It's been a BUSY Summer!

It has been several months since our last posting, so, I thought I should give a bit of an update.

Mike and Viktorija have taken 2 trips to Latvia since our original trip in Feb 2011. In May, the trip to Latvia was for a court appearance to make her officially our daughter. The trip in July was for immigration/VISA purposes. She came home from that trip (the final trip in this adoption process) as an official US citizen!! She was so excited to show off her new birth certificate and her new passport! There was such "relief" in her eyes after that final trip. I still have to remind her occasionally that she is our daughter now, and nobody can take her away from us. She will get giddy at the sound of this. To watch her smile, laugh, and give us big hugs is overwhelming at times. To think of where she was a year ago and where she is now, is such a miracle.

As if the above information weren't enough to fill up the Summer months, she also made plenty of other new memories. She experienced the beach for hte first time in her life. We enjoyed a week at Hilton Head Island, SC. The excitement was contagious! She will never forget her first beach trip for several reasons: the beauty and fun of the ocean waves, her toes in the sand, she held a live starfish, found 17 live sand dollars, and got stung by a stingray!! What a week it was!

Viktorija had the opportunity to volunteer at a daycare one day a week. She LOVED that! She couldn't get enough of the babies! Now she is signed up for the Red Cross babysitting course and hopes to begin her babysitting career ASAP.

She was also invited by my friend, Carrie, who is a veterinarian, to come and spend the day with her at the vet to observe surgeries. Since Viktorija thinks she wants to be a vet someday, she was thrilled at the chance to see things up close and personal! She loved it!

We also went to Carowinds several times with friends and family, enjoyed Wet and Wild water park with some special friends, spent some time at the mountain cabin and went to Tweetsie Railroad, she got her ears pierced (which she has been wanting), got glasses (she couldn't see before!), and got braces!! I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you get the idea. We were VERY BUSY!!!

She started school on Mon (8/22) and seems to be off to a good start. We are blessed to have her at Lake Norman Christian School. She has amazing teachers and they are under the direction of a godly Christian principal. Her class is small and this seems to suit Viktorija just fine. I've been praying that God would put good Christian friends in her life and it seems that there are some good girls in her class. Now that we are getting in to a new kind of groove for the school year, maybe life will settle down a bit (HA! HA!).

There are many people who haven't met Viktorija yet, and others whom we haven't seen in awhile. So, we are going to have a "Welcome to America" / meet and greet on Sept 22 (Thurs) from 6-8:00 pm at Matt's Chicago Dog in Cornelius, NC. This was the place she had her first dog. She likes this place alot and the owner has graciously offered to let us have our meet and greet at their fun restaurant. We hope to see as many of you as possible that night. I want Viktorija to meet the people that have prayed for her and been so giving and gracious. We appreciate each of you so much.

Thank you for taking this journey with us!

Many blessings and much love,

Julie

A second birthday!

We have all been doing well. Viktorija is adjusting well to school and has a couple of friends now. She feels very comfortable with all of our family. She has spent the night a friend's slumber party, she has spent the night with her cousin, and with her grandparents, and my sister, all on different occasions. She really seems to enjoy her interaction with the family. I'm truly thankful for her desire to bond with everyone.

Since we had a meeting with all teachers, and the head of the school, she has had much less homework and has been in a MUCH better mood lately! She is very diligent with her studies and is making good grades. What more could we as for right now?!

She seems to be enjoying her Spring break. She has had time with many of our family members while Mike and I are working, we've played many games ("CLUE" is now her favorite), and enjoyed the perfect weather we've been having. This has been a much needed break for her.

The biggest news, though, is that she accepted Christ as ner personal savior on 4/17!! We were playing a game of "Sorry", when she stopped and told me that she was ready to ask Jesus to come into her heart. Needless to say, I was crying tears of joy. Mike and I made certain she understood what she was doing and then she prayed her prayer. We are so thankful for God's grace, and the ultimate price He paid on Calvary so that we could have eternal life with Him one day.

The past weeks have not been without some challenges and struggle, but we are thankful for each and every day with our new daughter. She has so much promise and "HOPE" for her life. What an honor to be a part of it!!

