Slava Update

June 7: Tyumen

2006-06-07T22:49:00.000-04:00

It is Wednesday... a busy Wednesday. The five of us piled into two cars along with two translators and our agency contacts (one of whom is driving the other car). How we squeezed 5 people into our little white box of a car, I'll never know. Riding along the road at 140 kph/80-90 mph is hair-raising in this tiny car with no seatbelts in the backseat. Russian roulette must have gotten it's start in a car on a two lane road. I am sure of it! On the trip to Berduhzky, Julia (our translator) and I talk about life in America. She has questions about this and that and I try to answer them. She knows all about Walt Disney World and would love to go there some day. When I ask her if she will, she says she doubts it. I probably would have said the same thing if someone had asked me 20 years ago if I would every travel to Moscow, let alone some remote little town in Tyumen.

We arrive in Berduhzky (I don't know how it's spelled) at the Department of Education's office in this "county". The roads are sometimes dirt, sometimes asphalt. The houses in this "county seat" vary from primitive wooden frames to concrete blocks with tin roofs. Still the people who work in this city dress very nicely- especially the women. After a few minutes, Tatiana, the director of the detsky dom, steps out of the building and comes over to shake our hands. She looks scary all dressed in black with her black hair piled on top of her head with dark red lipstick. I'm sure I'm just as much an anomoly to her with my leopard print tank top and black capri pants.

Then Slava comes out of the building!!! He has gotten taller, but still has the million dollar smile that stole our hearts. He looks a little shy and a bit out of sorts for a few minutes, but then he takes my hand and we all go inside to visit for a little while. Our translator, Julia, keeps up the conversation asking questions about the photos we've brought along to remind him of our time together last summer. It is difficult to find a tiny moment to talk to Slava about the court appointment that takes place tomorrow. We know that Tatiana is trying to get the kids to say they want to stay in Russia, and we want Slava to know that whatever he decides will be final; we will not be able to return if he should change his mind.

Finally over lunch, Julia explains to Slava about tomorrow's court appearance. Slava tells Julia he is going to say yes. He wants to go home to Michigan with us!

Too soon it is time to say good-bye to Slava. He is still grinning from ear to ear and excited about tomorrow's events. It is a quiet three hour trip back to Tyumen. I keep playing back our visit over and over in my head. I have missed our boy; Matt has too.

Tonight is our last night at the Hotel Prometey! Hallelujah!!! Tomorrow after our court date we will move to the Quality Hotel across the street. A/C and Slava!!! I cannot wait!

Another Ambien night....

June 6: Tyumen

2006-06-06T22:35:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day for walking about Tyumen. We met up with the Spooners after their court date. It was not the day we had hoped for. Their son, V-, has decided to remain in Russia. Luckily, the judge was not prepared to rule so quickly and has given the Spooners and V- a week to reconsider. The scene in court was very emotional, needless to say.

V- will remain in Tyumen instead of traveling back to Uktuz to the detsky dom. The Spooners hope that they will be able to visit with V- during the week to remind him of the wonderful time they had together last summer and hopefully persuade him to return with them to America.

We called MI tonight to ask for prayers from our friends at church for peace during this tough time. About the time we hung up, we received a call from Alla with encouraging words for our meeting with Slava tomorrow. While it is hard not to be anxious, I must say that there is a peace between the two of us. We ultimately believe that this entire adventure is in God's hands, we just have to trust Him.

The heat is miserable here at the hotel Prometey. The whining of the mosquitoes almost drowns out my own.... : )

June 5: Tyumen

2006-06-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Tyumen last night at about 11:30PM. It appeared to be sunset. The misquitos were immediately evident... and boy were they hungry! We were met at the hotel by our agency hosts, Sophia and Vlad and our translater Inna. Inna rode with us on our way into town and answered some of our questions and gave us an idea of what was tenatively planned for tomorrow. We arrived about an hour later at our hotel. I never would have guessed it was a hotel. There is a big sign (I mean really BIG on the side of the building) advertising VIP Men. I'm not sure at this point if it is a men's clothing store or a gentleman's club... or maybe a Russian Chip & Dale's. Interesting.

