3rd Day with our Daughter

Reflections of the Infamous Doctor Exam:

• You have to get to the Clinic early
• You can't eat before you go, because of the blood work
• There is a lot of formality involved
• It's not as bad as we had heard
• Tom was a skeptic until we did the exams
• The doctors are very nice
• We were fed some yummy "pies"

OK, now that I gave you the bullet points, let me tell you the story.  We were to be ready by 7:15 in the morning, no problem, since we haven't been sleeping well.  I think I slept a total of 4 hours from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.  I don't think Tom slept at all.  So anyway, we went downstairs and were met by our driver.  He didn't speak much english, but seemed very kind.  His name is Vladimir.  It snowed again last night, so the roads were not plowed again.  We drove for about 30 minutes, and we arrived at the clinic.  We were met by our translator Ina, and we were the first to arrive at the clinic.  We went in and had to check our coats again, and put on those lovely blue booties.  We walked down the hallway to a newer part of the clinic, and went into an office where there were some lovely doctors talking and laughing amongst themselves.  We were instructed to sit down and we were told what we would expect.  As we were sitting and listening, another adoptive couple came in and followed the same instructions as us.  We left that office and went to a room where they draw blood, they take about 6 vials of blood, I went first, then Tom.  No problems here.  We went back into the original office where the Vice Doctor is and she offered us cakes, tea and coffee.  Since we were hungry because we hadn't eaten yet, we enjoyed our breakfast.  The cakes were like HoHos to me.  I ate 2.   Next we went downstairs to an x-ray room of sorts.  This part of the building in very old and run down.  We wait our turn and they call me in.  I am to undress from the waist up, they want to take an x-ray of our chest to see our lungs.  You stand on this little platform and they push you up against the x-ray wall of sorts.  It wasn't a gentle push, and she forced my head in the direction she wanted.  This technician did not want to wait for the translator to translate instructions, just push and do I guess.  No problem, Tom went next and he was laughing when he came out, because she did the same to him.  Next we went to a totally different part of the clinic and went before the Psychiatrist.  This was a very interesting interview.  He had a copy of our homestudy and knew all about Tom and I.  He asked several questions about family, with Tom and I being the youngest he wanted to know if we were more priveledged than our siblings, he wanted to know about our faith.  If we believe that faith and religion are the same.  Then he spent a good 10 minutes on me and my family and about myself being adopted.  He wanted to know a lot about my feelings and how I felt not knowing who my biological parents were.  We (Tom helped the good doc to see our view) finally got him off that topic and then said Da, (yes) you can go.  We were dismissed and we left to go upstairs to a totally differnent part of the clinic yet again to the EKG room.  Let me tell you that the machine they used is like really really old.  It was like a clamp on our arms, picture cable jumpers for cars, and legs and all we had to do was breathe in and out.  Oh I forgot to let you know that I had to once again undress from the waist up.  This was a female doc again so no biggy.  Next we went downstairs to the original office and waited for some more docs to see us.  A neurological doc came and got us, and took us to a part of the clinic not yet completed from the renovation.  She asked us some really basic questions, do we get headaches, do we get dizzy at all, have we ever had any head trauma.  After the questions, she tests our reflexes like a general doc would do, all good, she has us stand close our eyes and touch our nose with the pointer finger from each hand.  No problem, good to go.  Next we see our last set of docs, skin doc, and breast exam.  We are in a new office with 3 ladies who ask us to undress from waist up, she does a breast exam and feels my stomach and my glands under the arms and in my neck.  She asks if we ever had any skin problems and thats about it.  We are invited back into the original room where that really nice Vice Doctor is and she offers us homemade "pies".  They are bread filled with all different fillings, potatoes, carrots, apricots, apple.  They were hot and delicious, we also were served tea.  We had an absolutely enjoyable time as far as doctors go.

After the doctor exams, we went to the Notary builing it is about 30 minutes by car.  We had to sign the papers for our intent to adopt our daughter and have them notorized for the courts.  Easy peasy.

