I've been wanting to introduce you to a new friend of ours but wanted to get permission first...
Several weeks ago (beginning of November, maybe?) some friends of ours made the decision to host a Russian orphan for the holidays. I was SO completely excited when they told me the news. Ever since my trip to Belarus, the Russian people have been very near and dear to my heart. I miss my Belarussian friends terribly and am so thankful for email and Facebook where I can keep up with many of them.
Anyway, Mark and Katie are hosting through New Horizons for Children, Inc. which is a Christian international hosting program. They bring over orphaned children from Eastern Europe twice a year (summer and Christmas-time) so they can know the love of God and also the love of a family. Mark and Katie decided to host on the very last day to sign up so they had a whirlwind of paperwork and background checks and everything else that it takes to be a host family. We began praying for them daily and for the journey they were about to embark on. I must also admit that I was a bit (okay, a lot) envious of what they were doing. How I would love to host an orphan! Maybe next time...
Excitement built throughout our church family as the big day of Leanna's arrival drew near. The Sunday before she arrived, our wonderful worship leader taught us a little praise song in Russian for us to sing the next week. I know there were tears on a few of our faces. It reminded me of the church service I attended in Belarus. I don't think there's a more beautiful sound than hymns and praises being sung together in two different languages by two different people groups but to the One, Same God. I have goosebumps just remembering it.
Finally, the day was upon us! Leanna's flight wasn't scheduled to land until around 12:30 am (yes, that's after midnight). We had been talking about her and praying for her for so long, it felt like we already knew her. Jon and I and the kids were SO excited about her arrival...we decided to go with Mark and Katie to the airport to help welcome Leanna. We all took naps that day so we'd be able to handle the very late night. It ended up that several other families from church were also very excited and were also at the airport that night.
Here's the group of the waiting families at the airport. We all met in the atrium and then together headed to the gate where the kids would come out.
Some of our kids anxiously waiting for Leanna...
We waited and waited and waited some more. Who knew there could be such excitement at one in the morning?!
Finally someone shouted, "Here they come!"
And here they came...
We had already seen a photo of Leanna and I recognized her right away even though her hair was different and she now had bangs. A couple of us were busy taking pictures while Mark and Katie and their two kids were introduced to Leanna by her chaperone. See the smile on Katie's face? It never came off!
Leanna was understandably nervous, overwhelmed and exhausted I'm sure. She didn't say much, but she is JUST DARLING!
That week, Jon came home every night and asked if I had heard anything from Katie about how it was going. My answer was always, "No, but I'm sure they're busy, Honey." Leanna was the first thought on our minds each morning and the last thought on our minds at bedtime. I thought about her constantly. As that first week came to an end I finally asked Katie for an update and we scheduled a lunch date after church that Sunday. We were finally able to ask them how they were doing and find out those little details that we had been wondering about all week. Leanna is a very sweet, affectionate girl. She doesn't speak much English at all, which has made communication slow, but she is learning quickly and hand motions are used frequently.During lunch, Leanna took turns arm wrestling all the kids. I think she beat them all (even Jacob) and then she came to Katie and arm wrestled her. If I remember right, Leanna won. A few minutes later she came and sat across from me with her arm up and a questioning look. At first I said 'no' but then I figured if Katie could do it, so could I. I fully expected Leanna to win our arm wrestling match (especially since she beat Jacob), but I think her arm must've been tired after all her wins because it didn't take much for me to beat her.
Isn't she cute?!
First, the kids set to work creating a Winter Wonderland. I had covered one of my cookie sheets with foil and they used white icing to cover the whole thing.
This year, instead of making a gingerbread house, the kids wanted to make a mini village. So instead of decorating one big house, they had 5 little buildings instead. I must admit, it was pretty darn cute! Now, before you go thinking I made the gingerbread...I did not. This all came from a handy little kit from Wal-Mart. All we had to do was assemble the pieces and decorate them. We assembled everything as soon as we got up (in hindsight, I really should've had my coffee first) as it had to set for 3 hours before decorating.
As you can see, much thought and work went into each little structure...
Above - Abbi and Bethany
We're so thankful for friends!
$75 
Donation to ship and track 3 shoeboxes full of goodies overseas... 
Priceless!
Our super-fantastic little church donated 41 boxes!
