So blessed.

Our life has been so busy up to this weekend (and still is!) with the moving of our business that I have barely had time to contemplate what's in front of us. I am so consumed with work that I almost feel like I am missing out on the fun anticipation of getting ready and packing and dreaming of things to come. Even now, John is at the shop rebuilding shelves and moving things across the street. Here at the house has been an amazing weekend of blessing. Friends raking our yard, stopping by with last minute gifts and hugs, setting up meals for us, cleaning our area rugs, and family helping to put cribs together and organize. All of the things that we have had no time to think about since we have been working until 7:30 or 8pm most nights and eating dinner at 9. And our crazy life is about to get crazier! Sitting in the playroom I can remember being with the boys in the playroom at the orphanage. Believe it or not, we have a pretty tough act to follow, but I think there will be many great memories created here. We might need a few more riding toys if we are going to compete with what they are leaving behind! We spoke with Soojin this week and have a tentaive schedule for how our days in Bulgaria will look. We fly out of GR on Tues and arrive in Sofia, BG around 2:30 in the afternoon (7:30 am Michigan time) Wednesday. We will be picked up by our translator and taken to the apartment where we will be staying. We will either drop our bags off and head back to the airport to fly to Varna or spend the night and head to the coast to pick up the boys on Thursday. So our gotcha day is either Wed or Thurs. We will pick them up and fly right back to Sofia with them to stay at the apartment. We apply for their passports on Thursday. Fri, Sat and Sunday are resting days. We are encouraged to spend most of our time in the apartment so that we start getting comfrtable with each other. When we go out, it will be for a short time only. Monday, their passports are issued and we do the TB testing and medical checkup. Tuesday is a resting day. Wed we get the TB results (and hopefully do not have to go for a chest xray!) and we submit results to the Embassy. Thursday is the Embassy interview. Visas issued on Friday. Bring them home on Saturday!! Of course, they ask us to be flexible as changes may be made to the schedule. Whew! That's a lot to do with two little guys who have just been taken away from everything familiar! We are so thankful they have each other. Please pray for our hearts, for sleep (I get sick if I don't get enough), smooth transitions, connections and luggage to arrive on time, kindness for each other and ourselves, grace, appointments to go well, plane rides to be tolerable, general health, a feeling of family that only Jesus can give us...and everthing in between! Once we are home we will be "cocooning" with them - encouraging attachment to us as mom and dad. What this boils down to is that we will be their only caregivers (feeding, changing, holding, putting to bed) for about 3 months. This doesn't mean we don't want visitors! Only in small doses though...we don't want to overwhelm them with strangers and commotion. We absolutely want to see you and if anyone wants to help out with grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, etc....it would be a huge blessing to us. A friend has already set up a place for people to sign up to bring us meals. Here is the info for that: www.takethemameal.com and search by our last name Ferguson and the password is Sofia. We will have wireless access at the apartment so we hope to send some updates and post pictures...we shall see how that goes! For now, we thank every one of you for what you have done for us - seen and unseen. So blessed.

What happens at court and other FAQs.

As we get closer to our court date, we are getting some questions about what that means and what happens next. On October 1, our case is scheduled to be seen/heard by a judge in *Bulgaria(*BG). When we were there in April we signed over power of attorney to the agency (Vesta) we work with in BG. They will be representing us so that we don't have to travel three times. Our goal is to "pass court", which basically means that the judge finds all of our paperwork to be in order and all of the requirements have been met. He/she is the person who will say YES (or "DA" in Bulgarian) and with a stroke of a pen, P & T will officially be ours. IN ONE WEEK!!! After court it seems to take a few weeks to get birth certificates with their new names and the court decrees printed out (insert favorite joke here about the chisel they must be using to knock out those decrees so quickly...Ha!) Once that happens, I believe we will get travel dates. Most of the families we have been communicating with have traveled about 30 days from court. So if that proves to be true for us as well, we could be traveling the last Sunday in October or the first Sunday in November. We will arrive in Sofia, BG on a Sunday and be there for a week, heading home with them on Saturday. We are still working on their room, but it's coming together. We are also moving our business across the street over the next couple of weeks so that just adds to the craziness. Not the best timing but it is a great move for us and the space will give us the opportunity to expand. We're hoping to include some sort of play area for the boys in the new space also. So as you think of us, please pray that we use our time wisely and that the house and the new work space come together without too many headaches. And, of course, continue to pray that our hearts will know each other as family when we finally come together with the boys.

Court Date!

