Epilogue

Zack's first trip to the zoo

Zack has been in the US one week now.  He's doing wonderfully!  There was about three days of adjusting, with a temper tantrum a day, but it's been smooth sailing ever since.  Our household speaks a Russian-English mixture, but Zack is learning English at a quick pace.  Life has been very good at our house!

Zack so enjoyed his trip to the zoo and karate class last Thursday.  Friday was his first day of school and he fit right in.  He's been to church twice now and has done well in both the service and Sunday School.  We had a Welcome Home party for him and he enjoyed playing football and soccer and flying kites with his cousins and Nick.

Speaking of Nick, he is getting better.  It's tough being a big brother all of a sudden, especially to a boy that pushes him away, speaks so loudly in a bossy tone, and eats up his parents' attention.  But that is all improving every day.

Zack got a clean bill of health from the pediatrician and was fitted for new glasses.  His dental appointment is coming up in a few days.  Nick will show him how it's done.

I've read to Nick every night his entire life.  Now I read to two boys.  It's been fun reading to Zack the books I used to read to Nick.  Nick is growing up so fast, that this is like a flashback for me to his little kid days.  I then kiss Zack good night and go to Nick's room and read "Where the Red Fern Grows" (our current book) and have flashbacks to my own childhood.

So many have said, "God bless you for what you are doing for this child".  But, believe me, it's no sacrifice.  WE are the ones whom God has blessed by the presence of these two beautiful boys, whether they like each other or not!

Kiss the Ground

I cannot tell you what a good feeling it is to be on American soil! Since Zack talks to everyone, I was afraid of what he might be telling the Russians: "These are NOT my parents", "We live in a 12 x 15 house called a HOTEL", "These two won't give me any candy!" It made me very nervous!

The plane ride home was disastrous. For eleven hours, Zack constantly kicked the seat of the woman in front of him, constantly messed with the tray table, window shade, and seat back which annoyed everyone around him. He even pressed the button to summon the flight attendant several times, and she scolded him. When we told her he doesn't speak English, she tried to use body language to scold him! He got an hour of sleep in the morning, and then cried for an hour with no sleep toward the end of the flight. His eyes were so red, and he was so tired, but he just would not sleep - everything was so new to him and he was so excited. He refused to hold our hands in the airport and several times nearly got away. He wanted to carry all the luggage and threw a temper tantrum when he was not allowed to (I can just see the Russian security, which is everywhere, stopping us to ask why the youngest member of our family is carrying all our luggage).

From Atlanta to Dallas he slept hard, but that was only another hour. It was hard to wake him up and he was very grouchy. We were delayed in Dallas because we had to wait for all the luggage to come through and then go fill out the paperwork for our missing bag.

In the car from Dallas to Jacksonville, what should have been about a 2 1/2 hour drive, took four hours. We stopped for a quick meal and he threw a fit because he wanted french fries and he wanted them now - no waiting for them to be cooked. In the car, Zack immediately learned to push the button to roll the window up, down, up, down. That scared us because we were afraid he would fall out. So Dave figured out how to use the child lock control (a feature of my car we've never had to use before) but Zack continued to try it anyway the whole trip home. That button will be worn out in no time. What's worse, he kept opening the door and taking off his seat belt! Scared us to death! Dave pulled over several times and scolded him for that. We thought about putting him in the middle, but I'm sure he would have fussed about being so close to Nick. He was hot, he was cold, he was hungry, he had to go to the bathroom. He would repeat his complaints over and over again in Russian. We thought if we ignored him and just got on home he would finally fall asleep, but he just kept on complaining! He was SO TIRED. Both boys did finally fall asleep the last hour.

So, in the 29 hours between the time we left the hotel for the airport to when we arrived at home, he got a total of three hours' sleep.

When we got home it was midnight, but Zack was like a kid in a candy store. We felt so fortunate when we discovered that Dave's sister thought to bring in some groceries for us! And the boys enjoyed opening the gifts she had left for them. Zack did not like the dogs who were so excited to see us. When he saw his room, he just kept saying, "Thank you, Mama! Thank you, Papa!" He just loved it. He even slept in his own bed without any problems because he was so tired and so in love with it.

Today is Saturday and we are just going to relax and catch up on sleep. I'm going to head out soon and pick up the kitty from the vet (without makeup, as it's in the bag that didn't make it). Then I'm going to do some laundry. I can't wait to do laundry, as all our clothes smell like cigarette smoke (in Russia, you just can't avoid cigarette smoke). My throat is rough and dry from all the cigarette smoke! I think Zack will have a better day now that he is finally home and I look forward to spending it with him.

We're supposed to go to California to visit my relatives the end of May, but now I'm not sure I can handle him in another plane. Delta has probably blacklisted us, anyway!

To all of you who prayed for our safety (and our sanity), and left messages for us on this blog and on our personal e-mail account, thank you so very much! It's such a comfort to be covered in prayer, especially during such a scary time! Please keep praying, as this boy will need a lot of patience from his parents. And to all of you who may be thinking of international adoption, I have just one piece of advice:

Go to China!

Nick and Zack playing a video game

UPDATE: Zack had a great first day in America. He was up early and dressed himself, made his bed, and put away his pajamas as always. He and Nick headed outside to explore our 54 acres. What a time they had! Zack was still a little bit leery of the dogs, but he got better. The boys were outside all day long, playing basketball, riding bikes, and playing soccer. He got to play with his new Grandma, aunt, and three cousins. He does NOT like the cat! When I put him down for a nap and then went to my own room for a nap, a few minutes later I heard a blood-curdling scream. The cat had jumped up on his bed! He came to be OK with our two big dogs and Aunt Sandra's four little dogs, but he just won't accept that cat! But it appears he's really going to love living out in the country in the good ole USA!

Dosvedanya, Rooskie!

