Our Adoption Journey

one last thought

2008-03-10T10:42:00.002-04:00

If you want to get a few pictures from time to time send us your email at mdalpacas@yahoo.com We think we have some emails but maybe not of everyone who has been with us for this Journey of love!

We continue to marvel…

2008-03-10T01:04:00.002-04:00

At all the transitions the kids, and we, are going through. It’s been just over two weeks since we arrived home and today another ‘first’ occurred. This time it was the birth of an alpaca. ‘Coppertone’ wasn’t due for another 3-4 weeks so this little guy is on the edge. Watching the kids while we cleaned up the cria and milk the mother as well as help the little one stand was pretty interesting.

This is just one of a hundred different ‘firsts’ they have been enjoying or enduring depending on your/their point of view. Two weeks ago today we took them out to the barn for the first time. Without blinking all three pitched in and helped us and Kevin’s parents herd the alpacas out of the barn, put out hay, and feed them grain. It took them a week before Delaney insisted in helping her father scoop the poop.

And so it goes – nothing seems to slow these kids down.

To back up 14 days and recap a few events that stood out at the time (and if we don’t document them now they will be lost to the years ahead). First, as we noted in our last blog post, we are grateful for CHI getting us through the maze of processes in Moscow. We can’t imagine being holed up in a hotel room with three energetic kids for as long as was predicted. So many we talked to in Moscow were taking 3 or more weeks for their second trip and we were home in one!

Our flights home were generally good. We baited the kids with chewy candy and suckers in an attempt to avert painful ears. Either that worked or we got lucky because none complained about ear pain. The first two flights were relatively short (less than 4 hours) and the trips to the bathroom and eating airline food did not pose any real problems. In fact, the kids did quite well but we knew we were at the end of the duration for keeping them from total boredom and meltdown. Fortunately, we flew back from Frankfort on a Boeing 777 with individual screens and headsets at each seat. That kept them completely entertained while they were awake. The kids should have been paid as testers because the switches got quite a workout. Once they ate, all 3 slept the duration of the flight.

When we arrived at Dulles we were meet by Nancy’s parents who greeted us with teddy bears, warm smiles and hugs. Upon arriving home at 11:00 pm the kids raced to their rooms of which they had seen pictures in the updated photo albums we took to Russia. Kevin’s parents, who were house sitting while we were away, rushed to do two weeks of home prep work in just three days: adding locks, moving things up out of reach, putting the finishing touches on the kid’s rooms, etc. By the time we could implement the routine of dinner, tubby time, ten minutes of movie time it was 3:15 AM before the whole house calmed to a short night of sleep because we were all up by 8:00 AM.

The next days brought the occasional meltdown because someone didn’t get their way, projectile vomiting when Parker was hit by the stomach bug, doctor’s visits and shots nearly too numerous to count (but Delaney and Carson certainly told Parker how many they each got on what arm since he got to stay home and recover from the bug as they pointed at each arm and stabbed themselves with a finger!). Parker got his a week later!

Carson is a chatterbox who’s favorite line is “Papa Oup PaWease” It took Parker two days to get that line down and now they both are giving their father back stress as he tries to carry them up the stairs to tubby time, p-sit (number one) or kakhat (number two). Delaney loves to be carried by her mom who also now has back stress! The kids all love to wash their hands, turn on light switches, race around, be tickled and all the other usual kid stuff.

There have been virtually no sleeping issues and each has slept in their own bed each night. Only one accident (following the dinner-time discovery of the frig water dispenser – which is now conveniently ‘broken’) though Carson has woken two nights crying and needing only to go p-sit.

Food has been an issue – but only in having enough to satisfy their appetites. Mac and cheese, yogurt, jello, meatloaf, roast turkey breast, fresh cherry tomatoes, pasta with pesto, pizza, raw radishes, lots of juice, milk – virtually anything we put in front of them. For all the bland food we ate in Russia these kids even scarfed up the Mexican rice Kevin made for lunch one day.

One night Parker put his hand on his head and went Boom, Boom, Boom as he raised his hand higher and higher and ever since all three kids are seemingly eating to grow bigger and bigger. They are doing it too. In just the first week Parker added two plus pounds!

We also celebrated Delaney’s 8th birthday which happens to also be Kevin’s father’s (Val) birthday. Having heard that kids in orphanages only celebrate birthday’s monthly and fearing that the two boys would feel left out of the gift receiving we didn’t really know what to expect. To make things simpler we gave both Delaney and Val their cards to open first. This was fine until we gave Delaney the first gift – which was a nozzle for a hand held propane tank. She quickly passed it to Val who was delighted but had little time to enjoy it before Carson ran off with it and became so attached that he slept with it that night! The rest of the event went well with Parker even playing delivery man to his older sister! We had lesson 101 on B-day’s which Nancy had forgotten – never do cake and presents in the evening for little ones. Kid B-days need to be in the afternoon to eliminate nuclear meltdown and overtired kiddos.