Our room is a tiny place on the top floor (6th). Room in the living area for two chairs, a coffee table, and a small tv. Our bedroom is a little bigger sporting a dresser and a double bed. We opened to windows in hopes of cooling off our room. There is no a/c here and it feels like 85.

I woke up at around 4AM. It is getting light outside and the buzz of misquitos is the only evidence of air movement in the room. Finally I tossed around and slapped at the misquitoes enough to wake Matt up. This is not pretty. I need my sleep (even just 8 hours), and I need my a/c. Granola bars for breakfast.

We met up with Inna again today and the five of us went with her in search of a restaurant with an English menu. Hallelujah this place also had a/c. Lunch was a tasty dish of potatoes and sashlik (shish kabob). We walked back to the hotel and met up with Sophia for an update on tomorrow. We will be going to the Department of Education to get permission to visit with Slava on Wednesday. At this point we aren't sure if we will be going to the detsky dom or if he might be travelling to Tyumen to meet us. This doesn't sound likely since it is a 3-6 hour drive (depending on how fast one drives).

It was an Ambien night....

June 4: Moscow

2006-06-04T00:59:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Moscow at 10:30AM. WOW! Their alphabet is different. I knew that already, but for some reason it's just blatantly obvious when you arrive and their is VERY LITTLE English about. Even most of the airport signs are in Russian, so we quickly developed a "herd" mentality and followed the pack to customs and beyond.

Alex was there waiting for us. A cute young man with a talent for driving in Moscow. Need I say more. He has a decent car and is great about pointing out every McDonald's we pass. He asked us if we'd like to eat there for lunch and we both said NO! Take us to one of your favorite places to eat.... so we ended up eating at the neatest restaurant on a boat moored on the Moscow (?) River. Yummy shish kabob!

He took us on a tour of Red Square where we had our pictures taken with Lenin and Nicholas II (for a small fee : )). Still was great fun with a bit of "I can't believe we are really here!" Seeing St. Basil's kinda made me say, yeah, we ARE here!!! (Like the writing hadn't convinced me yet?????)

By mid-afternoon we travelled to the other airport to meet up with the P Family who are also enroute for a June 8th court date to adopt their two boys.

Tomorrow we leave!

2006-06-03T14:07:00.000-04:00

All is packed. All paperwork is accounted for. Just time for a little sleep and then we are off to Russia. We are spending the night at the airport... our last little luxury since I doubt we'll be staying there once there are three of us. Just the same, it will be a sacrifice well worth it!!!

Posting from Russia will be questionable, so most likely this will be updated once we return home. Thank you for your prayers. Be blessed.

Packing isn't for sissies... and I am one

2006-05-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

I am a wreck today. Silly me. It's not even about the hold ups, it's about what to pack. Will it weigh too much? Maybe I should just take all black pants, but it is after Memorial Day... do any of them wear white pants after Memorial Day? OH, yeah, that's a US holiday. *sigh* I have such confidence in God about this trip and it's outcome, but I have no clue what to wear. Is it possible to pray for wisdom in packing... oh sure it is. Silly me. I can see God's to do list: Comfort grieving Smith family. Steady surgeons' hands working on Daniel. Ease the suffering of Alice as she undergoes chemo today. Pick out Julie's wardrobe for Russia. Drive Bill safely home from college. Bless the union of Brenna and Matt. See what I mean. But He'll do it.

In the meantime, seasons are finally rolling over and I am ready to swap the "winter" clothes for the "summer" clothes, but maybe I should pack some of those. I just don't know. I have read so many blogs and group boards about packing. I'm to the point where I'd just rather not. I don't know how long I'll be in denial (after all, they WON'T let me in the country naked!), but hopefully this too shall pass before this afternoon.... okay, pass by Sunday night.

Back to the suitcase... *sigh*

Proud Mother of the Bride

2006-05-22T16:18:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we flew to TX to see B get married. What a beautiful bride she was!!! In spite of all the excitement surrounding our trip to Russia next month (fingers crossed), I have to tell you this is on the same level of excitement and blessing. Seeing her all dressed up in her bridal dress, she looked every bit the fairy princess... putting even Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella to shame. **Sigh** My baby girl has grown up... Be blessed...