I'm told that these Russian girls are saying, "Going to Bobruuisk for the Weekend"

That’s Russian for “Goodbye, Russia!”  We are SO GLAD to be going home tomorrow!  Today we went to the American Embassy to get Zack’s visa for his passport.  Both boys AND Dave wore Marine Corps t-shirts and got a lot of attention from the American military personnel there.  After that, we went to our agency’s Moscow office to pick up e-mail (Zack was excited to get a message from his cousin, Sierra, and the Coughlin kids from Ukraine) and collect the final paperwork.  It’s about 2 inches thick.  There is one large sealed envelope that we hand over to Homeland Security when we reach Atlanta.  We took photos on the infamous “blue couch” and all the children received a gift.  Then we headed back to the hotel and had bread, cheese, yogurt, and juice in our room.  Afterward, we headed to Red Square to get some final photos of all the kids and take advantage of some beautiful weather.

There was a lot of traffic and even a lot of people at the hotel.  When we got to Red Square, we found out why.  Some kind of military ceremony was going on at St. Basil’s Cathedral and so we joined the crowd and watched a bit.  We heard some military big-whig was in town and they were making a big deal of it.  We then went to the GUM (huge mall) and to the Kremlin to see the changing of the guard.  Then to the crowded McDonald’s and then back to the hotel for baths and packing.  Both boys have backpacks filled with things like Game Boy, crayons, Etch-a-Sketch, books to read, CD players, etc. to keep them busy on the plane.  We will also watch The Chronicles of Narnia on the laptop.  We arrive in Dallas at 7:30 Friday night and should be home around 10:30.  Zack is very excited, and keeps talking about the baseball hat that Aunt Sandra has waiting for him.

Short Timers

Zack's first airplane ride

Today was our last full day in Russia!  I’ve been up since 3:00 this morning because Zack, sleeping next to me, was “thrashing” in his sleep.  He has such a difficult time breathing at night.  It wakes him up and he changes his position and tries to go back to sleep.  He does this A LOT a good part of the night.  Tonight he will sleep in the rollaway bed and the rest of us will sleep in the king size bed so he can thrash away and the rest of us can sleep.  We’ll get him to an ENT as soon as we can once we get home.

After being kicked in the back several times by the “Thrashing Boy”, I decided I was NOT going to get to go back to sleep.  My mind drifted to home: What will it be like when he walks in the door and sees his bike, his animals, his bedroom?  Will he be able to sleep in his own bed?  I miss our friends and family.  Sunday I will start Zack in first grade Sunday School and I will have to go to class with him.  That means I will miss our friends in our adult Sunday School class.  That thought made me a bit sad because in the short time we’ve been at this church, we’ve really fallen in love with our support group in Sunday School.  It’s hard to imagine not being with them each week.  How about school?  Will Zack do okay?  I sure can see him in the starring role in Ms. Nelda’s drama class next year because he is such a ham!  And what about his cousins?  I think he will love his cousins, but he will probably show more interest in his adult relatives.

He has so much to learn: You really CAN eat slowly without stuffing your mouth as full as possible, and you don’t have to help the waitress clear the table after the meal!  When you eat an orange, don’t eat peeling, seeds, and all.  When you drink out of a glass, go slowly – “bottoms up” will just get you wet!  Don’t talk to strangers (he talks to everyone!).  Stay with Mom and Dad (he always wants to run ahead and doesn’t mind running aimlessly in the middle of the busy streets of Moscow).  Not everyone has your best interest in mind (the offer of a piece of candy can easily lure him away).  You don’t have to ask permission to get out of bed in the morning to go to the restroom.  Always flush!  Keep your hands to yourself.  Don’t snatch things out of others’ hands.  Don’t talk at the top of your lungs.  Be patient!  You are a child, not an adult.  Mom’s “no” is “no” and there’s no use in arguing!  You don’t have to keep packing your things away – they are YOURS and no one is going to take them away from you (he will find a bag and stash away his notebook, pen, Batman watch, and even an empty tea bag wrapper, business card from a restaurant, half-full bottle of water, and a receipt.  These items are very important to him!)

Nick is still having some difficulty with Zack – he’s not the brother he thought he would be (yet).  Zack’s interest is not in other children – to him, other children are just competition (orphanage attitude).  Zack is much more interested in schmoozing adults.  He thinks Mom is his best friend and he really has no need for Nick.  I’ve worked with him a lot and he’s much better at obeying his parents than he was at the beginning, and I’m hoping Nick will learn to work with him, too, and that the boys do finally bond once we get home.

A Better Day

The American Diner in Novosibirsk

Yesterday, Easter, turned out to be a great day! Although we yearned for home, we had nice weather here and spent a lot of the day outdoors.

Zack appears to be past his fear of the outdoors. He's been outside so little his whole life that all the traffic noise seems to worry him. He studies everything - the people, the signs, the cars. We had a lot of fun jumping in puddles and stopping for a Russian version of a milkshake at the American Diner.

The boys enjoyed their Easter Egg hunt and Zack especially enjoyed the candy as he attempted to stuff it all in his mouth at the same time. Another first for him!

Today Mama will get a break while Dad takes the boys outside so I can start packing (hooray!). We leave tomorrow in the late afternoon. Zack continues the countdown: "Mama, tomorrow we get on the plane, right? And go to Moscow, right? And three sleeps later we go to America, right? And my dogs and my cat will be waiting for me, right? And my bike, right? Mama, mama, mama, mama . . ."

Will write again when we arrive in Moscow. We're on the downhill slide, now!!!

A clash of two cultures

Easter Egg hunt in the hotel

The American adoptive families here did NOT meet in the 4th floor lounge after all last night.  We were all called to the hotel lobby to have a “chat” with our facilitator.  Seems the hotel called her and complained about the behavior of these Americans.  The complaints included:

Children sitting on the floor (apparently a big no-no in Russia, as the Russians believe that children catch colds by sitting on the floor or drinking cold water)

Adults sitting on the floor playing with the children (bad manners)

An adult was wearing shoes with no socks (seems it’s OK to show soft porn on the big screen hotel lobby TV but it’s not OK for women to show their ankles!)

