Things are very different here

So I new the jet lag would be difficult so I'm up at 2:30 am Moscow time.  Rayla is still in bed so I left the room so she could get some sleep.

I didn't sleep any on the plane, I just couldn't get comfortable.  We paid a little extra to get sets with more leg room.  We should have seen if we could pay extra for wider seats.  They were the kind that had the light/call switch and headphone jacks beside  you instead of on top of the arm rest.  It was a very tight fit for me.  We even got an exit row.  What we didn't know is that the exit row is also very cold.  I gave Rayla my blanket since she was so cold.

The traffic/driving is crazy here.  People double parking everywhere, no blinkers, pull out when you want and others will break...  I'm glad we are not driving and have someone to do it for us.

The food has not been too good so far.  On the plane we had some kind of chicken with with some rice and veggies.  However they didn't say anything about the honey mustard dressing so I had to struggle to get it down.  However the brownie for desert was great.  Then for breakfast they served something that looked like a hotpocket.  They said it was a southwestern egg something or another.  I wish they would have left it in the southwest.  But I ate it along with a banana and some orange juice.  As you can tell I was hungry.  Then for supper we when to some underground mall and found a food court.  We didn't see anything we really wanted, but two places looked like food we could get from America.  One had hamburger, chicken and french fries, but Rayla is trying to cut down on her salt so we went with Sabara pizza.  Rayla had a ham and cheese "hot pocket" and I had two slices of pepperoni.  She didn't like hers at all and mine tasted like a really bad frozen pizza.  But we ate most of it anyway.

The people here dress like they are stuck in the 80's.  Rayla noted that a lot of they guys were things that look like girl clothing.  Guys love to where jeans and roll them up.  I think I make take a few picks today and post them for everyone to see.   The girls love to wear high heals and funky shoes.

Well my battery is about to run out so I'll update again when I can.  Hopefully not at 2:30 am.

 St. Basil's Cathedral

We walked around for a couple of hours but it was dreary and raining so the photos did not turn out as well as we would have liked. We may try to go again in the morning if the sun is shinning.

We fly to the region tomorrow at 2pm Moscow time. I think that is 6am your time, if I did my time zone math correctly. All is well with us, just eagerly awaiting the orphanage visits at the end of the week.

Arrived in Moscow

After a very long flight and cold flight (it was freezing on the plane) we have arrived at the Courtyard Marriott. On the flight the lady sitting in front of us was from Miami and she was on her third trip for her adoption of two little one year old boys. She helped us through the passport control. It was nice to visit with her about her adoption process.
Our interpreter and driver met us at the airport and delivered us to the hotel. I am glad someone else was driving in the Moscow traffic, it was wild. One intersection had about 20 cars all trying to go from different directions all at once.  We are about to go eat and find Red Square. We plan to stay busy to fight off sleep. It was hard to get more than a nap in on the plane.  Just wanted everyone to know that we arrived safely.

About to leave

At the airport and about to leave for Moscow. 11 hour flight ahead. Made it through security after the complete pat down. Special thanks to the David and Marlea Johnson for the ride to the airport. Thanks to everyone for all your well wishes and especially your prayers. We love you all. Make sure you click on Follow on the blog to be emailed notices when we update. We will update as much as pssible. Next update will be from Moscow.

July 4th We Travel to Russia

Greg and I will be traveling to Russia July 4th and return the 11th. To say we are excited is an understatement for sure! We will be meeting with the Centre of Adoption in the region of Samara on July 7th. This will involve a psychological profile evaluation and an interview with the adoption officials where we will officially receive the referrals for Olivia Ann Polina and John Mark Baytimir.

July 8th we will travel to the city of Syzran to visit Olivia Ann. We hope to be able to visit the majority of the day with Olivia Ann. We have a list of questions to ask the orphanage officials about Olivia Ann and John Mark, general health and any family history they can give us. On the 9th we will visit with Olivia Ann once again and then travel Toyliatti to visit John Mark. We will spend the rest of the 9th and all of the 10th in Toyliatti.

We are taking a few toys and books that Granny and JJ bought for the children to play with while we are with them. We are also taking blankets that Sammie Wright embroidered for us. We will take no less than a million pictures I am sure.

Please pray for our trip. Please pray for Tucker while we are apart. Tucker will be living the good life in Tennessee with Granny and Bop and very importantly to him with cousins Alex and Lucas. Please pray for safe travel and a smooth visit at the Centre of Adoption. We ask also that you pray for our time with Olivia Ann and John Mark. Please say an extra prayer for our peace as we will have to leave Olivia Ann on the 9th and then again for peace as we leave John Mark on the 10th. The waiting has been so difficult but I know leaving these precious children in Russia and returning to wait for an unknown length of time is going to be extremely difficult. I know that God will give us the courage, strength and peace that we will need to come home and get everything ready for their homecoming. We will only survive through prayer and support of family and friends.

