More on Court

Something Awesome Happened Today!!

The last two days with the boys have been great!! Admittedly, the last two days have been Wayne's days to stay home.....and my days to work!! Maybe they save the acting our for Mom!! At any rate.....the kids seem to be back on track!! Today we went to our local Community College and met two of the basketball players (on scholarship to the College) who are .......RUSSIAN!!! Is that awesome or what??? You should have seen the HUGE smile on Kylen's face when he heard them " gah -vaht- EE- tee Pah- ROO- ski" (speak Russian)!! We had him ask Kylen if he liked it here in America? "Dah" , he said. We had them ask he if he liked living with his Mama and Papa? "Dah", he said. I thought he would elaborate a little more with someone speaking Russian, but he was kind of shy. But I am really happy because these two basketball players can be his interpreter for his Academic Assessment that the school system wants to give him. It is important for your school age child to have an assessment in their native language (preferentually) within the first 3 months of coming to America. The school system is supposed to provide this......but here in Podunk, USA, we have to provide our own interpreter!! Oh....the school system did offer to pur our child in the Special Education Class this fall!! Whatever!! At any rate.....it is important to have the assessment in their own language so you can determine what is a learning disability, academic deficit, etc...... versus them not understanding the language ( i.e. such as waiting and doing the assessment in English........and them possibly not understanding the English enough to score well, and it would be a false assessment of their true level of learned knowlege. So these guys are going to be helping us out.......cool, huh? Oh, and get this.......(this is HILARIOUS!!)! We were leaving the gym today after meeting Vitaly and Artem, and I smiled at Kylen, and pointed to the boys and said "Ya Roo-ski"! I repeated and pointed to them (meaning they are Russian)! He (Kylen) turned to me, raised up his shoulders ( as if to say "so??") and smiled at me.....pointed to himself and said " Ya ung- GLEE- ski!!" Saying......."I am English... (or American is what he meant!!). The kid cracked me up!! Can you imagine it!! Dear Blogger friends, I apologize for the brief hiatus......but I promise....the rest of the Court story this weekend!!

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back!!

(Late Post) Well, I was warned by some of you that some of the very best days the children have are followed by some very difficult ones. Earlier this week was a trying time….so I apologize for the delay in posts!! The boys had a lot of crying and acting out. But….not to worry…..as I have heard so many of you say……and I have also read comments regarding this……that this is is a good sign. The children are feeling as though they can trust us to still accept them, even if they have bad behavior. I still feel we are making progress……but this is still a hard time right now.

The Cast of the Court

The cast of the Court ( as our agency facilitator, Zoya, called it.....consisted of six people. They were......the Judge ( a female), the Prosecutor, the representative from the Guardianship Department (this was Svetlana, who observed us with Sasha the first meeting), the Chief Social Worker of the Magadan Specialized Baby Home, the Director of the Orutukan Boarding School (Ludmila) where Kylen attended school and lived), and, of course (kon-YESH-nah), the Court Recorder. As we began the proceedings, the Judge asked both of us (through Zoya, our interpreter)......she asked if we accepted that Zoya would be our interpreter for these proceedings, and if we trusted her to interpret correctly and honestly. We both stated that we trusted her and would accept her translation and interpretation as being in our best interest, as well as being honest. With that......we began!!

Court Preview

This week I shall be writing about our experience in Court. It will be divided into several parts as our Court lasted over 3 hours!! Now, we did have a difficult Judge, but she was more the type that was very compulsive and wanted to go over everything in complete detail......I mean she even read pages from our home study!! It really was not that she was doubting our ability to be good parents (although she asked some difficult questions, I thought!!), the long time in court was due more to her wanting to be completely through!! So this week.......will be the story of Court !! Stay tuned!!

HEY!! Still More Progress!!

