This is it!

Hello world… well in just one hour and 2 min from the moment that I started typing this email/blog I will start on my way home to you, well at least most of you. This past week might have just been one of the best in my whole lifetime. Literally this week consisted of one blessing after another. I am not sure why it happened with way but it did and I could not be more grateful. I honestly have done every single thing in Romania that I wanted two… I find myself leaving with no loose ends. Let me tell you about some of these little wonders that have happened to me.

The week started out with more Visa paper work. My dear friend Teo, who is helping Marius get to America, has been so worried about doing everything just right that we have all found ourselves spending a lot of time working on getting stuff ready for the big Visa meeting this Wednesday. On Monday while we were reviewing paper work I told Teo not to worry about helping me see my kids from last time that have been moved to another orphanage. Although this was a hard thing for me to do I realized that we had just run out of time and helping Marius was much more important at this point. The next this I knew Teo come running back in to the room and told me we had to go right now. Teo had lined up my going to Glata, the orphanage where my kids have been moved to without my knowing. She truly is such an amazing person. When I got there I could not have been more happy to see my little boy Flourin that I had worked with last time I was here. He is now 14 and comes up to my shoulder but is still the same old Frourin in his own little Autistic world. Of course when I saw him I could not help but cry as I hugged me little boy. He just looks so good and seems so happy. (I just read over those last few lines and am sorry that they have done a very poor job expressing what I felt. I wish I was a great writer so I could tell you how time stopped when I saw him but alas that is just not in the cards. Please do forgive me.) Teo also took me around to see some of my other kids and it was just amazing. I tried to thank her when we left but I just started crying but my dear Teo knew what I was trying to say. She just looked at me and said Elisa I know.

On Tuesday I got to spend the day with Marius’s older brother Inout, which was absolutely amazing. After only a day both Mindy and I totally fell in love with him. When we told Marius he was not very please and informed us that we were his friends not Iount’s. Inout truly is an amazing person. We helped him great ready for his big trip to the Visa office in Bucharest. The elders donated some clothes and Mindy and I got to pick out the rest. Needless to say we absolutely loved it and he thought we were totally crazy as we tried to speak to him in Romania. A real high light was when by accident I asked him if there was 6 million people in his town… as it turns out there is only 400. I thought he would die laughing. When we sent Inout and Teo off on the train both Mindy and I got all teary eyed. It was amazing how after only a day we loved him as much as Marius. Teo called me the next day totally exhausted to let me know that they got the Visas after a lot of convincing. When Inout found out Teo said he started dancing in the street, a beautiful moment.

On Wednesday I went to go visit one of my boys from last time in his foster home. This was also due to the work of Teo. I loved going there and I got to take a lot of really great pictures. More then anything I just loved seeing how happy he was. Seeing him there reminded me yet again that happy ending are out there.Mihai (age 15) with his 15 year old brother Alex

Last of all I want to tell you about one more of the millions of amazing experiences I have had this week…. Here goes this might be the highlight of my whole trip. Well Marius has started walking by him self now. He is so independent! He just wants to do every thing by himself and he is always so excited to show us just how much he does not need us. Today he was walking around being very careful not to fall. I was sitting there watching him on a bunch just thinking how hard it was going to say goodbye in a few minutes. When my dear little boy stepped over and put both of his arms around me and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. Simply this was one of the biggest tender mercies of my life. Marius made my heart skip about one billion beats and I knew that without I was meant to be here.

Well my dearest friends and family I must least you now but know I love you very much! And also keep praying for my girls they have two weeks left and they have so much to do. Thank you for sticking through this with me. I cannot begin to tell you how much your support has meant to me. I love you all.

-elisa thelys bushmanOur last group pictures! I love these girls! I will miss them!

Someone got their visa today!

So Marius got his visa today and he along with the rest of us are super happy! It truly has been a miracle process! I just feel honored that I was able to be part of this. I wanted to post this video for all of Marius's girls friends. You know who you are. Ladies we are so lucky to have this boy. I hope you enjoy this video as much as we do.

sticky hands

Passports!!! the most amazing day!