     When I woke up the morning of July 16, I had a feeling that we were going to get a phone call with news of our MOJ signature.  I made sure John checked his phone every time we stopped our bikes for a break.  Sure enough, as we were halfway around Mackinac Island we found out we had gotten our signature.  What an amazing moment!  One step closer to the boys.  I did a little happy dance and a shout for joy and was pretty much perma-grinning for the rest of the day.  Check that off the list and move on to the next thing to wait for.  Next up on the list - the court date.  Thanks to a facebook group we are a part of, we knew the dates were coming fairly soon after getting signatures and have been praying fervently for a July date before the Bulgarian government slows way down for the month of August.  Well this morning I woke up and "knew" we were getting our court date.  We  usually hear from our agency around noon, so at 11:30 I asked John if he had his phone nearby.  He checked it and had missed a phone call.  Our agency had called with a court date!!  So we celebrate today one step closer again to the boys!  Unfortunately, the date is October 1, which means we will most likely travel in November.  The judge assigned our case will be on vacation in August and September. There is no changing or reassigning of cases once they are set.  We definitely do not like that it will be 6 months between trips to Bulgaria but rejoice knowing that we have a date, and our forever family will soon be united.  We spoke with our agency later in the day and are working to set up a Skype session with the boys.  The internet connection will be sketchy and there may be no audio, but if we can see their sweet faces, it will get us through until November.  I had a few hours of "Poor me, how long must we keep waiting?" and am choosing now to celebrate this next step in the journey.  Still sad for the two more months we are missing with them, but reminded that every good and perfect gift come from God, in His time.

What are we waiting for?

     I told a friend the other day, as I was recounting the success of our auction, that sometimes I am overwhelmed by God's favor.  That was and is still true.  But this thought keeps circling back to me that I should always be overwhlemed by God's favor.  I mean, really and truly overwhelmed!!  Not just when He shows up BIG (and I happen to notice) but in every moment, every breath, every thing.
     This week I was overwhelmed by the goodness of God's people in the crazy support we have received along our entire journey.  When all is said and done and we add up the garage sale, random (and some not so random)  donations and the auction we far exceeded our $3000 goal, allowing us to receive the matching grant from Brittany's Hope.  Amazing.  THANK YOU to all who donated and all who were bidding.  "May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord's face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).
     We are currently waiting for the Ministry of Justice to sign our paperwork so that we can get a court date.  We found out this week that our file is sitting on the desk of the person who does the signing.  Adoptions are not currently a proiority, however, and so there is a stack of files sitting and waiting.  There is a new government in Bulgaria, as of earlier this year, and so we are feeling the effects of the changeover.  There are also protests going on regarding this new government, which may or may not be affecting the slowness.  Families typically receive their signature 6 weeks after submission to MOJ, but we are entering our 8th week.  We know that families are getting signatures and court dates, but as August approaches our hope of bringing the boys home in late August or early September is fading.  August is the month the Bulgarian government takes "holiday" and not much (if anything) happens in the court system.  We have been told that the last court date of the month is July 29 and none planned for August that we know of.  So it is likely that we will not get a court date until September and travel *hopefully* in October.  Not what this mamas heart wants to hear.  It is possible (I think) to get a signature this or next week and be assigned the July 29 court date.  I don't really know and it is hard being so far away, unable to get many answers.  So we are praying like crazy that God will move yet another mountain for us and get us to court before the end of the month so that we can travel in August or early September.    There is much we do not know.  But this we do know:    "...because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians.  His presence within us is God's GUARANTEE that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit's seal upon us means that God has alrady purchased us and that he gurantees to bring us to himself.  THIS IS JUST ONE MORE REASON FOR US TO PRAISE OUR GLORIOUS GOD."  Ephesians 1:13-14

