Merry Christmas

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and have a joyous new year. I was reading the other day about new years, and how it is a time to wipe the slate of the past year away, and start fresh. I couldn't help but think of how Christ has done that for us as well. The gift is set out on the table, and all we need to do is accept it, and our slate is wiped clean. What a gift. What a Christ-mas gift.

We are busy getting the next phase of paperwork together, and getting some things for the girls. We need everything, so the task is a bit overwhelming at times. We found a great deal on some crib bedding last night, and my brother is loaning us a crib. We have an umbrella stroller and some bunk beds, but that is about it.

We have developed pictures, but are not allowed to post them on the blog until the girls are officially ours. Sorry:(

This part of the waiting is extremely difficult. We knew it would be, but now comes the true test.
I think the key is to stay busy, and we are. There are project to finish, day care to research, house to prepare, cloths to buy, etc. We are not complaining of course, knowing that it is all worth it, and in short time we will have the girls. Just writing this makes me smile :)

It seems like after New Years everything in our lives kicks back up again, although MaryEllen will not have class next semester. It is nice to have a break from some activities for a few weeks, but we do miss Bible study with our friends.

We wish you all a blessed New Year, and pray that you will accept the gift of Christ's redemption for your lives.

Home again

Well, we finally made it home, almost. We had to stay at my sister's house in Chicago because our car keys went to SC with my niece. Long story... We had a good trip home without event for the most part. It is great to be in the US where people speak English easily, but sad to leave our girls behind. We are told by our coordinator in Kras that we may be looking at a late January or early Feb court date, which would be great. We have some remarkable pictures to look back on, and some precious film which I will probably watch every day. We are so blessed to have been chosen to parent such beautiful children. Many have prayed to long hours for this to occur, and we thank you all. Your prayer for discernment and safety have been answered.

I met a man on the plane from New Orleans, a electrical engineer working with the oil industry, who was my first victim to show our pictures of the girls. He was endearing, having two grown girls of his own. A man just a few years older than myself, he held great wisdom in fathering. I talked with him about many aspects of fatherhood, and relayed my story of taking care of Deb when she was sick, and ME's about caring for Doug. I said how people seem to warn us about taking on the responsibility of two young ones all at once, and the caution each has for us. Even the director of the baby home cautioned us of parenting two new souls. This man I met said a very profound thing. He said, "you understand commitment". It is true, I believe, that MaryEllen and I understand commitment well. It was our commitment to love always, that helped us care for sick and dying spouses. It was our commitment to love that brought us to gether in the first place. And it was our commitment to God which allowed us to open our hearts so He could work in us and create the desire to adopt. This same commitment will allow us to open our hearts and love two new members to our family. We trust that God will lead the way, and pray that we are aware enough to follow.

From myself, MaryEllen, S and D,
we wish all of you a Merry Christmas, and pray that the Child, the one we celebrate, would be the center of your worship this year.

We have made contact

We met the girls yesterday, and they are as lovely as you could imagine. We spent about 3 hours with them, playing, reading, and holding. The older one, Sasha, would sit on our laps, play games, and read a book. She walked us into the room where her bed was, and held MaryEllen's hand. The younger one, Dasha, is very cute too, and a little more inclined to be with a woman, but has warmed up to Pete. Sasha told all her friends this morning that she was going to meet with her Mama and Papa. How sweet. They have b0th stolen our hearts. We met with them again today for about 2 hours, and had already decided we want to bring them home. Saying goodbye was too quick to get emotional. By the time they were gone we realized we will not see them again for several months. Everyone seems to be excited about us taking the girls home, and want to expedite the process as best they can. We are hopeful for an early Feb. court date, but who knows. Both girls appear to be healthy. Dasha has a small cold, but otherwise no concerns. Tomorrow we will sign some more papers, do some shopping, and prepare to leave early Sat. By the way, the temp is -25c, and expected to start getting real cold by the weekend. Too bad we are leaving. Perhaps we can experience some of that when we come back. See you all soon.

