Saturday, April 21, 2012

Golden Boy

Edit* Our golden boy has found a wonderful family! There are still many children waiting though*
This boy is another one on my heart this week. We had a host family for him, but unfortunately they decided at the last minute not to host so we are back at square one. :-( He is a GREAT kid, highly recommended....they don't just describe any boy as a "golden boy" -he is definitely called that for a reason. 
Are you his family? Or do you know someone that might be? 


A GOLDEN BOY! No siblings. High standards for reading and writing fast and comprehends very well. His abilities are rare in UA orphanages. He is intellegent, active, hard working. Likes to draw and play table games. Loves to do errands for adults. This makes me think he is really anxious for the love and approval from an adult in his life! 


Still searching his hobbies and likes. His host family has a good opportunity to help him discover these things as well as what food he likes. Likes to be noticed and appriciated. Responsible and friendly, open, social. He like to be told that he has done things right and get approval from adults.-Once again this shows me that he is really searching for love and approval from a role model....


He needs a cuddle and for once not to be judged as anything but a CHILD!!! A boy with a lost childhood that now needs a family. Can you imagine his smile after 6 weeks in America this summer? This boy is one we should all be trying to find a family for! 



For more information about hosting him or someone else, please send me an e-mail at Hershonfamily@gmail.com  or e-mail Ginger at Guglielmoshope@gmail.com or call her at (408) 710-8902


I'm only one. But still, I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

-- Edward Everett Hale

Friday, April 20, 2012

R & K have a family!

I have some wonderful news today! We have a family that has committed to R & K


A special thank you to all of the supporters that have prayed and advocated for these wonderful boys! These boys have a fabulous online "fan club" that they have no clue about! And don't forget, there are still plenty of children (for example "V" sent to us from the same missionaries as R & K) still waiting to be chosen for summer. The kids can fly into NYC, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco, and we still have spots open at every location! They will arrive in July and stay for around 6 weeks. Please pray, advocate, and consider hosting yourself!

The "other" boy $500 grant!

EDIT*On hold for an amazing family in Maryland. 
They already have 2 children from "U" and I think he will have an amazing summer with them. I am super hopeful that this will be his forever family as well!*
There was so much support for R & K (and rightly so) that sweet "V" was almost swept under the rug. 
He is the other wonderful boy that the mission team sent us to find a family for.
They have known him for many years, and are visiting him again in a week, when we expect to have more photos and even more information about him! 


$500 grant! Another sweet teen boy that comes to us from missionaries who know him well and are advocating for him. A very special and beautiful child. We are told he has a very good heart and quite a charmer. The director says he is a wonderful boy and will be a great addition to any family. All he needs is a chance to come and prove it.



"He's all boy and even when he was young would love to go for long walks to check out bugs, rocks, sticks, and all things boy! He's the best rock skipper I've ever met."


"As he's gotten older, he's developed a fascination with electronics. He has the mind of an engineer and is able to fix any electronic thing that breaks, even if he's never seen it before. 
He also enjoys soccer and basketball."

"He is not overly outgoing, but he is very kind and open when you get to know him. 
He's the sort of kid where investing in his heart really pays off! 
He enjoys doing crafts and also enjoys singing in concerts at his school."


 I believe he is a a few years younger in some of these pics....






For more information about hosting him or someone else, please send me an e-mail at Hershonfamily@gmail.com  or e-mail Ginger at Guglielmoshope@gmail.com or call her at (408) 710-8902


I'm only one. But still, I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

-- Edward Everett Hale

Kisses in the Wind

One of my good friends posted this on her blog today....and it struck a deep cord with me of course. In fact, I started tearing up just reading the title....
 KISSES IN THE WIND
(The Waiting Child's Lullabye)

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.


Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

~Pamela Durkota~
 


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Updated Video

Slighly updated video about hosting....although I still need to upload a higher resolution version (my computer keeps timing out every time I try) and I also found 2 more things to change as soon as I uploaded it of course!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Tale of 2 Phone Calls

So we talked to S- (2.0) with our translator last night.

