Nice Surprise!

Boy oh boy could we use some sunshine and warm weather. I think everyone, myself included, is sluggish, frumpy, and feeling tired. In addition, I had been reading on several adoption blogs that various forms have to be redone to fix either minor errors or to meet a new standard. This of course is par for the course for Russian adoptions so I wasn’t too surprised. Then our agency sent out their regular update that outlines their monthly stats and various news from Russia. Here is one of the paragraphs.
“We recently received notice from Russia that every region throughout the country is in the process of intensifying their requirements towards any documents involving international adoptions. This action is based on recommendation from the Russian Supreme Court, and was sent to all regional courts throughout Russia.”
Well isn’t that just peachy. Many people often ask, if there are so many children in orphanages why does the government make it so hard to adopt. I have different theories and thoughts but to be quite honest I just don’t know.

Now to end on a happy note. Last night when we got home there was a package waiting for us. It was from our dear friends the Pitmans. They are one of the sweet families that took us under their wings while we were in Vlad. They adopted 3 siblings and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and hope to visit them in St. Louis this summer. They sent us a few things for our trip back to Russia plus a couple of pictures.



The movies and cd’s are ones that they are passing on to help Blake with the transition. While of course it is important to immerse him in English so that he can learn it quickly, there is only so much a little person can take. It will be a relief for him to hear things in his native language as he is making the transition home. Justin and I have decided that we will write the Pitman’s name and the date they officially became a family followed by our name and date and we will then pass the videos on to another family waiting to make trip number two. Hopefully it will start a tradition and touch the hearts of others the way Eric and Becky have touched ours.


You can see they also included fun items for Blake. Brady thought the Spiderman toothbrush would be a big hit with the Blakester (that is what he calls him). I am also very appreciative of the Charmin! Not until you have traveled in places like Vlad can you truly appreciate a travel roll of toilet paper!

Becky and Eric, thank you so much for the pleasant surprise and thank you even more for the support you have given us. We hope to in turn do the same for others.

Update: For other adopting families that are waiting we feel sick to our stomachs about 'the list' that came out this week. (Basically there is a list of about 200 agencies that have not been filing the post placement reports on time or at all and the Russian government is now not accepting some/all paperwork from those agencies). I am completely relieved that LifeLink and Children's Hope are not on the list, but I have read many blogs of people that are hurting and worried because their agencies were listed. Hang in there everyone. We have to remember for us the process is about the children - even though others seem to forget this sometime.