Friday, February 29, 2008
Stay Tuned
Stay tuned for one last entry in this blog - the adventures of the last week deserve one more post - hopefully this weekend...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Nearly home!
Moscow February 22 8:00 PM: By the grace of God we are coming home four days early because we are DONE! That’s right; the Russian staff of our adoption agency has done a fantastic job of getting us through the process. The last step was the visa process at the American embassy today. Imagine 30 adopted kids (age 12 months up to 12 years) and their parents all crowded into a 25’ by 25’ room with a few dozen other Russian nationals waiting for visas in more or less the same space, add in snow suits, heavy wool and fur coats and the temperature was easily 90 degrees and the cacophony – oh it was noisy! We were the second to last family to get our visas but got them we did. Our flights have been changed and we will arrive back in DC Saturday night! Wahoo!
This morning we went back to the nearby park in snow suits and had a great time sliding and swinging before hitting the grocery store (mark up another first for the kids… and us!). Then it was off to the embassy. Upon returning we’ve been relaxing in the room with the Russian dubbing of the Cartoon Network. We just finished two rounds of Candyland which were handily won by Delaney. It was a great way to mix in colors and counting as well as engaging Delaney and Parker. Now it’s time for dinner, bath time and then a bit of video if everyone is doing well – tomorrow is a big day.
Continue keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as we make the last leg of this incredible journey. In little more than 24 hours we will be home and start the whole rest of our young and old lives (but feeling younger every moment).
With love, Kevin and Nancy
This morning we went back to the nearby park in snow suits and had a great time sliding and swinging before hitting the grocery store (mark up another first for the kids… and us!). Then it was off to the embassy. Upon returning we’ve been relaxing in the room with the Russian dubbing of the Cartoon Network. We just finished two rounds of Candyland which were handily won by Delaney. It was a great way to mix in colors and counting as well as engaging Delaney and Parker. Now it’s time for dinner, bath time and then a bit of video if everyone is doing well – tomorrow is a big day.
Continue keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as we make the last leg of this incredible journey. In little more than 24 hours we will be home and start the whole rest of our young and old lives (but feeling younger every moment).
With love, Kevin and Nancy
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sweet Dreams...
Moscow, February 21, 6:37 PM: Today has been another memorable day starting with getting our selves and three bewildered kids up before sunrise. Last night was predictably rough as everyone was on sensory overload. Today was no different with firsts (as far as we know) in an elevator, bus from the terminal to the plane, airplane, sprinter van, traffic jams, tall buildings, and car sickness. Add a bit more vomiting, crying, exhaustion, wide-eyed curiosity, exhilaration, and the fact that the day is ending calmly and peacefully after an in-room picnic dinner and mama/papa bath-time seems almost hard to imagine.
Moscow was sunny today and notably warmer than Kemerovo – it actually felt like spring was not far away – not that we plan on being here that long. It was a great day to sit in the doctor’s office which is a required step towards getting American citizenship (the physical is required not just the wait) for the kids. After that adventure we were at least able to salvage the afternoon by finding a park where they could climb on jungle gym equipment, swing and slide onto a patch of ice at the bottom and go bump, bump, bump – all a real laugh to the kids. Tomorrow we hope to have our interview at the American embassy which will be the last step in the process. Our agency really worked hard to get us from the airport to the children’s hospital where the exams are done and then the paperwork to the embassy to start this process. Moscow is a huge city with New York style traffic jams with cars, trucks, busses and forklifts, backhoes etc. bringing everything to a crawl. So the fact that we got so much done today is amazing.
As for the four hour flight this morning… It went surprisingly well. We’re learning how to manage the kids’ energy which makes life more enjoyable for everyone. We beat the ear aches at takeoff and landing and barely managed to keep them entertained for four hours – crayons and magnadoodle can only entertain for so long. Of course simply moving on and off the plane and around the airports with snowsuits, large bags and hands to be held has presented challenges but so far we can report that all are present and accounted for.
So, it is a happy night and we are both exhausted and relieved to have survived our first 24 hours as parents to three energetic kids under 8 that don’t yet speak much English (they already are repeating a few words). We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and they continue to make a difference.
Sweet dreams to all! Kevin and Nancy
Moscow was sunny today and notably warmer than Kemerovo – it actually felt like spring was not far away – not that we plan on being here that long. It was a great day to sit in the doctor’s office which is a required step towards getting American citizenship (the physical is required not just the wait) for the kids. After that adventure we were at least able to salvage the afternoon by finding a park where they could climb on jungle gym equipment, swing and slide onto a patch of ice at the bottom and go bump, bump, bump – all a real laugh to the kids. Tomorrow we hope to have our interview at the American embassy which will be the last step in the process. Our agency really worked hard to get us from the airport to the children’s hospital where the exams are done and then the paperwork to the embassy to start this process. Moscow is a huge city with New York style traffic jams with cars, trucks, busses and forklifts, backhoes etc. bringing everything to a crawl. So the fact that we got so much done today is amazing.
