December 31, 2017 Posted about over 6 years ago

Today is the last day of 2017. What a year of memories for our family! Thank you for coming along side our family in so many ways both pre and post adoption. God has used each one of you to bless our family in countless ways and we will be forever grateful! November was a very special month for our family. It is National Adoption month so we participated in the Run for Orphans on November 4,...

June 3, 2017 Posted about almost 7 years ago

We have Angelica’s American birth certificate! I picked up official copies yesterday so the only paperwork we are still waiting on is her certificate of citizenship. Please pray that we get the certificate of citizenship before we leave for MN. Our mail will be forwarded in a little over 2 weeks but the certificate would not be forwarded; it would be sent back to USCIS.Yesterday morning our ...

May 30, 2017 Happy Birthday Angelica! Posted about almost 7 years ago

Our daughter is now a teenager! Today is Angelica’s 13th birthday. She has been very excited for her birthday but not excited to become a teenager. We had her birthday party on Sunday, May 28 and she enjoyed playing two relay games (one with popping balloons since she loves balloons so much), opening presents, eating cake, and most importantly being the center of attention for an afternoon. ...

April 27, 2017 Posted about almost 7 years ago

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phillipians 1:3-6We thank the Lord for each one of you and how He has used you to support us in our a...

January 21, 2017 Posted about about 7 years ago

Yesterday marks being home one week! Our week has gone by very fast. We are so thankful that Angelica has been adjusting well and our children are loving every minute with her! On Sunday Jason said that he heard Angelica say “I love you” to Zoey when she walked into the kitchen. Less than two days at home and she was ready to show affection and say I love you on her own. Praise the Lord that s...

January 14 & 15, 2017 Posted about over 7 years ago

Our first two days as a family have been lots of fun! The children are loving every minute together! On Saturday, Angelica was awake by 9:30 a.m. so after breakfast we celebrated Christmas as a complete family! The children had each bought and wrapped presents for their new sister and the presents have been waiting for her under the tree since before Christmas. After Angelica opened her gifts f...

January 13, 2017 Posted about over 7 years ago

Angelica and I are home! Praise the Lord! Our flight to Frankfurt, Germany went well even with the turbulence from the snow. Angelica and I slept most of the 3 hour flight so Angelica never felt sick. Thank the Lord! When we landed we took our time getting to security, stopping to eat some snacks beforehand. The layover in Germany went fairly quickly until the end when we had to wait an extr...

January 12, 2017 Posted about over 7 years ago

We have the passport and visa so will board our first plane tomorrow morning, Friday, at 6:00 a.m. Ukraine time!Today was a busy day! I am surprised I had the energy I needed after getting only 4 hours of sleep last night. We met our coordinator at the medical center a little after 10:30 a.m. to get the passport, which she had picked up at the train station, and to pick up the sealed medical re...

January 11, 2017 Posted about over 7 years ago

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 107:1) Angelica's passport arrived in her birth city of Ukraine today! I have seen two pictures of it so I know it is really here. It is on the overnight train to Kiev as I type. We will get it Thursday morning, tomorrow:) and go for our second appointment at the US Embassy. Our prayer is that she will be issued her ...

January 8, 9, and 10, 2017 Posted about over 7 years ago

Andriy's car started on Sunday evening so we were able to go to the Christmas concert at his church. The instrumental music and choir were fabulous! It was a large ensemble from musicians in North America. The songs were all in Ukrainian or Russian but I knew some of the songs from their melodies. I especially loved hearing "Silent Night" in Russian. The conductor shared his stories between son...

January 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and part of 8, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Warning: this is the longest post yet! I typed some of this when I had time at camp using it as my journal so I apologize for the length. My hope is not to bore you but to share how God used our time at camp.) We left Kiev in a winter storm of snow on Tuesday. The roads quickly got icy and at times visibility was not good. We saw one accident in Kiev and were surprised we did not see more. D...

January 1 and 2, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Happy New Year! Our first day of the new year we slept in and then helped the family we are staying with clean house. I washed the many dishes from all the cooking the day before and they were very appreciative to have a clean kitchen once again! I also did laundry for the first time since I arrived in Kiev. I am thankful they have a washing machine and even a dryer. It is not typical for fam...

December 29, 30, and 31, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Today is when most Ukrainians celebrate "Christmas". It is a time for good food, family time, reflection on the past year, and of course presents. So Angelica and I wish you a Happy New Year all the way from Ukraine!For the past three days we have walked to the "mall" (an American term I am using to best describe the large shopping area). Each day we have enjoyed eating ice cream cones while wa...

December 27 and 28, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

I have our precious Angelica Alexandra Aldridge! She is officially our daughter! Praise the Lord! I made it safely to Kiev, Ukraine the afternoon of December 26. Then our friend picked me up at the airport, brought me to his house, and they fed me my favorite meal of varenyky. I took a quick shower and a friend of their family drove me to the train station. I slept as best I could in the to...

December 26, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

I pray you all had a very merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior! We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve day. Thanks to Grandma for taking the children shopping so they could buy each other gifts, our children had presents under the tree. I ran out of time so I did not wrap a single gift for our children but simply put their small and practical gifts in their Christmas stockings...

