7 years later...

...I'm still strolling down memory lane this time every year. It's hard for me to believe, but seven years ago today we were standing before a Russian judge, in a Russian court room presenting our petitions to adopt Olga and Nina!

And now, for even more music...

...this time courtesy of Nina!

(Ahem, haven't figured out how to turn this right-side up!! Close your eyes and just enjoy the music, kay?) :-)

2009 ~ Resurrection Sunday

Russian food!

Our girls had a craving for Russian food yesterday, good thing there's a Russian store nearby!

Olga also bought some syroki, but we devoured those very quickly!

It's so neat to hear the girls talk about and remember familiar and favorite tastes and smells from Russia!

How is it possible...

...that our Nina is a freshman in high school?


We recently submitted this picture of her for our home school yearbook--she's growing WAY too fast!

Nina, our RRRD - "Resident Russian Relations Diplomat"

Nina with Ekaterina (14) who dreams of having a family.

Nina with a fellow-home schooler, a native Russian who did translating, and Anton (13) who "tries to be kind because God tells us to forgive and be kind."

Nina with Anton ~ if she could, she'd adopt a little brother! :-)

Currently, a group of 14 'older' Russian orphans are visiting our area through a 'host program'. We'd hoped to volunteer a good bit, but other obligations and responsibilities have prevented that to far. Nevertheless we MADE time to go last night and show the kids our support at their "Russian Culture Program". And, not surprisingly, Nina made some new friends, in spite of her fading Russian language skills--proof that a smile speaks volumes!

Read more of my thoughts on 'older' Russian orphans and this current hosting program HERE on my theology blog.

Our Girls...

...continue to grow and 'blossom'--too quickly. :-)

July 2008

Kids' World 2008

Today our girls and I volunteered to work the Russia booth at the local "Kids' World" event--booths highlighting various countries and cultures!

Nina helping the kids color and make Russian flags--and loving it!

Olga writing the kids' names in Russian in their 'passports'.

Me, handing out info. sheets to the kids and sharing Russian history and trivia.

"Gotcha Day" ~ Six years ago today...

...we legally "got" our daughters! We celebrate this day EVERY year by eating out or going/doing something special--this year will be no exception, but it's still a secret for now!

This photo was taken just before we left the flat where we had lived for almost a month! Pictured front to back, Fareed (our driver), Nina (our youngest daughter!), Olga (our oldest daughter!), Helen (our translator), Nelya (hosted us in her family's flat), and last but not least a brand new Mama and Papa!

And, here we are at the Yekaterinburg airport waiting to fly to Moscow--finally on our way HOME!


And, these are our girls today!

"The King" and I...

...err, and my daughters!

On our way home from vacation we stopped at the Memphis Visitor's Center, and just look who we ran into!! :-)

The Many (silly) Faces of Nina

This one was taken the first day of our 2008 vacation.

Readoption ~ 2008

We spent part of our afternoon today in court--readopting our girls so that the state can/will issue American birth certificates. Their new birth certificates will have all the original information (Russian birth place, etc.), but will be in English and issued by and in the U.S.

FYI - we were given Russian issued birth certificates that list us as their parents, but of course they are in Russian with an attached English translation. :-)

I'm still adding stories (and pictures) to our adoption story!

Here's a post (and pictures) I just added to our 'history', "Locks of Love".

Piano Recital ~ 2008

Nina played, Journey in the Night, by Gillock



Olga played, Sonata No. 25, Op. 79, Presto alla tedesca, by Beethoven

2007-08 Yearbook Photos

These are the individual photos of Nina and Olga that we submitted for the yearbook of our local home school group (CHEF - Christian Home Educators' Fellowship). Clearly, our girls are growing up too quickly!

Nina the Nurturer

As I've mentioned several times already, Nina is our 'little mother'. As far back as our time together in Moscow, she's been mindful of things that need to be done--mostly by others! Ha!

But her 'nurturing' side has been blossoming and wanting to express itself in the form of pet owner.

When we brought our girls home we already had two (indoor) cats. Within the first year we added one (outdoor) dog--a really large one! Several months ago Nina acquired two of her very own goldfish. Now she has her eye (and maybe even her heart) on a hamster.

