Can you say "THANK YOU GOD! ! !" ?

What a day it has been!  We are so excited!  Okay, let me get to the point here!  We are the blessed new parents to two new little Diester fellows!  To God be all the glory!  Pinch me~~is this for real??  As God revealed a bible verse to us as we were praying and on a 3-day fast at the beginning of our adoption process, he once again showed us again today how he takes care of us.  He specifically showed Diester Proverbs 30:5, which says "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in him."  It was this bible vs. that encouraged Diester to take this leap of faith, and know that God would take care of us.  He shielded us then, and as we walked this journey, and as we went through court today.  He will not disappoint us even when times are tough.  We have had to trust in him all along the way.

Today was no exception.  We knew, from speaking and reviewing for court with our translator and facilitator yesterday, that there was a problem with our deed that we got from the Kenton County court house .  The deed that was provided to us a few months ago, unbeknownst to us, only included the additional piece of land that we purchased on the back side of our property in 1999. A TOTAL SHOCKER!!  Besides that, it is for a piece of property that is only 225 sq ft.  But, at the courthouse, they did not include our main deed when we requested it.  So, here we are with one piece of our documents showing that we purchased our home in 1995, however, the deed (that we provided) showed 1999.  A total discrepancy! !   A huge problem actually~just a little stressful.  So, when we got picked up today, it was THE topic of discussion, and the facilitator once again asked why we provided this deed instead of our actual deed?  Of course, it was my mistake that I didn't catch that we did not get our entire deed, only the addendum.   So, I basically just said what happened; and we agreed to act surprised that it was not the proper deed if it got brought up.  It always gets brought up.  It was at that time that we got a little concerned that there might be a serious problem.  It was also at this time that I suggested that we pray.  (Diester had spend time this morning in God's word, and in prayer, and preparation, and asking God for the judge to have mercy on us for any problems that might appear, or any mistakes.)  We prayed together in the car for God to cover us in this process, and for us to know that whatever happens, the Lord is in control, and wants the best for us. 

Additionally, last evening in the meeting with the facilitator and interpreter, we had spent time talking about the questions that we would be asked so that we would understand how we needed to answer to have the judge review in a positive light about approving our adoption.   So, we felt like we were prepared, and Diester was reviewing our notes, and also practicing the Russian phrases that he has learned (in case the judge wanted to hear them).  It was very nerve racking, (but I did find out that I would do very little talking, so it was not as hard for me.)  Diester is laughing at that comment~~he did have all of the pressure to answer the questions being asked by the judge.  He is very good at getting prepared for something like this, and I have to say he did totally awesome! ! ! 

So, we are in the courtroom waiting, just waiting for the judge to show up.  (Oh, on the way into the courtroom, the facilitator, who is not invited in, made the sign of the cross over us as we passed by.  So sweet!  Truly we needed the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit on our behalf.)   There are 3 women judges, and Diester was trying to get a feel for the judge prior to meeting her, and Ilena had told him the judge was very unpredictable.  She may allow things. . . .or she may not.  We were thinking in the little bubble above our heads :-)  that she is a 'flexible' judge.  In the meantime, we just keep praying silently, and asking God to cover us.  We needed the Lord to be with us right then.  And he was.   

To speak about what happened next, the applicants, Diester and I, were asked to state our names, DOB, place of birth, etc.  Then the judge started court.  Diester was asked to stand to answer the questions, and then they started.  Ilena was a wonderful interpreter.  The judge asked if we had anything that we wanted to present to the court, to which he replied yes, and we offered the judge pix of our visits with the boys.  I told you that the pictures from yesterday with the boys were incredible, due to the fact that these boys were so excited to see us, and could not hide their excitement.  So, we offered these up to the judge.  The judge asked him many questions, to which he responded wonderfully.  Seriously, he was amazing!  He was very thorough in his answers, and covered all of his bases.  He answered with such sincerity, and love towards the boys.  She also wanted to know why we chose Russia~~great lead in for Diester to share about his grandmother who was born in Russia; to show pictures of her, the boat she immigrated to the United States on, and a pix of the two of them from her 100th birthday.  Anything to help our cause!
The judge stated that she appreciated the 'warm words that he speaks about the children.' (note about this later)