As for the four hour flight this morning… It went surprisingly well. We’re learning how to manage the kids’ energy which makes life more enjoyable for everyone. We beat the ear aches at takeoff and landing and barely managed to keep them entertained for four hours – crayons and magnadoodle can only entertain for so long. Of course simply moving on and off the plane and around the airports with snowsuits, large bags and hands to be held has presented challenges but so far we can report that all are present and accounted for.
So, it is a happy night and we are both exhausted and relieved to have survived our first 24 hours as parents to three energetic kids under 8 that don’t yet speak much English (they already are repeating a few words). We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and they continue to make a difference.
Sweet dreams to all! Kevin and Nancy
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Yes, they are all sleeping!
Hello From the mostly sleeping family of five here in Kemerovo. It was a long but successful day with the kids now finally asleep in our room. Tomorrow we fly back to Moscow to begin the final paperwork with the US embassy. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather is good and that the waiting out in the cold is not too long. This will be short note tonight since our internet is on the second floor and we are on the 6th. More news tomorrow night when we have a connection in our room – we hope. Love you all and to all a sleep filled night!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
We Are Family!
Kemerovo, Feb 19,9:45 PM: Today at 12:16 PM local time our adoption of Delaney Svetlana Brandt, Parker Alexander Brandt and Carson Vladimir Brandt was officially pronounced by the Kemerovo Oblast Court of the Russian Federation; we are now a family of six!
Having come so far, literally, it is still sinking in that we are 7/8’s of the way towards our goal of adoption. Not only did the court approve the adoption but they made the adoption effective immediately meaning we do not have to wait the usual 10 days for the court decision to be effective. Therefore, tomorrow morning we will drive to Delaney’s boarding school and the boys’ orphanage and bring them ‘home’ to our hotel. Thus will start the family phase of our adoption.
What a saga the last four days have been. Aside from being exhausted and hungry we’ve been anxious about how everything would flow. To our relief, today’s events went smoothly and presented no hitches – our adoption agency staff here are top shelf. Our hearing began a little late at 11:10 and concluded just over an hour later. Kevin was told to prepare a speech of about 10 to 15 minutes to cover many topics from our motivation to our finances to our relationship with the children. We were told to specially include references to our mortgage and wedding dates. As it turned out Kevin started with the meaning of our wedding date (Nov. 25th) and the judge took it from there with a range of questions that required answers from Kevin’s speech. Mid-way through the Q and A the pictures that we had struggled with the morning of our departure were requested. As they were passed around it was the first time in the hearing that smiles broke out among all participants including the judge! After 20 minutes of grilling Kevin was asked to sit down and Nancy was asked to stand and asked if she agreed to “everything your husband had just said.” Fortunately she did and a few more questions to her satisfied the judge.
More boilerplate-appearing readings were conducted (in Russian of course) and soon we got to the medical stuff. The enumeration of serious-sounding ailments resulted in an offer by the judge on the part of the Russian Federation to conduct more tests on the children. We respectfully declined and we moved on to our request to waive the Russian law which requires a 10 day waiting period before any court ruling can be made effective. After Kevin’s oral statement which was supported by the Oblast’s prosecutor and the regional Ministry of Education’s official the judge asked us all to step out of the court room (of special note: the court room included a pair of cells which were constructed on 1” rebar which fortunately we didn’t have to sit in). After not more than 2 minutes we were called back in for the reading of the court’s decision. Of course it was all in Russian but our interpreter gave us a running account and we squeezed each other’s hands to the point of pain as she pronounced each of the three adoptions approved. When she announced that she was waiving the 10 day waiting period we both gave a huge sigh of relief. As the judge and other participants filed past where we were standing we both hugged and our interpreter said, “Kevin, you look a lot more relaxed.”
The rest of the day was spent driving from the Oblast’s registrar’s office to the court house to some other place and back again and again. After the new birth certificates were issued and the passports prepared we went shopping for the little parties that we will host at the orphanage and boarding school when we go to pick up the kids tomorrow. Finally, we went to the local travel agency to purchase our tickets back to Moscow for our family of 5. I’m certain there isn’t a group rate here in Russia but we’ll certainly look into that back in the USA!
Tonight we ceremoniously opened the vacuum-sealed bag of kid’s clothes and packed a separate suitcase full of clothes and snowsuits to take to the kids. In orphanages the kids have nothing of their own. When they are adopted we basically get the kids au-naturale… so socks to underwear to snow boots and parkas are all being delivered tomorrow.