We could go on and on with anecdotes and challenges. The biggest of the later is language. It seems certain that these kids do not have all the terrible issues of determining who their new parents are or sleeping, eating, bathing, etc. What they need is a school environment so that they can start to socialize and learn English and not have each other as a crutch to fall back on. Delaney has already learned her ABC’s and numbers in English and has been caught speaking English in short phrases. Carson is nearly ready to sing Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes and Parker in some ways has made the biggest adjustments as he brought a certain amount of anger with him which seems to have begun to abate. Last Sunday he got to the point where he was freely giving kisses and hugs to both of us and it could not have brought bigger smiles, stronger hugs and return kisses. We can only speculate as to what their individual situation was with their biological parents and in the orphanage and what they learned and endured. Clearly, they learned some survival skills but also valuable life skills as well (what kid doesn’t play with their food or pout from time to time and how many kids take their dishes to the sink, trash/recycling to the appropriate can, help vacuum, put away toys or race to the tub for tubby time?). So, they seem normal enough to fit right in with us!

During our adoption hearing in Kemerovo, the judge asked Nancy if the kids met our expectations, she responded that they exceeded our expectations. Now, nearly three weeks since that hearing we can still say that they exceed our expectations in every way. Tomorrow, Delaney will start American First grade and Parker will start kindergarten for the first time (we’re bracing for a difficult time because the two times we have taken the kids to either school or day care Delaney stars to cry – we finally surmised that her only perspective on school comes from last fall when she was separated from her brothers and sent away to a boarding school – no doubt she fears that scenario will be repeated so we are planning on being there for her at lunch and available all day if needed to convince her that she will always come home to her forever family). If we survive this week and with some hard work and luck they will advance a grade next fall.

As for Carson, we feel lucky to have found what appears to be a wonderful person running a day care that is expanding to a facility right across from the school that Delaney and Parker will attend. He will start on the 31st and his brother and sister will be there for before and after school care starting on the same date.

We have also been blessed with a wonderful network of family and friends. We could not have returned as smoothly with out your help nor would we have been as comfortable leaving 57 alpacas without the steadfast help of Cindy and Craig Harmon and Angie Lowrie who came by each day to help feed and scoop poop. Kevin’s parents not only took care of and prepped the house but helped out in the barn each day as well. And, when we returned, their love for and patience with the kids is still remembered by their new grandchildren. Our co-workers, friends and family who have brought us gifts and donations of clothes, toys, car seats and other necessities have delighted the kids and relieved us as we see the kids engage in different ways with each newly discovered toy. This is both the most challenging time and perhaps the most rewarding. It has renewed our value in the simple things while trying our patience. God’s blessing has come to us in our families, in our four children (we can’t wait for Ellie to meet her three new siblings!) and in our friends near and far. Thank you for keeping all of us in your thoughts and prayers - we still need them! We can’t wait for you all to meet our three new ones and if you haven’t met Ellie yet to meet her too (she’s in New Castle, New South Wales, Australia right now for her Spring semester of her Jr. year at Clemson). This is the last planned entry into our blog. If for some reason we start up again we will let you know. Until then, enjoy the picture of 5/6’s of the Brandt family!

Stay Tuned

2008-02-29T18:42:00.001-05:00

Stay tuned for one last entry in this blog - the adventures of the last week deserve one more post - hopefully this weekend...

Nearly home!

2008-02-22T11:54:00.001-05:00

Moscow February 22 8:00 PM: By the grace of God we are coming home four days early because we are DONE! That’s right; the Russian staff of our adoption agency has done a fantastic job of getting us through the process. The last step was the visa process at the American embassy today. Imagine 30 adopted kids (age 12 months up to 12 years) and their parents all crowded into a 25’ by 25’ room with a few dozen other Russian nationals waiting for visas in more or less the same space, add in snow suits, heavy wool and fur coats and the temperature was easily 90 degrees and the cacophony – oh it was noisy! We were the second to last family to get our visas but got them we did. Our flights have been changed and we will arrive back in DC Saturday night! Wahoo!