One Step Closer

     This past Friday we received news that we had gotten our Article 5 / US Embassy approvals and our file was submitted to the MOJ (Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria) as of last week.  It takes an average of 4 weeks for MOJ approval and then our file goes to court (2 weeks) and when we get the court approval we wait for the court decree to be printed (2 weeks).  Once we have all our approvals, we will get a travel date and the FINAL COUNTDOWN begins!  If all goes accordingly, we could travel in August to bring the boys home to Michigan.  We absolutely cannot wait to get back there and see their sweet faces.  They are so much more than we could have asked for or imagined.  Thank you Jesus!
     We also received news that we were approved for a grant from Brittany's Hope. It is a matching grant so we need to raise $3000 for BH (before we travel) and then they will send our agency $6000 to cover the rest of the fees and travel. So, deep breath, and off we go on the fundraising trail again.  We are planning two "events", if you will.  Our first is a garage/furniture sale June 7-8, which we will shamelessly promote as an adoption fundraiser in hopes that folks will come spend crazy amounts of money on things they don't need.  We have had some generous furniture donations already to add to what we are selling, so we are hopeful that we will make good progress toward our goal.  Our location is not the greatest, so lots of praying that the advertising and Jesus will bring folks to our door.
     Our other fundraiser will be using www.32auctions.com.  We can list up to 20 auction items at no charge to us.  The site allows us to set a "Buy It Now"price or a beginning bid and a length for the auction.  We are seeking donated items or services to help us fill out the auction.  If you are an artist and would like to donate an item, we can also link to your website.  Some items we have seen on these auction sites include paintings, wooden bowls, cooking/baking services, cabins/condos for a weekend use, quilts, fishing trips, music lessons, babysitting, etc.   So put your thinking caps on and get creative...with your help we can raise the $3000 to bring T and P home!

Grins and Goodbyes

     On Wednesday we started our play time inside for a change of scenery.  T typically gravitates to John and P with me so that's how the morning began.  T and John were stacking blocks and putting things in and out of a bucket and generally having a good time.  P and I found a toy that is a character with a hole at the top where you put a ball that then falls through a series of steps.  I only had to show him 2 times and he was all about this new game.  He could not get enough of it.  We had little fly wheel cars that they enjoyed for a short time but they really didn't hold their attention. We also read them a book that we will be recording our voices on to leave with them at our last visit. After about  1 1/2 hours we moved outside and ended up on the lower playground as there were a  lot of kids at the upper playground.  They have the same equipment at both.  We had the riding cars out again but they were distracted by the other kids and T would follow them with his eyes in a sad way and seemed to be wondering why he couldn't play with them.  We moved over to the bench swing and I eventually got T laughing and P joined us there too.  For the last 30 minutes we moved up to the other sandbox area and had a great time tossing the boys in the air and going down the slide.  We fed them lunch again, which went well and then the social worker came for them.  The are always happy to see her and each grab a hand and head off to nap time.  We always say Ciao T! Ciao P! and usually get a little head turn and half grin from T.  Today was the same.  I am not looking forward to tomorrow's goodbye already...the half grin will just not be enough I am sure.
     Today we got to the orphanage early, as usual, and waited in the lobby for them to come walking down the hallway.  I hear the social worker and look up to see them wearing the jeans and matching striped shirts we brought for them.  It is Visa picture time and boy do they look cute! T walked right over to John and grabbed his hand and started walking him down the hallway and P did the same with me...so sweet!   We took them in a car, with T on a caregivers lap and P on my lap.  Hopefully one of the last times they will be without a car seat.  Driving in Bulgaria is a little crazy.  The pictures went great and headed back for play time.  We went outside to swing and right away I gave the camera to Plamena and asked her to take as many pictures as she wanted all morning.  We stayed at the upper playground and went down to the end where we found all kinds of sticks and rocks and dandelions to play with.  We were coloring, playing with stickers, sliding, blowing bubbles and had so much fun.  It was getting warm (81 was the high today) so we moved in side and got out the play dough and colors again.  At some point T found John's phone and was hilarious with it and P was busy putting things in and out of buckets again.  We read them the book again, this time our voices were recorded.  Hopefully that will help them remember us.  We also printed out several photos from the week to add to the albums we brought along.  Then it was lunch time and it was good but super messy.  We cleaned up and started forcing our last minutes kisses and snuggles on them, with whispers of I love you, and Jesus loves you, and we'll be back soon sweet boys.  The social worker came and off they went down the hall to the elevator each holding a hand.  We gave our usual Ciao T!  Ciao P!  and got the little half grin as they got to the elevator.  And then, T let go of the hand he was holding and with a big grin walked over to his mama and gave me the best hug.  P figured he should do as brother does so he walked over to John and did the same.  Then we switched and hugged and kissed and cried some more.  The best goodbye I could've asked for.  I am sure that there was a whisper only T could hear that sent him to my arms.  God is so good.
     We drove away and my silent tears and prayers fell.  After a long afternoon in Varna, we took a late flight to Sofia and again I cried and prayed as the plane was taking me farther away from my boys.  So thankful that they are known by Someone who will take great care of them while we are apart.  Counting the days until we can return.

