Hannah went to the petting farm

Luke, Hannah and I went to a local petting farm the other day, and if anyone goes there and the animals aren't quite right, I can tell you why. Curious George (Hannah) was definitely on high alert that day, and I believe every animal that she could get her hands on had a complete examination. Here is a list of the effected animals. All the goats were checked for teeth, ears, eyes, bellies, and tails lifted and checked, and some baby goat's hooves were inspected when Hannah could overpower them. The sheep were lucky because they were behind the fence, but she insisted we go and get her brush so she could brush out their mangled hair. Next was the horse, donkey and Emu. The poor Emu didn't see this one coming and I didn't see that one go! The Emu was sitting right by the fence and Hannah ran over and poked him right in the eye and tried to hug the scared thing by grabbing his skinny little neck. I got there right before it was ready to unfold. The donkey made off pretty good because she only put her finger down his ear, but the horse I guess outsmarted Hannah all together. This horse came inches away from Hannah and decided it was time to gave this little thing a shower. He must of thought it would scare her away, but to his dismay she was ready to come into the pen and get a closer look! I tried to stop this madness, but she was having the time of her life. Now when we got to the chickens, she wasn't that interested in them as much as the rabbits behind the cages she couldn't get to, so everyone there was fairly safe. A baby goat got a bucket stuck on his head, and I'm not sure if Hannah had anything to do with this. Thankfully, we got the bucket off and no one was injured.

This is a completely different experience compared to going there with Luke. He would never touch this much and never care about the animals' bodies. It was a wake-up for me next time we visit a petting farm! In our next adventure to the petting farm, I envision a protest of animals at the entrance with signs "Hannah please don't touch us or Hannah the word is petting!"

Just Thinking

I was talking with my mom the other day and mentioning all the things Hannah is doing, and I realized at one point in this conservation how far she has come in a short amount of time. We just past our two months home with Hannah, and I am so amazed at how well she is fitting right in. We thought a lot of the running around and doing this and that would have to stop, but she loves doing it all. She came from living and seeing the same place for many years not going anywhere. We go here and there and everywhere and she is in her car seat just smiling and loving it. We have taken her to big parties with lots of kids and she just jumps right in. We will go swimming, to the playground, shopping, to the grocery store, gym, zoo, petting farms, and picking berries, and she is happy to do it all, but what a drastic change for her. I hope one day she can tell me if she really likes it all!

Hannah loves Winnie-the-Pooh. This is the only video she will watch, and has decided to bring these characters alive in her own life. If she needs to use the restroom while we are out, the first thing she will say while entering the restroom is "is there anyone home?" No one has yet to answer her question. Another funny thing she does (which are many) when she is trying new food for first time and she doesn't like it she will say "Tiggers don't like honey!" One other thing that I think is so precious, if I tell her she has to go put her shoes away or bush her teeth, her comment is always the same, "Oh bother."

I am going to put some new video of her on my blog soon. We made a big switch in our computer and went to a Mac. I love it but, I'm still getting use to this computer. Thanks for checking in. I can't remember these stories when I'm talking with family or friends, so I see such a benefit to blogging these funny or precious stories. One day Hannah can read about this and realize how perfect she was meant for our family. She has definitely spiced things up around here, but not too spicy she can't handle it (food that is)!

Is it July already?

The time has flown by since we have gotten home from Russia. We have experienced scores of emotions as we have transitioned into being a family of four. For Luke, it has been a hard road, but thanks to our God who has been our rock through this time for him. It was a great way to show Luke God's faithfulness and realize we can depend on Him in our doubts and fears for any situation. I would tell Luke from the movie Facing the Giants that the Bible mentions fear over 300 times, so God cares a lot about our fears and will be right by your side, and he has seen this come into fruition.

As for Hannah, I have told many of our friends she has melted into our family like she was always here. We are amazed at how fast she has picked up English both speaking and understanding. See the E.T video to understand what it's like around our house daily because we are always waiting for her to say something new! Yesterday, Hannah came into the kitchen and said "what are you cooking Mama?". She is so funny and doesn't even know it. Her fascination with blow-dryers is still very extreme. In the morning she will say Good Morning Mamma, Papa, Luke, and blow-dryer which we have finally gotten used to it, and realize we have another addition to our family. She is still very curious about everything and loves to examine most things. She is crazy about going to the pool and even when she is purple-cold she will not get out. We have affectionally call her the Jerky swimmer because she is so twitchy to watch in the pool. We praise God for having all of her test results come back negative, so that was a huge relief for us. We were thinking she would have some parasites, but God has been watching over Hannah and keeping her healthy from the beginning. Life went from being busy to being extremely busy with two little ones and little time for anything else like posting on my blog which I hope to do more now that some things have slowed down.

As I am sitting here typing this blog, Hannah is on our other old computer doing Reader Rabbit. It didn't take her long to learn the computer. It's a very good program for learning letters, shapes and many other things, and she hasn't had any problems with it.

I have posted some pictures of Hannah and Luke since coming home, but I wanted to post some pictures of the refrigerator and tiles that many of our church family and friends donated money. The director and workers were overwhelmed that people would help them out that didn't even know them or involved with an adoption there. Again, we thank all of you for this generosity.

Hopefully, i will be blogging each week to keep family and friends updated on our family. Stop by anytime!

Interesting Spin

Well, it's been a while since I have had time to post. Life has gotten very interesting since we came back from Russia. We are still trying to transition into being a family of four and with that comes every emotion known to mankind. Luke is having a hard time with just about everything, and we are trying to help him through it, but he went from being the only child to having a little sister that walks, talks, and gets into his things. We know that it isn't easy for him, so we are taking turns and doing something special with him. He will come around, but for now we are taking each day at a time.

People have told me that having one child is easier than two or more because you always know who to blame if something happens. Well now with two, I have seen this change right before my eyes. I hear a scream from the other room and run in to find out what happened. One is telling me in Russian and the other in English, so this puts a whole other spin on having two children. Sometimes you just have to laugh at that one!

Tanya is really doing well and starting to eat lots of different food she has never had before. It's amazing to watch the world through her eyes. Each experience is new to her and she is old enough to express it. We will go into a restaurant and she will look around at everything. We took her to Red Robin the other night and the mascot was out greeting the children. I didn't see it at first but Tanya did and went running to the bird. She was good and gave it a big hug, but the second time around she found the tail and thought it would be a nice thing to grab. Luke saw it around the same time I did and we said, "she's going for the bird!" Luke was able to make the save!

Another event we decided to do with Tanya is take her to our swimming pool. It didn't take us long to figure out she thought it was a big bathtub and everyone was invited. She got in and starting washing her hair and body and looking at kids like what are you doing in my bathtub? Even though the water was freezing, she wanted to stay in until she was a nice shade of blue!

It's also amazing how much English she already knows and understands. I can talk to her completely in English to do something and she will do what I said. I think she will have it down by the end of summer.

She is a very curious child that needs to know, see, touch everything. We are trying to let her know what is ok to touch and what isn't. It's hard when you don't speak the same language, but we are trying. She is totally fascinated by the kitchen, but doesn't know hot surfaces, but she is learning. Thankfully she hasn't gotten burnt and I hope she will not.

We are starting to call her more and more Hannah, but if I really need to get her attention, I will call her Tanya until she understands that her name is Hannah. I have some friends getting ready to travel and bring home their longtime waiting daughter, so please keep this family in your prayers.

Re-entry a little bumpy

We are home at last, and the flight was good but painfully long. Tanya did great and we couldn't have ask for better, so we praise God for our good trip back. We are trying to get into life again, but having a hard time with the jet lag. We hope to feel better soon, and that would help with just about everything right now. Tanya is adjusting to being an American and seems to be settling down a bit. We are still having a hard time with her eating. She doesn't like anything but Cheerios, so we hope that will change soon. Luke is also having a very hard time with having a sister and not being the only child. I didn't think this would be so bad, but like all children who have a new sibling it's hard on them. Our worship leader at church prayed for us last Sunday,and he hit it right on the nose by praying for our transition time as a family. That seems to be the hardest thing right now, but I know there will be other bumps to follow.

