We are Coming Home!

We were approved by the US Embassy this morning.  We have all the paperwork and forms completed and we will be coming home as planned. So thankful to God for answering our prayers and yours.

We received an email this morning from the US Embassy stating that they would process Olivia Ann's visa. but until we made the visit to the Embassy we thought it was best to wait to tell everyone until we actually had the visas and immigration documents in our hands. This morning the Embassy trip took about an hour, in and out like there had never been a problem at all. Praising God for another mountain He moved on our behalf and on the behalf of adoptions everywhere.

In our hearts we knew God had chosen these children for us but we also recognized that Satan was attacking because he was loosing the battle to keep children in orphanages away from families. Thanks to all of you so very much for fighting the battle with us and being there with us through the storm.

Greg and I both cried when we got in the car at the Embassy, it was finally over, all the tears of pain and fear washed away by tears of joy and praise to our Most Powerful Heavenly Father.

We are so happy that we will be able to introduce you to Olivia Ann and John Mark soon.  We can't wait to see many of you at the airport in Montgomery Friday night at 10:43. 


Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
MercyMe, Bring the Rain

Ready to come home with all the needed papers!

INS Form Completed...still Praying that is Enough

We were able to get in touch with our amazing agency representative Terri, very early this morning. She managed to get in touch with the INS officer who originally worked on our case and the INS officer completed the form we needed immediately and forwarded it to the Embassy in Russia. Terri indicated that the officer was more than helpful and truely concerned about our difficulty and was eager to help. Greg and I know the INS response was the answer to all your prayers.

Now, we wait and pray that the form is enough and this crisis will be over. Unfortunately we will not know until 2:30 in the morning or a little later...middle of the night for all of you and 11:30am for us. This form should be all the Embassy needs to complete the visas for the children and to allow all of us to return to Montgomery, AL on Friday night at 10:43.

One more issue to pray for is regarding the US Embassy processing time for the paperwork tomorrow afternoon. This process will need to be expedited in order for us to leave on time. Originally, the Embassy required two days to do what they will now prayerful need completed in one afternoon.
(another complicating matter is that our visas expire Friday...praying that will not become an issue.)

God did move another mountain today, a US government agency mountain and we are so grateful and forever thankful. The messages you have sent us via Facebook, email or the blog comments have been so encouraging. We would not have survived the last 24 hours without your love, support, prayers and encouragement. Thank you all so much! Christian friends are some of God's greatests gifts. We love you all and are forever indebted to you for the love you have shown us throughout the adoption process and particularly the last few hours. We do feel your love and God's presence.

So thankful that we can sleep tonight knowing you are all lifting us up in prayers all over the country. Thank you for the encouragement that the battle belongs to the Lord. As my dear friends Uduak and Sharon reminded me "Decree what you want to the Lord and it will established unto you" and to take one hour at a time, sometimes God gives us challenges we can not bare to think about but He will help us through it all.

We will update tomorrow as soon as we know something.

Update...Now we Need new INS Approval

We went to a doctor here this morning at noon. We were told as you read in the last post that a doctor need to say in a written form that this is a correctable problem for Olivia Ann. $400 later we obtained said form from an Embassy approved doctor and the Embassy declined to approve the paperwork.

Now the Embassy says we have to have a new INS form in order to be able to resolve this issue. We have no idea if the Immigration Services will approve the form at all much less on short notice.

Please pray that God will move a mountain today, and that mountain needs to be the INS.

A Request for Help

Update on our situation....

Our agency sent in an updated home study and the US Embassy denied it.  Our appointment for with the embassy has been canceled until we get this cleared up.  So we are going for option two.

What we need is an US pediatrician (can be any pediatrician not just ours) who will send in a letter to the US Embassy and have it documented that Olivia Ann's condition is minor and correctable. 

According to what we have been told in Russia, once you have cerebral palsy diagnosis you have it for life.  But in the US you can have infant cerebral palsy and it is correctable with massage and physical therapy (our international adoption doctor at UAB indicated this as did Olivia's doctor here).  So right now she is considered special needs and we were not approved by the INS to adopt a child with special needs.


We can even do a Skype or Facetime video chat if a US pediatrician needs to review her.  We just need some help from a pediatrician as well as the Great Physician above. Since it is midnight in the US getting anything done until tonight is a challenge.

