BE MINE VALENTINE !!!

I was secretly hoping the information regarding our Court Date would be in my e-mail tonight when I arrived home!! Sadly. there was no updated news, nor was there a date for court!! I now know what it was like for all of you waiting to get your date, feeling anxious, wanting to make travel plans, but no real dates to do so. It is like developing OCD, an obsessive compulsive disorder.......checking e-mail, then checking it again.....and again, but yet there is nothing there. That is the oldest definition of insanity......doing the same thing over and over again, but yet expecting a different result!! Oh well, maybe tomorrow!! HA!! Happy Valentines Day everyone!! Today I want Little "A" and Big "D" to be MY valentine, and I can hardly wait until they will BE MINE!!

Going into town to have lunch (Finally!!)

We left the hotel in search of an open restaurant so that we could feed “D” before his long drive back into the interior of Siberia in Magadan Oblast (Region). The picture shows the sidewalk we walked down in search of food!! We set out on our journey to find the Chinese Restaurant. As we walked down the sidewalk we noticed the third building on the left had the lights on and was an open establishment. “Hooray” I said to Wayne. I was so glad that we did not have to walk far in order to get lunch. We opened the door and entered. To our surprise we saw a chair with a hair dryer attached! We had walked into a beauty parlor!! OOPS!! I grabbed “D’s” hand, and out we went!! He had this really funny look on his face like “You want to get your hair done?? I thought we were having lunch!!" I am sure he was bewildered…..and I am willing to bet that is the beginning of MANY episodes of bewilderment!!

TODAY'S NEWS!!!

WOW!! I knew you guys out there were thinking good thoughts for us and saying prayers for us..........but I did not know you all were THAT good!! We got it!! We got our release letter!! WOOHOO!! Our facilitator in Magadan, Zoya, received the letter today, and e-mailed Olga, who in turn notified us!! I am so amazed!! I am told we will have a COURT DATE by the end of the week!! This is outstanding and we are so excited!! So......since all of you out there who thought good thoughts and said sincere prayers were SO effective......I was wondering......I have this HUGE list of other things I need to pray for and get answers????? Maybe you guys could help me out !!! (Smiles!!)

Back to the Future!!

I am pausing from the continuation of our saga to post a quick update in the hear and now. Up until this point, I have been recanting the story of meeting our two boys in Magadan, Russia. I wanted to deviate tonight from that to give everyone the "status quo" on the adoption. We are currently waiting for our "Release Letter" from Moscow, and as soon as this is done, then we can apply for a Court Date!! The release letter removes the boys from the data base that would allow other foreigners to adopt them. That is one giant step closer to us having our boys!! Of course, (Kon - YESH - na), we still have the possiblity of a Russian family or relatives coming forward before court. I say it is not over until it is over!! We have to trust God for that part. If He wants these boys to come to our family, then He will be the one to accomplish it!! Here is to hoping our Release Letter comes this week!! WooHoo!!

The Hotel

This is a picture of our hotel, the VM Centralnaya, that I took on our way to lunch. OK........so I was a little crooked when I took it....but we were hungry......and it was cold!! My hands were probably shaking!!! The word on the front of the building says "HOTEL". HA!! If you can pronounce Russian, you will see it reads "Gah-STEEN-yitzah" which means 'hotel'. I know, I know (YAZ nigh-0) (rhymes with high) ....it has SO MANY letters in the word to just say -hotel-. But hey, wait until you get your Russian copy of your official letter from the MOE inviting you to meet a child. The letter says : "DEAR (wife and husband)....... like ours said DEAR Susan and Wayne. The word for "dear" has exactly eleven letters in it!! WOW!! I don't know what they are saying exactly with those eleven letters, but surely it has to be more than just "DEAR"!! HA! It just strikes me as funny!! So now we are off on foot in pursuit of a hot meal!! Stay tuned!! OH LOOK!! I just noticed.....on the very TOP of the building next to the roof, it does say in English (pah ungh - GLEE - ski) ...it says HOTEL!! Wow! I guess I read that Russian correctly after all!!

