Nice Couch?

So, it's my last night here in Romania. Robby and I are the only ones left. And guess what? The owner of our apartment decided that today would be a good day to put a new couch-bed in my room. It's just so funny to me. We got a call like 15 minutes before he showed up saying he had a new couch for my bedroom. All my things were strewn about the room, so I hurried and put things away as best I could to prepare the room to receive a new bed. At first I thought he was just going to put a new mattress in the old couch-bed wall unit I had, but no, we had to move all that stuff out and down the 4 flights of stairs and move the new couch in. This probably sounds like I was annoyed about it, but I wasn't and I'm not. The owner is this spry 60-something-year-old man that's about 5'2" or 5'3" and always has a smile on his face. He was full of pep and had the look and stamina of a man that has worked hard every single day of his life. He disassembled the old unit and assembled that new couch all on his own and we carried all the pieces up and down from the street to my room all in under 3 1/2 hours. And he smiled the whole time. I've never been so happy to help someone. He never groaned or complained or made a fuss, just kept working. If I'd go in and check to see if I could help, he'd say "singur, singur, eu pot (alone, alone, I can [do it])". "What a good man", I kept thinking to myself.

By the time he left, all I wanted to do was keep helping. We had hefted my old 100 lb. mattress onto the top of his car and he was just like "Thank you, goodbye. Have a good trip." I wanted to shake his hand, he was such a respectable man. I didn't even learn his name.

A Face I'll Never Forget

So, this post is going to go back in time a little bit. This is Lorena, but I knew her as Lori. She left the hospital about 2-2 1/2 weeks ago, about a week before Augustus left. And while I love Augustus, I think Lori has been my favorite child I have had the opportunity to spend time with at the hospital. I'll never forget this girl and the time we got to spend together. Particularly our first afternoon. I was with Rachel, who had been to Lori's room before, so she took me up to see her on the 7th floor. We had fun coloring and chasing balloons around the hall, but she was quiet and shy the whole time. Then, Rachel left to go spend time with another baby, and Lori and I got to spend the rest of the afternoon together.

I gave her some snacks and we sat and colored. We chased balloons around some more. Slowly but surely, she started talking and opening up more and more. We played hide and seek. I would run and hide in some obvious location and she'd run over to me to me and laugh and smile, so I would pop out and act like I was surprising her. Then it would be her turn to hide and I'd wander around saying "Unde este Lori? Lori, unde ai plecat? (Where is Lori? Lori, where did you go?). When I would find her, I would pick her up and throw her in the air and she'd smile and laugh. As it got dark outside, I would pick her up and we'd look out the window at all the lights from the traffic and the city.

My favorite thing about Lori is that every time I had to leave, I could just hold her and look her in the eyes and tell her "Lori, trebuie sa plec." (Lori, I need to leave) and she'd just look back at me with those big eyes and understand. I'd set her in her crib/bed and she wouldn't fuss or cry or even make a sound. Just look back at me with those loving eyes. We spent several afternoons together and I felt like we became friends. But one day when I came to see her, her mother - who had be incapable of coming in and seeing Lori - was there to pick her up and take her home. Without any kind of warning, I lost my friend. But I'm so happy she's better and gets to be with her family. I miss this little girl.

Closure Assignment

This is me with my little buddy at the hospital who we gave the moniker "Augustus". I've gone in and spent the afternoon with this little boy on at least 5 or 6 different occasions and grew to really love him. Today, I went into his room and instead of seeing him laying face down in his crib with a sweaty head and a diaper full of urine as I'd usually find him, I saw him standing there in his crib crying all bundled up in his blue hooded winter onesie while his mother gathered up the few things that were hers. She was young and probably poor with many other kids at home and wasn't able to spend time with her boy "Augustus". I can't describe the bitter-sweet emotions that come as a result of having to say goodbye to these children we learn to love, knowing we'll never see them again. I'm so glad he's recovered from his Bronchitis, but I'll always miss his smile he'd greet me with every time I walked in the door.