We also have an appointment with a doctor here at Noon to see if they will/can help us out.  We will let everyone know as soon as we find something out.

Please continue to pray for us.

Urgent Prayer Request

Today our translator/Beacon House facilitator called to say we have a US Embassy paperwork problem. The issue creating the problem is that the orphanage medical paperwork indicates that Olivia Ann is a special needs child because of her issues with her right hand and leg. The orphanage even diagnosed it as cerebral palsy. This evidently has caused a huge problem because we are not approved by the US government to adopt a special needs child. Our home study does not include special needs wording nor does the I600 so we have a huge problem.

Until it is resolve the Embassy will not process our paperwork and therefore we will not be able to leave Russia with Olivia Ann until the issue is resolved. We have contacted our agency and they are working very hard to resolve the problem in some way. The home study must be changed or the doctors at UAB Adoption Clinic must right a letter to the Embassy saying Olivia Ann does not have special needs...all this needs to happen today to fix the problem.

Please pray this issue will be resolved by 11am Russian time so we can complete our Embassy interview and come home as planned on Friday. Ultimately, the Embassy says we can not adopt Olivia Ann without resolving the issues so please pray for us and the Embassy and all those trying to resolve the problem. Greg and I know God is a Powerful God and He is Able to fix this problem. Thank you in advance for your prayers.
Trusting God and trying not to worry.

Embassy Doctor Appointment and More

This morning we had our doctor appointment for the US Embassy. The USA wants to make sure the children do not have any contagious diseases. Our check up did not reveal any problems so it is safe to return to the USA. The doctor said that the orphanage had diagnosed Olivia Ann with cerebral palsy but we will let our pediatrician, Dr. Brannon, and the doctors at UAB International Adoption clinic check into that before we go with that opinion. Olivia Ann only weighs 22 pounds but the doctor said she was doing great since she weighed 4 pounds at birth. The doctor did not weigh John Mark, I guess it was obvious he is fairly healthy. He is a chunk compared to his sister.

By the way, we managed fine this morning getting everyone ready for an 8:30 appointment. I thought it was pretty impressive for the first time.  John Mark loves to take a bath and would play in the tub a long time if you had time, which we did not this morning. Olivia Ann on the other hand cries when she sees the bathroom door open. She does not like the bath at all, however this morning she did better with it than yesterday. Greg played with her more and it went much smoother but she really does not like it. It is pitiful how she cries just seeing the room. Not sure why and I might not want to know why.

It was raining today but we thought we would wander out to find lunch anyway but the children were getting too wet so we just came back to the apartment for some soup. We brought a few soup mixes with us, Laurie bought for us. It has been great help since finding food around here seems to be a challenge for us.

After nap we Skyped with Tucker and Granny, Tucker would barely let Granny sit in the chair, he wanted to see brother and sister and did not want to share the space. Tucker seems to be doing well without us, which is not shocking considering he is with Granny. They were headed to the fair to see the animals today. He is going to ride the rides on another trip unless he cons Granny into it today. We talked to Tara, Patrick and the boys today too. It was fun to let them see the children. Carson has been so excited about our adoption but not nearly as excited as his mom. We also Skyped with Aunt Sharon. It was great to visit with her also. It is exciting for us to be able to show off Olivia Ann and John Mark even before we arrive at the Montgomery airport Friday night. We are very thankful for adoption supportive friends. We would not have survived the process without all of you.

Tomorrow is predicted to be a day of no rain in the morning so we can go out and about the city a little. We have a Moscow tour set up for Wednesday afternoon so maybe we will get those must have Russian photos with the children in front of the Kremlin and other historic sites.

Olivia Ann is ready to strike a pose any time the camera appears.

Ready to go to the Embassy doctor's appointment.

Rare moment when John Mark is looking and Olivia Ann is not. She is fascinated by her brother.

Deep conversation.

John Mark loves the animals in the books we brought.

Olivia Ann loves all her clothes and shoes...she really likes these boots and is not concerned if they match the outfit.

Olivia Ann and John Mark fuss over this photo book of our family.

Restful Day With Children

Today John Mark slept until 9am, however Olivia Ann did not. She was up at 7am. Since we all went to bed so late Greg and I were hoping they would sleep in and John Mark did. Olivia Ann did not have a good night at all, so we are hoping for better tonight.