Next we left, it was not time to see our daughter yet as it was her nap time.  So we went to another Russian cafe, and had Baked Potatoes that were mashed with loads of butter and cheese and then topped with any kind of salad you want.  I went with the cheese, ham pickels and onions, Tom had feta cheese, ham, pickels and onions.  It was good, but I know for someone like me who is not supposed to be eating carbs, that is all I have been doing here.

It was then time to go see our daughter and she had just finished eating her morning snack of soup and vegetables again.  They brought her into us and she was at first a little reserved, but then when I picked her up and started playing with her she warmed up immediately.  We had a wonderful time and watched her and just marveled at all of the things she does.  We wanted to put her on her stomach and see what she would do, she immediately pushed herself into a crawling postition, but didn't crawl.  She may not be able to, she rocked on all fours and then she did take one hand and reached out in front of her to grab a toy.  She then rolled onto her bottom and sat there.  Once she did that, we encouraged her again to be in the crawling position and she did, but only moved her hands and not her legs yet.  We had another wonderful visit and the time went by way too fast.  She already seems so happy to be with us, and our interpreter is so encouraged to see her disposition.  She seems to be able to be happy with us and feels safe.  I agree, and she gave wonderful eye contact.  She held my gaze a long time today.  We will definitely have to keep working on it, but I am encouraged.

We had to leave so she could have her afternoon nap, we left and our interpreter dropped us off at the Church on the Spilled Blood.  We paid 640 rubels to enter and we were in total awe once we entered the door.  Before you even enter the church you see the wonderful details on the outside, and then you go thru the doors and your mouth is just hanging open.  The details of the inside is beyond words.  Pictures won't even do it justice, you just have to be here and see it.  I think it should be a must see sight for everyone coming to Russia.

We are back at the apartment and will get ready to try another dinner place.  This place called Bogart was recommended by Ina.  Now I hope we can find it.

Now these photos don't even come close to the majesty of the church

Each peace of tile was hand laid, and every piece is about the size of

my pinkie finger.

Now just imagine the WHOLE ENTIRE WALLS, CEILING AND

COLUMN WAS ADORNED WITH TILE

and the walls very very very tall, and the ceiling was very very big

and the columns were very very big and round.

It told the story of Jesus Birth, Life, and Resurrection

This is outside the exit, all hand painted.

In Russia, Iron work is very popular.

I love to see the different patterns.

2nd Day with our Daughter

Today we were picked up about 9:30 and we headed directly to the Baby Home.  She is about 30 min away in the city.  We were in what our translator considered "light" traffic.  It looked like rush hour back home.  We have been having snow every night, and today it snowed all day long.  The streets are not exactly plowed and cars drive all over the place.  They just kind of make their own paths.  We got to the baby home and we had to wait for about 20 min before we could see our daughter.  She was eating a morning snack of porridge and vegetables.  When she was done, we got to play with her.  Today we were in a different room, it was kinda like an office off of the main doors to enter the nursery area.  We played with her, again at first she was a little hesitant, but then she warmed up nicely and played with the toys we brought.  She liked the book with the push buttons and my necklace A LOT.  She got very comfortable and was able to make really good eye contact with us.  She started smiling easier today and we even got a babble from her.  By the end of the visit it was time for her nap and you could tell it in her behavior.  She wanted to cuddle and lay on my chest.  One other thing we noticed is she loves tags.  Tags on the baby doll, tags on the stuffed animal, tags on the blanket.  Why bother with toys, just have a lot of tags.  She was able to grasp the tags with her pointer finger and thumb very easily.  When it was time to leave we saw that she was interested in staying with us.  This was a really good sign, it means that she feels safe with us.
After we left we took our translator out for a nice lunch.  We had a nice Russian meal.  If anyone knows me, I'm not very adventurous in my meals, but Kelly you would have been proud of me.  I tried all the Russian fare, so much that I can't even pronounce or remember the names.  We came back to the apartment and we crashed for about 3 hours.  I was absolutely exhausted.
When we woke we decided to walk around the city and we went down to the Church on the Spilled Blood.  GORGEOUS, OUTSTANDING, MAGNIFICIENT.  The colors and architecture is out of this world.  We were too late to go in, so perhaps tomorrow we will enter and see the beauty that lies within also.
Thats all for now.  Tomorrow is an early morning as we get to go to the doctor exam.   Fun!  Sally

Church on the Spilled Blood

Just Beautiful

Tom in Front of the Grand Europa Hotel

We ate there and had an absolutely wonderful meal

Here is our apartment building.  The men are picking at the ice

and getting them off the roof.

