Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas! As usual it started on Christmas Eve and went on for several days with get-togethers with different parts of the family. We were exhausted (and fatter) by the time it was over but are so blessed to have such a big and loving family! This year was extra special because it was Valerie's first Christmas with us. So fun!!


Christmas Eve we went to Todd's parents and Polly Sue fed us a delicious steak dinner and we exchanged gifts and enjoyed the afternoon together. Christmas morning we had a ball watching the kids discover what Santa brought them. Valerie calls Santa Ho-Ho. Ho-Ho was very good to both her and Blaine! Then Larry and Polly Sue and all of my family came over to our house for breakfast. We all had a good visit, ate too much, and played with the kids' new toys. The whole crew went outside and watched Blaine shoot off his new Coke/Mentos geyser (Way Cool!). Then it was off to my parent's house to open presents and have our traditional Christmas fajitas. Mom and Dad make the best fajitas! We spent the rest of the day playing, resting and visiting with Ginger, Mike, and Bryan. The day after Christmas, Todd's cousins came into town so we went down to Nana and Bub's house and had another round of Christmas with Jami and Todd and their kids, Brooks and Paige, Jason and Jackie and their kids, Jaxon and Connor. Todd's Aunt Jan had cooked a brisket and so we had yet another wonderful feast. The next day Todd's cousin Cy, his wife Meredith and their pretty little Kylie came so we all got together again.

So much fun, too much food, not enough sleep! All of us were spoiled with so many great presents but the best gifts of course are the ones money can't buy. God has given us the gifts of love and family and best of all, our salvation, which is why we celebrate Christmas!


I have tons of great pictures that I am trying to post tonight but my pitiful dial-up connection is not cooperating. I'll try again tomorrow.

A Whole Month in One Post!

I can't believe I've put off blogging for a month. This will be the condensed and very random version of the past month (bullet style)! I think the kids might enjoy reading about our family life someday so I hope to be a better blogger in the future.

• The last weekend of September the kids and I went with my parents to a Carrell family reunion in Huntington. It was a 10 hour car trip one way so pretty tiring. It had been 4 years since I'd been to a reunion so it was wonderful to catch up with all of my Dad's family again. I was also proud to show off Valerie! She and Blaine had a wonderful time. Blaine got to meet and play with his cousins and caught a crawdad at Uncle Earl's house! Valerie got tons of attention and everyone let her eat off their plates!


• We've been to several volleyball games to watch Shelbi play. She is a middle hitter and is awesome! The Lady Lobo team is great and it looks like they will be District Champs. Can't wait to watch some playoff action! Valerie claps her hands and says lolo (lobo) and ay (yay).


• We conferenced with Blaine's teacher and he is doing great in 1st Grade. He made all A's on his first report card! He is reading better all the time and is starting to take Accelerated Reader tests on the computer. In Blaine's words, "Mrs. Coldewey is cool!" She lets them do the smarty pants dance when they do something good. I've got to get some video of this!


• Valerie has started going to Children's Day Out and loves it! She cried the first couple of days, now she runs ahead of me to get to her classroom. She is SO social! CDO has had visits from the fire truck, police officers, and EMT's this month. Most kids were afraid of the loud sirens. Not Valerie, she danced to it!


• We celebrated my brother, Bryan's 33rd birthday on October 6 and Todd's 36th Birthday on October 20!


• Todd's Aunt Martha passed away at the end of September. We really miss her and pray for Bruce during this time. She loved Blaine so much and was already crazy about Valerie in this short time we've had her. Martha was a special lady!


• We have had Valerie for 4 1/2 months including our time with her in Khabarovsk. Since June 2, she has grown 4 inches and gained 5 pounds!


• We have met twice with the Early Childhood Intervention team. They assessed Valerie last Friday and she does qualify for services with them. She will get Speech Therapy twice a month. This therapy is really training for us to learn how to work with her to improve her speech, especially her articulation. She is consistently saying more than 50 words but she is very difficult to understand. She seems to understand most of what we say. She is a bright little girl and we are so proud of her!