Parents yelling at their new children.  What?!  Seems if you call from across the room for your child’s attention, it’s considered “yelling”.

So no more meeting in the 4th floor lounge.  It was suggested we separate so as not to bring so much attention to ourselves and take our children to the park or to the “mall” (more like a department store like JCPenney) where there is a mini version of the McDonald’s Play Place for about $3 an hour per child.  But the park is very nasty – wet, muddy, and dirty.  And the play place is for very small children.  So we are having a hard time with two children with lots of energy that needs to be spent being stuck in a 12 x 15 room most of the day.  We are counting the days ‘til we can leave this place!  We should receive Zack’s Russian passport late Tuesday afternoon and leave the hotel for the airport Tuesday around 5:00 for a 7:40 flight.  We’ll gain 3 hours by crossing time zones and it’s a 3 hour 40 minute flight.  So we’ll arrive in Moscow in the late evening on Tuesday.  We can’t wait.

Our thoughts are on our church’s Easter service today.  How we long to be there!  Unfortunately, New Year’s Day is more important than Easter (or even Christmas) here in Russia.  The Russians celebrate Easter on the 23rd, but it is a minor holiday.  This makes us sad.  To us, it is the most important holiday!

We will have an Easter Egg hunt for the boys today, though, just to have something to do!

Our thoughts are always on returning to America, but Zack is the one who constantly voices it.  He can’t wait!  Nick is ready, too, as he has decided that having a brother is not such a great thing, after all, and is missing his friends.  Sure makes you appreciate your friends and relatives!  We miss you!

Making Adjustments

The park in Novosibirsk

Zack is having to learn several lessons as he adjusts to family life.  Yesterday we went out to dinner.  We walked only a couple blocks to the Levi’s restaurant.  Zack had a worried look on his face just as he has before any time we left the hotel.  When we were seated, Zack began to cry.  I tried to comfort him which helped a bit.  He said he did not want to eat (this coming from the boy who eats everything in sight).  We tried talking to him, assuring him that we were NOT going to take him back to the orphanage, that he will always be with us, that we will never leave him, that we love him very much.  But he seemed to only become more upset.  Then we figured out what he was trying to tell us; he WANTED to go back to the “Desky Dom” and he did NOT want to go to America!  Well, this broke our hearts.  He did end up eating a bit (especially the piece of cake Dave got him for dessert) but had a solemn look on his face the whole time.  After dinner I gave him a piece of gum and that seemed to be a good distraction. When we got back to the hotel, he perked up a bit more.  We spent the evening in the 4th floor lounge with all our friends (eight adults and seven kids) again, and Zack was in full form again – playing and having a good time (but mostly schmoozing the adults, as he always does).  After awhile our interpreter showed up with medication for one of the adults who is sick and I asked him to translate for us and find out why Zack wanted to go back to the orphanage.  Zack said to him, in Russian, “Are you crazy?  I’m going to America!”  What a switch!

Fast forward to this morning.  Zack was up and dressed at the crack of dawn!  So I got up and got a shower.  When I got out of the shower I noticed Zack had gum in his mouth again.  He had gone and got yesterday’s gum out of the trash!  When I had him go put it back in the trash, his feelings were hurt.  I told him that tomorrow we would have candy (our Easter Egg hunt) and he was very excited about that.  He and I went to breakfast alone so Nick could sleep in.  When Dave and Nick left for breakfast, Zack was trying to tell me something, but in a whiny voice.  I had difficulty understanding, but then I finally realized he wanted gum.  I told him we needed to save the gum for the airplane (relieves pressure on the ears) and, again, that we would have candy tomorrow.  He seemed to accept that again.  About ten minutes later he started crying.  I tried to comfort him, as before, and ask him what was the matter.  He wanted to go back to the Detsky Dom and NOT to America!  That’s when Mom had an ah-hah moment.

Yesterday he heard the word “no” a lot.  “No, you may not help yourself to Mom’s cell phone and start taking pictures all over the place (taking pictures in public makes the Russians VERY nervous!)”, “No, you may not help yourself to Mom’s laptop”, “No, you may not watch inappropriate shows on television”, etc.  Leaving the hotel seems to worry him, and it all came to a head as we sat at dinner.  He didn’t want to go back to the orphanage, he was just upset that he was not getting his way.  This morning after breakfast he again did not like being told “no”, so he decided he wanted to go back where he could charm some adult into giving him what he wants.  His natural charm makes him very good at manipulation – an orphanage survival tactic.  It works on Mom, too, sometimes – he is SO cute!

When I have to say “no” to my 3-year-old niece, she cries and says, “I want my mommy!”  Zack was doing the same thing.  If he wasn’t going to get his way, he wanted to go back to where he believed he could.  Lesson learned for Mom and Dad.

Today has been relatively calm for both boys.  It’s Saturday, so we have been watching Saturday morning cartoons in Russian.  Imagine Mickey Mouse’s high-pitched voice in Russian!  Lack of sleep may be catching up to my boys (Zack is used to taking a 2-hour nap every day and Nick is used to sleeping 12 hours a night).  Again this evening we will meet our friends in the lounge and let the kids wear themselves out.

Dave also got his staples out this morning.  One of the other moms who is traveling with us is a nurse practitioner.  Dave stretched his arm a little too far a couple days ago and his wound opened up a bit and started draining, so she wanted to give it a little more time.  I think he’s happy to have that metal out of his arm.

We’ve changed our hotel reservations for Moscow.  The Courtyard costs $20 more per night ($265 plus 18% - ouch!), but it includes breakfast for three which is about a $75 value.  Also, we’re hoping to use points to get the last night free.  I have a $100 coupon for the Marriott that I won’t be able to use at the Courtyard, but we’ll still end up better off at the Courtyard.  We ended up having to purchase one-way tickets from Moscow to Novosibirsk (again, we’d like to know who made THOSE arrangements!), so that made us end up spending $1500 more than we had planned.  What a shock, especially when we only brought $2,000 extra!

Internet service here is slow, but I’m going to try to put up some pictures today.