This morning we went back to the nearby park in snow suits and had a great time sliding and swinging before hitting the grocery store (mark up another first for the kids… and us!). Then it was off to the embassy. Upon returning we’ve been relaxing in the room with the Russian dubbing of the Cartoon Network. We just finished two rounds of Candyland which were handily won by Delaney. It was a great way to mix in colors and counting as well as engaging Delaney and Parker. Now it’s time for dinner, bath time and then a bit of video if everyone is doing well – tomorrow is a big day.

Continue keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as we make the last leg of this incredible journey. In little more than 24 hours we will be home and start the whole rest of our young and old lives (but feeling younger every moment).

With love, Kevin and Nancy

Sweet Dreams...

2008-02-21T12:17:00.000-05:00

Moscow, February 21, 6:37 PM: Today has been another memorable day starting with getting our selves and three bewildered kids up before sunrise. Last night was predictably rough as everyone was on sensory overload. Today was no different with firsts (as far as we know) in an elevator, bus from the terminal to the plane, airplane, sprinter van, traffic jams, tall buildings, and car sickness. Add a bit more vomiting, crying, exhaustion, wide-eyed curiosity, exhilaration, and the fact that the day is ending calmly and peacefully after an in-room picnic dinner and mama/papa bath-time seems almost hard to imagine.

Moscow was sunny today and notably warmer than Kemerovo – it actually felt like spring was not far away – not that we plan on being here that long. It was a great day to sit in the doctor’s office which is a required step towards getting American citizenship (the physical is required not just the wait) for the kids. After that adventure we were at least able to salvage the afternoon by finding a park where they could climb on jungle gym equipment, swing and slide onto a patch of ice at the bottom and go bump, bump, bump – all a real laugh to the kids. Tomorrow we hope to have our interview at the American embassy which will be the last step in the process. Our agency really worked hard to get us from the airport to the children’s hospital where the exams are done and then the paperwork to the embassy to start this process. Moscow is a huge city with New York style traffic jams with cars, trucks, busses and forklifts, backhoes etc. bringing everything to a crawl. So the fact that we got so much done today is amazing.

As for the four hour flight this morning… It went surprisingly well. We’re learning how to manage the kids’ energy which makes life more enjoyable for everyone. We beat the ear aches at takeoff and landing and barely managed to keep them entertained for four hours – crayons and magnadoodle can only entertain for so long. Of course simply moving on and off the plane and around the airports with snowsuits, large bags and hands to be held has presented challenges but so far we can report that all are present and accounted for.

So, it is a happy night and we are both exhausted and relieved to have survived our first 24 hours as parents to three energetic kids under 8 that don’t yet speak much English (they already are repeating a few words). We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and they continue to make a difference.

Sweet dreams to all! Kevin and Nancy

Yes, they are all sleeping!

2008-02-20T09:35:00.000-05:00

Hello From the mostly sleeping family of five here in Kemerovo. It was a long but successful day with the kids now finally asleep in our room. Tomorrow we fly back to Moscow to begin the final paperwork with the US embassy. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather is good and that the waiting out in the cold is not too long. This will be short note tonight since our internet is on the second floor and we are on the 6th. More news tomorrow night when we have a connection in our room – we hope. Love you all and to all a sleep filled night!

We Are Family!

