Our bags are half packed

We have been busy getting the house ready for the girls these past weeks. I will try to post a new picture of the girl's room so you can see the changes. It is really taking shape. We have been buying some things, getting some donations from friends, and MaryEllen is even dusting off the old sewing machine for her girls. She really is very talented.

Our dossier part 2 reached Russia a week ago, and they had a few questions, but otherwise we have not heard anything. We are still hoping for a mid Feb. trip, but this too is in God's hands. We are praying for patience as we wait, and trying to stay busy with things until the time comes to go get our girls. Every so often, we find ourselves crying out because the thought of the girls not being with us is so painful. Adoption folks understand that.

This week we are visiting child care options, and hope to have our decision made in a week or so. We are praying for wisdom there too. We met a nice couple the other night who adopted 5 years ago, and their experience was so completely different than ours. The orphanage was dirty, the kids were dirty, and they felt like they were being taken advantage of. We are so blessed to be working with a good agency and a wonderful orphanage and director.

When at church yesterday, we notice a family in the crying room at the back of the church, and thought how perfect that will be for us. The girls can stay with us for a while, and we can still participate in the worship. Cool.

We are finishing up some home projects, cleaning the house real good, and enjoying these last few weekends alone. Being together is good, and having the girls will be a different kind of good. I am trying to finish a stained glass project I started in a class last fall, and hope to have it done before we leave. I figure time will be at a premium when the girls are here. I keep envisioning them sitting on my lap, with my arms around them. I can almost feel them now.

We were studying the Bible this week and ran across a concept that struck a cord with us. The concept is waiting on the Lord, in "God's waiting room". Have you been there? When we wait on the Lord we often feel alone, but in reality God is waiting with us. Sometimes our own selfish desires cause us to ignore God's presence, but He is there to comfort us none the less. The next time you find yourself in "God's waiting room" rest assure that God is waiting with you, ready to comfort you and provide all your needs.

Lastly, I want to thank again our network of support, from family to friends, who have been such an encouragement to us during this process. I will probably say this again, but we sure appreciate all you do and say.

Adoption Poem

Not flesh of my flesh,
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own,
And don't forget for a
single minute,You didn't grow
under my heart but in it.
© Fleur Conkling Heylinger

We have completed the dossier part 2, and it is sent to CHSFS, our agency. A great burden has been lifted as we have been somewhat stressed about doing our part to expedite the process. Our little girls are depending on us. There may be one or two documents that may need to be redone, but hopefully not. Now we wait while the dossier is sent to Russia, translated, and then a court date can be set.

In the mean time we have been busy getting things together. We picked up the crib from my brother last weekend and put it up. It looks great. D is going to love it. MaryEllen is working with a friend to decide on colors for S's bed, D's quilt, and window coverings. We have been running around looking for deals on everything from car seats to strollers. It seems like I can't go to the store without picking something up for the girls. Today I had to buy some balls that were on sale.

I decided it was about time to figure out how to work my 8 year old video camera, so today I played with that for a while. These things are pretty neat. I also bought a cable so we can transfer the 8mm tape to a DVD so we can send it to grandparents and other family. The modern age is creeping up on me. Before you know it I will figure out "facebook".

The wait is getting harder as time passes. MaryEllen and I sat and watched the video of the girls during dinner last night. We can't wait to have them home. Before we know it the weather will start to change, and we will be taking the girls to the park and on walks. Hopefully the next update will include a travel date. We keep praying.

We made it through the Holidays, and only gained a few pounds. We have been working hard at getting paperwork together for our part 2 dossier. Talking to friends who have been through the adoption process, we hear that delays and redo's of paperwork are normal. Our experience has been similar. We have received my FBI clearance, but MaryEllen's has not come yet. Hum, perhaps there is something I should have known? Hopefully it will come today. Our physicals are done, and the paperwork is ready to be picked up. Oh, and we are both healthy. We have had some trouble with our local criminal clearance, not for any legal reasons. The woman who is doing the letter has gotten it wrong twice now. Third times the charm. We plan to get all that together this week and drive to Springfield to get the apostille stamp, and forward to MN.