Sibling Rivalry

Our first 24 hours with Zack have been quite an experience!  Yesterday, Nick’s comment was, “Now that I have a brother, I will never have to be bored again”.  Today he’s saying, “Take him back!”  Zack wolfs his food down as fast as he can, then he helps himself to everyone else’s plate.  He snatches things out of Nick’s hand.  He has taken over Nick’s job of pushing the elevator buttons at the hotel.  He bugged Nick most of the night and kept him awake.  He pushes Nick away.  Ahh, brotherly love!

Everything is new to Zack.  He has to touch everything, including flipping the lights on, off, on, off.  He helps himself to my camera, my computer, and my cell phone (he even learned, on his own, how to take pictures on my cell phone within just a minute of having it in his hand).  He knocks everyone else down racing to be the one to answer a telephone ring or a knock at the door.  He walks into other people’s hotel rooms and talks to all kinds of strangers.  His attention span is very short.  He talks and talks and we have no idea what he is saying, although we do get the gist of what he wants.  Today we went for a walk and he had a worried look on his face as we were leaving the hotel.  We think he thought we were taking him back to the orphanage, as he was so happy to see the hotel when we returned!  He’s so full of energy, but mostly he’s just cute-cute-cute!  He talks constantly about going to America NOW – he has no patience at all!

Yesterday we went to the grocery store.  The carts there are so small that Zack wanted to push it.  He was so cute I decided to take a picture of him.  Then the Grocery Store Gestapo came and scolded us.  No photos allowed in the grocery store!

Zack got a new pair of tennis shoes that light up when he walks and he can’t stand to take them off.  Last night I heard a bump-bump-bump sound and found Zack reaching over his bed to pick up a shoe and drop it time and again so he could see it light up in the dark.

We are getting pretty sick of each other having to be cooped up in this tiny 70s-style hotel room with two twin beds and two cots.  The boys are so full of energy, but the weather today is cold (zero degrees Celsius), wet (from snow earlier in the day), and muddy.  I lost my hat the last couple days, so I wear a scarf over my head whenever I’m outside, but today the weather requires a hat.  This evening we will again all meet on the 4th floor in the lounge so the kids can play and the parents can commiserate!  (

We purchased our plane tickets to Moscow today.  We leave Tuesday evening.  I sure don’t look forward to being on that plane again (hopefully we won’t have to fly a Russian plane).  Yesterday, on the drive from the orphanage to the hotel, we had to pull over twice because Zack was saying he was car sick.  He’s had so little experience riding in a car.  So I’m concerned how he will be on an airplane – an experience he’s never had before.

Well, I should go, as there are two boys throwing a ball in the hotel room and it is knocking things off surfaces and getting on my nerves!  Parenthood . . . what a joy!

It's a boy!

Zack is officially ours!

We are so happy to announce that we are the proud parents of Zachary Eugeniy David Thomason, age 7! Zack's social worker had wonderful things to say about us in court, and the prosecuting attorney really pushed for him to have a home, saying that otherwise he will live in the orphange until he is sixteen, at which time he would have virtually no chance for a good life in Russia.

Dave spoke in court for about 10 minutes. Then it was my turn to add a few words. We were questioned about how we would educate Zack, how the two boys got along, and how we would communicate with him in the first crucial months. The court seemed very satisfied with our answers.

It was difficult to listen to the part where Zack's social worker explained the abuse he suffered as a baby, how his mother did not feed him and left him home alone. There is no record of a father, siblings, or relatives. How several Russian families passed him up for adoption. His mother has now disappeared and the Russian government does not know how to find her. The social worker explained that he was speech delayed due to his neglect and how he has come so far. She told the judge how much he loves us and wants to be a part of our family.

After court we hightailed it back to the hotel to bring the good news to Nick (who is on top of the world right now).

Tomorrow we will go to the orphange to pick him up. We hope to have a small farewell party for him so that he can say goodbye to his friends and his caretakers. Then we will dress him in the clothes we brought for him and head to the hotel. The next few days we will be busy applying for a new birth certificate and passport for Zack (and any other paperwork that might be necessary). We head to Moscow on Tuesday.

It's a good day!

Thank you all so much for your prayers - we could sure feel them!

Shari

Court Day

Novosibirsk Courthouse

The days here have seemed so long, as we have been anticpating Court Day. Yesterday we got "coached" on what to say. Of the three couples here, Dave and I will go first.

We woke up this morning to no electricity in our room (except overhead), so it's a good thing we steamed our dress clothes for court yesterday. No hairdryer today, so I will go to court with curly hair!

Nick has his first babysitting job. He will stay with Kurt and Meghan and help take care of their little ones.

We are not too nervous about court, but are just ready for it to be over. Tonight we will all go out to celebrate!

Send up an arrow prayer for us today?

Shari

Siberian Blues

Lots of public alcohol consumption in Russia!

We had 2 1/2 days to enjoy Moscow, but it was difficult to do when all we wanted was to be in Siberia with Geniy. Our flight to Novosobirsk was at midnight on Sunday night (WHO made those arrangements, I'd like to know!) and we arrived in Novosobirsk four hours later at 7:00 a.m. What a trip it was. Unlike our first visit to Siberia last January, this flight was in a Russian plane. We were cramped, to say the least! Inebriated Russians were all around us. Although it was a non-smoking flight, the Russians just went to the bathrooms to light up. There was no "turn off electronics" warning and no "the Captain has turned on the Fasten Your Seat Belt" sign. The man in front of us was looking at pornography on his computer (luckily he shut it down soon after we took off from the runway) and the flight attendant was shouting at passengers to sit down! The carpet on the floor was threadbare and one of the flaps on one of the wings was not working. The plane made a very loud whining sound when we were airborn. What an experience! I was so glad to have gotten off that plane!

When we got to the hotel, we found that only the tiny rooms were available, so that's what we ended up with. Cramped again. We ate breakfast, returned to our room for a nap and a shower, then headed to the orphange to meet Geniy.