• We had a ball at the Heflin's Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. We made a jack 0' lantern with TONS of teeth! Blaine is big enough now that he can help carve. Valerie enjoyed sticking her hands in the slimy seeds! It's so fun to line everyone's lighted pumpkins up outside and admire the creativity.


• Todd is going to be changing jobs and we are really praying for direction and guidance. He is a super smart guy and a very hard worker so I know everything will work out fine but I don't like times of unknown. However, I do know Who holds the future!


• Valerie and I went to the Sandhills for a playdate with another group of moms and kiddos from church. After she learned to not eat the sand, she had a great time and even went down the dunes on a disc.


• Blaine is going to be Batman for Halloween if he doesn't wear out his costume before then.


• I'm not sure what I've been doing this month but always seem to be busy and tired! I think it has something to do with the 2 year old.


• We are also following our football team who is having a great season. Blaine's teacher's son, Kevin is on the team so Blaine has a new hero to look up to. I love to go to the games but usually feel a little beat up after holding Valerie through the whole thing.


• My friend, Donna, gave me a gift certificate for a massage way back before we went to Russia but I never was able to use it. I finally got my massage last week and it was WONDERFUL! I could do that once a week!


• I finally got Blaine and Valerie in to get some pictures made. Valerie doesn't yet know how to pose. I would get her situated, tell her to smile pretty, and she would say, "no", get up and walk over to me. I think we got one good one of her when we made her laugh and several of the two of them together. She doesn't understand smile, but if I say "show me your teeth" we get a little fake smile. They should be in tomorrow.

Like I said, random and abridged. Almost all of those bullets should have been a post of their own, complete with pictures and this was just the things I remembered off the top of my head. Here's a vow to do better. Hopefully.

Russian Adoption Playdate

One Saturday evening recently Blaine, Valerie and I met up in Odessa with 3 other families from this area who have adopted from Russia. Mary was there with her beautiful little Kenzie. We met Dede and Rob and their lively little Liam after following their blog since before we traveled on trip 1! We were also excited to meet Marsha and Brad and their super cute sons Sasha and Dimitry. Sasha has been home from Russia for several years. We met at McDonald's, let the kids play and had a great visit. It was wonderful to chat with people who know exactly what you're talking about when you tell about all the ups and downs in your journey. Each of us had a unique adoption story but we all had smart, beautiful children to show off and share with each other! We had such an enjoyable time and all agreed we need to get together again sometime soon. It's exciting to me that there are other families living so close that have also adopted from Russia!
We worked so hard to get all the kiddos in one picture but it was like herding cats so here's a few different groups. I never got little Dimitry. He was way too fast!

Blaine, Liam, and Valerie in the slide.

Valerie, Kenzie, and Liam trying to be still!

Sasha, Valerie, Liam, and Kenzie

First Day of First Grade!

What a handsome young man!

Posing with Mrs. Coldewey on Day 1!

These pictures are from Blaine's 1st day of school. That was 2 weeks ago. I'm just a little behind with my blogging! We are so busy and have so many things going on that I'm always too tired at night to sit down and blog about it. Blaine is really enjoying school. He loves his teacher. He has several good friends in his class. His favorite thing is the playground (of course). Our only real problem is getting him out of bed in the mornings!

Splish, Splash, Dump!

Valerie just loves her bath! My bathroom floor is always wet. She kicks, splashes, and loves to dump water over her head. Anytime we walk into the bathroom, she starts pulling her clothes off and yelling, "Bath, bath!" I'm just glad getting clean is so much fun. If only Blaine thought so!