My Soul is Satisfied

     I am sure that I cannot capture all that we have experienced with words, but I will attempt to give you a glimpse.  Our initial travel was around 16 hours and we arrived in Sofia on Sunday afternoon (Bulgaria is 7 hours ahead of Michigan).  We went to claim our single checked bag and found that it had not arrived, so we were to check back Monday evening.  They should be able to send it to the Varna airport for us.  Our Vesta translator, Anelia picked us and 2 other couples up and drove us to exchange currency and then dropped us off at our apartment for the night.  We somehow had enough energy to walk around and get some pictures of the city and the beautiful architecture.  After dinner we crashed and woke at 5am for a quick breakfast and our flight to Varna.  It was a short flight, we landed in less than an hour.  I am happy to report that I had no major panic attacks on any of the flights.  I survived the longest leg (Detroit to Paris, just under 7 hours) by watching episodes of Touch and Dexter, listened to The Avett Brothers and rounded it out with Les Mis.
     We were picked up by another Vesta translator, Plamena, who is to be with us all week in Varna.  This is the city the boys were born in.  The weather is beautiful and we drive along the coast of the Black Sea (of course comparing to Lake Michigan).  We expect to be taken to our hotel but are surprised to find that we are heading straight to the orphanage.  The clock on our Monday time with them is already ticking, so off we go.  We do not have any of the things that we brought for them or the Director as they are in our lost bag, so we stop at an open air market along the way and buy flowers (tulips!) for the Director.  We arrive at this building that is 5 stories tall and looks a bit run down but clean on the outside.  It is in a residential neighborhood close to the Black Sea.  Inside we sit and wait for the Director to be ready for us.  This whole experience is still very surreal.  Are we truly meeting the boys in a matter of minutes?  Oh my heart.  We are taken to the Directors office and we have time to ask any questions we might have.  We had written some down the night before, but I think we were too speechless at this point to really have any clear thoughts.  As we are talking, we hear noises from the other side of the door and a child crying.  The door opens and there they both stand.  A sight for this mama's eyes.  T is crying because he has not been in this room before, but he is quickly quieted with crackers.  P is wide-eyed.  They are scooped up and placed on the couch next to us, T next to John and P by my side.  They are shy but do not seem afraid.  I want to pull them in close, these boys, but it is too soon. We put coats on and take them out to the playground.  There is a slide, sandbox, bench style swing and a swing set off to the side.  Plamena is with us so she is chattering at them in Bulgarian and trying to engage them.  We had her go back inside and bring out a little horse and car with wheels they could ride on the driveway with.  They seemed to like this and knew how to push with their feet to move along.  After about an hour they began to warm up to us.  They would allow us to pick them up, hold their hands, nuzzle their necks, tickle them and we were actually getting some smiles out of them. It is a bit of work to get them to engage with us, but they do not turn us away or fuss.  Their eyes are even more gigantic and beautiful than their pictures and each smile is a gift.  Our time was over too quickly and we had to bring them back inside at noon.  I walked in with P holding my hand (we did discover that he can walk by himself!) and John carried a snuggling T back inside.  As they walked away with the social worker I could not understand what she said but I did hear her say mama and tatka (daddy).  Amazing.  We will see them each day from 8:30-12:30, not at all in the evening.
     We had lunch with Plamena at Godzila restaurant, walked with her down to the Sea Garden (a park by the sea) and then took long naps.  At 8 we were able to pick up our luggage from the airport and then we were on our own for dinner so we went back to the same restaurant we had been to in Sofia, Happy Bar and Grille...seemed fitting.  This morning we were picked up promptly at 8am and headed to the orphanage.  The boys were brought to us and there seemed to be recognition on their faces.  T walked right over to John with no hesitation.  We took them outside again and had some of the toys we brought with us.  They were very quiet and again took a bit of time to warm up to us.  The blow up beach ball that we thought would be a big hit was not terribly interesting to them, but a few of the other toys caught their attention.  We are pretty sure they both have allergies and had some raspy breathing by the end of the morning, maybe from being outside the whole time.  We do know that they each take Singulair.  T was very quiet all morning and was mostly content to snuggle with John.  P started vocalizing a bit and by the end of our time with them I had him saying mama and dada.  Of course, da means yes in Bulgarian, so he was saying yes, yes.  Before leaving we were able to feed them lunch and they are both such good eaters!  As they walked away with the social worker, T looked back and gave me that sweet little smile that I already love.  Tomorrow we do it all over again.