Our last day here in Russia is pretty mellow ... Dave went to a flea market and did some final shopping (we wanted a toy plane for Ivan) while Karin & Ivan stayed in the hotel and relaxed. He now loves to look at the family photo album and is even practiving a few names! We leave for the airport at 2:30 am (Moscow time, 9 hours ahead of Minneapolis) so we are getting ready for a short night of sleep. We are ready to be home!
Thanks for all your prayers and support these past 2 years, as we have worked towards bringing Ivan home. What a joy it is to be her now! He is more precious than we expected, and we are having a wonderful time with him. We look forward to your meeting him (though you do remember, that we will be slow about that and go at his pace). God Bless!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Embassy Day
Today (with a morning that started at 4 am when Vanya needed to go to the bathroom and walked smack into a doorframe leaving a big bruise on his forehead) we went to the U.S. Embassy for our immigration interview and to receive Vanya's paperwork and Visa to travel to the U.S. We were one of about 25 families there today - a wonderful thing to see after many months of very few families (if any). Things all went well and we now have everything we need to travel home! Today is when it finally feels like it really will happen - that after this long, long wait we will finally have our "Vanichka" home ("Vanichka" means "little Ivan"). He has also started saying Mama and Dada to us, not just about us. And his evergy is unending! Even after the early morning, and only little naps while in the car, he is still raring to go. Mama and Dada, not so much :)
After a walk to the store this evening, Dave picked up pizza for supper - (called "Alaskan" but was more "Hawaiian" to us with pineapple & bacon) - and Vanya ate heartily and happily. We had gotten ice cream for dessert, but he didn't like the cold of any of it. He is definately a warm beverage person! He likes his "chai" and knows how to use a tea bag in his cup. It is amazing to see what this little boy has learned, and is learning already in his new "American" life.
Sorry we don't have any pictures - no uploads from the hotel free computer. He was last seen crawling on his belly under a chair in the hotel lounge, in his orange long-sleeve t-shirt, olive pants, and red slippers. He is singing some sort of song (in Russian) and occasionally rubbing his eyes. Sleep will hopefully come soon!
After a walk to the store this evening, Dave picked up pizza for supper - (called "Alaskan" but was more "Hawaiian" to us with pineapple & bacon) - and Vanya ate heartily and happily. We had gotten ice cream for dessert, but he didn't like the cold of any of it. He is definately a warm beverage person! He likes his "chai" and knows how to use a tea bag in his cup. It is amazing to see what this little boy has learned, and is learning already in his new "American" life.
Sorry we don't have any pictures - no uploads from the hotel free computer. He was last seen crawling on his belly under a chair in the hotel lounge, in his orange long-sleeve t-shirt, olive pants, and red slippers. He is singing some sort of song (in Russian) and occasionally rubbing his eyes. Sleep will hopefully come soon!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Unto us a son is given!
December 25th, 2007
How marvelous a day to be the one where Vanya comes to live with us for the rest of our lives! Such a wonderful gift of life! Such an amazing gift from God! Slava Gospadam!
Vanya did very well with all of the new things that were going on that day: putting on an entire new set of clothes, getting in a car ride for FOUR HOURS!, and then coming to sleep in a hotel with Dave and Karin without any of his group mates there beside him as he falls asleep. He did so well with so many new things, but sleeping was something that he didn't really want to do that night! But as we've already alluded to the Christ story in our own journey here, let us do so again for a moment...
Two thousand years ago when the little Christ was born, there were two groups of people called to see him, the shepherds and the wise men. Two very different groups of people, at least from a social standing perspective. Shepherds were not exactly viewed as the best that there was when it came to what they had to offer others. Not a lot of glamour to their profession, yet they were the first ones there to see the Christ on the night he was born! And on the night when Vanya comes to us, and he doesn't want to sleep, who should come to us but a midnight housekeeping staff!
It is 1:30 in the morning and Vanya is crying and won't sleep. A knock comes to our door and a kind housekeeping staff asks if she can come in and help us. She picks Vanya up and immediately starts comforting him in Russian, telling him that he is with Mom and Dad now (and many other things that we don't know). Like a light switch being flicked off he starts to calm down, and within minutes he is sleeping in his bed! Not a glamorous profession this woman has, changing sheets and towels all day, and having to do who-knows-what during the overnight. But she is the one who came to us, and she knew exactly what it would take to calm Vanya down on his first night with two strangers! That is really what happened, and I hope that you maybe enjoy the simularities as much as I do when put beside the holiday we observe at this time!
We are spending our second night in Moscow now (had a very early flight yesterday to get us here!) and Vanya is doing great! We still have a bit of trouble getting him down at night, but it is nothing that we can't handle, and that is all the trouble he is giving us! He is starting to talk more, he is pointing to things that he wants so that we can give it to him (rather than him crawling all over something to get it himself!) and he is loving the chance to explore this grand hotel we are now staying in! He stands in the window sill and stares out at all the cars going by for minutes and minutes. He's figured out the elevator buttons, and knows now that he can go out to the hallway, press one of the buttons and the elevator will show up! Fortunately he hasn't run away yet! He has had a lot of fun with the half-dozen other American couples that are here in the final stages of their adoption journeys, and playing with the children that they are bringing home! Vanya is happy, and energetic, and is engaging mom and dad more and more all of the time! We are so happy with how he is doing, and didn't think that he would do this well!
Today we took him for a walk to Red Square, and then went out to eat at TGIFriday's (yes, they have one in Moscow!). He kept wanting to hold our hand everywhere we went, and was just content and happy when we would hold him every so often! We were so happy to see how he acted in the restaurant, and realized that he probably had no idea what a restaurant was, let alone how to act in one! He is just doing amazingly well if you ask us!
We got Vanya's doctor visit done yesterday, and tomorrow we go the American embassy to finish up the final part of this process! Once that is done we have nothing to do but get ready for our 5:30am flight Sunday morning (I know, but it still can't come soon enough if you ask me!). Until then we are enjoying are new son, we are enjoying being this much closer to home, and we are enjoying many new friends who are also in an exciting part of their lives too! We're grateful for all of the great moments that we get to share with Vanya in these last few days here before we come home! We hope that everyone has had a great Christmas celebration, and that the one who came to this earth so many years ago that night means more to you all with each passing year! Merry Christmas!!
P.S. "Slava Gospadam" means "Praise the Lord!
How marvelous a day to be the one where Vanya comes to live with us for the rest of our lives! Such a wonderful gift of life! Such an amazing gift from God! Slava Gospadam!