31 Words!

In Valerie's orphanage Russian was the only language that was spoken. We took her out of the orphanage on June 5. That was less than 3 months ago and she already has 31 English words that she can say! I'm so proud! Some of these she says perfectly, many are not real clear but she says them the same way every time and in the right context. Here's the Big List!

ball

bath

bite

Bubba

bye-bye

cookie

cough

cow

cup

Dada

diaper (sounds like bye-bye but points to her diaper and says it when she needs a clean one!)

duck

eye

hat

hot

hi

ice

Mama

Mamaw

moo

Nana (Todd's grandmother)

nana (banana)

night-night

No (this is definitely her most used word!)

nose

num-num (yum-yum)

out (as in "get me out of this highchair, carseat, etc.")

Pa (sounds like ba)

quack quack

up (as in "pick me up")

Yay! (while clapping for herself!)

I realize I'm a little biased but I think this is great progress for only being exposed to English for less than 3 months. She can also point to lots of body parts when we say "Where's your ______?" She knows eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, cheeks, hair, feet, and hands. But her favorite thing to show off is her belly button. She jerks her shirt up with the biggest grin on her face! It is so cute! She seems to understand so much of what we say. She follows directions when we say, "Get your shoes, Throw that away, Give me a hug/kiss, etc." We are trying to talk, talk, talk all the time to help her language acquisition. Narrating every move you make can get kinda tiresome! "Do you want a banana, Valerie? Yes? You do want a banana? Ok, Mama will peel this banana for you. It's a yellow banana. Can you say banana, Valerie? Good girl! Take a bite of the banana. Yum-yum. Bananas are sweet, aren't they? Mama likes bananas too. Hold your banana...... and on and on all day long!

Happy Birthday Valerie!

Valerie turned 2 last Sunday on August 17! Here is the birthday girl all dressed up for church in her pretty pink dress! She had no clue what all the fuss was about or why Daddy, Blaine, and I were all singing a funny song to her but we celebrated anyway.

I have been so happy to finally have this precious little girl! However, Sunday, I felt a little bit of sadness. I so wish I could have been there on the day she was born and seen her teeny tiny little hands and feet and held her. I guess I just was thinking about all the things we missed in those first 22 months of her life. But we have her now and she is 100% ours and we have a lifetime of birthdays and celebrations and everyday memories to make! Thank you, Lord for my precious little Valerie. She is perfect for us!

My Mom was out of town so we waited until Monday night to have a party. Here Valerie is with Nana as we lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday". She didn't really get it but managed to sneak a bite of icing. You can see the evidence on her lip!

She REALLY loved the cake and ice cream! She had a plate and then finished off a few other people's also!

She had a good time opening gifts. Blaine and Jenna gave her a hand while Grama looked on. This little girl needed absolutely nothing but she enjoyed it nonetheless and got some really neat toys, books, and a little cash for the college fund.

Mamaw showed Valerie how to feed her new baby doll. This baby laughs, cries, blinks her eyes, and goes to sleep. Valerie loves to play with her babies. She covers them up, pats them, and says, "night, night". So sweet! Happy 2nd Birthday, Valerie!!

Fishing with Pa!

Dad took Blaine, Valerie, and I fishing at Lake Amistad this weekend. We had a great time and it was really nice to get out of town (but not out of the country!) for a little while. Pa had plenty of help driving the boat! Valerie wasn't scared of riding in the boat at all. She seemed to like the wind in her hair. We haven't found much she is afraid of! She kept trying to climb out of the boat the first time we went out on the lake. I just knew we'd be fishing her out before the weekend was up, but we managed to keep her on board the whole time!

The weather was nice, hot but with a nice breeze. We fished hard and tried lots of different lures but didn't catch very many fish. I think it was just too hot. Valerie stayed happy as long as she was eating! Blaine continues to improve his casting. Pa is so patient with all of us, rigging up our poles, getting us free when we get hung up, and not getting upset over spills in his boat!

Pa actually hooked this little bass and told Blaine he needed some help reeling it in. I love the look on Blaine's face. So proud!


Pa let Blaine drive a couple of times and he had a ball. It made me a little nervous!

