So much love and support

So M has been gone for about a week now and we've been left to process our time with her.  Over all we had a wonderful hosting experience.  This is not always the case for all families.  All of these kids have gone through tough times as children and a lot of times their behavior stems from those tough times.  M didn't show many of the issues we were warned about and trained on. We are so thankful.  She was a very typical teenager in our eyes.  Not perfect, a lot of sass, but also had the capability of connecting and loving.  We know if we end up hosting her again we may have a totally different experience since she would be a bit more comfortable, but bottom line, we were so surprised at how well adjusted she seemed to be.

We had A TON of support through this journey.  The prayers, hugs, texts, calls, emails, gifts we got from our friends, family and even acquaintances was a HUGE encouragement for us.  It was so awesome to have you all along this journey with us.

In addition to people we also had some wonderful organizations and companies help us make this time in America special for M.  Dr Goodin and his wonderful staff, Dr Lee and his wonderful staff, The San Jose Earthquakes, Stitchfix, Wild Water Adventure park in Clovis, Christina's Fine Clothing and probably others we can't even think of at the moment... but one we really want to recognize is a wonderful organization called Father to the Fatherless.  They helped us with a large portion of our hosting fees and they have also helped Todd and Amy a number of ways to help with their adoption.  In addition the founders of the organization are good friends of Todd and Amy who have also adopted from Eastern Europe.  They want to help other families be able to host and adopt.  They are a newer organization so please help get the word out and if you would like more information you can visit their website at www.give2orphans.org/

We are so thankful for the internet and the ability to communicate with our sweet M while she is across the world. We do a lot of messaging on social media and have even used skype for a phone call.  This girl has forever changed our lives for the better.  Hosting was one of the best decisions we made as a family.  If you would like more information on hosting you can visit www.nhfc.org. The next hosting is over Christmas break!