Merry Christmas from the Riebens!

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Celebrating Christ

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Dear Family and Friends, This year will mark a radical change in the way that our family celebrates Christmas. For years we have struggled to find a balance between gift giving/receiving and celebrating the real "reason for the season," the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. While we feel that we have come closer to finding that balance each year, we still walk away feeling mediocre at best. As the Christmas season has crept steadily nearer, we have found ourselves on our knees many times, pleading with the Father for His guidance on how we can best celebrate Christ this Christmas. As I was studying my scriptures I came upon a passage in Deuteronomy (24:19-21): "When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless and for the widow: that the Lord they God shall bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree, tho...
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Alive and well. . . .mostly ;-)

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Once again, I am sorry for leaving everyone hanging. After the jet lag, doctors appointments, visits with the social worker, homeschooling and finding our new normal, I find I have very little coherent thought left to offer when I finally have a chance to sit down at my computer in the evenings. While I am sad to say that my mental state at the end of the day hasn't really improved much, I have decided that I can no longer ignore your pleas for an update and so I simply ask for your forgiveness for the nonsensical post that is about to occur. . . . I can still remember the very moment that I knew that we would adopt an "older child." Richard and I were on the first leg of our journey home after our first trip to Ukraine in 2007. There were several other adoptive families on our flight and all of them had adopted children between the ages of 5-13. I can still vividly remember the excitement, nervousness, relief and trepidation on their faces as they each began a new, s...
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International Family

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Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile may recall that, when we picked Alayna up from her orphanage in 2010, we were able to meet her mother and her maternal grandparents. Over the past two years we have maintained that relationship through pictures, emails and social networking. This afternoon we had the privilege and blessing of visiting with Alayna's mother, Didi, and her grandmother, Violetta (as well as their friend, Natasha, who served as our translator). It was a two-hour drive from their home to Sofia and they were only able to stay for a short time, but it was time well-spent. We exchanged hugs, kisses, pictures and gifts and best of all, we were able to Skype with Alayna (who very proudly showed everyone how well she is walking and going up and down stairs, gave us a tour of her bedroom, introduced all of her siblings, sang several songs and even showed off her prosthetic and her back brace). Seeing the joy on Didi's face as she watched and talked wit...
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