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!!
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!
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!
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
After a week of scrambling to get more paperwork together, it was all sent to Moscow this afternoon. Our CHI rep looked over every document and there were no errors. That's a miracle! The number of rules and regulations for each little detail is unbelievable. I won't go into specifics, but they literally make sure every "t" is dotted. I'm joking - I know it's crossed.
This paperwork was "region specific". These were documents that CHI told us to wait to send all summer. And then suddenly, they needed to be there immediately. Apparently, we had been officially registered in the Vlad region without all the paperwork usually needed to be at that point. It was because we had a referral - which is a specific child - before our documents were even translated into Russian. The Department of Education in Moscow reported that we were officially registered on May 21, 2008. When our original referral fell though, they reviewed our dossier and realized they had never requested the additional documents. So, that is what was sent in the mail today.
Because we are, for sure, registered in Vladivostok we could get a call any day with our new referral. So, we just wait and see what will happen.
In the mean-time, we are enjoying our kid-o's we have now! I feel jealous of the time their teachers get to spend with them. They get them for eight hours a day. I'm down to one hurried hour in the morning, and five hours in the evening. Rob and I try to make every minute count when we are all together.
I'll write again when there is more news. Keep praying for our little Tess girl. We are praying for: her health, her nutrition, her care-takers, and for God's protection to shelter her. A verse I pray for her all the time is Psalms 91:4 "He will shield you with His wings, He will shelter you with His feathers. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." I love the way the strength is in His wings, and the soft shelter is in His feathers. And, those wings stretch to the far south-east corner of Russia. God is so cool!
I just talked with our representative in St.Louis. The little Asian girl in Vladivostok was adopted domestically on Friday. We found out the little girl has a five year old sister, and our agency thinks the family there in Russia adopted both of them. So, really this is good for her.
Now, we are back on the "waiting family" list. We are at the top and could get the call any day. Our representative in St. Louis (her name is Pam) said Vlad is moving quickly and there are not many families waiting in that region.
Some really great news - we now are able to have direct contact with our Russian representative in Vladivostok. Her name is Ira and we have already emailed each other. She sent a picture of herself, and I sent a picture of our kids. Her emails are so cute with some words mixed around. We still have our St. Louis rep, but now we can cut out the middle man with tough questions.
Keep praying for our little girl. She will be between 24 -48 months old. And, God knows exactly who she is.
We wanted to let you know that the conflict with Russia and Georgia does not have any effect on the American adoption process. As of right now, things are still moving forward. You know, it's just a sign that there is really no such thing as "soft Communism" - which has been said of Russia in recent years. Communism in any form is dangerous.
We have not had any additional news about our little girl. The eastern countries take the entire month of August off for their "holiday break". Hopefully we'll hear more in September.
Keep praying for her! We can hardly wait to meet our new little chickie!
