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...

Sent it off...

Well we have sent the letter to the kids along with a few pictures from our visit. Our agency is going to have a courier (family) carry the letter to Vladivostok and have the office there mail it to the orphanage to the kids. Hopefully they will have it in a week or so. We are working on some of the final paperwork we need to complete for court so that everything is ready when we arrive back in Vladivostok in July (we hope). One of the things we had to do was to sign our Court Petition which is the document requesting that Russia allows us to adopt the kids. This document came from the agency and included some details that we previously did not know about. Specifically The names and birthdates of the kids immediate family members as well as their fathers date of passing. We found out that their father passed away about 3 weeks before I. was born. This document also is the first one that hold the kids "new" names. We have decided to make some changes to their names. We have given them our middle names and have changed I's name to an American derivative. Although we think we will continue to call him by his Russian "nickname" until he gets used to his new name. K's first name we really liked and since it is already "Americanized" in its Russian form, she will keep it. Well thats it for now...

Communications

Well we are working on a letter to the kids. Gloria's cousin is a Linguist for the DOD and is fluent in Russian. We are going to have him verify our translation and send the letter off to the orphanage with some pictures of our 1st visit. Hopefully it will reach the kids. We also hope to put together a care package for the orphanage to send over...they really want cars for the boys and dolls and jumpropes for the girls and we are working on collecting what we can to send over via mail. According to our agency we continue to be on track for a Mid-late July court date. Keep your fingers crossed. Have a great week!

An Orphan's Life!

Borrowed from a friend:

An Orphan's Life

I will never know the warm embrace of a mother.
I will never know a place called home.
I will never be tucked in at night.
I will never know all is right with the world.
I will never play catch with my dad.
I will never feel the ocean breeze in my hair.
I will never see the sunrise from the window of a plane.
I will never own the clothes on my back.
I will never eat popcorn in a darkened theater.
I will never run barefoot in a spring rain.
I will never have someone to catch me when I fall.
I will never watch fireworks explode in the sky.
I will never eat until I’m full.
I will never sit in a candle filled church.
I will never see a look of pride on my Dad’s face.
I will never ride a shiny new bike.
I will never dance at my prom.
I will never graduate.
I will never have someone to call for advice.
I will never make it on my own.
I will never stop wondering how my life could have changed -if someone had taken me home- for always.

So many things we take for granted...............our two little ones will never have to think these thoughts again!

They will have a mother, father and an AWESOME big brother, three dogs, a home, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and so much more!

They say that the kids are the lucky ones...............I don't agree...............WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES!

We miss you so very much!