Hopfenspirgers' Adoption Journey

August 2011

2012-01-07T19:20:00.013-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T10:02:00.011-06:00

Alex is now in 1st grade.

2010-11-04T16:21:00.007-05:00

Vacation in Florida

2010-04-03T09:45:00.031-05:00

Our vacation in Florida was wonderful!

Alex's 1 Year Anniversary Party

2009-07-23T18:33:00.004-05:00

We finally got around to celebrating having Alex home for 1 year. In the pictures above he is trying to blow out the candles by yelling at them! He has completed one year of pre-school, is currently in summer school for one more week and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. Alex has fit into our family really, really well and we love him tons!!

While we were...in memory

2009-02-21T18:20:00.003-06:00

While we were eating... ... they were hungry
While we were playing... ... they were restrained
While we were tucking our kids into bed... ... they were alone
While we turned up the heat... ... they laid in the icy cold
While we wrapped our children in blanket sleepers... ... they laid in their own excrement
While we sang songs and listened to music... ... they listened to the screams and cries of those around them
While we rocked our babies... ... they silently rocked themselves
While we hugged our kids... ... they scratched at their own faces and pulled their own hair for stimulation
While we cried over scraped knees... ... they moaned in their loneliness
While we brushed our daughters' beautiful hair... ... they had their heads shaven to stave off the lice
While we fought off the flu with love and nourishment... ... they got the flu and went Home.
No longer suffering... but so many more still are.

In memory of those that have never felt the love of a family, and have passed away alone.

By Meredith Cornish

CRAZY Boys!

2009-02-19T18:59:00.002-06:00

This is what happens at our house when Uncle Dan shows up and plays some of his old Fozzy music. As Franklin is dancing, Alex is throwing things to the upper bunk so he can try to throw them into the light fixture which happens to be a halogen bulb. Before the video started Alex had already taken off his pants, socks and shoes to try to throw into the light fixture. You might want to turn the volume down for this video.

A child is a miracle, sent from God above, so we can learn the meaning of God's unending love

2009-01-18T20:48:00.009-06:00

Christmas Card Bloopers

2008-12-26T18:13:00.008-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Real Elves

2008-12-15T09:59:00.004-06:00

Fall

2008-11-14T09:31:00.018-06:00

Alex is simply thriving in our family. He still has many rules to learn though, like don't kick or stomp on our parrots if they fly to the ground and no driving the car, but he is catching on. He liked trick-or-treating but was happy to just play with the candy and not eat it. School is going very well and the teachers are impressed at how well he imitates what he is shown.

First Boat Ride

2008-10-04T14:51:00.026-05:00

I think Alex is liking all of his new experiences with us and feeling pretty comfortable. He liked the boat ride but there wasn't enough room for him to run around. He managed to not fall in the lake, although his dad did fall in and ruined his cell phone in the process.

After changing school districts at the last minute, Alex finally started school and is already doing very well. He tries hard at everything that is introduced to him and has a pretty long attention span. He loves to learn new words is learning some sign language too. Alex is a very smart little boy!

Fun in the Sun

2008-08-03T23:02:00.034-05:00

We have had Alex now for exactly 2 months and things are going very well. I was so concerned about Franklin being jealous of Alex, but actually it's the other way around! Alex is jealous of Franklin when he gets praise or snuggle time.

As you can see, Alex LOVES the water. When we first brought him home he was scared to go into the bathtub because at the orphanage he was just sprayed off in a laundry sink. But he got over that fear in about 30 seconds!

Alex is our little helper. He likes to make sure doors and drawers are always closed and likes to wipe things off including his brother when they are in the bathtub. One thing he just can't stand is when Franklin pulls up his pants in the front but not in the back. He is right there to help Franklin pull them up ALL the way. Franklin thinks it's pretty funny, but I can see this being a problem out in public at the mall or something if someone else's pants aren't pulled up all the way! When Franklin doesn't listen to me and won't come to me, Alex will pull him up and push him towards me!

Franklin is having a good time showing Alex around and telling him 'NO' when he does something wrong, like pushing the wrong button on the elevator. He's also teaching Alex how to dance!Franklin really loves having Alex around. They make a good pair and are quickly becoming good friends.

