Adoption fundraisers and updates

Here's a few fundraisers and opportunities to enter for fun giveaways as well as updates on a few of the families I posted about recently (and a few new ones!)


Amanda is adopting 2 little ones from Ukriane- one with Ds and one with FAS. She is currently doing new fundraiser give-aways each week so check back there often to see what's new! They are also doing a fundraiser called "Miles for Misha and Mila" which is a walk-a-thon sponsorship. Go take a look :) (ongoing)

Charissa is doing a fundraiser for a waiting child named Yulia. She is giving away her digital camera and has already met her 'goal' but is still accepting entries. What a wonderful gift to Yulia and the hope of a family to commit to her! (Ends March 1st)

Debbie is doing a give-away for a waiting child named Steven! She's giving away UKRAINIAN CHOCOLATE!! YUM!! :) She's in Ukraine right now completing the adoption of her newest daughter- and teen with limb differences and she's already spreading awareness about another little one needing a home. You at least need to click the link and see the pic of the chocolate :) (Ends March 16th)

Brigitte is doing a fundraiser for her adoption of little Jacob. She is giving away an I-pod Touch to one donor! Go check it out and enter to win! (Ends March 20th)

Gillian is giving away a new Canon PowerShot digital camera! She is adopting little Evangeline, click over to take a look. (Ends March 23rd)

Heather is doing a fundraiser for a waiting child named Tonya. She's going to give a beautiful quilt to one donor! (Ends March 31st)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, now some updates- The two families that are ones I'm working with are both hopefully having court this coming week! Both are adopting two children and could use your prayers for paperwork to be done quickly and correctly so that their processes go smoothly! One has had some hiccups and has already been in country an extended period of time. (yes, this means Misha IS coming home!)

The family in Ukraine adopting an older girl with limb differences is still there and plugging away. They've had their court so are waiting out the appeals period and will be coming home shortly.

Please continue to pray for the family waiting for news since their son is in a 'new' (to us) institution. They have not had much news since my last post and are waiting on a court date still.

Three more families leave this weekend for Ukraine! Two are going to the same orphanage together and the third is going to be in the same 'region' (state basically) but at a different city. They are each adopting one child but who knows if God has more in store for any of the families :)

In Estonia we have 2 families that are both headed home. One was on their 'preview' trip and have met and LOVE their son (and older boy w/ Ds) and the second completed their adoption and is heading home soon.

In Serbia one family is in country and loving on their new toddler daughter w/ Ds. They hope to finalize tomorrow and then will bring her home!

Our family in Haiti- missionaries now- is doing well and I'm sure appreciate your continued prayers as they live this 'new life' while they await the completion of their son's adoption.

A family that was previously waiting for their court date in Latvia has been invited to come back! This mom has already met her two daughters and will go back for court then a third trip to bring them home.

Two families are waiting for news from Russia- one has already met her son and is waiting to be allowed to go back for court. The second is having snags because of the region their daughter is in and they have had yet another hiccup this week.

Please keep all these families covered in prayer!!

Praying for Mattea

This is Mattea Olena! Isn't she adorable?? Mattea was adopted from Ukraine just a short time ago and tomorrow (Thursday) she is undergoing a heart cath procedure. You see, the heart condition that she has is the same that Emma had. Typically this is an 'easy repair' for children under a year old. Once a child's body has dealt with the pressures of the condition for many years it causes damage to the lungs and pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs). With Emma after her cath we were told she was inoperable and would likely live about 6 more months. We struggled and pushed to get her surgery and the rest of the story you all know-- Emma's pressures have DECREASED and the pulmonary damage that we were told was irreversible is, in fact, correcting itself.

Emma's heart was the first unrepaired AV Canal defect in a child that old that our WONDERFUL surgeon has seen in 25 years! Mattea is a bit older that Emma already and her family is facing similar things to what we did. This first cath will help evaluate the lungs and the doctor will give their 'recommendation' as far as care/surgery go.

I hope this helps to direct your hearts in prayer :) Please agree with me in prayer for Mattea!

If you would, please click over to Mattea's family's blog and let them know you are praying! Please share this request for prayer! I will update as I can...

