Safely in Stavropol... what a day and a half

It's now 1:10pm on Sunday and we are safely in Stavropol. We just returned from the orphanage... more on that later.

We arrived last night around midnight local time after an extremely long and tough day of travel. Lisa was ill Thursday night and Friday morning, but we could not afford to let our court date slip by... we've been told that if you do, you might be lucky to get another one in six months... maybe. We left Columbus on-time. Thanks so much to Jen and Rich for their shuttling us to the airport. We had A LOT of turbulence coming into Atlanta and Lisa was pretty green in color by the time we landed. Fortunately, she recovered well. Our Atlanta to Moscow (Sheremetyevo) flight was aided by a good tailwind, so it was a little bit shorter than planned and that was a good thing. Luke became pretty airsick and the last couple hours on the plane were really hard for him. Lisa didn't feel great for that leg of the trip, but she was doing a lot better by that time.

Once in Moscow, we had an 8.5 hour layover with our next flight out of Vnukovo airport... a 20 - 40 minute drive. Our driver (Vlad) was the same one we had for the last trip and in whose apartment we had stayed. He let us know that we could meet with our Moscow coordinator (to pick-up our domestic flight tickets and pay the fees) and then go straight to the airport, or, he could give us a driving tour of the city first... for $60. After having sat in Vnukovo airport for way too many hours on our last trip, we opted for the tour. As tours go, it probably wasn't worth $60, but it was far better than just sitting in the airport. We stopped by an open air market where Vlad introduced us to his friend... who happend to have one of the tables with items for sale. We didn't have any room in the luggage, so we'll shop on the return leg. We also stopped by "Victory Park" where we took the photo of the kids climbing on a couple of Russian Battle Tanks.

Our flight from Moscow to Stavropol was a real concern. Just after we got to the Vnukovo airport, it started snowing. Hard. Really Hard. We probably had 2 inches of snow in 60 minutes or less. A lot of flights were delayed, including ours. We had gotten all the way to the boarding call before they delayed it. We prayed pretty hard that it would go through because there is only one flight to Stavropol, and it's at 7:45pm and it only goes 5 days per week. It would have really been a challenge to stay the night. Fortunately, we boarded (at another gate) about 30 - 40 minutes later. The plane was completely covered in snow. They got the runway plowed and our plane de-iced and we made it out of Moscow. What a relief.

I had a little adventure in the airport in Stavropol. I made what turned out to be a VERY silly mistake by taking a picture of Lisa and the kids just outside the door before we went into the terminal from the plane after landing. The nice fellow in the soldier uniform informed me that photos of sensitive areas are prohibited... he asked for my documents, and he confiscated my passport. Fortunatlely, our interpreter (also named Vlad) had just arrived. Lisa and the kids waited with the bags while we went to speak to the security officers. After a lot of cajoling, Vlad was able to convice the head security man that I am not a threat and that he could return my passport. Keeping it would probably be more political trouble than it would be worth. It seemed to our interpreter to be a really good idea if I would give the security man a "gift" to thank him for not filling out all the paperwork. I could leave it on the sofa in the security office. It was a 1000 ruble lesson to reinforce that this is not America.

We finally got to bed around 1:00am, after 34 hours of being on the go.

Nearly Time to Go

We're getting on the plane for Russia in just over 4 hours and we're nearly ready. The new bedrooms are ready, the beds made, the new clothes put away and waiting. The bags are packed (almost), the kids are excited and the dog is confused about why his bag isn't packed (Grandma is coming to get him a little bit later).

We really need your prayers for safe travel, a smooth court process and good bonding with the kids. We also need your prayers for health... Lisa became ill overnight with the same malady that the kids had 2 days ago. Travel today will not be easy. I just hope that I don't get it for our court date.

All I Really Want for Christmas

We have been talking about God's timing in our house a lot lately. We have been impatient wanting to get back over to Russia to get Kim and Peter. God has said wait. Now I look around at all the work that has gotten done around the house and am so thankful it is finished. I'm thankful that I have been here to support my friends through some of their trials over the last couple weeks and know that God is in control.

One other thing that God has really hit me with twice now is Steven Curtis Chapman's song "All I Really Want for Christmas". You see three years ago when we were still making excuses about why we couldn't adopt, I couldn't get away from it. It seemed to be EVERYWHERE and every time I would hear it, it would bring me to tears.

Well I heard it again this year, and again I am in tears, but this time it is different. You see, this year right before Christmas we are bringing our children home. For Kim and Peter, this is the year that they will have a family.