2008-02-19T11:14:00.001-05:00

Kemerovo, Feb 19,9:45 PM: Today at 12:16 PM local time our adoption of Delaney Svetlana Brandt, Parker Alexander Brandt and Carson Vladimir Brandt was officially pronounced by the Kemerovo Oblast Court of the Russian Federation; we are now a family of six!
Having come so far, literally, it is still sinking in that we are 7/8’s of the way towards our goal of adoption. Not only did the court approve the adoption but they made the adoption effective immediately meaning we do not have to wait the usual 10 days for the court decision to be effective. Therefore, tomorrow morning we will drive to Delaney’s boarding school and the boys’ orphanage and bring them ‘home’ to our hotel. Thus will start the family phase of our adoption.
What a saga the last four days have been. Aside from being exhausted and hungry we’ve been anxious about how everything would flow. To our relief, today’s events went smoothly and presented no hitches – our adoption agency staff here are top shelf. Our hearing began a little late at 11:10 and concluded just over an hour later. Kevin was told to prepare a speech of about 10 to 15 minutes to cover many topics from our motivation to our finances to our relationship with the children. We were told to specially include references to our mortgage and wedding dates. As it turned out Kevin started with the meaning of our wedding date (Nov. 25th) and the judge took it from there with a range of questions that required answers from Kevin’s speech. Mid-way through the Q and A the pictures that we had struggled with the morning of our departure were requested. As they were passed around it was the first time in the hearing that smiles broke out among all participants including the judge! After 20 minutes of grilling Kevin was asked to sit down and Nancy was asked to stand and asked if she agreed to “everything your husband had just said.” Fortunately she did and a few more questions to her satisfied the judge.
More boilerplate-appearing readings were conducted (in Russian of course) and soon we got to the medical stuff. The enumeration of serious-sounding ailments resulted in an offer by the judge on the part of the Russian Federation to conduct more tests on the children. We respectfully declined and we moved on to our request to waive the Russian law which requires a 10 day waiting period before any court ruling can be made effective. After Kevin’s oral statement which was supported by the Oblast’s prosecutor and the regional Ministry of Education’s official the judge asked us all to step out of the court room (of special note: the court room included a pair of cells which were constructed on 1” rebar which fortunately we didn’t have to sit in). After not more than 2 minutes we were called back in for the reading of the court’s decision. Of course it was all in Russian but our interpreter gave us a running account and we squeezed each other’s hands to the point of pain as she pronounced each of the three adoptions approved. When she announced that she was waiving the 10 day waiting period we both gave a huge sigh of relief. As the judge and other participants filed past where we were standing we both hugged and our interpreter said, “Kevin, you look a lot more relaxed.”
The rest of the day was spent driving from the Oblast’s registrar’s office to the court house to some other place and back again and again. After the new birth certificates were issued and the passports prepared we went shopping for the little parties that we will host at the orphanage and boarding school when we go to pick up the kids tomorrow. Finally, we went to the local travel agency to purchase our tickets back to Moscow for our family of 5. I’m certain there isn’t a group rate here in Russia but we’ll certainly look into that back in the USA!
Tonight we ceremoniously opened the vacuum-sealed bag of kid’s clothes and packed a separate suitcase full of clothes and snowsuits to take to the kids. In orphanages the kids have nothing of their own. When they are adopted we basically get the kids au-naturale… so socks to underwear to snow boots and parkas are all being delivered tomorrow.
There are more stories to be told of course (like how Carson hugged his soon-to-be-dad and exclaimed in Russian “you feel just like a hedgehog!”, Parker cutting out a silhouette of an airplane announcing that he is ready to fly or Delaney hugging each of us so hard when we returned to see her that we could hardly breathe). As time permits we will share them. Please know that you were all with us today in that court room and we felt the power of your support. In fact, the judge asked us about our families’ support and specifically how Ellie feels about our adoption. As all of you have reminded us over these months this is a huge commitment. Each of you in both big and small ways has inspired us: Ellie, our parents and siblings, cousins and other family and friends and colleagues that we work with. Without your love and support we would not have the confidence to be here and both of us and three little children in Siberia would not be excitedly looking forward to the rest of our lives together.
Love, Kevin and Nancy

Posting Comments

2008-02-18T08:08:00.001-05:00

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Back In Siberia

2008-02-18T08:06:00.001-05:00

Moscow, Feb 17, 7:25 PM: In an effort to release some tension and anxiety, Nancy announced that her ‘water broke – it’s time to go’ this afternoon, February 16, at about 1:30 Eastern Time. Of course the announcement was metaphorical but our panic of this morning could not have been more real. International adoptions require lots of things to be ‘just right’ – not ‘just close.’ There have been a few close calls along this journey and a big one nearly struck us this morning. Kevin was out making a ‘picture run’ so that the Russian court could see visual evidence that we had met and interacted with the former Peter, Paul and Mary – now Carson, Parker and Delaney (CPD). The camera kiosk at 5 CVS’s failed to read the card and in marginally controlled panic Kevin called back home to Nancy to retake the pictures of the newly decorated kids’ rooms and dump data from a USB drive so a new media could be re-tried at a 6th CVS kiosk.

To cut to the chase, triple backups of a CD, USB drive and camera card were all reloaded with the picture data and with about 25 minutes to spare Kevin was back with the required photos. Last minute shuffling of packed bags, hasty goodbyes to Kevin’s parents who are house sitting and we were off. Of course, we double checked our passport locations and a few other key documents while in motion and made one fast stop to unpack a bag to verify that the US Customs and Immigration Service’s documentation was with us. Convinced that we had all that we could think of; we sped off – at the maximum legal limit - and met Nancy’s parents near the airport to be dropped off at the main door.

Now we are sitting, and have been for 5 ½ hours, in the Moscow domestic terminal (only 3 more hrs to go). Kevin’s nearly fallen asleep and off his stool several times while Nancy, who slept a bit more on the flights, added to her growing Russian vocabulary. We’ve taken the time to add the sacred photos to an album to be used in court Tuesday and our fatigue seemed to fade away (at last for a moment) as we smiled at the photos of CPD and are reminded of why we’re heading back to Siberia in the depth of winter.