WOW!! Tonight is the second night in a row that Kylen, our big boy, is sleeping in his own bed!! YAHOO!! Last night I celebrated being in my own bedroom WITH THE LIGHTS ON!! I watched a very scarey movie.....which made my adrenalin surge....so I was up late, and I was trying to catch up on all the blogs I have been unable to read of late. It was really so great to be relaxing in my own bedroom, making all of the noise I want, and flipping the TV channels. Then I came upon the scarey movie (about some kind of exorcism) and so I just keep on reading, and watching TV. I have not done that in forever!! It was a bit tough to put in 13 hours at the hospital today......but I made it. And now......another evening of having our bedroom just occupied by the parents (oh....and two dogs....and a cat.....all asleep on our bed)!! Oh, Well!! It was a good try! We almost made it sleeping alone at night!!

How to Have a Happy Flight

Our boys are super travelers!! They did so well on the journey home, and we had such a long way to go!! The trick to traveling with a toddler on an airplane is to have 2 bags of Gerber dehydrated bananas and strawberries. Those work like magic! They are little tiny bits of fruit that would take forever to fill you up when eating them, and they are so yummy that your little person will be preoccupied with eating them one at a time in his little plastic bowl. The other very helpful item was a bottle!! Even though our boy had not taken a bottle in over a year, he figured it out on the plane, and believe me......it was helpful!! Having your toddler take a bottle, even when they have been weaned from it, is very helpful for attachment issues. It is good for your toddler to see you as the person providing their needs, and to learn how to trust that their needs will be met. I am guessing it helped with the changes in the altitude pressure on their ears as neither of the boys had the slightest problem with it! For our older boy, we took lots of activity books, mazes, and coloring pages to keep him occupied. He made seven trips to the bathroom on the airplane!! I am sure he did not "have to go" that frequently, but he enjoyed playing with the water, and I am sure he enjoyed the new found freedom of going by himself!! Overall, the boys traveled so well!! I hope you journey home is just as successful!!

A Successful Day!!

We are definitely making progress!! Today Sasha came to me three times for comfort!! He also came up voluntarily and hugged my legs for the first time!! (We were outside and I was standing up…..hence he grabbed around my legs). He is sleeping a little more than he usually does, perhaps it is because he is teething and doesn’t always feel that well….but today I had to wake Sasha up at 10:00am and he still took a 3 hour nap…..I had to wake him at 4:00pm, in order to go to pick up Tav and Rem from track practice after school today, and he still went to bed around 8:30 pm!! Unbelievable!! Actually, both the kids are GREAT sleepers!! They have slept through the night….all night, every night since we have had them!! I hesitate to even write about it, because I don’t want to jinx myself!! HA!! Sasha usually goes to bed around 8:30 pm and sleeps 12 hours until 8:30 am the next morning. Kylen still does not want to sleep in his own bed in the room with his brother. We talked about it again tonight, and he said he still wanted to sleep in Mama’s and Papa’s room. I am not sure why he wants to still sleep in our room, since he is OK with taking naps in his own bed….but perhaps him staying in our room will hasten our bonding. However, if he does wake up before we do, like on a weekend and we are wanting to sleep in a little bit, he will just lay quietly on his little floor bed, whispering and playing there quietly. They are really “dream” children!! This morning when I woke up Sasha, I fed him breakfast, and then I held him and gave him a bottle. He has been doing better with this, and he has even been letting me help hold the bottle. He looked into my eyes only a couple of times, but non the less, we are making progress!! Tonight he let me rock and sing to him before I laid him in his crib. It was a standing type rock…as he is not into the rocking chair at all! I will keep trying though! The day was so nice outside that early this evening the kids played outside and they had such fun!! They are both doing so well. Sasha even discovered Rocks!! He carried these three rocks around for quite a while…..and said “ Rah” for rock!! He began to get tired and came to me for comfort. Kylen has made a lot of progress in that when we first had him, he would just get anything he wanted without asking……and now he has learned he must ask permission for everything. He usually gets what he asks for, but I feel it is important for him to ask. Some things he does not get…..like Nintendo DS or The PS2 video game (they belong to Tav and Rem) and I feel he can use his time more wisely right now. Any way, now he is always asking….but in Russian ..”Mama, mohz-nah deal-it?” (Mama, May I do it?) or …May I have …..? So now we need to work on saying it Pah – Eng- GLEE – ski!!

A Day at the Park!!