We leave Russia on the 11th at 12:45pm and arrive in Atlanta at 3:45pm. It will be an extra long day with the time change.  Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement throughout the adoption process.

Names with Significance

As Greg and I were trying to pick names for the children we wanted their names to be much like Tucker’s…to have family connection like Tucker Michael. The more we thought about it the more we wanted the girl to be named in honor of JJ (aka my aunt Janice Bingham) and my mother.  So we took the middle names of Janice Olivia Bingham and Patricia Ann Tucker and decided on Olivia Ann Polina Black. We chose to honor these ladies because of the amazing Christian women that they are and the role models they are for everyone around them. Both have influenced and changed so many people’s lives. Mama changed so may lives through education and JJ through the medical missions. Both have been Jesus to so many children, we hope and pray that Olivia Ann will grow up and become a young lady like both of  them showing Jesus to all those around her.

We are naming the little boy John Mark Baytimir Black. John is Greg’s dad’s first name and Mark is after his friend and mentor Mark Churchwell. We will call him John Mark. Both have influenced his life through his walk with Jesus Christ and through his work ethic and financial management. We hope and pray John Mark will grow up to be a young man of Christian stature like his namesakes.

We are so excited about their names because the people they are being named after are such strong Christians will always show them love and will be outstanding amazing models for them to follow as they grow up.

A Long Journey

In January of 2010 Greg and I decided to adopt. We had talked about it, prayed about it, researched it and prayed and prayed about it. Greg had always wanted a big family and we decided further infertility treatments were not for us so we decided to listen to what God had placed on our hearts many many different times and begin the adoption process. We meet with our agency the last week in January and signed the initial papers and began the long roller coaster ride of adoption. We chose to adopt through Children of the World in Fairhope, AL.  Children of the World told us that we would most likely complete the adoption process in 18 months.

We moved along through the home study, fingerprinting, paperwork gathering process until our complete dossier was sent to Russia in July of 2010. It did not take us that long to gather the needed information but the various government agencies approvals took that long to complete. So we thought everything was in place and we would be matched and receive a referral any day in July 2010 but there was one big problem. The lady from TN sent her child back to Russia in April of 2010 and everything adoption related slowed down in Russia.  So the summer was spent waiting and watching the US State Department website about the negotiations for a new adoption treaty between the USA and Russia.  Needless to say our adoption timeline was not looking so good at this point.

In March of 2011 we completed the Home Study update still with no referral. Finally in April of 2011 we received a referral of triplets. The triplets were the most adorable three children you have ever seen, one was even red headed. However, while waiting for the medical information to send to the adoption clinic a Russian family decided to adopt them. We were very disappointed, selfishly I know, but were ultimately happy for them to be adopted. Almost immediately after loosing the triplets we received the referral of 18-month-old Polina and 10-month-old Dmitry. We sent all paperwork to the International Adoption Clinic at UAB and waiting on their results. This process was required by our agency so that adoptive parents are made as aware as possible about the health of the child or in our case children. We received good reports back for UAB and accepted the referrals.

Sadly, on May 28th our agency called and said there had been a mistake and Dmitry should have never been matched to us because he had not been on the Russian registry of children long enough to be adopted internationally. We were told we had options:

1. We could wait until September and try to adopt Dmitry then but we were told there was no guarantee we would be able to adopt him and that we would loose Polina if we choose to wait until September.

2. We could give up the referral of Dmitry and keep Polina and go with the referral the agency had sent on May 28th when they revealed the mistake about Dmitry.  

Neither option seemed very good to us. We felt like we were loosing either way...loosing a child that we had become attached to through one little picture. He already had a huge place in our hearts, as did Polina. Many tears were shed and much frustration vented at this time but after much prayer and counsel from friends and our life group we decided to go with option 2. Through this experience we firmly believe God had chosen the children for us and we simply needed to tell the agency something and God would no doubt take care of the rest.

After waiting a week on UAB (everything in an adoption takes longer than you expect) to review the new referral we accepted the new referral. Baytimir was born in October of 2009 and Polina in September of 2009. We will find out when we travel what their exact birthdays are but it will be like having 2 year old twins. We believe God has chosen these precious children for us to love and bring into our family. Please pray for us and especially pray for all the orphaned children of the world that each one of us can do something to help these children and glorify God in the process.

Hosea 14:3  “In Thee the orphan finds mercy”  

Psalm 82:3-4 “Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them.”