tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7028046418153116882024-02-06T19:28:10.572-08:00The Santor's Bulgaria AdoptionOur Journey Through AdoptionAaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-12826497394393240402014-07-24T15:18:00.001-07:002014-07-24T15:18:23.651-07:00A New Adventure<div style="border-image-source: none;">
As new parents, we were clueless. Our highest goal could be summed up simply as "Try not to screw the kid up, . . .too badly".</div>
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We were saved when we were challenged to parent with vision, to see our calling as parents as more than just trying to raise functional citizens in society. We were to know our children's hearts, their giftings and their callings. We were to train them in the way they should go.<br />
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Our charge was not only to teach our children the values and lifestyle of the Kingdom of God, but to demonstrate and walk alongside them as they grew in understanding. Not just good citizens in society, but citizens of His kingdom, walking in power, freedom, and the fullness of His love.<br />
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Four years ago we adopted our youngest son from Bulgaria. When our journey was finished we realized that one of our strengths during that time was that my wife and I never saw the adoption as "our thing", but rather a family journey. Our children prayed, labored, and contended for faith right alongside us. Ever since then, we've chosen to see everything we do as a "family thing".<br />
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Originally we had plans to adopt from Albania. We researched the country and fell in love with it. During that time we met the wonderful Waggoner family (<a href="http://waggoner.blogspot.com/">Waggoner News and World Report</a>)that was in the process of adopting their second child from Albania.<br />
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Unfortunately the adoption agency we were with closed its Albania program. Our hearts were broken, but we were led to Bulgaria where we met our youngest son. Throughout the process we continued to stay in contact with the Waggoner family and have continued to carry a burden for the people of Albania ever since.<br />
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Since that time the Waggoners have moved to Albania as full time missionaries, and we have continued to dream of doing a short term mission trip to Albania as a <strong>family</strong>. Family was God's idea. He has chosen to reveal Himself to us as Father. It is only fitting that He would be made known in and through family.<br />
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Early this year, the Waggoners invited us as a family to come for a two week period this fall to serve along side them in the village of Vlashaj, Albania. We've spent the year debating whether it was the right time or not, but it seems that God has lined things up for us. Its a shorter prep time than what we would have chosen, but God does His best work in impossible circumstances.<br />
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While our exact itinerary has yet to be determined, our children will not just be tagging along. They're part of the team and there will be plenty of work for them to do. The Waggoners tell us that the ministry yard in Vlashaj is visited by Albanian children every morning, many of whom speak English. Our children will have the opportunity to interact with them daily.<br />
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So here we are wrapping up this blog as we feel we've transitioned into a new stage of life with our son. We have started a new blog, <a href="http://thewarriorsquiver.blogspot.com/">The Warrior's Quiver</a>. This new blog will go on indefinitely and primarily be a source of family updates and such, but for the time being, we will kick it off with updates and prayer requests concerning our Albanian adventure.<br />
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We'd love for you to join us for the next journey. We will desperately need your prayers. In the coming days we'll be providing links to fund raiser sites. If you would consider supporting us on this adventure it would mean so much to us!<br />
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Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-87797661131699498682013-01-28T20:11:00.000-08:002013-01-28T20:11:34.118-08:00Aaron was given the opportunity to speak at Toccoa Falls College during their chapel time this past Wednesday. He felt God's leading to speak on our adoption journey. You can watch it here <a href="http://vimeo.com/toccoafalls/videos">at Toccoa Falls College Videos.</a> You need to find 1-23-13 (Aaron Santor). He starts speaking at the 20:40 timecode.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UDE4yKWcmt7dLUQepNQCkWw9vwmwEwHNiaNT9e7ga3-VodSixzjxGOm0Vh6UwHvC7qinjpAr5c2xqVntHykX3fod8aLCV2hFiWd8oPbp4U_HlfRWZPe8V-2cEM-2Wn9qJMzERuaWw2U/s1600/Kids+in+tree+-+Stop+down+1+and+prefer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UDE4yKWcmt7dLUQepNQCkWw9vwmwEwHNiaNT9e7ga3-VodSixzjxGOm0Vh6UwHvC7qinjpAr5c2xqVntHykX3fod8aLCV2hFiWd8oPbp4U_HlfRWZPe8V-2cEM-2Wn9qJMzERuaWw2U/s320/Kids+in+tree+-+Stop+down+1+and+prefer.JPG" width="320" /></a>The next day the Director of Spiritual Formation wrote about us on his blog<br />
<a href="http://www.thethursdaycircle.com/2013/01/in-favor-of-life.html#!/2013/01/in-favor-of-life.html">The Thursday Circle</a>. He titled it "In Favor of Life". It really meant a lot to us that he featured us in his blog and supported and promoted adoption.<br />
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In other news, Aaron has rerecorded some of the songs that were on the CD that helped raise funds to bring Andrew home. He also recorded a few new songs as well. This time they were recorded in a studio and are a better quality and are all available for download. Feel free to listen to the songs on the playlist on the right hand side of our blog and visit his <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/aaronsantor">www.reverbnation.com/aaronsantor</a> page. All these songs can be purchased through reverbnation, amazon, itunes, zune, etc.Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-22462333481706712562013-01-23T20:04:00.000-08:002013-01-23T20:04:51.928-08:00School, bike rides and Jesus<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpUVabXXVDrcCL8vUox-8CjoHPjUkYsm_uHOhb_RPIKp4rnr4c1XlbDs3ShEUPwr-LA5slplfTjNiyOgFDuFSJfzhAy9wudhFXWhrz95rZwMVI77Fo0sZQDVjG4fAiXtjat-Bw0WLS_8/s1600/IMG_3476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpUVabXXVDrcCL8vUox-8CjoHPjUkYsm_uHOhb_RPIKp4rnr4c1XlbDs3ShEUPwr-LA5slplfTjNiyOgFDuFSJfzhAy9wudhFXWhrz95rZwMVI77Fo0sZQDVjG4fAiXtjat-Bw0WLS_8/s320/IMG_3476.JPG" width="213" /></a>Quite a bit has gone on here in the last few months. To start with Aaron transitioned over from being worship leader at Grace Fellowship for the last 12 years to being the pastor. This past October our pastor and his family moved to Fargo, ND to start a church plant with 3 other families from our church. Aaron is still doing his auto restoration job 4 days of the week and now working on sermon preparation 1 day a week (plus whatever extra time he can find mornings and nights). It has been a pretty smooth transition and once again God has given us grace for this season in life.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FPClhB6sA3mLT9FfXj7pR0s2ImZZS5w1cIRduRtcsLBDSDK2YCsKK-3eR_jhXKl_JhPyyEUk732r3Ebq_XvlWisFYeZ4GiPmQ9rVgkXhs18-eYhJhBX6uPpXi73GrfZjEPFBsCgb_zw/s1600/IMG_3944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FPClhB6sA3mLT9FfXj7pR0s2ImZZS5w1cIRduRtcsLBDSDK2YCsKK-3eR_jhXKl_JhPyyEUk732r3Ebq_XvlWisFYeZ4GiPmQ9rVgkXhs18-eYhJhBX6uPpXi73GrfZjEPFBsCgb_zw/s320/IMG_3944.JPG" width="213" /></a>Jen and the kids took 2 weeks off from school for Christmas. It was so fun watching Andrew as the holiday season kicked in. He knows our traditions now and is so excited about each and every one of them. He knew as soon as Thanksgiving was over we would go and find a Christmas tree and cut it down. Once it was up he kept asking what night woud we be sleeping under the tree. <br />
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Andrew has made it over half way through Kindergarten and is learning to read. He loves school so much. He has a hard time with some concepts like above and below, but knows his numbers and can blend certain sounds together. He also has a hard time memorizing sentences. It seems like the hardest part is remembering articles and prepositions. We're assuming this is a language barrier thing still. <br />
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His siblings memorize scripture nearly every day with their curriculum, so Andrew wanted to learn a verse too. We didn't think it would go well with his inability to memorize sentences, but Jen decided to plunge in since he wanted to so bad. It has only been 2 days now, but he is learning John 3:16 and doing an amazing job with it. He is a determined little boy and if he wants to figure it out, he will.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7k8UXngBJ_EvaBj9wDnZyVBou87FVwFM4ldFrVYinefCsm4uneGRavHU1r_aW7DRhaqTr2LDNi6MbGvPiF4Kp9HmYe2z0E-NoIFSEsqXMqHsytEenQBH3Ac-aUCiAdoJwzbftXychmmo/s1600/IMG_2292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7k8UXngBJ_EvaBj9wDnZyVBou87FVwFM4ldFrVYinefCsm4uneGRavHU1r_aW7DRhaqTr2LDNi6MbGvPiF4Kp9HmYe2z0E-NoIFSEsqXMqHsytEenQBH3Ac-aUCiAdoJwzbftXychmmo/s320/IMG_2292.JPG" width="320" /></a>We do crazy things in our family like talk about when you will one day ride on the "magic" bike trail and learn to ride your bike without training wheels. Andrew has been waiting for it to be his turn. So, one day in September we took him to the bike trail, took off his training wheels and Aaron began the tough job of teaching him how to ride. The wild thing is, it worked for the fifth time. One way on the trail each kid has fallen down and cried and tried to ride and by the time we come back up the trail they are riding without falling and enjoying themselves. Yet another big accomplishment for Andrew.<br />
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As we have stated in previous posts, we quickly realized after bringing Andrew home that we really missed out on so many foundational things during the first three years of his life. For us the biggest concern was his inability to grasp the idea of who God or Jesus is.<br />
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We of course continued to train and teach him as we have done with the older children, but he has had a hard time dealing with the abstract. As a parent, you just know when you child "gets it" and when the connection is just not being made. So our only other option was to pray and ask God to break in as only He can do.<br />
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Two weeks ago while at church we had a communion service, followed by a fellowship lunch, followed by a family birthday party. Andrew had spent most of the day playing with his siblings. As we drove home that evening, unsolicited by anyone, Andrew spoke up from the back seat,"I drink the juice, I eat the bread, I talked to Jesus." Interesting.<br />
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We responded,"What did Jesus say to you?" We weren't sure what to think, often times he is just goofing around.<br />
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"I asked Jesus into my heart." We were shocked. Where did this come from? He continued"that was my favorite part!"<br />
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We didn't know what to think. We're still not quite sure what happened, but we've(kids included) immediately noticed that there has been a sweetness about him that's different than before. Also, in the past as we corrected him he would glance down at the floor in shame. No more. It's gone.<br />
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This past week he made this statement, "Jesus told me He took the sin out of my heart and that I should obey my parents."<br />
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Last night he asked us,"What's baptized?"<br />
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Again we're not really sure what has happened, all we know is that God answers prayer, and we have nothing left to say except "Thank you!"Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-64214617894719928812012-11-11T20:03:00.000-08:002012-11-11T20:03:34.577-08:00Andrew's 6th birthday and October neurologist visit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This July we celebrated Andrew's 6th birthday. This year we were unable to do his traditional "crazy" hair picture since he prefers his hair cut so much shorter so that he can look like his daddy. He is doing so well and we are so proud of him. He is half way through Kindergarten and is learning how to read short vowel, 3 letter words. He loves school. <br />
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Andrew was born with hydrocephalus, water on the brain, and at the young age of 6 months they did surgery in Bulgaria to put in a shunt to control the extra fluid made in his brain. <br />
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September of last year, Jen noticed something different about Andrew's valve and the tubing that runs from it. We called the neurologist to see if we should be concerned. They asked if there any signs of dizziness, nausea, or disoriention. We told them that there were none and they told us it was probably something normal that we didn't notice before. We were welcome to come in for an appointment if we were concerned, but we weren't and considering the 2 1/2 hour trip to their office, we opted against a visit.<br />
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We went to our normal scheduled appointment in April. They did a CT scan and x-rays. The neurologist looked over the scans and told us that the shunt had malfunctioned and that everything looked normal on the scans. He then scheduled an appointment for this October to check and see if anything had changed.<br />
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Sure enough the shunt was still broken and his scans still showed everything was normal. The neurologist then scheduled an appointment for a year from now where he will check one more time and then schedule surgery to remove all the parts of the shunt. He told us it appeared that he had outgrown hydrocephalus and that keeping the shunt in could cause problems in the future.<br />