Today Wayne took the boys to the park. They had a marvelous time! He took a couple of baseball gloves (mitts) and he and Kylen (our 8 year old) threw the ball back and forth. He also tossed the ball to Sasha, who was so enthralled with kicking and chasing the ball. I know Wayne had a dream come true today.....as he has never had a son, only daughters ( which he has truly adored both of them), but I know he had an unfulfilled dream come true playing with his sons today. The boys loved being outside too!! Today is really the first day that the older boy has played with his younger brother (he will be 28 months tomorrow). I guess that he has not been around children younger than age 6 and that he has not seen his brother except for a couple of brief times since the brother was 2 months old, he really has not known how to play with him. It looks as if this is going to change, and they will be interacting more together now that they are getting "settled in". My work schedule has been grueling since returning home. I have had to make up for all that time I had off so Wayne has been "Mr. Mom". In the past 7 days, I have had to work 6 shifts...all of them at least 12 hours, some have been 13 hours long. In addition, I came home coughing with the "Siberian Croup". I have been so tired and exhausted. The boys have been asleep by the time I get home, and I have seen them only for a few minutes in the morning before I dash off to the hospital. This morning, Sasha would not look me in the eye. He kept avoiding direct eye contact with me......not a good thing, but unfortunately, my schedule could not be helped. Wayne has done a fantastic job with the boys, and for now, we are trying to alternate our work schedules. He goes back to work tomorrow, and I am home with them for a few days. I hope we can resume our bonding. I am guessing they had so many different caregivers that they have learned to keep their distance emotionally as a protective mechanism. In the long run, love and persistance will pay off, (we hope).

Adjusting at Home

The boys are soing so well!! They are adjusting to their new life in America quite nicely. The first few days we had a couple of our older girls in college and working, home to help integrate the boys. There seemed to be so much family around, I am sure they did not have much time to notice when someone was gone. For the most part, it was pretty peaceful. We had a few temper tantrums from Alexander. If he got angry about anything, he would throw whatever it was across the room (cookie, cup, toy....you name it), and then he would fling (flow himself hard down on the floor. We just tried to ignore it and get his mind off of it. Kylen did not want to sleep in his own bed. He said Sasha was too noisy, and wanted to sleep on a little palet in our room So far he has done well, with only a few "pouting" episodes when he is corrected or disciplined. Oh....and he asks for Coca Cola Light wherever he goes. Kylen has started to take a small day nap in his own bed in the room with Sasha, and then sleeps at night in our room on the floor. Everyday they wake-up happy and seem to be doing so well!!

One Missing Bag!!

We arrived to Magadan on a Sunday afternoon, scheduled for our court date on that Monday, March 5th. I had heard "horror stories" of people losing their luggage, and had also heard of others who "carried on" their court clothes, just incase they were lost along the way. So, in our carry on luggage, we placed our dress clothes for court. We also had the forsight to "mix-up" the bags, so that in each piece of luggage, there were some of evesone's clothing (that way, if any of the luggage was lost, we would all still have clothes to wear). So we did that with all of the luggage, all except for one bag. This bag was the one with ALL of the boys clothes, socks, and underwear. Of course, THIS was the bag that was lost!! I did have their shoes and coats, warm hats and mittens packed away in another bag!! Delta Airlines said they would try to locate our missing bag, in the meantime, we would just have to make do. After court, in the afternoon, Ludmila brought over all of the clothes we had previously bought for Kylen. We were surprized to see this, as we thought they would stay in the orphanage to be used by the other children. However, everything came with him, so that solved his clothing problem. In downtown Magadan, we found a children's shop and picked up a little outfit for Sasha. It was not my first choice in what to dress him in when he left the Baby Home, but I knew I needed something. I have heard from others that the baby homes and orphanages will not give back the clothes you have given to your child to wear, and that especially on the day you leave the orphanage you must bring the clothing you would like for them to wear. Apparently this is not so in Magadan. We were scheduled to leave for Moacow on Wednesday afternoon. In magadan, since the 10 day waiting period is generally waived, they prefer to keep the child in the Baby Home at night, and you may visit, or get the child during the day. Keeping the child on the same schedule, and not disrupting their sleep patterns helps the child to adjust to the new parents and minimizes the stress experienced. When it was time for us to leave for the airport, we took our newly purchased outfit with us in order to dress Sasha. The caregivers at the Baby Home in Magadan are so loving. They took pride in dressing Sasha, and they picked out the best ourfit he had, and dressed him in it. Now, as I said earlier, I had a new pair of shoes. When I pulled them out (they waved them away), and they put on a pair of cute little snow boots. Then they got this cute hat and coat.....and only when they saw my hat and coat were going to be warm enough, did they decide to use my coat and hat I had brought. The caregivers took such pride in dressing him. They wanted to give him and dress him in the very best they had. WOW!! When he was finally all dressed and ready to go, they all had tears in their eyes. They loved him so much, and would really miss him, and felt sad......but at the same time they were so happy for him to go to a family that loved him. By the time we left, we were all crying!! It was a beautiful experience to see how loved Sasha was by his caregivers!! They truly are sweet, wonderful, giving women!! Oh....and the bag with all of the children's clothes was waitng for us upon our arrival to Moscow!!