Geniy recognized us and even remembered his American name (Zack). Every time we would say "Geniy", he would correct us and say "Zack". We gave him a teddy bear with the American flag on it and he loved it. He said, "Zack Thomason American". We played "Monkey in the Middle" with the ball and later a game of Concentration (which he is very good at!). We talked about the fact that we would be back in 3 days to take him home with us. His social worker joined us at the end of our visit, and we were very nervous about that. She is the one that was against our adopting Geniy our last trip. But she has changed her tune! She hugged Nick for a long time, and asked us some questions. She asked Nick what is 5 x 6 and, luckily, he was able to answer her!

After our visit, we stayed at the hotel for dinner because Nick had fallen asleep in the car. At dinner we ran into Kurt and Megan (from Alabama) and their two new adorable children! They made parenting look easy! They gave us some pointers about court.

Tomorrow we will meet with Marina and she will coach us on how to prepare for court. The next day, Wednesday, is our court date, and we will be the first to appear. After that, Geniy will be ours!

We made it!

Well, here we are in Moscow, and in one piece! We left home 45 minutes later than we had planned and got on the plane with only about 5 minutes to spare. Then we sat. And sat, and sat, and sat. For 90 minutes we sat on the plane waiting for a storm to clear. Once we got up in the air, it was a bumpy ride! As soon as we hit the ground in Atlanta we ran as fast as we could to another terminal to catch our plane to Moscow. We were the last ones on the plane. But the plane was only about half full so we got to stretch out and actually get some sleep on this flight! Just before landing, I lost my breakfast (too much information, I know!). I felt queasy all the way to the hotel. I crashed on the bed for the rest of the day! The boys walked around Moscow with our friends who are also adopting. We got a good night's rest and we all feel refreshed this morning!

Today we are going to take a Moscow tour. Tomorrow, Sunday, we leave for Novosibirsk at midnight.

Shari

Reflections

It's 12:30 in the morning and I just finished our taxes! I should be in bed, snoozing away like Dad and his Son (yes, Dave is home from the hospital!), but I can't sleep. "We're too excited to sleep", as the Disney World commercial goes. We leave for Russia in 5 1/2 hours.

I think over the last 2+ years . . . how this whole adoption-thing started, how many times we nearly gave up on it, how much we have laughed, cried, and prayed over it. But it's not about us. It's about God's plan for a little boy without parents to have a family to love him.

And God brought His children together and used them to play a part in it.

I remember the Christmas I sold hand-made bracelets at the church's craft fair and received a few small cash donations from strangers, but how impressed I was when two people I already knew wrote a check! Then there's the notary who did our work for free. I'll never forget the day I received a call from an angel sent by my Lord. "How much do you need?", he said. "It's yours". My homeschool girlfriends held a bake sale to raise funds for us - what a wonderful surprise! One of those moms wrote a song about our adoption and how it fits into scripture, then played it for me on her guiter while I cried and cried. Another of those moms prayed for me the most powerful prayer I've ever heard. The eye doctor said, "half price" and the accountant said, "no charge". A friend handed me a scrapbook she had made to help Zack learn his ABCs, and a man from our Sunday School class pressed money into my palm at church last Sunday. Many, many people have said, "we're praying for you"!

It's so amazing to see God's plan unfold right before my very eyes. And how He brings His flock together to finalize that plan. Hmmmmm. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.

"...that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27

The countdown begins

Less than 48 hours to go and Dave is still in the hospital. He ran a little bit of fever yesterday and woke up with his arm and elbow swollen this morning. The physical therapist took a look at his wound and said it looks good! It's draining as it is supposed to and there is no sign of infection. The swelling was probably just from the position he was sleeping in with his arm all wrapped up. The doctor did say, though, that a blood test result revealed that he is not getting enough antibiotic. So he will have more antibiotic put into his IV tonight and, hopefully, will be able to leave the hospital tomorrow (the leaving the hospital part is my hope, not the doctor's words).

Won't we be a pretty sight in court! The Russians already feel that Dave's military background and his karate are a sure recipe for family abuse - we're going to show up in court with Dave's arm in a sling and me with two fat lips (from fever blisters) and swear to them there is no violence in our household! LOL!

More dessert

Dave had surgery tonight. The emergency team drained the infected bursa in his left elbow. He came out of surgery in much pain. He has an open wound which is packed (for drainage). Please "cover us", that we'll still be able to travel on Thursday.

Shari

"Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts"

If this is true, then I guess I have the biggest sweet-tooth around! I knew there was a certain amount of stress to this whole adoption-thing, but making myself sick from it is what I didn't expect.

It started Thursday. Nick and I left home at 10:30 in the morning. We ran a couple quick errands in Jacksonville, then we ran to Tyler to the mall and quickly did business at two stores. Very quickly! Then we grabbed lunch and ran to Blaine's house to pick him up for a science class at the zoo. I dropped the boys off at the zoo and then ran to the nearest Wal-Mart with a long list of last-minute stuff to get for our trip. I had 1 1/2 hours to get it all done and get back. I rushed-rushed-rushed through a store I was unfamiliar with and got back to the zoo just in time to get the boys. I dropped Blaine off at his house and then Nick and I went home. There, we had 45 minutes to unload the car of the items I had just purchased, eat dinner, and put on our karate uniforms. We ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the car. At karate class, I made one circle too many and realized I was nauseous. I went home early.

The next morning I thought I was feeling better. I rushed to put all my school items together (something I would normally do on Thursday night) and get us out the door. Halfway through second period I called my doctor: I think I have an infection. The doctor can see me at 1:00. Halfway through third period I couldn't wait any longer. I arranged for someone to teach my fourth period class, I gathered up Nick, and went straight to the doctor. I was seen right away and then I hurried over to the pharmacy where my prescription for an antibiotic was filled immediately. I was home and in bed just past noon. That's when the fever set in. I heard a little voice say, "If you don't slow down, then I'm going to MAKE you slow down!"