Mike and Viktorija will be taking a trip to Latvia for the second court date next month. They'll be gone from May 17-21. Thankfully it is not a long trip. Viktorija is excited about the possibility of seeing her foster sisters and foster brother, but also a bit apprehensive about returning to the place she was so anxious to leave. Please pray for their safe travels. I will be staying home to continue working, and taking care of our pups. Since only one parent is required to make the trip, we have decided it best, financially, that I stay home and "hold down the fort". There will be one final trip to follow. So, by mid-Summer we hope that all of the traveling is behind us. We are anxious to continue our journey as a family. Who knows what God has in store for us next?!?!

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Much love,

Mike, Julie, and Viktorija Hope Vanhoy

Home sweet home

We've been home for 3 weeks now and we are adjusting to our new lives as a family. Viktorija just finished her second week of school. She seems to be enjoying her teachers and her classes. It appears the girls in her class have been welcoming. I'm so thankful!! What a difficult position--to be in a new country, with a new family, at a new school, and still learning the English language! I don't think I could do it. Viktorija is handling all these changes better than I would have expected. We are getting into a groove of sorts...Mike drops her off at school, I pick her up from school. She goes to the gym with me 2 times a week, we then come home and get busy with homework, dinner, showers, etc. You know...the usual stuff families do:-) This is probably a bigger adjustment for Mike and I since we have had our comfortable routines for our 19 yrs of marriage. I go to bed so tired every night. And, I feel sleep deprived everyday. But, is it all worth it? YES! Although we are adjusting, in some strange way it also seems "easy". She was meant to be here with us. For the past few nights, Viktorija has been sleeping pretty well. Prior to that, she has had nightmares and sleepless nights. She tells us little about her dreams. But, the things she has shared have been related to her past. We are in the process of getting her an appt with a Christian psychologist in our area. We've been hearing good things about this psychologist. I try to let Viktorija know that with God "all things are made new". This is her "new" life. In time, she will learn that we will never leave her, we will always love her, and that she will ALWAYS have the love of Jesus Christ. He has orchestrated this entire journey of us becoming a family. On a different note, Viktorija has been enjoying her new bedroom, her toys, games, and pink bike:-) Thank you to all of our family and friends for the beautiful gifts given at our adoption shower in Nov. I've been telling Viktorija about each person that gave her the gift as she brings out new things to play with, or to wear. She is also in disbelief of the gorgeous weather we've been having! She likes to lay in the hammock with her barbie dolls. She enjoyed last Sat when Mike cooked hamburgers on the grill and we could actually eat outside! You could tell she didn't want the moment to end. She said, "Can we just sit here and speak to each other longer?" Those precious moments.... We've been scheduling all kinds of appts for her...doctor, dentist, orthodontist, optometrist, and psychologist. We've spread these appts out over several months, so as not to overwhelm her. She had her Dr. appt yesterday and she liked her Dr. very much. She is a tough little cookie--they updated her immunizations, did a TB test, and took several viles of blood for various tests. She sat through it all like a trooper (better than I would have done at her age!). Please continue to keep us all in your prayers as we move forward. Mike and Viktorija will have to take another trip to Latvia for the formal court hearing in about 2 months. This trip will last approx 4 days. Then Mike and Viktorija will take their final trip to Latvia approx 2 months after that for the immigration details to be ironed out. That will be the 3rd, and final, trip. We are hoping by the end of the Summer we will be finished with this portion of our journey. Mike has, once again, been feverishly working on paperwork that needs to be completed for this portion of our adoption. Last night we had a visit from the social worker so she could speak with Viktorija about her transition. The social worker will than write up a report that will be sent to Latvia for review by the courts. So, even though Viktorija is with us at home, there are still many things that have to take place to make this official. With Mike's VERY busy work schedule, and me juggling work, homelife, and Viktorija's needs, we are certainly relying on God for strength and endurance!

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To God be all the glory!

Week one at home!