We just played at the apartment this morning. John Mark is eating anything we give him and Olivia Ann is not. She barely eats much at all. We are praying that will get better soon.
Nap time was challenging today for Olivia Ann. She was exhausted but did not want to be laid down. Finally after an hour of working, she was asleep enough for me to lay her down. John Mark went to sleep fairly quickly and slept three hours. Olivia Ann slept an hour in her bed and and hour on me.

After nap we called Tucker and Granny to video chat and Tucker was glued to the computer. He was so happy that both Olivia Ann and John Mark would say his name. It sounds like Tucky when they say his name, it is so cute and Tucker loved it. He and Granny seemed to be doing well and we had a nice chat with them. We called Nana and Papa next and let them talk to the kids. Renee was there too and it was great for all of them to see John Mark and Olivia Ann and for us to see then as well.

Both Olivia Ann and John Mark are learning their names quickly. Remember we kept their Russian names but are not calling them Polina or Baytimir. They both are very responsive to being called John Mark and Olivia Ann. They have been learning our names too. If you ask either one where is Mama or Daddy they point appropriately. Today after our video chat with Tucker, Greg asked John Mark where is Tucker and he pointed to the iPad. They have both been fascinated with the family photo album and Olivia Ann gets upset when John Mark is looking at it or carrying it around.

In between phone calls we went out and found an expensive grocery store. It was nice just get out a little and walk around. The double stroller Lora gave us is wonderful. The children love riding side by side in it and it is easy to move around.

Bedtime went much smoother tonight than last night, probably helped that we had a normal schedule today. Olivia Ann seems to be sleeping better tonight already so maybe she will have a good night.

Looking at a book

Looking at the iPad with Daddy

Ready for bed

And Now We Are a Family of Five

Twenty two months of paperwork and more paperwork and then all the waiting, tears, and more waiting and tears our big day was finally here. To us the waiting seemed like so much longer than twenty two months. We were so excited to finally be able to love on these babies for a lifetime to come. As one friend put it very well, God has big plans for these precious children and we are so thankful, honored, overwhelmed and excited to be his vessels to put those plans into action. It is so hard to describe all our feelings from today. The joy and happiness was overwhelming. At both orphanages tears rolled down my face as we left. I think it was a combination of many things, the realization of so many answered prayers by us and all of you and you add the fact the caregivers at each orphanage seemed sad to see both children leave. I know they were loved while in the care of the orphanage and that was heart filling too.

Here are the details of the day:
We finally arrived in Syzran about 6pm on the 7th. After being up and traveling about 28 hours we found it easy to go to sleep but did not rest well be causing of thinking about the events to come.

We meet Sergey for breakfast and checkout out of the hotel about 8am. We arrived at the orphanage about 8:20. We were greeted by the doctor/director of the orphanage and we waited for the caregivers to bring Olivia Ann to us. In a very few minutes they brought her in and handed her to me. The caregiver abruptly left and we changed her clothes and got ready to go. Sergey seemed in a hurry to go to the other orphanage so we left. Olivia Ann seemed to remember us a little and was happy to put on new clothes and was especially excited about her shoes. She did not whimper a bit when we got in the car and seemed to be fine. We left and she just looked around as we drove away. She seemed to be taking it all in. She was not bothered by the car at all or we thought. Soon Olivia Ann was asleep and I thought wow this is going well. The next thing we know about forty minutes from John Mark's orphanage she sat up look around and promptly threw up on me and her clothes. I caught most of it in my hands, instinct I guess...Greg said why did you catch it, I said catch it or have an even bigger mess. I am sure she was very car sick from the travel, the roads are terrible, Sergey's driving is awful as we have mentioned before and to top it of it was hot in the car. All of that would make anyone car sick so a two year old who had never been in a car it was almost expected. We cleaned her up as best we could in the car and traveled on to the other orphanage. We went in the orphanage and just inside the entry way Olivia Ann got sick again. I was carrying her in and barely managed to get my head out of the way of a big mess. Needless to say this time I was forced to change back into the clothes I wore on the flight to Russia. Dirty clothes from a long day travel were a much better option than nasty clothes. Anyway after every one was cleaned up Olivia Ann was playing and seemed to be fine.