Then Dave comes home from work with a swollen elbow. It was so painful that he went to the emergency room at 11:00 p.m. and was home at midnight. Burcitis, the doctor said. Then he ran fever. My fever broke at 1:30 a.m. (felt like a new woman!), but Dave has been off and on. He went to work at 6:00 this morning after getting no sleep at all. At 10:00 he was at Nick's shooting tournament but obviously miserable. Me, too. I took some medication and felt much better, but Dave continues to suffer. We left the tournament early and Dave went straight to bed, shivering from fever again.

We have five days to get past all this, as we board the plane to Russia Thursday morning (yippee!) But I'll pass on the dessert, thank you very much!

It's done!

Well, it took all day and a few tears, but I finally got our airline and hotel reservations changed. "That will be six hundred dollars more per ticket", she says. What?! After stressing about that, I called back later and was told $200. We leave on April 6, as originally planned, but come home on April 21. That puts us in Moscow a few days early without much to do, but I'm sure we'll make the most of it.

Our new court date is Wednesday, April 12. Please, please, please be praying for us on April 11 (Russia is half a day ahead).

Hoops

I'm getting so good at jumping through hoops!

I got word while at school this morning that our travel dates to Russia have been changed. Court is now on April 12 so we will need to leave two days later and stay a day longer. No problem, right? Big problem, according to Delta. They have no seats! So now we're looking at flying out on April 9th all the way from DFW to Novosibirsk. That's about 20 hours of flying non-stop (except for changing planes twice). We will be so dead when we arrive! Not only that, but the cost of the hotel goes up to $400 a night during that time. With breakfast at $90 for the four of us, this is one expensive change (not to mention airline penalties for our three tickets and Zack's two)! But who's counting pennies when there's a little boy to bring home?!

So now I need to get busy changing vet, eye doctor, pediatrician, and dental appointments by a few days. My head is aching! :)

The call we've been waiting for!

I've been busy getting Zack's room ready



After some weeks of threatening the life of anyone in the family who spends any time tying up the telephone line, our call has finally come in! We travel to Russia April 6 - 18. Our court date is April 10, so PLEASE be praying for us on April 9 (Russia is half a day ahead).

I have to go do some "nesting" now!

Shari

Playing the Waiting Game once again

We received an update from our adoption agency today.  Seems things in Novosibirsk have slowed a bit (probably just real busy because many families are traveling right now) and our paperwork has not yet finished going through all the proper channels in Russia.  It’s looking like it will be mid- to late-March before we can return to get Geniy.

The big issue in our household right now is whether or not Nick will return to Russia with us.  We are VERY TIGHT on funds (can you say "non-existent"?) and it will be a hard trip, so we have been talking to Nick about staying behind.  But he will not hear of it.  He has explained to us that he is just as much a part of this as we are and that he has had to endure the painful waiting and all the running around getting documents signed as we have.  He insists he will be going, as he has earned it (and it’s HIS brother, after all!).

Children … what a blessing!  :)

Ready to return to Siberia

We so miss this darling boy with the cute dimples! I look at his picture several times a day, wishing he were in my arms again!

It’s been a difficult two weeks since we came home from Russia, but we have spent every waking hour working on paperwork so we could return to Geniy.  Nick saw a psychologist right away, but we were having great difficulty finding a psychiatrist who would see us (or even return our call!)  You see, psychiatrists just don’t do what we were wanting done.

So many have offered their help.  A friend at karate, a doctor, asked Dave what he could do to help us.  Dave told him we needed a psychiatrist to call us back and he said he could help us there.  The very next day we had an appointment to see a psychiatrist a couple days later.  We were so excited!  We found a babysitter for Nick and arrived in the psychiatrist’s office early.  When the secretary gave us paperwork to fill out, she only gave Dave a set.  He was the only one who had a doctor’s referral, she said.  We were so disappointed!  We begged her, if we could just get in front of him and explain what we need, maybe he’ll see us both.  A few minutes later, Dave was called in.  I sat in the waiting room and did everything I could to NOT cry.  The last thing I wanted was for a psychiatrist, who I was wanting to say I’m emotionally stable, to see me falling apart in the waiting room!  About ten minutes later, Dave came out and invited me in.  The doctor said, not only would he see us, but that he would see us on Friday (two days away), his regular day off, and would have the paperwork in our hands before we left his office.  Yippee!  We saw him again on Friday, he had the letter already written, signed, and notarized, and we were there about ten minutes.  He wished us well, and we left.  It was amazing!

So now all the paperwork is turned in and we just wait.  We feel we will receive a call as early as this Friday, the 24th , and expect to get travel dates for March 10 – 24.

So many have said “we’ve been praying for you”.  Well, I want you to know that we can feel it!  We feel like the luckiest family in the world to have been given such wonderful family and friends to watch out for us and two wonderful children to boot!  God bless you!

The good and the bad of it all

We got used to grabbing a little sleep any time we could

I promised to tell you what went wrong in Novosibirsk. We needed the last couple days to grieve this setback, but now we are ready to tackle it head-on.

A couple hours before we left the region, we had a meeting with our facilitator. She explained to us that Geniy's social worker had some concerns and was not able to give us a favorable recommendation for adoption.

Last year two major news stories regarding Russian children whose lives were taken at the hands of their adoptive parents made big news in Russia. We were even afraid that Russian adoptions would come to a halt because of this news. Geniy's social worker felt that Dave's military background and the fact that he is a karate instructor could lead to domestic violence and, therefore, did not feel she could give us a favorable recommendation when we return for court in March. Sounds crazy, I know, but she is just looking out for Geniy's best interest. And, although we are heartbroken, we appreciate knowing this BEFORE court and not DURING court.

So, the ball is in our court (no pun intended). We must prove her wrong! We will obtain a psychiatric report on both of us and Dave will contact the head of the American Bushido Kai Association for a letter regarding karate. We have some hoops to jump through and some money to spend (psychiatrists take only cash, no insurance). But we will get it done and Geniy will come home.