There are more stories to be told of course (like how Carson hugged his soon-to-be-dad and exclaimed in Russian “you feel just like a hedgehog!”, Parker cutting out a silhouette of an airplane announcing that he is ready to fly or Delaney hugging each of us so hard when we returned to see her that we could hardly breathe). As time permits we will share them. Please know that you were all with us today in that court room and we felt the power of your support. In fact, the judge asked us about our families’ support and specifically how Ellie feels about our adoption. As all of you have reminded us over these months this is a huge commitment. Each of you in both big and small ways has inspired us: Ellie, our parents and siblings, cousins and other family and friends and colleagues that we work with. Without your love and support we would not have the confidence to be here and both of us and three little children in Siberia would not be excitedly looking forward to the rest of our lives together.
Love, Kevin and Nancy
Having come so far, literally, it is still sinking in that we are 7/8’s of the way towards our goal of adoption. Not only did the court approve the adoption but they made the adoption effective immediately meaning we do not have to wait the usual 10 days for the court decision to be effective. Therefore, tomorrow morning we will drive to Delaney’s boarding school and the boys’ orphanage and bring them ‘home’ to our hotel. Thus will start the family phase of our adoption.
What a saga the last four days have been. Aside from being exhausted and hungry we’ve been anxious about how everything would flow. To our relief, today’s events went smoothly and presented no hitches – our adoption agency staff here are top shelf. Our hearing began a little late at 11:10 and concluded just over an hour later. Kevin was told to prepare a speech of about 10 to 15 minutes to cover many topics from our motivation to our finances to our relationship with the children. We were told to specially include references to our mortgage and wedding dates. As it turned out Kevin started with the meaning of our wedding date (Nov. 25th) and the judge took it from there with a range of questions that required answers from Kevin’s speech. Mid-way through the Q and A the pictures that we had struggled with the morning of our departure were requested. As they were passed around it was the first time in the hearing that smiles broke out among all participants including the judge! After 20 minutes of grilling Kevin was asked to sit down and Nancy was asked to stand and asked if she agreed to “everything your husband had just said.” Fortunately she did and a few more questions to her satisfied the judge.
More boilerplate-appearing readings were conducted (in Russian of course) and soon we got to the medical stuff. The enumeration of serious-sounding ailments resulted in an offer by the judge on the part of the Russian Federation to conduct more tests on the children. We respectfully declined and we moved on to our request to waive the Russian law which requires a 10 day waiting period before any court ruling can be made effective. After Kevin’s oral statement which was supported by the Oblast’s prosecutor and the regional Ministry of Education’s official the judge asked us all to step out of the court room (of special note: the court room included a pair of cells which were constructed on 1” rebar which fortunately we didn’t have to sit in). After not more than 2 minutes we were called back in for the reading of the court’s decision. Of course it was all in Russian but our interpreter gave us a running account and we squeezed each other’s hands to the point of pain as she pronounced each of the three adoptions approved. When she announced that she was waiving the 10 day waiting period we both gave a huge sigh of relief. As the judge and other participants filed past where we were standing we both hugged and our interpreter said, “Kevin, you look a lot more relaxed.”
The rest of the day was spent driving from the Oblast’s registrar’s office to the court house to some other place and back again and again. After the new birth certificates were issued and the passports prepared we went shopping for the little parties that we will host at the orphanage and boarding school when we go to pick up the kids tomorrow. Finally, we went to the local travel agency to purchase our tickets back to Moscow for our family of 5. I’m certain there isn’t a group rate here in Russia but we’ll certainly look into that back in the USA!
Tonight we ceremoniously opened the vacuum-sealed bag of kid’s clothes and packed a separate suitcase full of clothes and snowsuits to take to the kids. In orphanages the kids have nothing of their own. When they are adopted we basically get the kids au-naturale… so socks to underwear to snow boots and parkas are all being delivered tomorrow.
There are more stories to be told of course (like how Carson hugged his soon-to-be-dad and exclaimed in Russian “you feel just like a hedgehog!”, Parker cutting out a silhouette of an airplane announcing that he is ready to fly or Delaney hugging each of us so hard when we returned to see her that we could hardly breathe). As time permits we will share them. Please know that you were all with us today in that court room and we felt the power of your support. In fact, the judge asked us about our families’ support and specifically how Ellie feels about our adoption. As all of you have reminded us over these months this is a huge commitment. Each of you in both big and small ways has inspired us: Ellie, our parents and siblings, cousins and other family and friends and colleagues that we work with. Without your love and support we would not have the confidence to be here and both of us and three little children in Siberia would not be excitedly looking forward to the rest of our lives together.
