Dear Friends,
We thought this would be a good time to send out an adoption update since our dossier (the required paperwork that introduces us to the Russian officials) is now in the hands of our agency, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we have found another young girl we hope to adopt!
Our dossier arrived at our agency last Monday (06/03). After they review it, it will be forwarded to Russia (possibly next week) and eventually delivered to the officials in the region from which we hope/plan to adopt Olga and Nina!
Here’s what we know about Nina: she is 8 yrs. old, she likes to draw and color, she likes to dance, her favorite subject in school is math, she makes all A's in math, as a matter of fact, she is proud of the fact that she makes all A's in all her subjects at school, she likes "to make hairdos" on dolls, and she has been described as being very responsible and a leader, even among the boys!
The children at the orphanage are all at summer camp now and will be till late August. We understand that this will not necessarily delay or hinder our adoption process, but only time will tell. Once the regional officials review our dossier and determine exactly when both girls are officially available for adoption they will let us know when our first trip will be. It is very unlikely that we will receive more than a 10-day notice to travel. Wow! Won’t that be a hoot! We are still anticipating that our first trip will be in August which will last only about a week. We will go back and officially adopt the girls three to eight weeks later, that trip will last about three weeks.
Our hearts continue to bind to Olga, she is reportedly scared, as any 12 yr. old would be, but she is looking forward to her parents (us!) coming to get her! Here’s what we know about Olga: she just turned 12, she likes to read, she likes to crochet/knit and sew, she doesn’t like to ride a bicycle because she doesn’t know how (we’re looking forward to helping her learn!), she has a sweet, quiet, personality and tends to ponder things before acting, and she likes to take long walks.
Now that the major paperwork phase has past (there will be MORE paperwork later), we are focusing on getting things here at home ready for the girls. We’re clearing out our spare bedroom so we can paint the walls and make room in the closet for all the"girl stuff" for TWO girls! We’ve already received some very kind donations for our girls, a set of twin head and foot boards for their beds (we have located one inexpensive used twin mattress set, please let us know if you know of anyone wanting to sell a gently used set), and clothing for Olga! We continue to work on our Russian (we’re actually enjoying that!), we’re planning our approach to homeschool the girls, and we pray daily that the Lord will protect our girls till we can bring them home!
Oh, here’s a bit of trivia (that only an adoptive mother would mention!), Olga’s b-day is 6 days from Connie's b-day, and Nina's is 6 days from John's! Isn't that a hoot? As always, we appreciate your continued prayers on our behalf and our girls. Please pray specifically for their well-being physically and emotionally, pray for their spiritual condition that the Lord would even now prepare their hearts for the true gospel, that the Lord would be pleased to continue building in them a desire for a family, and that He would bind us together as a family as only He can do. Much love, John & Connie
Sunday, June 09, 2002
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Finding Nina
Like our oldest daughter, Olga, we were first "introduced" to our youngest daughter, Nina, through email! An American couple was in the region adopting children from a different town, but kindly offered to visit our Olga at her orphanage.
While there, they videoed some of the girls--one in particular (Nina) who had been personally recommended to us by the orphanage director:
May 2002 - email from the Director (translated through an online translator):
"I advise to adopt Nina. To it(her) of 8 years. She(it) very well goes to school. Helps adults. She(it) very careful girl. The leader! Likes to play dolls and to sew him(it) clothes."
May 11, 2002 - email from the American couple:
"(Director) was also very happy that you are considering another girl. Her first choice for you was a cute little girl (I believe 7) named Nina. She has short brown hair cut into a bob with bangs. She wears glasses and is very proud of herself because she gets all 5's, or straight A's. She said her favorite subject is mathematics. She also likes to draw. You will see her in the video. There are some really great kids there...They each were rewarded a banana for doing the interview. It was so great!"
We quickly informed the orphanage director that Nina was our choice for daughter #2! For a week or more these two brief email messages provided ALL that we knew about "our" Nina, but we still knew that she was OURS!