John Mark's group was outside when we arrived and after we managed to get everyone cleaned up frm the car sickness the caregiver brought John Mark in to us. He walked right to me with a big grin on his face. He was carrying the photo book we left with him the first trip. Olivia Ann just watched John Mark. They played independent of each other and really just watch each other from time to time. The orphanage caregiver brought lunch for John Mark and Olivia Ann. John Mark ate almost all his lunch and Olivia Ann ate her soup. Then John Mark left for a nap and Olivia napped in Greg's arms.

Right as lunch was over Sasha our translator arrived with our friends Eric and Elizabeth. Eric and Elizabeth adopted a little boy Alex who is about three and a half. Elizabeth and I went with Sasha to get snacks for the plane ride and lunch for the parents. Lunch came from McDonald's. Greg was happy about that, something we recognize for lunch was a good thing. Sasha helped us pick out some things the kids would like on the plane.

Once we returned to the orphanage, nap time was soon over and we had to prepare to leave. Sergey asked us about our tickets and found out we did not have a piece of paper from Aeroflot for a baby in arms and this appeared to be a problem. So we quickly packed up to go. John Mark cried when we got in the car but settled down quickly and we were on out way to the airport. Soon Olivia Ann went to sleep in the car and we were relieved she did not get sick again. John Mark watched everything going on as we traveled. His big brown eyes got even bigger as he watched the world around him go by. He traveled fine and when we got to the airport Sergey went in to solve our ticket problem. After all was said and done we had to pay $125 for John Mark because we did not get the baby in arms paper earlier. We felt like there was no way to win the argument...even though a baby in arms is generally free but without some paper they were not letting him on the plane without a real seat. At this point we just had to pay it and go on, the language barrier, even with Sasha translating, was going to keep us from doing anything but paying the fee and move on. So anyone traveling on Aeroflot Russian airlines...you must have a piece of paper from the airlines for a baby in arms or buy another ticket. Lesson learned.

Our first flight with the children went well. John Mark cried when we sat him down to put our stuff down but was fine once we were all sitting. Thanks so much to my sister-in-law, Laurie, had packed the best plane snacks ever. We snacked all the way to Moscow and no one cried or got very restless. Of course that was an hour and half flight, we will pray that Friday goes as smoothly.

Val meet us at the airport in Moscow and took us to our apartment. Both kids slept on the hour ride from the airport to the apartment. The apartment is nice and will be fine for our week here. Getting little ones to sleep was a little of a challenge. John Mark went right to bed but Olivia Ann did not want to be laid down so she fell asleep in Greg's arms and then he put her to bed. Olivia Ann did not sleep well at all. She cried out in the night a lot, never really awake but crying and restless. All in all the night was not too bad, considering all the changes in John Mark and Olivia Ann's last 24 hours they are adjusting better than to be expected.

Dressed and ready to go.

Director helping us out with Olivia Ann's hair bow... Something we know nothing about.

Ready for the ride!

Calm before the storm

Watching John Mark, she doesn't know what to think.

First photo together.  Looking at photo book we left with John Mark

Looking at his photo book

Dressed and ready to go

Dressed and ready to go to bed

In Moscow waiting to board Plane for Samara

Our flight arrived a little early which was nice since we needed to meet Val. Val is our translator for the Moscow visit. Thankfully he agreed to meet us in Moscow this morning to pick up all of our luggage except one piece and he also kept the double stroller for us. Since we will return to Moscow tomorrow night we did not need all the luggage and the first flight with the children will be easier without all the luggage.
Our flight from NYC to Moscow was not very restful. Our seats were in between 2 groups of Russian men who were loud and really obnoxious.  We don't sleep much on the flights anyway but it was practically hopeless this flight.
We will meet Sergey in Samara for our two hour drive to Syzran. We will spend the night in Syzran and in the morning go to pick up Olivia Ann. In some ways it is very hard to believe that we are finally to this point in the adoption process. It is really going to happen now.
Next post will be after we return to Moscow with Olivia Ann and John Mark Saturday night. Please pray for a smooth transition from the orphanages tomorrow and a smooth first flight.