We Have A Court Date!!!

2006-05-10T21:40:00.000-04:00

We got the news today that our court date has been finalized. We will become parents on June 8th. We will arrive in Moscow June 4th and return on or about June 17th... in time for Matt to celebrate being a dad (with son in tow) for the first time on Father's Day.

As we get more details, we'll pass it on....

Be blessed~

More paperwork!

2006-05-04T11:50:00.000-04:00

This week we received a request from a NEW source... the USCIS stating they needed additional information before they could "reissue" our I-171 paperwork with the updated fingerprints.

***BIG SIGH***

We are hoping to travel in the early summer, but this new hurdle could slow things down. Still, we keep the faith and persist. I keep telling myself to trust in His timing (and secretly hoping that we are in sync). Matt will have to be the 'up' one this week. I am tired and need to take a break. Next week...

Good news is, our medicals are done!!!! Good thing the USCIS letter came this week. We may wait to get the apostille on our medical paperwork... or maybe we will go ahead and get it sealed and forwarded on to Russia. One less stack of paper.

No news as of today if Sophia has made the trip to see the kids yet. I believe I heard that Zina might go with her. I worry sometimes that the boys may become concerned when they start leaving the orphanage one at a time (if we the three of us don't have court dates on the same day).

All for now on the adoption. I've got B's wedding to look foward to. It will be wonderful to be a part of this special day and also get to see my family for a little while before flying back to little d Sunday night.

Keep us in your prayers... I really need them personally this week!

Be blessed~

We have a new Every in the family!

2006-04-29T08:44:00.000-04:00

Josh and Colleen gave birth to Madeline Elizabeth on April 25th at 9:36PM. Precious bundle of joy weighed in at 6lbs 5oz and about 20" long. Matt and I made the trip downriver to meet our newest niece on the 26th and took these pictures. What a blessing!

Medicals have expired!

2006-04-21T10:36:00.000-04:00

News today that our medicals have expired. We just had them re-done in December (which we thought meant they would be good for a year -wrong!); in the region we are in the medicals expire after three months.

Oh, by the way, we also have to have a letter (written by another doctor) stating that she is qualified to make the diagnosis she has attested to on our official medical report. (Just wondering when we'll need to have a letter stating that THIS doctor is qualified to write a letter stating that our doctor is qualified). The more it goes around the dizzier we get.

Of course, we'll make a trip to Lansing to get everything apostilled in the quickest way possible. No news on when they want this paperwork back, but I'm sure it's as quickly as possible.

Slava's letter to Zina

2006-04-17T07:55:00.000-04:00

This is the translation we received of Slava & Alexei's letter to Zina.

Writing to you Slava and Alesha. Please send our hello to Vicki and Julia and Matt. Tell them to send us cell phones. We are very bored. We are writing a letter to you because we want to go to America. We want to see our American parents very very much. We are waiting when we'll be going to America. We are taking karate lessons.

Signatures

These are our signatures. When are we going to go to America? We want to go to America very much. You (Zina) are coming in April, because I calculated you said you are not coming in March. Also, tell them to send us a notebook for both Slava and me. Please do not forget to tell.

Slava and Alesha

Alexei is to the right of Slava.
Vitaly is to the left.
Summer Miracles Camp/Michigan 2005

Our letter to Slava

2006-04-12T14:22:00.000-04:00

Greetings my son. How are you doing?
We have been blessed to learn that Alla has agreed to bring you a letter from us and some small treats. I hope that you will remember to thank her.

It is getting warmer here. The snow is gone and we are working in the yard to make it beautiful. We need your help!

We are still waiting to hear when we can come get you and bring you home. We hope that you are as excited about becoming our son as we are. We are hopeful that we will travel in early summer to Russia to legally make you our son and bring you home to Michigan. Maybe June, maybe July. Can you wait that long and have hope? We can!

On April 16th, we will celebrate Easter holiday with Grandmother, Grandfather, Uncle and Aunt. They will come to eat dinner at our house. I am going to try to make a Russian bread for this special holiday to remember you. Next year after you are home, I will make it even better!