We went out each morning, fished, swam, and had a picnic lunch in the boat. Sandwiches never taste better than in a boat! We went in for an afternoon nap and then came back out on the lake until dark. Fun times! Some of my best childhood memories are of going to the lake every summer. I'm so glad my kids are getting to do it too!

By Sunday afternoon, this was one tired little girl! She slept about 3 hours on the drive home.

I can't believe we've already been home for 6 weeks. Valerie will be 2 years old next Sunday!

Certificate of Citizenship

It's official! We received in the mail Valerie's Certificate of Citizenship. It has her passport picture on it and is very official looking with a fancy seal from the Department of Homeland Security. It states that she officially became a citizen of the United States on June 25, which is the day we landed in Atlanta. Now we can apply for her Social Security number. I'm not sure how to do that, but I'll soon be finding out. We've also decided to readopt her here so that she can get a TX birth certificate. We have her original Russian birth certificate as well as another Russian one listing Todd and I as her parents but if we lose this or it gets destroyed we would have to apply to Russia for another one. This way, she will be able to go to any courthouse in TX and get a copy. Considering how many certified copies of our birth certificate we needed for this adoption process, I think it will be a good idea to do this. We don't know how to go about that yet either so I have a little research to do. Any advice would be appreciated!

Valerie Has Been Showered (Spoiled)!

Valerie had 2 showers last week! She is officially spoiled. She will definitely be the best dressed little girl in Monahans! Last Thursday, after lobby hours, we went up to the bank where Todd works and were treated to a great party with a beautiful cake, delicious fruit (which Valerie loved), and punch. It was so nice and everyone did way too much. Todd is lucky to have such a great group of sweet, caring people to work with. They aren't just employees, they're friends!Blaine helped open all the gifts, some of which were for him! Valerie loves a party and being around people so she had a great time!

Valerie had a ball roaming the bank, eating off of everyone's plates, and showing off her new clothes, shoes, hats, etc.


Look at my gorgeous friends! They are just as sweet as they are beautiful! They threw a shower for us at the church on Saturday and went all out to make it really special. The food, cake, decorations, invitations, eveything was so so nice. There was even a slide show playing with pictures of both of our trips to Russia! I am so blessed to have so many great people in my life!

Check out this cool diaper cake. Both pretty and useful! We enjoyed looking at it for several days and then Blaine disassembled it and there were a LOT of diapers in it!

Blaine and several other cute kiddos gave me a hand with opening the gifts. Some of the sweet cards made me cry! Once again, Valerie received so many nice things. I was just overwhelmed by it all and my first thought was that all of this (the showers, the gifts, so much attention) was too much, that we really are being spoiled rotten. But then I think about how there was no joyous celebration when she was born. No one to throw her a party when she turned a year old. No one to celebrate all the special milestones and accomplishments that little ones make and I decided to just enjoy this special time. I am so glad that we have so many people that care about us and who want to celebrate our new "little miracle" and that now Valerie has all these great people in her life too! May we always remember to be such good friends in return.

Something Pretty!

After the huge grass fire in April that came through and destroyed everything, I got a little down looking out into a pasture that was nothing but sand, usually blowing sand. One day Blaine came across a packet of sunflower seeds in a drawer and asked to plant them so we could have "something pretty" to look at. I am so glad I agreed because they really are beautiful flowers. Polly Sue kept them (and the rest of our yard) alive while we were in Russia. It was well over 100 degrees and windy most of the time we were gone so she had a big job! Something Pretty!

These blooms are huge and you can already see tons of seeds forming in the middle of each one. Any tips on roasting the seeds?

Valerie loves to go out and dig in the dirt when we water the flowers.

This sunflower is over 6' tall!

Nana and Bub's House

Last Saturday evening we went down to Nana and Bub's house. It was Valerie's first time to go there so she had a wonderful time checking out a new place. How lucky she is to not only have two sets of grandparents nearby but also a great set of great grandparents! She is a well loved little girl.