Overall, it has been a good week of adjustment. We are still a bit jet lagged,but slowly finding our "groove" again. Mike returned to a hectic work schedule on Monday, and I returned to work on Wed. Viktorija had her placement testing on Monday. She was so nervous, not to mention, tired. Once the test was over she said, "I don't think I did good". We tried to encourage her and help her enjoy her time before starting school officially. Mike's parents were true lifesavers, keeping Viktorija on Wed and Thurs as Mike and I both worked. She had a blast with her grandparents and their dog. She saw her cousins on Thurs evening at Claire's birthday party. And, today (Friday), she shaddowed at Lake Norman Christian School, where she will be attending. We met with the head of school and the principle today to go over her test results. They placed her in 6th grade, as she was in Latvia. This was exciting for me, since I was praying she wouldn't have to be held back too much. They saw much potential in her scores. The staff at the school is so supportive of Viktorija and her transistion. They all made her, and us, feel welcome. She seemed to enjoy her day at school and meeting some new friends. I am so thankful!!! I've seen her shut down with her peers in the past. So, this was an encouraging moment for me to see:-) Viktorija will start school officially on Monday!

As we make the necessary adjustments to our schedules, and life, it is encouraging that she is fitting in so well. I have gone to the gym 4 x's/week for years now. I was wondering how I was going to fit that into our new lifestyle. I took Viktorija with me to the gym on Monday and she loved it! She asked if she could go everytime. I was excited to teach her some things about working out and a healthy lifestyle. It's never too early to start that:-)

She has also been a tremendous help to me at home. On my cleaning day, I gave her some projects to do, and she did an amazing job! She is eager to help, and eager to learn. God knew what He was doing when he brought us together as a family!! There are always teaching moments, and things to work on. Overall, we can't complain about how our first week together has been.

Our friends and family, and people who have helped along the way, have been great! One of the staff from our bank called me at work to see how our trip had gone and to check on Viktorija. He had never even met her! Mike took her by the bank today to meet the wonderful people who were so invaluable to us during our preparation. I think she is begining to see how many people have been praying for her and really excited about her arrival in our family.

There are so many special people in our area who have gone through this process of adoption that they have started a support group in the Lake Norman area. We know most of the families and are excited to meet more. Tomorrow evening we will be going to a "party" with this group. It will be a wonderful chance to share experiences, and for Viktorija to meet some new friends.

Until next week.....much love!

Home sweet home!

We are FINALLY home in Huntersville, NC!!!! After an exhausting, and less then fair trip home, we are back in AMERICA!!! We left Riga, Latvia on Wed at 3:45 pm (their time). This was exactly 1 hour late from the time we were scheduled for take off. Mike and I knew this wasn't going to be good, since we only had 1 hour between planes when we arrrived in Frankfurt. And, Frankfurt is a mess of an airport! Huge and VERY confusing! However, we kept being told that we would probably be ok to make it to our next flight. I had my doubts...I was a nervous wreck. All I wanted was to get home to OUR house, in OUR beds, OUR showers, etc! I'd had enough of being away from home. Not to mention, Viktorija was overcome with excitement to get home that day too. When we arrived in Frankfort at 4:55pm (and our next flight was scheduled for departure at 5:00pm), I asked the first attendant I saw what to do. He told us to run to gate A-22 (I'll never forget that number). So, we did just that...RAN all the way through one of the MOST confusing airports I've ever seen!! Little Viktorija kept up like a trooper as we ran what must have been almost a mile. We got to the gate to find that they had closed the gate and we had missed our flight. This was a concern I had from the begining when the travel agent booked these flights for us. I was so upset, wanting to cry. Sweet Viktorija held it together, while I was losing it. I told the attendant that we would take ANY other flight that would get us back to the USA that night. Well, there were no flights that night. Lufthansa rebooked another flight for us for Thurs. Meanwhile, they sent us to a hotel for the night. The hotel looked like it might be ok. But, as we were walking down the halls to find our room, the doors on the rooms went from nice-looking wooden doors, to metal doors. I'll bet you can guess where we were, huh?!? A horrible, small, filthy, room! The toilet was disgusting, the beds we so uncomfortable (even Viktorija couldn't sleep), the food was bad, and the list goes on. So, to sum it up...our Wed was spent in airports ALL day (we got to our nasty hotel room at 8:15 pm), and we only had taken a 1-1/2 flight. I'll admit that I could have done a better job of maintaining my composure. Oh, and let me not fail to mention that there had been a shooting at the Frankfurt airport around the time we landed. 2 American military were killed and 2 other seriously injured. We never found out for certain if it was a terrorist attack, like they initially thought. We didn't have email access in our hotel room either.