Waiting to Board the Plane in NYC for Moscow

Greg and I arrived in NYC without any problems. The Delta agents in Montgomery were very kind and even though one bag was over weight they let it through without fee. Our wonderful friend Lexie was our taxi driver today to the airport.  Tucker got in the car too and pretended he was going with us. I think the fact that we were home such a short time made him a little bit less excited about us leaving again.  I know he and Granny will stay busy and have a lot of fun.
Thanks to all of you for your prayers and well wishes over the last few days. A special thank you to David Johnson for teaching Accounting I today,  being able to leave the class in his capable hands made my school schedule much easier.
Greg and I really appreciate all the encouragement you have given us throughout the adoption process.  Please continue to pray for our trip and for all our children. 

Schedule for Third and Final Trip

We wanted to share our plans for the trip to pick up Olivia Ann and John Mark.

Oct 6 - Thursday - Flight to Moscow arriving on the 7th
- 8:10am - MGM to Atlanta - Delta Air Lines 5315
- 11:57am - Atlanta to NY - Delta Air Lines 72
- 5:10pm - NY to Moscow - Delta Air Lines 30 (arriving on the 7th at 10:55am)

Oct 7 - Friday - Flight to Samara
- 2:00pm - Moscow to Samara (arriving at 3:50) - Aeroflot 831
- Spend night at Hotel in Syzran

Oct 8 - Saturday - Pick up kids and fly back to Moscow
- Go pick up Olivia Ann
- Go pick up John Mark
- 5:45pm - Samara to Moscow - Aeroflot 832 (arriving at 7:30pm)
- Go to Apartment
- - NEW ARBAT 22 RETRO SUITE

Oct 9 - Sunday
- Day spent with children

Oct 10 - Monday
- 9am - Doctors Appointment for Children
- Go to Embassy

Oct 11 - Tuesday
- 11:30 - Go to Embassy for Visa

Oct 12 - Wednesday
- Day spent with children

Oct 13 - Thursday
- Day spent with children
- Meet Val to get paperwork to return home

Oct 14 - Fly back to MGM
- 12:55pm - Moscow to NY - Delta Air Lines 31
- 7pm - NY to Atlanta - Delta Air Lines 73
- 10:53pm - Atlanta to MGM - Delta Air Lines 5373 (arriving at 10:43 pm)

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

We are waiting to board our Aeroflot flight to Amsterdam. We have a five hour layover in Amsterdam and then on to Atlanta. We are ready to be home out of the smoke from all the Russian who smoke constantly. All the "smoking is bad for your health" campaign must have failed here or never made it across the ocean.
We can't wait to get back to tell you all about the trip in person. We are especially ready to love on Tucker.
Please pray for our safe travel.