We have been given a "closure assignment" to help us cope with having to say goodbye to these children we've grown to love. In the past, I've never liked thinking much about having to say goodbye or making a big deal about it. I just leave and hope nobody notices. But now I realize how unhealthy and selfish that can be. Any time I've avoided or resisted saying a formal goodbye, I've forfeited the peace that comes from having shared my true feelings with someone that has become important to me. This quote was sent along with our assignment:

It takes strength to be firm; it takes courage to be gentle.

It takes strength to stand guard; it takes courage to let down your guard.

It takes strength to conquer; it takes courage to surrender.

It takes strength to fit in; it takes courage to stand out.

It takes strength to feel a friend's pain; it takes courage to feel your own pain.

It takes strength to hide feelings; it takes courage to show them.

It takes strength to endure abuse; it takes courage to stop it.

It takes strength to stand alone; it takes courage to lean on another.

It takes strength to love; it takes courage to be loved.

It takes strength to survive; it takes courage to live.

And I would add that it takes strength to face an unknown future and courage to say good-bye!

Today I had to say goodbye to "Augustus". His mom told me his name is Dorin.

Honorable Mention

So, as I hinted in my last post, I'm currently reading a book called Helping Children with Autism Learn by Bryna Siegel. I was reading a section that was labeled SOCIALIZATION FOR THE HIGHER-FUNCTIONING ADOLESCENT. In this section, it talks about all the different treatment approaches that might be effective when working with individuals with a higher-functioning manifestation of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), like Asperger's Syndrome. I like what she brings up as her last suggestion in this section. It reads as follows:

" One place that extracurricular socialization can work relatively well is in the context of religious organizations. . . A(n) . . . example is one of my patients, Roger, who converted from Judaism to Mormonism. He was a social isolate with no real friends. Somehow, Roger was evangelized by Mormon missionaries and suddenly found himself with friends who called a few evening each week asking him to join a bowling party, go out for pizza, or join a hiking trip. Roger was accepted for who he was and for the first time felt he belonged to a group that didn't tease him and did not say things about him behind his back. As a 25-year-old faced with whether he wanted to move with his parents to Scotland or stay where he was, Roger was undecided. His parents persuaded him to accompany them on a look-and-see visit to Scotland. Soon after they arrived, he was contacted by members of the Glasgow Mormon Church who welcomed him and talked to him about living there. Roger moved." (Siegel, 2003, 267)

It was nice to read about a positive image of our church in non-religious material, even it was published 5 years ago. Today, I'm thankful to be a Mormon.

Siegel, B. (2003). Helping Children with Autism Learn. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.

(Is that correct APA format?)

Crazy Eights

8 favorite movies (it's supposed to be tv shows... but i don't really watch tv)

1. Better Off Dead
2. Dead Poet’s Society
3. The Great Race
4. Groundhog Day
5. The Incredibles
6. Elf
7. Lord of the Rings (All 3)
8. Horton Hears a Who

8 things i did yesterday (Friday)

1. G chatted with Monica
2. Ate some strawberry musli (granola) for breakfast
3. Put Mihaella in her bed/crib
4. Sang and Danced with Ghiorcel
5. Played with little Lori at the hospital
6. Wrote in my journal
7. Read from my book Helping Children with Autism Learn.
8. Ate like 4 or 5 chewy granola bars and laffy taffy.

8 favorite restaurants

1. Cheesecake Factory


2. Pei Wei
3. Cafe Rio
4. Qdoba
5. Zupas
6. TK Burger


7. Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles
8. Benihana’s

8 things on my wish list

1. A teleportation machine/device/super power
2. Free tuition at BYU
3. Adoption papers for Ghiorcel
4. Grand Piano
5. For Katie’s blood clots to go away
6. New Car
7. Drinkable tap water in Romania
8. Job at Telos as a morning workout support staff (5:45am – 10 am Mon-Fri)

8 things i look forward to

1. Playing with Romanian Orphans – Nov. – Dec. 2008
2. Being with my whole Family for the first time in a year – Dec. 27


3. Meeting my newest nephew Marshall – Dec. 23


4. The Sealing of Adam and Whitney Blaesser – Dec. 27


5. Going to the beach/going surfing – Dec. 17
6. Being with old friends – Dec. 17 and on


7. Green House Parties – (???)


8. Linking arms with Monica Thomas – Dec. 29


When I see this photo, it makes me think of a joke I saw on the wrapper of a piece of green apple flavored laffy taffy that came in a package that Monica sent me.  It goes like this:  "What type of ship never sinks?" - Friendship.