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A year and a half ago during our first visit to the neurologist, we asked whether Andrew would ever outgrow his hydrocephalus and we were told not to count on it. He said it was a 1 in a 1,000 chance that he would and that there were only 2 ways that we could tell. One would be that he removes the shunt to see, but he won't do that because he ends up having to put them back in because the patient did not outgrow it. The other way would be if the shunt malfunctions. <br />
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Looks like God wanted to really make a statement. He healed our son. The main reason we were able to adopt him was because he had a special need and now here he is without this need. Our son is the 1 in a 1,000 and we are so thankful to Jesus for His work in our son's life.<br />
<br />Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-35255774486153852962012-11-11T19:21:00.000-08:002012-11-11T19:21:03.386-08:00Bulgarian Reunion 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At the end of June we drove to Cincinatti, OH for a reunion of families who had adopted, or are in the process of adopting from Bulgaria. It was a great weekend for both us and the kids. We were finally able to meet many of our online friends in person and see the children whose stories we had followed. <br />
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During the day there was a splash pad for the kids, minute to win it games and plenty of play time to meet new friends. At night there were pot luck dinners, traditional Bulgarian music and dancing, and time spent listening to each other's adoption stories. This was a great weekend to learn Bulgarian culture, talk to other adoptive families and simply spend time together as a family.<br />
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The kids spent most of their time together in the cul de sac of cabins. They were different ages, nationalities, backrounds and special needs. The thing that really impressed us was that the kids were so well behaved. They were all polite and respectful and there was not a single incident or fight during the entire weekend.<br />
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We stayed a couple days longer to visit the Creation Museum. We all enjoyed it but it was a bit much for our 8 and under kiddos. Lots of reading, and while some of them can read, they didn't read a full priced ticket's worth. But they all loved it and we're glad we went.<br />
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We can't wait to go to the reunion next year. We look forward to time with our new friends and meeting the new family members that have come home from Bulgaria (and other countries) since June.<br />
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We are so thankful to Yvonne and Viviane for their hard work in making this reunion such a great success.<br />
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On our way home we stopped in Kentucky to meet other online adoptive friends, <a href="http://waggoner.blogspot.com/">the Waggoners</a>. We met them way back when we were in the Albania program before the agency closed the program. The Waggoners adopted their 2 kids from Albania and are in the process of raising support to move to Albania as missionaries. We were so glad to have met them in person. They are an amazing family and we are looking forward to spending some more time with them when they come through Georgia on their support raising venture.<br />
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Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-62872351273375871292012-09-01T13:15:00.000-07:002012-09-01T13:15:02.592-07:00Finding Joel a familyThis past Spring we were made aware of a little boy named, Joel. He lives in an orphanage in Albania and needs a family to call his own. He is just over 2 years old and absolutely adorable. Our friends, Nathan and Cydil Waggoner, adopted 2 of their children from Albania and are in the process of raising the funds to move to Albania as missionaries. They were able to meet Joel in 2010 when they went to bring their son home and again in February of 2012 when they went on a scouting trip for their missionary journey. The primary caretaker of the Waggoner's son has now made it her mission to find Joel a family and has asked the Waggoners to help in this mission. For more information and pictures of Joel please vist the <a href="http://waggoner.blogspot.com/2012/04/advocating-for-joel.html">The Waggoner's blog</a>. Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-31873655459115995412012-08-25T20:38:00.003-07:002012-08-25T20:38:43.130-07:00Spring HappeningsThe first half of the year went by without any other major incidents like what we had in the previous post. In March, we went to Gatlinburg for the weekend. We stay at a timeshare but Andrew always calls it "the big house". Our kids enjoy exploring and learning about "the olden days" so visiting the settler's houses is always a must, second only to swimming in the pool.<br />
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During March and April the boys played ball. Unfortunately, due to their birthdates Tobin had to be put on a prep-ball team and Andrew was put on a T-ball team. The good news was that their younger cousin, Sadie could be on the team with Andrew. Andrew was so excited to play T-ball and cannot wait to be on a prep-ball team with his brother in the Spring. The boys games were on the same night, one after the other with about an hour in between games, so we packed dinner every night and enjoyed it together as a family at the baseball field. Some people ask how we can afford to go on vacation and one of the reasons is because we hardly ever eat out. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNx5D23HmA-_bq2Uq1a4QJgBoOTOvuQ77-wjWFx-7H8tQ6zgDCGdsDTde1S_BrFeYv2GW_M8pBxGbnCrjfCEOdtt5KxOGbQ9MAbhVcglGeWXg-nXHqf_xEcmUEdJP_Nyr2ulec02OULxQ/s1600/IMG_1339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNx5D23HmA-_bq2Uq1a4QJgBoOTOvuQ77-wjWFx-7H8tQ6zgDCGdsDTde1S_BrFeYv2GW_M8pBxGbnCrjfCEOdtt5KxOGbQ9MAbhVcglGeWXg-nXHqf_xEcmUEdJP_Nyr2ulec02OULxQ/s320/IMG_1339.JPG" width="213" /></a>One night a couple of the girls and Andrew were bored at Tobin's game, so they found an empty warm-up pen and tried to play with a bat and ball. Next thing you know, Jen hears Andrew's scream and knew something was wrong. Andrew came running over and by the time he got to Jen(only seconds) he had a bump in the middle of his forehead between his eyes the size of an egg, no exagerating. Turns out he walked right into the aluminum bat as his sister was swinging. <br />
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Jen scrambled around trying to find someone with a cooler so she could put ice on Andrew's enormous mound. Andrew ended up being completely fine except that for the next week he had a bump with a bruise, which then turned into a scab for several weeks. To this day it is a faint red spot. He keeps asking when his bump will go away.<br />
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Living in the middle of the National Forest, 2 miles in, on a dead end road has it's disadvantages. Apparently, people think it's a great place to free their unwanted animals. Being a family with many kids in a neighborhood of not many kids, most strays find their way to our yard. In May we picked up 3 sweet little German Shorthaired puppies playing in the road, obviously malnourished from being recently dropped off. Animal control would not come since it was a Friday, so we kept them for the weekend and of course, the kids fell in love. We have one Alpha male dog already, so we decided to keep the female. We brought the 2 brothers to a foster home for dogs sponsored by the Humane Society. <br />
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Even though we were keeping one of the puppies, our kids were really upset about giving up the other two. It may seem strange, but we were really encouraged to see Andrew grieve over this loss. To us it showed that he was in a good place emotionally. Just this past week, our puppy(4 1/2 months old now) unexpectedly passed. Again, we got to see him process his sadness with many tears.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TYAmrFENRietvE5bn2bek-NRyLcnUMM-mQToe7BS2_YDyC4yMZh0VcA9a3KvYXYs97Di0vM946jqh20MIPWEnmWCmOGtYos55ulFZqzcHrMDdtPssgGP7uoXD3UUXfhIXyaiic0nsRM/s1600/IMG_1623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TYAmrFENRietvE5bn2bek-NRyLcnUMM-mQToe7BS2_YDyC4yMZh0VcA9a3KvYXYs97Di0vM946jqh20MIPWEnmWCmOGtYos55ulFZqzcHrMDdtPssgGP7uoXD3UUXfhIXyaiic0nsRM/s320/IMG_1623.JPG" width="213" /></a>We went camping in June with family and friends. We went to our favorite spot in the woods, a small hike in to a campsite surrounded on 3 sides by a creek. It doesn't have a strong current so its perfect for children of all ages to wade in. It's full of rocks and wildlife so it makes for a kids' paradise. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpTcoQQgK16aR3cl-1OvGc0iHMuZ0YQOzVPhIGChg3j0_vkmqBd_CSz1RK5fTBlkmxVcFAZ98uzuc9ZTeGKkcEsTydnjZFePGKGEqPoOkNafoVDpn8tOSxB8EWvWhPdmJ1XxMTypgQ_Y/s1600/IMG_1679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpTcoQQgK16aR3cl-1OvGc0iHMuZ0YQOzVPhIGChg3j0_vkmqBd_CSz1RK5fTBlkmxVcFAZ98uzuc9ZTeGKkcEsTydnjZFePGKGEqPoOkNafoVDpn8tOSxB8EWvWhPdmJ1XxMTypgQ_Y/s320/IMG_1679.JPG" width="213" /></a>The creek turns into a waterfall that flows into the Chattooga River. There's a small beach area by an edy for the smaller kids to play. Some of us swam out with the older kids and explored the rocks across the river. Andrew absolutely loves water, so again another great trip for him. Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-53996468740134697962012-08-12T20:12:00.001-07:002012-08-12T20:12:16.609-07:00Long over due<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jcknek-zxv0?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In real life we often tell people we meet or long distance friends not to worry if they don't hear from us, we're just low maintenance kind of people. When we meet again, we'll just pick up where we left off! So here we are picking up where we left off- January 2012!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above video is Andrew doing school. It was halfway through the school year and shows a sampling of his progress in speech and learning. As we mentioned in the previous post, we had decided to post pone school for him, but he insisted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About this same time we had some guest speakers come to our church. We had them over to lunch on Saturday. They were great. As soon as they entered our home, they jumped right in with the kids playing on the Wii and really took time to make them feel important. At this point we felt Andrew had attached very well and were not at all concerned about him interacting with strangers. As Aaron left to bring our guests home Andrew asked to go with him. No big deal. One of the speakers sat in the back with Andrew and let him play with his cell phone. Andrew showed no signs of past behavior that would alert us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next morning after our service ended, we saw Andrew sitting in the same speakers lap, playing with his phone! Aaron discreetly called Andrew to him and held his hand until we headed home. We felt we had averted a relapse. However that afternoon we decided to watch a movie together as a family for some down time. All the kids piled on us on the couch except Andrew. We said,"Andrew, come cuddle with your family." Shockingly, he responded,"You're not my family. I want to go back to Bulgaria."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had never heard anything remotely close to this. Having no idea how to respond, Aaron replied, "Well go ahead, go back to Bulgaria." Andrew shook his head no and immediately climbed up on the couch with us all. We have never dealt with anything like that since. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have found it helpful before coming into new situations that might trigger similar responses to ask Andrew who his family is. We specifically ask ,"Who is your mommy?,Who is your daddy?", etc. and have him answer us. We're not sure if this is the key to anything, but again we haven't seen this behavior since.</span>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-42771555721818618852011-11-07T21:46:00.000-08:002011-11-07T21:46:31.918-08:00Over a year home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKfvcXYiY-micMGcAgCJ8GeGmI8B354PfJTD6twzHx3Zg3lx9NekRVS9Dh9CCHnt_ZWbxT2bQap5SDlFv61nCN0qDCL6JunIj8TYsppoL5cXsmpSKwvLadly-TMGsVhBLvc0-XNgfqU0/s1600/IMG_9082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKfvcXYiY-micMGcAgCJ8GeGmI8B354PfJTD6twzHx3Zg3lx9NekRVS9Dh9CCHnt_ZWbxT2bQap5SDlFv61nCN0qDCL6JunIj8TYsppoL5cXsmpSKwvLadly-TMGsVhBLvc0-XNgfqU0/s320/IMG_9082.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>We've been meaning to update the blog since Gotcha Day, September 23rd. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>We have been keeping busy. Jen has been diligent homeschooling the kids. We did not have intentions of doing school with Andrew this year. He still seems to be a little behind in his language and we thought it might be too much. However, Andrew had other plans for himself. He wants to do whatever his siblings do, not to mention, he is self motivated. So, Jen quickly threw together a few things. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>So far, Andrew has learned all his shapes (even ones his older siblings didn't know), he recognizes numbers up to 10 and can count to 39 with a little help, plus he begged to learn how to write his own name. Now he knows the names of the letters in his name too, plus "c" for Cora, "r" for Rachel, "t" for Tobin and "h" for Haley. Andrew knows his colors too and loves to color. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>His favorite part of the day is "Jesus Time". The first half hour to hour of every school day is started with some quiet time to pray and read and draw with Jesus. Jen prays a small prayer to start and then everyone spends time with Jesus either by reading the Bible (the girls who can read) or by drawing pictures (the boys). When everyone is done with that they all take a turn praying. Andrew asks most nights if we'll have "Jesus Time" when we wake up. He loves to pray. All he knows of prayer now is "thanky for...." and then he fills it in with just about anything. Most of the time it's "thanky for church, for daddy work, for van, for house..." Every now and again it's "thanky for Tobin bleed" after Tobin gets hurt. I guess he knows better than the rest of us how to be thankful in all things.