This weekend we did a little more nesting, and bought some clothes. Some friends gave us a bag full of books and toys, which we are sure our girls will enjoy. We put in some cabinets in the basement for toy storage, anticipating the need for organization. We bought some car seat on sale, and pick up the borrowed crib next weekend. Little by little we are getting things together.

This week we will explore the wonderful world of day care. We have no idea what that solution is, but know it is expensive. Our first concern is for our older girl, who will need as much help as possible to catch up with her piers. All this is new to us, so we are on the flat end of the learning curve. We have a little time yet, but that time will go quickly I'm sure. Still no word on when we might travel, however we are doing all we can to expedite the process. We want our girls home soon!

Blessing to you all this new year 2009, and thanks for all the support from friends and family.

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.

Many people have expressed their sympathy over the loss of the girls. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Our current status is that we are waiting again. The person in charge of referring children in Russia has been on vacation the last part of October and first part of November. She is back to work now, and our agency expects to see more referrals this month and next before they shut down for the Holidays in the first few weeks of January. We are encouraged by our coordinator that they will begin right away to find us two more children. We are not pushed to the back of the list.

We are looking forward to visiting with some family over the next few months, and are ready if necessary to make our first trip to Russia before Christmas. Of course, we are not in charge of the timing, but we know that our God, who is a God of order, has a perfect plan. We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving, and pray that you will remember the true reason for this established Holiday beginning in 1863. If you have children, or are curious yourself, you may want to do some research and read Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day address from 1863. Scholars believe he was a committed Christian by this time in his life, and certainly his address reflects his beliefs.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sadness Strikes

We are burdened by sad news this week as we were told that the girls were taken off of the adoption list. We can only speculate why this is so, but our hearts are torn. We truly had taken these girls into our hearts. This feels like a miscarriage, except we have seen the pictures and prayed for them by name. I suppose many would cry out and ask God why, but then again, if we do that we must also ask why God blesses us so much everyday. We are not interested so much as to the why, but allowing ourselves to grieve, and moving forward in the process of adding two children to our hearts and home. If anything, this setback reinforces our desire to adopt, and reminds us that God has filled our hearts with the necessary love to nurture two precious young souls.

We are assured by our adoption coordinator that they will continue to search for children right away. We are unsure of a time line for a referral, but trust in God's perfect timing. We continue to believe that He has already chosen our children, and they will be His chosen blessings for our family. Thank you for your continued prayers for healing and progress in our adoption process.

Waiting on answers

Our agency has forwarded our questions looking for background information to Russia. We are waiting on answers to finalize our decision. I spoke with our coordinator yesterday and waiting over a week to hear back is common, she had already sent a follow-up request. All is being orchestrated perfectly...

It's amazing how you can fall in love with the little ones based on photos alone. It is so easy to start imagining them as part of our family. "Family" wow, we will soon have more than just Pete and me. A friend shared with us that no matter what happens, these two precious girls now have us praying for them. We pray for them daily and I have been known to toss up prayers throughout the day as I wonder what they are doing. Bless their little hearts.

Praise The Lord!

Well, what were we saying about God's timing? This afternoon we received the call that they have found two beautiful little girls for us to adopt. D, who is 4, and her sister A, who is
2 1/2. We are gathering medical information to send to an adoption Dr., and then after our approval we will be traveling to Russia in a matter of weeks. We have some internet friends who are picking up their son right now in Kraznoyarsk. We are very excited, and scared, and happy, and worried, and etc. This is very exciting! Thank you for your continued prayers as we discern the information on these little ones.

Pete and MaryEllen

We are still waiting. Our agency recently informed us that the woman who is in charge of referring children from Krasnoyarsk is on vacation in October. This sounds strange to us, however, vacations are very important in Europe and Russia, and can last for weeks. Sounds good to me. The agency assures us that they expect to see some referrals of children in the next few months. We may be in that batch. MaryEllen and I continue to trust in God's perfect timing, and await the call that will start us on the next phase of our journey. Many of you have voiced your concern over the length of time that has elapsed since we first started down this path. However, we are on a normal time frame of international adoption.

I remember taking a mission trip to Haiti, and being prepared by words like, be patient, things move slower in other countries. As we prepared to take our mission trip in June '07 to Russia, the same sentiments were conveyed. We live in a world, and especially a nation, where we expect things to come to us instantaneously. I get upset if my computer is too slow. MaryEllen and I are learning to have peace in the moment. We are learning to trust that God has a purpose for this time of waiting, and we are enjoying the calm before the storm. We have learned that life has many seasons, and this is a quiet time of preparation.

