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!
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