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>One of the things we've realized over the past year is just how much we've missed with him. It's mostly the little things in training that we don't think of. Like how its not appropriate to write on cars with rocks (No really. Its a good thing Aaron works in auto restoration.). Of course we also see it in his understanding about who Jesus is. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Although it was encouraging this past week ; Jen told Andrew to go sit on his bed when he was misbehaving during school. She was going to deal with him as soon as she could get the others started on their work. She heard talking in his room and had the other kids keep quiet so she could listen. Jen heard him talking to Jesus and saying Amen. He then yelled out, "Mommy, I'm all done." His attitude had changed.</em></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6CxXwplqGDN8zVuaiwXillBxZ1BdAeLSCk8wacFY5rTOgY3xXtXjxELbu8hR6rzsn1w8uA2wN3vZfAwJsXXngHF59ZlLDJ89BX7nt4E5Yc-vqKwhOvhb01U7-NS6WIaE7Zhj6fY5vz0/s1600/IMG_8658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6CxXwplqGDN8zVuaiwXillBxZ1BdAeLSCk8wacFY5rTOgY3xXtXjxELbu8hR6rzsn1w8uA2wN3vZfAwJsXXngHF59ZlLDJ89BX7nt4E5Yc-vqKwhOvhb01U7-NS6WIaE7Zhj6fY5vz0/s320/IMG_8658.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Andrew does not remember much prior to being with us. He thinks we were there in Bulgaria with him in the orphanage. He really does not remember much from there other than what he sees in pictures. We ask questions, but haven't gotten much out of him. The most he's remembered is "going downstairs with a small mug with black in it with the Doctor". He remembered this one night while we were eating soup and there happened to be a coffee mug on the table at the same time. So, as you can see we haven't gotten much out of him.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Andrew has had one minor cold for a short couple of days since being home. We have had no issues with his hydrocephalus. He is a healthy boy. He is growing in height, but not weight. He eats well and loves fruits and vegetables the most. His favorite foods are tomatoes and apples. We do not eat fast food very often, but he doesn't like it when we do. Although he does love candy, cookies and soda.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Andrew was potty trained when he came home and has stayed that way. For several months he wore diapers at night, but once the box ran out, he wanted to be a big boy like Tobin. He wet at night quite a bit in the beginning and we would not make a big deal of it and just wash the sheets a lot. We woke him up every night, but he'd still wet. Then he seemed to stay dry for quite some time and we thought we were in the clear. It wasn't too long and he was wetting again. We know he's only 5 and that boys do tend to wet at this age, so we don't make a big deal of it and still wake him once before we go to bed. Plus he never seemed that bothered by it. However, we do believe there may be some connection to his emotional state. We have noticed that he wets the most when he seems to have several days in a row with a little bit of attitude or when there has been several changes in our schedule. Over the last month he has started to get upset about it and tells us he is sad when his bed is not made because the sheets are in the wash.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Andrew is occasionally scared people will get him. We let him know we are his mommy and daddy and will take care of him and keep him safe. One night Jen told him that if somebody tried to come and get him that daddy would fight him. He seemed very content with that answer. If he says somebody might get him we ask him what will happen and he says, "Daddy fight them." He still doesn't like to be in bed without Tobin in the room, so when Tobin comes out to tell us something or go potty, Andrew comes out of the room as well if he's awake. </em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4DesMIst5xZC-X0kxmyY9pFCZ7WY6lbpogTC57IR4QXNyzYJ7yElH1GupsW1XzXzgAEgRxfcAYmgpsEpqo_6xe_Q4xJj_AWsMVDK2G4UCQcf373mlvhTR0CZd0pg2UGnl0XvTJ_gMu0/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4DesMIst5xZC-X0kxmyY9pFCZ7WY6lbpogTC57IR4QXNyzYJ7yElH1GupsW1XzXzgAEgRxfcAYmgpsEpqo_6xe_Q4xJj_AWsMVDK2G4UCQcf373mlvhTR0CZd0pg2UGnl0XvTJ_gMu0/s320/IMG_0172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em></em></span>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-26647354934022004482011-09-04T19:17:00.000-07:002011-09-04T19:17:29.275-07:00Dear Gift of Adoption: 2011<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IBVFXKZB-iE?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>We were blessed with 3 different grants through our adoption journey. One was from our church Grace Covenant Fellowship, one from Showhope and another from Gift of Adoption. The video was put together by Gift of Adoption in order for them to raise money for future grants. Our story is the last one. Enjoy!!!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>This month is Gotcha month and it is amazing to think that it has almost been a year since Andrew left the doors of the orphanage forever. Andrew is doing so well. We have had such tangible moments of seeing his attachment. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>We had a dinner to go to in August, but none of our family was available to watch the kids. Up until that point we have only allowed family to watch Andrew. We ended up having a friend watch the kids. The older 4 knew her, but she was a stranger to Andrew. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>We explained as best we could to him who was watching him and how we'd be home while he was sleeping. He didn't seem to mind. We weren't sure how he would react and thought that he might try to get really cute with her, sit in her lap and that there could be a bit of manipulation. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>There had also been a few times in the month before where Andrew would go get something that wasn't his without asking and decide it was his to play with. So obviously we were concerned that he may try and pull something while we were out.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>We arrived home and came in to the living room. Immediately Andrew came over and sat down right next to her. Then Jen picked him up to show Andrew something and he clung to her and wouldn't let go. Our friend said he did totally fine and didn't do either of what we thought.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Just to help explain what is so amazing about this night, Andrew is not a cuddly kid. He lets us hug him and kiss him, but he never iniates affection. If we're watching a movie and try to cuddle him he will shrug you off. A few days before this night Jen was talking about how she really could use some affection from our son iniated by him. Here it was. God knew what she needed and he gave it to her. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>The next night Jen went out before bed time, so Aaron put the kids to bed without her and Andrew cried for mommy. He has never done that before.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Since that week Andrew has been very cuddly. He will walk up to one of us and just lean on us looking for love. He asks to be picked up and wants to be in our laps cuddling while being read to. We're thanking God for all He has done. It is so wonderful to see your child feel more and more safe and more and more a part of the family.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>A few weeks later Jen was putting some old pictures on Shutterfly. They were from 2009 before Andrew was home or known. Whenever he sees pictures of the 4 other kids without him he asks where he is. We always explain to him that he was in Bulgaria and we were trying to find him. That he was in another mommy's belly and how she couldn't take care of him, but that God brought us to him. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>This time he looked at Jen and said,"I don't want to do that again." Jen understood what he meant. Then he said, "I don't want to go there again," meaning the orphanage. She assured him he would never go there again. This was another big change. Usually he sees pictures from Bulgaria and says that he wants to go there, but apparently those days are over. He now wants to be here with his family.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>It is amazing to think about how our biological children go through these same phases, but of course they're suttle and we hardly notice them. With Andrew we're able to see drastic changes, literally within a day's time, and it fill our hearts with joy.</em></span>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-75613857174216894972011-07-18T21:12:00.000-07:002011-07-18T21:12:40.757-07:00Referral picture and some extras<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNue3m7PQfGwVSpYtOe4jgRrIGamgrtD4GPk9Vb3XZ03n8Z9ZZghMhCAZXMnJ-GH9QKHBtK3_W7r-l7uJ9vmfmT0E-0Pyg9lXygMBFpqDFBf1aNUZqOPz9SiwmOcWtnO0fhqC3yYV07Wk/s1600/Andrew%2527s+baby+picture0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNue3m7PQfGwVSpYtOe4jgRrIGamgrtD4GPk9Vb3XZ03n8Z9ZZghMhCAZXMnJ-GH9QKHBtK3_W7r-l7uJ9vmfmT0E-0Pyg9lXygMBFpqDFBf1aNUZqOPz9SiwmOcWtnO0fhqC3yYV07Wk/s320/Andrew%2527s+baby+picture0001.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9enQjYpAf-8qQxBY9TOIFbUn4MXHHFqbZQkrSQEKA8M-XYFXI04786PzgWKpB1MkvHnZeyijHC8eVGEPzQNPseGH1WOpT70WpvbWdFXRsrQ69f_eHv7DGeiyrtwHWw-egNDH1LjuiZ9g/s1600/Andrew+Aleksandar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9enQjYpAf-8qQxBY9TOIFbUn4MXHHFqbZQkrSQEKA8M-XYFXI04786PzgWKpB1MkvHnZeyijHC8eVGEPzQNPseGH1WOpT70WpvbWdFXRsrQ69f_eHv7DGeiyrtwHWw-egNDH1LjuiZ9g/s320/Andrew+Aleksandar.jpg" width="256" /></a>Here is our only baby picture (left) of Andrew given to us with about 15 other pictures from the orphanage. The picture on the right is our first glimse of Andrew (our referral picture). What a precious little boy, our son. We saw the life in him through his eyes and knew he was ours at first glance.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We used An Open Door Adoption Agency here in Georgia. We were super impressed with this agency as we have stated numerous times. We had an opportunity to write up a testimonial for their website and wanted to share it. To see our testimonial click <a href="http://www.opendooradoption.org/Content/Default/11/173/0/testimonials/international-testimonials.html">here</a> (We're the second one down under Andrew).</div><br />
Family National Association is the Bulgarian side to our adoption agency. Click <a href="http://www.adoption-bg.com/">here</a> to see their homepage. If you scroll to the bottom you will see our pictures on their home page. Click on Photos/Reviews at the top of the page to read our review (first one under Review for USA) as well as see our pictures (under Photos for USA). We were very impressed with this agency. They also have a section listing special needs children that they have access to written in English. A long way down on the list is the number for our son and next to it is written ADOPTED along with many others. It brings joy to our heart to see this.<br />
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Last, but not least, here is some fun video our boys. They love music and play their guitars most every day. By the way, Andrew is singing to God and saying "Send your power". Yes, it sounds like shampoo, but we hear it often. Some days it is easier to understand than others. This is Andrew's favorite song to sing. He made it up one day while he and Tobin were playing "worship".<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lqme50X-DCo?fs=1" width="480"></iframe>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-42640581140582279012011-07-17T18:29:00.000-07:002011-07-17T20:51:08.008-07:00Summer Events and Birthday Boy!!!<div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wPrMyMTZOf_aOZwQQFqxfEPQ-zniTxsmU1dqCHz2yW_sRoJ6vPhhEnJPv5KVzgSCMf6-mSPqpm94o36FRypJ6ID5xzE8GJbC0WGdqriMSJcjuzwjVo-RieBLjv2AKy-HAKh7KCM5S5c/s1600/IMG_8573.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630516659389431122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wPrMyMTZOf_aOZwQQFqxfEPQ-zniTxsmU1dqCHz2yW_sRoJ6vPhhEnJPv5KVzgSCMf6-mSPqpm94o36FRypJ6ID5xzE8GJbC0WGdqriMSJcjuzwjVo-RieBLjv2AKy-HAKh7KCM5S5c/s200/IMG_8573.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a>Friday, July 15th was Andrew's 5th birthday. It was his first birthday home with his forever family. After being home about 4 months and watching as others in the family had birthdays, he's been counting down until it was his. Finally the day arrived. We had one family over to celebrate on the actual day since some of our family is out of town and we won't have a big family party until later in the month. </div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On our Gotcha Day, we were given about 15 pictures of Andrew. Some of them included pictures of his 2nd, 3rd and 4th birthdays. His hair is always done crazy in these pictures. We were told that there was one woman who really liked his hair that way, so they would do it up for his birthdays. We call it "crazy hair" when we look at the pictures with him. So, when his day finally came he asked for "crazy hair" and we were more than willing to accommodate. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrEm-R5aP-TnxvtsnItSMA0w_YGSSNwDKBUoiXyqm8ypitQhpop1nuMvTrq_iS_DxEVz4AXTFdkM_6D6_Fw839Lt5hFfX9xXp2yCWdME00vQQlDrUgYx1oCAMfHJc6CPslnNd4MJt99Q/s1600/Andrew+2nd+birthday0001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630518238205608178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrEm-R5aP-TnxvtsnItSMA0w_YGSSNwDKBUoiXyqm8ypitQhpop1nuMvTrq_iS_DxEVz4AXTFdkM_6D6_Fw839Lt5hFfX9xXp2yCWdME00vQQlDrUgYx1oCAMfHJc6CPslnNd4MJt99Q/s200/Andrew+2nd+birthday0001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 139px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1f-kLoAAFB6265Vjl58NTt4DoXl8fgihL1-XVUo_6dFQzVSDn9vBwD_jBrB_w8T_EOjIkc1_qdF6VDsI4KWAL5Fh9RooxTJbgxCC7wgxMXCK67TXLy9uJqAQYZ4zZJuBF84jbpzWBAU/s1600/Andrew+3rd+birthday0001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630518242580658626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1f-kLoAAFB6265Vjl58NTt4DoXl8fgihL1-XVUo_6dFQzVSDn9vBwD_jBrB_w8T_EOjIkc1_qdF6VDsI4KWAL5Fh9RooxTJbgxCC7wgxMXCK67TXLy9uJqAQYZ4zZJuBF84jbpzWBAU/s200/Andrew+3rd+birthday0001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 122px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFEnvmVdM8wwf6WkZhOGwUw82IebuudUBLYH7pQfe8M5xdYugAcgV3kxJdTA6u-5b1Yk4b6fxTjne-Ww_SKYEO93eO28PRj7t723y5VJRIex5d1w-9h-KQbutKCEYmARjIUGNXX93814/s1600/Andrew+4th+birthday0001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630518246632049138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFEnvmVdM8wwf6WkZhOGwUw82IebuudUBLYH7pQfe8M5xdYugAcgV3kxJdTA6u-5b1Yk4b6fxTjne-Ww_SKYEO93eO28PRj7t723y5VJRIex5d1w-9h-KQbutKCEYmARjIUGNXX93814/s200/Andrew+4th+birthday0001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 139px;" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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It has been almost 10 months since we brought Andrew out of the orphanage. Since the last time we blogged he has grown another inch, but only gained a half of pound if that. So, our big 5 year old is now 42 1/2" tall and about 32.6 lbs. He's only about 4 lbs. lighter than our smallest at 5 years old. So, he's definitely a Santor.</div><br />