A funny story about ice. Most Americans are so use to having ice in our drinks, but little Tanya has never had ice in her drink, and on the airplane I thought she was going to burst when they gave her ice. She was staring at it like it was from another planet. Since we came home, she will request ice just so she can stare at it. She does like to eat it, but it's kinda like watching a love/hate relationship.

Anyway, I can not express how great it is to be back home again. My first two days home, I couldn't utter the word home without crying. It was nice to visit but there's no place like home!

Moving On

We went to the US embassy two days ago to get Hannah her visa so she can enter the USA! It was a day I needed to experience. We went there with another couple from Tennessee who just adopted three children. They were siblings and have been in and out of the orphanage many times. As we arrived, there was a long line of Russians waiting to get inside to get a visa, but we were ushered in front of the line and brought inside right away. We went through security and upstairs to a waiting area. When we got there no one else was in the room and then the room began to fill up with lots of Americans adopting. I looked around and wanted to cry because my heart was about to bust with all of us in the room waiting to take our little ones home. I wanted to kiss the ground because everyone was speaking English and it was like music to my ears. I guess that’s the same way Hannah feels when she is listening to us speak all day. Of course Hannah decided she wanted nothing to do with this event, so when we were called up and ask to raise our right hands, and I was holding her and she went right down and almost did a back flip. She has the timing down!

One thing we have found very helpful with Curious George (I mean Hannah), is if we keep her purse in one hand she can’t reach out and take-grab-touch things. She still has managed to grab a lady’s shiny belt buckle, touch a little girls braided hair, take a teddy bear out of someone’s bag (almost came home with us), and feel a woman’s fur coat. She seems to be getting used to our family because she doesn’t have as many meltdowns as the first few days, so thanks to our pray warriors… we need that so much!

I keep counting the days until we are leaving and pushing the days. I thought one day was Wednesday and much to my dismay it was only Tuesday, but today is Thursday and we leave on Friday!!!!! Now who’s on first??? Thanks to everyone for your kind messages and support. I can not express my joy I had while reading them, and with many of them I would just cry!

Back in Moscow

Well, as most of you know we are back in Moscow and doing the embassy and consulate stuff to finish up our adoption.

Luke and I had a very difficult start at being a new family. I went on a downward spiral like I have never experienced in my entire life, and I think it was a combination of events. The first one being extreme homesickness and I’m not talking, “Oh, I miss home,” I’m talking, “Get me home now or I’m going to split in two.” I’ve only had this happen one other time when we moved to Germany and I recognized the feeling. The other event was lack of sleep, which I wasn’t getting much of before Hannah came to us. Luke always plays off of my emotions and we cried and prayed for several days. We called our adoption agency and talked with Kristen and found out this is very normal and 65% of all adoption moms have this problem. I guess it’s almost post-partum depression which I never had with Luke, but I had something very real that happened here. So, I prayed with Kristen and then our social worker called, and I prayed with her and our great God who loves His children heard my cry and helped me through it. It wasn’t right away, but I knew He was holding my hand with each step I took to feeling better. We are both doing much better now, and thankfully Scott was able to be a source of strength and keep our family together. I’m thankful to have that rock of support that calls us to pray for one another, and I can dial direct to our Creator and know He loves us and wants the best for us. I don’t have an answer to why it happened, but I do know I had some big shoulders to cry on.

Now I can move on to our adventure of being parents of the most curious child I have ever been around. It’s pretty amazing to look at Hannah and see her completely taken by this world of ours. She is amazed by cars, trucks, signs, people, flooring, buildings, in fact, you name it and she will be amazed by it. It let’s us realize how much of the world these little ones do not see. So, we now affectionately have nicknamed her Curious George, but with every nickname there’s a story. We decided to get out of this hotel and take the kids to the zoo, and with her this was an adventure. I don’t think she saw one animal but she saw lots of people and roared at many of them. I was carrying her at one point and realized she had someone’s balloon in her hand, and I think the woman was about to run me over to get it back. We finally bought her a balloon, and it may have been her first balloon ever, and she was so thrilled to have a balloon. She played with it all day, and didn’t care about any lions or tigers or bears. At one point, Scott was carrying her and kept hearing a strange sound, and he realized she was bonking people on the head with her balloon as they passed. When Scott told me this he was laughing so hard it made him cry! Some zoo characters are placed around the Moscow Zoo, and she was walking and decided to grab one of their tails and not let go. The person in the suit knew someone had hold of the tail and pulled with a quick jerk to be freed. We saw it all in slow motion and didn’t know who would win in that battle, but she finally let go and the tail survived.

I’m still very homesick and so is Luke. We miss our church, family, and friends, American food, reading signs, not getting lost. We will probably kiss the ground when we arrive back in the U.S.A!

Gotcha Day!!!

Few words are necessary for what happened today, May 07, 2008 at 10:30am, in Voronezh, Russia! A little girl sat in the back of a car and we went out in the rain to meet her. That little girl ran to me and I put my arms around her, and I told her she will never be alone again, and that little girl is ours. Welcome Home Hannah Tatiana Sheldon!

Children are a gift from God and the heart it doesn’t really matter where they got their start…………

Interesting Day

We had a very interesting day yesterday. It also confirms what I said in the last post that we seldom know what’s really going on here. So, with that small build-up, I will unfold our day.

We did lots of busy work concerning our adoption with getting Hannah’s passport and birth certificates changed for us to take to Moscow for the embassy and consulate meetings. Christina told us we were invited to a concert at her school also because Russia has a big holiday on May 9th celebrating the end of WWII. So, we went to the concert, but first stopped by the headmistress office to meet her and many other teachers and directors, and then we were escorted into the hall for the concert. It was a wonderful show with many of the students performing. They were in military costumes and traditional costumes, and they sang, danced and acted in some skits. There were three WWII veterans there that fought in Voronezh, and they had numerous medals on their jackets. At the end of the celebration, all of a sudden I realized they were going to introduce us to the audience. The headmistress wanted us to come up with her and talk. I really don’t like surprises, and this one really got my full attention. I didn’t want to go up, but people around lead me, Scott, Luke, Galina, and Christina up front. They wanted to know if we like Russia and their celebration. Scott answered in his much worded speech saying “very nice” and “good.” They were clapping and taking pictures of like we were celebrities. After that, a girl got up and sang a song for us in English. And if you think this couldn’t be enough, after taking pictures with the veterans, we were asked to be interviewed with the TV station. So, we went down the hallway into the headmistress’ office where we were interviewed about if we liked Russia and what we liked about it. Scott, Luke, and I answered the questions, and it will be on TV on May 9th during their news. Now mind you, we thought we were just going to a concert to watch a show and then home. We had no idea any of this was going to happen. That is pretty much the way I have felt since arriving to Russia. We really don’t know what is going to happen, when it’s going to happen, or where it’s going to happen. We are just along for the ride!

Today is Gotcha Day! The director of Hannah’s orphanage is driving her up to us. We should be completing our family around 11am, but I am again ready for the unexpected, but I pray that is not going to happen. Can you believe after three years we are finally completing our adoption? I have so many thoughts that lead us up to this day, and hopefully as God has directed us through this journey, it will be as sweet as I always dreamed it would be!