Well, our gate was just posted so we will soon go through final security and bag check, more waiting and boarding our second consecutive overnight flight. We’re guessing how much over-weight our bags will be and how pricey that will be. It’s hard packing for 5 people for at least 10 day trip in 80 lbs or less- including 3 full snow suits and boots…

Kemerovo, Feb 18, 7:25 PM: Exhausted. Happy. In two words that sums up our last 24 hours. We got to see the kids (CPD) today and there were just as we remembered them. More on that later as we ready ourselves for the first sleep in 42 hours. Suffice it to say our flights and bags were on time. Nancy nailed our luggage weight by being just 2.9 kilos over the limit for which we were not charged. Siberia is not disappointing in the cold department. Our court time has been moved back an hour to 11:00 on Tuesday (tomorrow) so we’re hoping the time in the morning will work for developing Kevin’s speech a s well as sleeping in a bit.

Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!

Love, Kevin and Nancy

Greetings again from Moscow

2007-12-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

We rose early this morning and flew west from Kemerovo with the rising sun at our backs and the Siberian snow clouds below us. It seems an apt expression of hopefulness and sadness. We are thrilled to be nearly complete with another major step in our adoption process. But we left with the words of our youngest ringing in our ears – “I don’t need a coat, I want to go with you now!” As they sent us off with hugs and kisses and statements that they were ready and anxious to have a mama and papa, all we could do is promise to come back for them as soon as we could. Their understanding is that we need to go away to buy the tickets and will return when we have them. We hope that the process leading to our court date goes quickly – but even if it lasts a week that would be too long.
We know that some of you have worried (or at least wondered) if we were really going to name our kids Peter, Paul and Mary – especially when we learned how much Mary loves to sign. While there is something endearing to that logic we have taken a different road. We are thrilled to share with our family and friends that we have petitioned the Russian Federation to rename the children Carson, Parker and Delaney (youngest to oldest) and keep their Russian first names as middle names. We asked Delaney, through the interpreter, if she wanted a new name from her new mama and papa she said yes, and when Nancy wrote it out on a chalk board for her she was both shy and excited. While she certainly doesn’t grasp all that was going on, her caregivers, and indeed all at the orphanage she was in, were very familiar with parents coming to visit and “looking for their forever children.”
In fact, on the second visit with the boys we walked in on a drama rehearsal where the 10 or so kids (including our littlest) marching around with snow shovels on their backs as recorded music played. They stopped and pretended to shovel snow and sign. It was a cute show and the tallest girl just beamed at us as she made eye contact. As the kids sang I told Nancy that adopting three was enough because I could see in her eyes that she wanted to adopt them all (I could hardly resist thinking the same)! It was only at the conclusion of the rehearsal that our interpreter shared with us the words they sang. The gist of the song was that they needed to shovel the snow so that their new parents could come to the orphanage to find them and take them home. It explained so much and broke our hearts that so many of these kids wanted desperately to be adopted into a real family.
Back here in Moscow, the sun shone as we walked about this afternoon. It was still cold but we explored for grocery stores and other support services for the several days we will spend with three kids in tow when we come back to pick them up. Tonight we are relaxing after what can only be described as our own version of a Christmas Miracle. The mental, emotional and physical exhaustion of the last six days has been enormous. We plan on hitting the hay early tonight and sleeping in tomorrow before we make the last day of flying home. We plan on a bit of city touring tomorrow but otherwise laying low and trying to rest up for a return to our ‘real’ world. Again, we thank each of you for your emails, comments and prayers. We have felt them and they have given us strength.
Our love to all of you.