We just had our post placement this week. Our caseworker is heading to Latvia and had to get this done in time to send it off to Bulgaria for translation. Since it will be one year the end of September.<br />
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We did a lot of travelling the month of June. Our first weekend was spent with Aaron's family in Tybee Island for a family reunion while his sister was here for her R&R (she's deployed with the army). We spent the weekend with all 13 cousins on Aaron's side. The oldest being Cora at 10. Yep, a lot of little ones. Andrew really loves his cousins and aunts and uncles. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzNH9g20xaE0-oIjWRqn2KBwrDz-KeD0yb0NcBWhuilbX10mVs3FDPNaFLJUvLZxN6JUndrxD88odZMVW18Xk2CYRdehmPny2CjcsplM4gFO_67YaDk6EGaC0ksFHoNGzL5R3Jg1MCQw/s1600/IMG_8226.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630528330600587186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzNH9g20xaE0-oIjWRqn2KBwrDz-KeD0yb0NcBWhuilbX10mVs3FDPNaFLJUvLZxN6JUndrxD88odZMVW18Xk2CYRdehmPny2CjcsplM4gFO_67YaDk6EGaC0ksFHoNGzL5R3Jg1MCQw/s200/IMG_8226.JPG" style="float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 134px;" /></a></div><br />
His first trip to the ocean was back in November '10 right after we got him home. He tripped and fell just as an inch of water washed up around him. Overwhelmed, he shrieked until we picked him up. The water this time at Tybee was stronger. Andrew went right in the water and played around in it for quite a while. We have a brave little guy with hardly any fears. <br />
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The following weekend we headed up to NY and MA to visit our families. Another round of seeing grandparents, great grandparents (there are 6 of them), aunts, uncles and more cousins (on Jen's side). Usually we drive through the night and while Andrew is no longer vomiting on car rides, he still seems a bit uneasy through the night. He yells, cries and kicks all in his sleep while we drive. However, he did not do any of it this trip. It is so exciting to see how well he is attaching and adjusting just in these little things.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">While we were in NY, Jen's cousin generously offered to take the kids rock climbing. We all had a great time and it was yet another new adventure for Andrew. He didn't quite get the hang (pun intended) of climbing without clinging to the rope but he had a blast asking "Please more." He kept wanting to go higher. He did great until we asked him to rappel back down. He took a few steps back and panicked. He clung to the rope with both hands. More shrieking. Now all he could scream was "Please go home!" We eventually worked him down, and of course he immediately wanted to go back up.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKes8cHkwb1_MKs7Jzp_qOvECZD8yueLlLs_Aw0DxGj_0_xRZ6zJ05aPlVEafQfDON7AHrTb_SCxwBQPls76xve-8qeMaoQDFDEsBeXg_FOm3MoNsM9JaTNsNuUuNbIDIJu-5TDX49v7I/s1600/IMG_8318.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630520764496204498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKes8cHkwb1_MKs7Jzp_qOvECZD8yueLlLs_Aw0DxGj_0_xRZ6zJ05aPlVEafQfDON7AHrTb_SCxwBQPls76xve-8qeMaoQDFDEsBeXg_FOm3MoNsM9JaTNsNuUuNbIDIJu-5TDX49v7I/s200/IMG_8318.JPG" style="float: right; height: 134px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizRXod_l0iTEBAWrNuWAt3HrWBgsomqmJNk5lMrMrBz4YcpkZImIKzt7S7fn7P_nBq93r9JD83Qi_rrowPKsCO9h2Gm9M3N9CaNPt14mSnBxCMrNV_f91WVQyU_i6yMvt_40QLyPfP7o/s1600/IMG_8470.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630521528504084050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizRXod_l0iTEBAWrNuWAt3HrWBgsomqmJNk5lMrMrBz4YcpkZImIKzt7S7fn7P_nBq93r9JD83Qi_rrowPKsCO9h2Gm9M3N9CaNPt14mSnBxCMrNV_f91WVQyU_i6yMvt_40QLyPfP7o/s200/IMG_8470.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We were gone for about 10 days and the following weekend went on a camping trip. It was Andrew's first time, but he looked like such a pro. All the kids like to walk around in the woods at night with their flashlights. It's kids only and they call it a "night hike". Well, Andrew joined right in. At home he seems a little afraid of the dark. He won't go to the bathroom in our room if the lights are out and he doesn't like to go to bed unless Tobin is in there and the closet light is on. Here in the woods he didn't seem to notice the dark, even when we put the kids in the tent to go to bed without us. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>We were able to go swimming at the lake as well. This is the only place we've seen him be somewhat afraid of water. He loves the pool whether he can reach the bottom or not. The ocean was no big deal. Playing in the river was a blast. He begs for a bath most every day and pours buckets of water over his head and has learned to hold his breath underwater. The only thing we can figure is that it was murky lake water and he couldn't see the bottom.<br />
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</div>The next weekend was the 4th of July, so we headed up to Helen, GA. We spent the entire day there going tubing down the Chattahoochee River, grilling out, playing in the river and then watching the fireworks. Again, all firsts for Andrew. He absolutely loved tubing. We weren't sure what he'd do during the fireworks. There was a big bang and then the sky was lit up. Andrew turned around, looked at Aaron and said,"This is fun." He had a huge grin on his face throughout the rest of the display.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yes, that was a whirlwind and we didn't plan it that way. We all survived and had so much fun as a family. We did have a little bit of re-adjusting to do with Andrew after being away from home and having so many new things and people around, but it never takes long. He just gets a little bit of attitude, disobedience rises up a little more than usual and he becomes very independent, not wanting mommy's or daddy's help. Nobody else notices it besides us. Just a little bit of time holding mommy's or daddy's hand or sitting in one of our laps for a short time usually does the trick.</div></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We love our kids!! It is so amazing still that Andrew is home with us!! We are so thankful to God that He truly handpicked Andrew for our family.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-31436450710551445632011-05-23T09:26:00.000-07:002011-05-23T09:27:54.901-07:00Recent video of Andrew<iframe height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Qev26jMb6c4?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="480" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />We finally figured out how to upload video.<br /><br />Yes, this is how crazy life is at our house most of the time.<br /><br />Oh, Andrew is the one in the red pajamas. <br /><br />Enjoy!!!Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-3722531485489204972011-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:002011-05-22T21:36:15.192-07:00The last few monthsWe finally did go to the neurologist at the end of March to have them tell us more about Andrew's hydrocephalus. We headed down to Atlanta with him and had x-rays and a CT scan done. Andrew was quite the trooper. Immediately after, we went over to the neurologist's office for a consultation. He really didn't give us any new information. He did, however, confirm that Andrew has the mildest form of hydrocephalus. The shunt and all were in place (not quite where he would put it, but each neurologist has their ideal). We will need to lengthen the tubing that drains the extra spinal fluid from his brain. He has some extra tubing in his abdominal cavity, but not enough to get him into adulthood. So, in the next 2 -3 years Andrew will have to have surgery for that. The doctor said he likes to just replace the tubing so it won't become calcified. This means they will make a small incision at the base of his neck where the valve for the shunt is and another one near his bellybutton in order to take out the old tubing and replace it with a new one. This is a simple procedure, considering what more could be needed, and we are grateful this is all that will need to be done.<br /><br /><br />We never did write anything about Andrew's size. He came home a few months after he turned 4 wearing size 4 clothes. He was 30 lbs and 39 1/2" tall. As of March (6 months home) he only weighed 32 lbs. and was 41 1/2" tall. He has, however, started to wear size 5 tops. We cannot get him to grow any quicker.<br /><br /><br />We have had 2 post placements so far. Our caseworker, Cathy at An Open Door is amazing. She asks questions, but it's not intimidating at all. We give her the photos required and any other documents needed. I think we get talking so much she ends up being here longer than she is supposed to. She's been with us since we made the switch to Open Door and has been an encouragement along the way. We love having her come and do the visits because she was such a part of the process of bringing Andrew home and now she gets to see the end result of her working with us. Don't know if we mentioned it already, but she went out of her way to meet us at the airport for Andrew's homecoming. We had not met prior because their office is several hours away and we had done our home study with another agency. It meant so much to us for her to be there and show her support.<br /><br />We received about 15 pages of documents in Bulgarian from the orphanage the day we took Andrew out. We have been wanting to translate them even though we knew it would mostly be the same information we already had. Finally we had some money and found a woman who lives in the states now (but lived in Bulgaria most of her life) who was willing to translate them for a reasonable fee. As we expected, most of the information was more of what we already knew; however, one document listed some of Andrew's firsts. Just this document alone was worth the money we spent. We now know when he first rolled over from his back to his tummy and when he first rolled over from his tummy to his back. We also know when he first sat up assisted and not assisted and when he first walked assisted and not assisted. What a treasure!!<br /><br /><br />Another fun little piece of information we found out was his blood type. Things seem to be in neat little packages for us. The girls and I have the same blood type and Aaron and Tobin have the same blood type. We joked about how Andrew will probably have the same blood type as the boys and sure enough he does. Not a big deal to most people, but significant to us and apparently God figured it was too. It's just so crazy to see how God totally knew who our son was and didn't leave out even the simplest of details to make him feel more a part.<br /><br /><br />It took over 6 months, but we have finally adjusted to being parents of 5 kids. Things are running a lot smoother now and we are more able to enjoy time with all of our kids.<br /><br /><br />Andrew has been home for 8 months now and is doing so well. As soon as we can figure out how to upload videos we will post some.Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-28178094801838210002011-04-26T21:55:00.000-07:002011-04-27T06:09:12.818-07:00April 26th<em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">It was exactly 3 years ago yesterday that we first made the decision to adopt, and exactly one year ago yesterday that we met Andrew for the first time. </span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We went back and reread our blog entry from the day we met Andrew. It's funny the things you remember, and the things you forget. We are so thankful that we took the time to write out the details of that moment. It is amazing to see how different we were even then, and how God's grace and provision have changed us forever. </span></em>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-20562167753663956902011-02-28T20:12:00.000-08:002011-03-14T13:11:07.522-07:00Odds and Ends We've Been Meaning to Write About<em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Seeking Counsel</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We are so thankful to have a church family that supported us in our adoption. There are several families that have adopted as well. A couple months before we travelled to pick up Andrew we took one couple out to dinner and gave them total freedom to "wreck" all our false expectations about bringing an adopted child into our home. "The wounds of a friend are faithful" and we trusted their input completely. They were very encouraging and even gave us articles to read concerning attachment and other adoption related issues. It is such a blessing to have people like this in our lives. </span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Home School</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">One piece of advice that was offered was to lower our expectations for home-schooling the other children when Andrew came home. Initially we shut down school for several weeks. We gradually worked our way back on track but still we have drastically downsized the amount of material covered. It has been a juggling act with 4 kids in 4 different grades and a 4 year old looking for something to do. When he sees the others get their books out, he grabs his notebook and crayons saying "Andrew school?" He is not mischievous and into things, but he does get bored and interrupts. Many times throughout the day Jen hears, "Andrew hungry", "Andrew color" or some other jibberish just wanting to be heard. </span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Language</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We can see his frustration with the language, as many times he will just blurt out made up words just to be a part of the conversation. He will even call someone's name just to get their attention but then just says "Um, um, um" His big achievement around New Year's was that he began speaking in sentences. It all started with us showing pictures to the grandparents and suddenly we heard Andrew say, "This is Cora, this is Rachel" as he pointed to each person in the picture. </span></strong></em><br /><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Just in the last few weeks he's begun replacing his name with "I" or "Me". Although many times he still speaks in the third person.