December 22, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

As we approach the day we celebrate our Savior’s birth we are in awe of how much our Heavenly Father truly loves us! We are thankful for God’s constant reminders of His love, even in the simple things like beautiful Christmas songs. Jason and I continue to have a difficult time adjusting to the time zone and we continue to struggle with fatigue and jet lag. For three nights before we got hom...

December 19, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

I have been up since 2:15 this morning. My body is having a difficult time adjusting to the new time zone and I am feeling so overwhelmed that I am not sleeping well. My list of what I need to do continues to grow to the point that I cross one thing off and add 5 more. I am asking for prayer for my stress level and for God to work through me quickly to accomplish all that needs to get done. ...

December 16, 2016 - We are home! Posted about over 7 years ago

We made it home! We got 4.5 hours of sleep the morning of December 16 before we had to go to the notary. Jason had to give me power of attorney since he will not return to Ukraine to finalize adoption. From there we went to the US Embassy to sign more paperwork. Then off to the airport, through customs, security and to our gate with enough time to eat lunch! Our first flight from Kiev to Amster...

December 15, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Thank you all for your prayers. After about 2 hours and 45 minutes of questions and many repeated readings of our paperwork by the Judge, she finally adjourned to discuss the final decision of our case with the jury. About 15 minutes later the judge and the 2 person jury returned. The judge read the court decree stating for at least the 4th time our girl had no family who could care for her, th...

December 14, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

We ask for fervent prayer for God to go before us at court and prepare the way for everything to go smoothly. There are so many details and we cannot go into all of them so please pray that God will work them all out. Court is tomorrow, December 15, at 1:00 p.m. Ukraine time which is 9 hours ahead of mountain standard time. We will have court with a jury and judge. We found out today that one o...

December 11 and 12, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

For the last several days our girl has been asking us to take her and her friends to our hotel. The director and assistant director have not been at the orphanage so we could not get approval. On Sunday we were told by the office that maybe Monday we could take her and her 3 friends with a caretaker to our hotel. Because of the quarantine of the children in our girl's dorm, they do not have sch...

December 10, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Yesterday we noticed several children from our dorm were missing as we walked to the Friday night show in the auditorium. We were told that they were sick. Two of the girls were former roommates with our girl. They had been moved to a different room this past weekend. Today the dorm room was put under quarantine. There are now 7 children out of 34 who are in the "hospital" at the orphanage. On...

December 8, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

I will try to make this a shorter update than usual! We went to the seamstress and they were so patient and kind as we tried to explain that we would like to buy yarn. That word must not translate the same but they finally understood and showed us one small ball of purple yarn. I started listing other possible colors in Russian and the one woman told us to sit down. She got her coat on, took h...

December 5, 6, and 7 Posted about over 7 years ago

Monday we got more snow and it was absolutely beautiful. We walked to a different market than before in search of some breakfast cereal. We have only been able to find corn flakes so far and we wanted something different. As we walked we admired God's gift of snow which looked like shimmering crystals in the sun! At the market we had a very nice woman help us and she showed us a new cereal whic...

December 2, 3, and 4 Posted about over 7 years ago

We had a busy, snowy, and fun weekend. God sent us Americans and a Ukrainian translator this past week who have become dear friends. We enjoyed many meals with them, walks, and lots of laughter. In our time of need, God heard our cry and answered our prayers! Praise be to our loving and faithful Heavenly Father! The translator has helped us in so many practical ways. On Friday night we were loc...

December 1, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

We woke up yesterday morning to lovely white snow. It continued snowing a little more in the morning so the trees were just beautiful. I also woke up with a sore throat and a cold. Please pray that Jason will stay healthy and that I will get over this quickly without getting sicker. There have been many children coughing and none of them cover their coughs so I am not surprised I got germs. The...

November 29, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Yesterday we became very homesick. We really miss our children and after we heard from our coordinator/translator we cried as we counted the days until we might get to go home. If everything takes as long as she is saying it will, there is no way we will be home in time for Christmas. However, nothing is impossible for our Lord so we continue to pray for the desire of our hearts--to be home as ...

November 27, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

6 hours at the orphanage was still not enough for me. I think I am ready to become a "den mother" and sleep there each night! (I know I would be cold though. Each child gets two thin blankets and no sheets.) The girls we have been spending most of our time with are such sweethearts. I keep asking God what He wants me to do for them even after our time here. At dinner tonight Jason asked how we ...

November 26, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

The last two days we walked to the orphanage to spend time with our girl. Our coordinator/translator said 2 hours each day should be long enough but we do not agree. We asked to spend 2.5 hours with her on Friday and then today we spent 4 hours with her. On Friday we met several of her friends and enjoyed seeing her room for the first time. She told us it was messy but it was not messy when we ...

Happy Thanksgiving! November 24, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

We celebrated today with our girl! Praise the Lord that we got permission to take her out of the orphanage. It is typically not allowed at this orphanage however they made an exception because of it being "our special holiday". She could only come with us if a care taker came along. It felt like a supervised visit at first but everything went well. When we got to our hotel room, she immediately...

