5th day at the orphanage~

We are on our way home from literally half way around the world, and have been on flights or waiting for flights for the last 26 hours. It was so cool~~from Moscow to JFK we fly over Sweden, then Norway, past Iceland, and then over the tip of Greenland. Mostly it was cloudy, and you could not see the landscape once we got above the clouds, but when we were flying over Greenland, it was soooo beautiful. It was just loaded with snow-capped mountains, and in the valleys were huge green colored lakes with icebergs in them. That was really neat to see. This is the last leg of our trip home, and we are so thankful to be able to see our girls soon.


Diester and I are working to remember our last day in Krasnoyarsk. In the morning, we took the time to visit the Dr’s in Russia that are we required to be examined by before we are allowed to take children from Russia to our home. It was pretty non-eventful, besides the drive in the city being so congested, and taking forever to get from one Dr. to another.

Then we drove to the orphanage one last time during this first trip to Russia. It is such a rough ride out to the village where our boys are from. It is beautiful countryside though with huge rolling hills along the way, virgin forests, and many huge open fields. We pass villages that are hundreds of years old, and for the most part they look it with the exception of some newer buildings amongst some really old homes (or buildings). But it is neat to see the garden plots that people have for themselves in these villages.

On this last trip to the orphanage, we had no interpreter. CRAZY! ! ! But there is so much action going on with adoptions, (which is great) the interpreters that our facilitators work with were already busy, and so we decided to go without an interpreter. Diester, being the creative guy that he is, pulls out a book given to us “The First Thousand Words in Russian” ~a child’s picture book, and tries to start talking with the facilitator in his very broken Russian with what we had in that book. It was pretty funny, but he actually did quite well. At several points though, the facilitator handed him the phone for the interpreter to act as a go between for issues that could not be handled without the interpreter. So, it was a mostly ‘quiet’ adventure that day. You have to understand, the other days were not quiet at all with all of the questions we had about everything~~Diester had a list almost every day of the questions we wanted to ask. It was good to use the time going out to the orphanage to ask how things work, etc. etc. etc.

So we were on our way without an interpreter, but we knew the facilitator well, and we know the basics. Within a mile of the orphanage, it was snowing (snowing dandelion fuzz). Seriously, I took pictures of it, it was so thick. It looked like huge snowflakes coming down and towards the car. Mowing lawns/yards is not important in Russia. The grass grows really high, and then, specifically at the orphanage, they used a sickle to cut it, not even a lawnmower. So, you can imagine the dandelion plants that are maturing, and getting all fuzzy. The fields actually look covered in white. That was a sight to see the flying fuzz.

The first 15 minutes at the orphanage we had alone with the older guy, as the little guys was still having his snack after his nap. It was a blessed time, with just ‘mama’ and ‘papa’. He sat on my lap, and we took that time to draw around his foot to get an idea of his shoe size. So, Diester drew around my foot first, to show him what we wanted. He sat very timidly on my lap, and was very willing to let us draw around his feet. And then we did the same thing with his hands. It gave me the opportunity to play with his toes, grabbing each toe and saying: “This little piggy. . .” He liked that and was smiling with that play, and then we got out some clay. He wasn’t sure what to do with it, but in watching he mimicked us well rolling it between his hands, shaping and bending different pieces.

We had decided to try to get the boys shoes/socks off of them in the hopes that it would immobilize them~that they would keep seated longer for a bit more peaceful day with them. (We ‘think’ they are not allowed to do any activities without their shoes on.) So, we gave it a try.

So then in comes the little guy storming in like a little Russian tank, happy as could be. (He was in the same yellow outfit that Diester hopes gets buried someday.) He came walking over to Diester, and Diester told him to “sa-des”, which means ‘sit’, and he sat down on papa’s lap. Diester proceeded to takes his little sandals and socks off. Then Diester offered the crayons to him, which went over like a lead balloon. Same with the clay. So, he gets up off of Diester’s lap, and the next thing you know, he is positioned by his shoes and socks, and starts working to get his socks back on. It was so funny! We are all creatures of habit, aren’t we? So Diester offered to help him get them back on, and he gladly accepted. We were in a different room, and there were a ton of toys for them that he was just itching to get at. What can you expect?