<br /></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br /></span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Travel</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Just after Christmas we travelled 18hrs to Massachusetts and New York to visit extended family that had not yet met Andrew. We were thrilled not to have to deal with his anxiety vomiting in the back seat. He seems now to understand that we will always return home. It looks as if that phase has passed. </span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Dentist</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Andrew did have some major tooth decay, most of which was not too noticeable. However, the dentist did feel that it would be good to fill them to avoid future pain since he will have some of the teeth for another 5-6 years. His first visit went well and the dentist was able to fill a few teeth in one quarter of his mouth. Unfortunately, on the second visit, Andrew remembered the previous visit too well and wasn't able to sit still knowing what was coming. </span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Early February, we took him to be sedated in order to have the remainder of his teeth filled. Jen held him while they sedated him and then had to wait in the other room for 2hrs. They called her when he began to come to. An assistant quickly carried Andrew to the van, handed her a sheet of instructions and sent them on their way. It was one awful hour long ride home with Andrew screaming and flailing as much as the seatbelt would allow. An hour after being home, the sedatives were still making it hard for him to keep his balance. He had a little pain in his teeth at dinner and breakfast the next morning, but after that our little trooper acted like nothing ever happened.<br /></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br /></span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Pediatrician</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Andrew finally visited the pediatrician in January. She didn't have much to say. All his blood work looked good. He did need to catch up on a few shots which meant 3 in January and 4 more last week. He didn't like them at all and screamed quite a bit, but quieted down before we left the office. Again, he's a trooper and didn't act like anything was wrong after we left. We did assure him that he would not have anymore shots for a long time. Now when someone says "doctor", Andrew says, "no more shots". The big thing we're waiting on is a visit with a neurologist to see what they think stateside about Andrew's hydrocephalus. Our pediatrician's office got a visit set up for us in Atlanta on the 28th of this month. We'll keep you posted. </span></strong></em><br /><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Attachment</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">It has been almost 6 months since we took Andrew out of the orphanage for good. He is adjusting so well and is definitely attached to us. However, we have only gone out and left him with Jen's sisters a couple of times for a couple of hours. We still do not send him to Sunday school class and don't plan on it until the Fall. He turns 5 in the summer and can go to class with his siblings in September when they switch out the classes. </span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Maybe we're over protective, but we can still see a change in his attitude towards us when we have left him or even when we have large gatherings. We even noticed a little attitude in him during church on Sunday mornings if we didn't hold his hand coming into the building. These attitudes were extremely mild and not noticeable to others, but we could sense them. For the time being we feel that it is beneficial for him to stick with mommy and daddy. We were the same way with all the others their first year of life, so why do it any differently for Andrew.</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Diapers</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Andrew came potty trained. What a huge blessing!!! However, he does wear a diaper at night. Somehow he can sleep through anything and doesn't wake up to use the potty. We even have to have him in a diaper for car rides over a couple of hours because there is a good chance he will fall asleep and wet. We have been prepping him that when he turns 5 and stays dry all night he won't have to wear diapers anymore. He gets so excited, especially when you tell him that he'll be like Tobin and will be able to wear underwear to bed. Aaron's big chant that the kids still use today, "No more diapers, pee pee on the potty!!!!!" worked for the other 4. We'll keep you posted.</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Prepping the kids</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Before leaving to bring Andrew home we sat down with the kids and talked about what life might look like with a new brother. We told them for a season everything we did would revolve around Andrew and bringing him into our family. He would have to adapt to us as well, which would take time. We told them that they may feel neglected at times but we encouraged them to talk to us about it. At the same time we as parents saw this as a great opportunity to walk alongside our children and help them "consider others better than [themselves]"Phillipians 2:3</span></strong></em></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">We went out to eat one night and a woman asked our daughter, Rachel, if the boys were twins. Without missing a beat she replied, "No, they're 10 months apart." The look on her face was priceless. She then asked if they were all siblings. Again Rachel matter of factly said,"Yes." Now her husband had a look."How do you manage?" he asked. We told him that somedays we don't. </span></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">What impresses us is that it never occurs to our children to mention that Andrew has been adopted.</span></em></strong></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We also explained to the kids that at first, Andrew would not be disciplined the same and it might appear to them as if he were getting away with everything. We told them that discipline would change as our relationship with Andrew grew. Today Andrew is "loved "to the same measure as his older siblings.</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Shoes</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">A tiny tidbit that worked for us concerning the shoe issue with most adopted children: Andrew wanted his shoes on all the time, which wasn't a problem in Bulgaria. However, we do not wear shoes in our house. Knowing this might be a problem, we bought Andrew slippers as soon as we got home. This way he could have inside and outside shoes. It worked! It actually worked so well that within a matter of days he didn't even bother to wear his slippers and went stocking footed around the house. We don't know if it will work for others, but figured we would make mention of it anyway.</span></strong></em></p><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">I love you</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">For the first few weeks of bringing Andrew home we would say, "obicham te" and he would respond back "obicham te". After that we started to say "I love you" and he would respond back with something that sort of sounded like "I love you". While this was amazing and brought joy to our hearts this past week we cannot express the new emotions that came when Andrew said on his own, without prompting, "I love you". This just happened last week when one night he said it to Jen and the next night to Aaron. The third night at dinner, again without prompting, and having nothing to do with the converstaion he said, "I love mommy, daddy."</span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We love our son more than words can express and are so thankful to God for bringing him into our family. </span></strong></em>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-4799993131575424192011-01-22T07:44:00.000-08:002011-01-22T07:46:30.759-08:00Sofia - The History of Europe | София - Историята на Европа<iframe height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2oUwgGLiz0c?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="480" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />Here is a glimpse of the capital city, Sofia in Bulgaria. This is where our son Andrew's orphanage was located. We were able to see all but one of the buildings in this video as well as many others. Enjoy!!!!Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-66390620503616238642010-12-14T18:44:00.000-08:002010-12-14T20:56:19.575-08:002 months home and readoption<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNKY4I7G_fi5lh_KLN93HuphrcEmuhJBIDuPcvx_FpFv2bQW98hx1Q1yW19osA81GgRHrZ8aUtkLijhSrxublBYaB06TzI6p81Z23rSk6ZyNvSIytXWN57m_4woJD8ujNfN9UmAiWRgc/s1600/IMG_6208.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550765174790746066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNKY4I7G_fi5lh_KLN93HuphrcEmuhJBIDuPcvx_FpFv2bQW98hx1Q1yW19osA81GgRHrZ8aUtkLijhSrxublBYaB06TzI6p81Z23rSk6ZyNvSIytXWN57m_4woJD8ujNfN9UmAiWRgc/s200/IMG_6208.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0g2FyuBJuFt23TeFEwaVOFNFo39-y0HyTBHmGPgYzgRlPg7nttNW2mAT10zgi3Sq8I1ip1OtZao4X3b8_g7SRNAtK0TbJwaxRtuvbU2akxiCWzzVR0vzy6kWUSIRedvIO8hPQVvV8WGc/s1600/10+09+10_0041.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; 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WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550761313863476530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerU29q8DPFa5tt0O9WkysBrSduFoWHJmRW0TPTTrvdNxpKa4CPQ6Haj7AhggN-gPbmDbKFjSyN5L4wjO6pdWOTtdsMliQt7WC01sHouB6hCag42tUabocud9B9Sak4W3hFj6L_EehlBQ/s200/IMG_6559.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyO3Q5UVDe7Se8_zabxX02qoB8u40bK6vmbpKosc71ulWLvgmuYJo1UNQ2iicqChWRoo-89HsRPz0IN-r_4VOF8YNVieXwfeBForbGOH-iYrYJTZSonPjljQ45M17sWKEPjaXtTVTKTNs/s1600/Tom%2527s+HHI+Shots_11+13+10_0133.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550760397299327858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyO3Q5UVDe7Se8_zabxX02qoB8u40bK6vmbpKosc71ulWLvgmuYJo1UNQ2iicqChWRoo-89HsRPz0IN-r_4VOF8YNVieXwfeBForbGOH-iYrYJTZSonPjljQ45M17sWKEPjaXtTVTKTNs/s200/Tom%2527s+HHI+Shots_11+13+10_0133.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERSydqiA_ruN7Aj4sQenyUa43zftXe9B_PNB-6U3rodT7vpeCJhb_8o8PamFYyam33CX1YxJ2y8cOTHft55nJLSJEJo5cdlvP1tonmhP8u0y3ZP0h4NjnJGtddW-YBS7yXhCfWbOMXpQ/s1600/IMG_6652.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550760749941262674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERSydqiA_ruN7Aj4sQenyUa43zftXe9B_PNB-6U3rodT7vpeCJhb_8o8PamFYyam33CX1YxJ2y8cOTHft55nJLSJEJo5cdlvP1tonmhP8u0y3ZP0h4NjnJGtddW-YBS7yXhCfWbOMXpQ/s200/IMG_6652.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKdwa0T0hd1FMN8a5KhdhNns6SqXO_23E4bEDsY5LPS24rdGvVFgGjwBvE6FtwjHFPFLMdzR_DbtnyGU5zycyiL33dZII5KtuPNgdmQLcCBIs3Dj-QPM_WHNSV_18ApAbK1eIWf_BCic0/s1600/IMG_6149.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550763315501367330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKdwa0T0hd1FMN8a5KhdhNns6SqXO_23E4bEDsY5LPS24rdGvVFgGjwBvE6FtwjHFPFLMdzR_DbtnyGU5zycyiL33dZII5KtuPNgdmQLcCBIs3Dj-QPM_WHNSV_18ApAbK1eIWf_BCic0/s200/IMG_6149.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgZmGzBnu5FzATFC8ZAur_3VtTTBhQrYt9oDWX7USzU1-2JYmc4tPiHED_xVpKXWphW9s-z_XHoCedG6qjfk_DlkU3klRee7pFs0pY79eC8vqLngm1KZBwH0fMoHw4VktsZSZYvLwt84/s1600/Sandy+Santor+Shots_10+09+10_0005.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550763683223309698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgZmGzBnu5FzATFC8ZAur_3VtTTBhQrYt9oDWX7USzU1-2JYmc4tPiHED_xVpKXWphW9s-z_XHoCedG6qjfk_DlkU3klRee7pFs0pY79eC8vqLngm1KZBwH0fMoHw4VktsZSZYvLwt84/s200/Sandy+Santor+Shots_10+09+10_0005.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6VqcBWJad-Ijn47OWmrY1OJXWmDfAV0RtFLhye0rfKY90ZDoHRzFzshIFRBZbqD86Mt2C-58RuOZel5K4TAWI513Rk95TbLxKL06BpGy7D-68SbhtfDZN3rWLnFUoEyggtOUiWtIDHo/s1600/IMG_6712.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550763034486980690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6VqcBWJad-Ijn47OWmrY1OJXWmDfAV0RtFLhye0rfKY90ZDoHRzFzshIFRBZbqD86Mt2C-58RuOZel5K4TAWI513Rk95TbLxKL06BpGy7D-68SbhtfDZN3rWLnFUoEyggtOUiWtIDHo/s200/IMG_6712.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqxMcFfurUrbo4EWUwyQFhWBADYkjnxZCtuw1dc8MBbKhau8ieUmOeTXnxvfKZQbkM2tRWyeM1FTuTfqtyB6ibLmjNRI_-4A7S19Bw3PsbYZSk43ymMqgIeU4ulRstFGPuG1pbPOsb7s/s1600/IMG_6616.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550760984670013746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqxMcFfurUrbo4EWUwyQFhWBADYkjnxZCtuw1dc8MBbKhau8ieUmOeTXnxvfKZQbkM2tRWyeM1FTuTfqtyB6ibLmjNRI_-4A7S19Bw3PsbYZSk43ymMqgIeU4ulRstFGPuG1pbPOsb7s/s200/IMG_6616.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidZ3OfZHreS_43eX-wGKiS00N3ZBeXYIPRcexz0V4rvTZVPdxEH9RzWWFy88Hh3zMSXAPycin_P5dP6HYe1B0wAVmLUtJ_WD8DsG11n2QnP4QKKublgZzrHsb-Z-c79iMhwVHSq_HH3Jg/s1600/IMG_6254.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550764798788139458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidZ3OfZHreS_43eX-wGKiS00N3ZBeXYIPRcexz0V4rvTZVPdxEH9RzWWFy88Hh3zMSXAPycin_P5dP6HYe1B0wAVmLUtJ_WD8DsG11n2QnP4QKKublgZzrHsb-Z-c79iMhwVHSq_HH3Jg/s200/IMG_6254.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCy_eAGSQauifa4P8t2WyBd5V5EHWDh2x8Kd_0aus9sLSVMh9qfX3_L-nApjBGZ1aA8zKV-11rOY6FtxCgcoiBK7eltQ_pDDGu40MWf1rTnBCCkBVfbDbK2rPNbqYSvbOy95Jx1tcS8rA/s1600/IMG_6540.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 197px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 135px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550761696920695442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCy_eAGSQauifa4P8t2WyBd5V5EHWDh2x8Kd_0aus9sLSVMh9qfX3_L-nApjBGZ1aA8zKV-11rOY6FtxCgcoiBK7eltQ_pDDGu40MWf1rTnBCCkBVfbDbK2rPNbqYSvbOy95Jx1tcS8rA/s200/IMG_6540.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOchBSZQxPbEIeX0QDxXYeJTiOhPJlrYP2u1yFXVBONLT_mwdHthhe-TRSDbGhuW930w9N08Lgo0sQjzmc1xsR-FV9eDJDHyZkdbiwEjmR4EpBjvqrGlBCx9L1HdKFmU6-GF2DXzIEEA/s1600/IMG_6634.