Have I got a deal for you! For only $10,000 you too can loose 6 pounds in 4 days! For an additional $20,000 you can loose 15 in 20 days! Doesn't sound like fun? Then Russian adoption is not for you.
Yes... We are home and I am awake enough to have a bit of a sense of humor. Derek and I have lost about 6 pounds each from the wonderful Russian food, the 2 meals a day and the miles that we walked. Khabarovsk is a wonderful city. The main areas of town are very clean and the people are quite friendly. We did stick out like sore thumbs, but otherwise we went un-noticed. Our visit was far too short, but worth every air mile flown.
There were so many experiences, and it hard to remember them all. From the fish with a face, to meeting 5 other adoptive families to the trolly car packed with 120 people. The Babushkas that sweep the sidewalks with little tiny brooms, the big Kvas (rye drink) tanks on the street corners, and the news stands that sell bottles of beer, also on every street corner. Russians eat ice cream all the time! Lee and Dad would fit in perfect!
The orphanage was absolutely immaculate. Alexander is well taken care of and at 18 pounds, well fed. We appreciate all the comments you made on our blog. It was so nice to hear from family and friends while we were gone. We treasure all of those kind words.
Our next challenge will be finding the resources to bring our son home. Our agency wants our final paperwork by the 10th of June so it can be translated and sent. Of course that means payment too. 4 days to come up with $6650 won't be easy, but somehow we have had the money to this point. The next leg of the journey won't be easy, but we know that with your prayers and support it will happen. If we can find a way we might be able to bring him home by late July or early August.
I am also trying to find organizations to tell this wonderful story too. As we have mentioned this has been a true calling from God. Everything about this little boy is not just coincidence. I want to be able to tell people about this journey. If you know of an organization who would like to have a guest speaker to talk about following the call of God pass my name onto them. I want to reach out and share this with everyone.
Blessings to all of you and keep following our adventure. Send us your comments as we love to hear them!
Lisa