THANK YOU! ! !

To all of you that have contributed to the orphan fund, and to all of you that would like to and have prayed for us over here.



This is Alexandra. This is what I wrote about her in my journal from today:
"Today was a great day at the Hospital. Rachel and I covered floors 5-7. We spent the first half of our time there with Alexandra, this funny little 5 year old girl that’s all wrapped up from her chest down to her waste in gauze, and the wrap continues onto her right leg, which is in a cast. But she’s still super fun and happy and enthusiastic. She’s so funny because she’s really demanding and is always telling us to do random things, like go get the ball we’ll be playing with all wet. Anyways, so, because of her cast and how she’s wrapped up in gauze, she has to wear adult diapers that we carefully wrap around her. The problem is, the nurses don’t change her when she needs to be changed, so, as she’s swimming in her adult diaper, her gauze and cast get very messy and smelly. The last couple days I’ve been able to make the team effort of changing Alexandra with Rachel and Robby. Good thing she’s a good sport about it."

This is Andrea. She's 9 years old and has 4 brothers, but her parents are unable to come be with her in the hospital. She likes to color and play cards. It's funny, we were playing the Romanian version of "War", and she would just go through her deck and find whatever card she wanted to play. She let me win most of the time, but as soon as she'd get down to 3 or 4 cards, she'd start playing her high cards over and over again to keep the game going. So funny, I love kids.

Here are some of the diapers we've been able to buy with the money that's been contributed. The great thing is that there won't be anything wasted, because whatever we don't use will get used by the next group. I also got some snacks and toys to use with the kids that they appreciate very much.

Sorry I hadn't posted anything sooner. And sorry we don't have more photos of us with the kids. Any photos we do get, we have to be sneaky about because we're not supposed to take photos of the kids. We're not even allowed to take photos inside of grocery stores.

Budapest: Part 2

Sorry it's taken me so long to finish this post. We've been back from Budapest for a week already and we only have 4 weeks left, so we're pretty busy trying to get everything everything done that we need to. Like, our Brigance tests with the kids and our Cultural Proofs, plus we have to go in and file for an extension on our 90 day permission to be here. Plus our internet isn't always the most reliable. But I'll try to keep the updates coming.

So, Thursday: We slept in again (like we did every day except Tuesday when Robby and I had to go pick up the girls). We decided to go to some of the Thermal Baths. There are a quite a few in Budapest, so we didn't want to miss out on that. On our way there we picked up our $2 tickets to see the Opera that night, then went and relaxed in the saunas and steam rooms and thermal pools.

These guys know how to have a good time.

Probably the only time the underwater capability of my (Austin and I's) camera will come in handy while I'm here. But you never know. . .

Fortunately it was a nice day outside. We were pleasantly surprised by how nice the weather was the whole time we were in Budapest. These baths we went to were cool because they had different indoor and outdoor pools, and then different types of saunas and steam rooms to go to inside, as well.

After the baths we went and visited the "House of Terror", which is the former Nazi and KGB headquarters in Budapest. It's called the "House of Terror" because of all the executions and extreme interrogation methods that were used there. It was pretty interesting. I'm not sure what this bike was doing hanging from the ceiling, but I thought this was good photo opportunity.

I realized that Opera is not my favorite thing. But at least I get to say I've been to an Opera in Hungary. Plus, the opera house was really pretty inside, and from what I understand, it's cheaper to see the inside by buying cheap seats than to take a tour.

My last gyro at near the train station in Budapest. I had two and they were soooooooooo good. Right now, if you asked me what my favorite food was, I'd say a beef gyro.

We left Friday afternoon and got back into Romania that evening, but had a stopover in Cluj waiting for our sleeper train back to Iasi. All in all, it was a great trip and I had a lot of fun, but it's been good to be back with the kids and be working again back here in Iasi.