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550760591422361490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOchBSZQxPbEIeX0QDxXYeJTiOhPJlrYP2u1yFXVBONLT_mwdHthhe-TRSDbGhuW930w9N08Lgo0sQjzmc1xsR-FV9eDJDHyZkdbiwEjmR4EpBjvqrGlBCx9L1HdKFmU6-GF2DXzIEEA/s200/IMG_6634.JPG" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><div>It has been just over 2 months since Andrew has come home. In the last month we realized that it feels like Andrew has always been here. Sometimes we think he feels that way too. The other day he was looking through some old pictures and came across one of the other 4 kids. After studying it for a while he looked at Jen and questioningly said, "Andrew?" He was confused as to why he was not in the picture. </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Last month we travelled to Hilton Head Island for a short weekend trip and about an hour into the drive Andrew began moaning in the back seat. Jen turned around to check on him trying to find out what was wrong. She finally got out of him that his belly hurt. We tried to pull over but did not make it in time. We realized that the last time we packed everything up and left early in the morning was when we came home from Bulgaria. Oops. Although nothing momentous took place that weekend we noticed an immediate change in Andrew's overall attitude. It seemed like Andrew had really connected with us and now was truly a part of our family in his own mind.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>A few weeks later we headed out to Gatlinburg, TN for a short family weekend. This time we talked about where we were going and how we would come back home. He seemed to understand, but apparently he still got anxious and ended up throwing up just as we got into town. No warning signs again. Hopefully, our 18 hour ride up north after Christmas will go a little more smoothly.</div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div> </div><div>Both trips he did completely fine on the way back home. So, it definitely is not a car sickness thing.</div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div>We did have an opportunity this past weekend to go to Christmas party, which meant leaving all the kids with Auntie Jessie and Uncle Craig for a few hours in the evening at our home. We didn't have any idea how Andrew would react since it was the first time he would have mommy and daddy gone at the same time. He loves our extended family and we were not worried about him other than wondering if he would be too o.k. with us gone. We were relieved the next morning when we went in his room and saw that he had thrown up in the night. It sounds weird, but knowing that this is how he deals with anxiety, we were happy to know it was not all o.k. to him that we were gone for the evening.</div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div>He is bonding so well. Once in a while we do deal with a bit of an attitude from Andrew towards Jen. He decides for a moment that he doesn't want anything to do with mommy and only daddy. So, Aaron takes these opportunities to teach his son not to be rude and to respect his mommy. Occasionally, there ends up being some discipline involved. It's hard on Jen and even Aaron during these moments, but they are far and few between.</div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div>It has taken 2 months to get Andrew covered with our state medicaid program. So, we have yet to visit our pediatrician. The week after Christmas we will be able to see her. In the meantime, we have been able to visit the dentist. Unfortunately for Andrew, all the candy he got for being the favorite or to keep him from throwing fits has caused him a mouthful of cavities. Good news is that they are all baby teeth. He loved the dentist and could not wait for his turn. He still wants to go back even after having a quarter of his teeth filled on the second visit. We get to go back this week to get another quarter filled. His teeth are not black, which we were happy about, but you can see the decay. Since he could lose his teeth in a year, the dentist is not sure as to whether or not to fill the front teeth, but he said we had enough to start with before we decide that.</div><div></div></div><div><div><br /><br /></div><div>Well, here is the news so many have waited to hear. We've been asked, "Last we knew you needed a few thousand dollars more and then next we knew you were flying to get Andrew. What happened?"</div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div>As God would have it, on the day we were flying out to get Andrew from Bulgaria we called home to have one last check of our email before our long flight across the ocean. There it was - an email from Gift of Adoption stating that we had been awarded a grant in the amount of $3,500. God had provided exactly what we needed as we needed it. He had covered all $36,000 that it took to bring our son, Andrew home!!!!! Thank you, Jesus!!! There we were in the middle of the Chicago airport amazed at our God, Provider. </div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div>Obviously, we had to put the plane tickets on a credit card to order them, but fully expected God to provide the money. We have been waiting for the grant money to come through so we haven't mentioned it publicly until now. We got the credit card bill and then one day last week we received the grant check and were able to pay the bill. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>This past Monday, December 13th we went to the courthouse in town and readopted Andrew stateside. No, we did not have too, but we had already run into a few problems with medicaid and could only imagine what other things in the future might be a problem. We had a lawyer friend take care of the legalities and we had enough adoption funds left to pay all expenses for this last step as well. God is faithful until the end!!!</div><div><br /> </div><div>So now the chapter on bringing Andrew home is closed. This next chapter will be full of new adventures as we live life with Andrew. At the start of our journey we committed not to go into debt to fund the adoption. We knew that if adoption was the path that God wanted us on then He would provide every penny. When things got down to the wire, we found assurance in the fact that if we took out a loan to pay for any part of this it would be our doing, but if God came through we would have nothing to boast in except His faithfulness.</div><div><br /> </div><div>We are truly blessed!! And, yes, we do have our hands full with 5 kids!!!!!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-83558513837422992922010-11-02T19:16:00.000-07:002010-11-02T21:10:05.627-07:001 Month Home<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0oGVzheQ-7QYkNpnD51Z_km2ptBPio9Nj2eEBAWmTEYjIXf9836TLwuDS82NZ7J0QPG5wSSK7rbJy_fBBMIeAvQwQfmJoPAmApOyIXxTM6xnSVuRepo8NI_nIZeWJw5pRv7-gKb6AhQ/s1600/IMG_6275.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535167770466546226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0oGVzheQ-7QYkNpnD51Z_km2ptBPio9Nj2eEBAWmTEYjIXf9836TLwuDS82NZ7J0QPG5wSSK7rbJy_fBBMIeAvQwQfmJoPAmApOyIXxTM6xnSVuRepo8NI_nIZeWJw5pRv7-gKb6AhQ/s200/IMG_6275.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsr7cJzPh5apEXzBrSWoiYTRx5COwvMO6q5_v9YkyjEJNa4uRQPTN7PzCLjO0pzq8UyHvOhUp16axYR47Uu5QXQ-nlEDJ2cZtLaLuNwkLdk7eV8SKPg3vKZAQH4pp_kwHfRNLnRWATHCw/s1600/IMG_6329.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535168391796712450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsr7cJzPh5apEXzBrSWoiYTRx5COwvMO6q5_v9YkyjEJNa4uRQPTN7PzCLjO0pzq8UyHvOhUp16axYR47Uu5QXQ-nlEDJ2cZtLaLuNwkLdk7eV8SKPg3vKZAQH4pp_kwHfRNLnRWATHCw/s200/IMG_6329.JPG" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlMGqWzmXc_083AawiJrjCxdUWncrtcXiFY2BH-ZBxUhnNFoJqATuO85Y8hyphenhyphenNiyeIlwR0w962OtbiQWM-oCjkVs3xqmI6Hfkeb64JjqW_SHSmTarhupxp1tLWPPxoVHUfDgoQved4InA/s1600/IMG_6285.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535166421803520322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlMGqWzmXc_083AawiJrjCxdUWncrtcXiFY2BH-ZBxUhnNFoJqATuO85Y8hyphenhyphenNiyeIlwR0w962OtbiQWM-oCjkVs3xqmI6Hfkeb64JjqW_SHSmTarhupxp1tLWPPxoVHUfDgoQved4InA/s200/IMG_6285.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8EbZbjr9viwZfwFIB5y-VMnITxpGvpGfnlNAKYDX7LCRc3Rj0xDWxLYW6JBlWnEid5ssXCcmOec9PxmrNtcGFmS2plD6cWethA9fr0aSWk6Vcpt52fbOF-mPVnHeR3l8C0bM0dedJEo/s1600/Santor,Aaron-Jennifer,Bulgaria,Sept.23,2010+kids.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535164919377546466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8EbZbjr9viwZfwFIB5y-VMnITxpGvpGfnlNAKYDX7LCRc3Rj0xDWxLYW6JBlWnEid5ssXCcmOec9PxmrNtcGFmS2plD6cWethA9fr0aSWk6Vcpt52fbOF-mPVnHeR3l8C0bM0dedJEo/s200/Santor,Aaron-Jennifer,Bulgaria,Sept.23,2010+kids.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUSDpEHdzuko17WJhstJzO_AJiKOAvtm8QpQLgv0WeXjip71OahPIW3d5nJUTOI2LMf6KrBYnj2R5qhDOisdwzEGXzh-RYQ2gbtQjr5EMdHzQeQgsOd6VhehunOpDmrg_d6wQifaKlUM/s1600/Santor,Aaron-Jennifer,Bulgaria,Sept.23,2010+brothers.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535163646893170754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUSDpEHdzuko17WJhstJzO_AJiKOAvtm8QpQLgv0WeXjip71OahPIW3d5nJUTOI2LMf6KrBYnj2R5qhDOisdwzEGXzh-RYQ2gbtQjr5EMdHzQeQgsOd6VhehunOpDmrg_d6wQifaKlUM/s200/Santor,Aaron-Jennifer,Bulgaria,Sept.23,2010+brothers.JPG" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div></div><div></div><br /><br /><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We had our 1 month post-placement visit today. All interaction with our case worker, Cathy, from An Open Door has been over the phone, with the exception of a brief moment at our Welcome Home Rally at the airport. So, we enjoyed spending time with her in person today.<br /></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><br /><div><br /><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">It's hard to believe that it has already been a month since we brought our son home. Our time in Bulgaria seems like a distant memory. And who was that child we had with us?<br /><br /><br />Our Sashko has decided that he now enjoys being called Andrew. Jen would ask him (in Bulgarian) what his name was and he would answer, "Sashko". Then she would ask him again and then answer for him, "Andrew?". Every time she did this he would giggle and smile. She did this a few times about a week and a half ago and let it be. The next day at lunch he pointed to himself and told his siblings "Andrew!". So we decided we would start to call him Andrew. Almost immediately we noticed an overall improvement in his attitude.<br /><br /></span></em></div><br /><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">While we will not keep him from his Bulgarian roots, it seems that a "clean break" for the moment is better during this time of transition. Even pictures from Bulgaria or speaking too much Bulgarian seems to confuse him and cause him to disengage from us. We do have tons of mementos from the country and orphanage that we will tuck away for now and save for a more appropriate time.<br /></span></em></div><br /><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Fits and tantrums have completely subsided. Meal time is no longer a hassle. As a matter of fact, when we sit down to dinner, Andrew will push his milk aside and start eating immediately. He will actually ask for permission before he takes a sip. </span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br /> </div></span></em><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">While Andrew is not at all shy (in fact he's quite a flirt!), he now looks to us before greeting extended family members and friends. </span></em></div><br /><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><br /><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">It's amazing how quickly Andrew has learned English. He does understand most everything we say. We will ask him a question in English and often he will respond in Bulgarian. When he hears us say certain words in English, like "more", he repeats the word in Bulgarian, "oshti". He has been using many English words and phrases; he copies us all the time. </span></em></div><br /><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We have decided to re-adopt Andrew stateside while everything is fresh in our memory and paperwork has not been lost. We have a court date set for December 13th. It has been a little tricky trying to get insurance coverage for him due to the specific documents they are looking for. We figure there will only be more headaches in the future and re-adopting will eliminate those. </span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em> </div><div><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em> </div><div> </div><div><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">We did the math before we started the adoption, but didn't realize how big a family of 7 was until we got them all together! Or how fun! </span></em></div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><div><br /></div></span></em><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em> </div><div><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">When we realized that we would be bringing him home soon, we made preparations to have many of our responsibilities delegated out until after Christmas. It really has been one of the best things we did for our family. Nightly wrestle matches, story times, and horsey rides have been great not only for Andrew but also for our other 4. They have done remarkable during this time of adjustment as well. We are so proud of their sacrifice, prayer, faith, and hard work throughout this entire adoption journey. Now that Andrew is home we are amazed at their selflessness, care and love. There is no difference to them, Andrew has always been one of us.</span></em></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-66904360890123734712010-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:002010-10-16T17:50:38.730-07:00Travelling Home!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeCR67smSD1Sl8aeVUS_sDcfb6NE_doJ10DLn5t3NAmkc9u8K7CKUnyQ_iu3Mc8wQhxuhvj5JzioSiK_A2iDr3bMwpLQpgF0pfGYSPsahuiI3UTk7EucwycgJ1MLVYfhjuHAVmVk1BvA/s1600/IMG_6109.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528723970367081762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeCR67smSD1Sl8aeVUS_sDcfb6NE_doJ10DLn5t3NAmkc9u8K7CKUnyQ_iu3Mc8wQhxuhvj5JzioSiK_A2iDr3bMwpLQpgF0pfGYSPsahuiI3UTk7EucwycgJ1MLVYfhjuHAVmVk1BvA/s200/IMG_6109.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhsOjYMsMK9NPCumG8P3FSNynraPxKziP2WSEJ406_5UckGV17ofRKc_Nw1MucofdhF6ZdcT0YzgQ90nDiaST2pteldDy-zOI2Y-RT2aaEHIjcikYSjyxIsHvZXsRQCfhiMYba45CqpE/s1600/IMG_6111.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528724119119916930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhsOjYMsMK9NPCumG8P3FSNynraPxKziP2WSEJ406_5UckGV17ofRKc_Nw1MucofdhF6ZdcT0YzgQ90nDiaST2pteldDy-zOI2Y-RT2aaEHIjcikYSjyxIsHvZXsRQCfhiMYba45CqpE/s200/IMG_6111.