Vanya did very well with all of the new things that were going on that day: putting on an entire new set of clothes, getting in a car ride for FOUR HOURS!, and then coming to sleep in a hotel with Dave and Karin without any of his group mates there beside him as he falls asleep. He did so well with so many new things, but sleeping was something that he didn't really want to do that night! But as we've already alluded to the Christ story in our own journey here, let us do so again for a moment...
Two thousand years ago when the little Christ was born, there were two groups of people called to see him, the shepherds and the wise men. Two very different groups of people, at least from a social standing perspective. Shepherds were not exactly viewed as the best that there was when it came to what they had to offer others. Not a lot of glamour to their profession, yet they were the first ones there to see the Christ on the night he was born! And on the night when Vanya comes to us, and he doesn't want to sleep, who should come to us but a midnight housekeeping staff!
It is 1:30 in the morning and Vanya is crying and won't sleep. A knock comes to our door and a kind housekeeping staff asks if she can come in and help us. She picks Vanya up and immediately starts comforting him in Russian, telling him that he is with Mom and Dad now (and many other things that we don't know). Like a light switch being flicked off he starts to calm down, and within minutes he is sleeping in his bed! Not a glamorous profession this woman has, changing sheets and towels all day, and having to do who-knows-what during the overnight. But she is the one who came to us, and she knew exactly what it would take to calm Vanya down on his first night with two strangers! That is really what happened, and I hope that you maybe enjoy the simularities as much as I do when put beside the holiday we observe at this time!
We are spending our second night in Moscow now (had a very early flight yesterday to get us here!) and Vanya is doing great! We still have a bit of trouble getting him down at night, but it is nothing that we can't handle, and that is all the trouble he is giving us! He is starting to talk more, he is pointing to things that he wants so that we can give it to him (rather than him crawling all over something to get it himself!) and he is loving the chance to explore this grand hotel we are now staying in! He stands in the window sill and stares out at all the cars going by for minutes and minutes. He's figured out the elevator buttons, and knows now that he can go out to the hallway, press one of the buttons and the elevator will show up! Fortunately he hasn't run away yet! He has had a lot of fun with the half-dozen other American couples that are here in the final stages of their adoption journeys, and playing with the children that they are bringing home! Vanya is happy, and energetic, and is engaging mom and dad more and more all of the time! We are so happy with how he is doing, and didn't think that he would do this well!
Today we took him for a walk to Red Square, and then went out to eat at TGIFriday's (yes, they have one in Moscow!). He kept wanting to hold our hand everywhere we went, and was just content and happy when we would hold him every so often! We were so happy to see how he acted in the restaurant, and realized that he probably had no idea what a restaurant was, let alone how to act in one! He is just doing amazingly well if you ask us!
We got Vanya's doctor visit done yesterday, and tomorrow we go the American embassy to finish up the final part of this process! Once that is done we have nothing to do but get ready for our 5:30am flight Sunday morning (I know, but it still can't come soon enough if you ask me!). Until then we are enjoying are new son, we are enjoying being this much closer to home, and we are enjoying many new friends who are also in an exciting part of their lives too! We're grateful for all of the great moments that we get to share with Vanya in these last few days here before we come home! We hope that everyone has had a great Christmas celebration, and that the one who came to this earth so many years ago that night means more to you all with each passing year! Merry Christmas!!
P.S. "Slava Gospadam" means "Praise the Lord!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Baby, It's Cold Outside!
It is a cold day here today! Still, we had some errands to run, so we headed out on the trolley to the downtown area (and brought along our new friends & another adoptive family, Zack & Laura). We did what we needed to do, and then stopped for ice cream cones. Yum! Nothing like eating a cone that just freezes MORE when you stand outside for a few minutes! Weather.com says that it feels like -22, and we agree, though once it gets this cold it is hard to tell :)Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the day that we go to get Vanya. Karin will stay here in the city to run around and get paperwork & passports, while Dave will travel to pick up Vanya & bring him back here. Please pray for both of us, for traveling safety (Dave's drive is long & through remote areas and tomorrow is also supposed to be a cold day) & that paperwork will come together smoothly.
Wednesday morning (early) we all fly to Moscow and start the final stage of paperwork there. Please pray that
the flight(and drive) will go smoothly. Vanya's life will completely change in the next few days, and we don't know how much he can or does understand. Please pray for him in the transition.
On a completely different note, Dave just got a haircut! Olga came to the Goldman's flat and Dave's hair is now trimmed and ready to go. She doesn't speak English, so the communication has been through a friend on the phone and pointing and Dave' s limited Russian. It has worked though, and it is as good as any haircut that he has gotten at home.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Our very LAST VISIT to Vanya!
On Thursday (12/20), we had our very last visit to Vanya ever! On Tuesday (12/25), Dave will go and pick him up (while Karin stays and does paperwork) and then he will be with us for always. We are very much looking forward to this day! So while we wait out these last few days, we will try and post a few pictures of our visits with him. Just 3 more sleeps :)Children here are potty trained at a much younger age than we typically do so in the U.S. Vanya (and other children his age) are out of diapers, and it is a challenge to find the needed undergarments for them. I just found (Lynn, Danette, Laura, and anyone else also looking, take note!) XS and S underpants at Hanna Andersson (fabulous clothes anyways) and on sale (www.hannaandersson.com). A great discovery, especially to have some waiting for me when I get home. Internet shopping is a good thing.
There is a lot of news coverage on BBC (the English station we get at the hotel) about the financial crisis in the U.S. right now, especially regarding credit, mortgages, and the increased cost of gas. Families who have court after us (even the next day!) are being asked to prove more about their financial situations. Please pray for those families, that they will be able to provide the paperwork being requested (since it can be hard to get, especially with the time and distance barriers). Russia is a cash society, and it can be hard to understand and communicate the cultural difference in how we do things. Currently, we are exchanging 1 U.S. dollar for about 24 rubles ... 8900 rubles is about $360.
Winter Solstice
Yep, the longest day of the year, even longer here! So we stayed inside ALL DAY LONG (these are the great things about hotels!) and just absorbed the fact that in just a very few days, we will pick Vanya up forever! After 2 long years of waiting, it is hard to believe that the count is now down to single digits.