The next day was much better though. We got on our USAirways DIRECT flight home from Frankfurt that morning, and arrived in Clt at 4:00pm (3/3). The flight was good. When we went through customs at Clt airport, they didn't want to let Viktorija through. They continued to question why she was here on a temporary VISA. Our attorney assured us we had all the necessary documents for travel, but apparently not enough to make the US customs agent happy. After many questions, he finally let us through. Oh, the stress of it all! I really thought Mike was going to have a panic attack.



We were put at ease when we met Mike's parents at the baggage claim area. Their smiles and hugs immediately made us all feel more relaxed. They even had sweet tea and BBQ sandwiches waiting for us in the car:-) Oh, happy day! We arrived home around 4:45pm to a wonderful welcome home. My mom and sister had decorated our house with streamers, balloons, banners, flowers, candy, and gifts for Viktorija. She was in awe (as were Mike and I). Of course, we hugged our pups first, and then went upstairs to show Viktorija her new room. She was open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the sight of her new bedroom..her very own space. She also had several gifts to open from generous friends who stopped by to leave welcome home gifts (or mailed them). She kept saying she feels like this is all a dream. She is so excited and grateful (as are we) for EVERYTHING that our friends have done for our family!



Now we can move forward on this journey of being a family. We are so blessed! On our way to the airport, leaving Riga. Viktorija grabbed my face and said, "Thank you for loving me", and then gave me a kiss. I almost lost it. It's the way I feel when I think of Christ's love for us. He loves us unconditionally. Even with all my faults and imperfections, He will always be faithful in His love for us. Just as Mike and I have committed to love Viktorija, unconditionally. Viktorija is full of so much hope and anticipation for what is yet to come in her life. Yesterday, again, she told me she wants to be a vet. I doubt she could have ever even attempted that dream if she were to have stayed in Latvia in her past situation. Whatever God has in store for Viktorija, I grateful that we will be a part of it.



Please continue your prayers for our family. Viktorija will have testing on Monday and hopefully start school within the week. Of course, she's nervous about a new situation, but I feel confident that she will do just fine:-) Many thanks and much love to all of you who have followed along on our journey. Our blogs may not be daily, but, we will continue to keep our faithful friends and family updated through this blog. Much love to all!

New HOPE!

We all awoke this morning with a renewed sense of hope and promise! Today is our last day (of our first trip) in Latvia! Viktorija claims, "Tomorrow is my lucky day!". She is beyond excited! I think we all feel the same.

Another good breakfast and then school....again. She chose to do English before Math. She says she now likes Math better than English. That could be the teacher's fault ;-) Mike is a wonderful teacher. I'm just doing my best. Viktorija worked very hard with me today. I think she was trying to make up for yesterday's session. She is slowly improving on her sentence usage and structure. I really am proud of her. She has learned so much in such a short time. I have confidence that she will eventually do quite well in an American school setting. She is so shy with other people. We've been trying to have her order her own meals when we go out to eat, ask questions of others when needed (instead of mom and dad doing the talking for her), etc. She doesn't like doing it, but that's the only way to get more comfortable with it. Overall, I give her an A for all her effort:-)

On our way to pick up Viktorija's VISA today, we took another "walking tour" of a different part of Riga. The temps were up today...a whopping 28 degrees!! Believe it, or not, it really did make a big difference in our tolerance to being outside. The city was bustling with people. It was nice to see. It's amazing what I saw some of the women wearing...short skirts, tights, and high heels, and a lightweight jacket. I guess, to them, this is warm weather. Meanwhile, Viktorija and I were bundled up. We saw some pretty sights. And, I even saw a McDonalds!!! I guess they must have those everywhere. I was not tempted to eat there, however. We stuck with the small cafe we have come to enjoy. And, I even found another small, quaint coffee shop nearby our hotel. Oh, yummy! I have now had my caffene fix for a few days.