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Waiting in Sofia airport at 4:30 a.m. and lollipops for all take-off and landings.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJttT7BS6Og2sisUhWYb8lTRY3p0RBnofDoYqSpJigSc_M86e2Z-CtNZo9vyqd8iJ9tS04vhn3_cJVAagkfquYvgydn0rmdA4K-lcI8s45Hgp1H1cvdq7Hj0ljZFzRGcm_UENvPLBJJsA/s1600/IMG_6112.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528725394932468466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJttT7BS6Og2sisUhWYb8lTRY3p0RBnofDoYqSpJigSc_M86e2Z-CtNZo9vyqd8iJ9tS04vhn3_cJVAagkfquYvgydn0rmdA4K-lcI8s45Hgp1H1cvdq7Hj0ljZFzRGcm_UENvPLBJJsA/s200/IMG_6112.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOTzj_QAuEQh6AfExhivk78S1QNt6Imo42dwj-ksRk8CZbJQX_9_OJPEgnyhURt-wf60iWh0U-GAvilOo5dwvp6Qn0Th5DUalFrkLjpitH-5QRQ5gMtzkfCpxENpcwZQnz-hdaVdiNxA/s1600/IMG_6114.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528725227087016130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOTzj_QAuEQh6AfExhivk78S1QNt6Imo42dwj-ksRk8CZbJQX_9_OJPEgnyhURt-wf60iWh0U-GAvilOo5dwvp6Qn0Th5DUalFrkLjpitH-5QRQ5gMtzkfCpxENpcwZQnz-hdaVdiNxA/s200/IMG_6114.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Walking around Frankfurt airport for a 3 hour layover and falling asleep only a half hour before boarding.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWPgTJlTD_O54uo-e-VE-JmssKUohofQwspCp-e4SX9fxDLBak8Uern_TqNoTJDiJ9V_wZwGioKgFF-hSAJLRBgewERi1jv8l2R4iSkFJY_HBxX74fmvIzcovjKPz4cd5GhHYSZEWVSU/s1600/IMG_6115.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528724815481612274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWPgTJlTD_O54uo-e-VE-JmssKUohofQwspCp-e4SX9fxDLBak8Uern_TqNoTJDiJ9V_wZwGioKgFF-hSAJLRBgewERi1jv8l2R4iSkFJY_HBxX74fmvIzcovjKPz4cd5GhHYSZEWVSU/s200/IMG_6115.JPG" /></a><br />Car ride home from the airport. No issues with the seatbelt. Yay!!! </div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-35767214512514672332010-10-16T11:41:00.001-07:002010-10-16T17:49:52.673-07:00Day 7, Day 8 and Day 9<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0zOGL3Dl1FjJncB1RJfSEBVQRovUdbztqxGCc9Wi7WOiAAm_0l4QETLX_ny5oCp5cPrXBI4usdRrNyKqwEb8V_39WTE6WEHVoZx_XnadfHj7dnWDmVdbauiDhJaclaef4zxkVKf3SLw/s1600/IMG_6068.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528721824992731330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0zOGL3Dl1FjJncB1RJfSEBVQRovUdbztqxGCc9Wi7WOiAAm_0l4QETLX_ny5oCp5cPrXBI4usdRrNyKqwEb8V_39WTE6WEHVoZx_XnadfHj7dnWDmVdbauiDhJaclaef4zxkVKf3SLw/s200/IMG_6068.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW0s00rryorRZM88haMFq7Jv2wGhin5EkRiVw5fdBNU5Phr9ygXYsnESdaRefoEuBSo4eOCPoxcjZvFFLrr0SDk-t6WIT_IuTDwVfk0YeDUPMH5_cUYnDK7Js-nuC6GQsNFkBXJ2GMUY/s1600/IMG_6074.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528721701998200802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW0s00rryorRZM88haMFq7Jv2wGhin5EkRiVw5fdBNU5Phr9ygXYsnESdaRefoEuBSo4eOCPoxcjZvFFLrr0SDk-t6WIT_IuTDwVfk0YeDUPMH5_cUYnDK7Js-nuC6GQsNFkBXJ2GMUY/s200/IMG_6074.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnju6Im6o5CBb0Wg1knuvmd6uhB3wZlL4BE2dXGrTXAWiUu9PgS6Tgxqkm3mar32iNmxIhw_t7ZBL2uuISjIlobFKiBVwBhcb97VwDk4GS7SHDKWpVN_ukK1qS4jgb50ZT2cbSZYdgmM8/s1600/IMG_6076.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528721405796960482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnju6Im6o5CBb0Wg1knuvmd6uhB3wZlL4BE2dXGrTXAWiUu9PgS6Tgxqkm3mar32iNmxIhw_t7ZBL2uuISjIlobFKiBVwBhcb97VwDk4GS7SHDKWpVN_ukK1qS4jgb50ZT2cbSZYdgmM8/s200/IMG_6076.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>Hanging around the apartment and the infamous door.<br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkkiij84djp5_29mo74pCjMbQiD84KI02qnQ48rv1UFCebj1-aq6v4wSSgXfZ68KpmyaQk3nPhWIgfalUwsSDwZNjZFJIGQhKWlWyq9coczhagjLGXGsX-Gq0AP5tgA5ONlrpghPF3q0/s1600/IMG_6077.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528721249551499858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkkiij84djp5_29mo74pCjMbQiD84KI02qnQ48rv1UFCebj1-aq6v4wSSgXfZ68KpmyaQk3nPhWIgfalUwsSDwZNjZFJIGQhKWlWyq9coczhagjLGXGsX-Gq0AP5tgA5ONlrpghPF3q0/s200/IMG_6077.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pscA6bqT_x66Dq1ivcIGEj3TcDwzt2pManEVinu01SE-klB80p0PNhAh36VleqvEVscioNztI-CeRKIGzO-bxBCwSZvzWtCHFBYlZjdEjYkgLEw3I6UlWEsq5rvY41v2vJMFMSu4nOU/s1600/IMG_6080.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528721134534530354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pscA6bqT_x66Dq1ivcIGEj3TcDwzt2pManEVinu01SE-klB80p0PNhAh36VleqvEVscioNztI-CeRKIGzO-bxBCwSZvzWtCHFBYlZjdEjYkgLEw3I6UlWEsq5rvY41v2vJMFMSu4nOU/s200/IMG_6080.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3ebMHDHofjCzKdk9tJ5gctGPbclF94_4XCRQ-oOmZXp4EzWH9vwPG3vtpj4ozOh8z0KW7lrlNGGcan9MKUiUH25wk8aqDensM7A9EQy5KOWJvdUy4uWUo65sewmw_5ZrD5frPKJaQ_0/s1600/IMG_6081.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528720971571588402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3ebMHDHofjCzKdk9tJ5gctGPbclF94_4XCRQ-oOmZXp4EzWH9vwPG3vtpj4ozOh8z0KW7lrlNGGcan9MKUiUH25wk8aqDensM7A9EQy5KOWJvdUy4uWUo65sewmw_5ZrD5frPKJaQ_0/s200/IMG_6081.JPG" /></a><br />Views of Sofia from the top of the National Palace of Culture.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jDYvppVzjhoC9vwhfozL5_nuv2jFo-JNfY5VkloDIXSPCe_ITREApv666Ow9vYNpG8nLfaIVwktdkIcBDyaqPpTOs65C2mJWBizcUXIneKvBCh7rtWAdmUdWnBy09RyE3IXBikncFoA/s1600/IMG_6086.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528720738279510162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jDYvppVzjhoC9vwhfozL5_nuv2jFo-JNfY5VkloDIXSPCe_ITREApv666Ow9vYNpG8nLfaIVwktdkIcBDyaqPpTOs65C2mJWBizcUXIneKvBCh7rtWAdmUdWnBy09RyE3IXBikncFoA/s200/IMG_6086.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEKpJ4NL7Sp7LW2ePbiCF0mbUZQjxRs96LFg6RA1gVA5sYYXBJolekPpBwt4pr6uUm84h_JmtUxWxtmQMey6W98ZOgrZoQVE0mKAkF_jW3e9rBMtf740b3K9UBPryyozrErs5B3xqDP4/s1600/IMG_6087.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528719397050489314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEKpJ4NL7Sp7LW2ePbiCF0mbUZQjxRs96LFg6RA1gVA5sYYXBJolekPpBwt4pr6uUm84h_JmtUxWxtmQMey6W98ZOgrZoQVE0mKAkF_jW3e9rBMtf740b3K9UBPryyozrErs5B3xqDP4/s200/IMG_6087.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6I6NNm3NUidAGB1de1ZJb_6t9ei4Iap3gEs2bUUIuuQZOCTlhDPRCeb-vLbw1ILHk08m66vQp0_3GMhWn8W-tJ-leDBJW5wUKbV2AfnYknnyQTM3gog1_BFTZYlBJxw6e4gM-1qaXGBw/s1600/IMG_6088.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528718795704007538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6I6NNm3NUidAGB1de1ZJb_6t9ei4Iap3gEs2bUUIuuQZOCTlhDPRCeb-vLbw1ILHk08m66vQp0_3GMhWn8W-tJ-leDBJW5wUKbV2AfnYknnyQTM3gog1_BFTZYlBJxw6e4gM-1qaXGBw/s200/IMG_6088.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-h5FKB9Q_J6ROM0mEAjVWw3fYj85hucApxbdENlwmPskh3ANxdQcHpQlNUBEX0prxvy1JiR1P6Riq8bCLekDvVkbve0W1_cGIWUMizeT40ylY5HlBoSOEgltWTyI9Z8y-UQ89yAWtkM/s1600/IMG_6089.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528718068052027250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-h5FKB9Q_J6ROM0mEAjVWw3fYj85hucApxbdENlwmPskh3ANxdQcHpQlNUBEX0prxvy1JiR1P6Riq8bCLekDvVkbve0W1_cGIWUMizeT40ylY5HlBoSOEgltWTyI9Z8y-UQ89yAWtkM/s200/IMG_6089.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOI4C1YmGmkPzRZhyphenhyphenLZESlPNMGDK_nSlvfCTssaXwc2P4rYq_Hsoi9g5c_3zm196vETLZGiWYU3LvSmTA-z2TQw-KSDGlm7UhzxEZvnwG5lucdedzQAVDK-gGMXZHLlMU1-fBG49ZbuSo/s1600/IMG_6093.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528717767546100514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOI4C1YmGmkPzRZhyphenhyphenLZESlPNMGDK_nSlvfCTssaXwc2P4rYq_Hsoi9g5c_3zm196vETLZGiWYU3LvSmTA-z2TQw-KSDGlm7UhzxEZvnwG5lucdedzQAVDK-gGMXZHLlMU1-fBG49ZbuSo/s200/IMG_6093.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Hadjidraganov's Houses <a href="http://www.kashtite.com/index_en.html">http://www.kashtite.com/index_en.html</a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz3UjkqVB7EEAIGyzb313P1LMJvzwAkwDb8Ya2Ya4wctX1rYHKttZTwBJf9yY4UXuU0QZ77QyUxoTegYUkGneSf4DTh-9fWagEbg7DqxYJ4SwT-x26etpfmxwr1obh_rCbmQpHEg3wIo/s1600/IMG_6103.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528716909320280530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz3UjkqVB7EEAIGyzb313P1LMJvzwAkwDb8Ya2Ya4wctX1rYHKttZTwBJf9yY4UXuU0QZ77QyUxoTegYUkGneSf4DTh-9fWagEbg7DqxYJ4SwT-x26etpfmxwr1obh_rCbmQpHEg3wIo/s200/IMG_6103.JPG" /></a><br />Toy camera and toy phone were the best toys we brought. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnCvy681rRqs-cZVJJG5N5x2idMRIbeAUB6C43uaW_v0PNIUXutvPhmDWUw6u5lbca6TiEXxrXaSqRMEe_7UhLU6KKnkBfXxvi4hzEvYNl6wQPm2KB1J7GCof0xnXetSNt-v4bXeMyZQ/s1600/IMG_6107.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528716424258513186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnCvy681rRqs-cZVJJG5N5x2idMRIbeAUB6C43uaW_v0PNIUXutvPhmDWUw6u5lbca6TiEXxrXaSqRMEe_7UhLU6KKnkBfXxvi4hzEvYNl6wQPm2KB1J7GCof0xnXetSNt-v4bXeMyZQ/s200/IMG_6107.JPG" /></a><br />Sashko loves shower time. </div></div></div></div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-12456675946707123232010-10-16T10:37:00.001-07:002010-10-16T17:48:02.605-07:00Day 5 and Day 6 in Bulgaria<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDOMx_hXRa3dufveI4K3i1YMyQX0Ly-F3hHuE1hzHOSX1bq0CpkasPAjPLdIXdGzfIHBN5hmmtX2hm9ExP8ZjTbFy__6hzKXO3YXM2j6pIo2k05V8DgubUmeG3J6YJb212xEauxKJNRY/s1600/IMG_6012.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528710374766064322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDOMx_hXRa3dufveI4K3i1YMyQX0Ly-F3hHuE1hzHOSX1bq0CpkasPAjPLdIXdGzfIHBN5hmmtX2hm9ExP8ZjTbFy__6hzKXO3YXM2j6pIo2k05V8DgubUmeG3J6YJb212xEauxKJNRY/s200/IMG_6012.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVmei-RfMkHA0DsDcqqFSrLfaO0wfqm8Nv8CWzLpvSL1oz9NhI6kwOOHkQ-8DBqMHJrekHr3Xa2Wt46wkuxHw6RN_1WuMOD70APgkLpLctQAvE1JS6vFQbm_WZd43nL4fgjYmnhs4dN0/s1600/IMG_6014.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528710190659253314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVmei-RfMkHA0DsDcqqFSrLfaO0wfqm8Nv8CWzLpvSL1oz9NhI6kwOOHkQ-8DBqMHJrekHr3Xa2Wt46wkuxHw6RN_1WuMOD70APgkLpLctQAvE1JS6vFQbm_WZd43nL4fgjYmnhs4dN0/s200/IMG_6014.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>Church of Sveti Sedmochislenitsi and Rotunda of Sveti Georgi<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAl_PdW_wrg7wJ3n2Vft1hXcG6kXrUi4d3bBPsOvERNZ4n8vDmJsZsnPSYQmb0fdFwTDiNCcbbN74wAM4Xj-z0nOWjSa7TzuSmNcmbRy2KqxyMpVKsDxzeXho1jp9XNfqjFxt5oNKVHDE/s1600/IMG_6016.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528709002444151170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAl_PdW_wrg7wJ3n2Vft1hXcG6kXrUi4d3bBPsOvERNZ4n8vDmJsZsnPSYQmb0fdFwTDiNCcbbN74wAM4Xj-z0nOWjSa7TzuSmNcmbRy2KqxyMpVKsDxzeXho1jp9XNfqjFxt5oNKVHDE/s200/IMG_6016.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgof8R7k3hhN_WTn_B8F-aG-09ebp6mHlU8bZh7MyhSjBLUJTFHHbfdT1UjiR0nY5y_jaJ3axGPzPPhIP-BkN4fiMc0vwuucfSdjW_JmEFYuRiHjXgei2S0rg5bfnjKvSu1XLXiM3p5kE0/s1600/IMG_6020.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528708387999885074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgof8R7k3hhN_WTn_B8F-aG-09ebp6mHlU8bZh7MyhSjBLUJTFHHbfdT1UjiR0nY5y_jaJ3axGPzPPhIP-BkN4fiMc0vwuucfSdjW_JmEFYuRiHjXgei2S0rg5bfnjKvSu1XLXiM3p5kE0/s200/IMG_6020.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>Sveta Nedela and Statue of St. Sofia<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz2lV0SoIuOJwZg67WXBYj77uqvNVOVvYeR5D215U21BCxMUonckcxpMwoNKRPFmD3ImebL2lKDvaUQnRZexWaCsHducuzlGPJMj1GYY-XSBLKdTR6RSUJ3HExNgjSmm2FaAblXEja7c/s1600/IMG_6030.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528707360242574674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz2lV0SoIuOJwZg67WXBYj77uqvNVOVvYeR5D215U21BCxMUonckcxpMwoNKRPFmD3ImebL2lKDvaUQnRZexWaCsHducuzlGPJMj1GYY-XSBLKdTR6RSUJ3HExNgjSmm2FaAblXEja7c/s200/IMG_6030.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW_lzdtCYHV7Htz1_luZYHZIwagEHkUL-1q6w7CgtNOewJvQtxDBHCcNBfeJVDpzu49zmkPbYhb63DHyWGt_s6emaSs1p6qN14U333FmOAseWdIZawJc_nFn1R2KCEbHXjpfVOkZVhSY/s1600/IMG_6029.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528707576527856530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW_lzdtCYHV7Htz1_luZYHZIwagEHkUL-1q6w7CgtNOewJvQtxDBHCcNBfeJVDpzu49zmkPbYhb63DHyWGt_s6emaSs1p6qN14U333FmOAseWdIZawJc_nFn1R2KCEbHXjpfVOkZVhSY/s200/IMG_6029.JPG" /></a><br />Mineral Baths and Party House<br /><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kMuj6fpY44zvzxZrgsbvSNFoaBaHYA_xt2vdItjrepbTmvLj9lSadVaAUzX0KySRY4R_muIYNnirPwNZ6JnVdqYtyY-jHMX0vY6l4wFfY9dNrlLW3H5WX8-1iA2KA2o2VeCnSNMkU6o/s1600/IMG_6047.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528706416873163874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kMuj6fpY44zvzxZrgsbvSNFoaBaHYA_xt2vdItjrepbTmvLj9lSadVaAUzX0KySRY4R_muIYNnirPwNZ6JnVdqYtyY-jHMX0vY6l4wFfY9dNrlLW3H5WX8-1iA2KA2o2VeCnSNMkU6o/s200/IMG_6047.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsfZlCaEclGr2zObpQkBk3Az6Ss440WeVH0KYsGESDkiX6lYtLUoLRlSA6c5wDqJFdh5VHRzReIHryrleaAkKpDgmwN3_i8SaqF8Oh7vYEyciixu9Zw6g-bkzJMBvlt9XaEmz1iQmoTg/s1600/IMG_6035.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528706831572671234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsfZlCaEclGr2zObpQkBk3Az6Ss440WeVH0KYsGESDkiX6lYtLUoLRlSA6c5wDqJFdh5VHRzReIHryrleaAkKpDgmwN3_i8SaqF8Oh7vYEyciixu9Zw6g-bkzJMBvlt9XaEmz1iQmoTg/s200/IMG_6035.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmwDOWFXORVWhyphenhyphenN3ZC-e4bN4ri7CA5BHJ-t__bmggUmvFm-wa-mfr6qoHHfQOwDy4pk4fZ1QbhAvNlvP96eCH2qJ1pZTp1CbFA_MPdYq5zMperyusl9jMwKtK3jKnxqsPcq5J7GbmvJA/s1600/IMG_6011.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528710580279181730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmwDOWFXORVWhyphenhyphenN3ZC-e4bN4ri7CA5BHJ-t__bmggUmvFm-wa-mfr6qoHHfQOwDy4pk4fZ1QbhAvNlvP96eCH2qJ1pZTp1CbFA_MPdYq5zMperyusl9jMwKtK3jKnxqsPcq5J7GbmvJA/s200/IMG_6011.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRkSY_p22Ncdo2wlNPnwEQbrRoKtkytm8RNP22G2Xhp9N88pTpi7TJFJfzG7KoZSlKPXZGl-hIFxFLAazXeeQaEvgXqvHG1TwVn6rG6TojqoYXp-tiYLz6yugv_EVs6BZ769QIHtZ8nk/s1600/IMG_6063.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528703634984889826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRkSY_p22Ncdo2wlNPnwEQbrRoKtkytm8RNP22G2Xhp9N88pTpi7TJFJfzG7KoZSlKPXZGl-hIFxFLAazXeeQaEvgXqvHG1TwVn6rG6TojqoYXp-tiYLz6yugv_EVs6BZ769QIHtZ8nk/s200/IMG_6063.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwF6t8nGNPHcgUaWfYu_Vw7VFPfFElZu8kaUFN8HkBPwk9aTvAch4SeCaV8j-RRZYJjIWjG8EijCCBbV704EkEvJMg0KHHs77nP0vqb-WBmRNOkzhXYIQNIqo2Az8u9xnLUcEDwTWm4hM/s1600/IMG_6065.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528703155079383074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwF6t8nGNPHcgUaWfYu_Vw7VFPfFElZu8kaUFN8HkBPwk9aTvAch4SeCaV8j-RRZYJjIWjG8EijCCBbV704EkEvJMg0KHHs77nP0vqb-WBmRNOkzhXYIQNIqo2Az8u9xnLUcEDwTWm4hM/s200/IMG_6065.