So, they get finished with him, and then they ask if there is anything that I would like to add, and I stand up, and totally lose it.  Kind of my mode of operation~~I just said "I am really excited, and can't wait until we get these boys home if we are approved."  She asked if I knew what kind of effort it was going to take with Diester working, and me being the primary caregiver.  I answered "Yes", and then she questioned if I had any fears or reservations about taking on these 2 boys, to which I replied "no".  You can ask me about that later!  I AM trusting in the Lord to lead us~~I know I cannot do this on my own.  Totally not possible! 

So, then they moved on to the different representatives there.  One for the orphanage, one for the Dept. of Education, and one who was the state's public defender.  These people had to state their case, and help our case or not.  They in fact did help us out with our case.  The lady from the orphanage was quite a blessing, and told about our interaction with the boys, how they missed us and asked for us when we were not there, how she could really tell that we tried to learn some Russian before we came to Russia to help us communicate with the boys, etc.  She was a joy to have in the court!   

After these representatives spoke their peace, the whole group of us were asked to leave the room.  Now mind you, the judge did ask about the pool in our back yard, and the safety needed for that to which we were very clear about knowing the importance of being aware of this possible temptation for the boys.  Nothing was said about owning our home or when it was purchased.  So, Diester and I leave with everyone while the judge is deciding on her decision.  We were in the hallway, and I got a drink of water, and discussing 'nothing' of importance~~you know, those awkward moments when noone knows what to say.  Within 2 minutes, we were called back into the courtroom.  There we were asked to stand while the judge read her decision.  She had a whole long thing to read to us, which basically gave us the green light to bring these 2 little lives into our family to make 6.   As you can probably imagine, I cannot hardly contain the tears or the excitement.  It was a blessed moment!  We hugged everyone (not the judge), and left the courtroom.  What a wonderful point to be at!  We can breathe now!  Thank you Lord from whom all blessings flow!  He is a good God all of the time!

This is Lidia (the facilitator), Ilena (our interpreter), and us!   What a blessing they have been!
We decide it is time to go, and so we headed for the car.  On the way, Ilena complimented Diester on how well he did, how he was so positive, and how he was very confident.  That was so nice.  She made it clear that he had done an excellent job.  She was very happy and positive about that.  Then we got into  our facilitator's car to come back, and Ilena let the cat out of the bag.  Here is when we find out the truth about some things.  First off, there were some papers that we had just taken care of prior to our 2nd trip.  She did not notice until it was translated that one of the notaries dated something for 2010 when it should have been 2011.   That would have never been allowed if caught.  Lidia (the facil.) at this point says how we must have a lot of great guardian angels watching over our family.  We give all the glory to our Father in heaven.  Secondly, Ilena told us that there are many people who think that this judge we had is 'mean'.  She said she has never heard this judge speak so kindly about how Diester described the children.  (remember, I told you to make a note of her comment above)  Okay, so this is quite a shock that she is considered 'mean'.  We could see that she was a very serious, stern judge (who would not crack a smile), but that didn't deter Diester!  He just kept on his track of answering her questions to the best of his ability, with positive, honest, heartfelt responses.   Then of course, the 3rd thing that we all were able to breath easy about was the fact that she didn't even bring up about how long we had owned our home.  Praise the Lord for he was our shield in all of these situations. 


So now, I have a few things I want to add.  The blessings just keep coming.  This morning when we SKYPed with our girls prior to court, Diester shared with the girls that one of the highlights of our visits with the boys yesterday was that we took I.A. on a car ride.  (remember, the little guy just freaked out when I tried this the last time we were in Russia).  He told them how it was an incredible surprise that he only threw a fit for literally 3 seconds, and that was all.  And how then, he was entranced the entire time we were driving.  They responded:  "We (our house church group) prayed about that for you today!"  And the Lord heard their prayer.  Now it makes sense how I.A. handled it so well so quickly!  Praise God!  Whoever was involved in praying for that, we thank you! 