Karin's Knitting Notes: Yes, I have been knitting a lot here! Several pairs of kids' socks, my knee-highs are done (but they keep falling down, so some reworking of the top needs to happen!), a pair of socks for Dave, a sweater for Vanya, a scarf for Vanya, and several projects are still in the works. Last week, I even got to join in on "Tea & Knitting" at Kara's, with both Russian & American women. It was a fun mix of new & experienced knitters, and a wonderfully fun afternoon! So what does Dave do while Karin knits? PlayStation games ... Mark brought his along and he and Dave spent (many!) hours playing, "buying"cars, and (the ultimate goal) "winning" the city. Many hours of entertainment for Dave, Mark, a
nd all the boys!
nd all the boys!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Day ???
It's officially been a month since we've been here, so we officially don't care about all the details like the exact day any more!
We went to see Vanya on Monday and had another nice visit with him. We went and took his passport photos (in what may have been his first car ride, we don't know), and came back to the orphanage for another brief visit. Vanya did pretty well at the passport photo office. He didn't want to smile for his photo (which we understand is a typical Russian thing), and did a lot better on his ride back to the orphanage than he did on his first ride. One of the ladies at the photo place told our translator that Vanya seems to take after me a lot (in appearance, I'm guessing!)
Even though it had been a few days since we had seen him last, he still seemed to remember us, and we had some rather pleasant times together for about 2 hours. Making the 4 hour drive twice in one day gets to be a very long day, and we are so thankful that we have made all of these trips safely!
Yesterday we bought our airline tickets to leave the city for Moscow on December 26th. We choose to get paper tickets, possibly only for the joy of seeing Vanya's name in print on them!! The story with our tickets to Moscow is that we chose to stay here another night because we believe that this early morning flight we have on the 26th will still get us to the embassy with plenty of time, and we will save A LOT of money by spending one less night at the Moscow hotel! We've heard that Moscow is the most expensive city in the world right now, and at 8900 rubles a night for a hotel room, we believe it!
Today (Wednesday) we explored the city a bit more on the trolley system, and purchased a few more essentials that we need before Vanya comes to us. We had a nice dinner out, and plan on a quiet evening alone together (how many more days can we say that?) ...Well, let me answer that last rhetorical question; Six days!
Six more days (sleeps as we measure them) until Vanya leaves the orphanage forever to come with us! Yay!
We went to see Vanya on Monday and had another nice visit with him. We went and took his passport photos (in what may have been his first car ride, we don't know), and came back to the orphanage for another brief visit. Vanya did pretty well at the passport photo office. He didn't want to smile for his photo (which we understand is a typical Russian thing), and did a lot better on his ride back to the orphanage than he did on his first ride. One of the ladies at the photo place told our translator that Vanya seems to take after me a lot (in appearance, I'm guessing!)
Even though it had been a few days since we had seen him last, he still seemed to remember us, and we had some rather pleasant times together for about 2 hours. Making the 4 hour drive twice in one day gets to be a very long day, and we are so thankful that we have made all of these trips safely!
Yesterday we bought our airline tickets to leave the city for Moscow on December 26th. We choose to get paper tickets, possibly only for the joy of seeing Vanya's name in print on them!! The story with our tickets to Moscow is that we chose to stay here another night because we believe that this early morning flight we have on the 26th will still get us to the embassy with plenty of time, and we will save A LOT of money by spending one less night at the Moscow hotel! We've heard that Moscow is the most expensive city in the world right now, and at 8900 rubles a night for a hotel room, we believe it!
Today (Wednesday) we explored the city a bit more on the trolley system, and purchased a few more essentials that we need before Vanya comes to us. We had a nice dinner out, and plan on a quiet evening alone together (how many more days can we say that?) ...Well, let me answer that last rhetorical question; Six days!
Six more days (sleeps as we measure them) until Vanya leaves the orphanage forever to come with us! Yay!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Day 23: New boots & new flights
Today has been a pretty mellow day. After another uneventful trolley bus ride over to the Goldman's, Dave spent the day hanging out with Dwayne and the kids and Karin went shopping with Kara for boots. Nice, toasty warm winter boots. Found them at a big underground mall, where they were quite intrigued that we were Americans (not too many Americans find the mall underneath Revolution Square apparently). We had fun and got what we wanted.
We found out that we can leave Moscow on 29 December - yay! However, we are having a hard time finding flights that leave then for a reasonable cost. We are changing tickets, but it seems that it may be cheaper to just buy new ones (and cheaper is relative!). Please pray that something will work out, so that we can get home as soon as we can, for a reasonable cost. Alan & Bev are making calls today and trying to find the best deals. We are so thankful for family to help us when we are here!
We found out that we can leave Moscow on 29 December - yay! However, we are having a hard time finding flights that leave then for a reasonable cost. We are changing tickets, but it seems that it may be cheaper to just buy new ones (and cheaper is relative!). Please pray that something will work out, so that we can get home as soon as we can, for a reasonable cost. Alan & Bev are making calls today and trying to find the best deals. We are so thankful for family to help us when we are here!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Day 22: Successful Court!
We went to court this morning, and had success! We are now officially parents of Ivan Joseph David Bergstr
om! Court lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes, and we really didn't feel like we were hit with any questions that we weren't prepared for and we found the questions (dare we say it) easy. The toughest part was to try to explain our jobs, since culturally neither working with adults with disabilities nor working at a yarn shop translates well. Both the Chief Doctor (of Ivan's orphanage) and the City Inspector (socuial services agent of the city he lives in) spoke well of Ivan and of us and of the connection we have made with him. What wonderful support to receive from them! We will be able to pick up the new paperwork on 25th December - seems just shy of 10 business days, when I count! We will get the court decree in the morning, then Dave will travel to pick up Ivan while Karin stays and gets his birth certificate and passport, then we will meet at the airport for our flight to Moscow. Praise God!
om! Court lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes, and we really didn't feel like we were hit with any questions that we weren't prepared for and we found the questions (dare we say it) easy. The toughest part was to try to explain our jobs, since culturally neither working with adults with disabilities nor working at a yarn shop translates well. Both the Chief Doctor (of Ivan's orphanage) and the City Inspector (socuial services agent of the city he lives in) spoke well of Ivan and of us and of the connection we have made with him. What wonderful support to receive from them! We will be able to pick up the new paperwork on 25th December - seems just shy of 10 business days, when I count! We will get the court decree in the morning, then Dave will travel to pick up Ivan while Karin stays and gets his birth certificate and passport, then we will meet at the airport for our flight to Moscow. Praise God!For dinner, we went with the Goldman family & the Robb's for what turned out to be a fabulous dinner at "Dragon". It was quite an adventure for us
to order with limited Russ
ia word recognition, no English menu, and no one able to translate for us. I would say we did a good job - we ate all the food and were quite happy doing so! These are times you just want to celebrate and relax with friends ... and we are so blessed to have friends to do that with here.Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Day 21: Just a few more pictures
Just a few more pictures of Ivan! We aren't sure when we will see him again (the decision will be made after court tomorrow) but want to share some more from last week.