Comfort Zone

We arrived in Voronezh safe and exhausted. I don’t sleep well on trains or planes, and when I don’t it hurts my brain. (I couldn’t help myself, I love to rhyme). Anyway, we received news on our return as to when Tatiana is coming to us. We thought tomorrow, but now it seems on Wednesday the director is bringing her here to us. Some of the paperwork for her passport is not completed, so that is the delay. I’m so pleased to hold on to the concept of expect the unexpected with this process. Yes, I do get frustrated by it all, and I believe it has kept me from getting excited. Some friends have shown their excitement, but I have this big reservoir inside of me keeping all of this at bay. I can’t let myself go there until probably we are back home in Maryland. I know once she is here with us that will recede, but for now I will stay this way and have little moments of celebration as we get closer to leaving.

Now that I am a train expert, which means nothing except I have more unanswered questions than ever before. Like, what is that terrible smell in the bathrooms on the train? Why is the heat on when its 80 degrees outside and no windows to open? Why are there so many stops and no one gets on or off? Why are you not allowed to use the bathrooms with two hours left until your destination? These are some of the few, but I have many more not suitable for this blog.

I have became very good at using bottled water to brush my teeth, wash my face, and take a short shower (short being the optimal word). Besides my water issues on trains, in Voronezh the water is turned off from noon until 5pm, and again at night from 11pm-midnight. Water has become a very important commodity for me, and one that I take advantage of at home. Dare I say, I will think of it differently once I return home or is this just a thought I have now and will let that go? We all have a comfort zone. Where we like to shop, eat, travel, and this excursion has taken me away from all of it. While we were on our own in St. Petersburg, food became another interesting event. We would ask the front desk, but for some strange reason they must think all Americans are rich and want to eat at very nice places. After sightseeing all day, we ended up at a very expensive restaurant arranged by the hotel. We were too tired to find another place, so we ate there and the food was great. Around 9 pm, the restaurant had a fabulous show with singing and dancing, but what is funny about this is we didn’t know it was going to happen. That seems to be the whole thing here; we never really know what’s going on.

Even in my feelings of fear or being unsure of the next disappointment, God is always faithful and near. Last night when reading the Bible, I ended up in Nehemiah (fancy that), and read his prayer and the fear he was facing. Below on that page were these words, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” That takes the bite out of every trial!

Hermitage Museum

We went to the Hermitage Museum yesterday, and it was very fascinating. Each room was gorgeous! Luke saw originals of Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, da Vinci, many others. It was funny explaining to Luke that these are the originals that the artist painted, and we showed him the paint strokes and how thick the paint was on the canvas, and then we told him how much some were probably worth. Luke couldn’t believe it! His favorite room was the Egyptian room with many sarcophagi and one mummy completely unwrapped to see the preservation of the body, and to add to all the Egyptian excitement there were ancient Roman, Greek, and Byzantine coins dating back to 500BC. What a wonderful day!

We are in countdown mode for Gotcha Day, and Luke is getting a little nervous thinking about being a big brother and having a little sister. I guess after waiting almost three years it’s hard for me to believe it’s really happening. I am also a little nervous about how she will handle all of this, and the communication is going to be very hard at first. She has never been on a train or plane, and hardly in a car, so big events will happen to her all in one day.

Tonight we board the train and will not have a connection. We hope to reconnect in Voronezh, maybe on Monday. We hope everyone is well, and we thankfully are doing good and staying healthy. Two weeks down, two to go! I’m starting to feel homesick!

It's light outside!

Time zones are a funny thing, at least that’s how we feel here in Russia. I know for sure Luke and I have come up with our own time zone that works for us because we are still wide awake at 11pm at night. Besides that, in St. Petersburg it is still light outside until 11pm, and I am talking light. We are close to the Arctic Circle and not far from the North Pole, so like Alaska being light in the summer it’s the same way here. Well, for you history buff’s we have been to St. Isaacs Cathedral, Peterhof (Peter the Great’s Palace), Peter and Paul Fortress and the Church on the Spilled Blood. Today, we are going to the Hermitage which is like the Louvre in Paris, and in one of our traveler’s guides it said that if you spent one minute in front of every object it would take five years to see everything. So, we will pick what will be most interesting. Luke wants to see some Van Gogh since he has studied him in art class, and he wants to see the ancient coins from Rome and Greece.

We have talked to some of you using Skype and it has been our one way to connect at home. The time zone doesn’t help because most of you are asleep while we are awake, but it is wonderful technology. Before we left, we set up Luke’s classroom computer with Skype and put our camera on their computer. So, Luke has been talking with his teacher and classmates while he is in Russia! He is so excited every time he is able to talk with them, and he can see everyone and they can see him. He tells them what time it is here and something about his day, and sometimes they will ask him questions. We all feel like they are with us every day!

We love your messages and treasure reading them on our blog. It’s like that scene in Horton Hears a Who, with the whole town yelling, “We are here, we are here.” And that is how we feel about your messages that remind us our family and friends are with us.

We will be leaving St. Petersburg tomorrow night on the lovely 24 hour train ride back to Voronezh. We are arriving Sunday night, and then we have two days until Hannah joins our family! The last week we will be in Moscow doing paperwork and getting Hannah’s passport! Our biggest prayer concern now is for Hannah. This will be a huge change for her and we have been praying that it will go good. She probably doesn’t know what major changes are about to happen to her, but we know God can prepare her heart to smooth this hard transition for her.

In St. Petersburg! Beautiful City!

We arrived safely in St. Petersburg yesterday around noon and checked into our hotel. The train ride was long but surprisingly it went by fast. It’s that last two hours that got me. We played cards, did homework, ate (thanks to Galina), slept, read, practiced Russian, and watched videos. We did whatever it took to help pass the time, but most of it went to sleeping. Galina decided to pack us food for the trip, and she bought us so much food I had to give some back to her. She is always surprised when you tell her you are full or too much food because she wants us to eat and eat. I told her she is a very good Italian mommy.

Speaking of this wonderful family, who have us living in their home and cooking and taking us places, they are amazing. Last Sunday was Russian Easter and we met so many of Galina’s family and friends and they were so warm and friendly, but some of them couldn’t believe that we were staying with Galina. They said Americans don’t stay with Russian people, but we were and they didn’t believe it!

Luke’s second grade classes at school gave him a big envelope filled with letters for Luke to open one each day. Each note is so precious with letters, games, prayers, and he can’t wait to open one each day. We, his parents, are so touched by these special messages, and he feels like his classmates are right here along this journey with us!

The judge would not even think about waiving the ten day waiting period unless Hannah had to have surgery in the U.S. So, she asked us why should she waive the ten days, and of course, we had every reason known to mankind why we should be able to leave, but she melted us back into our chairs and said “No petition,” which means “no way!”

As I said before and truly mean it, this is an adventure of a lifetime and one I will never forget. I will treasure my time here as much as possible, and I am so glad we took Luke with us. He is learning to speak Russian, seeing the culture, and meeting his sister, and I know this was the right decision, and besides I would have missed him way too much!

Story Time!

I have some stories that have come my way in Russia that I wish to share, and the first one is about Hannah. On our first visit to Russia, we gave her a stuffed dog from Build a Bear with a recording inside the bear from Scott, me, and Luke telling her “I love you, Tatiana.” The workers at the orphanage told us on this trip she listened to it all the time, but she kept asking the workers, “If they love me so much, why don’t they come and get me.” I was very sad to hear this, but in some small way I was happy the dog helped her remember us while we were apart from her.

Another story that a couple told us on this trip concerning their 21 month year old boy they just adopted was tough to hear but understandable. On their first night together, they gave him two pieces of toast to eat, and he immediately got up and was walking around the room looking everywhere. Suddenly, he found the hotel safe and put one piece of toast in the safe and went back to eat the other one. When he woke up the next morning, he went to the safe and got out the piece of toast he had hidden and ate it. The mother said she cried thinking about why he had to do this, but understood that this was common practice for a child in the orphanage. This is survival instinct in its purist form.

