Not much sleep.....

I have no idea as to what time it is but i have not slept much as i fell asleep at 10pm here as Scott had already gone to bed while i spent a few hours with Nusha. Scott also has not slept well. The night before, i put lavender and peace and comforting oils on us and we slept through all of the noises of the city life until it was just about time to get up. I was so tired last night that i just crawled into bed and fell asleep.
There have been two dogs who have done NOTHING BUT BARK all night long. I went out and took a picture of an INCREDIBLE moon that is FULL btw and was surprised to hear that the dogs are not even near us but probably a few blocks away! Another one has joined the two...they each have their distinct bark too.  One howls, another yaps and another one sound like a big ole' bass!
Scott has not slept well either so prayers for us as we have one of the biggest days of our life ahead!!!
The bummer is....we won't be able to post pictures for MANY MANY hours!!! We will be eating breakfast at 8am at my favorite place in Bulgaria...downstairs at our Bed & Breakfast-the Hitar Pitar. Nusha asked me last night what i wanted and then asked Scott....i asked for her french toast...you can see the picture of her french toast from our last visit here in December.
THEN we will be able to go to Ethan's orphanage! I have asked if we could go early as we have bought pajamas for all of the children, pants and we also brought colored marshmallows (couldn't find those rolled up sweeties without having to buy bubble gum or other things not meant for wee ones) SO, since we saw Ethan GOBBLE down the treat the worker gave him last time....we bought each of the children a filled croissant...yes, the croissants are filled here with chocolate, caramel, fruit & cream, and much more! I was also wanting to see where Ethan slept or where he lived instead of just the visiting room but i am doubting that we will have time as we have to meet another family, who is with another agency getting a special needs child, in Sophia at a certain time for our passports. IF we do not get there in time, i was told that we would be delayed from getting home SO they are not going to take that chance by letting us be there long at all. I have so many questions about Ethan....and i don't know if i will even be able to ask those!
SO, it sounds like only a few minutes at the orphanage and then we are off for Sophia WITH Ethan in between Scott and i OR on my lap (as there are NO car seats. He is SO very little that i have no idea which would be safer or even if he would LET me hold him on my lap.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS MORNING's breakfast time...that i will show the love of Jesus, for our travelings to Ethan just fifteen minutes away, for our time at the orphanage, for our travelings with Ethan, for our time with our precious son, for us to make it in time, for our time after the passport time at the station and at our hotel tonight.
PRAY for us too as we have had little sleep. Yes, i have tried to get back to sleep for a VERY long time but finally gave up so i could write to you all.

In Country!

Hey Everybody! Caleb Lococo here, doing a little bit of tech support for our beloved Lindquists :) Scott and Connie have safely arrived in Bulgaria, and will be on the way to Ethan's region in mere HOURS!!! In the mean time, Connie has asked me to post some updates and pictures from the last 24 hours so you can keep up to date on all the latest events :)

The Happy Couple at the airport getting ready to cross the sea for ETHAN!!!!

One very excited mama getting ready to travel to go get her son!!!

 "At the Hotel in Sofia! Our short layover in Germany was spent trying to find someone to fix my glasses that i sat on!!! Yep, my left side of my glasses are down to the middle of my ear!!! I had fallen asleep and when they woke me up to eat i awoke with a start and sat up quickly....forgetting that in my near sleep state i had put them next to me! Since it is Saturday there is nothing open for this SO we have tried to fix them ourselves but the bow is about to break off if we do much more! Of course, last time i brought both pair but this time....just THIS one! Yep, meeting a high government official with a broken pair of glasses is NOT what i planned on!"

"We are going to go about town and have already met Erin Loraine and her hubby, Larry....AT THE AIRPORT! We were just about to leave the baggage claim area when i heard my name screamed and since i knew that no one from Bulgaria could have been allowed in...i KNEW it was Erin!!! So fun!"


 "Scott had fallen asleep while i wrote a post, so i joined him for about thirty minutes then wandered up to Erin Loraine's room to see if they wanted to do something. We had a LONG leisurely supper talking up a storm (no pun intended-you'll see) for a wonderful meal of Shopska salad, french fries w/Bulgarian cheese and Pork medallions w/AMAZING broccoli and potato cylinders that Scott and i split right down the middle. Great food! Great time with friends that have only been through FB!!"