"All I Really Want for Christmas"
by Steven Curtis Chapman
(2005 Sparrow Records, EMI CMG)

Well, I don't know if you remember me or not
I'm one of the kids they brought in from the home
I was the red-haired boy in an old, green flannel shirt
You may not have seen me, I was standing off alone

I didn't come and talk to you 'cause that's never worked before
And you'll probably never see this letter, anyway
But just in case there's something you can do to help me out
I'll ask you one more time

All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

Well, I guess I should go ahead and tell you now
If it's really true about that list you have
Somehow I always seem to end up in a fight
But I'm really trying hard not to be bad

But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with
Maybe they could teach me how to get along
And from everything I've heard, it sounds like the greatest gift on earth
Would be a mom

All I want for Christmas is someone who'll be here
To sing me happy birthday for the next 100 years
And It's okay if they're not perfect or even if they're a little broken
That's alright, 'Cause so am I

Well, I guess I should go, it's almost time for bed
Maybe next time I write you I'll be at home

`Cause all I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
Tell me I'll never be alone, someone whose love will never end
Of all that I could ask for, well, there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

November 24 - 25!

Thank you Lord. Help us get ready.

Fall Music

Our children have had recent musical performances that we thought we'd share. Luke sang with the Children's Choir at Church a little over a week ago. He really seems to enjoy it and is hoping we'll be in town when they have their Christmas musical. It's selfish to say so, but I sort of hope we have to miss it because we'll be out of the country! Last week they were part of a churchwide musical celebration and did a very nice job. Here is one of the songs that they performed.

Beth really loves music as well, both singing in the special performance music group at school and playing the clarinet in the band. She had her first band concert of the school year tonight. It was a combined concert with performances of the 7th grade bands from all three of the middle-schools in our district. This is one of four pieces they performed. For only playing for one year, they've come a long way!

Beth's School Article: "Home From Russia"

How many 'Reports' have been written about "What I did over the summer"? Beth's class had to be news reporters and interview themselves and some of their classmates about what happened over the summer and what they think about it now. Then they each wrote a newsletter with multiple articals about the different classmates. Here is Beth's article about her own summer "highlight". As first published in "Beth's Bit O' News"


Hi again! This is Beth again.In school, I had to write a reaport for a Tech Ed newsletter. Mom said I should put it on the blog, so, here it is!

“Their names are Kim and Peter…” OK, picture this; you are sitting on your grandma’s couch in Alabama. Your mom and dad are positively EXHAUSTED. Two hours ago they got off a plane from Russia after being on it for 11 hours! Then they had to drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s house from Atlanta, Georgia. We have been waiting for this not only the week they were in Russia, but for over a year-and-a-half! My family is adopting two children from Russia. But now they are more than just my brother and sister. They are Kim and Peter! And they have faces, ages, and even names! Kim is 10, and Peter is 8. I have a biological brother, who is 8. This is all about a month ago, now fast forward to a month ago. We were all sitting down to dinner when Dad tells us “We have been thinking, and instead of having you spend three weeks with Grandma and Grandpa, we think you two should come with us! You will miss three weeks of school but I think you will really enjoy it.” Then it sinks in… Luke and I are going to Russia!!! Fast forward to now. Here’s what’s happening. Luke just turned 9, all our paperwork is in Russia and we are waiting for our court date. Got to go, Bye!

Luke's Staying busy

Well soccer season is wrapping up. Life is calming down a little. You would think . . . Right after Luke's last soccer game, we took him over for his basketball try outs. (Try outs is not a real good name for it. Everybody makes a team but they use these evaluations to help balance the teams out.) His games will start in January.

The other new addition to Luke's schedule is he has joined Cub Scouts. We have talked about having him join in the past but have never pursued it. This year one of his good friends from school and soccer is involved and sparked the interest for Luke. We went back and forth whether with the adoption coming if this was the right year to start it. Then we got to thinking this will give him a regularly scheduled father-son time to help reassure him during the transiton period that can be so hard on kids already in the family during an adoption. That coupled with his father's fond memories of Scouts and his Uncle's love of scouting says that this is probably a good thing to get him involved in. So here is a picture of Luke before his first pack meeting. (I had managed to make it over to the Boy Scout Store and get the shirt and stuff but I had not gotten the patches on yet. They are now on.) He was so excited about it. I hope the excitement stays with him.

One final thought: Does anyone want to buy any popcorn???