Valerie posing with Nana

A special moment with Bub

Nana and Bub's Porch

All the grandkids, including Todd when he was a kid, have enjoyed Nana's turtles. I'm sure these two will get out the nail polish and "brand" some before the summer's over!

Our Little Russian Cowgirl

Turns out our little Russian princess is really an All-American tomboy! She prefers outside to inside, dirty to clean, loud to quiet, fast to slow, trucks to babies... you get the picture. I know her daddy can't wait to get her on a real horse. She sure loves this one. She is always pointing for us to get her cowboy hat for her. If we do, she expects to go outside right then! She is one rough and tumble little girl (which is actually a whole lot of fun)!! However, Donna has started me a hairbow collection and when Valerie finally grows a little hair I plan on making her wear them!

First Fudgsicle!

Messy

Messier, But Happy!

Messiest!

All Clean!

Every day Valerie is experiencing new things! Things that we think of as ordinary or as simple pleasures are fascinating and delightful to her. It brings me so much joy to watch her face as she experiences eating fudgsicles, walking barefoot in grass, going swimming, holding a kitten, watching fireworks, playing in the sprinkler, and tasting a peach for the very first time! I love all these firsts and look forward to many more!

Home Almost 2 Weeks

What a busy time we've had! Todd is back in full swing at the bank and on the ranch. I've been unpacking (finally all finished), finishing up adoption details, getting my house back in order (ha-ha), and being a Mama to a toddler. I forgot just what a constant job a toddler is! Valerie unrolls an entire roll of toilet paper and while I'm cleaning that up she dumps a bottle of bubbles, and while I'm cleaning that up..... You get the picture! She is into everything.

We really have had a great time with her since we've been home. She just has the happiest little personality! She smiles, laughs, dances, throws kisses - a real little charmer. I worried last week that we went too hard because we swam, went to parties, shopping, dinner with friends, had our annual 4th of July brunch, all kinds of stuff. But she just seemed to enjoy everything we did so much. We all had lots of fun but we ended up wiped out last Sunday, overslept and missed church, which is not something we ordinarily do. But things will slow down, most of our friends have met Valerie, and we'll get a little more scheduled for the rest of the summer.

How is Valerie doing?