Shoes on=a free-for-all. We call it stimulation overload. Too many toys~no focus! It has been a while since Diester and I have experienced total mayhem with toys everywhere. WOWSA, we are going to have to get used to some changes with that again, as well as a ton of other things.

After a bit, the older guy was ready to take another ride in the ‘machina’. So we all headed outside, and I had the little guy in my arms. We all headed to the ‘machina’, and Diester and the older guy climbed in the front. I had decided to ride with the little guy as he always makes a “brrbrrbrr” noise flapping his lips together to mimic the sound of a car motor. So, I walk to the back door to climb in with him, and OH MY, he threw a fit. It is one thing to look at a car~~another thing to get into a car. He wanted nothing to do with that, and he wasn’t shy in letting me know it. So, that will be something to cover in prayer. We have 2 ½ hours of driving to Krasnoyarsk, then to the airport, then our stay in Moscow, and then airplane rides. You can imagine how Diester and I both were a tad bit concerned about how this is going to go. So the older guy got a ride around the orphanage sitting on papa’s lap, and they came around the front, and I am trying to comfort the little one, and point out that his brother rides in the car, but when we offered it again, this time to ride on Diester’s lap, he outright refused again. NO GO! ! Any prayers will be acceptable. Thank you! Diester did note that even though the older one likes to ride in the car, you couldn’t tell by his facial expression. He has a very concerned, uncertain, quiet, nervous look about him. AHHHH!

Meanwhile, as the older one rode with the facilitator and Diester around the orphanage again, the orphanage kitty cat jumped up on the front porch. The little guy saw him, and pointed over, stating (what I am assuming is the name of a kitty cat in Russian~it’s Greek to me), so we walked over and squatted down with the little guy on my lap, and I was petting the kitty cat, and saying ‘meow, meow’ and the cat was just loving it. I was waiting for the little one to reach out to also try to pet the cat, but he never did. It was so cute though~he did say ‘meow’ a couple of times.

So, it was time for our visit to be over, and we knew that, but we wanted a proper goodbye, as we won’t be seeing them for weeks. So, we went back into the room, and before we said goodbyes, we asked (motioning book and pictures) her to ask the older one if he had been shown the photo album that we had brought for him, and when she translated it to him, he shook his head ‘no’. Wow, they had had the albums for 2 days, and hadn’t shown it to him yet. We were surprised, but then decided to ask if we could show it to him. So, she went and got them, and brought them back. We gave the boys their family photo books the last 15 minutes of our visit. I sat with the older one, and Diester sat with the little guy. They were loving the photos, pointing at ‘mama and papa’ , and the little guy was patting his picture. They both wanted to look at them several times, and the facilitator was pointing to some recognizable things, such as ‘machina’ and a home (pronounced ‘dohm’ in Russia), pointing out the ‘sisters’ and the swimming pool. When we were done, both boys wanted to hold on to their books and didn’t want to let go. We gave them each a blanket, and a stuffed animal to keep until we come back for them.

We then let them know we were leaving. (It is very sad for me to even write about it now~even though I handled it well then.) The facilitator understood that we wanted them to know we would come back to them, and take them home with us. Even though she only speaks a little (very little) English, she understood, and translated that to the boys. The older one understood (as much as he can)~we’re sure the little one is clueless. We told the boys we love them very much, and even though they have never heard those words before (the caregivers do not express any emotion to that degree with them), we think they understood, and we said “pah-ka” (which in Russia, means “See you later”), and then they were taken off by their caregivers as we waved goodbye.

We gotta give a big “SPA-SEE-BAH” to our team Russia: Lidia, our facilitator/driver; Elena and Larissa, our translators; Eugene, our fill-in driver when Lidia was busy; and Alex, our facilitator/driver in Moscow.

I am going to try to add some pictures so that you can see what some of the people and landscape was like. Enjoy!

Alex in Moscow

Diester holding onto the little guy! 

 The front of the orphanage.

 The village of Achinsk~ established in 1683.

Diester and I after signing papers saying we agreee to adopt these 2 precious fellows, and noone else can have dibs on them.

The dandelion fuzz blowing through the air.  I was not exaggerating

This is Diester and I with Lidia and Elena standing by the fountains in the front of our hotel.

4th day to visit~~What a joy!

