WE MADE IT TO ETHAN'S CITY

What an amazing drive from Sophia to here! It had beauty mixed with such poverty, breathtaking scenery mixed with scenes that took your breath away that people lived there, and the drive was a little less scary....except for a few times with one time making all of us QUAKE!!! It made me think of all of my praying for safe travels this morning. A man drove through a COMPLETELY red light going way over the speed limit but Marty, our driver, thankfully saw it and made some squealing brake sounds!!! Let's just say that i was glad i wasn't asked to get out and walk for a few minutes. It would have been my side and i saw it happen in my mind! FREAKY!!! For those of you who have ridden here...it even made the Bulgarians scared!!! UFFDA!!!!
Along the way here there was one section that the Lord made it look like He had fun with some SNOW spray paint...such beauty!! It was mountains almost the whole trip! Lots of poverty still but so mixed with a beautiful backdrop! It is mountains to this Minnesota girl but if i were speaking when i was a Colorado girl then i would say it was high foothills ;) I would have LOVED to have seen it in the Fall with the trees all in their glory!
We got to the Bed and Breakfast type hotel and it went from surroundings of poverty to very nice! The place is just beautiful and would fit incredibly well in any mountain in Colorado! Just gorgeous! We came to the B & B and then we unpacked and then i put up pictures onto my FB and went immediately down to eat a most delicious meal that was handmade by the owner's wife!! WOW! I love food but especially food NOT prepared by me that is out of this world! It was even a better Shopska (spelling wrong) salad than the night before...WOW! We split an appetizer...have never had anything like it. It was stuffed red peppers but NOT like we think...it came out almost flat...but you could tell that it had something in it so it looked like....a PILLOW!!! It was covered in the most delicate battering ever and it was amazing! It was stuffed with cheese and i don't know what else! Then we had a meat that was outstanding...it looked like a sausage but it wasn't....it was a Bulgarian meat...again, forgetting the name of it...i will see if i can bring up a menu tomorrow night;) It was quite little. THEN we ordered a pork steak in gravy and mushrooms. You had to love parsley to enjoy it and i love seasonings of any kind...also an outstanding meal! The view is just like the drive...the scenery is breathtaking but the poverty is right out the window. The place where we are staying is gated, i am sure because it is so unlike anything near here!
While we were eating, Toni mentioned to me that we would be staying here for four nights. I told her no five and started to show her on my fingers when she said, NOPE, i checked...you are leaving at 6:10am on Friday morning! It was all i could do to keep from crying!!! I had told our travel agent the last day that we were going to be seeing Ethan instead of putting in the travel day. We will lose out on TWO visits with Ethan because of it. Let's just say that as soon as i got into our room....the tears flowed...my eyes were blood shot and hurting by the time that i was done. PLEASE PRAY as i am struggling...Sophina isn't well either...my Momma's heart took a beating! Yes, i know that the Lord works all for good but this is really hard to swallow. i WILL choose joy...I WILL choose to enjoy EVERY moment BUT for now, i will ask TOni in the morning if i can ask if we could extend the six visits with Ethan as the last visit is going to need to be short as we will need to travel that day back to Sophia and be up at 3am here's time. I cannot even imagine....pray for my mind.....thank you...ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew

Next up....and more

We had a meal that was well, amazing!!! We each had a salad...that was big...it was mostly cucumbers and tomatoes but also had black olives, green peppers and some lettuce with cheese topping it all. It is the Bulgarian salad and anyone who comes here should order it! We also had been told to order the Hungarian pancakes..oh my goodness! It was an appetizer that was outstanding...really thin-almost crepes that were stuffed with all kinds of goodness!! NUMMY!! THEN we each ordered a meal...we ordered fish with veggies and pork medallions...we couldn't believe how amazing the food was! THEN we split a Tiramisu that was out of this world. When the food came...i had a headache with slight nausea so i thought that i may have a hard time but i think it was due to the fact that we hadn't eaten a meal in such a long time, nor even had had water!!!
The workers here are so sweet and helpful! Dido was my favorite. He knew English pretty well so was able to help more.
We were asleep by 8:30pm last night but i woke up at 3:30am and have tried two times to get back to sleep...trying for an hour each time but no use. We found blankets in the closet but we didn't need them.
Today we will be going to Ethan's city, leaving here at 11:30. It will take three hours to get there, i was told. Then tomorrow we will meet our son!!! I am praying that it will hit me soon! People keep telling me that it will so i will believe them.
I went onto FB to see if i could catch the kids and i actually did. Scott woke up then so we actually Skyped in the middle of the night here. Our Sophina is not doing better and did exactly what i was fearful of ...she stops breathing when she has this bad of a cold. Thankfully, our daughter heard her. I guess Sophina also never slept the WHOLE day yesterday so tonight should be interesting as they put her to bed two hours early...she fell asleep immediately! PLEASE pray that she gets healthy SOON!!! We have a Dr. friend who said that he would check on her today. Problem is is that Sophina seems so good during the day but gets really bad at night or when she sleeps for a nap.
Scott has been able to sleep...he went to bed at 8:30pm woke up and Skyped with the girls for a long time and then went right back to sleep and i am just waking him up as i type ;) It is 8:30am now.
We will be traveling three hours today. I am NOT a nervous city driver by any means in fact, i LOVE city driving but i do have to admit that i was praying this morning for our safety in our travels today. It brought me back to my days in Dominican Republic! WOW! No rules for driving and it is ALWAYS FAST! and CLOSE! and so CRAZY!!!
We will get settled into Ethan's city's 'hotel' and be able to actually unpack, as we will be staying there for five nights. Please pray that we will be a godly witness, for our safety in traveling, for our hearts to meld with Ethan's and his with ours, for us to be wise, for our time together to be sweet as hubby and wife and for us to make memories that will not be forgotten!
Thank you so much for following along! PLEASE PLEASE don't just read our prayers but STOP now and PRAY...thank you so much! We are always blessed!! Connie for the crew

We are in Sofia!

Well, after leaving yesterday at @11:10am we arrived here at your time...well, much later ;)
WE have gotten to our motel which is very beautiful in its entry way & the people make you feel wonderful. The rooms are very plain and beautiful and do their duty. There isn't a blanket so that should be interesting ;)
WE are surprised by the poverty of this capitol city! I was shocked as to how wide spread it is. At one point, i had to swallow back the tears. Everywhere i looked i saw people who were living in places that were not fit for people...and it is raining and there are holes in roofs that the lame man could be placed down without a problem! What just about did me in was i glanced to my left (out the moving van window) and saw a mother with her two precious children and one of the daughters had an umbrella that only had two spots that were holding it in place so it was only covering 1/5 of the spot the normal umbrella would. I saw old men and women walking in the rain with cardboard and others walking with garbage bags. Cool and dark and rainy and gloomy and no smiling. OH my breaking heart!
We got all of the paperwork to Toni and she has them safe and sound plus the computer. The flights went well for the most part. We have only gotten two hours of sleep in @27 hours but we are trying to stay up a few more hours to try to acclimate ourselves to this time zone. We haven't eaten nor had water in WAY too long but wanted to let you know that we made it! Love, Connie (Ethan's mom) Always blessed, Connie for the crew

We have made it to Amsterdam

We landed in Amsterdam this morning at 5:44am their time. We are doing fine. Cannot wait to get to Sophia...we are soon going to be leaving for there on Bulgarian airlines. Didn't get much sleep but we are both doing well, considering.
THANK you for praying for us...our health and our family's AND please pray us through our time with Ethan!!! Love and always blessed, Connie for the crew

NOT the last day that we were planning on....need PRAYER!!!!!