Moscow

We made it to Moscow so far. We have a 10 hour layover, but are getting to the time for our flight to Krasnoyarsk (Kras). We met a real nice couple from CA who are adopting from a region near Georgia. They have had some problems, but are getting ready to take their daughter home. We will be at that point soon. For right now, we are anxious to meet our little ones. Sleep is coming hard on the plane and in the airport, but hopefully we can sleep on the flight tonight. We arrive at 6:45am Tues and go to the Ministry of Ed (MOE) to get the referral officially. I passed the internet cafe test, so hopefully more updates will come soon. I do feel like high school typing test though.

We miss you all.

Just a little stress

We are waiting for our visas and passports to come back, and the overnight carrier said they are in St. Louis, and should come in today. "God, we trust you with every detail." We are scheduling Dr. appointments and getting the next phase of our paperwork in order so we can send in the dossier part 2 in as soon as possible. Our court date can not be scheduled until all our paperwork is received in order. We are starting to deal with fingerprints expiring, so go new prints last night, but the officer forgot to sign the form. Oh, well, we will do it again. Better to find out now rather than 2 or 3 weeks from now. We feel relatively prepared to leave, but of course have some details left to put in order. It's not like we are leaving for a month or anything. That will occur in a few months. We can't wait to see our little girls, and when I start feeling stressed, I have come up with an image in my mind of my little girls sitting on my lap. That brings a smile to my face every time.
The Lord laid on my heart a week ago or so that I have the option of choosing joy in my circumstances. Satan is trying to steal that joy, but I can choose to focus on Christ, my Lord, and see joy in my challenges. As we head into the Christmas Holiday, MaryEllen and I wish you all a blessed season.

Getting closer

We have been busy getting things ready to go meet our new little girls. They are sisters, 9 mos. and 2 1/2 years old, and very cute. We were just told yesterday that the girls are in the town of Achinsk, which is a few hours ride from Krasnoyarsk. We have our final travel plans, and are getting lists together so we don't forget anything. We are praying for our visas to come in any day now, and continue to pray for our health and MaryEllen's back. She is doing better, going to therapy every day the last two weeks. The flight will leave from Chicago to Moscow (12 hours), and then we will have a 10 hour lay over before leaving for Krasnoyarsk (5 hour flight). Hopefully we will get some sleep on the plane. We are packing some toys and snacks to share with the orphanage, and some diapers a friend gave us for the girls. Typically there are a few months between trip one and trip two, so we anticipate going back to get the girls sometime this spring (March?) We cannot post pictures, but will have lots of good info when we return I'm sure.

Wow!!!

We are still trying to get our arms around the idea that we may have two very little ones in our home this spring. We are working hard to get information together, get last minute signatures, visa information, and prepare to get airline tickets. MaryEllen has been hampered by a injured back since Sunday just to make life interesting. God has given us a peace throughout this process, and we trust that He will make our paths straight. The girls are younger than we expected, and in fact younger than the Russian gov't regulations, however, we are told that that will not matter. We just talked to the adoption Dr., and although she has some concerns, she said there is no reason we would not travel to meet these girls. So, we are going to Russia!!! They are talking like we will be leaving sometime during the week of Dec. 15th. We will probably not post the exact dates, but stayed tunes for an update shortly after that time. We are expected to be gone 5-7 days. Please pray for discernment, and for travel plans and visas to come in on time. Thanks to all.

God is good

We received news today that we have been given a new referral. Two little girls again, but this time they are 9 months and 2 1/2. They are both beautiful, and barring anything unusual, we should be traveling before Christmas. That should be a good time to see the decor and snow in Siberia. We are again cautiously optimistic, and are taking prudent steps to make sure the girls are healthy and ready for our family. MaryEllen is very happy to have an infant, and we are both happy to become parents. We are anticipating a travel date around Dec. 15th or so, and will be gone about a week. We will meet the girls, and make a final evaluation and acceptance. Thank all of you for your continued prayers.