Today was the fourth day that we went to visit the boys. The older one was ready and waiting for us to show up. We had to take some stuff into the orphanage before we could visit with them, so Diester asked our driver/facilitator to please let him know that we were coming out as soon as we put our stuff up. We did that, and came immediately out to see both of them. The older one walked down when he saw us coming, and today he was not as energetic in his greeting, until I picked him up, and then he put his arms around my neck and held on. We then were moving towards where the little guy’s group was and a caregiver was bringing him in our direction. As soon as we saw him, he picked up his pace, and with his arms outstretched he was walking straight for his papa to be picked up. WOWSA! It was the greatest thing to experience his desire to be loved on again today by us.


So, with the boys in our arms, we started to meander down the orphanage driveway, and we were loving on them, and holding them close, and letting them know that we loved them. They were welcoming all of the love we would offer. It was a moment to be cherished. We would point out the flowers that were blooming, and there was a bumblebee that we watched.

Then we headed to our favorite spot~the benches in the front of the orphanage. We did the balloon thing again, and they enjoyed it, but they enjoyed when Diester would bounce them on his knee a tad bit more than the balloons I believe. At one point when playing with the balloons, the little guy’s balloon popped, and it was darling to see the older one go directly over to him to share the extra balloon he was carrying. I have to say that a mama’s heart is quite warmed by that kind of generous act between siblings.  Our girls are like that, and were touched by the story when we told them. SWEET!

The little guy and mama (me) played peek-a-boo a bit, and it was a good way to get some smiles, and a bit more eye contact. I was lovin’ that. When the balloons started to get a bit old today, I started to do a dance with the little guy. He loves to dance to music or anything~~it has been a while, but I think most little ones are like that. But, I will take anything I can get in the way of interactions.

One thing that we did with the older one today was to offer him a ride in the driver/facilitator’s ‘machina’. He took them up on the offer, and the driver, Diester, and he drove around the orphanage once. When they were done, the driver asked him if he liked it, and he said that he did like it, and then of his own thoughts, he said, in Russian, “I am not afraid to ride in a car.” She offered to take him for a ride tomorrow, and he said “Yes.” He has such a fascination for cars. It is like a fireworks show is going off, and he can’t think about/do anything else when a car is around. It is quite entrancing for him.

We did go inside in the music room again for a bit, and we have decided that there are just way too many toys for them to play with. They just don’t know what to do first, and they start playing more on their own.  Diester and I need to stategize about some other interactive activities to engage them better.  So, we visited in there some more, and did the dump truck riding again. We got a picture of the music teacher with the boys. That was nice to get.  They love her playing the piano and accordion.

We have tried to read books to them. Not happening.  YET! 

After the boys had to leave, which the oldest one did not want to do (AHHHH!); we were offered the papers while still at the orphanage to sign petitioning the court to accept our intent to adopt the boys with no chance of them being offered to any other family. We gladly accepted, and now it is official that the boys are in line to be adopted by US. YEA! ! ! !

After we left the orphanage, we headed to the notary, and signed papers stating that we were petitioning the court to adopt the boys; and also to get the birth certificates changed to show that we are the parents, and to show their names as we officially want their names to be. So, things are starting to move.

We will visit the Dr's for our exams, and then go back to see them tomorrow.  Then be heading home all day Saturday for about 18 hours crammed into one day (time change). We are looking forward to seeing the girls that have blessed our lives for so many years. Can’t wait to see you Hannah and Mallory! We love you two so much!

A little FYI

Unfortunately, I got to Russia without all of my e-mail addresses on the laptop.  So, if you think there is someone you know that would be interested in our updates, can you please forward them on.  I am ever so grateful.  Thanks!  Michelle

Today visit was so sweet! 6-8-2011

I regret that we cannot post names or pictures.  It is the law in Russia until we are officially the parents after court, and I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize our adoption.  So, in the meantime I hope you can handle books without pictures.  :-)

Today was a blessed day. When we were driving up to the orphanage, the children were outside playing in the back play yard. The children watched our “machina” (the Russian name for a vehicle)pull up, and I noticed one little boy very intent on looking at our car, standing out from all of the kids. I recognized that is was the older boy. He was watching for us to come. It was very neat to see him looking for us. Remember, he is only 3 yo.