Another fun thing was to hear about Mallory's first day of work.  She is like me, and likes to tell all of the details. We love to hear about it.  Sounds like it was a blessed day.  Nice that she has a job where they pray together before the day gets going, and even together before their lunch.  Now, that is the kind of employer we want our girls to work for.   And we also got to hear about all of the fun things they have been doing with the family they are staying with.  Once again, a blessing!  But they did tell us it would not be the best day to skype them today, because they would be too busy, with Mallory working, and the party going on tonight.  :-(  We are going to miss them.  Glad life is full for them!

Also, great news about something that all parents would lament if they didn't have.  When we met with the orphanage Doctor and the social worker from the orphanage yesterday, we found out that they have some pictures of the little guys from when they were younger.  3 pictures each.  Okay, as I write this, it sounds pretty pitiful, but you know, when we thought we had nothing, 3 pictures is a LOT!  What a little gold mine!  Thank you God!  We are thankful!

After court, we went out to Mama Roma's as a celebration lunch, thinking it was going to be a great pizza buffet.  It is a decent Italian restaurant, so it wasn't a pizza buffet, it was a classier Italian buffet with many healthy choices for lunch.  We enjoyed the food as we listened to a Michael Jackson (gag me) soundtrack.  The food was excellent--but just not NO pizza.  Does anybody know about tipping in Russia?  We have been told that you do not tip in Russia, but I am going to have to ask Iris (our local friend here) for clarification. 

So, we had a nice lunch, and then needed groceries for the week.  We went to the grocery store, and got stocked up.  Diester was able to communicate with one clerk ~~the basics you know, Press tee tah (which means Excuse me in Russia)  Vah-Da? (which means water) and he used his hand gestures to indicate we wanted the big jug.  She understood and showed him where it was located.  As we were standing in line to check out, we realize we are going to have to carry all of this food back to our apt.  Oh my, we normally buy, put it in our car and drive home.  We don't walk blocks upon blocks carrying 20 lbs in each hand.  So then it is our turn to check out, and the cashier looks at us and in our grocery cart as if to ask why we were in her line?  Not really, but I panic and think we must be in the line like for people with 12 items or less.  I look around, and then exclaimed loudly to Diester that we must be in the wrong lane (in English.)  She looks confused.  Everyone in all of the lines are looking at us.  I am visually counting items that other people have, and Diester is making hand gestures trying to ask if everything is okay, trying to calm everything down, forgetting his Russian phrase to ask 'Is everything okay?"  If people did not know we were Americans already, this was the dead give-away.  The cashier was actually trying to determine the size of bags she needed to use for our order.  Hence, the look into our cart.  We were not kicked out, or made to go to another lane.  She just rang us up, we paid, and we were on our way home. 

Well, that is it for today!  Diester and I are relaxing together (me blogging and he is channel surfing~and helping me blog)!  Hope you enjoyed!  God bless you all, and thank you again for your prayers! 

WE ARE BLESSED!  We would love to hear from you if you have the time!  Thank you so much! 

Blowing bubbles with the little guys!

        This is when they took a ride in the car!  Sorry, can't show pix of the boys yet!  Trust me, they're precious! 

If I could only show you pictures! !

So, tomorrow is our court day, so the first thing I would like to do is ask for prayers please for:

The judge to have a soft heart, and see that the Lord has placed the perfect boys for our family in our hands.

That Diester and I are calm, and answer the questions well.

And for some friends of ours that just took in 2 teenage nephews to care for, who have had a pretty rough road to travel, and not much to travel with. 

Thank you, and may God be blessing you also.

I also wanted to shout out a sincere thank you to the ones that have sent an e-mail, commented on a blog, or posted on FB.  The return messages are such a blessing~~it is nice to hear from home.  So, thank you!  We love hearing from you! please know that!

So, I wanted to share with you our day today!  I got up once again at 4:00 a.m. ready for the day (HAHA) because my body still does not know we are in Russia.  And Diester was up by 5:30 a.m.  I was skyping after my bible study.  We got ready for the day, and were picked up by 8:00 to go see the boys. 