1st Meeting with our Daughter

How can words describe the feeling of meeting our daughter for the 1st time?  AWESOME!  MARVELOUS!  AMAZEMENT!  GODS CONFIRMATION!  FULLFILMENT!  I could keep going but wanted you all to know that she is beautiful, very healthy, ahead developmentally then I would have thought.  She is very interested in Music, maybe interested isn't the right word, how about LOVES music.  When our interpreters phone rang, it had a song ringtone, and she danced to the song.  It was so cute.  Let me start from the begining tho:

We were picked up and brought to "the commitee", this is a division of the Ministry of Education (MOE).  We went in and checked our coats at the door.  We waited in a waiting room for them to call us back.  When we were called back, we went into an office where there was one lady.  She spoke to us in Russian, and our translator translated for us.  It is customary to look at the person speaking to you in russian and not your interpreter, it is difficult sometimes to remember that.  She gave us our formal invitation to go meet our daugher and then we left.  We then drove, not far to the orphanage.  When we arrived at the front gate it is closed and they opened it up for the car to drive in.  We drove around to the back and were able to see the areas that the children play in when there isn't so much snow all over.  The conditions of the yard are beatiful, very well taken care of.  It looked like new playgrounds and play houses along with a fountain.  When we went inside we checked in our coats again and were given blue booties to put over our shoes.  This is to help keep germs out of the orphanage.  We went upstairs to a waiting room, we were called into the Directors office and she was an older lady, along with another older lady (not sure what she did tho).  We went over all the medical information that she had on our daughter and there were no surprises per se.  We really felt that they knew our daughter and really loved her.  We had a time to ask questions and answers were given, no surprises again.  Then the other lady talked about how our daughter came to be in the orphanage, about her family and some updated information regarding our daughter.  Once again no real surprises here.  I was able to take notes of everything and they once again answered all questions we had.  We were then taken to a different room and we waited just a few minutes for our daughter to come in.  When she was brought in, she was wearing the cutest stripped dress, tights, and really cute pink boots.  It was love at first sight.  She was a little timid and had closed fists, but she did not cry, or even get upset when I picked her up.  I held her for a long time, and started to play with her and show her some books and the photo album.  The thing that really got her to loosen up were Gymboree bubbles.  She was able to track them with her eyes and she even tried to pop them with her fingers.  She has good hand eye coordination and loved to watch them float in the air.  We played with her for about 2 hours and she did great.  We got her to laugh, she loves to have her stomach tickeled.  When her caregivers came to get her, she just lit up like a sunbeam.  I can tell that they love her and she loves them.  They helped get her to smile for us and talked to her in Russian and we got to see all 7 of her teeth.  They took her away, and we left. 

Some things I want other pre adoptive parents to know:

• Gymboree bubbles are awesome,
• but ask first before bringing them.  When the baby home director found out we had bubbles, she was very upset.  They like to keep the floor in there nice and free from dirt, she was afraid that it would attract more dirt.  We won't bring them tomorrow
• Gerber Puffs work wonders.
• Bring a variety of toys.  I didn't have a teether toy, and I needed one.  Our little girl is getting some major teeth.
• Books with the buttons that you push she liked, remember I told you she likes music
• Bring a blanket you can lay on the floor.  I felt better having that to sit on and explore with her.
• I was told to wear a necklace that she can play with (thanks Amy), and that she could remember when we see her again.  I will wear it everytime I see her.

Thats is all I can think of right now, if I remember anything else I will let you know. We will be able to go back tomorrow for 2 hours, it will be during her nap time, so it may not be that long. I already miss having her in my arms.

Oh for those of you unfailiar with International Adoption, we are forebidden to post pictures of her until after she is officially ours.  You will have to wait to see her, but she is sooooo worth the wait.

Pictures of St. Petersburg

Tom wanted me to show you how they clean off the roofs here.

It looks really dangerous, one wrong move and hes done for.

Dinner, it was really good.