Father, We ask you today for your peace, your protection, and your HEALING upon Mattea and family. Please prepare the Puderbaugh family today and tomorrow as they prepare for this procedure as well as each doctor, nurse, and administrative person that will come in contact with them tomorrow. We ask that you put your hedge of protection around Mattea as she goes through the sedation and heart cath tomorrow and that she will come through it without any complications. Father, most of all, we pray for HEALING on Mattea's heart and lungs. We pray that the doctors will not find any irreversible damage to the lungs and heart and that surgery is strongly recommended to repair Mattea's heart. For her parents, we pray for peace and knowledge beyond what they can imagine. Show them the direction that you want them to take for Mattea without question or hesitation in their minds. Even now we ask you to prepare the hearts and minds of the surgeon and his staff that you intend to perform the surgery. Give them the compassion and knowledge necessary to thoroughly understand and to repair Mattea's heart. Keep us each wrapped in the Comfort of Your Arms, Amen.

A little Lent follow up

Thanks for the ideas/suggestions.

As far as this being God or religion, I guess that's not really what I'm after. I'm after God. And I know that God is not always found through religion. But I know that any opportunity to bring you closer to God isn't a bad thing. If it was something different intending to honor other gods or cultic practices that I was trying to "transfer" over I may have more hesitation in taking part, but as a whole the practice of fasting for Lent is intended to prepare the heart and bring a person closer to God. The other rules that go with it (I don't even really know them, sorry), I know are similarly intended but not my choice of how I will honor God during this time and not something I feel is essential. I hope that explains it without any condemnation towards those who do hold to those practices. As I said, if you're after God- then an opportunity to bring you closer to God isn't a bad thing (now, doing it because you're told to and obeying because "it's the rules", well, if that's how you see it then maybe study your own heart and motives in participating... just a thought :) ).

To those who gave some suggestions, thanks! It's interesting to hear what others are doing (or not doing, as the case may be) right now and I appreciate the ideas :)

Tonight I committed... I'm going to fall off of the "online planet" of blogs and forums and I've put all of my "google reader" blogs as minimized except those marked as RR parents that are adopting. Occasionally I'll hit the 'mark all as read' so I don't have 10,000 unread blogs in a few weeks! I said "see ya later" in my online forums too. For now my 'online time' will be mostly e-mail, blogging (yes, I'll still be posting here- just not reading other blogs that aren't related to RR!), and my RR families.

That said, I feel like I'm losing touch with a lot of friends, some of whom are in 'tricky' health situations, and so I want to say that if you have a prayer request please e-mail me to let me know so I can pray for you. I don't want to stop supporting others and I really enjoy each of the families that I follow! I'll be back soon :)

Lent...

Today is Ash Wednesday, the official start to the 40 day period leading up to Easter Sunday, also known as the time of Lent. It's traditional for Catholics and some protestant denominations to 'give up' something for lent- fasting a certain item, activity, food- whatever of their choosing... as well as to follow some diet restrictions as well.

Though I'm not Catholic and my church does not practice this as the 'norm' (and I can't eat fish LOL), I have given some thought to what I could 'fast' for this 40 day period leading up to Easter. This is supposed to be something that you not only do regularly or eat regularly or whatever, but something that is of some importance to you. Each time that you come across that item or activity you are to pray as a reminder of the time of fasting in preparation for Easter.

I apologize in advance if I've represented this incorrectly for some faiths!!

So... I thought- I need some more focus on God as much as (MORE THAN!!) anyone else, and what better way to have my heart prepared for the resurrection of Christ than to spend this 40 days fasting... something...

But I'm having a difficult time figuring out what that 'thing' may be. I thought about the Internet as a whole but then decided with so many families in country right now that would be VERY irresponsible of me to not check in with them and be able to follow through with my commitments. Obviously not a good thing :) I've thought through a few other things, mostly related to the computer or foods, and I've had a hard time coming up with something that I do regularly which I could 'give up'... There ARE things, I KNOW there are... I'm just having a difficult time deciding.

So... any help from the peanut gallery? Thoughts on Lent? I don't drink coffee, caffeine, don't eat much chocolate or sweets (and in all honesty am still struggling with food so that would not be a good area to lessen right now- the two things I hold most strongly to right now are the two that don't make me ill- Gatorade and Sprite, which wouldn't be very wise to give up...). The biggest 'consumer' of my time is the Internet. I generally do 4 things online- E-mail, Blog (which is my journal of the kids' achievements and progress so if I don't blog... hmm... that has been a thought tho), I read some Down syndrome forums (which I regularly take 'breaks' from except for the RR forum), and I read blogs (mostly adoptive parents' blogs to be kept up on their processes/concerns).