Oh my, what a blessing!  I want to keep this brief, but I am quite a yacker on my blog it seems.  My stories end up lasting forever, I know. 

Let me get going~we pull into the orphanage, and Diester asks the driver to drive around the back so that we can see if the kids are outside playing.  Sure enough, and as we got to R.A.'s group, he sees our car, and is pretty much bouncing back and forth on one foot and then the other pointing at our car, and saying "Machina".  Diester lowers the window, and then R.A. catches a glimpse of us, and starts excitedly saying, which we could actually hear "Mamma Pappa"  We waved to him from inside the car, and he was so cute, just excited as could be, waving back at us.  As I write this now, I want you to know that we prayed on our way there for the Lord to let us see R.A. smile more.  He is very reserved with his emotions.  We were praying that the Lord would allow us to bond more, and to see some emotions expressed.  So, as you can see, as God does in grand style, R.A. was so happy to see us, and showed his excitability in an extreme that we had not seen so far.  It was such 'another' blessing! ! !   So, we got out of the car, grabbed our garb, and headed back to get the little guys!  We are heading back there, and R.A. is allowed to come greet us, and he is just running~~it was absolutely precious.  Diester picked him up, they hugged, and R.A. just held onto him.  Then I held him, and we just showered him with love and affection.  WOWSA!  Nothing could be better than that, right?

Well, then we head around to get little I.A., and he sees us, and gets the biggest grin on his face.  I was holding R.A. at the time, and I.A. saw Diester at the end of the sidewalk, and he was so cute.  He was practically doing a jig on his way down the sidewalk~~it was like he couldn't contain his joy.  The little jaunt to the end of the sidewalk where Diester stood almost became a little dance.  I didn't have the video running, but there are pix, and they speak volumes.  It was incredible.  His little dimples were showing so much, and then when Diester picked him up, and they both were smiling as big as their faces would allow, and he started giggling when Diester would talk to him.  I think he knows he's in for some fun when this 'big guy' comes around, and he just cannot contain his happiness.  The sparkle in his eyes was tremendous!

So, we walked around, and did the bubble thing again.  You know, some bubbles work better than others?  Believe it or not, this group of bubbles just did not seem to be working as well, and you know, Diester had bought these cute little Thomas the Train bubble blowing things, and they were as cute as could be, but the boys just did not get them, and when they did, the bubbles just would not work.  So be it!  We had fun anyway with the wands that worked.

Then the kitty cat made it's way near us.  The boys are scared of this cat, because they are not exposed to any 'live' animals, so it actually made it nice to see them move in closer to us for protection, even though they wanted desperately to touch the kitty, they also didn't want to get near it, so they came in by Mamma to be protected, and I just held my arms around them, and we watched Diester pet the cat.  It became our entertainment for a bit, and also provided more bonding opportunity, so that they would be able to get some nurturing from mom.  My turn!  :-) 

Then, of course there is the ongoing fascination of the car, any car.  We realized that babies are taught that it is a 'bee-bee' (I think for the sound of the horn), and we know R.A. just loves them too.  So, we offered to take them a ride in the 'machina'.  Diester climbed in with R.A. (3rd trip in the car), and I tried again with I.A.  R.A. just climbed right in, and sat right down on Diester's lap.  I was 'trying' with I.A., and the very upset fussing started again, however, Diester told me to climb in anyway with him on my lap, so I did, and he started throwing a fit, which lasted 3 seconds.  Yes, you heard me right.  As soon as he sat down once we were in the car, he settled right down, and was in AWE just looking around as we drove around the orphanage.  Funny thing, R.A. tells our driver,  "I am not afraid." and our driver Eugene says back to him (this whole time Diester and I have no clue what was being said) You are not afraid? Well, you should not be afraid, it is not an animal that could bite you."   We found out later about that conversation.  So, needless to say, we all enjoyed our leisurely drive around the estate of the orphanage.