So, we get out of the car and walk to the back where they are, and as we are approaching, he runs out (they allowed him) to meet us. I knelt down, and he ran over to me to greet me, and gave me a wonderful hug, and then he greeted Diester. It was so sweet~ You know, it is a very difficult thing to make happen without knowing us very well, but not when the Lord is guiding this, and has his hand in all of this. There is no doubt in my mind that it is only because of the Lord that they have warmed up to us so well. He let me pick him up and hold him, and carry him, and talk to him, so I could tell him that I love him. He likes to hear that from us. (The caregivers told us today that they heard Diester tell the boys at the end of our first visit that he loved them (in Russian), that they understand that, and it means something to them.) Then we walked over to greet the youngest guy, and he was very receptive also. He was kind of walking really fast towards Diester, and clung to Diester once he was picked up. So, after a diaper was put on the little guy, we were off to take a walk by ourselves. (Both the boys are potty trained, but only because they offer the potty frequently.) The caregivers thought the diaper would be a good idea so it wouldn’t interrupt the time that we were going to be with the boys.

As we were walking, Elena told us that the caregivers told her that the older boy was excited, but kind of nervous and he was emotional while waiting and hoping that we were coming back today; and he would watch every car that came into their driveway in hopes that it would be us. Man, talk about tearing your heart out! To be awaited for so intently~~

She also relayed to us how the older boy told the caregivers after just the first day how much he liked us. WOW! That was great to hear~

Today was spent playing with balloons and bubbles. Diester was so gracious to help our ‘determined’ littlest guy to stick the bubble wand in the bottle, and Diester enjoyed helping him learn how to hold the wand so that when he would blow into it, the bubbles would go. He was trying so hard to make it work. The little guy is so independent, and wants to do things on his own, but was struggling to get the right angle when he was blowing. He was trying to use his strength because he is as strong as an ox. He was blowing with all of his might to the point of his body shaking while on his tiptoes. Diester guesses he wanted to power the bubbles out with his strength. Finally, he got the right angle and started blowing bubble. It just tickled our littlest guy to no end when he finally got it. He would smile really big, and even giggle. Bubbles can be a mess, but for the most part Diester had great control. The older one was enjoying it also, and was catching some of the bubbles with the wand. Bubbles are a good way to spend time together.

When we decided to put the bubbles away, little guy was not happy, and began having a small outburst, obviously upset. Our wonderful interpreter, Elena, stepped in and started singing a Russian folk song that she knew he liked (we don’t know the words, nor the tune~), but she worked really hard to help redirect his thoughts to other things. It really helped. Then Diester got out the balloons for the boys to enjoy, and did they ever like the balloons. Little guy put the tied end in his mouth and would shake his head. We all thought it was so cute, and he was smiling and laughing too all the while. What a blessing to be interacting with them so much. The balloons kept us busy for a bit, but I will say that they really are curious about cars, like our children are fascinated with planes or buses, they like to see cars, or “machina’s” as they are called in Russia. The older guy had to go touch it, and the little guy likes to make the sound of a motor. They are just as cute as buttons. What made it even more fun was when Diester got them on his lap, and both boys and Diester had a balloon in their mouths, and they were all shaking their heads while he was bouncing them up and down. They were just eating him up, loving every moment of being on ‘papa’s’ lap. I must say, he has quite the knack for entertaining kids, big and small, and today was no exception. A lot of good eye contact~it was wonderful to see them smiling and looking at him as he played with them. I was more of the run-after-the-balloons-that-are-going-into-the-driveway ‘ball boy’ (or should I say ‘ball girl’) – hehe. And I was the camera woman today. I captured some really cute video and pix of the action. It was a blast! (Funny story, as sweet as the older boy is nice to his little brother, when all of the kids were out walking past us, I noticed that the older one took his balloon and tried to hide it behind his back so that the other kids would not see it, or in my mind, try to take it??)

All of a sudden, the caregivers came out to get the boys so that they could go back to their groups. Our time with them was up, and so we had to say our goodbyes. God is so good. The boys were very well behaved in responding to go back, but it was obvious that they wanted to take time to say goodbye, and needed the reassurance that we would be coming back. Diester and I did not like the quick goodbye that happened today as the boys visibly did not like it either. Diester spoke to our interpreter on the way home from the orphanage today asking her to talk to the orphanage social worker to give us a 10 minute notification on when our visit was going to be over. This would allow for a sincere loving goodbye and important bonding. She had noticed the same thing, and agreed with Diester that we should do that.