At the moment I'm thinking that online forums and blogs that are not related to my families that I work with would be the thing that would impact me the most both in time and in regularly remembering to be in prayer.

Along with whatever I do decide... which technically I should decide today :)... I also want to add in something during this time. I want to make sure that at least 2 days a week I spend some time OUTSIDE with my kids. It's so easy to just be indoors- even if the windows are all open and we are getting fresh air, I want to give my kids that opportunity that I know they're missing to play outside on the swings and slides, to play ball, for K to ride his new bike... all those fun outdoor things!

Thoughts? What are you fasting for lent? Please remember if you comment that of course this is a personal decision so your thoughts are very much appreciated but in the end it's through prayer that I will figure out what God intends for me to do in this time. But a little prompting never hurt :)

~Home~

Exciting day, lots of fun, a great way to spend the day with my son, EXHAUSTED.

Pictures to come. Eventually.

We're off!

Happy birthday Kristopher!!

He and I are now on our way to the Magic Kingdom to meet up with Mickey Mouse for his birthday! Just me and my big 5 year old boy today :) Can't wait to see his face when he finds out-- yep, all packed up, out on the road, and has NO IDEA where we're going :)

Birthday Party~!...

Yesterday we celebrated 2 birthdays and our adoption... though we didn't really do anything special for the adoption... we just threw it in there :)  With the 6 of us, grandparents, and a few very close friends of ours it quickly became a BIG gathering... we had about 20 people here to celebrate with us :)  The pic's below are just the cake and gifts times of the party- for some reason we didn't get the camera out much.  Mike might have more (and BETTER ) pic's on his camera too tho.  Two of K's friends were able to come (sister and brother) and the girl is also buddies with my girls :)  They are both sweethearts and the kids play well together.  Tomorrow's the big day for Kristopher (his actual birthday) so hopefully lots of pictures of our fun birthday surprise soon!

Emma did pretty well through the party.  Especially at the beginning she was a bit overwhelmed by all the people, but once she had food she was pretty happy- then after the food she wasn't sure it was so good until there were presents :)  She sure did figure out how to open the presents and play with the paper though!  It's always a hard balance when we are so blessed to have many that want to take part in these celebrations and yet, especially with Emma, we also know that she enjoys smaller groups by far... today I think we had a very nice mix of it, though, and we all enjoyed it!

Kristopher is FIVE!

And Emma is SIX!

 

And all the kids had fun :)

Christmas Park

There's a small town nearby, between here and Orlando, where there's a fort called Fort Christmas as well as a nice park and a small area of housing.  Last week on Friday I took the kids to Orlando and we did a little shopping at a plaza I like to go to on the West end.  On the way home I decided to stop in at Christmas park and let the kids play :)

Brianna really surprised me with her independence!  She went off and climbed the stairs (once she was showed where they were- there were mostly ladders which she needed help with) and went down the slides all by herself!  Little Miss Independent!

Kristopher loved the freedom and since it was only us and one other family with a 4 year old and a newborn, he had a pretty good amount of room to roam on his own.

Micah and Emma each took a turn (ok, and once TOGETHER, but we didn't all fit so well) on my lap on a swing, but the baby swings were pretty far away from the main play area so they mostly just hung out.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day, though, and they enjoyed watching and being outside!  (Neither of them will move around in mulch... love those sensory issues LOL)

The Treadmill

On Emma's birthday she got to try out a new little device (well, new to her).  We started out saying "let's see if she can handle 8 minutes" and after about 12 minutes we brought her off.  She did great!  Emma doesn't have a natural 'stepping' pattern and doesn't know to move her legs forward in a pattern in order to move.  She now can bear weight on her legs with the assistance of the knee braces and ankle braces, but the 'natural' stepping isn't there.  So this treadmill is moving very slowly beneath her feet and for 12 minutes her PT sat behind her and moved her feet in what would be a natural stepping motion, encouraging Emma to bear weight through each step.  By the end Emma was occasionally moving her foot forward on her own!  Yay!  We'll continue doing this with her at the beginning of each session for 8-10 minutes (or shorter if she doesn't tolerate it as well next time).