After the American couple returned home to the States they sent us a copy of the video, and our Nina was the first one interviewed! In the video she was soft spoken and seemed very shy--my how that has changed over time! She recited a Russian poem, "Nasha Tanya" (which she still can recite!) and was very helpful with a younger girl who was later interviewed on the video.
This first "glimpse" of Nina has provided our family lots of cute ways and opportunities to laugh and smile together. For instance, in the video when asked about school Nina boasts that she gets "5's" (A's) "su-vrah-mah", which means "all the time". We quote her often when the occasion arises and she just smiles! We also like to prompt her a bit to get her to recite, "Nasha Tanya"--it's so cute to hear her speaking in Russian!
While there, they videoed some of the girls--one in particular (Nina) who had been personally recommended to us by the orphanage director:
May 2002 - email from the Director (translated through an online translator):
"I advise to adopt Nina. To it(her) of 8 years. She(it) very well goes to school. Helps adults. She(it) very careful girl. The leader! Likes to play dolls and to sew him(it) clothes."
May 11, 2002 - email from the American couple:
"(Director) was also very happy that you are considering another girl. Her first choice for you was a cute little girl (I believe 7) named Nina. She has short brown hair cut into a bob with bangs. She wears glasses and is very proud of herself because she gets all 5's, or straight A's. She said her favorite subject is mathematics. She also likes to draw. You will see her in the video. There are some really great kids there...They each were rewarded a banana for doing the interview. It was so great!"
We quickly informed the orphanage director that Nina was our choice for daughter #2! For a week or more these two brief email messages provided ALL that we knew about "our" Nina, but we still knew that she was OURS!
After the American couple returned home to the States they sent us a copy of the video, and our Nina was the first one interviewed! In the video she was soft spoken and seemed very shy--my how that has changed over time! She recited a Russian poem, "Nasha Tanya" (which she still can recite!) and was very helpful with a younger girl who was later interviewed on the video.
This first "glimpse" of Nina has provided our family lots of cute ways and opportunities to laugh and smile together. For instance, in the video when asked about school Nina boasts that she gets "5's" (A's) "su-vrah-mah", which means "all the time". We quote her often when the occasion arises and she just smiles! We also like to prompt her a bit to get her to recite, "Nasha Tanya"--it's so cute to hear her speaking in Russian!
Friday, May 10, 2002
"Olga is in the hospital!" (little did we know that it was an attempted suicide)
Another adoptive mom who was in regular contact with Olga's orphanage director sent me this email in early May 2002:
"Olga is in the hospital!" She went on to explain that she'd been told that Olga ate some cake from a recent celebration (probably "Victory Day" on May 9th) that had been left out and gone bad.
Then, the next day we received this in an email from an American couple adopting in the same region--they'd offered to go by our orphanage to meet our Olga and take some birthday gifts we sent and make some videos for us:
"We went to the orphanage again today. We could not see Olga as she was in the hospital with a stomach flu. (Director) said she will be fine."
We never questioned these explanations, we had no reason to do so at the time. However, you can imagine our surprise when Olga told us the real story just 5 or 6 months after becoming our daughter--this had been her second suicide attempt in just a few weeks. We can only assume that the Director did not want to alarm us or cause us to have any reservations about adopting Olga.
"Olga is in the hospital!" She went on to explain that she'd been told that Olga ate some cake from a recent celebration (probably "Victory Day" on May 9th) that had been left out and gone bad.
Then, the next day we received this in an email from an American couple adopting in the same region--they'd offered to go by our orphanage to meet our Olga and take some birthday gifts we sent and make some videos for us:
"We went to the orphanage again today. We could not see Olga as she was in the hospital with a stomach flu. (Director) said she will be fine."
We never questioned these explanations, we had no reason to do so at the time. However, you can imagine our surprise when Olga told us the real story just 5 or 6 months after becoming our daughter--this had been her second suicide attempt in just a few weeks. We can only assume that the Director did not want to alarm us or cause us to have any reservations about adopting Olga.
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