• Eating - No problems, she has slowed down a bunch and will eat just about anything we put in front of her. My kind of girl!
• Sleeping - I lay her in her crib, she smiles at me, sticks her fingers in her mouth and falls asleep. That goes for nap and nighttime. She naps anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day. She has slept through the night every night since we've been home. This is just unbelievable for me because I rocked and walked Blaine for hours every night until he was about 3 and he was not a napper. This is awesome! Woo-hoo!
• Attachment - I think Valerie is doing great in this area. She is definitely very social and not clingy but she makes sure she knows where I am all the time. She goes to other people but quickly reaches back for me. She is very affectionate and loves all the hugs and kisses. She has great eye contact. She is definitely a mama's girl but when I'm not around, she and Todd have some great times and are connecting very well. Blaine and Valerie wrestle and play like brothers and sisters do. I think the month in Russia we spent as a family was a wonderful thing for us in the area of attachment.
• Health - We went to the pediatrician today and got a great report on Valerie! She is a normal, healthy little girl. I already knew that but it was good to hear the doctor say it. She is in the 10th percentile for height, 5oth for weight, and 90th for head circumference. Surely all that will even out as she grows! Blaine had a big head too but it fits his body now. My mom always said it was all the brains in there! Blaine had a check up today also and is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. He's 4 feet tall now and weighs 54 lbs! Valerie weighs 27 lbs and I can't remember exactly how tall she was. I'll have to look it up. She got 4 immunizations today. She had gotten many vaccinations in Russia but it was time for the next dose of some and she got the Varicella vaccine as they don't do that over there. As a matter of fact, chicken pox was going around the orphanage while we were there. We did get a referral today for an eye specialist because there were several notes in her medical about astigmatism and something else having to do with the eyes due to her being born premature. The doctor didn't see anything unusual but wants us to check it out just in case.
• Speech - Valerie has about 10 words that she says which I think is pretty good, considering she's only heard English for a little less than 6 weeks. She says Mama, Dada, Bubba, ball, night-night, bye-bye, hi, knock-knock, yum-yum (num-num), and the most frequent: no-no! She gets her little cell phone out and walks around the house saying no-no into it. She shakes her finger at you when she says it. I wonder where she got that? Pretty soon we are planning to contact our early intervention people here in Monahans and get her evaluated to see if speech therapy (or anything else they might recommend) would be helpful. I'm all about giving her every possible advantage to get caught up developmentally.
• Communication - Even though Valerie isn't speaking much English yet, she is understanding a lot of what we say and she figures out ways to let us know what she wants. Tonight I asked her if she was ready for her bath and she ran to the bathroom and started pulling off her clothes. She puts on her hat to tell us she wants to go outside. She tries to climb in her high chair when she wants to eat. She has the grunt and point down real well - Reminds me of how we acted while we were in Russia in the market. She flops in the floor and has a fit to let us know she doesn't appreciate us taking something away from her or making her come inside! She gets her point across well!
• Social - In a family of pretty quiet and reserved people, Valerie is our little social butterfly. She just really enjoys people, especially other children. She went up and touched and smiled at every kid who came in the doctor's office today! She waves at everyone we pass in the grocery store. She knows when she is being watched and is quite a little ham!
• Motor Skills - Valerie wasn't walking at 18 months on our first trip to Russia. This concerned us so we were relieved to see her come walking into the room on Trip 2. She still definitely toddles around and isn't very graceful but she is getting better every day. One thing that is both good and bad is that she is a little daredevil and not afraid to try new things! She is a climber, Lord help me. Her fine motor skills seem about average. She can feed herself pretty well, pushes buttons, manipulates small objects, etc.

We are all just in love with this little girl. I still look at her everyday and have to pinch myself to believe that she is finally here with us. She is an answered prayer and a dream come true!! I thank God for my wonderful family and know they are a gift from Him. I hated the wait we endured to get each of our children but oh how extra sweet it is now!

I got a new camera and will post pictures soon!

Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home! We are so happy to be back. We just have this great feeling of relief, not just to be home but that this whole adoption process is behind us. At times we wondered if it would ever work out and we would actually get our little girl. This process has pretty much consumed our lives for the past couple of years and it feels so good to have completed it. It was the hardest, most wonderful thing we have ever done and we don't have a single regret! God has blessed us with the most precious little girl and we know this was His plan all along! Our family has shared quite an adventure and it has pulled us even closer together.

The trip home was, in a word, exhausting. The kids did pretty well but by the time we got to Dallas we were all SO tired. Of course, with the jet lag we were all wide awake sitting in Ginger's living room at 3 AM. Gin & Mike didn't get much sleep that night but it was so good to see them. Ginger had treats for the kids and Valerie took to her so quickly. Every kid should have an Aunt Ginger to spoil them! Valerie threw her biggest fit ever right before we got on the plane in Dallas. She flopped on the floor kicking and screaming and would not be consoled. Everyone at our gate got quiet and was staring. They had to be thinking, "Great, we have to get on the plane with them." I wanted to holler out that we just adopted her from Russia and she's been flying for the past 2 days and had no sleep and she's really a good sweet girl, she's just exhausted and scared....But I just smiled and picked her up and kept trying to calm her down. Much to our relief (and everyone else's) she didn't cry once on the plane. It was so good to have our parents pick us up at the airport. They looked great and were thrilled to see Blaine and meet their new granddaughter!

