Second visit with John Mark

This morning we went back to the orphanage in Togliatii. When we arrived John Mark and his group were playing outside. Today was a beautiful day, not hot and a nice breeze blowing. When we walked up to his group he immediately waved at us and said "papa" to Greg. We played with him a few minutes in his group to make sure he was comfortable with us again.

Today, we enjoyed just letting him wander around and look at the flowers and different play things in the orphanage play area. We took him to one of the play sets and played for about an hour until it was time for lunch and nap. He played with his Tonka trucks we brought. He rolled them up and down the slide and ramp of the play set.

During John Mark's nap we visited with a lady from Israel who was there to pick up her daughter. She adopted a little girl who will be 2 years old in August. Her mom had come on the trip to help her out. They were very nice and we enjoyed hearing about the process in this region of Russia since she was finishing. Her daughter was very cute. She was in John Mark's group. The wait between lunch and nap seems like forever so having people to talk to certainly helped pass the time.

During the nap waiting period Greg and I signed the petition to adopt after visiting the child for both Olivia Ann and John Mark. These were preliminary forms to get the rest of the paperwork started in the Samara region.

After nap, John Mark came back outside with us and we played and played until about 6:20. During this play time he seemed to have a blast. He would run from one place to the other. Swinging, climbing and being chased by Greg. There is an apple tree in the play area so the little apples on the ground were great fun. He tried to feed them to a big stuffed lion and roared at it every time. John Mark created his on game, running and jumping on an upside down blow up swimming pool. Each time Greg would drag him off by his legs and he thought that was so funny.

Greg discovered that the is very ticklish. John Mark enjoyed Greg picking him up and showing him all the trees. They investigated every tree in the court yard. For about an hour John Mark carried a panda bear in one hand and a kitten in the other hand. He mooo'ed at the panda from time to time and would meow for the kitten. The panda looked much like a cow so it was easy to see why he was mooing at it all the time. The little people animals were a big hit with him. Eventually, John Mark found a stick and a rock to play with, just like all other little boys. We had a fabulous time playing with John Mark today. We discovered that he knows several animal noises and yes and no in Russian of course.

He went in at 6:20 or so for dinner and then returned for about ten minutes before it was time to go. Leaving is so hard as I explained in an earlier post. He is such a precious child. We saw so many smiles today. The first visit John Mark was so serious and we had to work to get smiles but today he was constantly smiling and seemed very happy.

We drove to the Samara airport for Sasha our interpreter to help the ladies from Israel get on their plane to Moscow. Sasha has been an invaluable part of this experience, she helped calm both John Mark and Olivia Ann down when we first meet them. She would sit and talk to them and made it so much easier for us. As you all know most 20 month old children don't really care for strangers at all and she helped make each child feel comfortable. She was a true blessing to us.

We arrived at the hotel about 9:30. We changed our reservation to the Renaissance hotel. Yes, it is a thousand times better than the hotel we first stayed in in Samara and would you believe only twenty dollars a night more. At this point is was well worth it.

We are in the Moscow airport now awaiting our flight to Atlanta. We are sad to leave Olivia Ann and John Mark behind but we have missed Tucker.

Thank you all so very much for your prayers and encouragement. We have felt the blessings of all your prayers and love throughout this entire journey. Please continue to lift us up and especially all the precious children in the orphanages.