Hoping for news!

Well we spoke with WACAP last week and we are just waiting for the "Ministry Letter" to come from Moscow to complete our packet so that it can be submitted to the Judge. This is exactly where we expected to be in the process at this time. (Of course we hoped the letter would have come sooner) They seem to be confident the letter will come this week. Once this happens our file will be submitted to the judge to put on her docket. The judge will review it to determine if all documents are present, current and correct and then will schedule a court date. If the documents are not correct the judge could; 1. Schedule the date and expect the documents prior to court. or 2. request the documents prior to scheduling court. WACAP says option 1 is most likely if there are any document issues however they feel our file is rock solid. (fingers crossed). We expect to be notified of our court date 2 or 3 weeks in advance of our court date but it could be short notice also. We know we have some "followers" out there that are preparing to leave on trip one. We wish them the best and hope they have as great a first trip as we did and look forward to following their blogs while they are traveling. I personally hope all of you fathers out there had a great fathers day and know that all of you fathers-to-be will have great ones next year as your journey plays out.

Ken

A little about them...

Well I'm sitting here wondering what to post and thought I would tell you a little about the kids. Please keep in mind that we cant discuss details about them but can discuss our experiences...

I. He seems to be your typical 4 year old boy, he loves cars, trucks, anything with wheels and construction equipment. He enjoys being held and swung around, this brings out the best smiles and laughs. He is very coordinated...we played with both kids with a beach ball in the visitors room; he was able to kick the ball with either foot, throw it, catch it and run after it (when he wanted to). He plays well with his sister but loves to color and paint by himself also. One of the projects we did was to paint and build a wooden train engine. He really enjoyed the painting. One thing that truly amazed us was that every time he saw a camera pointed his way his expression immediately changed to a very blank look. If he was laughing or smiling he would purse his lips to avoid having his picture taken with a smile. We found out that they trained the kids to take pictures this way so that they can be looked at and evaluated for physical characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He really got trained well! It got to the point that we would laugh every time he saw the camera and "went blank".

K. She is a very curious 7 year old, which is a good thing. She wants to know what is going on around her and wants to join in and help/participate. I think she is already very athletic, she really chased the ball around and kicked it with both feet as well as hit it volley ball style with Gloria. She really likes to color, draw and do puzzles and games. We took a bead kit with us to Russia and K. loved to make necklaces and bracelets and wear them around to show all her friends. Although she gave us the blank look when we first put the camera on her, we told her it was OK to smile and she did the rest of the time. She did great playing the memory game and did not want to stop. She loves to laugh, play and have fun and at the same time is a very good little dancer.

We are getting so anxious about going back to get them...time seems to be going so slow. We have sent them 2 letters with pictures of us and the house and dogs. We think that the first letter is already there...WACAP is going to call to check to see if it arrived. Well thats it for now please keep praying for all of us and our hopes of returning to Russia soon.

Ken and Gloria

One Month and Counting........

Well we have now been home for one month. We have accomplished so many things at the house. Kenny and Keegan put up a new swing set. They also set up the new trampoline. The pool is ready to go. Keegan put training wheels on the kids bikes! We just now need the kids to play, jump, swim and ride.

We have been trying to keep busy so the time passes. It just isn't passing fast enough!!! July can't come soon enough! (Not that we have a court day yet!) We miss the kids terribly. We have sent our agency two letters along with pictures for the kids.

Keegan is anxiously waiting for his new role as a big brother. He is really looking forward to it. As a matter of fact, he just got his driver's permit today, so now we can have him drive us around to practice driving and help the time pass quicker.

Wishing we had news about when we are traveling, but not just yet! We will keep you all informed of the news as we get it.

Oh No here he comes!

Well the 27th of May was Keegan's 15th birthday...on Jun 8th he starts drivers ed!!! Because he is in Private School, we have to either pay for him to attend private driving lessons in the summer or go to the local public school and get him on a list for a summer opening. In Illinois, kids now have to drive with their permit for 9 months before they can get their license. We wanted to get him going so he can have that time (and required hours) completed before he turns 16 which will be at the end of his Sophomore year. No new news regarding a court date yet. We continue to finish up the last bit of paperwork and get things ready for the kids around the house...