Resigned. . .

and very sad. . .

It just seems that, every few months or so, there is extremely negative publicity about Russian children being adopted by Americans. sigh. . .

This latest situation just has me shaking my head. I mean, this women in Tennesee. . .wasn't there something the agency could have done to help her? Aren't there local authorities that can help? Didn't she have a pediatrician, priest/minister, or other person she trusted that she could have talked to? Surely there were signs to the people around her?!?!?

And, what about those people at the airport? Didn't they question a child travelling alone, to Russia, on an expired Visa??? Surely that should have raised at least a small flag to someone there???

Now, in addition to all of the families waiting having their process jeopardized, there are hundreds of thousands of children sitting in the orphanages without families and Russia could pull the plug on the whole program!

People, listen!!! There are places and people that can help if you feel the need to interrupt your adoption!! Take the proper steps and measures to help the child, and yourself! Don't jeopardize the process to help all of those other children!!

Ciao!!!

We were watching Backyardigans this evening when one of the characters said "Ciao!" Aidan asked what that was.

So, I told him, it's like Good bye. Oh.

Adios. Uh huh.

Paka! Oh yeah!

Aidan, do you know what "Paka" is? Yeah. It's with Ellie. . .(Ellie was the little girl who came out of the same orphanage).

Wow.

Два Года как Навсегда Семья!!!

Hopefully I translated that correctly. . .It means, I think, Two Year Anniversary as a Forever Family!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!! Today is our 2nd Anniversary of getting Aidan out of the orphanage. Hard to believe it's been two years. And so, with that in mind, I thought I would share some pictures from two years ago; last year; and today. What a difference a little focused love, diet and different exposures make!

Sosnovoborsk Baby Home #5, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia:






Gotcha Day Celebration at Lightfoot Restauarnt, Leesburg, Virginia, USA 4/4/2009:





Easter and Forever Family Day, St. Gabriel's Church, Leesburg, Virginia 4/4/2010:

How Far is the East from the West?

After an 11 hour flight to Moscow and an additional 5 1/2 hour flight to Krasnoyarsk (located just north of Mongolia), I like to think I know about how far it is from the East to the West. . .but that sounds presumptuous when put in context with the following:

Today is Good Friday. I had planned for the past year to attend the 3 Holy Hours at our church (the one we don't technically go to, but still technically belong to) with my very good friend who is suffering from Cancer. . .she is home now and resting but unable to attend. So, I went alone. . .they do this service exceptionally well.

The service is set up with a reading of the Passion (this year from the Gospel of John--my favorite) and then three meditations (one from each of the priests) and then a Veneration of the Cross and finally the Stations of the Cross. It is all interspersed with beautiful music-"Calvary", "Ah, Holy Jesus", etc.

The Passion always leaves me feeling desolate, especially because, near the end, we all say "Crucify him, Crucify him!" And then we do. . .sigh. . .

The First Meditation, the main point was, Crowds lie. . .The more people there are, the less truth. Hmmmm. . . .I think I've experienced that.

The Second Meditation, the main point was who is the eternal water of giving life? The priest quoted from C. S. Lewis (one of my favorite authors) "It is a divine priviledge to be less the loved than the lover." Hmmmm. . .I like that. . .a priviledge to be less the loved than the lover. . .

There were three main points to the Third Meditation: first, Repent--Turn around! Change your mind! We used to have a saying in our EFM group: YOU"RE GOING THE WRONG WAY! DISNEYLAND IS THE OTHER DIRECTION!" : ) second, Our sins are as far away from God as the East is from the West. So, how far exactly IS the East from the West? This would seem important since the Son comes from the East. . .and finally, the last point was that only a monster doesn't forgive. . .Lord, Let me NOT BE A MONSTER!

And, so, another Holy Week is concluding. Holy Saturday will be quiet and we'll attend services on Sunday. I feel uninvolved, but blessed and loved. This is a special time for us and a very special weekend: Sunday is our Two Year Anniversary of being a Forever Family. God is Good.

Quick Update. . .

First, some good news: Aidan does not have mono!!!!!! Yeah!!! His Epsteins Barr test came back negative, for which i am grateful. I still feel bad that I missed the whole Strep thing, but the nurses at the doctors office keep telling me that I would never have known since Aidan wasn't complaining of a sore throat or running a fever. I did do the right thing by bringing him in when I saw the swollen glands. . .some comfort, at least! His glands are going down. The one on the left is gone-i can't feel it at all. The one on the right is still there, but considerably smaller than it was. . .and, guess what?!?!? He isn't snoring anymore!!! Who knew. . .

My friend who has cancer isn't doing too well. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday due to shortness of breath and it was found that she has embollisms in both lungs. She will be there through tomorrow, I think. I am very worried for her and her husband and just keep praying something more can be done. . .

Another friend is also in the hospital with gall stones and pancreatitis. She went in on Sunday but, at last word, has not been able to have the surgery to remove her gall bladder because her enzymes were not getting to the right level. She is on morphine, but is in so much pain that she has been breathing shallowly, which is causing fluid to build up in her lungs, so now there is a concern for pneumonia.

Aidan has been drawing pictures for both of Mommy's friends. Hopefully they will b ring a little smile to their faces.

And so, we pray this Holy week for some friends of mine who seem to be suffering beyond my meager imagining. . .

In other news, Aidan can now spell his first name. We work with him all the time, especially in the car, on learning his full name, address, phone number, etc. But, what a happy surprise the other day when he started actually spelling, out loud, his first name!

We took him to the Ringling Borther Circus last Sunday and he had a blast. I took tons of pictures, which I will post this weekend along with some other pictures I took. In fact, I'll probably do an all picture post. . .just to catch up!