It’s been another great day in Siberia! Never mind the cold the warmth we’ve felt from Peter, Paul and Mary has made the trip worth every value tenfold. We spent just an hour with the boys this morning but made stronger connections as we played with balloons, tickled, measured feet, hands, shirts and pants so that when we come back in a couple of months we can have the right size for each one. We all shared Cheerios as we left them with little backpack bags for their toys. We gave them a fleece blanket and a photo album of their new mama and daddy as well as their new older sister and grandparents and cousins and their new home in Maryland. They ate it up and as we prepared to leave they grabbed their stuff and announced they were ready to go – they didn’t need more coats they just wanted to go with us. It was awful tearing ourselves away but after a few more tight hugs we managed to leave with promises to come back soon to take them to their new home.
Then it was off for a quick visit with Mary. She sacheted into the room and to the sofa with the biggest smile on her face and Sophia (her doll) in her arms. She got up and demonstrated her skill at printing the Russian alphabet on a chalk board which Nancy then followed by spelling out our fist names and then shared with Mary her new name. She giggled and declared she liked it! We moved on to Sophia and cut loose the ribbon holding her hair in one style and restyled it to suit her imagination. We gave her a coloring book and now have her first piece of art to hang on the fridge. We gave her a blanket as well and then showed her the picture album including her room, older sister (she said “she’s pretty”), grandparents and cousins. As we gathered things up to head out she wanted to use our camera to take first Kevin’s picture and then Nancy’s. So, she already has a taste for being creative and adventuresome. As we pulled on our shoes to leave she gave us hugs and a big kiss good bye.
Clearly, it was hard for us to leave – even knowing we will be back in a few months to bring them home for good. It will be as hard on them as it will be on us. As good as their caregivers are – and they truly do their best with limited resources, it is not a substitute for being together as a family. When we showed Mary pictures of her brothers she beamed and laughed at some of our pictures. She clearly misses them! That kind of attachment is wonderful to see and holds promise for the melding of the three of them into our family of three. Time will tell but we are confident that God’s hand did bring us together and this family is meant to be.
The next steps were taken this afternoon when we signed a formal petition to the Russian Federation to adopt the three kids. The process moves on further in our absence and will hopefully progress to a court hearing before Mary’s 8th birthday on February 28 (also Kevin’s Father’s birthday) so we can be home to celebrate. That’s all for now. We are beat and 4:00 AM will come soon with a flight back to Moscow Friday morning followed by our departure Sunday morning for the US. Our love to all of you!