When we arrived at the US Embassy, I was elected to stand outside with the camera while Mike and Viktorija went in to take care of business. They wouldn't have let us take a camera in, so I just people-watched outside the gates. When they came back out, they both told me they couldn't get the VISA. Knowing Mike as I do, I thought it was a joke, and didn't pay it much attention. Soon I realized they were telling me the truth:-( There was a problem on the American side of things and she couldn't get her VISA yet. UGH!! Of course, Viktorija was asking, "will I be able to go to America?" I was secretly a bit nervous, as our attorney happened to be at the Embassy with another adopting family and she stated that this rarely ever happens. She assured us all would be fine. We returned to the hotel and waited. Since the embassy closes at 5:00 (and it was 3:30) at this time, we just had to leave it in God's hands. At 5:00 on the dot, we received the call from our attorney that she had Viktorija's VISA and passport in her hand. Praise the Lord for that! Viktorija was so happy when our attorney brought it to our hotel that she hugged Daina (attorney) and thanked her for helping her be able to go home to America. She was so excited, she asked Mike to take a picture of her holding her "pass" to return home with her parents.

As we are winding down this evening, on our last night in Latvia, I am so thankful to God for our journey. We have learned a lot about faith and each other through all of this. I also feel so very blessed and thankful for my family and friends and I'm thankful to be an AMERICAN! To have the privileges we do is something I don't take for granted. I told Mike I now understand why some people returning to the USA kiss the ground:-) I feel like I could do the same. We are excited to continue this journey at home with our new daughter....Viktorija Hope Vanhoy! As we adjust to our new lives and all of the ups and downs that will come with it, I ask that you continue to pray for our family, and for Viktorija's salvation. We thank you all again for your love and support. We will see you very soon:-) I'll post a blog to let you all know that we arrrived home safely.

With much love and gratitude,

Julie, Mike, and Viktorija

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meltdown

Viktorija was the first one out of bed this morning (at 7:00). She was in a good mood, and reminded me that we only have one more full day here before going "home". It's nice that she already considers America home. We went to breakfast in the hotel, as usual. And, again, watched this little tiny girl eat what 2, or 3, of me would eat.

She was anxious to start her English lesson. We started with writing sentences including pronouns. Well, what started out as a good lesson turned out to be a meltdown, on her part. I still don't quite. know what happened. I think she couldn't come up with a sentence immediately and she got frustrated. I tried to start her over, she became very quiet, and stared off into space. I didn't know if she was listening to me, or not. She finally wrote her sentence and was showing an "attitude" that was not appropriate. I have learned from past experiences like this with her, that she won't talk about it at that moment. So, I told her we needed to take a break, and she needed to have some quiet time. I left the room and when I came back she was asleep. So, you see, it's been a lot of change at one time. I understand the fact that this court system feels it necessary to have this length of "bonding time" in their country. But, honestly, we NEED to return home to start living a normal life in our normal environment. The situation we are in (living out of suitcase in a hotel, no car, no friends, no church, etc...) is not real. It will only eventually drive a person crazy!! After Viktorija woke up, she did her homework without incident.

We went to the US Embassy today for Viktorija's VISA interview. All went well. We will pick up her VISA tomorrow.

Today at lunch, Viktorija started asking Mike and I questions like: "Dad, What do you love about mom?", "Mom, what do you love about dad?", "How did dad ask you to marry him?", etc. She is just trying to learn more about us, Meanwhile, my dear husband, who does not find it easy to express himself, started feeling like he was in a therapy session:-) I found it to be quite entertaining watching him squirm a bit;-)

Ok, today, I'm officially spent! I truly have been praying for strength to get through one more day. I know it sounds dramatic, but I'm completely drained. I can tell Mike is also feeling it. Praise the Lord we are so close now to getting on a plane for home.