into more training and licensing for them.

Okay, I feel better now with that said, we are now cleared by the state for another 6 months until we must go through all of this again. I do have to say that we have one of those rare CPS social workers who really does have the best interest of the family and child as priority and delights to see children placed in loving biblical Christian homes. She has been a true blessing to us as we have navigated the waters of the state through our adoption. We praise the Lord for bringing her to us and granting us favor throughout our process of dealing with the unavoidable government intrusion in the adoption process.

Prayers that Avail Much

Andrew and Kathlena Oct 25, 2008

Mommy's little helper

Reading time

The boys helping me cook in the kitchen

Kathlena helping make blueberry pie

The number of buckets of tears cried during our adoption and waiting process were more than I can count. At times they were tears of frustration, longing to get through red tape and just bring home our longed for children and other times they were tears of great joy that we were one step closer to the reality of bringing them home. Praising the Lord in those difficult days that seemed they would never end in hopes of being in the days we are in now was hard. But He is so faithful to redeem the time. Though, difficult at times to swallow the loss of those years when you adopt an older child we are seeing so much fruit in such a short time. We praise the Lord for each day of Andrew and Kathlena's lives even when those days were spent apart.

When adopting older children the word "time" seems to take on new meaning. You have time lost, catch-up time, time passing, time waiting and thankfully time redeemed. In the past six months(really since we began the adoption process) I have prayed, mourned, and rejoiced over all of these facets of time. Trusting the Lord to faithfully grow us together as a family.

The day we took custody of Andrew and Kathlena we began right away to teach our newest family members what was most important to us...reading God's Word with us, praying with us, and serving each other with love. It wasn't long before Andrew picked up on our daily disciplines of praying before meals and reading the Bible with Daddy as something to expect. At about 1 month with us he had enough English verbal skills to utter a simple prayer on his own and wanted to, saying "Thank you for this food, Amen". It was so sweet and the beginnings of him participating and assuming a responsibility as a member of our family. In time we began to see him increase his words, mimicking what he has heard his father say as he learns through the Hebrew method of time spent seeing, hearing and doing things one on one. His depth of thinking revealed through his practice of praying gave us a good measure of what he was thinking of that day and was precious encouragement to Mom and Dad. Especially on those days when it seemed we were going backwards more than forwards...more joyful tearful buckets filled.

As Andrew's knowledge and understanding of his new world has grown we have been able to discuss more in depth why we do what we do. What started as a simple prayer that gave him confidence that he belonged has in time also led to great conversations with him about who we are talking to when we pray and why we pray. Similar conversations are held about why we read the psalms each night at dinner and why we listen and read scripture daily. Quickly, he has learned that our faith is important-not because we say it is but because he sees us striving to make it a priority. Having young children "drinking from the fire hose" so to speak, in our home watching more than listening to us has been very humbling. We see the Lord redeeming the time not only in Andrew and Kathlena's lives, but in all of us.

Our older children have been such a blessing and they are learning up close that love is a sacrifice and a decision not just a feeling. How thankful I am that the Lord made a way for them to be with us at every turn of this adoption journey-traveling both trips to Russia. They have endured the pain and the triumphs, I can't even imagine the depth of character and strength the Lord is refining in them through this process, but I pray it is all to His glory. I have seen both Emily and J.Michael rise up to the task, imperfectly, but with great resolve to do what it takes to bring Andrew and Kathlena into the fold of our family.

Today was one of those "Aha" days for Kathlena and Andrew. It was so precious...my bucket was running over...

At lunch we sat outside and as usual Andrew asked to pray which is then usually followed by Kathlena praying. Andrew has such a grateful heart and he loves to pray about everything. It is not unusual for him to pray about every item of food on the table, all of us, the toys he has played with that day and the places we have been, but in addition to that today he prayed thanking the Lord that "Daddy loves Andrew and will always be Daddy for Andrew and for Mommy who loves me so much and Andrew loves Mommy and Mommy will always be Andrew's Mommy. " We have spoken these phrases to him since day one and prayed that somehow he would understand and know that this is not temporary but forever. I believe we are seeing the dawn of that understanding taking place in his heart. Okay, where is my bucket...I am getting my keyboard wet even now remembering this. All praise be to the Lord for answering our feeble prayers and allowing us to taste the sweet fruit of trusting in His perfect timing.

Then Kathlena asked to pray and we are expecting her usual sweet "Foood, men" but she began to clearly speak "Food, Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, Lily(EMily),Bubbie, water, food, Thank you Mommy," at this point Andrew elbows her and says "Kathlena don't forget the Andrews" to which she continues with some inaudible random words then clearly says "Andrew, aMen" Kathlena is just beginning to really blossom verbally. Institutional life made her very silent, withdrawn verbally, but now she is gaining speed and we believe the wave of words is about to hit shore. The dots are connecting and she has much to say! So precious to see the time redeemed...years of silence and solitude now broken and replaced with the fullness of being loved and tremendous growth. The Lord is so faithful and we praise Him for his mercy and grace on our family through difficult days of not seeing progress, but pressing on to see the "Aha, I get!" days that we long for and trust will come in His perfect timing.