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

We are home safe and sound!! The kids were great travelers! For right now we are recovering from jet lag........and fatigue. Later this week I will post other information about our trip and all about our court date!! We are so happy to be home!! YIPPEEE!!

America Here We Come!!!

This afternoon we begin our journey home. Spending time in another country, especially Russia, has made me realize how truly blessed we are to be Americans. I mean, of course I know this, but head knowledge and first hand experience are two different things. I am so grateful for the freedoms we have. We truly are a “land of plenty”. If only more people realized it. It is no secret (for those of you who know me personally…..and even those of you who do not) that I have whined about living in Missouri (remember….I call it “Misery”). A certain set of circumstances placed me here…..and now I am “stuck” here for a while. This second trip made me realize there are a lot of WORSE places to be “stuck” in….so hey Missouri…..I apologize. We have a wonderful home with lots of room for all of our combined children ( now NINE!!), and a huge yard, complete with fleas and ticks in the summer ….yes…..during the summer everynight is “tick check”…..gross!! When I first started pulling ticks out of creases and curves on my children’s body’s, it bothered me…….but now it is just like brushing your teeth before bed ( and if you DON’T do it…..you WILL be sorry!!). It will be so nice to be home again!! There are some things the Russians do better than Americans, though. There have been some who have criticized us for adopting internationally. They have wanted to know why we did not adopt here in the U.S. The main reason is because it is so hard to terminate the parental rights…..no matter what abuse may have occurred. Many times a child is placed into foster care for up to 3 years and then returned again to a dysfunctional or abuse family, all the while to endure more abuse. Meanwhile, the family that wanted to adopt the child is totally disrupted. I could not allow my other sweet children to become attached and bonded to a sibling, only to have them ripped apart from our family. So in that sense, the Russians have a great way of thinking. If they find abuse, the Guardianship Department steps in RIGHT AWAY and removes the child/children from the home and places them into a Rehabilitation Home. They give the parents one year to be rehabilitated……if after that year the parents have not done what is required, a court hearing is held, and the parental rights are terminated. The second thing I think the Russians do better than we do, is make the parents pay child support. Under Russian law, if your parental rights were terminated, this does NOT release you from your obligation to financially support your child!! If you have one child, there is an automatic deduction of ¼ of your salary garnished automatically, and it increases with each child. Alexander and Kylen’s biological parents were ordered to pay support at one third of their income every month. It was automatically deducted into a savings account for them. After court, I was presented with two savings accounts (one in each of their names) that had 500 rubles each in them (saved during a 2 year period). Granted, it is not a lot, but it is accumulated and given to them when they reach age 18 and would leave the orphanage, so that they would have some amount of money to get them started on their own. The last deposit in the accounts was made on February 19, 2007. It blows my mind to think that these parents had money deducted every month from their paychecks to support their children (I guess because it is the law), and never once came to visit them. Under Russian law, when parental rights are severed, one may still request visitations rights if one would like to have them. The parents did not request any visitation rights. It makes me feel sad….but then again, if things had not worked out this way, then Alexander and Kylen would not be on their way to America, and they would not have this new, great life that they are about to have. So….everything worked out for the best, although I am sure they both endured quite a bit of suffering to get to this point. As my Mom always says “All’s Well That Ends Well!!”. By the way…..we donated the amount in both savings accounts to the Baby Home and to the Boarding School.