Deciding to go into Town

After we arrived at the Hotel and discovered the Hotel Restaurant was closed, we inquired at the front desk as to what to do. The attendant at the desk told us there were two restaurants open that day in town. One was an establishment serving Russian Cuisine that was somewhere up the hill and to the right. The second restaurant was down the hill and to the left. This establishment served Chinese food. Well, it did not take us long to decide to have the authentic Russian cuisine!! I explained to the clerk behind the desk that my husband ( moy mosh) and I do not speak or read Russian ( I will add I have learned to pronounce Cyrillic, but I still don't know what most of the words mean!!). I told her this boy we were with both spoke Russian fluently, and he also read quite well. With that she proceeded to give him directions to the Russian Restaurant. Wayne and I just sat there patiently while she explained. Now at this point, I should probably tell you a small detail I omitted earlier!! When Ludmila, "D's" boarding school caregiver, was going over his file and records with me ( through an interpreter) she made a very specific point. She stated that "D" seemed to be very disoriented in his environment. He had great difficulty finding his way around by himself and was NOT good at directions. We attributed this to his current environment and constraints of living in an orphanage/boarding school, and the fact that these children are constantly supervised. In fact, "D" made this comment in the car on the way to Magadan: He told Ludmila that he was afraid to come to a big town like Magadan (OK.....BIG all depends on your frame of reference!!). He was saying that he was worried that he might become lost. He said he had already decided what he would do if that happened. "D" said he would walk around in town until he found a Policeman, and he would go up to him to say that he was "lost". We all remarked that demonstrated excellent problem solving ability. So....now back to the story. The clerk gives these elaborate instructions to the place with the Russian food, and then asks "D" if he understands. He looks back at her so innocently and states "Nyet". So then the clerk gets out paper and draws some extensive directions, and then asks the boy if he now understands. She barely gets the question out and he says quickly again "Nyet". OK, she trys one more time.....(you gotta hand it to her with having all that persistence!! This time in the explanation she uses elaborate hand gestures and motions....and she is getting louder too! Once again the boy quickly says "Nyet". This time I step in, remembering what I was told about him. Being oriented to the environment is something he is just not used to!! I now speak to the clerk and ask her which one of these two restaurants is the closest?? (Remember, it is 20 degrees below zero out there and we are walking!!!) YIKES!! The clerk tells us the closest Restaurant is the Chinese establishment. We get some brief directions and decide to brave the elements outside ourselves. So we bundle back up, and off we go into the wild blue yonder to fill our tummies!! Make that the wild WHITE yonder. I'll post pictures later, as well as tell you more about our afternoon!!

Continuing with the Story

We had a good morning at the Baby Home with the boys playing together that morning. It also proved to be very profitable as I learned more of “D’s” background, and came to understand why he was so afraid. This sweet little boy has the desire to have a family mixed with the fear of his past. He was finally beginning to relax a little, and to feel comfortable with us. Soon it was lunchtime. We told little “A” - “ko-shoot” – time to eat. I quickly picked him up, thinking I would carry him back to his groupa for lunch. As soon as I picked him up, he became quite upset and started to cry. Apparently he is not used to being held. The caregivers are so busy, there is no time to hold or rock the children. He wants to walk everywhere he goes, holding onto someone’s hand, and he also wants to feed himself, and does not like any help!! So, we all walked him down to his groupa, and hugged and kissed him goodbye. “D” hugged his brother, said something to him in Russian, and then walked back to the room where we were playing earlier. We picked up the toys and decided we would eat lunch as well. “D” was asked if he wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with us, or stay with his caregiver. He spoke up bravely and said he would like to spend the rest of the day with us. Wayne and I were both so happy to have some alone time with him. This would be interesting communicating with him without a translator!! Our facilitator took us back to our Hotel, where we were planning to have lunch in the Hotel Restaurant. Zoya let us out, and we went into the hotel……only to find out the Restaurant was closed for the Old New Years Holiday. YIKES!! Now we will need to find somewhere to feed “D” lunch, as he leaves to return to his boarding school in three and one-half hours…..and it will be a six hour drive back to the little village! Well…..I guess we shall venture out into the city….on foot….to feed our boy!! Wait until you hear what happens!!