After dinner, we walked to the market, this was a huge Ice Sclupture

in front of the Grand Hotel

There are a few things that I want to write about before I forget.

• 
  
  Russian women are beautiful
• 
  
  Russian women wear very high heel shoes, and don't fall in the slush and ice
• 
  
  Russian women are very stylish
• 
  
  There are more fur coats in every type and design that everyone is beautiful
• 
  
  There seems to be no blonde hair women here in St.Petersburg
• 
  
  Every color of the rainbow for hair except their own natural color is expected
• 
  
  The sidewalks are made out of Granite.  Nobody shovels, and people wear a lot of black to cover up from all the slush left on the sidewalks. 
• The buildings are absolutely incredible, made of Granite and other stones

Our apartment:

Living Room, couches were very comfortable

Kitchen

It was a nice apartment in a very good location!  Thank David and Sarah Williams for this gem.

We Made It To Russia

Tom and I before leaving Chicago

This is our Lufthansa Plane

thi

Tom and his whole row of seats

When we took off in Chicago and got above some of the clouds, I looked out the window and saw a beautiful rainbow following us.  I thanked God again at that very moment for being with us in this journey.

This is flying into St. Petersburg.  There are a lot of buildings.

Well we made it here without any problems.  We left Chicago on time and had an enjoyable flight to Frankfort.  Tom and I had our own rows of seats.  Boy was that nice to be able to stretch out our legs.  We were served dinner and breakfast.  Kelly I think I ate more bread on that flight then I did for 3 months.  They really like their bread and cheese.  We arrived in Frankfort and navigated our way around the airport.  It was very easy, but it was very big.  Lots of walking.  We got to our gate, and waited just 10 minutes.  They started boarding, but you don't get on the plane there, you get on a bus that takes you to the plane.  We were outside to board, very different.  We got on the flight to St. Petersburg and there was no problem getting thru customs.  They don't even bother to look at you.  Our driver for the agency was right there waiting for us and we had an uneventful trip to the apartment we are staying in.  The apartment we are in, we are renting from a friend of ours from our old church.  He used to work here in St. Petersburg, so he has a ton of connections.  It is located in a fantastic spot and seems to be very accomodating.  So thank you David Williams for this great find.  Now we need to go and exchange some money at the Grand Hotel.  This is right around the corner from us and this is where all the presidents stay when they are here in St. Petersburg.  When we walk out the door there is this beautiful cathedral called The Church on The Spilled Blood.  I guess this is where a czar was killed?  I don't know my history, but the Church looks beautiful from here.

Well I will keep you update since we have internet and it is working fine right now.

Tomorrow we will get picked up at 11:15 from Svetlana and she will bring us to the MOE to get the formal invitation and then off we go to meet our daughter.

Keep praying everyone.  Love you all.  Sally

Ready to Go

Today was a Great Day.  We went to church last night, so we were able to sleep in a little, if you call 7:00 am sleeping in?  We watched our favorite church speaker on T.V. John Hagee, he is awesome.  Trevor had a 10:00 basketball game and while Tom had him, I was able to do a little more organizing.  Later in the afternoon, we went to a surprise 70th Birthday Party for our best friends Mom, whom our kids call Grammy.  The party was wonderful and Lowayne was very surprised.  The evening was fun to talk to a bunch of our family friends whom we haven't seen in a while.  It was nice to be able also to talk about the flight tomorrow and fill everyone in on the details.
We are ready to go, we have 1 suitcase to check and then 1 carry on.  I hope we have everything, if not oh well.
Hopefully we will be able to communicate while we are there.  Love you all for all of your prayers.  Bye.

Schedule

Well lets see, after the very late in the day phone call and email from our agency on Monday I have been busy getting things together.

Because of the late notice, I had to pay an extra $300 to get our visa application expedited, not to mention the cost of next day air, to Washington D.C. and back.  We are supposed to get our visa either Saturday or Monday.