Court Today

We arrived to the courthouse an hour early, which for us was more waiting just a new venue for waiting. The head doctors of both orphanages and the social workers assigned to each orphanage were in attendance along with the prosecutor for the region of Samara. Court began by the judge arriving and immediately reading the case. Black family adoption petition was the main idea, she read a lot of stuff and the translation we received was Black Family Petition for Adoption proceedings.
The judge was a woman and except for Greg everyone in the courtroom was a woman. The judge began to read our dossier aloud for all to hear. Thankfully she did not read it all or we would still be sitting there. She read highlights from it about our house, medicals, our parents, employment, salaries, and about Tucker. Then she read a lot about Olivia Ann Polina and John Mark Baytimir. She read about each child's family background or lack thereof. Once the judge completed the readings she and the prosecutor asked me several questions. The questions were related to things such as 1. Will you treat adoptive children the same as biological child? 2. Will you take time off from work when children get home? 3. Are you financially prepared to care for children with disabilities? 4. How will your marriage hold up under the stress of a larger family? 5. If the children needs require, will you quit work? 6. Who will help you with the children if you need help, other than Greg?
After my questioning it was Greg's turn to answer the questions form both Judge and Prosecutor. They asked him: 1. How have you prepared for the education of the children? 2. Will your salary be sufficient to support the family if Rayla needs to quit work? 3. What is your plan for spending time with the children? 4. Who will care for the children if you and Rayla can not for any reason do so?
Once these questions were answered the Judge asked the doctors and social workers to speak about the children. Both doctors gave their reports, all medical information included things we had been told on the first visit. Both social workers explained how they had searched for family of each child. Olivia Ann's biological mother, grandmother and uncle had all terminated rights and the letters stating so were in the court proceedings. John Mark's family could not be located after much search according to the social worker. The social workers went on to explain how Russian families had been contacted to adopt both children. No one wanted John Mark because he does not appear Russian and no one wanted Olivia Ann because of her disability related to her right hand and right leg. The discussion of these facts were hard to listen to without crying. Bottom line is no Russians found either child suitable for adoption. I can't wait for everyone to meet both children and then you will all wonder like Greg and I wonder how they could not want to adopt these precious gifts from God.
Both the doctors and social workers recommended the adoption. They all agreed it would be best for the children to be adopted by us.
After the doctors and social workers finished, the judge asked if we heard anything new about the children or if we had any questions. We did not have any questions and none of the information was new to us so she stood up and left the room. We were a little nervous about that action but Svetlana said not to worry, she would be back with a favorable verdict. Fifteen minutes went by and she returned and stated that she agreed with the recommendation of the prosecutor and the doctors and the social workers that it was in the best interest of the children to be adopted by us. Then she said she wished us luck, happiness and a healthy larger family. She finally smiled and it was over.
The children are now officially our children and their names are officially changed. I wish I was an eloquent writer like some of you reading this blog so I could adequately express our emotions about the finalization of the process today. It was all I could do not to immediately begin weeping. Olivia Ann and John Mark were chosen by God to be ours all the way from Russia. The gravity of that is so much to comprehend and explain. Know that we are so excited to say the least and so thankful to God for blessing us with these children. We are also so grateful to each one of you who have been there with us throughout the aches and pains, ups and downs, excitement and tears of the adoption process. It is not over yet, so keep praying but we are so very close, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
Svetlana hugged us and it was over. The whole court hearing took about an hour and half. It seemed almost too good to be true. That was it, in 10 days the paperwork will be signed and then Svetlana will do some paper work and we will return to Russia on the 7th of October. Leaving Montgomery the 6th. We will be home with our precious children very late October 14th. We will post more about the travel arrangements for the 3rd and thankfully final trip later.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. You have helped us survive the process to this point and we appreciate each one of you more than you realize.

Adoption Court Hearing is Over

We are now officially a family of 5! The court proceedings went well and the judge ruled in our favor for the adoption of Olivia Ann Polina and John Mark Baytimir. I can not describe our feelings right now. So much joy, relief, gratefulness, and thankfulness. We will write more later tonight. We are so blessed by your prayers and love throughout this process. We love you all!

A Day of Waiting and Waiting

Today was a free day. We had not appointments or requirements today. We ate breakfast with Eric and Elizabeth, the couple from Nebraska. They had their court appearance today and passed. Greg and I came back to the room to wait on their return and took naps. Yes, I even took a nap. All the travel and stress was catching up to me I guess because usually naps are not on my agenda.
When Eric and Elizabeth returned we talked to them about court and found out a few things to expect. We then all discussed the return trip to pick up the children with Svetlana and Sergey. We will be returning at the same time Eric and Elizabeth are returning. Eric and Elizabeth left for lunch on the way to the airport so Greg and I walked around looking for souvenirs. We bought a few things and came back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon looking at possible flights and apartments for the return trip.
For dinner we decided to try the Argentinean Big Beef House. They had an English menu so we thought it was safe for us since we do not speak any Russian. We ordered and in a few minutes our waiter came back trying to explain something about the steaks we ordered. We did not really understand what he was saying but agreed to something. We soon found out exactly what we agreed to when the ticket came. The steaks were priced by the gram not by the steak. We thought we were paying about twelve dollars for our steaks plus about 4 dollars for a baked potato. When the ticket arrived we realized we were paying twelve dollars a gram for the steak. Needless to say dinner tonight is most likely the most expensive meal Greg and I have ever eaten. The steak was good but not that good. We decided this meal just added to the "Adoption Experience". Traveling in a foreign country has all kinds of challenges and eating out is just one of those challenges. Next time we see an Argentinean Steak House we will know not to even step inside.
Tomorrow our court hearing is scheduled for 10:30am. While you are sleeping tonight, all of you except JJ that is since she is in Africa. Please pray that the proceedings go smoothly and we have wonderful news to blog about tomorrow.
Love to all and thanks so much for keeping us in your prayers.