Hello family and friends! So this week has been an odd one because as each day ended I became more and more aware that I have one day less left here. As a result I have been focusing a lot on the use of my time, which has in turn slowed time down. I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing but I think in the future it will be a good thing. I will have just that many more memories.

Life here in general has been great. I find myself each day leaving the orphanage thinking that things just could not have gone better. Our workers really like us and the girls are just so confident and comfortable with their kids. I guess that really is the catch-22 of this program. As soon as we get really good at what we are doing it is time for us to leave. I sometimes can’t help but wonder if us being here is really good for the kids. After a lot of thought I have resolved that we really do more good then harm it is just sad that harm does happen. This week in particular I have been able to see just how the Lord uses us to make a positive difference…

All of the girls with the exception of Mary, Melissa and I went to spend a 4-day weekend at the black sea. Although it sounded like a lot of fun I realized I would be way too anxious if I spent any more time away from my kids then I already have. So I opted to stay and as a result Melissa and I have almost worked ourselves to death trying to make up for their absence. As I write this I realize that it seems like I am complaining but in all reality I have absolutely loved it. When I get anxious hard work is just the thing I need to balance myself out and I got my fair does this week. Melissa and I have been spending a lot of time getting things ready for Marius to leave to America. On Thursday at the orphanage Teo informed us that Inouts (Marius’s bro) was coming to Iasi so they could get passports made for the three of them. She asked us if it would be ok if we got Marius a pair of pants, shoes, and a nice shirt for his picture. Needless to say it did not take any convincing. Melissa and I could not have been more excited to get the job done. I told her we could be done by 1 so as soon as we were done with the orphanage we booked it to the mall. After a lot of debating we got Marius the cutest blue button up shirt that we thought would just match his eyes perfectly along with a pair of pants and some sandals. Just as we were ringing up our order, at 1:03, I got a call from Teo asking us where we were. I guess we were not the only ones who were excited. When we got to the hospital Melissa and I booked it up the four flights of stairs to Marius’s room. Just as we got to his room a nurse came over and tried to stop us from entering because there was to many people in the room. Usually we take the time to talk to the nurses and get them to let us go in but today was just not the day. We just ran right past her into the room and got Marius in his new clothes and place him in the foldable wheel chair the orphanage was nice enough to let us barrow. Marius just thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Not only did he have a new outfit but also he had a hot new ride. I think if the day would have ended right there he could not have been happier but of course it just got better. As we all piled into the taxi Marius just got this huge grin on his face that would not go away. He kept hugging his big brother who he adore as he asked us about all of the things outside. At that moment I realized that not only was this Marius’s first time away from the hospital in 8 months but it was also the first time he had ever been in a city. You seen the town he is from is about the same size and the village I told you about last week. He had never seen a tram nor ridden in a taxi. He just loved it! As we waited at the passport office while Inouts and Teo filled out paper work Marius played the DS to keep his mind off of things and the people who kept looking at him. Truly yet another way that DS has been a blessing (Pete you were without a doubt directed to get that for him). It only took us and hour to get the passport, which blew Melissa and me away. It was so ironic that the most inefficient place I have ever been could get a passport done in an hour just mind boggling. Marius was so excited about the passport he would not let anyone else hold it except for when we fed him his first Swarma (the Romanian version of a kebab). Truly it was the most amazing day. I just feel honored I was there witnessing it. That smile on Marius’s face when we were in the taxi is something that has forever changed me. I think I witnessed an emotion that has never before been defined something much more brilliant then joy.

As for now wish me luck on my last week and I will see most of you soon!

-elisa

simply the cutest boys hand I will ever hold
even though he is not smiling he is happy I promise.