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Yuzhen Park (South Park) with Mt. Vitosha<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGa6IssMeWJLpAtTmhnOhAtI_IP07vBmeUldBrM4HMgEhm33o7OfVRCZTW587qs_HpZ9KSxIW7QldwoenXpHlZX0FyfWlyWpqmrJRJcChMpqSKJEjln0LkEG2ePvBpkaE0CeoCX99qnc/s1600/IMG_6053.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528705364430343154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGa6IssMeWJLpAtTmhnOhAtI_IP07vBmeUldBrM4HMgEhm33o7OfVRCZTW587qs_HpZ9KSxIW7QldwoenXpHlZX0FyfWlyWpqmrJRJcChMpqSKJEjln0LkEG2ePvBpkaE0CeoCX99qnc/s200/IMG_6053.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcdj7NeACGfzYmJM8mAgkCuPDzIe2ncarWG2RFbNGZWmKmKwzXzSCBI1Eg4z5BbvsMQBdN9lqXwI98T-Ssv11etEAnUUAaxiC_eQMMaie-BCyV921bQwtZToD8z_P9SP_AtFJTC7UNbc/s1600/IMG_6055.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528705066850247586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcdj7NeACGfzYmJM8mAgkCuPDzIe2ncarWG2RFbNGZWmKmKwzXzSCBI1Eg4z5BbvsMQBdN9lqXwI98T-Ssv11etEAnUUAaxiC_eQMMaie-BCyV921bQwtZToD8z_P9SP_AtFJTC7UNbc/s200/IMG_6055.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Zhenski Pazar (Market)<br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyeoyB6gQFPCn8TqoofQuiQJvbFsFOB-SG7lWINnMWXdHxUBtgT-gYQV5JuBUQSWVf_Ph4jirB1fXkmLiYogphHu5UXSqtmTUMC2dMa0zxuqhhl-UR8ae-mse4HygJABTL8XUov0Ag28/s1600/IMG_6058.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528704249885798386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyeoyB6gQFPCn8TqoofQuiQJvbFsFOB-SG7lWINnMWXdHxUBtgT-gYQV5JuBUQSWVf_Ph4jirB1fXkmLiYogphHu5UXSqtmTUMC2dMa0zxuqhhl-UR8ae-mse4HygJABTL8XUov0Ag28/s200/IMG_6058.JPG" /></a><br />Trolley ride<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-87928786152692787162010-10-16T10:07:00.000-07:002010-10-16T17:46:29.957-07:00Day 3 and Day 4 in Bulgaria<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywU0Q6P_xerPiNAu7hcM8rqiN-mmjy75iWe86tM7dbjvkV891UnSmHcCXA0oeJDKShHeeEQ19IeixnsPibNcfYLinnEXCMQyKpSDKRG9a2DPjyWB5kmZ1r9A_YsksGoJvTs8_fKlg97g/s1600/IMG_5981.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528698882412898978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywU0Q6P_xerPiNAu7hcM8rqiN-mmjy75iWe86tM7dbjvkV891UnSmHcCXA0oeJDKShHeeEQ19IeixnsPibNcfYLinnEXCMQyKpSDKRG9a2DPjyWB5kmZ1r9A_YsksGoJvTs8_fKlg97g/s200/IMG_5981.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LnUMh-ml0DJX0qrU9snDHNrS69ztOEbOgSun2JmmkHK86zkBkkzg56DnNVvjdYAyvzb0EZcVxMMc0oGh6ZNdqfdiHeozoLEvP93_mFRCQozNbYupZwr9X8jQ9tZYGtAVLcHjy8GyqWk/s1600/IMG_5985.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528698728035152274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LnUMh-ml0DJX0qrU9snDHNrS69ztOEbOgSun2JmmkHK86zkBkkzg56DnNVvjdYAyvzb0EZcVxMMc0oGh6ZNdqfdiHeozoLEvP93_mFRCQozNbYupZwr9X8jQ9tZYGtAVLcHjy8GyqWk/s200/IMG_5985.JPG" /></a><br />The National Palace of Culture<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTCY_GJj0A8Mb0izf8miJmBewLKuF-hCxbk1YmBflCDUOYTV59jnBcA4FYIFfXe2ps7TCUJJ7EcDAQFxQvyOsg_DaF8EBahbRfE5g5rKHciqiISbCLUoB4LPV3t3KMfE_tcHdGoB66ss/s1600/IMG_5991.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528697410791747362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTCY_GJj0A8Mb0izf8miJmBewLKuF-hCxbk1YmBflCDUOYTV59jnBcA4FYIFfXe2ps7TCUJJ7EcDAQFxQvyOsg_DaF8EBahbRfE5g5rKHciqiISbCLUoB4LPV3t3KMfE_tcHdGoB66ss/s200/IMG_5991.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDH52cVir6FBXtksTavFDZPnEYrZAKg3GJ8olBIrEwHCLp_-4AaUPMgFKfw7AOkuAOpkdp_EtEhSeNc3tvizIS4CRPNxpCSTp6YdkTm-maCyrDGWNvyqkapFXCR92mb6XSYK_nXOE8Lw/s1600/IMG_5992.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 133px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528697025802014258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDH52cVir6FBXtksTavFDZPnEYrZAKg3GJ8olBIrEwHCLp_-4AaUPMgFKfw7AOkuAOpkdp_EtEhSeNc3tvizIS4CRPNxpCSTp6YdkTm-maCyrDGWNvyqkapFXCR92mb6XSYK_nXOE8Lw/s200/IMG_5992.JPG" /></a><br />The Russian Church and Alexsandar Nevski Memorial Church<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6FtefRfs37l__2tIqDzonZe8lb7vGDziJs5W5q-mmeoaTAW7Iqkg1y9Pz8yNsGoVgnaK0MYfUMCXzlIv8owmaGDPp7upNU7Nd4-qfSvvT_cbtjm1Z89lq4V_ncLDgibqZ1m6Dpv8R-g/s1600/IMG_5994.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528695633266927266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6FtefRfs37l__2tIqDzonZe8lb7vGDziJs5W5q-mmeoaTAW7Iqkg1y9Pz8yNsGoVgnaK0MYfUMCXzlIv8owmaGDPp7upNU7Nd4-qfSvvT_cbtjm1Z89lq4V_ncLDgibqZ1m6Dpv8R-g/s200/IMG_5994.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7i3rvY9yBY-CNa8H8tcQAniQaDlt6H-HuI3ntjWMg0oMS0pQqRM1TENV33GYt68HmuTXJv2zsFMOJqJcgp2IdTsU2jkh5ir1-F0lE5Qmdl7J9v24f0OEmCqSmHc8R1m8IEuZgNxrgQU/s1600/IMG_5999.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528695341333649010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7i3rvY9yBY-CNa8H8tcQAniQaDlt6H-HuI3ntjWMg0oMS0pQqRM1TENV33GYt68HmuTXJv2zsFMOJqJcgp2IdTsU2jkh5ir1-F0lE5Qmdl7J9v24f0OEmCqSmHc8R1m8IEuZgNxrgQU/s200/IMG_5999.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>Margenitsa Restaurant <a href="http://www.magernitsa.com/">http://www.magernitsa.com/</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlnZXCygHiv1vcp99iHDgzGnnBSBV7BI1dg-728sMKud-sDh6QBLw0fKSaEE0eZb9ubkYcAKnwtV2zYIzqjskGPN_zE7Ul1wWuhmMVkdFpBhgFB0q0o3NKI-BAHy77fH0syjfmi5ni80/s1600/IMG_6001.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528692912739581314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlnZXCygHiv1vcp99iHDgzGnnBSBV7BI1dg-728sMKud-sDh6QBLw0fKSaEE0eZb9ubkYcAKnwtV2zYIzqjskGPN_zE7Ul1wWuhmMVkdFpBhgFB0q0o3NKI-BAHy77fH0syjfmi5ni80/s200/IMG_6001.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOztMjJtUzVU-LMZlRLtXo7iATw6qU3TI-WLphTZ1X4NpaHhQgz4VfwE3ILVKzSwyTuSIISgRA7E7ZVuXhweZFwINJ5uqNzIzhOlrlngJ8FiuS8QbaRSZcig0ggBeZBARvj4G5CoUhz7E/s1600/IMG_6008.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528692698117045906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOztMjJtUzVU-LMZlRLtXo7iATw6qU3TI-WLphTZ1X4NpaHhQgz4VfwE3ILVKzSwyTuSIISgRA7E7ZVuXhweZFwINJ5uqNzIzhOlrlngJ8FiuS8QbaRSZcig0ggBeZBARvj4G5CoUhz7E/s200/IMG_6008.JPG" /></a><br />Zoopark </div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-23438890095658596032010-10-16T09:22:00.000-07:002010-10-16T17:47:12.421-07:00Pictures Day 1 and Day 2 in Bulgaria<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqlacRH523eaYsMovqE9YXv7eVSx66uyH0UCcEOdc3CgKelURsgvC4pb4e1VCc0JNmGLY-Iy_AngeK1n23srY7sJsPv-Aalj1UioZGguhauGP_VicOHNA0SAu7gU4cMDTw4MsWHp2EwE/s1600/Sept.+23+Gotcha+025.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528680405235709330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqlacRH523eaYsMovqE9YXv7eVSx66uyH0UCcEOdc3CgKelURsgvC4pb4e1VCc0JNmGLY-Iy_AngeK1n23srY7sJsPv-Aalj1UioZGguhauGP_VicOHNA0SAu7gU4cMDTw4MsWHp2EwE/s200/Sept.+23+Gotcha+025.JPG" /></a><br />Gotcha Day at St. Sofia Orphanage<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdPMgsaHxMMqUoukIkAfphhaoM_l8Y0skbjqfbtSPG_qPC9CI9D_kvn2CoDc7Qo14aifht06G1s8SyNw3NCWLBzCPqXbwmUQ0VXPWlKBM9Wsf4oZgUS9ug8goqYy-dbZjUOa1m6yi7YU/s1600/IMG_5961.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528689849983022786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdPMgsaHxMMqUoukIkAfphhaoM_l8Y0skbjqfbtSPG_qPC9CI9D_kvn2CoDc7Qo14aifht06G1s8SyNw3NCWLBzCPqXbwmUQ0VXPWlKBM9Wsf4oZgUS9ug8goqYy-dbZjUOa1m6yi7YU/s200/IMG_5961.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPRoW7ud4nPhlGn5wNNhXRjoiZF7e9UovksOvqtFZqSsKpnMaJ7RDCQWAgVZtuPWsyST2brmr5yLfH9oQgQW7X_igRWNDNmfq-xxiI5hXUUd8u7PhRul3tLDchjYQd0Qpf_RqnxccWNQ/s1600/Sept.+23+Gotcha+048.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528681125303585570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPRoW7ud4nPhlGn5wNNhXRjoiZF7e9UovksOvqtFZqSsKpnMaJ7RDCQWAgVZtuPWsyST2brmr5yLfH9oQgQW7X_igRWNDNmfq-xxiI5hXUUd8u7PhRul3tLDchjYQd0Qpf_RqnxccWNQ/s200/Sept.+23+Gotcha+048.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOgod3a_1S_LLqK82Y6XdbA17iAY16tS-eJ-ud132-5Xt50Ye7A56XXLJ_KmBmyXIlusqHTnXH33vOXKrNfGTDdNRujsZFJlAISvhP5Sv4tyTRhlaAvntSp0aJKTh4wCvIMKFvf1Fb1Q/s1600/Sept.+23+Gotcha+032.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528680567024490226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOgod3a_1S_LLqK82Y6XdbA17iAY16tS-eJ-ud132-5Xt50Ye7A56XXLJ_KmBmyXIlusqHTnXH33vOXKrNfGTDdNRujsZFJlAISvhP5Sv4tyTRhlaAvntSp0aJKTh4wCvIMKFvf1Fb1Q/s200/Sept.+23+Gotcha+032.JPG" /></a><br />Santor Pizza and Unforgettable Taxi ride<br /><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPq_B9NQnN717vM1cT7Q8CAm5K1rZmxhvNgYDZK5ta1oTZzNF5_CkGs9dFFaho6-NBRjpbUIEbooU5J9i1O0RVTf5bmdMBkCtnxxEBS39_wuJSl07waiaMEjgg2RuiBxV9y2-DyJxomSY/s1600/IMG_5969.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528690210603553442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPq_B9NQnN717vM1cT7Q8CAm5K1rZmxhvNgYDZK5ta1oTZzNF5_CkGs9dFFaho6-NBRjpbUIEbooU5J9i1O0RVTf5bmdMBkCtnxxEBS39_wuJSl07waiaMEjgg2RuiBxV9y2-DyJxomSY/s200/IMG_5969.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_NC0gIUnlSMgu4snlI-Y9r7g-9_eJPjsHE26ZE2L53GTUAhPsP4FWvJ5-Ss1J5P3mBNTm5uK_1JaeTznFP3jvoxF56JQFpstKoo7bV2-Un4VZH9F7FH-eByeavdk6Y5haxtD_yTXACk/s1600/IMG_5973.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528690602083993570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_NC0gIUnlSMgu4snlI-Y9r7g-9_eJPjsHE26ZE2L53GTUAhPsP4FWvJ5-Ss1J5P3mBNTm5uK_1JaeTznFP3jvoxF56JQFpstKoo7bV2-Un4VZH9F7FH-eByeavdk6Y5haxtD_yTXACk/s200/IMG_5973.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuuPXWC-N2x78us01tLeSCmVgl4dqJKhrVqI7HJ_0xMkpGBboMybCLMlYb5f5uoQmueYC4sC9KHIX95LXHwlNAY4ba4-qDDrJ4xtd8Xf0ZQYkGZRslWXkxD3SnYGi-ZIUba-o0JIxrMPI/s1600/IMG_5972.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528690445794865906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuuPXWC-N2x78us01tLeSCmVgl4dqJKhrVqI7HJ_0xMkpGBboMybCLMlYb5f5uoQmueYC4sC9KHIX95LXHwlNAY4ba4-qDDrJ4xtd8Xf0ZQYkGZRslWXkxD3SnYGi-ZIUba-o0JIxrMPI/s200/IMG_5972.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Playing in Yuzhen Park (South Park)<br /><div><div><div><div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702804641815311688.post-59063782724055200752010-10-11T20:14:00.000-07:002010-10-11T21:52:57.163-07:001 Week Home<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6lMMK-HD4pnQ8VjlORNfCk1x4XvFFlLgVV7sQCnalPWvrU3UO935MfP4TW6nd-ntdcyodRQDkh_Or1zpDkH8fjdrj7t8NHEqE0upAli9cmbm-vLssDjHe_HAFxkv9RaBWL32YpFnQB4/s1600/IMG_6199.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527017864805495650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6lMMK-HD4pnQ8VjlORNfCk1x4XvFFlLgVV7sQCnalPWvrU3UO935MfP4TW6nd-ntdcyodRQDkh_Or1zpDkH8fjdrj7t8NHEqE0upAli9cmbm-vLssDjHe_HAFxkv9RaBWL32YpFnQB4/s200/IMG_6199.JPG" /></a><br /><div>We've now only just begun to settle into a "real life" routine. Aaron is self employed and being that there were no paid days off while we traveled, he returned to work first thing Monday morning. Jen went straight to work as the now mother of 5.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>On two separate nights, early on in the week, we had invited different family members over to meet Sashko. Of course they were excited when he came to them and called them "lellya" and "cheecho"(aunt and uncle). Unfortunately, soon after they left Sashko would revert back to behaviors where we had experienced breakthrough. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Our immediate plan of action was to let all family know that for now we couldn't allow them to hold Sashko for any length of time. They would only be able to hug and kiss him and then send him to Mommy or Daddy quickly. This killed us since our family has been so supportive and has been anticipating his arrival as much as we have. However, we believe this short term boundary will produce long term joy for all. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Also, we stopped referring to family members using Bulgarian words. We had thought this would help him adjust to our family life. What we found was that it was actually hindering it. In the orphanage world "lellya" and "cheecho" are just nice people that pop in and out of your life and most of the time are easily manipulated into giving you what you want. Sashko is in a new reality now which will require new patterns of thinking and a new vocabulary. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>By the end of the week other family visits and outings went much smoother.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Sashko adores his three older sisters, and they enjoy any opportunity they have to dote over him! Sashko thinks Tobin is pretty cool, and Tobin is being very patient with his new little brother. He doesn't quite understand why Sashko shows no interest in playing swords or army. Today Tobin gave him a long stick to use as a pretend spear and Sashko began to sweep with it. We are encouraging Tobin to keep trying and reminding him that Sashko never had an older brother to teach him these games. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Sashko loves calling Daddy on the phone at work and runs to the end of the porch when Aaron's truck pulls up at the end of the day. Obviously, Jen spends all day with him so Sashko is more attached to her, but Aaron will take whatever he can get and tries to be intentional with his time in the evenings to bond with Sashko. Aaron has found that he has to purposefully remind himself of this and be thankful for every small step in their relationship. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The first couple of nights bedtime was a battle, but now Sashko brushes his teeth , puts on pajamas and hops into bed without complaint. When we brought him home he was still waking up in the middle of the night. One morning we awoke around 4:30 a.m. to find Cora, Tobin, and Sashko at the foot of our bed. Sashko was fully dressed, had folded and put away his pajamas, and was now turning on lights, shaking and kissing his brother and sister to wake them up! </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>At first he would come to mommy and daddy's room at random times of the night. He eventually figured out that Mommy and Daddy were only going to put him back to bed. So then we began to find him sleeping on the floor of his sister's rooms. We're really not sure how we put an end to all this, except that we just told him in English as we put him to bed each night to stop doing it. He now sleeps through the night in his room with Tobin.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Fits are now few and far between. At mealtimes he now knows that in order to have a sip of his drink he needs to take a bite first. He was initially terrified by the dog and cat, now they don't even phase him. All in all he really is adjusting well. Better than we had expected. Thank you, Jesus!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We all love him so much and are truly thankful that he is now part of our family.</div>Aaron and Jennifer Santorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15776685574118467147noreply@blogger.com3