I had the honor of seeing many sweet faces of children at Hannah’s orphanage, but it was so hard to realize that they live there without a family. I think the workers try to do their best for the children, but money is not available and time for each child is not possible. My heart cries for them knowing some will never have the chance to leave. I know I will never forget this experience my whole life and treasure what God has given us. One that is leaving and will be loved and have a family.

Some of you may not know, but Hannah is not with us right now. We are in a ten day waiting period and we are not sure why, but everyone usually has to go through it. Hannah is five hours away in the orphanage from where we are staying and we will not see her until they bring her here and she will then be with us forever. This is known as "Gotcha Day", and for us May 6th should be the day! While we wait, we are allowed to leave if we want, so that is why we are going to St. Petersburg tomorrow. It is a wonderful opportunity to see it, and have something to pass the time. Many have told us that it is a beautiful city, and we are looking forward to it. I hope to be able to connect there too! We will be on a train for 24 hours to St. Petersburg without any connection, so we look forward to being reconnected there. Thank you for your prayers and notes, we are reading them and really love it.

Oh Happy Day!!!!!!!

The judge ruled that the court is “satisfied” with our adoption, so in layman’s terms we now have a new member added to our family, Hannah Tatiana Sheldon! It was not an easy day, but the end result is what matters. We were in court for almost three hours, and Scott was asked most of the questions. She is a young new judge, who was very stern, and didn’t crack a smile the whole time. My mind went right back to my favorite childhood movie “Wizard of Oz”, where the four characters finally met with the wizard and he called each one of them up to talk. Scott was called first and I realized he was the tin man, sensible and brave yet a little frightened. He answered the many questions very well, and then I knew it would be my turn. As soon as I heard my name in Russian, my knees got shaky and knowing I didn’t have a tail to hold, I was ready to bolt, but I made it through the questioning without any major problems by mustering up any courage I could find. I also knew at that point many people were praying for us and that gave me the comfort I needed to continue. We are overjoyed that Hannah will soon be with us forever and the hardest part of this journey is over.

There is so much to say about our trip so far, but the best day was at the orphanage two days ago. As soon as we walked into Hannah’s room, she came running up to me and was yelling Mama, Mama! I picked her up and hugged her, and then she ran over to Scott and said Papa, Papa and he picked her up! Now it was time for Luke to meet her, and in his best Russian, Luke said, “Ya tvoi braht.” This means, “I am your brother”, and the expression on her face I really can’t put into words, but I would say she was elated. We spent the day at the orphanage and we were able to go all around the grounds and see many of the children. It was a warm sunny day, so we were able to take Luke and Hannah outside to play, and they were running around holding hands and were already communicating in their own way. There is so much that happened that day it is hard to put into perspective.

As many of you know, we asked for donations to help buy a refrigerator for Hannah’s orphanage, and not only did we have enough to buy that, but they were in desperate need of replacing some tiling, and we were able to buy that too! The director was overwhelmed with this generosity from so many people that are helping his orphanage stay open. There are 71 people who work at this orphanage, and if it is shut down they would lose their jobs. So as he said to us many times over, thank you, thank you, and thank you! We told him the donations were from our church, Luke’s school, and Scott’s work, but the true glory goes to God, who gives us the means to help those in need.

Oh, Happy Day!

In Moscow!!!

We are in Moscow and had a good flight. It was a great flight for Luke because we were in a plane where each seat had it's own personal video, so he could watch a movie, play games, or watch cartoons, so time flew by. He finally got tired and fell asleep for two hours before landing. It then became more and more difficult to keep him awake before getting to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, I met a couple who just finshed their adoption and they were headed home in two days. Our room wasn't ready so they told us we could go to the ninth floor and sleep on the chairs while the room was getting cleaned. At this point, I think we were looking pretty bad, so they knew we needed sleep, but we couldn't sleep too long because we wouldn't sleep through the night, so we set the alarm for two hours and woke up four hours later. We went out to eat last night to a cute little restaurant about three blocks from here and had meat with mushed potatoes (not mashed). We went to a grocery store and got some items for breakfast, and had that after sleeping for 12 long hours, oh what joy! Sleep feels so good when you are so deprived.

We are getting closer and closer to seeing Hannah again, and for Luke to meet her for the first time. I hope and pray that will go very well! We talked on Skype last night with Ben England and he sounded like he was in the next room. That was fun to see it work. We are planning to talk with Luke's classroom today through Skype. Scott set them up with a camera so we can see them and they can see us! This will be so fun for Luke during our trip.

Tonight (your daytime) we will be boarding the trian to Voronezh. We will be in a sleeping cabin for the long 11 hour ride. We hope to find some connection in Voronezh but we may not, so if you don't see any posts for a while that's what happened.

Our Thanks!

As the day is moving closer, we are all getting a little jumpy around here. Even Luke is having stomach issues and we know it’s all the excitement. Our visas arrived yesterday, and we had our travel meeting on the phone with Kristen too. She went over everything we needed and talked about our court time and the questions the judge will ask us. I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice each time you went on a vacation someone would call and make sure you had everything you needed. It was better then a check list because she would talk back! Do you have the sunscreen? Check! Did you put it in your check luggage or carry-on? Carry-on. Wrong answer; please put that in your check luggage! See how well that would work! I think I just came up with something!

I had a friend come over two days ago and gave me a ton of clothes that her girls can’t wear any longer. She has a heart for adoption and wanted Hannah to have the clothes. I was overwhelmed with her generosity, not to mention her taste in children’s clothing was impeccable. After she left, I sat there putting the clothes away and these words kept coming in my head that are written in my instructions for our trip. Make sure you bring clothing because nothing she has is hers. They will literally take the clothing she has on-off, and I will put her new clothing on. Wow, and here I sit in her new bedroom with clothes hanging in her closet and in her drawers. I cried to think about her and the many other children around the world that have nothing. Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling. This song now has a special meaning for me knowing our treasures are not of this world, whether it’s material things or more, but it’s having our treasures stored up in heaven.

We have heard news from the orphanage concerning the refrigerator. Not only did we raise enough money for the refrigerator, but they have a great need for floor tiles and we are going to help with that too. Their government said they will shut it down if conditions are not improved with this orphanage. It is a very impoverished area and many people work there as part of their livelihood, so it would make matters worse. Thanks to many of you for donating and having such giving hearts, I pray this will help them out! We will have more on this while we are in Russia.

World of packing lightly!

We are spending this week packing lightly. We will be gone for a long time and packing lightly doesn't equal a long trip, so I am in this huge dilemma over what to take and what not to take. The weather in Russia is just like East Coast spring weather with warm and cold days, so do I bring sweaters or lighter clothing? I'm not too worried about Luke's clothes because he will wear the same thing everyday if he could, and he may have to!

We have a list of questions the judge may ask us during our court date, and I'm telling you it's a lot of questions. I am a little apprehensive about our court date and feeling intimidated which I've heard you will, but I'm praying for strength to get through it and wisdom to answer correctly. I think we will be the first adoption case in front of this new judge, so I'm trying not to be fearful.

Luke is having food issues. He believes that there will not be anything to eat in Russia that he will like, but I have reassured him that they loves potatoes there and if all else fails, you can eat potatoes the whole time. He was happy with that! We are staying with Galina, and she is a very good cook too!

We don't have our visas yet, but hopefully those will be in the mail soon. I dislike last minute anything, so I'm trying to get done what I can and not worry about the visas.

As I was packing for Hannah, I realized I have lots of warm clothes for her and not any spring/summer clothes, so I went to Target yesterday and picked up some summer clothes. This is where the gift cards we received for our shower came in very handy. I used all of them and remembered to get Hannah a brush and comb set! Thank you again everyone for your gift cards, for they helped me out so much yesterday!