One of these days I'll get a picture of 'the cage' to share as well.  Another neat tool that gives Emma more mobility and the ability to do things that she couldn't otherwise due to resistance or just having to have too many different parts of her body stabilized at once making it difficult for one person to work with her.

 

What our weekend entailed

I don't generally post about 'times away' on here until after they happened just because, after all, this is an open Internet site. But on Friday evening Mike and I headed up to the church after dinner and spent the evening at a staff Marriage Seminar. We got home way past bedtime (almost 10pm! My parents watched the kids at home tho so they were all sound asleep around 7:30) and then were back at the church at 8:45 the next morning with all of our kids to get them settled in the nursery and then over to the retreat again for the day.

(As a side note, this was Emma's first time in the nursery and she did really well! We've left her with people at our house a few times but never away from home with people she doesn't really know...)

What the seminar entailed was teaching and a lot of "experiential encounters". I have to say it was a nice time to get away, refresh some things that might not have been on the top of the list and remember how we're supposed to relate to each other. But I will also say that I don't think much of it was 'new' content to us. We had 'experiences' of how to fight clean, how to actively listen to one another and how to tell a complete thought without assumptions or leaving out details. And in all honesty we just talked through those because in general Mike and I have really good communication and we are used to talking through things whether they're something coming up, stressful situations, or things that have happened already. Problems, good things, we pretty much talk through it all and understand each other really well.

I really think that our adoption and this past year has helped us to really better form those relational skills. What better way than to be forced to pretty much have ONLY your spouse to communicate with for 4 weeks in a foreign country? Or to have HUGE obstacles thrown in your way and have to not only think through a problem, but make an IMMEDIATE decision that is literally life-changing base on very little info. Then to take a jump of faith into the unknown, together, and ride out the emotional roller coaster that that contained. And that was all just while we were in Ukraine. Then coming home, being told your child will die, having another child hospitalized literally 2 days after that event, deciding to go through with not only the life threatening surgery (heart) but a second potentially fatal surgery before that (T&A) in order to hopefully give that second surgery a higher survival rate... To have 4 kids under 5, to have 3 kids with disabilities, to have days that start at sunrise and don't end until 8:30 or 9:00 at night... And that's just the kids. Then there's work, school, the house, bills, DOCTOR bills, post-adoption paperwork, school system and therapy stuff... the list goes on.

This past year has been one filled with STRESS. LOTS of stress around every bend. A new big thing each week almost, then slowing down to monthly. Kids doing all kind of miraculous things and growing and changing every day. Some of it was a good kind of stress- most of it a not so great kind.

But through every week this past year and a bit Mike and I have had an open line of communication. When one of us needs to talk we find time to do so. When there's stress, we both know it and we talk and work through it. We've shared many tears together and many delights as well. Through it all, though, this weekend we could honestly say to each other "this year has been one of the best ever." How is that possible?? Because we've been able to do something so far beyond our own means and abilities that we can testify to God's goodness and POWER here on Earth. It's by His grace and mercy that we are all where we are today.

So this marriage retreat was a sweet reminder of the gift we have in each other- the perfect match that God has planned out in putting us together. The joy that we share and the love that we have.

As I said, though, we did learn something new this weekend... We were asked to draw diagrams of our family tree. Ourselves with our spouse first. Then add on our own parents, siblings. Then our grandparents and aunts and uncles. Then finally our children. The speaker talked about how each of these 4 generations is affected by the ones before it. Pieces of our personalities- both good and bad- are from not only our parents, but our grandparents and before. Of course some of it is what we do with it... And no, that's not the 'new stuff' that we learned.

Then they gave us 'symbols' to use to connect different family members. One was a dotted line with a // through it in the middle. This shows a cut-off relationship between two family members. We were asked to draw this between anyone whose relationship reflects this. Then another was like a zig zag line vvvvvvv and it was for people whose relationships were strained, even if not cut off completely. And the third relationship was three lines one on top of another ____ and those lines were called 'enmeshment'. The explanation of this was any people whose relationships are so far intwined that they are dependent on the other- not in a healthy way. An example was given of an adult child who, when they return to their parents' house house, or even just talking on the phone sometimes, returned to their 'childhood' and were unable to be their own adult person around their parent. This person is likely 'enmeshed' with that parent. Sometimes it's between siblings or close friends.