Vanya wanted to just hug his dad for several minutes one afternoon. He started playing games where we would have to pick up him and carry him and then he would give us hugs.
On Friday we got to see his group's room (his group is his family here), and he showed us his toys and his bed. It was wonderful to see that it was a clean, pleasant place to live. Vanya poured Mama "chai" and we had a tea party in the little play kitchen. He does like tea!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Day 20: Countdown to Court!
Finally, a brief moment that we can countDOWN to something and just count up the days we have been here! We signed a few more documents, and then spent time preparing for our court time this week. 11:00 am on Wednesday 12 December is our time. Always subject to change, as everything else is, but something to look towards. We are very excited to make it to this point. To have our paperwork all gathered and ready to go, a judge to present to, a precious little boy to finally bring home! The waiver of the 10-day wait is unlikely since our facilitator doesn't want us to request it, but we are trusting that God will work out the perfect timing for OUR FAMILY regardless of any requests. God is good!
We are so glad to be back in the region capital - to see our friends here and have some internet access again! We had so many wonderful hours with Vanya, but each day it gets harder to leave him there. We so look forward to bringing him home and having our family together. We will try and add a few more pictures soon.
We are so glad to be back in the region capital - to see our friends here and have some internet access again! We had so many wonderful hours with Vanya, but each day it gets harder to leave him there. We so look forward to bringing him home and having our family together. We will try and add a few more pictures soon.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Day Ninteen: We're back! (In the region capital)
We have been in the region where Vanya lives the past 6 days without any phone or internet access, which is the reason we haven't posted anything lately. But we got to see Vanya nine different times, so that was the trade-off! Here is a quick break-down...
We left the region capital on Tuesday morning and drove to Vanya's city. We saw him that afternoon, and then twice a day every day after that - once in the morning from 9:30-12, and again in the afternoon from 3:30-5:30. Vanya warmed up to us a little more with each visit, and we were allowed quite a lot of access to different rooms in the orphanage, and even got to see where Vanya sleeps!
Basically each visit consisted of him looking though the bag of goodies that we brought him, taking everything out and putting it in some kind of order, and then rearranging it all again somehow. We got to go for walks with him outside, we got to see him with his group during music time, we played with him in what we believe is the activity room, and we also got to see his everyday play room that housed all of the toys that his group has to play with each day.
We must say that it was SO good to see how nice, and clean, and safe, and interesting all of his equipment and toys were! Do not think at all about any of the horror stories, or movies about orphanages when you think of this place, because it was really very, very good! It felt like such a blessing to know that he was in such a decent environment!
We have too many pictures to put them all up, so we'll just put up a few of the best ones.
There are many things that we can say, and they are all good! We really feel that we had some quality bonding experiences with Vanya while we were there! He really warmed up to us, which was so much fun, but also so hard to leave him there.
We have a court date on Wednesday! All of our other friends here have had successful court hearings, and we have every indication that ours will be too. There is just a lot of information that we need to memorize for the hearing (lots of family background, birth dates, diagnoses, recommended treatments, etc).
Please pray for our judge granting us a waiver of the 10 day wait period! The way the court system works here is that there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period after a court hearing before the judgment becomes finalized. Please join us in praying for this to be waived so that we may quickly move on to what we need to do in Moscow, and thereby get home quicker. We are going to ask the judge to waive the 10 days because we have already seen him so many times this past week, it is dangerous driving back and forth between here in the region capital
and the city where Vanya lives. We already have all of the clothes that we will need, including boots, coat, hat, gloves, etc. Please pray with us for this!
We are glad to be back here in the region capital where all of our new friends are! It is so nice to feel the support of the family of God with these wonderful people that we have met on this journey. And we continue to be grateful for all the support and prayers that we know we are getting back home as well! Thank you all!
Dave & Karin
We left the region capital on Tuesday morning and drove to Vanya's city. We saw him that afternoon, and then twice a day every day after that - once in the morning from 9:30-12, and again in the afternoon from 3:30-5:30. Vanya warmed up to us a little more with each visit, and we were allowed quite a lot of access to different rooms in the orphanage, and even got to see where Vanya sleeps!
Basically each visit consisted of him looking though the bag of goodies that we brought him, taking everything out and putting it in some kind of order, and then rearranging it all again somehow. We got to go for walks with him outside, we got to see him with his group during music time, we played with him in what we believe is the activity room, and we also got to see his everyday play room that housed all of the toys that his group has to play with each day.
We must say that it was SO good to see how nice, and clean, and safe, and interesting all of his equipment and toys were! Do not think at all about any of the horror stories, or movies about orphanages when you think of this place, because it was really very, very good! It felt like such a blessing to know that he was in such a decent environment!
We have too many pictures to put them all up, so we'll just put up a few of the best ones.
There are many things that we can say, and they are all good! We really feel that we had some quality bonding experiences with Vanya while we were there! He really warmed up to us, which was so much fun, but also so hard to leave him there.
We have a court date on Wednesday! All of our other friends here have had successful court hearings, and we have every indication that ours will be too. There is just a lot of information that we need to memorize for the hearing (lots of family background, birth dates, diagnoses, recommended treatments, etc).
Please pray for our judge granting us a waiver of the 10 day wait period! The way the court system works here is that there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period after a court hearing before the judgment becomes finalized. Please join us in praying for this to be waived so that we may quickly move on to what we need to do in Moscow, and thereby get home quicker. We are going to ask the judge to waive the 10 days because we have already seen him so many times this past week, it is dangerous driving back and forth between here in the region capital
and the city where Vanya lives. We already have all of the clothes that we will need, including boots, coat, hat, gloves, etc. Please pray with us for this!
We are glad to be back here in the region capital where all of our new friends are! It is so nice to feel the support of the family of God with these wonderful people that we have met on this journey. And we continue to be grateful for all the support and prayers that we know we are getting back home as well! Thank you all!
Dave & Karin
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Day Eleven: Looking ahead to court
We still don't know for sure what day we are going to court. According to our translator, the judge said that we could go "as soon as" we get our Homeland Security paperwork (which is on its way!). It is possible that the paperwork could arrive on Monday, but even then we don't know if that is good enough for us to keep a court date on Wednesday the 5th. Or it may be that we will not be able to go to court until the 12th, even if the paperwork arrives on Monday. But we don't know that even Tuesday would be too late to keep our court date on the 5th, so we really are up against so much that is unknown. But when we left Minneapolis we had no information to say that ANY upcoming court dates would be available to us. Now we have two possible dates, which is more than we had 2 weeks ago. We walk by faith, and the path immediately in front of us seems to always remain lit enough for us not to fall!
