Saturday, March 20, 2010

Day 7 Photos (Visiting Ionela!)

Today Mihaela, Jane, Michelle, and I went to visit Ionela's family outside the city of Vaslui. Their house was way up the hill from the main street, but we eventually found the right one! Ionela left the clinic in December to go back to her family, and seems to be doing very well! She is talking more, climbing stairs, and seems to love her family. She has a cousin a bit younger than her to play with, two horses, and a big backyard to play in. The house does not have running water, but Ionela likes to help her mom get the water from the well, and always says she wants the big containers! Ionela definitely seemed to remember Mihaela, which made saying goodbye very hard as Ionela was quite upset. On the way back (it was about a 1.5 hour drive) we stopped at a mall and at a bakery for treats.

A tough goodbye! Ionela definitely remembered Mihaela...

The back of Ionela's house

Feeding her baby

Happy Girl

She loved feeding the baby, and did NOT want anyone's help

Ionela loves her new baby

Opening Presents!

Ionela when we first arrived

Ionela's Easter Candy

3 comments:

Steve Wenzel said...

Thanks so much for the follow up on Ionela. Great to see she appears to be doing so good. Glad you were able to make the visit.

J. Ruhl said...

What a great adventure/experience to be able to follow up with one of the children after discharge. And, it sounds like Ionella is doing well, also a good thing to see(after some of the less successful reunification stories we've witnessed).
We miss you and are awed by all that you are doing.
Lots of love,
Mommy

Colleen Kay said...

WHat an amazing experience to get to be able to go and visit Ionela and meet her family after taking care of her. What a great example of doing God's work and making a difference. You rock Caroline!