These lines throughout our family trees were interesting to see, because tho we know these relationships exist in our everyday lives or interactions, seeing them on paper in this way was different- especially giving them a name.

The exercise didn't end there... We were asked to describe the people in our lives using 2 to 4 adjectives. Good, bad, whatever, what words describe our spouse? children? parents? siblings? aunts and uncles? What words describe the marriage of our parents? our grandparents? Some of those questions I couldn't answer because I didn't know some of our family due to age or distance. And last we were told to find common themes in our family tree. Maybe premature death, depression, cut off relationships, enmeshment, or maybe other things like joy, religion, outgoing personalities, or a love for something specific. Whatever it is that runs through the family tree. On the other side of the page we were asked to write "earthquake events". Things that affected US that are big events within our families. Sometimes a death, divorce, or loss of a job, or a medical diagnosis.

Writing that all out, it became evident to both Mike and I where some things have happened within our own family backgrounds to mold us and others in our family into the people we are today. I'll share mine, because they aren't really much of a secret for those that know my family :)

We have a string of adoption through 2 generations (us and my parents) and this came as a direct result of both of my grandmothers being in some sort of foster care/children's home situations during their lives. I know there is a thread of depression through one side of my family which thankfully I haven't had to deal with (yet) but the awareness of it being there is always a good thing to know. There is also the unavoidable fact that I have a lot of similar tendencies to my own mother :) Her outgoing personality that could hold a 30 minute (or more) conversation with an empty wall and the ability to make friends in every grocery store line and shopping mall trip that she ever takes. I never thought I would be like her in that way but it's not something I'd like to trade in now that I am able to easily talk with whomever!

So, there you go- a little bit about our marriage retreat and some of the neat things we learned and were able to think more on while we were there.

If you'd like to draw up your own genealogy chart with these relationship lines and need a little more help in it, e-mail me and I'd be happy to help to the extent that I'm able. It's a really interesting (and often revealing) project!

Well, it might need some adjustments

But Kristopher's background is up!

His birthday is Tuesday, Feb 24th, but we'll celebrate both birthdays (he and Emma's) along with our double adoption on Sunday with family and a few close friends.

Any guess what K's birthday surprise might be?? :)

Kristopher's take on babies...

So Mom, since there's a baby in your tummy, how big is it?

-(I show him about how big)

And how big will it be when it comes out?

-(again, I show him about how big)

So, if it's in your tummy and growing, when is it coming out?

-Around Micah's birthday, not for a while still.

But, then how is it going to COME out?

(to be continued...)

Someone's getting a gift for Emma's birthday :)

I had great thoughts of having E draw a name out of a hat and posting a cute video of her doing so on here... and then I realized that it just wasn't going to happen today and so Random.org got to pick the name that will receive the gift instead...

And so... the winner of the autographed copy of the book "Count on Us" is...

Theresa Mitchell!

Congratulations, Theresa! Please e-mail me your address and I will ship the book out next week!

Thank you to everyone that contributed to the fund for Ilya! Together we raised $500 for his family grant!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!

Wow, considering I missed out on the first 5 years of your life, it's very hard for me to believe that today you  are SIX!  Happy Birthday to my little miracle girl, I'm so happy to celebrate your first birthday at home!!

Random thoughts...

• It annoys me to see a sign that says "Inmates working" on the side of the road, then to see a truck, and not to see ANY people. C'mon can't you take the sign down if you're going to lunch?
• Why can't they make prenatal vitamins taste (or at least SMELL) good? After all, it's not like you feel good when you're taking them and having them smell and taste like vomit doesn't help. Can't they make them that look like gummy bears and taste like oranges??? C'mon, they can do it for my kids...
• Did you know it's possible to change 2 diapers, make 2 bottles (which includes a jar of baby food, a few ounces of dry cereal, and milk), grab 2 sets of shoes and jackets and a handful of diapers and get two immobile children into a car in 7 minutes?
• Shouldn't it be illegal to drive 10-20 mph UNDER the speed limit NEXT TO each other on a 4 lane highway?

Happy Adoption Day!

Today's Emma and Micah's Adoption Day!!  I can't believe it's been a YEAR :)

How not to start your week...

Don't forget on a Monday that it is indeed still Monday .

Don't, after announcing to a group on Sunday that a chat will be held Tuesday, definitely don't announce on Monday that it is "tonight" after wondering why no one has shown up the first 10 minutes.

