Tarsha's Treasure Chest is INDEED overflowing!

Julissa, Tracy, Johanna & Ben Corey!

Hannah, who is SO excited to have some girl cousins close to her age! I told the girls I'd greet them at the airport with big hugs, so of course I did! :) The Grandchildren (all a little overwhelmed!) Johanna is saying Hola to a familiar face, Abuleo! Johanna held right on tight to my hands. She was a little timid. Julissa was looking for that familiar face too! Liam (3) Johanna (8) Hannah (7) Julissa (12) Isaac (7) and Drew (4)

If this is what we have waited 2+ years for, it was WELL worth it! Our Peruvian Princesses are home with their forever family! I'm so thankful, grateful, happy, pleased (you get it People ~REALLY EXCITED!) and honored to be a part of this story of HIS love. To see His hands and feet bring orphans to a family, my family, is amazing! I have a huge respect for my sister and brother in law, Tracy and Ben, for following Him and taking His word to heart.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world ~ James 1:27

Dear God,

Thank You for adding to my family, in this way, with this journey and with these two precious little people. Please help me to model Your love, give me the grace and patience to be Your hands and feet so they may follow, as well as the peace and understanding when it comes to my part in the journey ahead as Tia Tarsha. Surround Ben and Tracy as they parent their daughters and show them what Your followers look like. Hold them all in the palm of Your hand as they learn trust, acceptance, unconditional love, and family life.

Thanks again God. Only You could orchetrate such beauty from ashes! I'm assuming Your only going to 'send' me to Beverly, MA in the next few months, and I'm good with that. As a matter of fact, I'm so blessed to be choosen as Julissa and Johanna's Tia Tarsha, I couldn't ask for more!

In Jesus name,

Amen

This is LOVE ~Tia Tarsha and the Peruvian Princesses!

There are no words to describe how I fell in love with these precious girls. I loved them before I went, but once I met them it was like they were my own. It was all about seeing their smiles, hearing them say Tia Tarsha, and trying to talk to them in spanglish. We made do, thanks to Papi Ben who was translator for us. They love Justin Bieber so we listened to him and watched his videos on You Tube A LOT! I taught Julissa her English ABCs, which was so fun. I sang them to her and she chimed right in and wrote them down phonetically so she could remember. We did hair ("mas, mas, mas" = more straight Tia Tarsha!) shopped, and ate ice cream like it was going out of style! My Dad communicated his love and affection for the girls with ice cream and coins. He would buy them ice cream twice a day and then give them the left over change. The girls haven't had their own money, so this was so much fun. The counted it repeatedly and locked it up in the safe above their bed. They would bring their money shopping, but encouraged us to use ours instead! They are smart, sweet, stubborn and silly! They have personalities as big as Texas. They have style and schedules they like to keep. Julissa asked questions about los Estados Unidos and her bedroom there, when she would get done high school and go to college, but Johanna didn't really seem to care. Johanna says "sank you" instead of thank you in her little accent and its just about the cutest thing. It sure did make my Dad laugh and encouraged the coin giving, which worked well for both of them! Johanna also says sorry with rolling r's. She calls Julissa "Juli", which between her whine and pronunciation sounds like Jew-lee.

Friday night was hard to leave. I had two little girls giving me lots of hugs, tears and telling me "no bye." I told them I would see them at the airport in a week and that I would have big hugs for them. They told me they loved me (music to my ears) and they would miss me.

I came home Saturday night and I missed them. I wanted to be able to walk right on over to their room. This Sunday at 2pm they fly into Boston and I will meet them with big hugs! Tia Tarsha will be so very glad to have her sister, brother in law and Peruvian Princesses home as a forever family! I see many sleepovers in my future. Its a good thing I like kids :)

This is LOVE!