On Sunday someone said to me, oh my, you are leaving in one week! Now, I knew I was leaving in one week, but for some strange reason, when I heard that from someone else it made my stomach jump and it’s been jumping since then! Ready, set, gone! That’s what I need.

Thanks for stopping by our blog page. We hope to put in pictures and video while we are in Russia. Once the judge gives her verdict we will be able to share pictures of Hannah on our blog! Yeah!!!!!

Sweet Spot

Do you know what is so pleasant about spring? Well, I can think of many things, but what I love is watching nature come back to life again. Luke has a beautiful cherry tree blooming outside his bedroom window, and every morning I express to him how pretty that tree is when I open his window. It’s in full bloom with many delicate white flowers that gives you the impression of snow on all the branches. Well, this morning I was talking about this gorgeous tree and Luke looked over and said, “Mommy, I’m not really into looking at beautiful trees, but I do like to climb in them. Oh boy, boys will be boys! That’s how God made them.

We have our itinerary for Russia, and we needed to make some sanity changes to make life a little easier for us. Our flight to Moscow from Atlanta is around 10 hours long and we arrive in the morning eight time zones away from here. Well, on our first trip to Russia, we had around eight hours before we had to be on a train for Voronezh that night, so they take you to a hotel to rest and clean up. I remember sitting on the bed and waking up four hours later, but at least my shoes were off, or maybe Scott took them off, I don’t remember. So, we have decided it would be good to stay the night in Moscow the first night, and then catch our 11 hour train ride down to Voronezh. The first day in Voronezh, they are taking us to the orphanage to visit with Hannah and for Luke to meet his sister. This will be a big day for him! The next two days are set aside for our court dates. This is when the judge will ask us numerous questions and make her decision about our adoption. We have a ten day waiting period that is required, so to fill in that time we are going to visit St. Petersburg. Here’s the hard part, we are taking a train for 24 hours to get there, yes, Russia is a very, very big country. We are planning to video the countryside, so one day we can show it to Hannah and let her see more of the country she was born in. Then we will return to Voronezh and they will bring Hannah to us, and she will be our daughter and Luke’s little sister, in adoption terms, “a forever family!” After that we will get on a train (again), and head to Moscow to finish the adoption at the embassy and consulate offices. We plan to take Luke and Hannah to Red Square and many of the fascinating sites in Moscow. Luke has a field trip at his school while we will be in Russia, and he is sad about missing it, but we told him he is going on the ultimate field trip, but for some reason he is still a little sad about missing it. Someday he will see that differently.

I have one more Luke story. He has been very protective about children (not so much adults) going in Hannah’s room since we had it decorated. We have children over our home all the time, and as soon as he knows someone is coming over he will go and shut her bedroom door. So, as a curious mom, I asked Luke why he didn’t want anyone in her room, and his sweet reply was “Mommy, she hasn’t even seen her room yet and I want her to see it first.” That makes up for the tree answer. What a sweet spot!

We Have a Court Date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drum rollllllll..............

It's true we finally have a court date on April 24th! We will leave on the 20th of April and come home on the 16th of May. It's a long stay for many reasons. We will have a ten day waiting period (required) in Russia after our court date, and then we run into a bunch of Russian holidays that will cause us to be there even longer. At the end of our trip, we will be in Moscow the last eight days to get paperwork done, get her U.S. passport at the embassy, and go to the Russian consulate for more paperwork. I think once this is over, we need to plant a tree because all this paperwork has caused the demise of many trees.

I hope to be in touch while in Russia by Internet and keep up with this blog when possible. If anyone has Skype, we will be able to talk from Russia and it's free!

We are praising God for this precious child and even in my weakness, God's unending faithfulness to our family was already there.

What a week, what a day, what a hour, what a minute!

We have had a pretty stressful week with our adoption. As you read in previous posts, we were supposed to be leaving this Monday for Russia, but in a wink of an eye that all fell apart. The judge in charge of our case delayed it for now. She (the judge) had us redo another document and I was running around trying to get that done and we had to do another set of fingerprints. I am weary of it all and only wish that Hannah was home with us and this was over. It has been a long process, and I never would have guessed it would still be going on this long. Our biggest prayer at this point is for the judge in charge of our case. We pray that her heart will be softened to knowing Jesus as her Savior, and she will open up the flood gates for all of us waiting to bring our children home.

WE have been on a very long roller coaster ride and some days it's smooth and other days we drop at high speed. We never know day by day if we are leaving for Russia or having to redo another document or not hearing anything at all (silence the hardest one). One thing I do know, we must never forget that God is in control of our adoption and He will see it through no matter how long we are on this ride, but I do wish to get off soon.

I wish to thank so many of you for your prayers and concerns. You have truely lifted us up when we are having a rough time at it. What a blessing and comfort that has been for us!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

What a ski week!!!

We are back from Christmas town, or should I say, Whistler, Canada, and I experienced more snow than Santa gets in the North pole. It snowed everyday and there was fresh powder for all the ski hounds like never before. I enjoy the snow, but when I can't see two feet in front of me, I have a hard time navigating down a steep slope on skies. At times, it was like skiing by braille, "oh I didn't see that mogul in front of me or that skier dressed in white on this snowy mountain." Sorry, but you really shouldn't wear white in a snowstorm! Scott and Luke didn't care at all, so what, a lot of snow is great, and I couldn't get Luke out of tree skiing. He loves to go into the trees and ski, so they both popped into the forest and I prayed down below both of them will pop out at the bottom. I like groomed runs and going down at a nice speed, they like bumps and trees, so we try to find both that satisfies our needs. At the end of each day, we were one tired family, but in the morning we would wake up and do it all again. Yesterday on our long trip home, even Luke said his little legs were hurting, imagine that!

To help us relax on our vacation, (yes, I'm being facetious) we got a call from America World telling us we have a court date. We were overjoyed to finally get this news, but we were told we may have to go on April 3rd. So, here we are in Canada, riding a lift to one of the top peaks, Scott's phone buzzes, he looks at the number and I said, it's our adoption agency we need to call them at the top. We get off the lift and go over to a snowy little hut and call Kristen, and she says, can you get your visa asap, you are going to Russia soon. First, the joy, then the oh my gosh, we can't send out our passport from Canada, how will we get out? So, after a few days of waiting to find out when we will actually we travelling, AW told us to stay put, enjoy the rest of your vacation because it looks like we will be leaving April 7th!!!!!!!!!!!!

We probably would not have gone skiing if we would have know this was coming so quickly. Before we left, I probably drove Christi crazy asking her a million times if she thought we would get called soon. She told us (in her best judgment) to go and have fun that we probably wouldn't hear anything until we got back, but we did hear and we are so much praising God for this wonderful news! Look out little one we are coming to get you and bring you home! I still can't believe this is finally happening.

No News is Good News?

Maybe in the real world "no news is good news", but in the adoption world that saying isn't true. We haven't heard from Russia concerning our court date and that is what we are waiting for now. We should get a two week notice because we need time to get our visas. We are still hopeful that we will go in April!

Last Saturday some of my friends give us a baby (little girl) shower, and it was the first time since all this started I was actually able to celebrate our adoption. I had no paperwork to think about or wondering when we were going on trip one, so this day allowed me to share, celebrate and rejoice with others. You may think, well that's weird, haven't you been celebrating, well no, because most of time my thougths and busyness are tied up in all the stuff you need to do for an international adoption, and that really gets in your way of the essence of this wonderful event. So, during the party I was able to laugh, cry and be happy that soon Hannah will be coming home. Thanks everyone who came to hear our stories and share in our joy. I can't wait until I can introduce her to all of you!

I also share in the joy of many other families that are in my chat group online that are travelling to Russia on trip one or trip two. My friend Karen (who I have never met, but hope to someday) is in the same region we are in and went to Voronezh two weeks after we did, so we are both waiting to hear about trip two. It's great to have someone in the same region so we can share information, but what is even greater is seeing movement in Russia and children going home to their forever families. We are waiting Lord in your perfect timing!