We will leave on Monday Feb 1, we will fly Lufthansa from Chicago to Frankfort then 1 1/2 hour layover and on to St. Petersburg.  We will arrive on Tuesday around 1:15.  On Wednesday, We will go to the Ministry of Education for an official invitation and then we will get to see our daughter.  We will be able to see her again on Thursday, and then we will sign papers for our intent to adopt her.  On Friday, we will have a wonderful 9 doctor medical examination done.  Yipee for us.  They want to make sure that we are healthy enough to care for a child.  Umm, I think so, we have 4 already that don't seem to mind us.  Anyway, we will have a free day on Saturday and then return home on Sunday.  Wow a lot to do in a short amount of time.  We haven't confirmed where we are staying yet, still working on that one.  We will come home after the first trip and wait approximately 6 weeks before we can go back for a court date.  The weather in St. Pete is very, very, very, did I say very cold.  It is definately fur coat weather.  I'm wearing mine, now I need to find a cute hat to wear with it.  We were told that in Russia, most women dress in dark clothing.  I have packed 2 pairs of black pants, my cashmere sweaters, black and gray, and lots of turtlenecks and shirts to wear under.  I will pack one skirt in case we have a dinner at a nice restaurant or go to maybe the ballet.  Ha, could you see Tom at a ballet?  I don't think so, but a girl can dream can't she?  Well I'm back to the races, much to do when you still have 4 at home.

Yipee and Yikes

Yipee:  We got a date to meet our daughter on February 3.

Yikes:  Whos going to do all the paperwork?  Yikes everything is wait, wait, wait then all of a sudden, its hurry, hurry, hurry.  What a weird feeling.

Off to races I go.  Pray for me that it gets done in a timely fashion and correctly.

Baby Bedding Found

Well there it is folks, nope it isn't either of the 2 listed in previous posts.  I happended to be in Buy Buy Baby, a store I haven't gone in before.  I don't know if the store is even new becuase it has been so long that I needed baby items.  I was walking along and I spotted this bedding.  It is a discontinued piece from Glenna Jean and I thought that it was great.  It was on clearance so therefore it was a great deal.  On top of the great deal, I had a coupon for 20% off.  WOW, that was a great deal.  Now the carpet guys are coming this week to measure, we will place the order and hopefully in 2-3 weeks have all the carpeting done.  The painter is coming next week also.  Things are going, now we just need to go see her.

Ring, Phone Ring!

In my Community Bible Study one of our questions today was, Which fruit of the Spirit would you like to see more of in yourself this year?  For those of you who don't know what the Fruits of the Spirit are they are found in Galatians 5:22-23 :  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindess, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.  Well for those of you who know me, know that I could use all of it, but our leader wouldn't let us answer the question that way, so, I would love to have more Gentleness.  I know with a daughter coming into our family, I will need to be more gentle with her and towards her.  So Lord, I ask, Please instill in me more gentleness, not more Patience.  Amen

patience, what patience?

Andrew on the Chair Lift

Trevor and Austin

Nathan and Sara

Well Monday came and has passed, it is now Tuesday and still nothing.  I'm hoping today? No? Oh come on God, I guess God is teaching me patience again.  I know I didn't pray for it, but He must think I need it.

Well let me tell you what we did on our Monday day off.  I called up my girl friend Kelly and asked if her kiddos could go skiing.  Well 2 of them could so off I went with 3 of mine.  We had a great day.  I didn't get to go skiing last year so I was happy to be out on the Hill.  Yes I said hill, because in Wisconsin that is about what you get.  No big mountains here in the midwest so Wisconsin will do.  The weather was great, the kiddos were great and no one got hurt.  The kids were exhausted but wanted to keep going.  I made them come in at 7:00 p.m. and we ate and got home for bed time.  All in all a wonderful time.

ring phone ring!

Nope

No phone call yet.  Hopefully Monday......Please God????

Can't Decide on Room Decor

I have been doing a lot of searching on the web about what our daughters room should look like.  While Tom was away with Trevor last weekend I spent a lot of time on the internet going in all different places to see what I want for her room.  Since she will be my only girl, I kind of want to make a really girly girl room.  I have been leaning towards the "Shabby Chic" look, but the rest of my house does not match.  The rest of my house is very boy, except for my dining room which is very elegant.  So I ask, does it matter that I have a pink girls room, amongst all the other boy things?  We will have to move Tyler, Trevor and Andrew, they have all graciously agreed to rearrange for their sister.  That is really weird to say "sister".  Tyler will have to move out of his big room with the attached bathroom, to go into Andrews room.  Andrew and Trevor will now be sharing a room (Tylers) because it is large and 2 beds will fit nicely in there.  Andrew and Trevor have decided to do a football theme room.  We have chosen the bedding from Pottery Barn for them, and Tyler will keep his White Sox Theme since most of the items are new anyways.