Yesterday we drove down to see Ivan again! We left our hotel again at 11am and arrived around 3pm. This time we had about 2 full hours to be with him, so it was a much more satisfying trip. Vanya actually walked right up to Dave when he came into the room (Karin happened to be in another room at the moment), which we believe is a very good thing being how reserved he can be with strangers, as well as how few men he actually sees in the orphanage.
We tried to give him a juice box, but we quickly learned that he had never used a straw before! We had a little fun trying to teach him how to close him mouth around the straw and then suck the juice up! At first he would just open his mouth and hold the straw on his tongue with his mouth still open. We had to try and help him close his mouth around it, and then squirt the juice in his mouth. It took several minutes, and several tries, and a few spills down his shirt too, but by the end of our stay he seemed to know what to do with the straw.
But then he walked over to Karin's bag and started digging through it. He pulled out some of the treats that we brought him, and we let him have one or two. But then we pulled out the play-dough and we had to show him how to use it.
A few minutes pass and he goes back to Karin's bag and digs out some rolls and fruit we had brought him. Most of the pictures that we have of this visit are of him eating food!
In the time that we had, he ate 2 yogurts, 2 rolls, handfulls of Cheerios, handfulls of trail mix, half an apple, and part of an orange! You can see here in this picture how interested he was on getting all of the yogurt that was in the container!
He did a little coloring, played a bit more with some play-dough, and then had some of the trail mix. He ate the chocolate covered peanuts first! :-)
Vanya still was pretty cautious with us the whole time, but certainly he was more open to us than he was the last visit. He doesn't talk at all when he's around us, but the little Russian that we know he seems to understand us. He responds when we ask him if he wants juice, if he likes what he's eating, and when tell him he's doing a good job coloring.
When it came time for him to leave, he wanted to take the play-dough with him. He said something to his caregiver (in Russian two-year-old speak) about how much he liked it. His caregiver opened the canisters and seemed to say it was alright if he took it. Vanya was quiet and cooperative with us, and like we said, he was a little more engaging with us than the last time.
At this point we continue to pray that our immigration paperwork arrives quickly, and that we are allowed to keep our December 5th court date. We may or may not change hotels to the town where Vanya lives, in order that we may see him on a daily basis. This is kind of hinging on if we can get a hotel that will register us, and of course when our court date is.
Tomorrow we are going to see a Russian circus! Kind of nice to have such events like this to keep us entertained and busy when there is so much going on that we can't control. All our love to you, and thanks for all of your prayers!
Yesterday we drove down to see Ivan again! We left our hotel again at 11am and arrived around 3pm. This time we had about 2 full hours to be with him, so it was a much more satisfying trip. Vanya actually walked right up to Dave when he came into the room (Karin happened to be in another room at the moment), which we believe is a very good thing being how reserved he can be with strangers, as well as how few men he actually sees in the orphanage.
We tried to give him a juice box, but we quickly learned that he had never used a straw before! We had a little fun trying to teach him how to close him mouth around the straw and then suck the juice up! At first he would just open his mouth and hold the straw on his tongue with his mouth still open. We had to try and help him close his mouth around it, and then squirt the juice in his mouth. It took several minutes, and several tries, and a few spills down his shirt too, but by the end of our stay he seemed to know what to do with the straw.
But then he walked over to Karin's bag and started digging through it. He pulled out some of the treats that we brought him, and we let him have one or two. But then we pulled out the play-dough and we had to show him how to use it.A few minutes pass and he goes back to Karin's bag and digs out some rolls and fruit we had brought him. Most of the pictures that we have of this visit are of him eating food!
In the time that we had, he ate 2 yogurts, 2 rolls, handfulls of Cheerios, handfulls of trail mix, half an apple, and part of an orange! You can see here in this picture how interested he was on getting all of the yogurt that was in the container!
He did a little coloring, played a bit more with some play-dough, and then had some of the trail mix. He ate the chocolate covered peanuts first! :-) Vanya still was pretty cautious with us the whole time, but certainly he was more open to us than he was the last visit. He doesn't talk at all when he's around us, but the little Russian that we know he seems to understand us. He responds when we ask him if he wants juice, if he likes what he's eating, and when tell him he's doing a good job coloring.
When it came time for him to leave, he wanted to take the play-dough with him. He said something to his caregiver (in Russian two-year-old speak) about how much he liked it. His caregiver opened the canisters and seemed to say it was alright if he took it. Vanya was quiet and cooperative with us, and like we said, he was a little more engaging with us than the last time.
At this point we continue to pray that our immigration paperwork arrives quickly, and that we are allowed to keep our December 5th court date. We may or may not change hotels to the town where Vanya lives, in order that we may see him on a daily basis. This is kind of hinging on if we can get a hotel that will register us, and of course when our court date is.
Tomorrow we are going to see a Russian circus! Kind of nice to have such events like this to keep us entertained and busy when there is so much going on that we can't control. All our love to you, and thanks for all of your prayers!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Day Nine: Almost good news!
We've been waiting for our Homeland Security clearance to come through again (the renewal was the only document we needed in order to have a court date set), but today we learned that we already had it; we just weren't notified!
The Moscow embassy had been notified immediately when our renewal came through, but for whatever reason we weren't notified, and neither was our adoption agency! We had notified our senators and asked them to intercede on our behalf in expediting our renewal, we had prayed, and we had asked everyone we know for prayer. And the prayers were answered in a most unique way...God has shown us that the path has already been cleared long before this was ever a problem! God is good all the time!
Now we hope that we can get a copy of this notification in time to keep a potential court date next week. We can say more about this once we officially know, but for now we need a copy of our renewal notification in order to proceed here in our region.
Well that's the breaking news from here as of now, let us tell you a bit of what we've been doing lately. On Tuesday we moved to our new hotel, and may we say that we really like it! We are only two doors down from some of our new friends here (another American couple in process of adopting), and we are saving several hundred dollars a week by staying at this new place. We ate supper at the hotel, and went out for ice cream afterwards.