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

A New Paperwork low

Well, if it can actually happen, it did with me yesterday. I hit rock bottom with re-doing paperwork. It has to be beyond perfect and I'm trying to make sure that is happening, but obiviously that is not happening. So, I'm running around yesterday getting things notarized, and seeing the sites in Annapolis again from the state office who seals my documents. I know them, and they know me by now. I feel like I should have lunch with them sometime. Christi gave me good advice yesterday, always expect the worst and then it won't be so bad. Well, anyone who knows me knows, I am the glass half full type of person. My lows aren't too bad and seldom happen, and I'm thankful for that. For someone like me to expect the worst, well it's not how God designed me to be, so that's a hard place to go, but going through this journey of adoption has opened many emotions that I didn't know existed. There is not one person who has adopted that hasn't mention the endless paper trail, so as I march in the trenches of wasted trees please recall that alone I am not. We have our moments of "That is Enough," and perhaps we have an adult temper tantrum, and then God grants us a brand new day! See the glass is half full!

Your love oh Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness stretches to the sky........

To ski or not to ski......

Well, that was the question over the past few days because we were not sure if during Luke's spring break we would be skiing or in Russia. We would rather be in Russia, but it doesn't look like we will hear anything until the end of March which translates to leaving sometime in April. So, we are going skiing in Whistler, which we usually go every year, but this year we were prepared not to go. We made the plans long before we knew about our first trip to Russia. Scott and I love to ski and now Luke has become a very good skier, and now he waits for me to catch up to him on the mountain and I don't like that, but I knew the day was coming (so soon?). Skiing is my favorite vacation and we have a blast! We go on horse-drawn sleigh rides, have dinners in teepee's, go tubing, sit in a outside hot tub while it's 20 degrees outside and snowing, go to ranches and sing cowboys songs,and attend church service outside on the mountain while sitting in a twenty passenger sleigh. I remember last year we were on the mountain looking for bear cubs because someone told us they were out(what were we thinking). Eveyone knows where there's baby cubs, the mommy's not far away! Anyway, its fun and I glad we are going, but still wish we were going to Russia instead. I wonder if Hannah will like to ski. I think she will experience it one way or another in this skiing family.

I had some paperwork returned to do-over, boy, I hate do-overs, but I have sent them back and hopefully that is all. We have Hannah's room all ready for her. It is painted pink and yellow with a quilted bedspread of flowers and butterflies. I have been buying her clothes and now they are hanging up in her closet ready for her to wear. A friend of mine got Hannah two coats (a great deal this time of year)which I will take to Russia. One is white with furry trim and one is purple and sparkles. I never really thought a lot about all the cute little girl clothes, but right now I am having fun buying them.

Some friend of ours are having a shower for us next week, and I'm so grateful for this kindness. It has been a long road and I wish to celebrate this wonderful moment with everyone. Some folks have said to me or Scott, you will be changing her life to such a better life, but what I want everyone to know, she is changing our life forever too. God personally picked out Hannah for us and we are the lucky ones.

I am done with my paperwork

As many of you know, I have been struggling to complete our paperwork for trip two. After many doctor's visits, fingerprinting (again), test results etc...I got it done yesterday. I finally had all the necessary documents ready, and early yesterday I started out knowing I wanted to complete this task. I went to get things notarized first and then to the county seal place, and last but not least, I headed down to our state capital to get the Maryland State Seal on all our documents. The last thing I did was FedEx all those documents off to America World, so they can send them to Russia for tranlation. To give you an idea how many documents we are talking here, at last count I was way over 100 sheets of paper and then I had to make four books of that 100 sheets of documents. How much fun! I was still nursing my flu, so I came home for a little nap before Luke got home from school. I thank God for helping me through that day knowing I wanted so much to get all of that done.

We are still waiting for a court date which will be set by the judge in Russia, so it depends on his/her schedule as to when we will leave. We are hoping soon!

Her name will be........

We have finally decided her name and want to share it with everyone. When we found out that she wasn't called Tatiana at the orphanage, we thought about changing her name to something else but keeping Tatiana in her name somewhere. So, her name after much input and thought will be Hannah Tatiana Sheldon! Hannah in Hebrew means Grace (of God) or favor which we believe she is grace given to us from God. Hannah in the bible was Sammuel's mother and she has a beautful prayer in Samuel 2. One part in verse 2 "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."

A bit of good news: I talked with Christi (our coordinator here) and she told me that Hannah has been released from the Russian data bank and now the judge is looking for a court date, so we may be leaving in late March to get her. We are planning to take Luke with us this time, and he is very excited about meeting his sister. We should be gone for three weeks or more and feel like this is the right decision for our family. He will miss a lot of school but his school would want it this way too!

My paperwork is going, but not great. We have had lots of sickness here(mainly me) which has slowed me down a little bit, but soon that will be a blink of an eye forgotten.

Keep it Cool-help purchase a refrigerator for the Kantemirov Orphanage

We asked at the orphanage what their greatest need is if our friends, colleagues, and families from our church and Luke’s school wanted to contribute to a gift that we would purchase in Russia. What they really need is a new refrigerator so they can keep milk fresh when the local farmers donate it. On our last day in Voronezh, we went to a Best Buy-like store and found a suitable refrigerator for 13,999 Rubles which at an exchange rate of 23 – 25 Rubles per Dollar equates to around $600 plus up to $150 delivery charge to transport the refrigerator the four to five hours from Voronezh to Kantemirov.
Additionally, we have shared with many of you our story of not needing our toilet seat covers when we went to the orphanage. In essence, you need a toilet seat in order to use a toilet seat cover, and to have a toilet seat, you really need a toilet; it is unnecessary to use a toilet seat cover on a hole in the ground. When we first asked the orphanage Assistant Director, she mentioned the need for toilets, but when she realized we were really considering buying something, she emphasized the pressing need for the refrigerator. While we want to honor the orphanage’s request for the refrigerator as our first priority, we’ve noticed how for many of our American friends, the need for toilets seems to be a compelling rallying cry. With that in mind, if God blesses this fund raiser with enough donations, we’d love to be able to also purchase a toilet for the orphanage. To be fair, we used the “toilet” facilities in a separate building from the one where Tatiana lives. The building where Tatiana lives does have two child size toilets (still no toilet seats) for the kids to use that were donated by Mormons on a mission trip.
If you’d like to help out, there are two ways you can contribute to the purchase of the refrigerator and toilet. For some of you, the simplest thing will be to give us cash or a check when you see us. For those who for tax deductibility or anonymity purposes would like to contribute through our Church, you can make tax deductible contributions as follows:

Make your check payable to Columbia Presbyterian Church Mission Discretionary Fund, and put on the memo line: Gift to Kantemirov Orphanage. Mail your check to Columbia Presbyterian Church, 10001 Route 108, Columbia, MD 21044.

Finally, and most of all, we know many people are praying for our family’s adoption, and we’re extremely grateful for your prayers. We will keep you updated, as we hear from Russia.

Loads of paperwork

The reason I haven't been writing much is I have loads of paper to complete before we go back to Russia. I have paperwork for our paperwork, if that is possible. This is stuff the judge needs from us to complete our adoption. I figured they had enough stuff on us, but they need more. I must say I wish I didn't have anymore to do because I have redone our dossier three times and that means about one inch of paper work each time. I need an attitude adjustment, but that may take some time, so my motto is just do it and don't think. Maybe that will work for a while, but in the real world.........

Anyway, the most common question we are getting is "hey, when are you going back?" And my most common answer is, "we are praying in March!" Things can change so quickly, and we are hopeful this will be true. I think I asked this question around five times in Russia and most of the time the same month was mentioned----March!