Medical Exams

While you were all sleeping we had our medical exams. The exams were a formality we quickly figured out. Eric and Elizabeth, the couple from Nebraska, had their medical appointment at the same time we did. This is their second adoption so they told us this appointment was no big deal and they were right. We saw seven doctors and I use the term "saw" very loosely. Seven doctors came in and out of the room while we were there and yes they visualized us but most just signed the papers and walked out of the room. One doctor tapped our knees and arms and had us follow her hammer with our eyes. Her tap was more of an aggressive tap than a normal test like this that you would have at you local doctor. We had to roll our sleeves up for the Hematologist and she looked at our veins and asked about drug abuse.
A nurse took my blood pressure and those of you who know me well you know I have high blood pressure in normal circumstances so when the lady said "normal" and wrote something on the paper I know she either quit allowing the needle to go past normal or I know God intervened in some way be cause I do not have "normal" blood pressure and it is never normal under stress. The psychologist asked us if we were in good health, we said yes and he signed the form. He wanted to know why Montgomery, Alabama is named Montgomery??? Maybe at one time I knew why Montgomery was named Montgomery but I could not even think of a good reply today except…"I really have no idea." I was prepared for him to ask the question we were told he would ask…"Have you thought about death???"…meaning suicide…not about Montgomery. Greg was no help because he did not know either. Having never studied Alabama history we were completely at a loss. I might need to google that later so I will know if I am ever asked again.
One doctor had us stand with our feet touching, arms out and eyes closed. We were then asked to touch our nose with our fore finger. Easy enough right??? Greg missed his nose completely with his left hand, he looked at the doctor wondering what she would say. The doctor was not looking at him at all and totally missed the fact that he missed his nose. So as you can tell all in all these exam were definitely a formality and nothing to be concerned about.
After we made it back to the hotel we walked around with our adoption buddies Eric and Elizabeth. We bought a couple of souvenirs and ate lunch together. Now everyone is napping except me. The fire alarm went off randomly at 3am. We got up to start to get ready to do evacuate this old building but just as we were very good and awake the alarm went off. By then though we are very much awake and never went back to sleep. We looked at flight times in preparation for the 3rd and final trip. We skypped with Tucker, Granny and Nana and still were ready ready early for breakfast.
This evening we are going down to the river front to walk around and do a little sightseeing.
Our court time is 10:30am on Wednesday which is about 2:30am for most of you. Please pray that the proceedings go smoothly and Olivia Ann Polina and John Mark Baytimir will finally officially be ours.

A Day With John Mark

Today we spent the day visiting John Mark. This morning we picked up Lori and her friend at the airport. We drove 35 miles an hour to the airport today,(not the normal warp speed) evidently we were very early because we still waited almost an hour at the airport for Lori to arrive. We made it to the orphanage about 10:45. The care givers brought Sofia to Lori first. She is a doll. She is 3years old and is going home to Ohio not Texas as I said in the post before.
A short time later the orphanage director brought John Mark in to us. He was a little shy at first but came to me pretty easily. He gives the best love. He just snuggled in on my shoulder. It is so sweet and such a precious feeling. He was a little intimidated by Greg at first too but warmed up fairly quickly.
We played with him until lunch. John Mark sat in my lap to eat his lunch of chicken broth soup with rice and a meatball and creamed corn of some kind. He also ate shredded up cucumbers with the corn and the meatball.  He ate all of his lunch with ease. He feeds himself very well considering he is not 2. All the children learn at a much younger age how to feed themselves out of necessity at the orphanage.
After lunch he played with Greg and played with the toys we brought. He really enjoyed watching the video we brought on the ipad of Tucker. Tucker says in the video "Hello brother and sister, I can wait to get you." Short and sweet message.
We brought shoes and clothes for John Mark to try on today. We guessed right on all the things we brought for him. Size 7 shoe, 3T shirt and 2T pants. He has short little legs right now.
Right before lunch, another couple, Eric and Elizabeth, arrived for their second visit to the orphanage. They are from Nebraska. They are adopting a second child from this same orphanage. They adopted their first son when he was 18 months old, now he is 5 years old. They are adopting a 3 1/2 year old little boy now. Their court date is Tuesday and will return to pick their son up at the same time we return to get John Mark and Olivia Ann.
Around 1:30 or 2 John Mark began be very sleepy. He just sat in my lap for a while and started to take a nap. I took him down to his room so he would sleep better. He did not want me to hand him to the caregiver. He whimpered and then was about to really cry and they gave him a treat so he would not cry. Bribery works well with children of all nationalities. Of course my heart melted when he did not want to let me go.
John Mark came back after nap and we played more. This afternoon we took him outside for a little while. He had a nice time swinging. We stayed outside and played with Sofia and John Mark. Sofia wanted to be doing everything John Mark was doing. When it was time to go we were all sad as usual. It is especially hard when John Mark did not want to leave my arms to go back to his caregivers. I hope somehow in some little way that he and Olivia Ann will know that we will be back soon to get them.
Today we talked to Svetlana about the schedule for tomorrow. We will go for our medical exams tomorrow at 11:30. In theory this is not supposed to be a big deal. Lori said it was easy and nothing to it, last trip the lady from Israel indicated it was not fun at all. I am hoping to report to you a "Lori story" about the doctors tomorrow.