2007-12-20T08:57:00.000-05:00

It’s been another great day in Siberia! Never mind the cold the warmth we’ve felt from Peter, Paul and Mary has made the trip worth every value tenfold. We spent just an hour with the boys this morning but made stronger connections as we played with balloons, tickled, measured feet, hands, shirts and pants so that when we come back in a couple of months we can have the right size for each one. We all shared Cheerios as we left them with little backpack bags for their toys. We gave them a fleece blanket and a photo album of their new mama and daddy as well as their new older sister and grandparents and cousins and their new home in Maryland. They ate it up and as we prepared to leave they grabbed their stuff and announced they were ready to go – they didn’t need more coats they just wanted to go with us. It was awful tearing ourselves away but after a few more tight hugs we managed to leave with promises to come back soon to take them to their new home.
Then it was off for a quick visit with Mary. She sacheted into the room and to the sofa with the biggest smile on her face and Sophia (her doll) in her arms. She got up and demonstrated her skill at printing the Russian alphabet on a chalk board which Nancy then followed by spelling out our fist names and then shared with Mary her new name. She giggled and declared she liked it! We moved on to Sophia and cut loose the ribbon holding her hair in one style and restyled it to suit her imagination. We gave her a coloring book and now have her first piece of art to hang on the fridge. We gave her a blanket as well and then showed her the picture album including her room, older sister (she said “she’s pretty”), grandparents and cousins. As we gathered things up to head out she wanted to use our camera to take first Kevin’s picture and then Nancy’s. So, she already has a taste for being creative and adventuresome. As we pulled on our shoes to leave she gave us hugs and a big kiss good bye.
Clearly, it was hard for us to leave – even knowing we will be back in a few months to bring them home for good. It will be as hard on them as it will be on us. As good as their caregivers are – and they truly do their best with limited resources, it is not a substitute for being together as a family. When we showed Mary pictures of her brothers she beamed and laughed at some of our pictures. She clearly misses them! That kind of attachment is wonderful to see and holds promise for the melding of the three of them into our family of three. Time will tell but we are confident that God’s hand did bring us together and this family is meant to be.
The next steps were taken this afternoon when we signed a formal petition to the Russian Federation to adopt the three kids. The process moves on further in our absence and will hopefully progress to a court hearing before Mary’s 8th birthday on February 28 (also Kevin’s Father’s birthday) so we can be home to celebrate. That’s all for now. We are beat and 4:00 AM will come soon with a flight back to Moscow Friday morning followed by our departure Sunday morning for the US. Our love to all of you!

2007-12-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

Where do you begin in sharing the best news ever! Today we met the three cutest kids this side of the Urals. After consulting with our international adoption (IA) pediatrician we are accepting the referral and proceeding with the adoption of Peter, Paul and Mary.

Our day started at 0-dark 30 packing and repacking toys to take with us. Not knowing their ages and situation made that more difficult. But as we drove the two hours to Peter and Paul’s orphanage we learned their ages and names. Once inside we met with their doctors and caregivers who shared their medical and social histories. Then came the fun part – playing with the boys. It was clear that they were brothers and Paul was doing his part as the older brother with his arm protectively around Peter when we first met. But a few tickles by Nancy and the fun broke loose. Though they were shy at first Nancy and I soon were on the floor rolling those self-powered cars back and forth to Peter – who just turned 4 and Paul who turned 6 this past fall. After watching them race around the play room we proceeded to blow bubbles at them and then laugh as Peter tried catching the ones that his older brother was making (though with a missing front baby tooth it was a bit of a challenge). As they left for naps they both waved and Paul asked if we could come back tomorrow and play while little Peter blew us a kiss good bye! We now didn’t want to leave at all.
We then left and drove another 30 minutes to Mary’s boarding school. We first met with her caregivers and got her medical and social history. As that was winding down, in walks the cutest little girl with this white lacy ribbon in her hair. She walked over to the sofa we were sitting on and she shyly was introduced. Small talk and inside intel told us that the doll we had brought from home would be just the ticket to break the ice. When Nancy pulled it out of the day pack her eyes lit up and she beamed a wide smile. She held the doll and stoked her hair. Though she admitted she liked reading more than most things she clearly loves that doll and soon decided to call her Sophia. We had learned that her favorite color was pink and again Nancy’s instinct hit the nail on the head because we were able to pull a pink purse with a cat on the side out of the day pack which she thought that was wonderful. We then introduced the bubbles and what a hoot that was. Before we were done Nancy and I were on the floor blowing bubbles with her and making quite the mess of things! She played with those bubbles quite a while in between showing us the school’s Barbie and Ken dolls and a clock to demonstrate that she could count and match the time on the wall clock to her clock. Next we relived our oun childhood as Mary proceeded to name and eat all the animals in the animal cracker box. Towards the end she willingly shared the last two with Kevin. It was great to see her close the box and proudly put it in her new pink purse. As we wound things down she gave us each a hug and as we walked down the hall she reached out and took both our hands. As we left she gave me a hug and Nancy got both a hug and a kiss. It was a great way to end a stellar day in Siberia.
But, the fun was not completely over. We still had to travel 2.5 hours back in driving snow and bitter temperatures. Midway back our driver veered off the road into a dimly lit road side truck stop of sorts (it reminded me of the Ice Road truckers show on TV). We pulled up in front of one of those charcoal cooking stands that they tell you not to eat at (but our driver knew the place well) . Well, we did eat and it was very good and gave us another slice of local life here in Siberia. Upon arrival at our hotel we typed up all the notes we had been taking all day and emailed them to our IA doctor back in New York. That consultation, which ended just an hour ago, revealed that the kid’s issues are typical of international adoptions and at present don’t amount to anything that we can’t work to resolve and remedy.
Tomorrow we will return to visit more with the kids and to finish the referral acceptance paperwork. We will then leave Kemerovo on Friday morning to return to the US on Sunday. Your prayers have been with us and felt each moment of each day and we thank all of you for your love and support.
Stay tuned as we learn more about the children and our next steps…