November 23, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

What a fun afternoon we had with our girl! We got to spend almost five hours with her outside of the orphanage! The time went by too quickly though. We can hardly wait for the days when we will have 24 hours / 7 days a week with her and no call from the orphanage telling us she must come back right away. We picked her up and took her with us to do paperwork. It is a long, winding drive on narro...

November 22, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

The highlight of our day was the two hours we had with our girl! She showed us around the orphanage property which used to be a camp. There is outdoor exercise equipment, a basketball court of dirt, a soccer field of dirt, a place to ride bicycles but no bicycles that we saw, an empty above ground metal pool, a small outdoor theatre, a medical station, several buildings for school of different ...

November 21, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Words cannot express our joy and thankfulness! After leaving on the fast train from Kiev early this morning we arrived in the region of our girl's orphanage. We went to her orphanage for more paperwork and questions. Then we were escorted into another office where our girl was asked to come join us. When she came in and saw us she smiled and sat right down. We gave her the stuffed puppy that ...

November 20, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

We should be on the overnight train right now but we are not. Something happened and our coordinator was not able to get us tickets so we will take the "fast" train tomorrow for 5 hours instead of the overnight train that would have taken 12. Our train will leave at 6:40 a.m. and we should arrive to the region of the orphanage by noon. We will go straight to the orphanage to see our girl. We ar...

November 19, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Weather report from Kiev, Ukraine; it was back to cloudy and dreary today. I forgot to mention that yesterday the sun came out and was shining while we waited for our official referral! It was the first time we had seen the sun since leaving home. We woke up yesterday to the sound of icicles falling from buildings. Those that did not fall on us, dripped on us as we walked along the sidewalks.To...

November 18, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Today we received our official referral to travel to the region and visit our girl at her orphanage! Sunday we will take the train overnight and then hopefully go to the orphanage by Monday afternoon.  Please continue to pray for "our daughter's" eagerness to be adopted, speedy paperwork, and a quick court date. We found out yesterday that the court will take place in the same region of the orp...

November 17, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Before our meeting with the Ministry of Social Policy our translator asked us what we would do if our girl's file was not ready or if we found out she was not available for adoption. We had no answer for her. She then showed us a picture of another girl she called "plan B". We were still speechless yet fully trusting God to direct our path. We had His peace that passes all understanding.Once at...

November 16, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Hello, Привет, (pree-vet) from Kiev, Ukraine! Jason and I made it safely here last night. Before landing the pilot announced it was negative 7 degrees Celsius (21 degrees F) with 100% humidity. There is snow and ice and it was cold and dreary today.  We are staying with a wonderful, Christian woman who has a hospitality apartment for families who come here to adopt.  We slept most of our day aw...

Aldridge Adoption update November 15, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

Jason and Christy are in Frankfurt, Germany on a layover; leaving in about one hour to fly to Kiev! We are exhausted but thankful to be getting close to Ukraine. We left DIA after having a close call. We arrived at the gate just about 10 minutes before they started boarding. Jason realized as we got close to DIA that he forgot his wallet at home so we had to have our friend drive us part wa...

Aldridge Adoption Update November 3, 2016 Posted about over 7 years ago

It is official! We are going to Ukraine to adopt! We found out yesterday that we have our meeting with the Ministry of Ukraine the morning of November 17. We will leave on November 14 and arrive in Ukraine the night of November 15. Our real adventure begins in less than 2 weeks! Here are some of our prayer requests:- time and energy to accomplish everything that needs to get done before we ...

Aldridge Adoption Update 9-27-16 Posted about over 7 years ago

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Phillipians 4:13 This scripture verse was what we clung to this past summer when all we could do was experience each day knowing that God was our source of strength. We do not even know where to begin to share about our summer with our host daughter. In our last update we shared about God providing for her to have 5 decaying teeth extra...

Aldridge Update July 15, 2016 Posted about almost 8 years ago

Our host daughter arrived July 1st!  We soon discovered that she was experiencing terrible tooth pain and we saw several decaying teeth. We took her to a dentist which was a terrifying experience for her. She finally allowed the dentist to look in her mouth while I was holding her and he said he saw infection and at least 4 baby teeth that needed to be pulled. He gave her an antibiotic and reco...

Aldridge Adoption Update June 26, 2016 Posted about almost 8 years ago

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 We are less than one week away from meeting our host daughter. I feel like an expectant mother, without the labor pain, but just as exhausted, nervous and excited! We will greet the two other families who are hosting here in CO...

Aldridge Adoption Update June 11, 2016 Posted about almost 8 years ago

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” Psalm 147:5 God continues to answer our prayers to have a speedy adoption process. Early last week our adoption agency told us that it looked doubtful we would get to travel to Ukraine at the end of July or even early August because immigration approval could take up to two months. We prayed for God’s timing to be faster...

Aldridge Adoption Update May 4, 2016 Posted about almost 8 years ago

Since our last update at the beginning of the month, God has revealed so much and answered many prayers! We received an email from our adoption agency asking us to consider hosting a 9 year old girl from Ukraine in July. We had told them months ago that we did not want to host again because we became so attached to our last host daughter and then she decided she did not want to be adopted. I...