Wednesday we went on a nice long walk to the city's pedestrian mall and bought Vanya snowpants, a winter coat, and mittens. The point was more about taking a good long walk on a day when we had nothing in particular to do, and we just happened to find some winter clothes that Vanya will need before we leave the country! All in all it was a three hour walk that day, and we then came back and watched Alias as we relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Thursday, today, we visited the new location for the church we visited on Sunday. Right now they are only renting a place of worship on Sundays, and they have been working on this new building since 2002. These people are very patient and are building this project with no debt! We got a tour of the new building from the two pastors (one of whom speaks excellent English), and got a vision of what they want to have happen in their neighborhood. It was a real delight to see how God is at work in the region where Vanya was born! And now tonight we are "hanging out" at our missionary friends' apartment with the other American couples.
For today, please pray that our immigration paperwork does come through - we just need to show the judge that we have approval to bring Vanya home. We get to go visit him tomorrow and so will have new pictures again soon :)
The Moscow embassy had been notified immediately when our renewal came through, but for whatever reason we weren't notified, and neither was our adoption agency! We had notified our senators and asked them to intercede on our behalf in expediting our renewal, we had prayed, and we had asked everyone we know for prayer. And the prayers were answered in a most unique way...God has shown us that the path has already been cleared long before this was ever a problem! God is good all the time!
Now we hope that we can get a copy of this notification in time to keep a potential court date next week. We can say more about this once we officially know, but for now we need a copy of our renewal notification in order to proceed here in our region.
Well that's the breaking news from here as of now, let us tell you a bit of what we've been doing lately. On Tuesday we moved to our new hotel, and may we say that we really like it! We are only two doors down from some of our new friends here (another American couple in process of adopting), and we are saving several hundred dollars a week by staying at this new place. We ate supper at the hotel, and went out for ice cream afterwards.
Wednesday we went on a nice long walk to the city's pedestrian mall and bought Vanya snowpants, a winter coat, and mittens. The point was more about taking a good long walk on a day when we had nothing in particular to do, and we just happened to find some winter clothes that Vanya will need before we leave the country! All in all it was a three hour walk that day, and we then came back and watched Alias as we relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Thursday, today, we visited the new location for the church we visited on Sunday. Right now they are only renting a place of worship on Sundays, and they have been working on this new building since 2002. These people are very patient and are building this project with no debt! We got a tour of the new building from the two pastors (one of whom speaks excellent English), and got a vision of what they want to have happen in their neighborhood. It was a real delight to see how God is at work in the region where Vanya was born! And now tonight we are "hanging out" at our missionary friends' apartment with the other American couples.
For today, please pray that our immigration paperwork does come through - we just need to show the judge that we have approval to bring Vanya home. We get to go visit him tomorrow and so will have new pictures again soon :)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Day Six: Seeing Ivan!
Ok, we didn't post anything over the weekend. But besides hanging out with our great new friends here, all we did was shopping, going to church on Sunday, and watching a movie or two while relaxing. Nothing happened that brought us closer to bringing Ivan home, so forgive us for not bringing forth all of the details.
Monday morning we find out at 9:40am that we are leaving at 11am to go to the town where Ivan currently lives (a 4 hour drive from our hotel). We arrive there at about 3pm and make a stop at the city inspector's office to give and receive updates on a number of things about Ivan. We learn a few things about Ivan's birth family (that are too personal to share in a place like this), and more or less it is all good news for us. This visit lasted about 15 minutes, and we move on to the orphanage.
We arrive and go directly to the Chief Doctor's office (she's the one who runs the orphanage...it's technically a baby hospital, hence the Chief Doctor). We hang up our coats and walk in, and what do we see?
Someone was
waiting for us! Still pretty shy though, so he didn't exactly throw himself into our arms. Very cautious with us strangers, and a little more interested in figuring out this new toy that was in the doctor's office than he was in meeting new people. We move on to the "visiting room," for lack of an official name.
We don't have many toys with us, and we learn that there really aren't any toys here that he hasn't seen already, so there's not much to get him excited about.
...and I can't get this picture to rotate no matter what I do.
This is definately our little boy that we've been waiting for all this time! He eats an apple, and a little dry cereal. Actually he loved the cereal, and ate all that there was of it! We try to introduce him to the "Barrel of Monkeys," but he didn't seem interested in that either.
He did seem quite interested in the coloring book we brought though. Seemed like a good sign for the crafty/artsy parents that he has! :-) He colored for a bit with mom...
...finished off the cereal...
(I know, I still can't rotate the picture. I don't like working on a Mac!!!)
...and then did some more coloring with daddy! We only had about a half an hour to be with him, and then he had to go off and eat his supper. Perhaps we spoiled it for him with all of the food that we gave him? Who knows?
And that was the end of our time with him. When it was time for him to go, he made sure to take the coloring book with him, which was very fun for us to see! We got a few more updates from the Chief Doctor (medical updates specifically) and headed home at around 5:30. We got back to our hotel at 9:30, and that was it.
We believe that we will be able to see him again on Friday. Tomorrow we are going to change hotels, as we found one that is much, much cheaper than the one we currently are at! Otherwise, we really don't know what we have to do tomorrow. Keep praying that our INS/USCIS paperwork comes through, and that all of our documents that we had shipped DHL arrive quickly and safely.
Monday morning we find out at 9:40am that we are leaving at 11am to go to the town where Ivan currently lives (a 4 hour drive from our hotel). We arrive there at about 3pm and make a stop at the city inspector's office to give and receive updates on a number of things about Ivan. We learn a few things about Ivan's birth family (that are too personal to share in a place like this), and more or less it is all good news for us. This visit lasted about 15 minutes, and we move on to the orphanage.
We arrive and go directly to the Chief Doctor's office (she's the one who runs the orphanage...it's technically a baby hospital, hence the Chief Doctor). We hang up our coats and walk in, and what do we see?
Someone was
waiting for us! Still pretty shy though, so he didn't exactly throw himself into our arms. Very cautious with us strangers, and a little more interested in figuring out this new toy that was in the doctor's office than he was in meeting new people. We move on to the "visiting room," for lack of an official name.We don't have many toys with us, and we learn that there really aren't any toys here that he hasn't seen already, so there's not much to get him excited about.
...and I can't get this picture to rotate no matter what I do.This is definately our little boy that we've been waiting for all this time! He eats an apple, and a little dry cereal. Actually he loved the cereal, and ate all that there was of it! We try to introduce him to the "Barrel of Monkeys," but he didn't seem interested in that either.
He did seem quite interested in the coloring book we brought though. Seemed like a good sign for the crafty/artsy parents that he has! :-) He colored for a bit with mom...
...finished off the cereal...(I know, I still can't rotate the picture. I don't like working on a Mac!!!)