I am sorry that we have not talked to you on the phone, but do not think that we have forgotten you or that we don't love you. While you might think that a cellular phone will let you call us, that's not true. It is too far for an American phone to send a signal and we would still need to have permission.

We remember you always and pictures of you and the three of us are on my desk, by our bed, and at our desks at work. We always remember you. And certainly, we love you very much. You are our son!

Do you still remember any English words? What food would you like the first day you are home again? Have you thought about what color you would like your room to be?

I will not forget to pack your Leapfrog game and some toys when we travel to Russia to bring you home. I do not think I can pack every toy in a suitcase, but it will all be waiting for you when you arrive home. Have you gotten taller? Are your feet longer? I will need to pack some clothes and shoes for you to wear also. I am excited!

And now I should send this letter to you. Remember that we love you very much Slava. As soon as the government says "Come, get your son!", we shall get on a plane and fly to you. You will come home with us and we will be a family. Do not lose hope. You are our strong boy with the fearless heart.

We love you son,

Mama & Pop

Slava wrote a letter to Zina

2006-04-10T10:11:00.000-04:00

We received news today that Zina received a letter from Slava and Alexei. She translated it for me on the phone, but I can only remember the jist of it. When she sends me the translated letter I will post it.

Alla (from the agency) will be traveling to Tyumen this coming weekend to visit her family for the Russian Eastern Orthodox Easter. She has told us that she will take a small package to Slava while she is there. I am still amazed at the generosity of the people who go above and beyond to keep us in touch with our children!

While we have received confirmation that our dossier is registered in Tyumen with the courts, we have not received word on when we will be in court. That is the next BIG step. That's when it's time to buy the tickets, get the visas from Russia, and head East!

We are so blessed. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Lunch at Mongolian Bar-B-Que

2006-04-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

This photo could have been taken last week, but it was actually the last weekend Slava was home with us. We went out to celebrate Matt's dad's birthday. Slava picked out a cake from the international market.

2006-04-02T11:53:00.000-04:00

All went well with the fingerprint appointment on April Fool's Day. We were in and out in less than an hour! Amazing!

I still haven't a clue how long it will take to process these and whether or not we will have to wait to travel before the processing is complete.

Keep the processing in your prayers for now. I am continually amazed at how God is scheduling this adoption process for us. Now if I could just sit back and relax... : )

Be blessed~
Julie

2006-04-01T12:15:00.000-05:00

2006-03-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

I confess. I've been fantasizing about getting "the call" all week long. The news is out on the message boards that families are getting court dates and well, we have all our paperwork there and translated and... (get the picture?)

We arrived home from work to a message from Irina letting us know that Zina had another letter from Slava telling us he wanted to come home. WOW! I didn't even know Zina was making another trip out to see the kids. I am looking forward to seeing his letter and reading (via translation) what he had to say. Wow and more wow! She also has asked us to redo one of our documents (the letter to petition the court to waive the first trip). Of course, it's never really that simple. We will need to not just reprint the corrected copy, but also get it notarized and - you guessed it!- apostilled!!!! and that means ANOTHER trip to Lansing. Matt's parents have been really great about allowing us time to zoom over there for half a day (and missing work), but it's hard for us to keep asking.... we need an answer to a prayer of how we are going to do this.

That's all for now. We're off to grab a bite to eat.

Be blessed~
Julie

2006-03-20T23:25:00.000-05:00

God answered our prayers last night!

We spoke to Irina when we got home last night and she cleared up a couple of things for us.

First of all, it appears that Slava actually wrote to Zina (as in sent a letter) and told her to be sure to tell us that he wants to come home to us. I'm not sure how long it is, or what other information it contains, but the original will go to Sophia (our Russian agency contact) to go into our file for court. Zina will fax a copy to Irina, who will then get a copy to us. Another child who came over this summer also sent a letter to Zina for his parents stating the same thing. I have no idea how they were able to mail a letter to Zina, but I'm sure the story will come out once he gets home.