Andriesen in Photo form

an 80's version of elisa with the priest

these poor horses

the best host in the world Teo (our sister as she says)

cheese is beautiful

the sheep which made the cheese as beautiful

two of the sisters waving goodbye

one of the sisters husbands who told us a very long story about how in america someone asked him what he wanted to drink and he told them is name

all wagon no cars in this town

the librarian and her parents who gave us a cross stitch off their wall

needless to say this one is for you mm

the honey man also collects broken t.v. this is just a few

a traditional romanian home and couple

andrea and his foster mom. they are just crazy about each other. we met him because he is an orphan from the orphanage we work in. meeting him made me realize that happy endings are a reality and well worth believing in.

the veg. oil maker

the church that started it all

These are the people in the best neighborhood int he world!

Hello world! So I have a very wonderful place to tell you about this week. Remember back when I attended the funeral for my child Marian in a town called Andrieseni? Well while we were there they made us promise that we would return and this past weekend we did just that. After searching for a maxi taxi, aka a bus taxi that went to Andrieseni, we headed on our way. From the moment we stepped off the bus to the moment that we left wonderful thing after wonderful thing seemed to happen. It reminded me a lot of when I went to Peru with my uncle Jack and sister Cory a few years back with a humanitarian group. I remember pulling up in our bus and just being blasted with confetti and flowers from the moment we arrived to the second we left. The people in this small two of Andrieseni were just as gracious. I have thought and thought of how to tell you about what we experienced there and I have realized that there are not to express the kindness that we were shown. It was one of those experiences that you would have to be there to believe it. Regardless, I will try and do my best to give you a little taste of what I saw and felt. I think the best way of doing this will be to tell you about some of the people I came in contact with. So here they are I hope you love them as much as I did.

One of the first people who really affected me, of course not counting the priest and his family who are truly some of the most Christ like people I have yet to meet, was the Beekeeper. Teo our hostess took us all throughout the town to meet the various people that contributed unique things to the feel of the town, the beekeeper was one of these people. When we pulled up to his house, on the buggy we road on the whole time, he was waiting out back with his bees. The priest came with us but sadly had to abruptly leave because he was stung by a bee… go figure. He was so excited to see us that he happily showed us not only the honeycomb but also his coy pond, cactus garden, green house, and a series of landscapes he had done. During this whole time his mother just walked around with us smiling at all of her sons accomplishments. After our Mr. Rogers like tour of beekeeping they sat us down and made us eat one cup full of honey each, this was of course after we had all ready been served two 3 course meal in a two hour period. I personally loved it and when our buggy trotted away I struck with how giving this man was, but this giving did not stop that night he brought us 5 L. of honey as a gift. Of course at our next stop, just like the ones that had come before, the people were extraordinarily nice and they cut down all of their flowers in their garden to give to us because they had nothing else to offer… mom they were all bulb flowers. Anyways another stop that absolutely did me in happened the next day after we camped out in front of the church, which was wonderful because I got to see the stars all night long. We pulled up to a small house with a huge garden and a bunch of old people just poured out. As it turns out 6 elderly sisters who grew up in the house get together and spend each summer together tending their land. I thought it was a wonderful idea and they were so nice. What was more surprising is that they had planned on leaving the previous day but had heard we were in town and changed their travel plans so they could feed us lunch which was far to kind of them because we had already been fed lunch by another family just and hour earlier. I just loved these old ladies so much they all seemed like such beautiful free spirits. They insisted on walking us threw their fields before we left and sent us off with a bucket full of fruits they had shook from the tree. I am sorry that I only have time to talk about this small handful of people I have so much more to say but alas I don’t think anyone has time to read it. I guess what I really learned is that the world is full of beautiful giving people. And I personally found that Romanian culture really does have something on my own.

Other then that the highlight of my week was talking to my mom and dad while they were at my Grandma Thelys’s house celebrating her homecoming from a mission she just served in Chili. While I talked to them as a family they pulled up my blog and were asking me questions about various pictures and experiences. Needless to say it made me feel like a million bucks and grateful that I have a family who loves me very much.

-elisa

Just a lot of progress with my boyz!

