A Beanie Baby Update!

UPDATE: July 29, 2015
ALL BEANIES HAVE BEEN SPONSORED!!!!! Thank you to all who have donated! Your donations are truly appreciated!!


I ended up bringing 22 Beanie Babies with me on trip one. I gave a few to a privately run orphanage (run by nuns, wonderful people) and gave the rest to two groups of older children at Peaches' orphanage. The Beanies were hits with all three groups! I even got to meet some children currently listed as available for international adoption. Which means I got to meet one of my favorite kids. Oh, how I wish I could have scooped him up and loved on him!

I have 5 Beanies that were not sponsored before my first trip but I would like to bring them with me next trip. For a $5 donation to my FSP, one of these Beanies can be "yours".

(top, left to right) Almond the Bear sponsored by Madeleine W., Spinner the Spider sponsored by Laurie M., and Claude the Crab sponsored by Jocelyn

(bottom, left to right) Rosalie the Bear sponsored by Laurie M., Bongo the Teenie Beanie Monkey sponsored by Laurie M.

Time Flies

I seriously cannot believe that it has been a week since I updated. It's also been 5 days since I left Eastern Europe.

I had two visits per day with Peaches. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each visit lasted about two hours. Peaches fell asleep in my arms three times. It was so precious! Every day, I got to see more and more of her personality. After the first visit, she really opened up and towards the end of the week, she would smile at me every time I went into her room to get her. She has a gorgeous smile. I cannot wait to share a picture of her face. You guys will melt.

On Friday, I had my morning visit with her like usual and in the afternoon, I only had half a visit because I had to go down to the Minister of Justice and officially register with Peaches. In 4-6 months, hopefully, Peaches will be an orphan no more! The team in-country is hoping that I will have court in November or early December so she can be home before Christmas. Wouldn't that be the best Christmas present ever?

Thursday Update!

I would like to share this picture with you all. This girl is precious. 

Hello from Eastern Europe!

I made it here early Sunday morning and my driver was waiting for me at the airport. We arrived to my apartment around 4:30 in the morning and I took a few hour nap before getting up for the day.

Monday was an unexpected day off here so I couldn't visit the Minister of Justice until Tuesday, which gave me one less day to spend with Peaches. Monday was a day off because there was a holiday, called Vardavar "Water Day", on Sunday. The government literally decided on Saturday that they would work that day so they could have Monday off.

I got to meet Peaches on Tuesday afternoon (the morning was dedicated to going to the MoJ office) and she is amazing, you guys! She wasn't too outgoing the first time we were together but the following day, Wednesday morning, she was much more outgoing with me, making noises, smiling, and playing. She even fell asleep in my arms during my Wednesday afternoon visit! I ended up seeing Zola, the girl I was originally going to adopt, twice on Wednesday. That was pretty cool.

I'm about to head out for my second visit of the day. This has seriously been an exciting trip. This is a wonderful country and the people here are great! Many of the younger people speak English and even if someone doesn't, it's fairly easy to communicate.

The Adventure Begins!

My new adventure begins tomorrow morning at 11:31 am, when my first flight takes off! I will have a 13-hour layover in Vienna, Austria on Saturday before arriving in country early Sunday morning. During my layover in Vienna, I am planning on going on a tour or two and experiencing the city! More adventure than I had planned when I got travel date but definitely worthwhile!

I booked my airline tickets through Golden Rule Travel. They had excellent service and the quote I received from them was cheaper than anything I was able to find on my own. I will definitely be using them on trip two. 

Please pray for me! I have never flown overseas before and this will be the first time I travel alone. Thank you all for your support!

Wonderful News!

I have been invited to travel to EE to meet Peaches! I will have more details once I confirm my flights but I get to meet her next Monday (July 13)!