A Special Sunday

Today we went to church in Moscow. We happened to find a branch of the church we belong to (actually, there are six branches in Moscow). We attended the closest one, and had to walk 15 minutes to the Metro, and transfer twice. Then once we got off the Metro, it was still another 15 minute walk (although we walked for over an hour, because we could not find the building!! HA!) It was important to me to attend church in Russia, because I wanted Kylen to hear the gospel in his own native language, and to attend Primary, our children’s church. We had a wonderful time. Again, I was told that I LOOK Russian!! I think that is so funny! I took it as a complement, as there are some very beautiful Russian women out there. My image of the Russian woman has completely changed. Later that afternoon, the missionaries came over to our apartment and taught the first discussion to Kylen in Russian. It was so cool. They had these little illustrated pictures that were laminated and cut out in shapes of objects in the lesson (like our Heavenly Father, and Jesus, and the world, and clouds for heaven, etc). The Elders were so good with him and spoke perfect Russian!! It was great for Kylen to be able to ask questions and understand now what he will hear in English when we get home (only he doesn’t understand English now…..so that is why this was so cool!!). It was a really enjoyable experience. I am so glad we took the effort to go!!

Alexander's First Bath!!

In the Orphanage, there was this long, enameled bath tub with a small overhead shower hose attached. Apparently, they lined up 3 or 4 (maybe up to 6 kids) in the tub and just hosed them down with a quick spray after they were soaped up, but it was no real bubble bath. Well, earlier this week, (actually the first full day we had him), we gave Alexander (Sasha) a bath. HE LOVED it! It looks like he might be crying, but he is not..........he is SQUEALING with pleasure!! He could hardly stop the splashing!! Of course (Kon-yesh-nah) He blew a gasket when we took him out!! Figures!!

Also.....check out Kylen Denis after he found the clothes pins we were using to hang up our laundry. He had a blast!! The kid is having all sorts of new experiences, and enjoying them all! His new name is going to be "Kylen Scissor Hands"!! HA!! I actually had to place limits on where he was allowed to put those things!! Crazy Kid!!

Hard Rock Cafe .....Moscow !!!! WOW!

Hey !! !! Check out these pictures of our first formal dinner out together as a family at the Hard Rock Cafe on Starry Arbat Street. We had a GREAT time!! The kids were facinated by the helium balloons, and the baby LOVED ketchup!! The boys did so well!! Alexander (we call him Sasha) only had one minor meltdown......it was tolerable! Overall, the kids are getting along famously, so thank you all once again for your good thoughts and prayers!

Kross-nigha-PLO-shit (Red Square) and the Bolshoi Ballet

On a couple of our other brave adenturings into the deep, dark , mysteries of Moscow, we were able to make it to Red Square and view parts of the Kremlin, Lenin's eternal tomb, and St. Basil's Catherdral. They were all so beautiful and enourmous.....even more magnificient in person!! I wish we had more time to spend there and tour some of the armories and see some of the thrones of the Czars and Czarinas........supposidly very ornate and beautiful. Unfortunately, our little man did what I call 'blowing a gasket", but on second thought, he did what I would classify as......BLOWING AN ENTIRE ENGINE!!! If you zoom up on the picture....you can see the face of the little guy is completely red and his scream sounded like the alarm at the Kremlin going off. In fact, these soldiers showed up immediately to protect the Motherland!! HA!! We tried to eat in MacDonalds on Red Square...by then he was really in frenzy! You wouldn 't believe all the looks I got in there holding a SCREAMING baby. I was ready to post a sign overhead stating "Institutionalized Child: Translation-- Does not like to be held or rocked. It was a sight non-the-less! I finally got him halfway calmed down by looking at the display of Happy Meal toys.......it was less than efficient, but worked enough to get some bread crusts down him and refain some control!! The top picture is "Sasha passed out" from being so worked up!! Poor Little Guy!! HEY!! What am I saying??? Poor Little Family!! A blogger friend of mine suggested getting a videotape of his "blowout"....ans she swears when the child "views" the tape and sees their behavior....that it cures it!! Maybe I should try it!!