Arrival In Siberia

2007-12-18T05:14:00.000-05:00

12/18/2007 Kemerovo: We arrived at our destination city at half past 7 this morning – exactly 12 time zones from all of you who are reading this. As we landed, some of the Russian passengers applauded. To us it was a perfectly normal flight. Aside from our bleary eyes it boggles our minds that we are so far from home. Yet, many things seem the same. Ads still contain English both in the airport and on the route to our hotel but as we have gotten around today it is clear we are farther from the mainstream. More people look at us as strangers and very few have a working knowledge of English – though perhaps still better than my ten-word Russian vocabulary. Nancy continues to grow hers and it serves us pretty well.
Our flight from Moscow had two other families’ adopting from this region. They are both here for their second trip and were picking up their kids today for court tomorrow. One of the families had their luggage lost in route to Moscow and is in their third day of the same clothes…
Even though we arrived so early we were told that we would not leave for the orphanage until 2-3 this afternoon. As we checked into our hotel room the thought of Siberia was changed to the thought of the Sahara as our room – and for that matter every room we’ve been to here in Kemerovo - has been blisteringly hot; at least 80 degrees and probably higher. So, we are sitting and waiting for the call. The window is cranked open a hair and the refreshingly frigid Siberian air is pouring in.
One funny thing did happen yesterday as we checked into our flight from Moscow. The agent asked me if I had any lice – or so I thought. I really couldn’t tell what he said. We had been so preoccupied with the issue of the weight of our bags that I turned to Nancy in a panic and said “What did he say?” She also heard lice and the guy asked if we spoke English. We said yes and he said something about lice again. It was on his third or fourth try that we figured out he was asking if we had any luggage to check. His colleague started to laugh at him when we said we spoke English but still couldn’t understand him. Fortunately, he didn’t hold us up, lose our luggage or give us lice.
So, that is our day so far. It is now a little after 4 PM and we are still waiting. More when it happens!
It just happened with a knock on the door. We just received some major change in plans or at least in our perception of what to expect. There has been an issue with the birth mother of the 3 children we thought we were coming to meet and we have received a referral for a different sibling group of 3 – the girl being the oldest again. We believe things happen for a reason and we are being provided the right forever family for us. Now, you know what we know.
Oh, and another funny story… The woman who has been our interpreter here in Kemerovo is also the translator of our documents. So, when she was done giving us the news above she said “How are those alpacas?” And “who is taking care of them while you are here?” So, even here in Siberia we are known as alpaca breeders!
One of the key words in the information the adoption agency gave us was “flexibility.” Little did we know how far that would extend. So, we are off to take a walk in the cold air as the cloudy sky grows dark. We’ve been told of a few restaurants that have English menus – or we go to a point and eat place like we did for lunch. Either way we are cooling our heels (literally)here in Kemerovo and marveling at the way in which God works.

Love to you all, Kevin & Nancy

Red Square

2007-12-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

2007-12-17T10:48:00.001-05:00

12/18/2007 Holiday Inn Lesanya,
We ventured out and found our way to Red Square, Kremlin and experienced a bit of the cold here in Moscow. Light snow fell as we walked across Red Square. We delighted a small group of Asian tourists when, after asking them to take our picture, we donned our Santa hats. That paled in comparison to the pleasure that some technician is likely having today. Nancy used a special ATM to exchange dollars into rubles. In order to do this she had to access her money strap which is a neck hanging type (Note to self – always turn my back to those monitors on ATMs when I access my money belt…).
We noted the typical nesting dolls and other Russian gifts we will get for the children to give them in future years but have to wait until we return at the end of the week because of the strict weight limits to/from Kemerovo. Knowing both of us, you can imagine we are already well over the weight limit. The array of shops is impressive and similar to other major European and American cities. The streets are clean and there was little snow on the ground. We did note that everyone drives at breakneck speed even at close quarters in the city. It makes I-270 and the beltway seem tame by comparison!
Our day has been one of getting ourselves back in order after a long trip across 8 time zones. Tonight we will fly four plus hours (we think) and four more times zones (we think). We are relatively well rested after a nice meal here at the hotel. Nancy is doing very well as the family interpreter and has struck up a few brief exchanges with the patient Muscovites (sp).
Prices here are comparable to New York. Our water tab was more than our usual wine tab at a restaurant at home but the food was good. We’re now chllin’ waiting for our ride to the airport. We are anxious to meet the kids and learn much more about them tomorrow. We have our prepared lists for each one so we hope their caregivers are patient with us.