...and then did some more coloring with daddy! We only had about a half an hour to be with him, and then he had to go off and eat his supper. Perhaps we spoiled it for him with all of the food that we gave him? Who knows?And that was the end of our time with him. When it was time for him to go, he made sure to take the coloring book with him, which was very fun for us to see! We got a few more updates from the Chief Doctor (medical updates specifically) and headed home at around 5:30. We got back to our hotel at 9:30, and that was it.
We believe that we will be able to see him again on Friday. Tomorrow we are going to change hotels, as we found one that is much, much cheaper than the one we currently are at! Otherwise, we really don't know what we have to do tomorrow. Keep praying that our INS/USCIS paperwork comes through, and that all of our documents that we had shipped DHL arrive quickly and safely.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Day Three: Notary
Most of us don't think much about visiting a notary when needing to verify various document, but here in Russia, a notary is a person of greater significance! Sometimes everything can hang on a document being "official" or not, and in the case of international adoption, you better believe that being "official" is important!
We saw the notary today at 2pm and verified our current address (which has changed since our last visit in 2005, so some paperwork needed updating). The notary read to us our petition for adoption, our court requests, and our power of attorney paperwork...all of which had to be repeated to us in English by our translator. We signed our names on 5 different documents, and then we were done! The whole thing took about 30 minutes; not a lot of time to put in to the process, but this was all that we were slated to do today.
After this we heard from our agency contact person here that she had meet with the judge who is overseeing our case! She said that everything went well, the judge just had a few minor questions. We need to produce some more paperwork, but it is all reasonable and achievable, save only perhaps our INS clearance (Homeland Security). Nearly 2 months ago we went in to have our clearance renewed, but we are still waiting for it to come through. We HAD clearance, we just need to show the Russians that we have it yet again. Knowing what the other families have gone through here, and all of the various documents they have had to produce, the news of what we have to produce for this judge is very good news (nothing unreasonable). If you are a person who prays, please direct a few in the direction of our INS paperwork coming through very soon. We can't bring Ivan home without it.
One thing we didn't tell you about yesterday is that we were able to connect wi
th the two other American couples who are here in our region waiting for their adoption court dates, as well as an American missionary couple that have been here for 3 months. We got together and had our turkey dinner (kind of a rarity in Russia), and had our potatoes, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, and green beans. It was a real treat to have such a great meal on this holiday with 3 great couples and feel such a close connection with them all, even though we have just met!
We spent tonight with the couples waiting to adopt, and had dinner together at a local restaurant. Again, if you are looking for something to pray about, consider praying for these couples that have been here for 6 weeks or more, doing everything humanly possible to bring their child home with them. The problem is that many days, all that can humanly be done is limited to the amount of work that we did today, less than 30 minutes! The rest of their time each day is spent in a total state of powerlessness. Pray that they be sustained, that the children do not suffer, and that the system somehow be repaired.
There is nothing that we can do now this weekend to make things happen faster. We can only wait for our INS clearance to arrive, as well as the one or two others working on our behalf stateside.
Sara: CHECK YOUR E-MAIL PLEASE!
Tom H: THANK YOU FOR HELPING SO QUICKLY!
Alan & Bev: Thanks for doing a lot of the running around for us!
Tomorrow all we may be doing is a little shopping so that we have something to eat here in our hotel room. We hope the rest of you are having a wonderful holiday weekend! All our love!
Dave & Karin
We saw the notary today at 2pm and verified our current address (which has changed since our last visit in 2005, so some paperwork needed updating). The notary read to us our petition for adoption, our court requests, and our power of attorney paperwork...all of which had to be repeated to us in English by our translator. We signed our names on 5 different documents, and then we were done! The whole thing took about 30 minutes; not a lot of time to put in to the process, but this was all that we were slated to do today.
After this we heard from our agency contact person here that she had meet with the judge who is overseeing our case! She said that everything went well, the judge just had a few minor questions. We need to produce some more paperwork, but it is all reasonable and achievable, save only perhaps our INS clearance (Homeland Security). Nearly 2 months ago we went in to have our clearance renewed, but we are still waiting for it to come through. We HAD clearance, we just need to show the Russians that we have it yet again. Knowing what the other families have gone through here, and all of the various documents they have had to produce, the news of what we have to produce for this judge is very good news (nothing unreasonable). If you are a person who prays, please direct a few in the direction of our INS paperwork coming through very soon. We can't bring Ivan home without it.
One thing we didn't tell you about yesterday is that we were able to connect wi
th the two other American couples who are here in our region waiting for their adoption court dates, as well as an American missionary couple that have been here for 3 months. We got together and had our turkey dinner (kind of a rarity in Russia), and had our potatoes, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, and green beans. It was a real treat to have such a great meal on this holiday with 3 great couples and feel such a close connection with them all, even though we have just met!We spent tonight with the couples waiting to adopt, and had dinner together at a local restaurant. Again, if you are looking for something to pray about, consider praying for these couples that have been here for 6 weeks or more, doing everything humanly possible to bring their child home with them. The problem is that many days, all that can humanly be done is limited to the amount of work that we did today, less than 30 minutes! The rest of their time each day is spent in a total state of powerlessness. Pray that they be sustained, that the children do not suffer, and that the system somehow be repaired.
There is nothing that we can do now this weekend to make things happen faster. We can only wait for our INS clearance to arrive, as well as the one or two others working on our behalf stateside.
Sara: CHECK YOUR E-MAIL PLEASE!
Tom H: THANK YOU FOR HELPING SO QUICKLY!
Alan & Bev: Thanks for doing a lot of the running around for us!
Tomorrow all we may be doing is a little shopping so that we have something to eat here in our hotel room. We hope the rest of you are having a wonderful holiday weekend! All our love!
Dave & Karin
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Day Two: Medicals Completed!
When you look at the itinerary for this trip, you'll see that we were supposed to spend three days running back and forth from doctor to doctor, getting signatures and stamps and everything. We got a call late last night saying that our blood test results were in already, so we could continue today with our doctor visits! So while most of you in America were sleeping, dreaming of all the turkey, stuffing, and football you were going to enjoy, Karin and Dave were "showing their bellies" to various doctors.
We started today at 9:30 and went to a drug and alcohol treatment center (I'm not exactly sure why we went there...we didn't even have to get out of the car. But when the government says that you need something from them before you can bring one of their children home with you, you kind of find a way to get things done anyway!) and then picked up the results of our blood tests. We then returned to the clinic where we spent most of yesterday and received the last few signatures and stamps that we needed to. And by 12:15pm we were back at our hotel with everything done that we needed to have finished! Kind of nice when you can get done in a day and a half what should have taken three days! I guess it's just another thing to be thankful for today!
