Olga's Senior Banquet

Olga's Senior Banquet was last night--mom and dad got to attend too!

The dinner was quite nice--in a private club/restaurant atop one of the buildings downtown--the fellowship was rich (Christian home school support group), and the memories will last forever!

Olga auditioned to play a piano piece during the banquet and was one of three selected--she played "Give Thanks" arranged with Pachelbel's "Canon in D". That's the grand piano she played in the picture above.

We've been 'counting down' since this time last year, but as we draw nearer to the end it just seems to be speeding up!

April Fools?

Guess which university Olga was accepted to today? :-)





That's right, mom & dad's alma mater--Oklahoma State University!

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!

7 years ago today...

(Update: 03/08/09 Olga received word earlier today that she has been accepted into the music program at OSU!)

...we received an email that would literally change our life forever--we heard about an 11 yr. old Russian orphan who wanted a family.

Today--7 years later--we took our oldest daughter (that FORMER Russian orphan) for a piano audition at the university where John and I met 26 yrs. ago. For now, here's a picture--I'm trying to upload a short video of her warming up.

Finding Jesus in a Russian Orphanage

I'm overjoyed anytime I see/hear/read a theologically sound presentation of adoption--physical and spiritual!!!

Earlier today Justin Taylor announced THIS new book by Russell Moore, along with THIS link to an excerpt from the book--Enjoy! :-)

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.

Olga accepted into College Honor Society!

Olga received her membership packet today officially recognizing her as a member of the Phi Theta Kappa College Honor Society!

She was invited to join earlier this year after achieving eligibility requirements of completing 12 college credit hours with at least a 3.5 GPA. Which, she managed to do as a concurrently enrolled Junior in high school (home school)!

She continues to take advantage of concurrent college enrollment this year--her Senior year of high school--and is likely to have 46 college credit hours (some through advanced testing) already accumulated when she graduates from high school in May '09. She definitely is taking after her father in this area of her life! :-)

She's thrilled and we're very proud of her!

Olga's Senior Portrait

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.

Olga's first car!

Olga has been saving her money and is now the proud owner of her very own car!

Showing Christ's Love for Children in the CIS

Please consider taking part in this year's Immanuel's Child program benefiting children in the former Soviet Union.

Just $25 will enable Russian churches to purchase and give away much needed items to children (Russian Bible, hygiene/toiletries, fresh fruit, clothing, etc.).

Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) has been ministering in Russia since 1934--long before many ministries dared. Please visit SGA's website.

NOT "born in the USA", but still an American!

Olga got to vote in her first election today--and a "Presidential Election" at that! (Trivia: She was born in Russia while it was still under Communist rule.)

Fall 2008 ~ Cello Choir performance

"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.

Counseling the Adopted Child

I haven't had time to read the whole article linked HERE, but because I/we subscribe to the CCEF (Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation) Biblical Counseling Journal and have a great degree of respect for CCEF I decided to go ahead and post this link.

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. :-)