For our daughters room, she will have Trevors old room which was the nursery many years ago.  We will paint and put in new carpeting thru out all the bedrooms.  We have even decided to paint ours as well.  We still have the crib we used for the boys.  It is oak, but goes nicely with the room.  Also, we won't need to buy any extra furniture because we will combine the boys and it should all fit, if I don't buy to many clothes that is.  If I had my choice I would of put in all white furniture but we are trying to be as economical as can be in these days.

Here are the 2 choices I think I have narrowed it down to.  Oh believe me there was plenty more, but cost had a lot to do with it.  These 2 beauties are still within the budget.

Shabby Chic Chenille

Amelia, by Glenna Jean

So what do you think?

Is it too pink?

Let me know.

Happy Birthday Baby

Not a whole lot to mention this week.  We are thinking we will get a call from our adoption agency this week or the beginning of next week.

Today is Toms 45 Birthday.  Yikes, that means he is closer to the big 50 now.  We celebrated last night with a spiral ham and had Marilyn over.  She mades one of Toms favorite cakes, Chocolate Chip Nut Date Cake.  It was a favorite of Toms growing up, so she is happy to make it for him now.  Today we celebrated him and I by going to Portillos.  Yum, We love this place.  We were very good and both had salads.  I had the chopped salad, and Tom had the Poppyseed Chicken salad.  Both were delicious.

Andrew out in the snow waiting for his school bus

Celebrating Toms Birthday

Snow

Here we are in the Midwest and receiving some snow.  I say some because my kiddos would love to have A LOT more.  After school (yes they still had school), they will go out and shovel the driveways.  The boys have a great system of asking people if they would like their driveways shoveled.  Andrew is the one who goes up to the door with his big eyes and says that he would shovel the driveway for a nominal fee, can you see the big eyelashes batting?  He really is pretty good at it.  This should help them earn some more money that they can save in their banks or spend a small part of it.  The boys are really trying to save enough money for another remote for the PS3.  Do you know how expensive those things are?

I went to the bank today to get some nice, crisp, uncirculated $100 bills.  Why you ask?  Well for those of you new to this adoption process, Russia will only accept new bills, if they have a fold, tear, crinkle or writing on it they will not accept it.

I finished our FBI fingerprinting.  This was a huge chore for us.  Our local police department would not fingerprint us becuase we technically live in unincorporated area and I would have to go to the county to have this done.  Well where we live this is no small task.  It is far, inconvenient and not very friendly.  I called to find out when I could come and they said we only do fingerprinting on Fridays from 8:00 to 9:00 am, what are you kidding me?  When I called back in December, Christmas was on Friday, New Years was on Friday and they wouldn't let me come in on any other day.  Soooooo, I pleaded with the local police department and brought in a tax bill from another resident, and let us get them done there.  I sent them in to the FBI and will wait about 4 weeks to get them back.  I didn't put a rush on them, because we really only need them before we go to court in St. Petersburg, which by my calculations should be around March.

Tyler is still trying to find a job, he has not even gotten an official interview.  He has been filling out applications but no available postions are there.  It is tough because of the economy, there are many people with out jobs.

Austin once again made the Honor Roll at Marmion Academy, he has done a fantastic job there.  He is still learning to apply himself when it comes to homework, but overall a terrific job by him.

Trevor - I forgot to let you know that Trevor was invited to a Football Combine, I know I didn't know what it was either.  For those of you like me it is where football players compete in different areas of athletics.  Example:  40 yard dash, standing long jump, vertical jump, weighted ball throw from your knees, football catch.  Well he won his age level (7th Grade) and was invited on a National Level down in San Antonio, TX to compete against 300 other players.  We are just really excited for him to be able to experience something on this level.  He really enjoys the game of Football and really is a good athlete, we are just waiting to see where God leads this boy.