"THEN we decided to go see the town...only ten minutes in a FULL FLEDGED thunderstorm soaked us to the bone as we tried to RUN the five blocks home in a sprinkle turn rain turn downpour! The lightning show is absolutely amazing!I did buy out all of the spices from the market in the middle of all of that though :) NOW, to repack & organize for tomorrow & then.... MONDAY's GOTCHA DAY!!!!!"

 "We have a lot to do before we leave! I have to pack/repack as we are only bringing what is needed! What is scary about that is that i just hope that i don't forget anything....you know like the camera or the computer:) Or Ethan's outfit:) No, i organized it last night and it should all get there with us!
The brunch here at the Budapest is AMAZING so we can't wait to get down there...well, Scott is quite wiped out and asleep but i KNOW that he can't wait:) I think he slept well last night too. Didn't hear a thing!"
 
"SO LOVE BULGARIA!!! SO looking forward to the drive! CANNOT wait to get to the bed and breakfast that we raved about last time! Praying that Nusha is there and not away for the day/night. The B&B is a place that Scott and i said that we would love to go to if we could have an interpreter and driver with....oh! AND MONEY ;) LOVE Ethan's region of Bulgaria and it's countryside but especially the bed & breakfast! Will you pray for me to have the right words to say while we are there?"

"Just talking to a dear friend, messaging, and realized...in about 26 hours....we will be holding our son and our adventure BEGINS!!!! Need prayer for this time, remember...not just THINKING about us but PRAYING for us! This is going to ROCK Ethan's world!!! PLEASE PRAY that he is as prepared as he can be! We will be taking him from all he knows and traveling 3/4 hours away from his only -ONLY home that he has ever known in a car ride like he has never ridden (with no car seat) through land that he has never been allowed to see of his own country! THEN we will bring him IMMEDIATELY into Sophia to finish his passport work. THEN to bring him to the start of his life with us in the motel for the rest of the week! LOTS OF CHANGES to pray over!"

As a personal addendum to this post, I (Caleb) would like to offer my personal thanks/prayers/congratulations to the lovely family I have seen carry through an adoption process for almost a year now! It is with some amount of surreality and total joy that we watch it come to a happy close, and I think I can safely say we are all personally praying this family and their adorable new son home. 


"Father, you have called us to care for the Orphaned and the Widowed, watch over this family as they carry out that beautiful mission to bring home their precious Bulgarian son. May this trip and all that happens on it glorify YOU!"

Nope, we aren't ready but we are going!

There is so much left to do!!!  It is already morning and i could stay up for another five hours and it still would not all be done. My mind is racing a mile a minute trying to think of all that i have forgotten!  I DO NOT FEEL PREPARED for this trip in that i have no idea if i packed what i needed to! Did i get it all?  What if i forgot something!?  Today was a MASSIVE fight of the heavenly forces, for sure!!!  SO....even though i have a million things to do...i wanted to make sure that i came on here to ask for your help! WE. NEED. YOUR. SERIOUS. PRAYER. like truly praying for us...not just thinking about us but stopping and praying specifically for our family who will be left behind and the one that is waiting and the parents who are so ready to bring him home that i wouldn't care if i forgot my pj's, shampoo, unmentionables, and even two outfits...we so cannot wait to have Ethan in our arms!
We are going to be meeting with a higher up government official while we are there...will you pray that we are wise, godly and say what needs to be said?  Our Sophina is going to be without her Mommy and Daddy....and the other girls may struggle even more than her...will you please pray for them?  Pray for Scott and i in this emotion packed eight days!  PRAY for the Lord's protection....not just physically either!
I cannot wait to figure out how to introduce you to our son using the gizmos and gadgets again!  We love and appreciate each one of you who have gone on this journey with us....the one that is now BEGINNING...we so so covet your prayers!  We are ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew

OK...i know you are waiting!