I'm ready to collapse into a heap of tears. After my being sick all morning through till about an hour AFTER i had Scott's popcorn with old flat Coke... i don't know if i really am better as i AM still weak & unable to eat "real food" but i have been able to do more this evening. I wish that that was the reason that i was ready to cry but it is not.
Our Sophina has a very bad cold. I am hearing her now in the monitor...she is congested to the max, has a cough that is not good and she is miserable. I stopped packing to rub down her feet with Thieves, put Vicks all over her chest and back and neck and rubbed her down trying to massage her junk out. She is HORRIBLE. I can't begin to tell you what this is doing to my emotions. I seriously and i mean this...would have been fine with leaving BUT THIS....is going to be one of the hardest things that i have ever done!!! She does NOT do well when she has a cold like this.
We did legal paperwork that gives Tiana rights for Sophina's medical care but when i was doing it up i wasn't thinking that they would have to use it. My mind is really struggling with grasping this loss of control because it is HUGE....when a child is sick, they need their Mommy and their Mommy wants to be the one to care for them. I. NEED. PRAYER. TO. TRUST....my heart is being ripped into pieces as i hear her and i am having a very hard time.
STILL packing as today we also had refinancing of our house that the paperwork was brought to take care of but we had to wait for forty-five minutes because it wasn't correct. I had to get our house stuff ready for when we are gone....piles of stuff that needed taking care of. PLUS the fact that i was so weak and ill. THIS is NOT what i pictured us doing as we prepare to leave.....i am probably NOT making sense but just KNOW that we are needing to be COMPLETELY covered in prayer...the kind that takes a few minutes and concentration...not the passing kind that happens while thinking of other things ;) I am so struggling.....thanks for lifting us up!

These last hours before we leave

There is so much to do in order to be ready to go see Ethan! There is so much to do to have all of our things ready for the daughters that we are leaving behind. Sophina has been struggling since 5am this morning hacking and congested and struggling to breathe as i can hear her now whining in her sleep....and my Mommy heart aches and wonders how she will do without me...sick. She sounds miserable and my heart hurts that i can't be here...i just wrote a whole bunch of 'what ifs' that have struggled hard to take over my mind as i fight to KNOW that she is in very capable hands.
I woke up sick myself.......and weak. THIS....is NOT the way that the last 27 hours before leaving the house should be....Sophina is down here now and sounds horrible...ugh! SO...yep, we are needing prayer for our physical health. BIG TIME...like, please stop right now and pray for our health! Hey, thanks! ;)

We haven't even packed...i don't have enough clothes to pack earlier;) I have clothes that are suitable for dressy wear (from my job that i had at the Cafe Renaissance) and i have REALLY casual clothes but not clothes for this...semi-casual. I have a pair of jeans and two pair for travel and then i don't know...my Lizzie and Ally will have to help me;}) We have PJ's for Ethan...two different sizes plus one adorable outfit that i am praying that i got the right size for. We are making a book that will have both Scott and i speaking it for Ethan. Then i have a ball, some markers that are small with a small coloring book, a mirror and a super soft blue Eeyore;}) SO we definitely need prayer for packing....plus we have MANY MANY MANY other things that need to get done. SO PLEASE PRAY...yep, now would be a perfect time;}) PLEASE pray for our organizational skills, our good use of time, our being able to get the things done that need doing. Pray that we remember all that we need to have done before we leave this house.

Also, please pray for Scott and i. This is our first time alone for more than 36 hours in eighteen years. Pray that our time will be sweet. Pray that we will be renewed. Please pray that our time together will be full of wonderful memories! Also, please pray for Ethan to be prepared for us and for our hearts to be prepared for him! Pray that our time as the three of us will be amazingly full!!
My hubby's home.....must go....please pray!!! Ethan, here we come!!!!!!!!!

This was my speech before the legislators tonight. My first one!

Good Afternoon, my name is Connie Lindquist. I am the mother of five daughters, married for 24 years to my husband Scott. Our fifth daughter, Sophina, has Down Syndrome. When she was born my husband had been working in the printing industry here in St Cloud for seventeen years. When our Sophina was seven days old, my husband walked down the stairs of our house in the middle of the day to let me know that he had been laid off from his job. The next six months are a blur. Our Sophina’s medical history is impressive. She was born with no issues other than what we had already known from her level 2 Ultrasounds (that she had DS and had to have an open heart surgery before she was one) but then when we were ready to leave the hospital our Dr’s were concerned about a few things so we went to the NICU instead of going home. We went home with gadgets to help her. Then that’s when Scott got laid off. It ended up being a blessing as we then had to go to the St Cloud PICU, stayed there for almost a week, went home for a few days then went to the Dr, went back to the PICU for a few more days, went home, went back to the Dr. then got sent to Children’s Mnpls Hospital for a “2-3 day stay” that ended up being FIVE WEEKS! We went home for a few months then went back down to Children’s for her open heart surgery which her recovery had complications and she was there this time for three weeks. In her six months of life she had six procedures, three of them major. She also has a feeding tube which she used exclusively for the first two years of her life.