Andrew is playing indoor soccer and Basketball, I need something to keep this boy active.  He loves to lounge and watch T.V. and play video games.  We have restricted the boys to just 1 hour a day on the electronics.  It really is a hard thing to monitor.

Hope your all doing well, what ever happened to those people who talked about Global Warming?  I think we need a little bit of warming, I'm freezing and it's going to be colder tomorrow.

Happenings

Here is Andrew and Cooper out Pheasant Hunting

While they were Pheasant Hunting,

Samson had a photo shoot

Over the Christmas Vacation,

Andrew had an Indoor Soccer Tourny

Here he is playing goal,

Not a good day

Trevor also had A LOT of soccer

he played in several 3vs3 tournys,

the team won 2 of them.

This is his Indoor game against a U14 team,

Trevor is only 12 so some of these boys were

quite large (man sized) and here Trevor is

getting a gentle nudge away from the ball

but, he came right back on a kid his own size to...

get this header.

Also, we won the game 1-0 and Trevor scored the only

goal.  Whoo hoo

We are patiently waiting for a call as to when we will be traveling.  For Russia, their Christmas is this week and then they have their New Year on Jan 13.  The whole government basically closes down.  We probably won't hear anything until the week of Jan 18 for our travel dates.

Happy New Years

I have to say that my friend Kelly makes New Years Eve so amazing.  We have been having a tradition for a number of years now that include Fondue.  I only have fondue on New Years Eve and I have to say it is so much fun.  Kelly decorates her house and has an amazing table set up with a great meal.  There are several of us who help out in some way.  We have an enormous amount of Beef, Chicken and Shrimp to cook, along with veggies and a wide array of dipping sauces.  We have salad and cheesy potatoes to go along with it and it really is amazing.  While the adults are eating fondue, the kids are playing, and playing.  This year we had 12 kids ranging in ages from 6 to 17, and they all play so well together.  When we are done with the fondue, we clean up and have the kids come and eat Chocolate Fondue.  For this we spare no expense.  We have the best recipe and the best items to dip in it, Strawberries, marshmallows, pound cake, cheese cake, rice krispy treats, banannas, and more I can't remember.  The kiddos love this and when they are done getting their fill, we send them away again and we eat our fill of the chocolate goodies.

We rang in the New Year with Sparkling Cider and poppers that spray confetti when you pull the tab.  The kiddos love to pull the poppers and get it all over.  It was a great night.  Even better at the end of the evening or should I say at the beginning of the morning, Kelly has all the kiddos sleep over and we get to go home with out them.  Wow what GREAT friends they are.

I think back to last year when adopting was just something we were talking and thinking about.  I had done all the research on agencies, and we had done a lot of praying to see where God would lead us.  This year, I have a picture of my little girl and I can't wait to go meet her.   A relative asked me if I was getting my hopes up and what happens if it dosen't work out, well my answer is YES my hopes are up, and YES she is growing in my heart more and more everyday.  If God decides to close this door, it will be devistating, but I know He would open a window somewhere else.  We really feel God is calling us to be her parents and Yes it scares us, but what would life be with out God to comfort us.  We truly feel blessed to be a part of her life already.

In Russia, their Chrismas is Jan 6, so everything seems to shut down in the government, so we will not be hearing anything until after the holidays there.  Our agency seems to think we will get a call and be expected to travel in late January.  Oh I can't wait.

Stay tuned, and hopefully with the New Year we will get a call soon.

Have a God Filled New Year and Stay In His Presence.

Merry After Christmas

The boys opening their PS3!

They loved it!

Here Tom, Trevor and Andrew watch Gramma Marilyn

opens up her gag gifts

Samson as the littlest reindeer

Me and my Santa Dog

Remembering this very special time

as God became fully human

as a tiny baby,

vulnerable to all,

to save His people from

their sin!