We talked about the revised petition to waive the first trip. There is a phrase they wanted removed from the letter and to get the new copy to our agency's office here US so they could forward it to the agency office in Russian/Tyumen. All during dinner we were trying to be creative with options for getting this latest document apostilled and the cons of each: to send it by mail (a minimum of 2 weeks turn around time), to send it by courier (expensive), to ask for a half day off (a hassle), to go into work at 6AM and leave at 3PM working through lunch (still no garauntee it would be okay with the parents). So what do you think. God came through. Irina told us that if we would drop it off at the FHills office, they would notarize our signatures and take care of getting it apostilled. It should be take care of and on its way to Russia by the middle of next week. Delay is minimal, no additional cost for us, no hassles getting time off from work.

Wow. Just one wow after another.

Thanks for your continued prayers. I hope you can see they really are making a HUGE difference in every aspect of this adoption.

Be blessed~
Julie

2006-03-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, truthfully, I should have written this on Friday, but things have been happening so fast that I just didn't.

We arrived home on Thursday to learn that we had gotten our fingerprinting appointment for April 1st (and that's no April Fools!) at 9am. Wow!!!! God is just so big right now, it's scarin me! Irina called on Friday and we talked about paperwork and "now what". Basically the documents that we sealed on Monday are either enroute or in St. Petersburg being translated. Sophia (our regional agency contact) has spoken to the judge to express hers, mine, and our concerns about any negativity that might be conveyed by the orphanage director in court to disrupt Slava's adoption. The judge reassured Sophia that he/she will strongly favor Slava's desires. Thankfully, Sophia does have the recent letter Slava wrote us and will present that along with our letter and possibly Zina's report from this summer to the judge when we go to court.

Speaking of court, I asked Irina if she had any ideas, notions, or feelings about when we might hear of a possible court date. Before she can guess at any of that we must get these last two documents translated and into our dossier. Then the Russian agency will begin to put Slava's dossier together. It is just as complicated and detailed as ours was and must have all the correct signatures and seals on it as well. He will have to have a medical evaluation and exam and more. Once his dossier is ready/filed we should hear about a court date.
Needless to say, all of the Russia staff is eager to get back to work getting the children home to their families in the United States.

There is still some questions about the situation of two Kidsave children who are currently in patronat homes. Please keep them in your prayers too. I don't know how I would handle this challenge if it was before me.

All for now. When we know... we'll let you know...

Be blessed~
Julie

2006-03-17T21:51:00.000-05:00

Hi Julie,
thank you for all your help! I can really use these forms now that I have them in electronic format.You'll be happy to know your dossier was registered in Tyumen, they are still waiting on two last documents we've sent.
Irina

2006-03-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

Greetings!
Friday we got word that we needed two more documents written, notarized and sealed to be sent to Russia. One was a petition to adopt Slava specifically and the other was a petition to waive the first trip (in hopes we will only have to make one trip).

Monday with said documents in hand, we got them notarized and made "one last trip" to Lansing to the Office of the Great Seal. (Does this make anyone else think of a trip to SeaWorld???) We handed them over to the Farmington Hills office and now we wait.
These will be translated in St. Petersburg and then join our dossier in Tyumen in preparation for our trip to Russia. I get so excited just thinking about it all.

We are now praying for a speedy appointment to get our fingerprints re-done. I don't know exactly why they expire, but they do. Maybe the US gov't just wants to make sure Matt and I haven't done anything "criminal" in the last 15 months. Amazing that this is one of the few US "musts" and doesn't really matter on the other side.....

That's all for now. Keep praying for our fingerprints appointment, and heartfelt thanks for your continuing prayers!!!

Be blessed~
Julie

2006-03-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we got a copy of the letter that Slava gave to Zina when she visited the children in the detsky dom. I would be happy to print it for you in cyrillic, but it would probably mean as much to you as it did to me when she handed my copy to me. Luckily, Irina translated it for me and I will include it here...

"Hello I am writing to you. I love you mama and papa. How is your health. I am doing well.How are grandmother and grandfather , how are uncle and aunt. I love you all. I always look at pictures and remember you. I am still at the orphanage. I miss you.Send me a package with toys, cars that are lighting up and ninjas and game with Bat man and races and our other games. Take me home."