The Bolshoi Ballet was performing Swan Lake and Tavia and Remmy and I went, while Wayne stayed home with the boys (he said they got along famously!!). The ballet was SO AWESOME!! And......(hold your breath.....and drum roll please.....) We EVEN took the Metro and got there all by ourselves (using our intelligent cyrillic skills interpreting the Russian alphabet, using our incredible speaking skills conversing in Parouskie with the natives (more like Izven-ye-tiah -Excuse me- Gydere blah, blah blah ---Where is....? OR my personal favorite: "Goo-vad-etee Parouskie??" HA!! At Any rate....we rode the Metro ALL OVER Moscow for 3 days and got where we wanted to go!! I am so proud of myself!! (Well. there was this one day we had to call a cab to take us home, because we apparently took the wrong turn out of the metro station and got "turned around" so to speak, and then did not seem to be able to get to where we wanted to go........but Wayne was in charge that day!! HA!! The inside of each Metro station looks like an art museum. I'll post more on that at another time! Wow, did we ever have a fun and interesting time!! OK.....now.....Where is my Navigator???? Smiles!!

More of the Boys!!

Here are some additional pictures of Kylen (Big "D" - Denis - pronounced Denise) and Alexander, with the Russian nickname of "Sasha". We have an "Aunt Denise in our family, and we all liked the name "Kylen", so we decided to call him this name, but keep "Denis" still in his legal name. He likes his new name and seems to be happy with it. Yesterday we went to the American Embassy to process paperwork, and met a couple from Alabama also adopting a boy (age 5) who was named "Denis" also (toe-zhah). He was given the new name of "Sloan", which is a very nice American name, but it means "elephant" in Russian, and the little boy was mad when he was called this!! I told Kylen this boys name, and he burst out laughing!! Hopefully, this little guy will get used to his name! Fortunately for us, Kylen likes his new name!!

Aren't those guys just adorable?? They play so well together, and are doing quite well, considering we have just totally disrupted their lives!!

Our Two New Children!!!

Introducing our new children: Kylen Mikhail Denis Fricke (pronounced Frickey) age 8, and Alexander Gordon Fricke age 27 months!! They are adorable and we are so happy!!

Off We Go!!

We are just getting ready to check out of our hotel and leave for the airport. We are stopping by the Baby Home to pick-up our little guy, and then we are off to Moscow!! Our little man DOES NOT like to be held......this should be interesting!! One thing we have learned about our big boy...........DO NOT GIVE THE KID SUGAR!! He becomes a wild and rapidly moving child!! All morning the only word said has been "Nyet"....and now he is now hiding under his jacket, and pouting. (And he sucks his thumb). I am sure it is his way of comforting himself and settling himself down.....and we have yet to find out what the little guy does to settle himself down.....probably rocking. We shall see tonight. The big boy has his own backpack full of fun stuff for the plane ride to Moscow.....and that is part of the problem, he wants to play with it now. It is for later (POE - zhah). OK....thanks for all the prayers everyone!! We are so blessed!!