Tomorrow we are going to the notary for a few more legal papers that have expired since we were here last. We don't expect that we will be leaving until after noon tomorrow, so we know that we will have a nice, lazy morning (but when you wake up at 3am you can get a little antsy by 9, so maybe it's really not a good thing!). We are praying that tomorrow we may also find out more about our possible court date.
Our weekend plans are going to be very low-key, and by that we mean that there is nothing we can be doing officially to speed along the adoption process. We know that we can't go visit Ivan until Monday at the earliest, so we'll have to find a way to entertain ourselves in the meantime.
A short day for us, but a productive, important day nonetheless! We hope that all of you can be with the ones you love on this Thanksgiving day, and that you have then chance to tell them all how you feel. All our love is with our family and friends tonight, as well as with our dear Ivan. We cannot be with any of you this day, but we know that this trip is about bringing our family home. We look forward to being with all of you again soon!
Dave & Karin
We started today at 9:30 and went to a drug and alcohol treatment center (I'm not exactly sure why we went there...we didn't even have to get out of the car. But when the government says that you need something from them before you can bring one of their children home with you, you kind of find a way to get things done anyway!) and then picked up the results of our blood tests. We then returned to the clinic where we spent most of yesterday and received the last few signatures and stamps that we needed to. And by 12:15pm we were back at our hotel with everything done that we needed to have finished! Kind of nice when you can get done in a day and a half what should have taken three days! I guess it's just another thing to be thankful for today!
Tomorrow we are going to the notary for a few more legal papers that have expired since we were here last. We don't expect that we will be leaving until after noon tomorrow, so we know that we will have a nice, lazy morning (but when you wake up at 3am you can get a little antsy by 9, so maybe it's really not a good thing!). We are praying that tomorrow we may also find out more about our possible court date.
Our weekend plans are going to be very low-key, and by that we mean that there is nothing we can be doing officially to speed along the adoption process. We know that we can't go visit Ivan until Monday at the earliest, so we'll have to find a way to entertain ourselves in the meantime.
A short day for us, but a productive, important day nonetheless! We hope that all of you can be with the ones you love on this Thanksgiving day, and that you have then chance to tell them all how you feel. All our love is with our family and friends tonight, as well as with our dear Ivan. We cannot be with any of you this day, but we know that this trip is about bringing our family home. We look forward to being with all of you again soon!
Dave & Karin
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Day One: Medicals
Well, we made it to our region capital with no problems, no lost luggage, and with no sleep for 48 hours! But really, I can't think of a better way to try and quickly adjust to an 11-hour time change than staying up for so long that you can't remember how long you've been awake.
We arrived in the region capital yesterday late evening and settled into the hotel. We got up and going right away this morning and began working on our visits to the 8 different doctors that we need to see here. For the first several meetings we were very pleased at how quickly things went! But after about noon, we began running into longer waits with one or two doctors. There were a couple times were there was a long line, but we were allowed to go right to the front! Can't say that we know exactly why that is, but it sure was nice :) The visits with each doctor aren't all that much, and we (thankfully!) only have three left to go.
One other nice thing that happened today was that we were able to connect with another American family here in our region (there are 2 others here now; 1 in our hotel and 1 in another) that is also in process of adopting and had their first trip when we did. We got to share a few stories, and were even given an invitation for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! Kind of nice when you can make friends with someone so quickly when you're so far away from home.
It looks like tomorrow isn't going to be very eventful. We need to wait for our blood test results to come back tomorrow afternoon before we can see the rest of the doctors we need to see. We still don't know when we will be able to see Ivan yet, and we also still don't know about a court date yet. Please keep the regional court judges in your prayers, and even the entire region's adoption system, as it seems that they aren't all cooperating well with each other. Please also pray for the other families here, who have been here for several weeks. We are reaping the benefits from their time here, but it has been a long time for them to be living the wait away from home! The miracle to pray for (along with a quick court date for us) is that the 10-day wait period after court is waived. That has not been done in this region (though it has in others), and would truly be a miracle!
We have a couple random messages to pass on...
Mom - Karin's pants are at Sew & Press in downtown Anoka
Sara - We got your note about the fees. Thanks!
Kris & Tony - Could you please hook up our Christmas lights? The timer is on the red bench in the living room.
Karin's Knitting Notes - Just turned the heel on my first ever toe-up sock. Miski (love it!) on #3 DPN's with pattern from Ann Budd (Interweave Knits Summer 2007). Very interesting to not have a heel flap but short rows instead. Saving my opinion until later (now that I have a lot of leg to make these into knee highs!).
Saturday, November 17, 2007
We are going!
8:30 am, Friday morning, we have one hour to decide whether to leave as scheduled on Monday or to delay until ???. We are going! We don't know for sure when our court date is, but the two families who are there now (and have been there for several weeks each, dealing with the court delays) have court on November 28 and December 3. Praise God! Several things came together for us on Friday to confirm that yes, now is the time for us to go. We are busy packing & pulling things together (since we paused on that while we waited for th
e decision). Irina will go visit her cousin Yola while we are gone, which we couldn't be happier about. She will have a good time and will be well taken care of (yes, our dog! We are "puppy parents").
Thank you for your prayers, even as we get ready to go. We are heading into much uncertainty, but God is before us preparing the way for us and us for His way! We can't even tell you how that is what makes the difference and has made this journey even possible for us. We are neither strong nor patient, but have a God who is ALL things.
Here we come, Ivan!
e decision). Irina will go visit her cousin Yola while we are gone, which we couldn't be happier about. She will have a good time and will be well taken care of (yes, our dog! We are "puppy parents").Thank you for your prayers, even as we get ready to go. We are heading into much uncertainty, but God is before us preparing the way for us and us for His way! We can't even tell you how that is what makes the difference and has made this journey even possible for us. We are neither strong nor patient, but have a God who is ALL things.
Here we come, Ivan!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
To go or not to go ...
We are scheduled to leave for Russia for our court date to bring Ivan home in a few days, but it has just been suggested that we may want to delay our trip until the problems that other families are having with the judge in our region are figured out. No one is telling us not to go, no one is telling us to go; it is "up to us". So we are praying for clarity ... what is the best thing to do? What will happen with our court date? There are 2 families that we know of there, working through the process. Another went and then traveled home to the states to get things worked out. Another has delayed their trip. And we don't know what to do! We have spent the day trying to gather information to help with the decision, while still trying to prepare to leave.
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