On the other side he wrote his name and a picture of a hand.

2006-03-07T11:04:00.000-05:00

Time for a quick update before I dash off to BSF and the shop.
Matt and I made the trip to Lansing yesterday to "seal" our paperwork to send to Russia. 37 documents!!! We had updated some that had expired, but still had a few outstanding.
What a trip! We were so happy and excited! I mean my thoughts looked alot like this:

ohthisissocoolit'sfinallyhappenedthankyouGodyouaresoincrediblyawesomeandwowIamsohappyIcan't reallythinkbutohthisissocoolit'sfinallyhappeneddidIremembertosaythankyouGodImeanaREALLYBIG thankyouandahallelujahtoo!

Two new documents that were included that were not in our original dossier were pictures of us with Slava and a letter written to the Russian government about his stay with us and how much we want him to be a part of our family. It took a couple of tries to get it written out "politically" correct, but hey, it's done and on it's way to Russia. The agency rep in Slava's region wanted those two items faxed to her yesterday. Unfortunately, by the time we returned from Lansing, it was too late so they will go today. The rest of the documents will go to the agency's head office today via the director at the FH branch. Irina thinks there will be a "rush" to get our docs translated into Russian and she hopes to hear that we have been officially referred Slava by week's end. But that is gossip and I said I was gonna try to keep that outta the blog. So pretend I didn't say that. When we know something sure, we'll be sure to post.
Thanks for the prayers. Please don't quit now... God is just getting started!!!
Be blessed!
Julie

2006-03-06T13:36:00.000-05:00

WE JUST HEARD THE WORD FROM KIRILL!
IT IS OFFICIAL!
WE ARE REACCREDITED!!!!
YEA!!!!!!!!!!!
Irina

2006-03-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

More good news!
I will not pass on the gossip, but I will pass on what I know to be true. Our (Russian) agency representatives have been invited to Moscow on Monday. Prevously this has been an indication that an agency's re-accreditation is to be granted. We will not know anything more until Monday. Until then, please keep the agency's re-accreditation at the front of your prayers.
Matt and I are making the "Great Seal" run to Lansing on Monday morning to finish sealing the final copies of paperwork that must be sent to Russia to replace documents that "expired" while we were waiting for the agency's re-accreditation. These will be sent on to Russia via the agency to be translated and hopefully.... officially registered!!!!
We remain hopeful that we will hear some positive news soon and will keep you posted when we hear something...
Thank you for your continued prayers!

2006-03-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, Mar 2, Zina (who served as the children's escort this past summer) received official permission from the MoE to visit the children. It was quite an undertaking for her - a six hour drive (one way) in snowy conditions on tiny Russian roads in a car that her own orphanage allowed her to borrow*. When she arrived at the children's detsky dom (orphanage) the director was not there, but she was treated well by the caretakers there who invited her in, made her feel comfortable and fixed her tea*. She was shown into a private room where she met with the 9 remaining children who are still at the detsky dom*. She gave them the translated emails we had written to the kids and sent to Zina.* I think they were excited to finally hear from us. The children told her that previously, the director had a meeting with the kids and told them that the Russian President didn't want children to be adopted internationally and Zina told the kids it wasn't true. They asked Zina why she didn't come before and she told them that she did come and was told they were all gone. They asked why we didn't call and she told us that we do call but no one answers the phones. All of the kids were able to write letters back to us and gave them to Zina*. How we will get them remains to be revealed, but Matt and I were told that Zina commented specifically that Slava's was one of the most positive of all the kids' letters. They wanted to tell us they miss us, want to know when we are coming, and want us to come and get them and please get there as soon as possible.

WOW!!! What an day filled with blessings*!!! Our prayers are being answered in wonderful and unexpected ways today!

2006-02-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

From our adoption consultant:

Dear families, I just talked to Zina and she has her permission from the Dep. of Education signed, so she plans to go to see the children on Wednesday. She shared with me her e-mail address, so if you would like to send a short message to your children ( I can help translate), Zina will take them to your child. We'll follow up with her next week. Let me know if you need help translating.
Have a great weekend, Irina

2006-01-28T20:20:00.000-05:00