FIRST, a thank you to our children!!!  I am so very very grateful to our girls for all that they did!  Liz donated things that were REAL treasures and i mean this...they were TREASURES to her and she amazed us at her generous heart for giving so much for her brother's behalf! Victoria is growing up and is being a help in helping to care for her little sister and loved seeing her clothes going into her brother's quilts!  Catia has been SO VERY involved in this garage sale in ways that are beyond her eleven years!  She has had such joy in her serving!!!  All three of those girls were helpers with the garage sale itself!  Victoria baked cookies to sell too!  Becky, our "college age 'adopted' daughter -not in reality but in heart, has been a huge help in staying later and coming earlier than her PCA hours and even spending the night and working the garage sale in such a way that she was exhausted from it and going right into a youth retreat weekend where she is a leader.
To point out Ally is needed......she has been an amazing sister since before Scott and i even said YES with both feet to adoption!  I am NOT saying however that she has ALWAYS been smiling and giggling over all of the work that has needed to be done with an adoption BUT i AM going to tell you that this girl is the main reason that the sale happened!  She said that she would do whatever it took to do the sale and she did!  She and Becky priced almost all of the merchandise and THAT my friends you KNOW how big a job that is!  She also worked at organizing the merchandise with Becky again.  Ally has been a powerhouse when it has come to these days of the sale and i will NEVER be able to thank her enough!  She is an amazing blessing in our lives and we are grateful!
OK....the story that i KNOW that you are wondering about..... my girls would come down and get me if someone needed me and on Thursday a couple had asked to meet me as they were adoptees and were on an advisory board for St Cloud.  I went up to meet them and introduced myself, they introduced themselves and they asked about our son.  I explained that he had Down Syndrome and that our daughter did too and THAT is when the miracle happened.  I don't want you to miss this miracle because you may if you don't really take the time to think about it.  Those who worked on Thursday know that it was a very rare thing for me to be out in the garage sale at all as it was insanely busy INSIDE the house and that i was at the exact spot meeting this couple and answering these exact questions in that spot in the HUGE garage sale....ONLY GOD!!!  SO i am telling them about how our son and daughter will be fifteen days apart when i hear a small voice and then see who the voice is within seconds...there stood a young woman...remember i am nearing 46....who was very pregnant with her two small children -one standing with the other in a stroller and she said with a trembling voice and tears filling her eyes, "I'm pregnant with a child with DS".  I was able to let her know that having a child  with DS is a huge blessing and it is hard....sometimes VERY hard BUT it is worth it all!  She was terrified of what the future held. The other couple shared that the adult that was standing with them had had surgeries and was only a little over a pound when she was born and she was doing great!  I let the young lady know that i was so proud of her for continuing with the pregnancy of her child.  I let her know that i was only a phone call away if she needed to talk.  I let her know that Sophina had open heart surgery too and had a PDA and had other procedures but we wouldn't trade her for a single thing that the world has to offer!  Ally came by and let her know that Sophina is a HUGE blessing in her life.  Will YOU PLEASE PRAY for this courageous woman and her family???  Will you please not forget her when you think of our family....pray for her!  Pray that she will be encouraged, uplifted, strengthened and that she will reach out for help!  AN incredible blessing of the WHOLE ENTIRE sale!!!
Ok....i KNOW that you are waiting for the total BUT the total is still not really the total as i seriously have shoppers in my garage right now (from our home school group being helped by Victoria and Catherine).  She is an incredible encourager to me and cheerleader and giver of my bi-weekly hugs!  OH! Plus there are still two other sales left to be added yet in here too....BUT with all of that said.....the total of the two days is $2297!!!!!!!!  Can you believe it?!?!?!  All of us who worked on Friday and knew the total were amazed that we had received over $600 on a day that was so horribly windy and freezing cold.  There had hardly been people compared to the day before....but God!!!
SO this means that we will be fully funded!!!  We have saved and done as much as we could paying for big chunks of the adoption and then you all have given SO GENEROUSLY that the Lord has blessed all of that generosity with His blessings!  WE ARE AMAZED!!!!  We stand in awe of the generosity of you all AND the incredible blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has been right there with us through all of these months!!!
We are leaving in SIX DAYS.....in fact we will be in the air at this point in six days!  WILL YOU PLEASE PRAY us through...even until heaven as we know that our adventure is just BEGINNING!!!  We are so grateful for all of our supporting friends and family!  WE CANNOT WAIT to introduce to you our son!
On Mother's Day, we are praying that we will be able to introduce to you our son and dedicate his life to the Lord at our church....we will all be together that Sunday and it is Mother's Day and we will more than likely be up anyway.  Any time will be overwhelming i am sure for him.
Will you pray? For our time...for our family...for our son and daughters and son-in-law.  For our trip...SO much to pray for! We are grateful for all of these prayer warriors!  I just can't believe that we are almost to the end of the beginning line of our son.  ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew

Garage Sale-just the thank you! WOW!

