Hangin' In There

We had a happy Halloween with our little bulldog, poodle, and Mizzou football player!

Not much news on our travel dates. I talked with our adoption agency yesterday. They said we're "penciled in for November or December". What?! What happened to October? At this point Rob and I are just planning on leaving next summer. At least the weather would be nicer! Honestly, my goodness! We are trying to save a little girl over there. I don't know why Russia makes it so difficult. We're trying to stay positive. I ordered a stocking for "Tess" from Pottery Barn that matches with ours. We'll have it hanging on the fireplace and ready to fill if she's home by then. If not, we'll fill it anyway, and give it to her in Russia!

Just Along for the Ride

Our family took a little weekend trip to St Louis. As always, we loved spending time together!

We have not heard any more on our expected travel dates for our trip to Russia. But, you know, really - we're just along for the ride. This entire adoption is God's idea. So, we're just waiting for His perfect timing. We just had a reminder that God has our entire picture in His view. Five weeks ago I broke my thumb playing volleyball. We had thought we would be traveling across the world with my hand in a cast. But, this week I have started some minor physical therapy with my hand and it gets stronger everyday. Wasn't that thoughtful of God to have us wait to travel until I am whole? It will make it much easier to carry my suitcase and click my camera!

No Travel in October

Hello blog-checkers!

I talked with our adoption agent in St. Louis yesterday. Not too surprised, but we have another set-back. Apparently, the regional representative in Astrakhan is "out of town and will not be back until November". The contact person in Russia told us, "they meant to contact us ten days ago." Oops - just a little oversight. So, there will not be any travel for us in October. Whatever - our bags are packed and we'll just be ready.

Just to re-cap and fill in our time lapses - Russia contacted our adoption agency on September 10th and asked if we could travel in October. After we said yes, we were told we would be getting our exact travel dates within a few days. After one week, they said we needed another document. After two weeks, they said they needed 3 more documents. Both times I went to Topeka and Fed-Xed the papers the very same day. As of today, we have been waiting four weeks to hear what date in October we would be traveling. That is when this new information came in that we will not be traveling at all in October.

You know, Rob and I were talking about the situation we are finding ourselves in. It's such an eye opener for us. We KNOW that God wants us to save a little life in Russia. We TRUST Him every single day to direct us. And, we desire to be OBEDIENT to His call for our family. But, just because we are walking in faith and trust in Him, we are not exempt from all the hassle and disappointments of this crazy process. Through the process God is shaping us. We are forced to learn so more when we walk through the fire, and God is with us, rather than Him leading us around the fire. However, I'm really hoping we learn our lesson soon, because I am pretty tired of waiting. ;)

We look forward to getting our little girl as soon as possible. We do not want her to be effected by any of the dictatorship. Please continue to pray for her little mind, heart and body. We know God is sheltering her with His "feathers" as she waits to get home!

Exploring

Here is a picture of Blake, Will and Audrey exploring a stream near our house. We had a successful "treature hunt". We found "butterfly shells", lots of frogs and a deer's jawbone. What more could we ask for?!
I can't help but think all the time about our little girl waiting for us in Russia. She has no idea about the world we'll be introducing her to. How fun!!

Waiting for that Travel Date

No word yet on our travel date. It could be any day. When the Department of Education in Moscow contacts us, we'll have about two weeks to get our plane tickets, visas for Russia, etc. There are a lot of things that cannot be done until we have our exact travel date. So, we're just living life as if we are not heading across the world at a moments notice. Today I went to Topeka again to send in some additional documents. I definitely don't need directions to get to the Secretary of State's office!

We Are Going To RUSSIA!!

Praise the Lord - we got the call today!! We have an official referral from Russia! They asked us to travel in October to meet our new little girl! Somehow, our region was changed and we are not going to Vladivostok. We are going to Astrakhan, Russia. This little girl has Asian features and we do not know how old she is. Hopefully we'll find that out soon!

It's all just so exciting! I will send more information about Astrakhan if you are interested. It is in the south-west section of Russia by the Caspian Sea.

I'll write again soon!

Details about Astrakhan from CHI

Here is the information about Astrakhan our adoption agency sent us...

We are glad to present you the Astrakhan region. The CHI started its work in Astrakhan region about 3 years ago. We consider Astrakhan as one of our most stable-working regions, it maintained open even during months of slow down during re-accreditation waiting period!

Astrakhan is the administrative center of the Astrakhan region, which also includes 12 other districts and towns, situated in the southeastern part of Russia, about 1000 miles away from Moscow.

The city is located in the Caspian lowlands, on the river Volga, in its highest point. In the west the Astrakhan region borders on Kalmykiya, in the north - on the Volgograd region, in the east - on the country of Kazakhstan. The city is situated on 11 islands and occupies a territory of 500 square kilometers. That is why sometimes it is called a "Russian Venice". Its population is close to 500 000 inhabitants, mostly Russians and Tatars, that is why Asian facial features are quite common here.

Climate in the Astrakhan Region is sharply continental and droughty. Deserts and semi-deserts cover 70 percent of the total land in the region. Comparing with other Russian regions where CHI works, climate in Astrakhan region is the most favorable: summers here are pretty long and winters are short and not very cold. But still you will need good boots, wind-breaking coats, hats, gloves and scarves, layers of clothes from mid November till mid March. The temperature in January ranges from 30 to 13F and the average July temperature is 65-90F.

Astrakhan is one of the oldest Russian towns, it was founded in 1558 and has a long and interesting history. Read more about Astrakhan on the following page