Sardine Lessons

On the evening of Oct. 20, 2008, the 5 month anniversary of Andrew and Kathlena officially becoming part of our family we decided to play a game called Sardines. This fun game for all ages we learned from some friends of ours at church. We are finding out it is a favorite of many kids and adults we know.
So, we began to play and Mommy was to hide first. Oh! yes, I suppose I should explain the game first. Here is how it goes... It is sort of a reverse hide and seek. You turn all of the lights in the house out (best to play at night also) playing in the dark makes obvious hiding places not so. Then one person hides while everyone else counts to 60 then you go looking for the hidden person. The twist is when you find them you quietly "disappear" hiding with them until the last person is left to find everyone hiding.
Okay, so back to our night of sardines. Andrew and Kathlena being a little frightened of a dark house I decided to give them small glow sticks to carry while they searched so they could "see" better and feel more secure about walking through a dark house. Mommy hid first and was met with lots of giggles and fun when found by the boys first. After playing for a while J.Michael hid and Andrew began following Emily some as well as searching on his own. Kathlena and I found J.Michael first and hid with him (Kathlena is a great hider...so quiet, a few times I thought she had fallen asleep, but no, just quiet). A long time passes and Emily stumbles upon us leaving only Andrew to find us. We could see him come near by the light of his glow stick, but not close enough to find us. We began to hear him call for Emily which quickly revealed he knew she had now found us too and that he was alone. His voice betraying his nervous emotions made my heart leap to scoop him up, but my spirit said wait. A few minutes later he comes in and he finds us. "I found you!" He was excited and grabs hold of me tightly saying "Mommy, I thought I had lost you, Andrew was crying for you(inside he did not do this aloud) and so sad as you were lost to me. I never want you to be lost to me because I love you so much."
It broke my heart but then I was quickly reminded that this was a safe way for him to deal with fear and experience being lost in the safety of our own home. We talked about how brave he was and what to do if you get lost somewhere. We also discussed staying close to Mommy in busy places so you do not get lost...only now with a better understanding of being lost. I realize I could have consoled him only and stopped the game giving into his fears and training him to avoid such situations in life, but instead chose to take the opportunity to speak truth into his heart about being brave, courageous and pressing on when he meets difficult circumstances. I could also have allowed his past to color my response, but instead as I am growing in my biblical understanding of parenting, I am purposely focusing on training the character of the man he will one day become by speaking the truth of Christ's faithfulness and power to overcome (Ephesians 6:10-11, 16) life's struggles. Viewing these struggles as stepping stones towards a deeper understanding of our need to rely on the Lord not man's wisdom, but the authority of the Word of God for all things pertaining to our life on this earth. Andrew's name means "Mighty Man" and each day as I pray for our children I pray that the Lord would raise up my sons to be mighty men for the Lord's kingdom. I didn't set out to train on this issue as we played our game of Sardines, but I was admonished by the Lord that in all we do we are training; teachable moments are constantly at our feet for the taking. A simple child's game, Sardines, who would have thought it could have had such a big lesson?

Imagination Station

Andrew and Kathlena are growing so fast and their little minds are quickly revealing a greater depth to their personalities through there English language development. Pay close attention to Andrew speaking...truly amazing that he did not know a word of English just 5 months ago and is learning to speak his own thoughts and give clear directions to his sister. They are such adorable playmates together and with Emily and J.Michael too.

One of my favorite new phrases of Andrew's is "da do da dis" only his "da's" are not yes but "the" in English. We asked him the other day what "nyet" meant and he looked at us with a quizzical face and said "I don't know" The rapid loss of language is as amazing as the new one emerging. I had read about this in preparation of A and K coming home until my brain hurt, but there is nothing like seeing it happen to catch a glimpse of the complexity our minds have to adapt and change given by our infinitely wise Creator.

Kathlena has recently begun to say her full name now...Yeena is fading. Here is a video of her saying it over and over while running around. Nana you may need to have your motion sickness patch on to view this and anyone else who gets sick on the merry go round...just a little warning : )

*a note to remember when viewing video scroll to the end of the blog to pause/stop the music so you can hear them talking on the video.

Emily is 14, Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Kathlena and Mommy playing in the dressing room while

Emily tries on clothes.

Kathlena loves shoes and size does not matter.

Hmm...this looks like some shoes I saw on

ladies in Russia.

Well we settled on the glittery flip flops like

Mommy's.

After we had our fill of bargain hunting at Ross and "playing"

dress up we decided to get a bite to eat at Chili's.

We had a quick lunch...Nachos mmmm

Okay, Mimi I really want that chip...enough pictures and

hugging, I am hungry.


Emily's great food photos...doesn't this make you want to

head to Chili's right now?

Kathlena is really taking to getting a pedicure.

The ladies were so sweet they gave her lotion

to put on too.

Emily's beautiful toes...I remember when they were Kathlena

size...they grow up too fast.

One of Emily's favorite dinner's Chicken Pot Pie made by

a sweet lady around the corner from us who sells her home

made goods. Mom's Secret Chef

Emily's ultimate birthday cake, Reese's Peanut butter

Playground from Cold Stone.

J.Michael was trying to get Kathlena's cake...

I was shocked she didn't stick him with her fork.

Obviously she is loving her piece of chocolate cake now.


Mom and Dad staking claim to their leftovers.

Before Pedicure

After pedicure...cute feet. Can you tell whose is whose?

Kathlena got confused and thought our painted

toes were candy...must be the chocolate cake buzz.

Sweet Emily at 14 with no more braces!!!

Hope you had a memorable day my darling Emily. You are a crowning jewel to your mother and father. Your strength of character, love for your heavenly Father and gentle sweet spirit bring much joy and happiness to our household.
 Psalm 1:3 "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." We love you.-Mom and Dad