What we need now more than anything else is prayer.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
–Proverbs 3:5

Dad helps Geniy make a Slam Dunk. 

The Thomasons have arrived!

We arrive back in Moscow after a 4-hour plane ride from Novosibirsk (and NO sleep). We did not receive good news when we left Novosibirsk, so we were very sad when we arrived in Moscow. I'll elaborate on that later, as I'm in the Atlanta airport right now waiting for our connection to DFW.

Shari

The boy can scream!

Our last day with Geniy before heading back home to the States

Geniy kept waiting for the "click" of my camera, but I was taking video. He kept posing and waiting for the sound of the shutter, wondering why I was teasing him so! In the videos, he's telling me over and over again, "Take a picture of me, Mom!"

In the second video, Geniy has a boo-boo on his knee and is getting LOTS of attention from Daddy over that - until he realizes the camera is on him and he goes into full drama mode! We laughed all day long.

Brothers at last!

Today was our last day to visit with Geniy. He was well aware that we would have to leave and then would return for him. "Come back for me in March", he said. "I will wait for you".We asked him if he would like an American name, and he was excited and said, "yes, yes!". We asked him if he liked Zack. He did. We taught him how to say his American name and used it from them on. We showed him how to spell it just one time and he spelled it himself on his MagnaDoodle over and over again (he even had a great time spelling Nick's name).

We spent a lot of time today teaching him how to say several things in English, and feel he will catch on very, very quickly. Zack's social worker joined us today to observe. She asked about sibling rivalry between Nick and Zack and we told her we had not yet seen any. She stayed with us about 30 minutes and when she left we played a game of Concentration. That's when we started to see the sibling rivalry finally kick in. Zack was very competitive, counting how many cards he had against how many cards Nick had. It was also very difficult for him to wait his turn. But when he is told "no" he accepts it. Later he and Nick were playing basketball taking turns throwing the ball into the hoop. Since they each had a ball, they had to wait for the other to throw when it was his turn. Zack tried several times to slip in a quick slam dunk when it was not his turn, and when he was reprimanded, he got a little powty. They say this is completely normal - the kids in the orphanage will do everything to please you at first, but then their true personality will eventually come out. It means they've become comfortable enough with you to feel safe in showing their true emotions.

So tomorrow we load up on the Russian plane "Siberian Airlines" where we will be served some kind of Russian who-knows-what for dinner. We should be exhausted and sleep on this flight. Then we'll spend the night in Moscow Saturday night and fly to the states on Sunday. We'll leave Moscow around 1:oo in the afternoon and arrive in Dallas that night. With a 9-hour time difference, that's 20 hours of traveling on Sunday, not including the 3-hours it will take us to get our luggage, pick up our car, and drive home. I think we'll sleep about 48 hours after we get into our own beds!

Thank you to all who have prayed for us and left us messages; it helps us to not feel so alone here in Ice Country!

I kissed an angel today

We are so enjoying our daily visits with Geniy. We continue to be astounded as to how smart he is! He likes to impress us by reciting his ABCs, writing words, and putting puzzles together. Yesterday he showed off his athletic prowess while he, Nick, and Dave played basketball together. Somehow he knows he will be coming home with us (I guess kids in the orphange tell stories of such things) and he is so, so happy. He has been there since July of 2000, so he has no other memories of being anywhere else, but the kids here, although they are all taken care of very well, strongly desire to be part of a family.

Today we will talk to Geniy about the fact that we will have one more visit with him on Friday, then we will have to leave for about two months before coming back to get him. We want to do this today so that our last visit can be nothing but upbeat.

I pray thanking God every day for this blessing He has bestowed on us. It's an overwhelming feeling to have been given so much!

The day finally arrives

Snow Sculpture (one of many) in Novosibirsk


Today was the day we had been waiting for!  After our interpreter arrived at the hotel, we took a taxi to the Department of Education to accept our referral of Eugeniy (nickname pronounced ZJAY nya).  Then we traveled about 30 minutes to the Childrens Home and walked up the snowy steps to the big steel front door.

The orphanage was very large, housing children from age 5 up.  The lower floor has offices, kitchen, sewing room, laundry, etc.  The children’s rooms are on the upper floors.  We were escorted to the psychologist’s office where we waited for Geniy.  A couple minutes later he burst through the door with a huge smile on his face.  He was talking a mile a minute.  He came right up to us and hugged us, chattering on and on about who knows what.  We were smitten with him the moment we first laid eyes on him.  He talked and our translator translated.  Within a couple minutes I noticed he said something that she did not translate, so I asked her what he said.  She was hesitant to tell me that he asked “will you take me with you?”  He enjoyed all the little gifts we brought, but mostly he liked our digital camera.  He is a button-pusher!  He’s also very bright – he showed us that he can write his name and he recited the Russian alphabet to us.  He colored in a Batman coloring book with Nick and scolded Nick for not coloring inside the lines!  He laughed about everything and kept saying Nick’s name over and over.  He likes to say Nick’s name.  He said to Nick “you are big and I am small”.

We enjoyed our visit with Geniy immensely.  When it was time to go he told us that we are invited to come back tomorrow.  We told him we would.

After that, we went with the Smiths to the Levi’s Restaurant (501) for dinner, then came back to the hotel room to figure out what we will bring to Geniy tomorrow.  We will be picked up at 9:30 a.m. and will be allowed to stay at the orphanage until 2:00.

Shari

Update

We met with Marina, our representative, this afternoon.  We had heard nothing but good things about her before we came, and now we know why.  She has all the right connections and she loves to see children find their forever families.  She is very good at what she does.  Tomorrow she will take us to the Education Department and then to the orphanage where we will meet Eugeniy.  Marina has to get special permission for Nick to go with us, but after spending an hour with Nick she said she feels she can “speak for him highly” and doesn’t think it will be a problem.  We’re hoping we’ll go in the morning, and not have to wait until afternoon.