Love, Kevin and Nancy
Monday, February 18, 2008
Back In Siberia
Moscow, Feb 17, 7:25 PM: In an effort to release some tension and anxiety, Nancy announced that her ‘water broke – it’s time to go’ this afternoon, February 16, at about 1:30 Eastern Time. Of course the announcement was metaphorical but our panic of this morning could not have been more real. International adoptions require lots of things to be ‘just right’ – not ‘just close.’ There have been a few close calls along this journey and a big one nearly struck us this morning. Kevin was out making a ‘picture run’ so that the Russian court could see visual evidence that we had met and interacted with the former Peter, Paul and Mary – now Carson, Parker and Delaney (CPD). The camera kiosk at 5 CVS’s failed to read the card and in marginally controlled panic Kevin called back home to Nancy to retake the pictures of the newly decorated kids’ rooms and dump data from a USB drive so a new media could be re-tried at a 6th CVS kiosk.
To cut to the chase, triple backups of a CD, USB drive and camera card were all reloaded with the picture data and with about 25 minutes to spare Kevin was back with the required photos. Last minute shuffling of packed bags, hasty goodbyes to Kevin’s parents who are house sitting and we were off. Of course, we double checked our passport locations and a few other key documents while in motion and made one fast stop to unpack a bag to verify that the US Customs and Immigration Service’s documentation was with us. Convinced that we had all that we could think of; we sped off – at the maximum legal limit - and met Nancy’s parents near the airport to be dropped off at the main door.
Now we are sitting, and have been for 5 ½ hours, in the Moscow domestic terminal (only 3 more hrs to go). Kevin’s nearly fallen asleep and off his stool several times while Nancy, who slept a bit more on the flights, added to her growing Russian vocabulary. We’ve taken the time to add the sacred photos to an album to be used in court Tuesday and our fatigue seemed to fade away (at last for a moment) as we smiled at the photos of CPD and are reminded of why we’re heading back to Siberia in the depth of winter.
Well, our gate was just posted so we will soon go through final security and bag check, more waiting and boarding our second consecutive overnight flight. We’re guessing how much over-weight our bags will be and how pricey that will be. It’s hard packing for 5 people for at least 10 day trip in 80 lbs or less- including 3 full snow suits and boots…
Kemerovo, Feb 18, 7:25 PM: Exhausted. Happy. In two words that sums up our last 24 hours. We got to see the kids (CPD) today and there were just as we remembered them. More on that later as we ready ourselves for the first sleep in 42 hours. Suffice it to say our flights and bags were on time. Nancy nailed our luggage weight by being just 2.9 kilos over the limit for which we were not charged. Siberia is not disappointing in the cold department. Our court time has been moved back an hour to 11:00 on Tuesday (tomorrow) so we’re hoping the time in the morning will work for developing Kevin’s speech a s well as sleeping in a bit.
Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!
Love, Kevin and Nancy
To cut to the chase, triple backups of a CD, USB drive and camera card were all reloaded with the picture data and with about 25 minutes to spare Kevin was back with the required photos. Last minute shuffling of packed bags, hasty goodbyes to Kevin’s parents who are house sitting and we were off. Of course, we double checked our passport locations and a few other key documents while in motion and made one fast stop to unpack a bag to verify that the US Customs and Immigration Service’s documentation was with us. Convinced that we had all that we could think of; we sped off – at the maximum legal limit - and met Nancy’s parents near the airport to be dropped off at the main door.
Now we are sitting, and have been for 5 ½ hours, in the Moscow domestic terminal (only 3 more hrs to go). Kevin’s nearly fallen asleep and off his stool several times while Nancy, who slept a bit more on the flights, added to her growing Russian vocabulary. We’ve taken the time to add the sacred photos to an album to be used in court Tuesday and our fatigue seemed to fade away (at last for a moment) as we smiled at the photos of CPD and are reminded of why we’re heading back to Siberia in the depth of winter.
Well, our gate was just posted so we will soon go through final security and bag check, more waiting and boarding our second consecutive overnight flight. We’re guessing how much over-weight our bags will be and how pricey that will be. It’s hard packing for 5 people for at least 10 day trip in 80 lbs or less- including 3 full snow suits and boots…
Kemerovo, Feb 18, 7:25 PM: Exhausted. Happy. In two words that sums up our last 24 hours. We got to see the kids (CPD) today and there were just as we remembered them. More on that later as we ready ourselves for the first sleep in 42 hours. Suffice it to say our flights and bags were on time. Nancy nailed our luggage weight by being just 2.9 kilos over the limit for which we were not charged. Siberia is not disappointing in the cold department. Our court time has been moved back an hour to 11:00 on Tuesday (tomorrow) so we’re hoping the time in the morning will work for developing Kevin’s speech a s well as sleeping in a bit.
Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!
Love, Kevin and Nancy
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