We have had a couple of family get togethers (with amazing food!), some friends have come by to visit, and we made it to church today. Valerie seems to love meeting new people. She is really outgoing and friendly. She was quite a ham at church today because she knew everyone was watching her. I took her to the nursery and worried it might remind her of the orphanage because it was a room full of little ones but she went right in and had a ball. She loved the slide and checked out all the toys. I stayed there with her the whole time but she didn't have much to do with me. However, if another kid came and sat in my lap she would push them out and climb in! She'd stay there about 30 seconds and then she was off to play again until the next kid came along to sit with me. It was cute and made me feel good about her attachment to me. I was glad she felt secure enough to wander off and play but didn't want to share her Mama with anyone else! I know it takes lots of time for the whole bonding and attachment thing to take place but I think we're doing really well. She makes great eye contact and loves to be snuggled and held.

Valerie is eating well, sleeping well, and seems to just be eating up all the attention she is getting. She loves to be outside and has been busy checking out every drawer, cabinet, light switch, etc. in the house. I am just sick because my camera got broken on the plane ride home. When we got to Atlanta, I told Todd to get out the camera and take a picture of our new little US citizen and the screen was cracked. I'm just thankful it happened on the way home and not the way to Russia. I'll be getting a new one this week because I'm missing pictures of a lot of "firsts" right now. I'll post some more pictures of our new little cutie as soon as I get another camera!

Last Post From Russia!

Today was a successful day! We went to the US Embassy and had our interview and received Valerie's visa to enter the US. We also got a packet to give to immigration when we land in Atlanta where Valerie will officially become a US citizen! Then we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and registered Valerie there. We are completely through with all the requirements here in Russia!!!

We will be picked up at 9:00 in the morning to go to the airport and our flight leaves at 12:55. We land in Atlanta at 4:30 and leave there for Dallas at 7:05. We land at DFW at 8:21 which will seem like 4:21 am to us since our bodies will still be on Moscow time. That is one long day! We'll spend the night with Ginger and Mike and fly home the next morning at 9:25. We are so close to being home! I dread the travel but can't wait to be home. Well, it's time to pack up the laptop! We'll update later on how things are going with our new family at home.

Moscow: An Amazing City

This morning we ate a good breakfast at a different cafe near our hotel and then set out to see some of the famous sights here in Moscow. It was such a wonderful day!

This city is huge and busy! You would never make it across some of these busy streets. There are tunnels under the streets so that you can get safely to the other side. I was sure glad I had Todd to carry Valerie and her stroller up and down all those stairs!

Outside the Kremlin there are gorgeous statues, fountains, and gardens. We had fun walking through them and of course the kids loved the water.

This is the famous Red Square. The Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb is on the left, and the rym (pronounced "goom"), a huge old beautiful shopping mall, is on the right. We went in the rym, looked around and had some ice cream. St. Basil's Cathedral was behind us, and I'm sorry to say I don't know what the pretty building on the far end is.

Blaine and Valerie in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. We toured the inside and it is just beautiful.

St. Basil's Cathedral

Lenin's Tomb

I knew the Kremlin was big but I did not realize it was that HUGE. The wall around the Kremlin is so tall. I'll try to find better pictures later. Red Square was really an amazing place. So much history here. Nothing in America even comes close to being as old as the things we saw here today in Moscow. I hope these pictures of Valerie's birth country will be special for her. We have made some great memories here and are bringing home the most precious little souvenir ever!

We ate lunch outdoors today at a neat Italian place. The weather was cool and it was just such an enjoyable day. The Marriot has a children's play room and I took the kids down there this evening and they had a ball playing around. Tomorrow we get picked up for our Embassy appointment at 1:00. Hopefully we'll get to see a few more sights here and then HOME will definitely be a sight for sore eyes! We are all tired and still suffering from jet lag which will only get worse come Wednesday. We're ready to wrap up this journey and begin the journey of raising 2 great kids!

The Comforts of a Home

Yesterday, the doctor came to our hotel and checked Valerie out. First let me say that Andrei was with him and was much nicer today! Anyway, Valerie went to him and did fine until she saw him begin to take his stethoscope and stuff out of his bag. She started screaming and didn't quit until he was gone! He asked me to go sit in the bathroom but it didn't do any good. Anyway, she checked out fine. The doctor told Todd that he would have to get a shotgun to fight off the boys since she has such pretty eyes. He told me she was a drama queen and I shouldn't pick her up so much. Yeah right!

