All is well

It's 9:10 Friday morning here. Just wanted to quickly say HI! Things are going very well. The girls are terrific. I'll try to get more details out tonight. We just haven't had a free moment! Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. We know we are taking a little piece of each of you with us! :)

First Day in Krasnoyarsk

Hi Everyone! We're in Krasnoyarsk, safe and sound... oh, don't forget cold and exhausted! We had our Ministry of Education appointment today and after that, we were able to visit the little boy's orphanage. It was a wonderful day! He's amazing. We had a very special visit of nearly 3 hours. Tomorrow we go see the little girls.

We know we are surrounded by your thoughts and prayers. We continue to see God's protection and grace every step of the way. More to come...


Little soccer field in the orphanage playground and our view from the plane over Moscow.

And They're Off!

We're getting ready to head out.
Getting ready to travel 30+ hours,
thousands of miles,
to a foriegn land,
with scratchy toilet paper (so I hear, anyway).

And we're ready.
It's 1 o'clock in the morning, but I think we're ready.
Got the fur lined boots,
big ol' coats,
gloves and hats,
and a personal supply of Charmin.

We're off to meet 3 children.
A brother and two little sisters,
on the other side of the world,
where it's 20 below,
and they don't know we're coming.

But I am convinced, there is no power, neither height nor depth, no, nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of our Father. He will carry out his plan for us. He began this good work. I know the Lord goes before us on this journey. The glory is all His, no matter what.

We just can't say thank you enough to those of you who have called, emailed, sent texts, sent cards or just taken a moment to say a supportive word over the past several days. Scott and I have been astounded and blessed by the outpouring of love and support we've been shown. Many of you have followed us on this adoption journey since the beginning (June 2005!) Some of you we've met more recently. But we have equally cherished your words, thoughts, and prayers. I feel like I've been filled up with so much GOOD. And now I get the honor of sharing what you've poured into us with these children we are about to meet.

If I'm able, I'll post at some point while we're in Russia. It may not be until the end of the trip when we're back in Moscow. Our general itinerary is in the margin. We'll be 14 hours ahead of Pacific time while in Krasnoyarsk.

You may have noticed that we are not scheduled to return until Sunday evening...that would be Super Bowl Sunday evening (Do I owe someone money for using the words Super Bowl? Ooh! Did it again. What's that all about anyway???) Scott's not extremely thrilled about it, but that's what TiVo is for. Forget 30 hours of traveling, 3 layovers, below zero temperatures, language barriers, and scratchy toilet paper... the most challenging part of this trip will be getting home without finding out the result of the Su... um, that is, the Big Game!

When Lists and Piles Collide

Lists
Lists
Lists
Seems like everyday I make a list.
Shopping List
Packing List
Gift List
Return List (Those of you who really know me are very familar with my frequent trips to return this or that.)

Oh yeah, and besides the lists, there's the piles.
Piles
Piles
Piles
Piles of clothes I think I'll be packing
Piles of gifts to bring the orphanage workers
Piles of toys and books to bring our kids
Piles of snacks just in case the borsht doesn't cut it for me (I'm not even sure what it is, but somehow I'm not thinking it fits in well with my usual meals of ketchup only)

Sometimes the world of lists and piles collide! Like when I need to return the shirt I bought for the trip. It was on the shopping list... new black turtleneck. It came home and joined the pile of clothes to be packed. But now it's back on the return list because I found a better deal on a new black turtleneck at a different store.

We leave for Russia 2 weeks from today. Our plan is to only bring carry ons. That should be interesting. Exactly how does one pack for negative 35 degree weather with only carry ons? My coat is so big I might have to buy it it's own seat on the plane! And the piles are already growing taller and wider than the little suitcases.

This is my life at the moment. Actually... I'm quite enjoying it! :)

Ah... Where to begin?

Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?
A few weeks ago we received the referrals for a sibling set of 3 children. Uh huh, I said THREE. One boy (4 years old) and two girls (3,2).

At this point, most people gasp and raise their eyebrows in shock, three?! Go ahead, shake your a head a couple of times, get that of the way...Read on.

Now, Scott and I have had some time to get used to the idea, because back in October, before we changed regions, we were informed about these little ones. Would we like to be considered for a sibling group of 3? Coming to that decision is a story in itself. I certainly did my fair share of gasping, eyebrow raising, and head shaking! I'll fill you in on that someday.

We changed all of our paperwork in October so we would be approved for 3, just in case. December 7 brought the phone call from our agency. The referrals would indeed be sent to us.

So what's been going on for the past month? Well, it took a couple of weeks to complete our appointments with the International Adoption Specialists (IA docs). There are a limited number of these doctors around the country. We sent everything we were given about the children to 2 different IA docs for their review, then we had a phone conference to hear their opinions. Both doctors raised many questions/concerns that we've been trying to get answered. Unfortunately, the powers that be in the Russian orphanages are not providing any more information at this time.

So, our choices were
1) Decline the referrals and wait to be matched with another child or
2) Conditionally accept the referrals, go to Russia and meet the little ones for ourselves (and hopefully gather the additional information we need while we are there)

What'll it be?
Well, Monty, we've decided to go with Curtain #2!
Hey! It's a trip to Siberia!

Um, please note the weather forecast folks. Today's high... negative twenty. Seriously? Negative twenty degrees? Isn't that just some imaginary number Scott teaches in his fancy new math classes?

This trip will be about 7 days. We'll be gone in early February. More details to come. Until then, we certainly covet your prayers for patience, wisdom, and protection for the children.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Molly wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!