OH MY GOODNESS! What a week!  What an adventurous thirteen month process that the Lord has brought us through!!!  I was telling friends this week that i was just trying to hold on for dear life at times. There are things that aren't meant for sharing with the world that have been SO HARD and need prayers and still do.  There are things that are just MEANT for SHARING and this garage sale/ days of creating Ethan's THREE of the FOUR quilts is DEFINITELY one of them!  To thank all of the people that were involved in these two days alone....would be SO hard but i THANK YOU-to all that i have mentioned and to those whom i haven't....we are grateful!!!!!
The results of just the first day by 1:30pm made my knees buckle and fall into Kristin's arms and weep!  Robin was the one who told me and all who were in the room (our kitchen) were moved by God's miraculous provisions!  Our faith was so strengthened!!!
Those miraculous provisions were because people were obedient to what God asked THEM to do....Brenton and Lisa gave of their belongings for our sale in an incredible way!!!  Mark & Jennifer gave a trunk load of items!!! Scott & Robin brought items and worked on Thursday!  Bob & LeAnne gave of their time and items for the sale & bake sale...i think the workers bought a lot of them!  Dawn baked and brought items for our girls to sell-what a hit!!!  Mark & Devona not only baked goods but Mark was our hero to be there BOTH days helping us do things that needed a man's help!  Bethany created beautiful pieces of jewelry to sell.  Rebecca's family brought over some items.  Cynthia created amazing signs with Ethan's picture on it!  SHOPKO gave us two clothing racks to use for two weeks! LOVE that store and appreciated their involvement!  We had Marilyn here, all of the Potter women, Becky-our PCA, Mark (who was already mentioned), Jess, and if i forgot someone....oh my! My brain is fried...this will tell you....i forgot our daughter, Victoria, for our family quilt.....i had written it down but had gotten interrupted and thought that i had done it!!!!  SO please give me grace!  My girls' thank you will be coming later.
THEN there were the women of the quilts!!!  Oh my word!!!  My girls have been amazing!  Helping go through twenty years of clothes that i have saved for THEIR quilts when they graduate, get married, and have their first child.  God put that desire in my life from the time that Lizzie was little so i have clothes in Ethan's quilts that are from Lizzie's birth even! (she is twenty...nearing 21)!!!  Becky and Holly helped! THEN...oh my goodness to thank these ladies....AMAZING sacrificial love was lavished onto this idea of mine!!!  Steph took on WAY more then she ever dreamed she would or could do and did a HUGE amount of incredible work in the middle of her overwhelmingly busy life!!! (Steph let us use her tables too) Krista's ideas were amazing and she has been such an encourager, giver and dreamer in this whole adoption AND in this project! SUCH a HUGE supporter! (oh and she helped with the garage sale in a huge way by providing signs, tables and then some) Pat is one that was called in and within minutes was in our home working on something that she had not thought that she would be involved in but was one of the two MAIN ones who created amazing pieces for our quilt!  The three ladies fed off of each other and came up with blocks that just blew my mind!  THEN there were the ladies who started putting the embroidery on and quilting!  SUCH incredible giving was done here by Cynthia here in town that humbled me....she never had met our family but had read our blog and wanted to be INVOLVED...she has given in ways that we will never be able to repay!  JoAnn's work is just beautiful...she was one who came to me within SECONDS of my announcing in front of church what my idea was to say that she was going to help with the embroidery.....she was completely surprised when she saw it coming together!  Bonnie coming in with such flair and energy and generosity!  Heidi and her family coming nearly THREE hours ONE WAY with her two young children and staying way over her time that she thought that she would be here....her work amazed the other workers! Then there was Linda who said that she would love to help whenever we did do the quilt (now quiltS).  She did a great job!  Betty coming and helping in ways that allowed the other women to not have to be interrupted in their work.  Holly and Kristin coming to help come alongside these ladies and doing what they could.  I have Pete who donated an item that was very special for Ethan's quilt and boy am i proud of how the ladies made it turn out.
Todd and Karri have been so very generous in giving our Sophina a car seat that has been a total improvement compared to what we did have AND they donated a dresser to us that will fit WAY better in our room with the crib and two dressers being in there for the past three years (and will be continuing to be that way for a long time yet).  They have been a huge blessing to our family!  DOING what they can has been done by so many people on our Ethan's behalf AND our family's behalf....SO very grateful!!!
SO many people came from our home school group and i missed MOST of you but my girls tried to keep me up on who had just left!  I got to meet people that i only have known from FB!!! SUCH fun to also meet other adopting families!  People came from all over the place and we are so grateful!  Got to meet a family whose hubby had just gotten off the plane Thursday night from being in court across the world for their child's adoption..four YEARS in the making!  THEY will be leaving in thirty days!  SO wonderful to receive their hugs! PLEASE pray for them! They are Tony and Lisa!
A few people came and just gave without buying anything!  A few people rounded up their totals!  Some people shared their stories with the people who were working the garage sale BUT the next blog is going to share a COMPLETELY OBVIOUS GOD MOMENT that happened on the rare occasion that i was out in the garage sale on Thursday afternoon.  THEN i will also give you the total!
THE BIGGEST THANK YOU GOES TO ALL OF YOU WHO PRAYED!!!!!  THANK YOU for going before the Lord God Almighty and praying on our behalf and thank you SO very much for sharing this sale with your friends....MANY came because of that!!!
We are ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew

GARAGE SALE

EVEN if you do NOT live in our area, YOU still have a job that we are asking you to do!   PRAY PRAY PRAY....SHARE SHARE SHARE with your friends who do live in our area!

We are having a large four family garage sale THIS THURSDAY/FRIDAY. Thursday will be from 7:30-7pm and Friday will be 7:30-5pm. Brand name ladies clothing, furniture, brand name toys, boys clothes, girls clothing from infant to 14/16, men's clothing, plants, books for both children and adults, horse riding gear, horse saddle, upper end decor and lots more! ALL proceeds will be going toward the costs of the adoption of our son, Ethan. 33 Allendale Dr. St Cloud, MN PLEASE PLEASE SHARE IF YOU LIVE LOCALLY as this is a HUGE help to our family's adoption cost needs


We are in need of this garage sale raising $1000 plus!  SO PLEASE COME and buy!!! PRAY and TELL your friends!

ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew

CANNOT BELIEVE THIS DAY!!!! OH MY WORD!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  Today, we have -as usual- been busy little beavers trying to get ready for Ethan, the garage sale, and seeing if we have things that we need for Ethan for his trip.  I have had many wonderful interruptions....a most wonderful visitor, chocolate & a friend's help, more blocks made by a friend for Ethan's quilt but the BEST interruption of the day included the most incredible news....from one of my dearest friends. I have prayed for this family, prayed WITH this mother, wept WITH and for them, begged for prayers from friends and have told their story to MANY of you!  Well, tonight my friend texted me to let me know that all of our prayers were answered MIRACULOUSLY!!!  ETHAN # 2 is theirs!!!!! Nope, not OUR Ethan but Shannon's Ethan!!!!  It brought me to my knees in our Ally & Ethan's room...i was on the floor....in tears as she told me! AMAZING!!!!  AMAZING!!!!  AMAZING!!!
I said, "How could this day get any better!?!"  I went to FB & wrote a post about the incredible miracle & quickly checked my Fb seeing that people had contacted me about some things for the garage sale & also saw that TWO friends had put our blog on stating our need for Ethan's grant up!  I thanked them both and was going to go back to "work" on our stuff HOPING to get something DONE!  THEN, i thought that i should check our blog. I then YELLED to the girls....OH MY WORD!!!!  SOMEONE GAVE A LOT OF MONEY!!!!  I went for my pen and paper...no calculator for me....and found that we had been given $415!!!!  That means all we need is to have a great garage sale and we should be able to cover the rest of the expenses for this last trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YES, THIS DAY COULD GET BETTER!!!!!  AND IT DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will you PLEASE praise the Lord with us!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  Oh my word!  How blessed we are!!!  We are ALWAYS BLESSED!!!  Connie for the crew!!!!
PS....now to try to get some work done:)