MaryEllen continues to enjoy her new Russian class, and I am enjoying doing some stained glass projects. We are busy studying God's Word in BSF, and hosting a small group Bible study with some friends from church. These are the things God has for us to do now. But in time, we will be busy on other things. We look forward to instructing our children in spelling, reading, math (Pete),Jesus, and the many other things our children will need to learn. It is interesting to see all the educational tools that are new over the last 40 years!

Thank you for your patience and prayers along this seemingly long journey. It will be over before we know it. In the mean time, take a break from your busy schedule and listen to what God is calling you to do. Take a walk in the new fallen leaves, lay back and look at the stars, or spend some quiet time in God's Word. Enjoy the season.

God's Providence

We don't have any new news at this time, but just wanted to update all of you on how God is working in our lives regarding the adoption. Each week it seems God places more people in our lives to help us in our preparation. Just recently we talked to some friends who adopted a boy from China, and then two days later we talked to two different families who each adopted. Each story and experience is different, but each family we talk to in an encouragement and reinforces what we are doing.

This week I was reading in Exodus about the adoption of Moses in chapter 2. I was moved at how God orchestrated the people in and around Moses to carry out His plan. He prepared Jochebed, Moses' mother to give him up. He placed Pharaoh's daughter along the river and opened her heart to take Moses in. He allowed Jochebed to nurse Moses and raise him, and receive money for doing it. All these things give us confirmation that God is in control of our adoption destiny, and He is working out all the details, from uniting us with our kids, to raising them and loving them into our family.

We have been in contact with some new friends we met on the blog who are getting ready to pick up their son in a week. They have been great encouragers, and have let us know the lady who places kid from our region is very nice and fast in placing children. They are going back for the second trip in only 7 weeks! We are blessed to have so many encouragers on our side. If you would like to make a comment please do so by clicking "comments" just under this entry.
We will let you know when we hear something more.

And we wait ...

I met a man this week who adopted 3 kids at once from Russia in 1997 in a region near ours. It was interesting how much he remembered. He remembers that it is cold there, and the women will scold you if any skin is showing on your child, even if it is not cold. He remembers the judge, and her kindness, as well as the women who worked in the orphanage.

Many have asked how our progress is going, and it is going according to plan. Maybe not our plan, but surely God's plan. We are hopeful to receive a referral this fall or winter, but of course there is no guarantee. We would like to travel before or after the dead of winter. If you have looked at the weather link you notice that it is starting to get cold in Krasnoyarsk. Mondays high is expected to be 44, and low of 25. It actually snowed there the other day. My friend said they are in the permafrost region, which I think means cold.

Some people have asked if the political instability will effect our adoption. We don't know at this time, but if for some reason Russia closes its doors to international adoption, we will probably change to a neighboring country. We will cross that bridge when we get there. God has our children picked out, so we are open to whatever path He leads us on.

We will wait and pray for the call to come.

And we wait . . .

Things shut down in August in Russia due to vacations. But we are told that September through November should be a busy time for referrals. There are several families adopting siblings ahead of us. However, we are hopeful that we will hear something this fall and possibly make our first trip before Christmas! We won't let the Siberian winter keep us from our children. =)

In the meantime we are doing all we can paperwork wise to be ready for news that our children have been matched to us. While we wait, we are finishing up projects around the house. MaryEllen is taking a class in Russian this fall at the Community College.

We will probably have about a week to accept the referral of the children. Then two weeks notice to travel. During those two weeks we need to arrange air travel, visas, medical exams, children's names etc. We are just trying to have as much done in anticipation of this flurry of activity. We try to hold back our excitement and await God's perfect timing to add to our family. Praying for patience.

Dossier translation complete

We received word this week that our dossier has been translated and sent to Krasnoyarsk!!! Yea!! We need a couple of additional documents but they can be sent later. The team in Krasnoyarsk will now start looking for our children. It's possible we could make a trip this year yet as an approximate wait is 2 - 6 months. At this point it looks like we will get the kids early to mid 2009.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. Now we wait.