I think about Tatiana every day and pray for her in so many ways, but most of all for her to join us soon, so we can love her, care for her, and be her family.

First Time seeing Tatiana

Scott and I were having lunch in the director's office (which is a separate building from where the children live), and after we finished they told us the nurse will bring in Tatiana very soon. I was looking out the window and saw in the distance the nurse with this little wrapped up child coming toward the office. As they stepped into the door, I had huge waves of emotions like the rush of the first hill on a roller coaster. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh, cry, jump up and down, it was incredible. She came in already talking to the woman who was with her, and she was extremely personable from the time she walked in. Now, the director gave her a piece of candy and told her not to open it. We didn't know that is what she said , so we kept looking at her playing with this piece of candy and not opening it. We thought she didn't know how to open it. While she was playing with it, they were talking with her and she would look over at us. Again, we were not sure what was being said, but they were probably explaining to her about us. Then after ten minutes the director told her she could eat the candy, and she immediately opened the candy and put most of it in her mouth. I think they wanted to show us she listens to instructions and obeys them. I wasn't even thinking about that; I was just looking at her and thinking that's my little girl sitting over there and I want to get up and hug her and tell her to take my hand we're taking you home.

Scott and Missy in front of St. Basil Moscow

Home at Last!

We are home and trying to think about unpacking and getting back into life again. I feel since we recieved the call in mid-December our lives have been crazy. I went early to pick up Luke from school because I missed him so much and couldn't wait to see him. I cried and Luke got very teary.

I'm so glad to be home but if they asked us to come back tomorrow, I would be on that plane even though I can barely think straight right now. It was an extremely busy trip with loads of travel, so we tried to take naps whenever possible. I didn't sleep at all on the long plane ride home because there's something about sleeping in the upright position that gets me every time. I wished at one point I was working the trip so time would go by faster. I told the flight crew on the trip to Moscow I was an ex-flight Attendant and they teased me about helping them out. I didn't sleep good last night and was wide awake at 5am. I remember this feeling all to well from my flying days. I can't wait until it's over and I'm back on EST.

I thank God for a wonderful and blessed trip. At times it feels surreal. Was I really there? Did I really meet our daughter? But, He has this all under control and we will wait for His prefect timing to go back and bring her home! Please Lord make it soon!!!!!! I have more to write about our journey, but this brain is just too sleepy. More to come....

Still trying to take it all in.....

Well, we are back in Moscow and the train ride was long but we slept a little. Today, Ana is taking us around Moscow to see the sights. I am very tired today and I'm still trying to put together everything that has happened since being here. We had a wonderful stay in Voronezh and the people here couldn't be more loving. I cried when we left the train station because everyone took us there to see us off.It was Galina (stayed at her home)with her daughter Kristina, our translator Nick, our driver Sergei. I felt like Dorthy leaving Oz and all her new friends. They stood outside our train window waving and blowing kisses. In fact this whole trip has felt like being in OZ.

This is a part two email because I couldn't get it done this morning, so I will tell you how our day went. Ana took us around Moscow today and we went to Red Square, Lenin's tomb, St. Basil's Cathedral, and some more shopping. They love to see American's come in and shop. It was a very cold day but exciting to see these things I have read about my whole life. We are leaving tomorrow to come back to US Land, and I will be happy to return. I miss everyone, but I miss someone here too that is tugging at our hearts, so that makes it hard to leave.

While we were in the orphanage after spending some time with Tatiana, the Director was asking our translator questions she wanted him to ask us, and while she was asking him the questions Tatiana was answering them without me knowing what they were saying yet. Here is what director wanted Nick to translate to us. DO you think you are going to adopt this little one? Are you ready to take her back to America? Do you think she will like living there? All of these questions were answered by Tatiana saying Da (YES!!!!!),and she wasn't even asking her yet! We have lots of pictures of her and video of the kids in her group, her bedroom and playroom. I can't wait until I am allow to share them.

We were able to talk to Luke using Skype and our webcam, so we were able to look at each other and talk. It was very good for mommy because I sure do miss him. It's free and worth it's weight in gold if you have family far away. It really made me feel good seeing Luke and him seeing us!

I'm very tired again and will be until I get back on Maryland time so.........
Good night Luke in Maryland, Good night Tatiana in Voronezh! I know someday soon we will all be together in Maryland! And I'm headed there tomorrow! Hooray!

We feel your prayers

We are in Voronezh in case some of you do not know. Our train ride was very good and we slept most of the way. Everything is running like clockwork and we feel very comfortable. We had a very good day yesterday meeting the ministry of education. He was very nice and let us take pictures of him. Later that day, we had a tour of the city. There is a whole story here, but I will have to save that for later. I am using a computer in our facilitator's home. We are staying here with her and her daughter who speaks very good english, and she is so funny and cute.

The biggest news is we went to the orphanage to meet Tatiana today, and it was wonderful. Everyone treated us so nice and we had two meals prepared for us with the asst. director. She was very friendly and laughed a lot. They brought Tatiana in to meet us and I held it togehter pretty good. (that is one answer to pray), and she was adorable, and both of us fell in love with her. It was very hard to leave her there, but she is in good hands until we bring her home. Later, we will post some pictures from the back so you can get an idea of her. She is very small and wears a 3T slim or some 2T. She warmed up to us quickly and we had many hugs and kisses. I was able to meet the other children in her group and see where she sleeps and eats and goes potty. We are very tired, very long day for all of us. There is so much to write, but not the time now.

Thank you for praying for us. Tomorrow we see the MOE again to sign papers to adopt her, and Nick will take us around to shop, and then we will be back on the train going back to Moscow.

Thanks to everyone for checking in. We are reading your posts and they are giving us much needed love and prayers. We feel it all the way here because we have a very big God!

We are in Moscow!!!

Long plane ride, but we are here in the Marriott Hotel for some much needed sleep and a shower before we get on the train tonight. We were met right out of customs by our driver, a man that could drive that car through any type of traffic. I was so glad I couldn't see much but he really knew how to weave and fit in places the car didn't look like it would go! I had around three hours of sleep and I don't know if that will get any better tonight, so if you read this and if doesn't make sense, my mind is sleepy. We are staying at our translators house this week, and we are looking forward to it, and hope it will be good enough. Tomorrow we will meet the ministry of education, so please pray that all goes well. I can't wait until we meet Tatiana because that is probably the most on my mind. The Russian people seem very friendly and love having Americans come to their country.

I think it's amazing how a little shower can help your mind and body feel so much better. We are off to eat dinner because we slept through lunch, so i'm a little hungry. I hope to connect tomorrow!

Good News...and planes, trains and automobile

The good news is we got our visa's today!!!! Yeaaaa!!!! So, we are good to go!

We had a phone conference with Christi today concerning the whole trip! Some of it was hard to digest, but we will be on a plane (14 hours) then a few hours in Moscow to clean up, and then (11 hours) on a train to Voronezh where we will be staying in an apartment, and then (five hours) by car to the orphanage.(LOL) We will see the ministry of education the first day, go to the orphanage the second and possbily the third day, notary office and put back on a train to do everything above in reverse. We will have time in Moscow to tour, so we are planning to see some sites on Saturday because we will not fly out until Sunday. We will be very tired puppies when we get back! God is good!

Leaving in three days........

Well, we are leaving in three days and our visa's should arrive tomorrow, we are hopeful! The packing isn't going too good. It's this thing about cold cold weather and big big sweaters.

Anyway, I found another fascinating thing that everyone has told me is a must to take (beside our toilet-paper-to-go)and again didn't know about it, toilet seat covers to-go. It's a little compact five cover packet, oh how wonderful! Seeing that I have restroom issues covered (ha ha), I'm moving into what to take and what to leave. You may be thinking this can not be that hard, but let me tell you, I am lead to know that bringing gifts for people who help you while you are there is fun to do. We have no problem with this because I love giving gifts, so we need to think of everyone that will be dealing with us and that's a lot of people. I definitely want to take good care of the workers at the orphanage because I am leaving Tatiana in their good care until we go back, so I heard they like American chocolate bars, so I have lots of American chocolate bars with us. You know, those things weigh a lot in your baggage, now it all make sense.

