A LEAP of FAITH

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Making God smile

We never want to forget that God LOVED Mira long before we did. He prepared our hearts to love her too. The He plucked her from that orphanage and brought her into our family. It must make him smile to see her helping with burritos early on a Saturday morning... In gratitude! She loves God and tells us he is in her heart & she loves "Jesa" (Jesus)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Update, Praise & a First!

We've gotten so many questions about how things are going. Truthfully, we.are.exhausted!!!! But at the same time I have to say God is so good! Mira is a trooper. She is determined and never complains about what needs to be done. We actually got her physical therapy cut back to 2x a week which means we get to stay home~~ woohoo! Mira is actually walking distances with no walker, no wall holding all by herself! Can you imagine?? 1 leg casted to her hip and the other carrying a metal device double the size of her leg?!?!? She has taught me to never say I can't do something, wow.
Mira met her uncle Robbie for the first time 2 weeks ago. He is a Marine & was serving in Afghanistan when Mira came home. He has been home for 2 weeks on leave, she LOVES him and loves "his big muscles"!
We were blessed with a surprise this week from some generous folks that work for Dr Standard. We were given tickets for our whole family to go to Disney on Ice! What a wonderful thing to do! We had fun, we sat with some other families that we've met at the HP house. Mira was FASCINATED!!! Thanks to those involved in this blessing!
Mira had a first tonight! She got her first REAL haircut! Finally her hair was long enough that she was ok with getting it cut. She looks like a respectable young girl now, see for yourself!
Have a blessed week!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Progress everyday

I am happy to report that Mira is making progress everyday. We were able to go home for the weekend...ahh what a fantastic feeling! To be home with your family eating dinner together & sleeping in my own bed is one of the best feelings!! And we were able to go to church together ("Jesus' house" to Mira).
On Monday we came back to the HP house at Sinai. I must mention how fantastic this place is. The stress is removed as soon as you arrive. Amy is the sweetest lady, she has a true heart for the families here & she is very interesting to talk to. She was a missionary in Israel for several years before she came to work here, she is one of the managers of the house.
We met with Dr Standard yesterday, in great hopes of him taking her cast off... No such luck! He took X-rays which he said look fantastic, the cast will come off on 10/29. Then it will be a removable cast, that's the point when she stands a chance at a decent scrubbin'! We continue to go to therapy daily, they say is doing great, she is very cooperative! Her therapy cuts back to 3 times per week until the cast comes off, then we resume 5 days/wk.
Sadly, Mira has taught herself to be a fighter, determined, strong willed etc. at very young age. For circumstances like this you can see it.
We celebrated Kayla's 13th birthday yesterday here at the HP house. We ordered in pizza & Emily made a cake. We are thankful to God for allowing us to celebrate 13 yrs of Kayla!!
Due to the reduction in therapy the girls & I will be going home for several weeks. Also partially because Greg will be going on a mission trip to AZ to the Native American mission Field. Please pray for Greg & the team.
A few pics to wrap this post up:

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Surgery catch up

Well, surgery went off without a hitch!
Mira was on the operating table for 9 hrs, can you imagine?? Well it took Dr Standard 6 1/2 hrs to work on her left leg alone. At that point he came out to consult with Greg and I. That shows what a humble man he is, love him!
We decided to go on as planned and do both legs. He scrubbed back up and off he went.
We were reunited with Mira in recovery & she was doing great! Poor thing has a cast from her toes to her hip on the left leg and an external fixator on the right. When it came time go to her room her tummy decided it had enough... She was sick a few times.
Her pain was being controlled by an epidural, thankfully! This stayed in from Wednesday until Saturday. At that time she switched to oral meds, these managed her pain better after a few days. However they gave her Valium to control spasms this made my sweet princess turn into a villain!
Sunday we were discharged from the hospital to the Hackerman-Patz house. This place is fantastic! We have met many sweet families, some have similar stories & some are different. Mira was reunited with her sisters in Sunday it was very sweet to see them all together again!
Kayla & Sami are with me at the HP house. We will be going home on Friday for the weekend~ can't wait to sleep in my bed!!!
Thanks to all who've prayed for Mira during this time. Please continue to lift her in prayer as her recovery is extensive.
Vanessa

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The last day.....

I will have twisted legs.... Is 10/05/12This post comes with such excitement, we can hardly believe that Mira's legs will be straight. Yes, I said legsssss, Dr Standard decided we should operate on BOTH of them!Darn iPad won't let me up load pics...sorry! Will do from another location later!Be blessed!Vanessa

Friday, September 28, 2012

Mira's 1st family vacation

Wow~ what a week! Were still "rocking" a lili-bit (little bit)!!!
So, for 2 months Mira talked about the "big boat", she had no idea what that meant...now she knows. Mira cruised like a pro...there was plenty of fun to be had....she did it all! I could talk forever about the details but I'll spare you!
A few funny things to be noted:
(Mira has no problem saying EXACTLY what she thinks~ even if it's rude!)
1. We (6 of us) enter the elevator, there is another couple already in the elevator. We say hi, they begin to admire Mira and Mira's response is to the point. "Her dress is scary, I don't like it." There was little I could say other than get off the elevator & hope the lady couldn't understand her.
2. One afternoon at lunch as Mira was enjoying Chinese food, another couple sat beside us. Mira watched them carefully & noticed that they did not pray before eating their pizza. Mira stands on her chair and in a very boisterous voice begins to ask them if they prayed before eating. As cute as it was, I felt bad that she drilled these poor folks! The good news is she was easily distracted and didn't realize that 95% of the people on the ship didn't pray before meals!
A few other note worthy things...Mira enjoyed a minimum of 2 ice cream cones per day! She wasn't the only one to have fun. ALL the girls had fun. And despite corralling 4 girls, Greg and I had fun too!
We met an awesome, Christian, adoptive family as well. We spent the whole last day with them. Mira & Lily became fast friends. Lily just arrived in the states in May (what a cutie!) and her brother Noah has been home for 6 years. We feel blessed for the time with them and plan to see one another again soon!
As you might imagine, we are quite the spectical wherever we go & on a ship with the same people all week was no exception! Mira became a rock star rather quickly because she LOVED the hot tub & had no problem hopping in with whoever may have been trying to enjoy some peace & quiet (perhaps WITHOUT their kids!) and doing flips and handstands in the hot tub....she's too cute to get mad at!
I will stop blabbing now...enjoy the pics!