Alex is pretty much healthy and all of his blood tests looked good.He does need eye surgery to allow his right eye to look up and needs tubes in his ears to drain out possible fluid that might be hiding inside his ears that is possibly causing his hearing loss. I have not noticed any problem with his hearing, but his tympanograms show that his ear drum isn't moving much and some other test showed that he is not hearing mid and low tones normally. We don't know the extent of the hearing loss, but I think it is probably pretty minor and if it's caused by fluid, it could possibly be reversed.

I feel so lucky and thankful that we were stirred up and called to make this journey to bring home Alex. I know how lucky he is, but I feel that we are just as lucky to have him. What a blessing Alex has been to our family.

Brothers

2008-06-28T09:01:00.019-05:00

Please support Reece's Rainbow

2008-06-23T00:02:00.005-05:00

Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act. Proverbs 24:12

RR finally got their 501(c)3 approval and is ready for lots of donations! Please help children like our Alex make it home to their forever families. Your support does not need to be financial: http://www.reecesrainbow.com/prayerwarriors.htm

Fitting in

2008-06-16T12:21:00.009-05:00

We are home and doing well

2008-06-11T19:28:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the delay. We are home, but I haven't taken any pictues yet. I have been very tired and busy! Our trip home was really long and tiring for all of us. Alex seems to be adjusting well but still gets sad or mad and then sucks his thumb. He has been busy sweeping, arranging the chairs, playing with his brothers and exploring everything. Although he is now an American kid, he doesn't act like it -- he doesn't like TV, pizza, ice cream or popcorn, but he does like our organic carrot, apple spinach/broccoli juice that we make daily!

I have already taken him to 2 different specialist and they both say he needs surgery (eyes and ears). He goes to the dentist tomorrow and they are already talking about working on his teeth while he is knocked out for the other 2 surgeries. I hope that soon he will have a good bill of health.

We are sure enjoying this cute little bundle of joy and energy!

It's finally Alex's turn...

2008-06-04T14:36:00.003-05:00

to make that LONG trip home to be forever loved and cared for. It is 9:30 PM here and the boys are asleep. We will be taking a taxi to the airport at 5:45 AM.

Alex is ours!

2008-06-03T15:35:00.002-05:00

Alex is now legally our son! I will pick him up tomorrow morning from the orphanage, never to return again. We got his passport today, but need to get a visa from the US embassy so we can bring him home to the USA. We are so close now!

Good days

2008-06-01T12:56:00.008-05:00

Getting even better

2008-05-30T14:53:00.011-05:00

Alex is liking us more and more every day. He especially seems to like Edison! I think that he thinks I'm just a playful care giver at the orphanage since he has no concept of a mom, dad or a family :( He is such a busy little guy with so much energy and curiosity. And he is very CUTE! Franklin is very shy around Alex but seems to like him a lot because he is always asking to go see him.

We have had really nice warm weather since we've been here so we spend most of out time outside when we are at the orphange and walk to the grocery store and restaurant daily. I had to include a picture of Edison doing his homework while in Belgrade. He really wants to get back for the last day of school since he bought souveneers for his whole class! It looks like it might work out to be home by Thursday afternoon, but we'll have to wait to find out for sure.

A better day

2008-05-28T14:46:00.005-05:00

Today was a much better day than the first 2 days. Alex seems to like us better and is making some eye contact and smiling. He's still unsure of us and sucks his thumb when he gets scared. He has a TON of energy and interested in lots of things. He likes Edison a lot. Edison has been such a good big brother to BOTH of his little brothers. Franklin's jealousy has gotten better already. When we ask him if he wants to go see Alex at the orphanage he always says 'yes' and even tries to take pictures of Alex with my camera.

Thank you for all of the prayers while we are going through this emotional process. They are very much appreciated!

Our first meeting with Alex

2008-05-26T13:48:00.004-05:00

Our first meeting with Alex was Ok. He seemed scared of us and didn't want us to touch him much. It was hard to get a good picture of him because he didn't even want to even make eye contact with us. Franklin was extremly jealous of the attention he was getting. I hope tomorrow goes better.

Paris

2008-05-24T10:04:00.008-05:00

We got to spend one jet lagged day in Paris. Right now we are resting before dinner. Edison is mad because he thinks he missed breakfast! Tomorrow we fly to Belgrade!

We're leaving on Friday

2008-05-21T07:24:00.002-05:00

We are leaving on Friday for Paris. We will spend only one day in Paris and then fly to Belgrade on Sunday. Our appointment with the Ministry Officials is at noon on Monday and then I think we get to meet Aleksa!

We should be traveling soon.