This photo has all the children and families that we met this trip.

Our Visit with Olivia Ann

After a good nights rest we flew to Samara at 9:30 this morning. It was misting rain in Moscow and it was windy and about 50 degrees so a little chilly for Alabamians accoustomed to 85 plus degrees every day.We arrived in Samara at 11:20. I wish you could all see the Samara airport. I can say with pretty good confidence that not many of you have been in airports like the one in Samara. You are bussed from the plane to the terminal for starters and it does not resemble the Atlanta or Montgomery airports in any fashion. When you walk in you feel like you are in a big shed, you wait here for your luggage. One positive to the small airport is that you get your luggage very quickly. Anyway let us just say the Samara airport adds to the whole experience.
We were greeted by Sergey and Sasha at the airport. Sergey takes care of all the paperwork on the Russian side and he is our driver from place to place. (Sergey, as most Russian drivers, drives like he is participating in an Indy Car Road Race.) Sergey works for Beacon House and for the Ministry of Education in Samara. The Ministry is in charge of all the adoptions in the region. Sasha is our interpreter and was with us last trip each day. She is fantastic. She is so sweet and especially great with the children. I need to bring Sasha a gift next trip, I intended to do this trip but that was one of the many things I never got a chance to do before we left.
Sergey drove us to the orphanage in Syzran where we visited Olivia Ann Polina. They brought Olivia Ann in to see us a few minutes after we arrived. Olivia Ann's care givers woke her up from nap to see us so she was still sleepy. She was a little scared of us but not as frightened as the first time. She warmed up to us pretty quickly and was sitting in our laps in no time. This trip we brought two little people lift the flap books with us and she enjoyed seeing the animals and children behind each flap. We spent half of our time with her outside. She seemed to really enjoyed walking around outside. Her play area outside is very small and unevenly paved so she took a few tumbles while were out side. None of her spills were bad enough to cry over but with her right leg difficulty, walking on uneven surfaces is a little more challenging for her. We brought clothes and shoes to try on Olivia Ann so we would know better what size to buy for her. I think the 24M or 2T will be her size and her shoe size seems to be a 5 1/2 right now. The 6 shoe we brought was a little big so 5 1/2 should work perfectly.
We made lots of pictures and had a nice visit with Olivia Ann. However, the visit was very short. We were only with her about an hour and a half. That was certainly not long enough but leaving was a little easier since we expect to be back about the second weekend in October to pick her up to come home with us.
We left the orphanage and drove (in the same crazy scary way) back to Samara. We are staying in the Azimut Hotel again. This time our room is very nice compared to last trip. Supposedly last trip we upgraded the room, I think we paid to upgrade but obviously did not upgrade the room. This room is very comparable to American hotel rooms and will be fine for the week.
Tomorrow, we leave the hotel at 8 to go to the airport to pick up Lori a lady from Texas who is also adopting through Beacon House. She is arriving to pick up her little girl Sofia. Greg has emailed her a few times to ask her questions since she was a few weeks ahead of us in the process. It will be nice to meet her. Sofia and John Mark Baytimir are in the same class at the orphanage.  We will get to spend about three hours with John Mark tomorrow. Also, tomorrow we will be meeting with Svetlana. She works with Sergey at the Ministry of Education and works with Beacon House as well. She will be our translator in court on Wednesday. She will be working with us this week to prepare for the court hearing. Tomorrow we should find out what time the court hearing will be and we will let you know.
Pictures below are from our visit today.

The lady in this photo is the doctor in charge of Olivia Ann's orphanage.