Then don't be surprised when someone comes to the meeting and says "sorry, I thought this chat was on Tuesday this week" and don't be surprised when you realize that yes, indeed, the chat is scheduled for Tuesday and today (well, yesterday now...) was not Tuesday.

After having 10 people show up to this non-scheduled but yet reminded meeting, don't say "no, sorry, no questions, chat is tomorrow.... but we can talk tonight :)"

In the closing time of this chat don't have the vague reminder that you still haven't mailed off something that said it needed a postmark of the 15th (on the 16th).

Then don't try to find the address for the paperwork to be sent to (because, really, the 15th and 16th had no mail being a Sunday and a holiday) and realize that not only are you 2 days late, but you don't have the address.

After all that, don't try to e-mail the two people that might have the address and mistakingly send it to someone completely different instead of one of those people.

And if you do send it to someone else, at least make sure you know who that person is... don't send it to a complete stranger whom you're not sure why their name is in your address book to start with (but, if by chance, this was YOU I sent it to, please do tell me how I know you!)-- oh wait, this didn't REALLY happen, did it??

Then don't write a second note to that person explaining your mistake... then admit your complete loss of the evening to those other members of the chat room, thus confirming that you've lost your mind.

That would be a bad way to start a week. A very bad way. I don't suggest it...

Running

4 doctor's appointments between 2 kids all before noon... now off to a meeting...

A few of the families noted earlier

YAY! Adoption updates across the pond...

Another dossier of one of "my" families was submitted this morning! We are hoping they will travel in March :) Also, the first two dossiers that I helped compile are being put to good use right now IN UKRAINE! Both families are currently there each adopting two children! And one of those four children just happens to be my Misha. I couldn't have been happier this morning than to learn that the family whose appointment was today received word that they will indeed receive the referral for Misha (and their other child) tomorrow. God is good.

In case you don't know who Misha is, he is the second referral we received with Sasha's during our first appointment in Ukraine. We soon found out another family was coming for Misha (he was a blind referral to us) and then when Sasha wasn't able to be adopted we released both children, knowing Misha would come home soon. Well, that family arrived in Ukraine just a few short months ago and when they got there learned that Misha was transferred and they decided to get an additional referral from the orphanage their other selected child was at. This was a necessary choice for their family since they were adopting three children at once. But still my heart ached that we had 'left' Misha and now the other family wasn't able to get him either. Along come family #3, who decided that God was directing them toward Misha... and today they met at the SDA as the third family to view Misha's file. He's finally coming home!

Your prayers are much appreciated for both families in country right now. As is the case in Ukraine, things sometimes get a bit difficult and prayer support is so important!

Some other families in process...
There's another family in Ukraine right now that's not through RR but is adopting an older girl with special needs from a place that's not very adoption-friendly so it is taking quite a while. Your prayers are certainly appreciated there.

We have a family in Serbia right now beginning their adoption as well as a family about to head to Estonia for their 'preview' trip to meet their new son.

Another family in Estonia and has custody of their little guys just waiting out their time to come home.

Another family has moved to Haiti as missionaries and are able to have their son living with them as they await their adoption's completion. They've been there several months already and plan on a year in Haiti! Now that is commitment!

Oh, and one more Ukraine family has gone and met their son but because it is the first adoption from this specific institution their process is being drawn out to the extent of the law. This family is in a similar situation to where we were at with Sasha except there is much hope that within the court system their adoption will be allowed. And yes, they were aware from early on that this might be a very difficult process... but still your prayers are needed for every one of these families!

Almost all of the families above are adopting a child w/ Ds and there's another family adopting a little boy w/ ds as well as an older 'typical' girl. Their appointment was in mid-January and they have had a snag here and there in their process but are in country and making it work!

Ok... and two more families that have MET their children and are waiting on the invitations to go back and get them- one is adopting from Latvia and one from Russia. What a difficult wait but OH SO WORTH IT!

Click the Buttons on the right sidebar to view the families' sponsorship pages, and to view their blogs go to 'grab this button' under their button and it will bring you to one of their blog posts. Just click on their blog header to see recent posts...

Am I missing anyone?? Don't forget the two in country right now (mentioned in the first paragraph)... Due to some families' desire for privacy while they are overseas I have not listed any family names, but the blogs on the side that are public you can click through to follow!