2008-04-08T21:40:00.002-05:00

According to our facilitator in Serbia, our estimated travel date is May 15 - 20. This means there is a very good chance I will miss my dad's wedding which is on May 18. But this also means that we will be bringing home Aleksa very soon! Stay tuned for further details.

Our dossier has been sent to Serbia!

2008-03-18T19:16:00.006-05:00

We are done with the paper work and it has been sent to Serbia. We didn't send the approval letter from our country yet because we haven't been approved. Our facilitator in Serbia wanted us to send in our paper work with out it because she's hoping we will get rushed through translation and get a travel date very soon. We would just need to bring the approval letter with us when we travel. Serbia is having elections on May 11 to elect a new government or parliment and I think they want to get the pending adoptions completed by then. We started this process January 19 (our anniversary) and it might be complete less than 4 month later? I hope so!

We're making progress

2008-02-18T22:59:00.006-06:00

We have completed all of the paperwork and meetings with the social worker for the home study and we just got our passports. All we have left to do for applying to our government is to go in on Saturday and be fingerprinted by the Department of Homeland Security. Then we wait for approval which could take several months but I'm hoping for just a few weeks. When we get approval from our country then we send the paperwork over to Serbia and wait some more.

I was told by the doctor at the orphanage that Serbia is starting to get rid of the orphanages and are putting the kids into foster homes. She said this would not be good for Aleksa and that they need our paperwork ASAP so they can hold him at the orphage until we come for him. So we are trying to do this adoption FAST! Hopefully the recent events with Kosovo will not disrupt or slow things down. Little Aleksa has been waiting a LONG time. He needs to come home to his family.

How We Got Here...

2008-01-26T14:57:00.001-06:00

It all started about 1 1/2 years ago when Edison couldn't believe that kids without parents existed! We went online to see some of these kids and stumbled upon Reece's Rainbow when they were brand new. At the time I didn't realize the horror these children would endure if they weren't adopted. We looked at these cute little faces and have said a lot of prayers for all of the orphans of the world since then.

It wasn't until December 2007 when my dad was going to give me some cash for Christmas and offered to give it to a charity of my choice. I immediately thought of Reece's Rainbow and started looking at their web site again. After talking with Andrea, who runs RR, we decided to put this money on a very cute 5 year old boy named Sergey. He was healthy, happy and at a very good orphanage that even had a therapy room. Sergey was one month older than our Franklin and the most 'at risk' of being sent away to a mental institution because of his age. There is no place in society for people with Down syndrome in many foreign countries and when they reach the age of 4 or 5 usually, they are sent away from the only home they know to a mental institution.

International adoptions are expensive and these costs are the number one factor that keeps families from committing to adopting these children. So when Sergey's account reached $10,000, a family committed to adopting him right away! What a great Christmas present -- to save a child from a life in a mental institution! It would have been, but the next day we found out it was too late for Sergey and he had already been sent away to the mental institution 6-7 month earlier and died in November. Had that money been in Sergey's account 6-7 months earlier, he might be on his way home to his family in the USA. So Sergey's money has gone into 2 other children's accounts who were both 'at risk' and now BOTH children have families committed to adopting them.

Sergey: 2002 - 2007

I guess 80% of the children who are sent to these mental institutions DIE within the first year!!!! These are GOD's very special children and they are being thrown away when there are so many people in our country who want them but cannot afford to adopt them! There are currently 15+ kids on the Reece's Rainbow web site who desperately need money in their accounts to help find committed families before they are sent away. Their time is running out! Many are not listed because some countries don't allow public listings of the kids so you have to email Andrea for a private listing of them. Aleksa was on this list but not any more! If all goes as planned, he will never see the inside of a mental institution and be HOME sometime this summer.

It was after finding out about Sergey dying that I started seriously thinking about adopting one of these little angels. I knew God was calling me to this cause but I had no idea how far I would be going. I narrowed my search to countries with easier travel requirements because neither Larry nor I like to fly or visit foreign countries. I will be WAY out of my comfort zone on this trip! I also narrowed my search to a child who was at significant risk of being sent away and we found Aleksa. What a smile this little guy has!

This summer we will be flying to Serbia for about 10 days and coming back with a REALLY neat souveneer!! Larry wants to stop at Paris for a day or two on the way over -- I guess that would be okay with me! Edison is very excited to have another little brother. Franklin doesn't really understand what is going to happen but I think he will love having a little brother who will go more at his speed.