Papa with Julissa (12) and Mama with Johanna (8)

Julissa Gabriella and Johanna Grettel

Tomorrow my sister Tracy and brother in law Ben will meet their daughters, my nieces Julissa (12) and Johanna (8). This won’t happen the usual way parents 'meet' their children, such as on an ultrasound machine at 20 weeks gestation or in a hospital room with doctors and nurses after being pregnant for nine months. Tracy and Ben will travel to an orphanage in Chincha, Peru where the sisters have lived for nearly 6 years. This isn't a story of the American dream family where the 2.5 children come as babies and live happily ever after with a white picket fence. This is a story of God’s love. This is a story of His idea of a perfectly planned family and His plans for us to be His hands and feet here on earth. This is the story of adoption. And let me tell you, IT.WASN’T. EASY! Being ‘paper pregnant’ for longer than an elephant is pregnant (22 months) wasn’t comfortable, waiting months and months for an unspecified date wasn’t exciting, and relying on humans in 2 countries to process paperwork wasn’t reassuring in the least. But God doesn’t call us to be comfortable, excited and reassured all the time. He calls us to seek Him in everything and know that He is God. I have watched as Ben and Tracy did this, and I am so amazed that tomorrow they will see and touch His work! When I think of their 800+ days of waiting, planning, waiting, paying (in time and money) for agency mistakes, waiting, praying and OH, MORE waiting, I am in disbelief that it will all come to fruition tomorrow! I know the many tears shed, anxiety and fear filled days and feelings of a huge weight on their shoulders will all be worth it when they get to put their arms around their daughters and hold them! I long to be a fly on the wall and for there to be a video camera to capture it all, but mostly I just want there to be a peace for all four of them that surpasses all understanding and a bond created immediately. I want the girls to feel elated and safe and for their parents to become free of all the adversities they have faced in the past 2+ years. God can do this! I will travel to Lima, Peru on March 19 with my Dad to meet Julissa and Johanna. I can't even imagine what this will be like. I have met a niece and 3 nephews as newborns and fallen in love immediately. And while I have fallen in love with Julissa and Johanna through pictures and stories of phone conversations with their parents, what will it be like to meet them in their country at 12 and 8 years of age? How will they know I love them? Will they love me? These girls were orphans for years, but all along God knew they would be my nieces, and Tracy and Ben's daughters. I can't fathom the depth of His plans for the future, but I know God has orchestrated the events of tomorrow and the rest of our tomorrows, and I know it will be more than I could ever ask for or imagine. Dear God, Thank you for being infallible and overwhelmingly generous. Today I Thank you specifically for our Peruvian Princesses. Thank you that the uncomfortable wait is finally over and we get to be with them. Please prepare them like only You can for tomorrow and the next few months as they adjust to family life in America. Be with their parents as they enter uncharted territory. Be with them as they travel and communicate in these early days. Let the journey be smooth and memorable for all of them and reveal Yourself so all the glory will be Yours! Lord I pray for more uncomfortable times like these have been so we can be drawn closer to You. I know tomorrow will be just as You see fit and we will be completely amazed! ~Your Favorite Daughter~

Be a part of bringing Our Peruvian Princesses HOME!

Ben and Tracy ~ The Proud Parents!

Imagine being pregnant for 19 months?! Well it’s a paper pregnancy, but still! Her belly isn't swollen and her calves and ankles still have their own section on her legs, but her heart is REALLY heavy. Instead of morning sickness, Ben and Tracy have evening sickness, waiting, wanting and wishing for the girls to be home. They don’t have a due date, can’t buy cute clothes yet, and don’t even have one blurry photo of their girl’s profiles.
We hope and pray we are nearing the girl’s ‘due date’ and our Peruvian Princesses will be coming home soon! This Saturday night, April 17th, is a night to come out and support Ben and Tracy! Show them some love, ask them questions and learn about the adoption process/paper pregnancy! Bring your friends and family for an evening of fun! The cost is $20 per person or $30 per couple. The adoption process is very expensive and extensive, and all funds raised will go directly to the Peruvian Princess Adoption fund.
DJ Dan DeBruin will provide the nights entertainment and there will be a cash bar! Dress up or dress down, just come and support Ben and Tracy and have some fun! Please RSVP to tarshadowning@hotmail.com!

Date: Saturday, April 17, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: American Legion
City/Town: Mechanic Falls, ME