During our visit, Diester has R.A. in his arms, and Diester asked him "deer Mama?" and R.A. appropriately pointed to me, and then he said "deer Papa?" and R.A. pointed to him.  It was VERY cool.  

After it was time for them to go back with their groups, we headed inside to visit with the Dr. and the social worker (representing our case in court). We spoke with them, and got a review of the medical/social background of the boys. 

Time to go!  We headed back to our apt this afternoon, and then we had a 'court briefing' for which we were thankful. 

Praise God that I am done with this post.  I am so tired, and need to get to bed.  God bless you all!  Michelle

What a day!

We had the blessing of going to the market with Iris Loomans yesterday. (She and her husband are missionaries to the people groups in the remote parts of Northern Russia, who are NOT Russian, but were forced to learn the Russian language under the communist regime.  These people groups are more like tribes with an Eskimo look to them. It is quite interesting.)   It was quite the experience at the market.  Actually, there are a lot of similarities between their farmer's market here, and Findley Market in Cincinnati, where I would have gone yesterday with some friends had we been home. One difference is that the meat is just out on huge butcher block tables, with no glass between the customers, and the merchants.  We were just enjoying the experience, and picked up some veggies along the way for our dinner salad, and some spices.  Diester bought some cheese, but we both decided the Russian cheese wasn't our favorite, so he stuck with cheese from Holland.  Iris bought some beef, and then she also had to pay extra to have it ground up.  She  took us to get some souvenirs.  It was a joy to be with her and her son.  Diester and Steven (Iris' 8 yo son) enjoyed each other so much, they talked nonstop as we traveled around.  Diester tried on one of the hats that are common to wear in the Siberia winters here.  He also picked up a couple of caps for our soon-to-be boys. 

When we got back to the apartment, we decided that we would spend some time making our Scrabble game.  You have to understand~~we are Scrabble fans, and we looked for a travel Scrabble game before we left, but didn't find one within our budget.  So, we decided to check them out at the airports to see what they had~~as if they would be inexpensive there-HA!  $40 in one store, $50 in the other.  We just weren't going to pay that, so Diester decided to make his own board.  I have to say, I think it turned out pretty cool.  We do have some time on our hands when we aren't visiting the boys, and we love Scrabble, so hence our Scrabble game.  I thought you might like to see it. 