Olesya (I spelled her name wrong earlier) took us to a restaurant called 501.  It’s a Levi’s restaurant!  We had a good meal and then went to the grocery store.  The carts at the grocery are very small (like kid-size) and the Russians took out just a small plastic bag or two of groceries each.  We actually did see two children in the store – so now we’ve probably seen five total since we’ve been here.

Before we left for lunch, Dave put a liter bottle of water in the window sill so it would chill.  Three hours later it’s nearly frozen solid!

So now we’re at the hotel where we will probably watch a DVD or two on the laptop and decide what items we will bring to the orphanage tomorrow.  We’ll report back after our visit.

Shari

Frozen nose hairs

Nick is dressed for the weather

This is winter wonderland! Another 4-hour plane ride and here we are in Novosibirsk, western Siberia. Everything here is snowed in.

Our interpreter, Karina, and her driver picked us, and another American couple (the Smiths) who we have been with since Atlanta, up at the Marriott in Moscow and drove us to the airport. Karina helped us check our bags and get to the terminal but we had to go through security and do the rest on our own. We just tried to follow what everyone else was doing. We had 1 1/2 hours wait to board the plane, so we just studied the Russians until then. Once aboard the plane, we knew we were in a foreign land. We had heard stories of terrible Russian planes, but this one wasn’t bad at all except for the 1970s décor (neon green, orange, pink, and yellow). It was obvious that the five of us were the only Americans on board and we got a lot of stares. Once in Novosibirsk, we bundled up and left the plane down a flight of snowy stairs on the runway. We boarded a bus to take us to the terminal. When exiting the bus, Alysya spotted us immediately. We asked how she knew us and she said she could see that we were “shy”. “Not pushy” is what she meant, as the Russians definitely push their way around. It was dark and snowy and we experienced a new sensation – frozen nose hairs! We could feel it immediately and it’s really weird! All this reminded me of the days when the Gestapo drove herds of people off cattle cars through the snowy grounds and through big iron gates in the dark; everyone was quiet and all you could hear is the "crunch, crunch, crunch" of our footsteps in the snow. We went into the gated area and walked indoors through a big, very old, metal door. The inside of this building was cement. We were herded in and then a machine started rolling our luggage out. There were men hollering “taxi” everywhere. They would even get in your face because the competition was fierce. We loaded the van and got to our hotel “Sibir”, I hear one of the nicest hotels in this third-largest city in Russia.

Talk about nice digs! Our hotel room is about twelve feet by fifteen feet plus a tiny bathroom, at $120 a night. There are two twin beds and we brought in a cot for Nick. A 10” television and a small refrigerator top it off. The cigarette smoke penetrates the walls and the furniture and décor is definitely 70s-style. The outside walls are 24” thick.

We’ve experienced some Russian foods. The folks here are big on raw fish, vegetables, hot tea, and breads. Their water and juices are served at almost room temperature. Breakfast is more like dinner to us, as it includes vegetables, rice, and meats. There are very few fresh fruits.

Today we are going to brave the cold with our neighbors, the Smiths. At 3:00 we meet with Childrens Hope and, hopefully, will get to go to the orphanage, but we’re not sure at this time.

Next report will be this evening. My electric adaptor set does not include a 3-prong adaptor, so I’m unable to charge my laptop. I’ll work on getting that remedied today, as we will need the laptop to watch movies on the long plane ride home (the movies shown on the airplane are very inappropriate for the eyes of a 9-year-old boy!).

Shari

Our hotel room (more like a dorm room!) in Novosibirsk, Russia 

Okay, it is now official: Nick can find a serviceman anywhere, even within an hour of arriving in Moscow! 

Its cold in Moscow

St. Basil's Cathedral - Moscow (Red Square)

It’s cold in Moscow!

We arrived in Moscow Saturday morning after ten hours of flying and NO sleeping (except Nick – he slept 3 hours). So, although we had a total of 3 hours’ sleep in 48 hours, we did not crash upon check-in at the hotel (Marriott) but instead bundled up for a walk to Red Square in the snow. Like being in the middle of New York, we saw Moscow bustling with people on foot, cars honking and screeching by each other, and young professionals always either smoking a cigarette or talking on their cell phones. We saw many a statue but could only guess as to whom they honored as we could not read Russian. We tried to speak to some of the locals, but knew we stuck out like a sore thumb and just made it worse when we tried to speak the language. But we were having too much fun!

In order to cross the streets here, you must go underground so that you don’t get run over (see photo above). The underground tunnels are a virtual mall in themselves. Dozens upon dozens little windowed stores, about 3 feet deep by 6 feet wide, one person inside (who hardly had room to move) and customers on the outside doing business through a little window. Coffee and cigarettes are available everywhere from tiny little sidewalk vendors.

The Russians are inundated with advertising. Even the inside of the jetway and the restrooms is covered with advertising. A lot of digital advertising is used, too, so the message can change every few second. Above the main avenues are banners crossing the roads so the drivers can be subject to advertising, too (as if they needed yet another distraction from the road!).

Dave got himself a Russian hat from a street vendor at Red Square and Nick, sure enough, found a couple of Russian soldiers to take a picture with him to add to his collection of pictures of him with military personnel.

Everything here is pretty expensive and most Russians make so little money. One girl told us that jeans here cost $200 - $300 a pair.

After our fun trip to Red Square, we got back to the hotel with just enough time to freshen up before our ride came to take us to Childrens Hope International Moscow headquarters for a meeting. But before the driver came, Nick had fallen asleep. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. So Dave stayed with Nick and I went to the meeting by myself. When I returned to the hotel, Nick had not moved a muscle. Dave and I went to bed at 7:45 and we were all awake again at 3:30 a.m. It’s going to be difficult to get our internal clocks set to Moscow time.

I’m hoping to get a couple pictures up. If I can’t, I’ll try to send you a link to where you can view them. We head to Novosibirsk (Siberia) tomorrow – another 4 hours on an airplane!

Shari

We're headed for Siberia!

We’re headed for Siberia!

We got travel dates today!  We’ll be in Russia January 27 – February 5.  Yippeee!