New Blog Coming

Hi Everyone, I know it has been sometime since I posted here. Things have been tough these past few weeks. Our family is still healing from our loss, but we are still trusting that God is going to do a great work in our family.
I want to keep this blog in memory of our sweet Maya. So,I have decided to start a new blog for a new journey. If you would like to follow us on our new journey, our new blog address is www.preciousworkofgod.blogspot.com We are going to be more careful this time around. Thank you all for your support this past year, your encouragment has meant so much.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Maya!!!
We hope you have a wonderful day. Many prayers and thoughts are going out for you today.

Our Sweet Maya

My sweet baby girl,

I can't believe two years have passed since we began this journey to you. When we started out we were so naive. We thought that we would complete the paper work, send it to Vietnam, and we would bring you home a few months after that. The minute we saw your face we knew you were ours, and that God had blessed us with a beautiful baby girl. We all sat around the computer laughing, crying, and talking about what it was going to be like to have you in our family. Little did we know how hard this road was going to be, but that's usually the way things go for us. So, we hit those challenges head on. We fought for you, and we fought hard. Not a week went by that I didn't call someone on your behalf. I talked with the Senator's offices, the State Department, and the White House. All the while thinking that somehow what I was doing would get you home. I never gave up thinking that soon I would hold you. It makes my heart break knowing that you will never know how much this family loves you. Your brothers and your sister talk about you every day. They talk about what you must look like, what your favorite color will be, and how cute you will look in the clothes that sit in your dresser. Every time that we pray, your 3 year old brother reminds us to pray for you. He says, “Pray for Maya, that she gets enough food, and she will come home.” Sweet girl, you are loved by so many. The day we found out you weren't going to be able to come home, three of my closest friends stopped by to pray and cry with me. We laid on my bed and prayed for you, that either God would work a miracle in this situation, or that He would place you in a home that loves you as much as we do. I cannot tell you how many people pray for you daily..

I want you to know that we will never stop praying for you. I pray that you will grow into a beautiful woman of God, that loves others more than herself. You have been such a special gift to us. I thank God that He brought us on this journey, otherwise, we never would have known you. We love you so much, and that will NEVER change.

I can't tell you that I understand why this has happened, or why I will never have the chance to hold you. I do know however, that God is good, and that He never makes a mistake. I am surprised, and hurt that things didn't turn out that way we thought they would, but I still trust Him and He has a reason for this.

I believe that someday I will see you in Heaven. I know that the minute I see you I will recognize you because you are so close to my heart. I will never forget you, no matter what road we may travel down next. You are forever a member of our family, and we love you.




Love,

Daddy, Mama,

Morgan, Kristian, and Harrison

My Heart is Broken

We received this news today. I didn't think there were anymore tears to cry, guess I was wrong. I covet your prayers now for our family as we are grieving.

Eric Alexander, Consular Chief, met with officials in Phu Tho this week and reached an agreement that will enable the Service to finish adjudication of the pending Phu Tho cases that have been filed with this office. Officials of Phu Tho and Dr. Long stated that these would be the only cases completed and that the United States is still barred from adopting children in this province. Because of the banned imposed by the government of Vietnam, this office will not accept any new petitions from Phu Tho.

Regards,

Mary Ann Russell

Mother and Daughter



HARRISON's BUSY DAY!!
He loves to wear his football outfit and his cowboy boots!

Here is the article that the Roanoke Times did on us for Mother's Day.

Enjoy!!!!!


*For those of you who are computer challenged (DAD :-) just click on "article", and it will take you directly to the link.

Favorite spring pictures of the family

Things aren't looking good :-(

The news coming out of Vietnam is not good. Things are about to shut down. There is an article that was put out today that says that Vietnam is not going to renew their agreement to the US to allow international adoptions in their country. Some of you have asked what this means for us. Honestly, we dont know yet. Things could suddenly turn around in Phu Tho, and they could release our documents so we could proceed, but that isn't realistic. They have not been cooperative up to this point, and I really doubt they will start now.What about another referral? Could we be offered another one before the cut off point? Not sure. It is a possibility, but I think it is a very slim one. There haven't been any referrals from our agency since ours in Nov. So things really aren't looking good for us, and the whole Vietnam adoption world. Please pray for us that we will have wisdom to know what to do, and what our next steps should be. We know that God is in complete control, and that His plan will be accomplished.

Finally!

Finally, there is some hope on the horizon. I just got a call from a friend in our agency who received some good news today. This news doesn't affect us directly, but I hope it will in the long run. I am so happy to hear some good news instead of all the negative stuff that we have been getting since Nov. Maybe, there is some good news for us coming soon!