Then we had the blessing of being invited to church today with Iris and her husband Tim.  Tim and Iris Loomans were such a blessing to us with their 2 sons, Steven (8 yo) and Jonathan (6).  We drove out of the main part of the city, and headed to their Baptist church.  It is a church building that is about 10 yo, and made to look somewhat like an orthodox church.  I would have taken a pix~~however, dead camera batteries, and a battery charger that was not working made that impossible (we bought a new charger after church).  We'll try to get pictures of it next week, as we plan to go again.  Tim informed us before we went into church that the service is 2 hours long.  He also explained that Iris would be translating for us from the pew behind us.  So, we headed in at that point, and as we were walking into church, a car drove by, and the hood of the car was covered in a bright green (like grass) color textured material with artificial orange geranium looking flowers strategically placed on the green material, and then there were some flowers placed on some other parts of the car.  I turned to Iris, and asked about that??  She said that it is tradition to do that for your wedding in Russia.  She explained that there must've been a wedding there yesterday.  I didn't think much more about it.   So, we headed up the steps to the entrance, and as we walked inside, there was a green lining along the pews with orange and white material draped ~~Oh, I cannot describe this.  It really looked hideous if you ask me.  And there were green apples along the floor of the aisle as you headed towards the front of the church, and more green, orange, and white decorations draped from the sanctuary.  It was at this point that Iris said, "Oh, there must be a wedding here today.  Normally, weddings do not take place on Sundays.  I didn't know they were having a wedding today.  They have never had a wedding on a Sunday since we have been coming here.  This is a first."  WOW!  So, we are in for a Russian wedding~~how cool is this! ! !  I was so excited.  I would get to see a Russian wedding.  Diester thought it was pretty cool too.  So, we found our place to sit, and got ourselves situated.  Then the service started.  The singing was lovely.  A strong choir which was very loud and clear.  So, the preacher tells us that because there is going to be a wedding here today, the message is going to be about 'family'.  That just added to the coolness of this whole scenario since we are adding to our family.  So, we sang some songs.  It was funny, Iris told us that we would be able to sing along, because they have the screens with the words on it.  (Is she thinking we can read Russian?)  Diester and I just knew she didn't mean that.  (Later, we found out that she actually did think we could read Russian because Diester knew so many Russian phrases~we got quite a chuckly out of that.) Anyway, some of the songs were very recognizable, not because of the words, but because of the tunes.  So, Diester and I were praising God with the words as we know them.  It was so wonderful to be there in Russia praising God with all of these Russian Christians, and knowing that we have the same God!  It was very moving~~So then, they introduced the couple being wed; and people crowded around the balcony so much so that we could not see down to see them.  The couple processed to the front and then took seats off to the side.  Then the preacher preached on Ephesians 5:22-33 today about how wives are to honor and respect their husbands, and how husbands are supposed to love, sacrifice, speak purely, and to nourish and cherish her.  The way this message was presented was absolutely beautiful.  Iris was translating the entire time, and it was like listening to an angel.  And, you know, it was like I heard the words of God from Ephesians in a new way.  He added in such a lovely way how it looks in real life to carry out these passages.  That was nice.  Okay. . .  so then the wedding ceremony portion of the service started.  The couple came back out to the center to be wed.  The preacher talked to them (we have no clue what was being said as Iris took a break from translating), and then they exchanged vows.  One thing I thought was cool was that they each had memorized their vows to one another, and so they said them without any prompting.  That was something Diester and I had done when we got married.  So here we are on the other side of the world, and getting to experience a wedding, so I am checking out everything (thinking in my little brain that I should try to remember this so that one day when our sons are getting married maybe we can use some of the ideas from this wedding in their wedding plans~~Diester said he would just pick up a bag of apples from Krogers~~hehe).  This bride's bouquet was not composed of flowers.  It was butterflies, like metal colorful butterflies all together in a bouquet that she held.  It was really quite unique I thought, and instead of a flower for a boutonniere, the groom had a butterfly on his lapel.  So, between the orange, green and white; the apples along the aisle; and the butterfly bouquet and boutonniere, I was racking up ideas, but thinking certainly other colors might be good??  Anyway, the whole service was quite the unique experience, and I was really kicking myself for not having my camera handy.  Ughh~~would have loved to share some pix of this.  The service finally ended with a couple of lovely songs, and we were on our way after a bit of fellowship.  We truly were blessed by the service, and the message~

One funny thing, a man who sang some solos spoke to us after the service, and he said he noticed us smiling during one portion of the service, and said he knew we were Americans because Russian people do not smile like that.  I took that as a compliment. 

We headed out of church, and I asked Iris if that is a typical wedding service (or, you know, decor?), and she shook her head no, and smiled, saying something to the effect that the bride must be very artistic, because she has never seen such a type of decor for a wedding, or a butterfly bouquet??  So goes my theory of using the ideas for the future.  FUNNY! !   (Just got done SKYPEing with the girls, and told them this story, and they were not too excited that I would be butting into the plans of my future DIL's)

Anyway, we headed to Mama Roma's Italian restaurant for lunch, and enjoyed lunch and fellowship with the Loomans, and then out for ice cream.  All of the guys got an ice cream.  I haven't gotten any yet, but will before I leave.  Everyone tells us Russian ice cream is SOOOO good! 

We then went to look for the battery charger, and got one, thank goodness.  And then, being right next to the market, we went in to get some meat.  I will not post the pix, as I don't want to gross anyone out.  I will post a copy of our cute little wildflowers.  Enjoy!  The blessings we have had just keep adding up.  We get to see the boys again tomorrow~~taking bubbles~~that's always a hit.  And then our court date is on Tuesday~we will get briefed and prepare for that tomorrow.  Can't wait to see what is in store for us then.  It is at 10:30.

Have a blessed day!  Michelle