I may be wrong, but I'm thinking two cats and a hamster won't be a very good mix. Still, I love seeing this side of our Nina!

Christmas 2007

Christmas Recital and Party ~ 2007

Today was the girls' annual Christmas recital and party! It's always an informal fun time of enjoying music and seeing how the kids have progressed in their studies! Oh yea, sorry about the great photos of their backs--it would have been disruptive to get up and try for a better shot!


Nina (far right) playing piano trio--that's her teacher playing for an absent student on the left! :-)

Olga (left) playing piano duet.

Olga playing during cello trio.

Olga (center) playing in trio (that's her teacher on the right!).

The Stigma of Being an Orphan

In case you're interested, I recently posted 'The Stigma of Being an Orphan, over at my theology blog.

Gaining a Biblical View on the Adopted Child's "Early Life" Experiences

Because we are adoptive parents of older foreign-born children, our theology has been put to the test in ways that most parents would never imagine, much less consider! :-)

Take for instance the fact that our children came to us already equipped with a "worldview" of their own--survival at any and all cost. Their worldview was shaped and molded much like yours and mine, but theirs had an interesting twist--how does one respond to relentlessly being sinned against by people who are supposed to love, protect and care for you?

Within the first two to three years of parenting our daughters, I came to understand that I had to remind myself that I/we were responsible for retraining sinful habits in our girls that were brought about by people OTHER than us! We often received the brunt of their anger and hurt that previously had been acted out toward people we never knew--and would likely never meet. Sin damages relationships, and our daughter's had experienced plenty of "damaged" relationships.

Recently, while preparing for my NANC exam, I read the following in the Christian Counselor's Manual by Jay Adams,

"'But,' someone contends, 'how can you hold a four-year-old responsible for the life style that he develops under the strong home influences of his childhood? For instance, doesn't extreme abuse by his parents disadvantage him for life?' Would not abuse cause a child so to deviate from normal living patterns that inevitably he would become abnormal? Part of the answer to the question of permanent effects of extreme child abuse doubtless lies in the physical (organic) abuses which so often affect later life. Much abuse also may occur in forms similar to the types of communist brainwashing that combine organic and psychological factors. Here too, where organic damage occurs, the effects may be lasting.

While recognizing that any discussion of childhood responsibility evokes an undue amount of emotion from some, first, nevertheless, we must be bold to assert the biblical fact that God does hold children responsible for sin from the very first day of their lives. 'By nature' (i.e., that corrupted deposit with which they were born) they are declared to be 'children of wrath' (Ephesians 2:3b). They are guilty in Adam (Romans 5). In addition, they express this sinful nature by living 'in the lusts of their flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind; (Ephesians 2:3a). The extent to which God holds a child responsible may be hard to measure, but the fact that He does so is certain. David said, 'Behold, in sinful state I was born and in sin did my mother conceive me' (Psalm 51:5, Berkeley). Elsewhere he wrote: 'The wicked are estranged from the womb; these who speak lies go astray from birth' (Psalm 58:3). The fact of infant mortality in a world in which God has declared, 'The wages of sin is death,' substantiates this doctrine of the moral culpability of infants before God. They are both held guilty for sin (because of Adam's sin--cf. Romans 3:23; ch. 5) and polluted by sin. Their corrupted nature expresses itself from birth (see passages above) in acts of actual transgression. So, there can be no doubt about it; God holds children responsible for their sin.

The question, therefore, is not whether the sinful life styles developed by children with sinful natures in response to sinful influences or even acts of abuse against them are wrong or not. They are. Sin is sin, whether the sinner is young or old. Nor is it a matter of whether they are responsible. Again, they are. The very fact that children are not considered to be morally neutral in the sight of God means that they may be held responsible for making whatever righteous responses that it is possible for a child to make at any given age. As unredeemed sinners, children will fail to respond as they should. For this they are accountable."

Now, having read that, please do NOT loose hope! God, as always, has made a way--even for the adoptive parent who is parenting a "challenging child"! Go HERE and read about Godly parenting.