Our daughter came home from Children’s hospital hardly ever having been on her tummy. She had missed out on six months of her life as a baby. We needed help to know what we were to be doing. The school district was one of the first places that came to our home to help. The district was able to give us information, allow us to use toys that would be needed for short times but highly valuable for our daughter’s growth- both physical and mental, without having to buy them. Even though some of those toys were well used they were useful and needed. Even though we had had four other daughters and we were “experienced parents”, our Sophina needed some things that we did not have and one of those was early education. Theresa, the lady from our district, would not be able to come through that first flu season as our daughter was a child who had a very low immune system and we couldn’t take that risk but it has now been over two years, as our daughter will be 2 years 9 months old tomorrow.

I have a feeling that the image in your mind of our Sophina is one that would NOT be true. If you were to stop right now what would you think she would be looking like? Probably NOT a real to life one. 

Our daughter is a precious precious bleach-white-blond-haired, blue eyed, adorable little girl who would melt your heart in under a minute. If i would have known about this sooner, i would have had a video or something to show you how far she has come.


Our daughter has learned many signs for sign language, how to speak (as well as she can even though she still doesn’t have her top front teeth) she can say almost all of the sounds of the alphabet, she is walking, she loves being read to, she plays with balls and toys, she understands what we are saying and responds to us in many ways...through words and her body language.

We have lived in the St Cloud area for 23 years and we know hundreds of people. There are so many people who could walk in here right now and tell you of how their meeting Sophina, their knowing Sophina, their spending time with Sophina, even people who have “met Sophina” through Facebook has changed their lives! They have seen what the effects of education has done for a child who many would say is a waste of our time and money! Our daughter has learned amazingly with the help of our district.

When Theresa comes now, our Sophina is full of excitement because Theresa brings new therapy toys each week. She brings them in a bag and a see through box container. Theresa has Sophina walk to the bag to pick which therapy toy she wants to play with. Sophina’s face is so full of anticipation as she touches, feels, and contemplates which item to choose. There is a whole team who come intermittently and are amazed when they see how far she has come. There is speech, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist who may come once or twice a month and then Theresa comes once a week and they all work to help us as parents and our daughters do the work when they are not there.

The way that Sophina changed our lives...well, they are countless so it would take way too long to share but i WILL tell you the biggest! We are eight days away from leaving the country and going to Eastern Europe to meet our son, Ethan. He is fifteen days older than Sophina. He has Down Syndrome. In his country and the other countries in Eastern Europe there are thousands of children wasting away in orphanages where whole nations believe that they SHOULD be. The governments there do NOT spend money on these children and do you want to know what happens there? They die...some without ever being held one time in their life, some without ever seeing one toy or book in their life....these countries do not believe in spending money on children with DS and they are missing out on the many blessings that could be in their school systems, their neighborhoods, and their churches! You will not find a child with Ds in jail due to his murdering someone, or stealing a car, or hurting someone. You will not have children with DS making your schools worse but instead you will see those children with DS changing YOUR children’s lives because YOUR children will see what it means to love without holding back, YOUR children will see what it means to give without expecting anything back, YOUR children will see what it means to have compassion for other people when someone is hurting, YOUR children will see what it means to be CONTENT with little, YOUR children will see what it means to care about someone who isn’t like them because they will see that that child with DS cares-- about them!!!

When we lose sight of helping the least amongst us, we as a country will never succeed! When we spend our money on the things that do not matter than we will have consequences. Children with DS are not going to be a waste of my tax money...of your taxes being spent. They are one of the wisest choices for you to spend our hard earned money on because they are some of the wisest people on earth!

SO when you go home to your children or your grandchildren one day....i am not trying to be dramatic but i ask you to think about this... when they ask you why you chose to spend our taxes on such and such.....will your reasons be ones that you will be proud of.... reasons that are full of integrity and wisdom or reasons that would not be ones that you would want to be asked in front of your children and grandchildren. You see one day your child or grandchild may be in the same Vacation Bible School class as our Sophina and Ethan and they may come home and ask you some questions....your decisions will make the difference in REAL people’s lives that make REAL changes.