Monday, March 10

Detailed version:

After another lovely breakfast in the hotel “bap,” dining with our friend Sherri, we met up with the Dini’s and traveled back to Sosnovoborsk. The roads were pretty quiet, since the celebration was still going on for Women’s Day.

When we got there, Andrey was brought in very quickly. After about 5 min, with us commenting on how it always takes our son a little longer to get here, Serge left the room. We talked a little with each other, commenting on mundane topics. We became aware of a siren going off in the distance. No, not a siren- a child I think, crying with a very healthy set of lungs. I looked at Tim and said- suppose that’s our son? We hadn’t heard him crying this trip, but it did sound a little reminiscent of our last trip. The sound was getting steadily louder, until finally, Serge walked in carrying our son who was not very happy.

Feeling happy that we weren’t the ones that made our son cry, I held out my hands and took him. He still wasn’t very happy. I asked him te hoshesh cracker? Do you want a cracker? The waterworks stopped suddenly. Always the way to a man’s heart……

We played with several toys and moved over to the Ball pool. He slid down the slide a few times and then was intent on getting the bigger balls and “large chess” pieces from the balls. This is where we snapped the pics we put up Monday. Looking forward to giving you a great face shot so you can see our handsome son. Thought you might enjoy the teasers, though

We tried on the shoes we have purchased so far. The casual shoes were way too big. Realized the measurement we were going by from memory was the size of his shoes, not his foot. The boots we bought fit great. He wasn’t too happy with us taking off his sandals and putting on the boots. Serge stepped in and told him to stand up and walk. He complied immediately. Makes me wish I had really learned Russian, rather than just a few phrases. He was soo cute- Serge told him to walk around the room, and he did. Cute little shorts and these high boots.

It is getting harder and harder to say goodbye. Being Mama and Papa for just 2 hours a day is getting so tiresome and old. We would love to just take him with us. We don’t really “do” anything with him. I had been hopeful we could feed him, bathe him, maybe even tuck him in. I realize now how selfish that is on my part. If every parent was able to do this with their child, the lives of all these children that may never get parents would be so disrupted. And they may begin to see what they are missing. Isn’t that one of the saddest things you ever heard? I don’t want them to see the love we are giving to Eli so they won’t have a bigger hurt in their heart for what they don’t have. Keep praying for more families to open their hearts to all the little ones in the world that need homes!! This is a biblical mandate- caring for the widows and orphans. What more can we do? Something to ponder in the quiet moments of the day.

We drove back to Krasnoyarsk. The ride was a little longer today- more traffic out. Poor little Thomas began to feel sick- he is being a trooper. I often forget he is only 3. So, we were able to cool the van off. It felt great. Even though the temperature has taken a nose dive into the teens, the sun has been out and it has been beautiful!!

When we got back, we decided to go to the business center, as you already know by our last teaser…. J I was going to give a post a day- but we still don’t have WiFi- and I thought I’d just put it all up, cause I know some of you are curious about what is happening and want to know how to pray for us- we sure appreciate it. We are always checking for comments. We were pretty sad that there weren’t any comments from Thursday to Sunday. We love to hear from you just as much as you enjoy hearing what is going on. Makes us feel more connected to you!!

Well, let me tell you, 1 hour is not very long to upload all our stuff, check our email and reply to a few emails. I think I could have spent a couple hours, just by myself. I haven’t been able to check any of my friend’s blogs lately to see what is happening. I’ll have to do that soon- while I still have some timeJ

We made contact with a new family today- Rachel and Ron Winkler. They have been here for 5 years and are planting a church in a small village just outside Kraysnoyarsk. We made plans to get together Tues am and go to their house (apartment) and have lunch. They invited both families to join in. I was so glad- I knew that the Dini’s would enjoy getting out and seeing what it looks like inside the apartment buildings we go past.

Sherri came by we talked for a little bit about her first meeting with her daughter. Oh, I am soooo excited for her. It has been such a long journey for us all, but even longer for her. We then headed out to California pizza, a local pizza shoppe. We had a great meal and great conversation with Sherri. (We ran into Victor, the owner of the shop again. He told us of the different pizzas they had. We got a basil based one that was great!! The 15% discount for Americans doesn’t hurt, either J) It is so amazing to hear the stories behind how God brings us together with our children. Each story is as different as our fingerprints, and in most cases just as complex.

When we arrived home, we finalized plans with the Winklers. It is amazing how fast this trip is going as we reach out to learn more about the environment of the area our son has grown up in.

Short version:

Spent time with Eli in the morning. Able to email in the afternoon and then talk with Sherri about her first meeting in over 5 months with her little girl. Had a great dinner and then made plans for Tues with another local family.