OH MAN, is it going to kill me to leave them for 4 weeks until we can come back to get them.

After our visit with the boys, we got to meet their caregivers. WHAT A BLESSING! So, Diester had a ton of questions, and asked away, and they answered each question we had about habits, schedules, interests, fears, food and snacks they like, how they sleep at night, potty training, personalities, etc. It really is incredible what they do with these kids in the orphanage to help them. Of course they are missing out on what we think are some of the most important things in life; love from a family, and learning about our Lord and Savior.

I have to say that as Diester and I have looked back on each day, it has been incredible to see how God is working in this adoption. The waiting~~to get the boys the Lord had for us. The ages~almost as close to the ages we asked the Lord for as biological brothers can be. Their health~~to know they have no health issues to speak of. The eye contact~I had been informed to make sure they make eye contact because it is helpful in the bonding, and they are making wonderful eye contact. Responding to his name~yesterday, we were a little concerned about the little one because he was not responding to his name much, but shared that concern with the Lord, and today, the little guy responded almost every time. We cannot be more excited about how this is playing out. It has been so wonderful, I am almost afraid to speak it, but we know without a shadow of a doubt that it is because of the Lord that it is working this way. Praise Him!

Looking forward to seeing them tomorrow, and what the day has in store, and missing our lovely daughters at home. SKYPE is great though.

BTW, it is truly ans interesting culture here. This land is the Siberian area. It is very cold in the winter time, with lots of snow. There is this major town that we are staying in, but many villages along the way that are out in the middle of what seems like nowhere. And many rundown old, old buildings, and wooden structures. Their markets are nothing like our grocery stores here. People have summer home (some of the villages that we passed were all summer homes), that they go out to on the weekends in the summer and grow gardens. They do not like to eat genetically modified foods, or foods with preservatives in them. The orphanage would not even let me give the boys some candies I had brought because she couldn’t tell if they had preservatives in them. YEA! I wouldn’t have bought them if they had preservatives in them, but she doesn’t know me, so she had to protect the boys. Seriously, that was wonderful for me to be turned down. I really appreciated it.

Also, along the way and along the roadside there are peddlers. These peddlers sell usable items that are made of birch tree bark, to store different food items in as was explained to us. The peddlers also hang some kind of plant food from a stick. We are going to stop tomorrow and check it out. I will get a pix of it then. It is a spice that is like a cross between garlic and onion that is taken from these virgin forests along the road. There is also a big leaf thing that is sold to help with bronchitis and other things (an herbal remedy Hannah), that they kind of like smack gently on their bodies in a sauna type atmosphere to help with healing what ails them. It is really interesting here.

2nd day visiting orphanage on Tuesday, 6-7-2011

This entry is for the 2nd day of our visit to the orphanage. This may be quite brief as we are really tired, but want to let everyone know what has been going on~~ Yesterday when we went to the orphanage, we had a blessed visit then also. The bubbles were a big hit again, and that took up some time nicely.


The oldest one’s music teacher stopped in and shared that he likes to sing. She even took the time to set up a microphone for the oldest one, and he sang a couple of songs in Russian while she played the piano. It was precious. He can carry a tune.

The younger one got out the big dump truck again to play with, climbed in on his own, and proceeded to fall back and hit his head on the floor. He rolled over and looked up at Diester in panic and some pain. Diester immediately went over to him, picked him up, laid his little head on his shoulder, and began stroking his head, telling him that he was alright, and that he loved the little guy. He became like an ‘overcooked lasagna noodle’ on his shoulder. He was soft and relaxed, and so content. The little guy was soaking up the comfort being given for an entire 20 minutes. He did not fall asleep. He just took the time to let Diester hold him. It was a great bonding experience for both of them. Accidents happen for a reason sometimes.

We found out that both boys have a love of music. The orphanage has an older authentic ‘heavy’ accordion in the music room, where we have been meeting during our visits. The little guy set his sights on the accordion. He got behind it, put his little arms through the straps, and attempted to lift the accordion in the correct fashion. The accordion probably weighed 2 -3 times as much as he did. He was lifting and moving it on his own, much to my astonishment. We were both in awe of his remarkable strength. Seriously, I have never seen a child his age with as much determination or strength. It was blowing me away. So, we watched him, until Elena, the interpreter decided not to let him mess with it anymore.  We got him interested in something else, and put that away. He is not the only one with an interest in the accordion. As it turned out, the older one loves to play with Legos, and in his playing, he actually tried to make an accordion out of Legos. These little love music.