Putting up the Christmas Tree

I have to admit that I was very spoiled this year with helpers.  My boys basically put the tree up all by themselves.  They needed some direction, but overall they did great by themselves.  You can tell when looking at the tree that the boys put the ornaments on.  They have it kinda broken down into sections, since Tyler is taller it seems like he took the top part, Austin took one side, Trevor the other side and Andrew loves to hang all of his at the bottom.  My ornaments are kinda all over the place, but I'm mixed in with everyone.  Kinda like life, they are all seperated with their "activities" but all come together with me (and Tom).  I love to hang all the stockings over the Kitchen fireplace.  In our house we were blessed with 4 fireplaces.  I love them all, we recently just added the one in the family room.  This is the one that gets used the most tho.  The stocking were hand made by Toms sister Donna.  She is very talented and now I need her to make one for our daughter.  Tom HATES, did I just say the H word?  Yes I did, he CAN NOT stand putting up Christmas Lights outside, but he does do it for me.  I love to see the lights shine and I am so thankful that my husband will do a chore even tho he does not like it.  Thank you Baby. 

We have been to the mall to watch Andrew and his choir sing there.  We have been to the school for his Winter performance,  Friday, I will be the room mom in charge of the Christmas Party at school.  Although we can't say Christmas at the public school, we have a Winter Holiday.  Give me a break, it's  Christmas for petes sake.

Trevor is now officially done with Basketball, this year was really hard.  The team didn't do very well.  Trevor has a lot to learn when it comes to Basketball.

Tyler has one more day left of Final Exams at the High School.  He is putting in an application for a job, so I hope he gets it.  He needs money to buy gas, pay a few bills, and pay for his speeding ticket he got.

Austin is now officially on Christmas Vacation, he had his last final today.  Don't know the grades yet, but he thinks he did well.

Andrew is busy with soccer and basketball.  He needs to keep active, otherwise all he wants to do is play Wii.

Tom is out hunting again.  Today he is hunting Deer, tomorrow Pheasant.  Hope you get something baby, the boys are hungry.

I went downtown today for some paperwork to be apistilled.  Boy was it crowded.  It is on State Street, which if you don't live in Chicago you may not know that State Street is where all the shops are.  Macys had there window display and a ton of school children were there.  It must have been a field trip, it was very crowded.  I got the paperwork completed and now it is off to our Adoption Agency.  I think I am done now until after we go on our first trip.  There is more paperwork that needs to be completed within 90 days of court.  Now we just keep waiting for a phone call to let us know when we can travel.  I think I mentioned earlier that it will probably be the end of January for us.

Updates

Wow, where do the weeks go?  Since it has been over a week since I posted let me get you updated:

Tuesday - Austin and I attended an information meeting at his school about a Flight Club.  Austin is definately going to do this.  This club will help him get his flying lessons and license.  Go Austin.

Wednesday - Sally had her mouth surgery (again) for bone implant.  Hopefully this time it won't get infected.  Tom and Tyler leave for hunting.

Thursday - Tom calls to tell me Tyler shot a big deer.  Trevor got braces.  So if your counting Trevor is #5 in our family to have braces.  I think our Ortho loves us.

Friday - Trevor tells me that 3 brackets already came off.

Saturday - Kelly and I went out to lunch to the Claim Jumpers Restaurant.  This is one of my favorite places to eat.  I love how we can sit by the fire and just indulge in awesome food and conversation.  After lunch, we were blessed to be able to attend Candelight Carols at Moody Bible Institute.  If anyone is around in Chicago, in the first full weekend of December, you should definately go to see this production.  This is our annual tradition to go.  It was beautiful, and magnificent.  The voices and orchestra were just heavenly.  It sure gets you in the CHRISTmas spirit.

Well that is pretty much it.

Now it is time to get ready for the annual deer hunting Christmas party we have here every year.

Here is Trevor playing basketball

He gets a lot of penalties

he also, misses A LOT of free throws.

He needs to practice these.

Here he is 2 for 12 - OUCH

Tyler with his big deer! Way to go!

Christmas Preview

Here are the boys!

I LOVE this picture.  I can't believe that they

are all smiling and look great.

The boys call this their male model pose?  Don't ask me!

I look great tho, don't I?  Hee, Hee

Cooper stopped cooperating.  He is actually laying at Toms feet.

He was still recovering from hunting the day before.

Not much else is happening.  I stumbeled upon a great sale at Gymboree the other day.  I found a cute outfit for our daughter.  I had to buy it, and just pray it is the right size.  If not I will have to return it.