Padmee...the 'missionary' dog :)

Missionaries to Bethany Orphanage in Albania

Missionaries to Bethany Orphanage in Albania

Court Hearing Progress Report

Today's court hearing was very successful. PRAISE THE LORD! We have a second court date set for July 4th, one week from today. Hannah will hopefully be FREE to be ours on Independence Day. WOW! :)

We were very nervous (well, I was nervous...Bob was calm) at the hearing, but now that's it's over, we can relax! :)

Looks like it's about to storm, so we must get going back to our 'Bati House' before we get poured on :)

We love you all!!
Lori & Bob

Hannah's House and Administrative Building

View of Mosque and mountains from orphanage

Laughter!...ahhhh, the best medicine :)

A brighter day!

Hello everyone! God is answering prayer! Last night at 7:00pm Albanian time, Hannah Grace gave us both great big hugs when we dropped her off at Rozafa house. Praise the Lord! And this morning has been even better. Amazingly, Roksana (Hannah) sat on Bob's lap and smiled and smiled and smiled! She's a daddy's girl through and through! She let Bob feed her and I gave her water in a cup. All the children here guzzle water :) They love it and can't get enough!

...We are so happy that there were NO tears and almost no crying today! Miracle to be sure :) Thank you all again for your prayers. God is faithful!

We love you all!

Bob and Lori

Shock and Awe

As we write this note, it is 3:30pm in the afternoon, Sunday, and it is hot...hot..HOT! We get up early each morning and go see Roksana (Hannah Grace) and try to get reacquainted anew each day. She KNOWS who we are...we're the ones who are trying to 'rock her world' :) She is soooo adorable! Can't you tell?! We are getting over the 'shock and awe" of the almost constant crying...not Roksana..US! :) She used to cry all the time, but now it's ....oh, just 90 percent of the time. We have stopped crying...Thank the Lord! Seriously, we are gaining strength and it is all because of the prayers of God's people. THANK YOU DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!

...Please keep the prayers coming, and especially that Roksana (Hannah) will bond with us and actually come to us when we enter a room. That would be nice :)

We love you all!
Mere o paf sheem! (phoenetic spelling of Goodbye)
Bob and Lori

Getting to know each other :) Sometimes good...sometimes, not so good :(

We've Arrived!!

Mere Di Ta! That means ah....'Good Afternoon' in Albanian :) We have survived a very long flight over, but it was fun to see the clouds beneath us in the airplane :) We are slowly making progess with Roksana (Hannah Grace). You'll see from these photos that she mostly likes to give us glaring peeks :) The bonding process is s-l-o-w-e-r than we thought and much more difficult. The first day, Monday we met her shortly after we arrived. We were worn out from the flight and nerves, but we were so anxious to meet her. However, we do not think she had the same feeling for us! :) As you will see in the photos, she mostly likes to give us glaring stares and quick peeks.

....Yesterday, Tuesday, we played with all the children here at the orphanage and tried to get closer to Hannah. (I should say that she DID blow us a kiss and smile even on the first day, but that was from a distance...a mile or two away ;). She played well will me in the sand box, and would peek over my shoulder at Bob sitting...a mile away :) She is ADORABLE! It is so hard to not just pick her up and hold her, but she really doesn't want that at all yet. She sometime, uh, well...lots of the time cries when we get too close or a care giver leaves.

...Today, Wednesday is a new day. We both are feeling more rested, but the nerves are still raw. Hannah let me lift her up to a window and then pick her us to put her down...I held her a bit before putting her down. She cried when I held her, but she also almost put her head on my shoulder...but just for a second ....and then she came to her senses :0 She cried. Once she intentionally brushed her hand on my leg...my cup ran over :)

WE are trying hard to not get discouraged. The staff (house parents) are PHENOMENAL with their encouragement. We are so grateful for Kathy and Bob and their children's help!

Thank you all for your prayers. WE do FEEL them :) God is AMAZING and is so GRACIOUS to care for us, especially through loving, caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

Love to all!
Bob and Lori