During our visit, the older one even started to repeat after me. I was calling him a ‘silly goose’ at one point, and he started to say ‘silly goos’. Diester had also said ‘Get it’ many times while blowing bubbles for the older one, and he even started saying ‘getit’. It is common that he should pick up on our language quite rapidly, and he has already started. I have to say we were both surprised that it is already happening.

The goodbyes were very special yesterday as well. Before he had to go, the older one went straight to his ‘papa’ and extended a hug, and a kiss, and then he did the same with me (after a bit of coaxing.) We said goodbye with kisses and hugs to the little guy too, and they were on their way.

Then it was time to visit with their Dr. We were anxious to hear what he had to say. This is where I am going to be brief. Praise the Lord! The boys are both considered healthy, with no major or minor health issues.

We are very tired, and need to go to sleep. I wanted to share with you all what is going on. I hope you can see how God is working in our lives in this situation. Much love to our girls half way around the world. We know you are in good hands, and the Lord is watching over you. Now, just get to sleep a little earlier. We love you two! And we are looking forward to seeing you in person soon.

Very tired, but excited with all of the good things!

This is for our 1st visit to the orphanage on Monday June 6, 2011

Well, we are on our way again to the baby home (2+ hour drive) to visit the boys for the third time, and I am trying to use this time to update our blog late. It is exciting! These little guys are soooooo cute.  I will try to remember what has happened with Diester's help, and capture what I can.


I am going to start with the drive. Oh the drive to the baby home is a roller coaster ride almost the whole time. They drive crazy, passing a vehicle in front of them with another coming in the oncoming lane, and the driver will squeeze into an imaginary middle lane driving on the dividing line. It is crazy! ! They will pass another vehicle being only inches away on both sides. YIKES! Believe it or not, we have not been fearful. Diester says it’s kind of like playing ‘Chicken’ and Russian Nascar rolled into one.  (Boy am I glad we have our will done. Haha)

Oh, let me start with our meeting the first day with the DOE –Department of Education. It went very well. The lady there told us some stories of how important it is to take good care of the boys with lots of love, and they can be successful. She also told us how the children might actually respond to the father, thinking of him as a ‘lion’, and fearful of the father. Making sure that we know there is going to be an adjustment period.

I’m going to try to give you an update about how our visits have been going. We first met the older of the two little guys. It was a surprise because the caregiver popped him into our visiting room before she was actually supposed to. It was certainly a real treat to get a sneak peek at him. He was so precious, and so tiny compared to what I thought. He looked so innocent.

We then met with the social worker so that she could tell us about the boys’ family history-social aspects of the history. It is very interesting to know stories of their parents, as much as they know. So, we got the information, and we were ready to see the boys, and spend some time with them.

The social worker brought the older one in again. Now, you have to understand that he has not a clue who we are, so he came in very timid, almost being coaxed into the room from behind him. He stood there, and Diester put out his hand to extend a hand, and he did respond with a handshake, but stood there in fear. I was on my knees at his level, and had a ball, and so I offered to play ball with him, and that broke the ice. My clown husband decided to have some fun with it, and was letting it hit his head, and the little guy (oldest one) just started giggling, and laughing wanting him to continue in the shenanigans. He was just lovin' it, and it kept him entertained for quite some time. ( I introduced ourselves as “yah mamma on papa” and we repeated that throughout our visit so that he would understand why we were there. They tell us that even though they haven’t had a family, every child yearns for one, and it would definitely be understood, so we kept telling them. ) We noticed right away that he has a good arm on him, and good eye-hand coordination.

Then the 'littlest' guy came in and he was a bit more shy, but really started to warm up after a bit. He got out this big dump truck that he was just pushing around, and really had great control of the thing. As Diester says, he was 'manhandling that thing.' Then he decided to climb in it. Not the easiest thing to do, but he is a determined little fellow, and he kept at it. Good balance, steady on his feet. So then we started to push him around in the truck. Diester was pushing him and then I was pushing him from the front~~he was facing me~~and I would pull him forward, and then quickly back, and he was making good eye contact with me. (Tonight it is storming outside of our hotel room here, and it sounds so neat.)