I would like to begin my saying Happy 4th of July! For you that know me well know that this is my holiday of choice. I missed each and everyone of you and tried to shut out the missing by eating corn bread as you will see it worked a little.

I just glanced over my blog to insure that I don’t tell you a story you have already heard and I realized that my life here really does center around a few key people, Marius and Alex. So if you don’t like hearing about these boys I must ask you right here and now to stop reading because this email will not be all that interesting for you. So here you go… We have been waiting for months to see if Marius’s brother is granted custody of Marius because his going to America for treatment depends upon it. This week, after all of our waiting, we got the good news! When Teo got the call she went running around the orphanage looking for me and when I finally saw her she was down the hall. I have never seen someone jump so high in my whole life. She just came jumping down the hall on the verge of tears shouting, “Elisa we got it”. Although Marius has been through so much seeing Teo’s reaction left me with no doubt that he is a very loved boy. Truly that is only a reaction a mother can have. So now we just have to wait for the papers to arrive in the mail, which because we are in Romania can take up to a month! Oh the woes of post communist life. No need to worry though he will be able to get his treatment now and someday Marius will have his face back and sweet prosthetic hands.

Tuesday the 8th of July was a very important day that Alex and I have been looking forward to for weeks now. It was his tenth birthday! I have been trying to figure out what to get his for a while. This was not the easiest thing since he cannot talk but I narrowed it down to balloons and a big horse. Now the trick was finding both of these things. I planned on spending all Saturday getting things ready for his birthday but I was hit with a bad case of the flu. I spent two whole days in bed with a high fever which luckily only lasted two days and left me with an hour on Monday to make Alex’s birthday dreams come true. Things worked out perfectly. We bought all 19 balloons the store had and got the biggest and only stuffed animal horse we could find. When we got to the orphanage on Tuesday morning we blew up all of the balloons and walked in one by one into his room holding them. As each girl entered Alex’s smile just got bigger and bigger. I thought it little eyes might blow up. It was truly a great birthday and to make things ever better Alex was dressed in a tuxedo that the orphanage just happens to have.

The last thing of note is that my little baby Christi was in the hospital for some tests which means we got to see him and got to take pictures of him! Although it was good for us Christi did not like it one little bit. I did not get to see him the first day because I had other responsibilities to attend to but the other girls said he was really upset about being there. It seems as though when I saw him the next day his love of he hospital had not increased at all. When I walked in he was just crying and crying. I picked him up to find that he along with his mattress was covered with pee. We was very upset because something like this would never of happened at the Orphanage. I changed him as quickly as possible and after that he was just fine as long as we were holding him. Seeing Christi so scarred like this made me so grateful yet again for the Orphanage where he is taken care of. Although it is not the most ideal care it is so much better then it could be. They really do the best with what they have. Seeing him there also made me think a lot about how I will be leaving in just three weeks to go home and start me new life. I remember the first time I left I was so stressed about leaving my kids and what would happen to them but this time I am not scarred at all. I know that they will be taken care of. I know that other girls will come and will love my children just as much as I did. It is funny how much things can change with time. As for now I am off. I am sorry that this took so much time to get to you but life has been crazy.with much love!

-elisa

The Top 20 Pictures well I mean more...! Here you go!

Good work Charla this is all of us!

The cold I had with a scary Jaron bear in the background

Sweet glasses

Just funny really.

Pest

Sleeper train! I took 4 of them this trip

He is everywhere! Krakow

Krakow

Even sweeter!

so sweet, Krakow

Jewish grave yard

The family name well almost... I found them mom.

This speaks for itself... amazing

Beauty (found on a wall in the Jewish sector), krakow

Jeff hates when Charla and I talk we on the other hand love it

Good friends on the roof in a hostel

Sweet!

My fav. Church in Krakow

The best tag I found

Some tricky subway tags

Buda

Two some what Jewish girls in the great synogauge, Hungary

Budapest at night

This one is so for alex

Bridges in Budapest
Romanian Country Side by Train