Sad Goodbyes

After Court yesterday, we needed to run around and get started on the paperwork for new birth certificates and passports. We asked the judge if the 10 day waiting period could be waived and she said "yes"....so tomorrow afternoon we leave fo Moscow. I can hardly believe this is our last night in Magadan!! The time has flown, but are pretty tired from being so busy!! Today the passports were ready....and we picked them up this evening, as well as the new birth certificates. It is amazing to me that everything stays open so late here. Some of the places we needed to to go to did not even open until 3:00pm, Wow...in our little rural town nothing stays open past about 5:00 pm, and even on Saturday the stores close by 12 noon!! It seems weird that all the stores are open late in the evening here. Nonetheless, we got everything accomplised. We have been just visiting the little one in the Baby Home in the early evening for a little bit of playtime together. He is doing well getting used to us little by little. Tomorrow will be the big day when he leaves the Baby Home forever! He is not used to any strange sounds, or even being in the outside, because it is so cold in this region. Even in the summer, the high temperatures are only in the 50"s......so the children/babies rarely go out into the weather. The noise of the cars and airplane, combined with the strangeness of the sounds in the city I am sure will be enough to cause a nervous breakdown!! We shall see if it is his breakdown or mine!! HA! Speaking of nervous breakdown.......our older boy said "Goodbye" to Ludmila, his caregiver from the boarding school today. Ohhhh, it was so sad!! He cried, I cried, Tavia cried, ...Wayne and Remmy just sat there feeling bad for him. He told Ludmila he was not afraid that we would hurt him, or even that he would not be happy with us, because everything was going just fine, and he and the kids have been playing just famously......but he was sad because this "Goodbye" meant that he would never see Ludmila again. He was very sad. Ludmilla gave him the biggest pep talk ever. After a few more tears ( all around), he was just fine and the kids later went out and built a snowman together!! Oh! Ludmilla said she would like for him to call her at least every other month, to let her know how he is doing. OK.......I guess that is yet another son that is going to run up the phone bill.!! Yesterday we found out we have an official family photographer!! Our older boy has such a fascination with our digital camera that he actually wore out newly charged batteries!!! He took pictures of everything from light sockets and switches to the pages of books!! We have to be careful of what we are doing, because he is definitely one of those candid camera guys!! As soon as we arrive in Moscow and we have high speed internet, I promise to post pictures of the boys. They are a joy and a delight!! We are looking forward to many wonderful adventures with them in our forever family!! More information later!!

CELEBRATIONS ARE IN ORDER!!

HOORAY!! After a grueling 3 hour court session with a scrutinizing judge with an "eye" for extreme detail, we became parents of two sweet Russian Boys!! The judge was very thorough and thoughtful and all of the supporting cast of the court were very positive and supported the adoption. I will explain more of the process and the details later this week. All in all it was a beautiful experience even though a bit long!! We are glad it is over!! We will give the details later this week. When they Prounounced us as the Proud Parents, Wayne started to cry!! He is so sweet and sensitive. As soon as I saw his tears of joy and relief, then I too, joined in!! Everyone present was happy for us. We are physically exhausted from playing with and chasing the boys today. They are both so sweet.......but very active. Wayne and I have decided we will both need to start taking Geritol just to keep up (HA!) In addition, we are emotionally drained from court this morning, so we will fill all of you in on the details later this week. Thank you all for you prayers! We felt your strength and love all the way here in Siberia!! We appreciate all your thoughts, prayers and well wishes!! We are so blessed to have these children in our family now, and to have the wonderful support and encouragement from all of you. Many times you held us up high with encouragement when we were discouraged over some "snag" in the process. God Bless all of you for helping us!! Tonight the whole family is Happy!! More to come........

PRAYERS PLEASE!!!

Court is in one hour....please pray for us!! We are told we have the hardedst judge of the four of them!!

Arrival in Magadan

Hooray !! We are here!! We are all extremely tired.....but are checked into a very nice, but pricey apartment here in the hotel. It has enough room for 2 parents and 4 kids....so that is all that matters, It is Sunday afternoon, and in the morning we have Court!! We are so excited!! After getting checked into the Hotel, Zoya came over to take us all to see Little "A" in the Baby home. We needed to get his passport so we went to do that. He was so adorable and the kids thought he was so cute!! I hope that is a good "omen" that we went to take his passport photo BEFORE the court date......we shall see. The Orphange dressed him in some black knickers and cream colored tights with a tie and vest. He was so adorable! then they put on his black overpants and we were off to take his piC! He did very well and is even saying his first word "DI" which is " give me" (everytime we tried to take his bear away from him for the picture). "D" is on his way driving down from the interior of Siberia tonight for court in the morning!!

Siberia or Bust!!!

Here we are ready to board Delta to fly to Moscow. We had a little bit of difficulty arriving in Atlanta, having to be re - routed.....but we made it!! Our flight is boarding!!! Next stop....is Russia!! We have Tav and Rem with us!! ! Fun! Fun!! Fun!!