Then the little guy started to play with some rings on a ring toss toy. He got all of the rings and was carrying them around with him. He is very independent. He climbed onto a rocking horse, and put the rings on the handlebar of the rocking horse, and made sure they weren’t falling off. He has a determination about himself.

In the meantime, Diester was looking at a book with the older one. He was sitting on Diester’s lap at the time, which is a good thing. He was starting to bond ever so slightly~we will take whatever we can get.

We then got out more toys, and played with many different things, and then someone got bubbles down, and that was quite a hit, so we did the bubble thing for a while. That brought out a lot of fun and giggles. The older one started to try to catch the bubbles with his mouth, and I got such a kick out of it that I think it encouraged him to keep doing it, although I was saying “YUCK, that tastes yucky.” It didn’t phase him. Since I thought it was funny, he kept doing it.

They smiled a lot during the different things that we did together, and enjoyed interaction with us. The caregivers did come and inform us that the boys only had a few more minutes to visit, and we took that time to clean up the room, and calm down together. Our first visit was coming to a close, and we had to say goodbye. Diester was holding the oldest one, and told him in Russian, ”See you tomorrow, I love you. ” The older boy got a surprised look on his face, and Diester asked our interpreter if she thought he understood what he said. She told me yes, he did understand you. We gave hugs to the boys, and they were on their way back to their respective groups. It was so sweet because the older one was ready and going to the caregiver, but the little guy was not leaving, so the older one came back and took the little guy’s hand, and gently led him out. The older one certainly showed himself to be a gentleman during our visit, and that topped it off. It was a sweet parting moment.

Coming all the way to Russia for something as big in our lives as this has quite an overwhelming emotional effect on a person. After our long flights, drives, and visiting for the first time, not knowing what to expect was very overwhelming for me, and when we got back to our hotel room, I just was so overcome with emotion in thankfulness to the Lord for where he has brought us, and for leading us so well, and I turned to Psalm 146. It was so meaningful!~The Lord just spoke to me through this. He is ever so good.

Psalm 146: Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord oh my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; and on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he -whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-the Lord who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord set prisoners free, The Lord gives sight to the blind, The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, and he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, Your God, oh Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!

YEA! We are here~~

Well, we got here this Sunday a.m. (even though it is only Saturday night back home) to Krasnoyarsk, after 3 flights that went well.  We have the day to ourselves, and so I wanted to take the time to let everyone know what was going on.  We are in the hotel, instead of the apartment like we thought we would be.   That was a surprise to us, but all is good.  The facilitators that met us have been wonderful, and speak English well.   However, now that we are in the hotel by ourselves, there is noone here that speaks English enough to converse with us, and we don't know enough Russian to speak with them. 

Funny, it feels like evening to us because we are still on our 'back home' clock time, so we were thinking to head out before night to the grocery store to get some food to have in our hotel room, and as we were getting ready to go, Diester looked at his watch (realizing it was actually morning), and said "Oh, I think the breakfast buffet is still open if you want to check it out." and I realize it is morning, and said "Yeah, what time is it?"  It was 9:59 and the buffet closed at 10:00, so we headed down there as quickly as we could, and the breakfast buffet was really nice, really nice.  Under the wire, and thank the Lord, we didn't have to find food right away.  And, it was really healthy stuff.  YEAH! ! !

We have SKPYE'd with some of our family in Wisc., S.C., and of course our girls in Northern Kentucky.  That is so nice~~one of the many good things about this WWW.    Diester and I are getting ready to take a walk along the river, and go to the grocery store.  It should be interesting.

So, that is what is going on here.  It is quiet in the city on the weekends.  Apparently, everyone here goes out to their summer homes, and works in their gardens.  (That is what Elena, our interpreter told us, and I had actually commented to Diester as we were landing that it looked like a lot of people have gardens in their back yards~that were freshly plowed.)  I think that is just about the sweetest thing!  considering I was out working in our garden the a.m. we left from Kentucky.   We will take some pictures and I will add them if I can get it together here. 

Have a blessed day!   We get to meet the boys tomorrow!   How exciting!   We can't wait!   Love to all!