2007-12-17T05:07:00.001-05:00

12/15/07 Red Carpet Lounge at Dulles airport: Half an hour till boarding and we are sitting in the lap of luxury. Our first flight is on frequent flyer miles and only business class was available. The irony is not lost on us. In fact, as we are sitting here imagining all the ways our lives will change they pale in magnitude of the changes the kids will face. For the purposes of this blog we’ll call them Peter, Paul and Mary from youngest to oldest. It’s hard to keep a train of thought for very long as my mind is racing to all the experiences we’re about to have. We said quite a few prayers over the last twelve months and quite a few more the last ten days or so. I told Nancy on the way to the airport that when I asked her to go on adventure travel this wasn’t exactly what I was thinking of. On the other hand when I said “I do” I certainly imagined that Nancy I would add to our family of three. Of course, I could not have dreamed that we would double! God works in mysterious ways and as we said recently in our email to family and friends he must know that we are ready.
Nothing of major note on our last days preparing for this trip. Although we did do a fire drill this morning when Nancy noted that the baggage weight limit was 44 lbs for flights within Russia – including carry on. We had planned on 50 lbs and not including carry on. So, we completely unpacked and repacked and gave up about 25 lbs of stuff. I cut back on socks and underwear. We also gave up on taking some things for the kids and hope that we can fill in on things when we get to our region.
So, it’s time to fold things up and head to the gate. We know that all of you are with us in prayer and spirit. It’s the only way we could imagine the life-changing events before us. So, we are powering down for now.
12/16/07 Business Lounge Warsaw: We’ve made it to Warsaw in what has thus far been an uneventful trip – except in the good way. We were able to use our Miles on United to get to Moscow and back – but we had to fly business class. Darn the bad luck. I’m not sure how we can fly economy again! Yes we can, with 3 kids in tow. We keep thinking how wonderful it would be to fly home this way with P,P&M. We were wined and dined and stretched out like we never have on a flight before. We actually got some sleep! It didn’t help a lot as we landed in Amsterdam at 2:45 AM Maryland time so we are well on our way to a severe case of jet lag. 6 time zones down – only 6 more to go! Yikes.
It is snowing outside and completely overcast. As we landed we did get to see some of the local architecture. Some rather uninteresting block buildings but some very interesting-looking single family homes also. Worthy of some future trip I suppose.
Nancy is working now to get the photo album set up for the kids. We’re anxious to see how the kids react to all of this. Well, all for now – it’s time to copy to a thumb drive and get in line for a computer.
12/16/2007 Moscow: We made it! Now we are safely in our hotel and without any real hitches. It wasn’t even that cold here tonight when we got off the plane – about 30 F. Our flight was late leaving Warsaw so we arrived at 9:00 and waited patiently to go through passport control and customs. No problems as there are plenty of English speakers here – and plenty of ads in English. The hotel is nice but no wireless in our room which is why this blog continues to be delayed. With any luck we can connect in the business center in the morning and get this posted. The way the itinerary appears to work out we will have the day tomorrow to rest and acclimate on our own here in Moscow. Then Monday evening we will take a late night flight to Kemerovo leaving at 10:30 PM and arriving sometime in the morning. I think there is a four hour time difference to add to the 8 we have gone though so far. In the dark Moscow seems like any other big city. A few well lit signs and stores and a lot of construction seemingly everywhere. One major project at the airport was actively pouring concrete as we walked out of the terminal.
So, we are tired and hungry (of a sort) but are ready to turn in and start our adjustment to the new time zone. We are nervous and excited and can’t wait to meet the kids!
We forgot to mention last night that we fly back to Moscow on Friday morning so we will only have Tues-Thursday to meet and interact with the kids. Stay tuned!

2007-12-16T08:02:00.000-05:00

12/16/07
To all,

We have been working on keeping you up to date on the happenings as we go but are unable to get the computer in the Business Lounge in Warsaw to read the thumbdrive. We will try again in Moscow this evening.