News for December

We are in the process of packing the car and getting ready to head to Ohio for the holidays. I am little worried, just because it will be the first Christmas without Dad. Going to be a little tough I have a feeling. We hope that all of our family and friends have a wonderful holiday.

News on the adoption front is this... we have submitted our paperwork to a new region in Russia called Omsk. The good news is we only had to do an update of the paperwork they already have so the pile was only about an inch thick that went instead of 2-3 inches thick. The agency thinks this may come through faster because it is farther away from Moscow then the original region. They are thinking 4-5 months. We are hopeful for that, but very much know that a timeline is never set in stone. We would love to have kiddos by summer, but have learned in the last year and a half to have patience and lots of it!

Happy holidays to all and have a wonderful time with family and friends!

Adoption Update

Good news on the adoption front. Things have started moving again and our agency has had a placement finally!! This is good news and we are keeping our fingers crossed that this means good things!! =)

Apple Picking 09

This past weekend was the annual trip out to Eckert's for apple picking. We had 24 people with us this year and had a blast. The weather was perfect for apple picking and did not start raining until we were eating lunch outside! =) Enjoy the pics.




Mollie & Wilson


Chris & Ella


The random camel at the petting zoo.


The girls


Natalie and Ella checking out the wallaby!

Adoption Update

We heard today from our adoption agency. It looks as though things have started to move a bit faster, but it has still pushed backed the projected time line. It looks as though instead of 12-14 months it will most likely be 18 months. That would put us sometime next spring. Rich and I are trying to stay positive and we know when the time is right it will happen. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during this long journey.

Rough Month

June was a month both Rich and I are ready to put behind us. I went out to Columbus in the beginning of June to help out with my step-mom's hip replacement surgery. While I was there helping her my dad went into renal failure. After a long 3 and a half weeks with lots of sleepless nights, Dad passed away peacefully on June 25th. It has been a tough few weeks and we are working on making the days better.




We did get an adoption update a few weeks ago and it looks like the pace is picking back up in Russia. Hopefully this means that the Sept-Dec time line will hold true. Who knows though. This process has taught both of us to just let go and see where life takes us.

The waiting............

I have not posted to the blog in awhile because there is no news. That is one of the most frustrating parts of adoption. You here nothing until it is your turn. Our agency is great and always willing to answer questions, but they really do not know anything other than what they have told us. Things have slowed down, but not stopped. The thought is that it will not take 12-14 months instead of 7-9 months. I am trying to keep my hopes up that this true, but our agency has not had any placements and there families ahead of us. I try to stay positive, but there are times that it is hard. So please say another prayer for us and hope that whoever is supposed to end up with us does and soon rather than later.

Nursery Painting Continued

Even though the adoption has been delayed until the fall, Calum is still working on the nursery. He is moving back to Australia this summer so he is going to get it done before he leaves. He came back this weekend and worked on the room and added color blocks. Rich and I both love it and are making him come back and add more blocks around the entire room!

Super Bowl Sunday

Okay so this post is a little late, but at least I am getting it posted! We had a bunch of people over to watch the Super Bowl. We had a great time playing with the kids and visiting with the adults. Some of us were bummed by the result of the game, but still a good time was had by all! Enjoy the pics.

Before the party started!

Just hanging out smiling for the camera.


Can anyone say Trouble?


Grab a kid and smile! =)


Flirting already!


It is amazing what these 4 can get into.

Interesting Weekend

We had a busy weekend dog sitting for friends and Calum stayed with us as well. Calum is a senior in high school and I started tutoring him in math when he was in 7th grade. Although math is not his strength, art is. He is an amazing artist with a level of creativity I cannot understand. My drawing ability is limited to geometric figures to teach math. Calum agreed to stay with us for the weekend while his parents were out of the town and start painting a mural in the nursery. He will be moving back to Australia this summer so it will be something we can tell the kids about and explain to them a family that was very important in our lives. I have attached picture below of the start of the mural. We gave him an idea of colors and Calum is taking it from there. It has been an amazing process to watch. He will be back to work on it for the next couple of weeks whenever we can arrange it.

The other major thing we did this weekend was attend a Christmas event with Future. Future is the adoption agency we are working with and they hold 3 events a year for all the families who have adopted through them. It was neat to see all the kids running around and learn some Russian trivia. Rich actually did really well with those questions. Additionally, we were able to talk to the director of the agency who just got back from Russia. She confirmed that things have slowed down, but is very glad they have not stopped totally. She is not sure what the next couple of months are going to look like. Things may change with the drop in the price of oil and the economic downturn. Her best estimate is that the process is now taking 12-14 months. This means that we have added 5 months onto our original time table. This may or may not hold but at least we have some time frame. The math teacher in me appreciates that one! We will keep everyone up to date as we learn more.

Enjoy the pictures of the nursery in progress.

Adoption update

We heard today from our agency that adoptions out of Russia have significantly slowed down. There are a lot of reasons including an increase in Russian families adopting. The time line we were originally given will most likely not hold now. We are bummed to say the least, but are still hopeful we will have the boys by the end of the summer. Say some prayers and keep your fingers crossed that this is true.