We called last week as well, and it was just so awkward. The first call is always is tough though I guess-plus it had been so long since he had heard from us) Last week, I think his caregiver was right in his ear listening and saying stuff. (Like my friend Katya that was translating said she heard her mumbling to him-"just tell them to come and get you!" or something like that-------probably because he is such a handful and probably drives her crazy with temper tantrums and etc. He is at a boarding school, and I imagine they are pretty strict there.

He totally didn't sound like himself for most of that call-only once did I hear his "real tone of voice" and that was when he was answering a question. Actually at first we thought it wasn't him, because we asked her to ask, what was his favorite thing he did with us this winter, and he answered "skiing". So we were like, huh we didn't go skiing! But we think he just misunderstood the question, because then he said something about riding bikes.....But now we know to try skiing next year.....

He didn't even say I love you back to us last week-which is TOTALLY not like him-this is the kid that told me he loved me the second day he met me and followed me around the house all during winter hosting- telling me I was "his mama" and told me he loved me about 10x a day minimum (or wrote it on a piece of paper, or put it on the computer for google translate)-but he may have felt uncomfortable with the teacher there in his face listening in and making comments last week.....

BUT then last night, he sounded just like himself. :-) My friend Natasha (the translator last night) said "This boy is not shy at all" lol. I could also tell he didn't have anyone there right in his face for this call...

He got our packages that we sent him finally. Then of course he was asking us to send him stuff that we can't (nerf guns, his remote control helicopter, etc, lol). It was really good though, even though I had to tell him no.

He told us he was sad and missing us a lot yesterday, and then later his teacher told Natasha that she found him crying his eyes out on his bed last night, and she asked him what was wrong and he said "I just miss them so much" So sweet and so like the boy we love.

He wouldn't let us off the phone, every time we said, OK we need to go, he would tell Natasha "I want to keep talking." So we were on the phone with him for over 30 minutes.

Then at one point in the conversation (probably after he told us that he had been missing us the day before) he told us he missed us and started crying....so he was crying for awhile (softly). BREAK MY HEART. He was crying and saying he missed us and wanted to know how much longer it would be till he could come back, and obviously was not happy when we told him it would be July.....But so sweet, and responded back to "I love you's and I miss you's" and etc. Just a really good conversation where he sounded like himself.... slightly irreverent at times, making fun of us, and us making fun of him. We even got a laugh (that was loud enough for us to hear) out of him.

Anyway, it was so good. So I am happy, and yet sad. It was hard to hear him cry and it made me cry, but we got him cheered back up and I think it was really important for him to talk to us. It was good to hear the full personality of the boy that had me in stitches for 3 weeks again....We will call again next week. 

Fingerprints finally done

I am so behind on posting! I think I have just let myself get too overwhelmed with everything at home, but I have a few updates coming quickly. :-)


First off, we FINALLY got our bio metrics (FBI fingerprints) done. We actually had to postpone our first appointment because Matt went out of town (in the field) for 2 1/2 weeks. Then every time Matt had a day off where we could just "walk-in" something came up (I got sick twice for example). So we ended up actually going the day of our scheduled appointment, and it went really well. They actually had us in and out of there in less than 45 minutes! Kudos to the Tukwila DHS!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

What our summer will look like!

This is what we are hoping our summer hosting will look like! 


Please keep us in your prayers that it all works out! And please keep us in your prayers that we are able to raise the money necessary to host ALL 3 boys! $7500! Yikes! So far we have $2500 paid towards that....with the deadline coming up fast! To make a tax deductible donation toward our hosting Go HERE! Or you can mail a check (made out to Angel's Haven) to: 
Guglielmo Winery C/O Ginger Guglielmo 
1480 E. Main Ave.
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

We also need to raise AT LEAST $10,000 more towards our adoption, to be able to cover in country fees and travel costs! 

If anyone has fundraiser ideas-I am totally open to hearing them! I am also trying to get some work/part time jobs in as much as possible, so far nothing though.