Another person we care deeply about is the ministry of education. We will see him on this trip and he is the man in charge. He will ask us back and complete are adoption besides the judge (next trip).

As I move away from the packing issues and on to the true issues. We covet your prayers while we are in Russia. There are so many things that can go wrong, and knowing people are lifting us up to the One who can make it all right, gives us so much comfort. Thank you......

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Febreze and Toilet Paper to Go.........

Well, yesterday I felt like I won the lottery because I found, which I didn't know some company had already invented, toilet paper to go! I was literary happy as could be because of this wonderful find! Our agency told us, bring your own toilet paper because your two choices are sandpaper or none, so we were told to save half rolls here at our house. Well, we failed miserably at that pursuit because we kept forgetting. When I would remember there would be around four squares left, too late! I told my coordinator about my find and she said "I know, I take that on every mission trip." Who would have known?

Another interesting item popped up in a conservation at church the other day. We need to pack light due to space restraints in Russia, so wearing the same clothing more than once is necessary. I was telling some friends this, and one of them kinda breezed into the conversation handed me this lovely book and added you need to buy FebreZe, it will take the nasty smells out of your clothes. Yesterday, that was one of my purchases, so I took an item of smelly clothing out of the hamper and FebreZed it. Sure enough it was smelling nice in about two minutes. So, then my mind started racing, hey, I'm on to something here. Could this decrease my laundry load? My husband's one time wear policy! All the possibilities were swarming in my head. Even a commercial....Wow Missy your clothes smell so nice...Oh thank you...I've been FebreZed! And then I came back from La La Land and realized, that's not going to make it here in the good old USA, much less our household, but in Russia, I'm good to go! We've been FebreZed!

Good news, I talked with Natasha yesterday, and she told me that it looks very good for us to get our visa's in time before we leave. That is one very important item you can't leave home without.

Not so Bad......

I have had so many of you either leave comments or email or talk with us about our journey, and it has been completely comforting to know you are praying for us. Some of you have asked about the Russian Orphan video at the bottom our blog, and this is from missionaries that go to Russian orphanages and minister to these children. The statistics are terrible, but very true. I can only say that our hearts will be open to see what God will do in the future for a ministry such as this. I think Tatiana would love to help us do it too!

I am involved with this huge group (chat group) of families that are adopting from Russia. Our adoption agency has it set up and it's people from all around the world. It is so encouraging and we talk about everything concerning our adoptions. It's a great way to pray for each other, express our feelings, and hear how others have done things before us. Well, I put out some questions the other day about what can I bring to help bond Tatiana and us for our first time together. And this wonderful group had lots of ideas and one of them we did today. We went to Build-A-Bear and Luke picked out a bear to give to Tatiana. We also put a recording inside of the bear with each of us saying "I love you Tatiana" and ending with "We love you Tatiana." Scott and I got so emotional we almost didn't make it out of the store. We also got her a blanket to give her so she can sleep with it until we go back to bring her home. Very emotional day! It made it so real!

I love your encouraging comments, my heart feels lighter because of them.

Upward Basketball started yesterday and it was so much fun. Scott is coaching Luke's team and they did really good today. There are around 1000 children involved this year. It's a wonderful community ministry, and I believe it shows the kids that in all we do, including sports, honoring God is number one!

Our blog is mostly about our adoption, but as Scott and I were talking about it today, we are constantly thanking the One who is blessing us with Tatiana, for He is the one who made this all happen, not us, not our adoption agency, not Russia, they and we were just instruments of His greater picture.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us. 1John3:1

Cold Brrrrrrr......

Well, on the east coast this week it has been very cold. So cold that when I went out running the other day, I came back with a frozen face and couldn't move my frozen jaw for a long time. Now, how am I going to survive in frozen Russia? I'm planning to wear everything I own (of any warmth) on my body, so I can look just like the boy in the movie "The Christmas Story", but I will be warm! I'm cold here all the time and when Scott's does a fire at night, I can stand there for hours just trying to get warm. At least we will not be directly in Siberia where the temperture is -oh my gosh= compare to Voronezh -oh my.

Sleep is a beautiful thing. One thing we are not getting a lot of here. Not due to anything else but lots of stuff on our minds. The body is tired, but the mind is wide awake! I am getting a good every third day rest(exhaustion), but in between, its rough. Scott is doing about the same, so we said this morning, we need to try and get to bed early and sleep.

Another unexpected occurrence, I miss Tatiana and I don't even know her. I looked at her picture this morning and told her how much I miss her. It's wonderful how God prepares our heart for someone so precious and gives us that desire. I think its the same as knowing Jesus. I have never seen Him, but know him and desire to have Him in my heart.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

The innocence of childhood

Sometimes during Luke's bedtime, he likes to talk about his day at school, so last night he told us a little story the happened that day. He said his teacher asked him besides praying for your family's adoption what else could we do for you. Well, Luke thought about this and told his class the they could bring in all the toys they don't play with anymore for Tatiana. And one boy told him, I have tons of toys I don't play with anymore, I could bring those in. So, Scott and I got a big chuckle about this, and told Luke that was very sweet, but we are thinking more about what we can give to her orphanage and their needs, not so much here. It's very true that his sister has nothing not even the clothes on her back are hers. On our second trip, we will be bringing her clothes to wear out of the orphanges the day we bring her home. They have one book in her orphanage we were told she likes to read everyday. This is so hard to imagine with all the things we have here in the US. Luke has enough toys for twenty children, at least.

I will leave you with this one thought from one of my favorite song: Rock of Ages.......
Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling, Rock of Ages Cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.

Listen to Logan's video and hear this thirteen year old boy who lives on a ranch in Nebraska when he called in to a christian radio station one day. How true!

Russian Holidays

Well, I just found out today that the Russian Consolate is closed until 9th of January, so that leaves us with a mighty tight timeframe for getting our visa's before we leave. The man I talked to in San Francisco (the place I FedEx our visa's) said we should be able to get them back on the 12th. So, as my stomach turns, we are hopeful the visa's will arrive and we can leave on the 14th of January.



This is where I am glad I'm not in control of this and the One who is does!

Two days down

Well, the last two days have been nothing short of stressful, but we were able to get our visa's in the mail yesterday. Getting stuff done during the holidays have been a struggle, but yesterday we got passport pictures taken for our visas. To go into Russia you need a visa, but can only get that once you are told to go. It took Scott around three hours to complete our visa forms, and now we have to do many other tedious things before we leave.

Since we will be spending most of our time traveling, we are starting to think about what books to take, movie to watch, and things to do. Scott ask Luke if he could take his Nintendo, and I had to laugh, but he was serious. So I guess that may come too!

I am also thinking about what it's going to be like meeting Tatiana for the first time. Our coordinator Christi said all the mommies cry, but make sure you tell the translator to say these are tears of joy not sadness, so Tatiana will not get upset. What is that moment going to be like for Tatiana? Hi, we are you parents, be prepared to get out of here! A song from a movie popped into my head the other day that my mom took me to when I was around ten years old. It was starring Babara Streisand, titled "Funny Girl", and she sang this song which one part of the lyrics goes like this "Get ready for me love cause I'm a comin" and that is my desire for Tatiana. She will feel our love and know we are her parents, coming to take her home soon.

I am also remindered about God's promise to Moses in Exodus 3:8 "So I have come down to recue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey." Sometimes I forget how good it is here in the U.S. where food is plentiful. I wish it were that way everywhere!