Then we went out and found Todd and Angela's driver who took us to their beautiful home for the afternoon and dinner. That visit was like good medicine for all of us! We had the best time. Todd and Angela looked great, just like we remembered them. Their children, Maisy and Mason were precious. They were so grown up and so sweet the way they played with Blaine and Valerie. They even had gifts for our kids which was a real treat because all the toys we brought are getting very old. It was so comforting to be in a real home again for the first time in almost a month. The kids took advantage of the space to wander and play and Blaine even got to run around outside. The food was awesome, the conversation was wonderful, and it was just so good for all of us! They really blessed us by having us over and their great hospitality!

Yesterday morning Todd and Blaine enjoyed their outing. The couldn't get into Red Square at all because there was some kind of event going on to remember the WWII veterans but it was neat for them to get to see the ceremonies and demonstrations that were going on. They got some pictures from far away and we will all go back today. We have nothing to do adoption wise until Tuesday at 1:00 so today is just a free day for us. We slept well last night and are looking forward to a nice day and hopefully will have pictures for you tomorrow! Here's a happy pic of Valerie and Blaine from early on in the flight. I should have taken one at the end to have a before and after picture. They looked a little different! We'll be in the U.S.A. in 3 days and home in 4!

Here She Is!

Here's our beautiful daughter, Valerie Diane Hunt!

Happy times! This was the day we picked her up from the orphanage. She and Blaine hit it off immediately.

Our new family in front of the gold church in Khabarovsk.

Well, we made it to the Marriow Courtyard here in Moscow yesterday afternoon but it seemed like midnight to us because our bodies were still operating on Khabarovsk time which is 7 hours behind Moscow. Valerie did pretty well on the flight but it was still a tough day. She only slept for about an hour. I was wearing a black T-shirt that was new and it rubbed off on the sticky stuff all over Valerie's face and some ladies in front of us had given Valerie a red marker to color with and she had that all over her too. I used a lot of baby wipes but still she was quite a sight. She looked filthy. We all were actually. When we finally landed she wanted to run around the airport so I just let her while Todd was waiting on our bags. After our bad luck last time, I was so relieved to see our first suitcase pop out; however the relief was short lived. Everyone got their bags and left and we were missing 1 suitcase. We could see Andrei our driver and coordinator here in Moscow waiting outside for us. He came through the gates and we told him the problem. After lots of talking and pointing, here came our suitcase. We never knew what the problem was. Then we had another issue trying to get out of there. We handed the girl our boarding passes and some other papers we'd been given at the airport in Khab, but we didn't think they had given us any baggage claim checks. Lena had checked us in and handed us our stuff. Finally Todd opened up our packet of tickets and they had been stuck to the back of them. By this time, Andrei was obviously very put out with us. He grabbed our cart from Todd and took off. He raced through the airport and through all kinds of traffic and parking lots without ever looking back to see if we were following. Valerie was screaming and squirming while I was trying to run after him. We got in the car and took off. Todd tried asking Andrei a couple of questions as we drove through Moscow but his curt one-word answers made it clear he didn't want to talk. This guy is a pretty wild driver. I was feeling sick and I guess Valerie was too. She kept falling asleep and then waking up crying. We finally got to the Marriot and I thought I was gonna die as Todd kept trying to explain to the girl that no, he was not Nathan Hunt, he was Todd Hunt, just like it says on his passport. I was wearing this heavy backpack and holding Valerie thinking she looked awfully pale, praying that we would just hurry up and get a room. Then she began to make some strange noises and began throwing up all over the two of us! Poor thing! I know after all that she was thinking, "Just take me back."

We got up to our room, cleaned Valerie and I up and ordered some cheeseburgers from room service. We weren't up to going anywhere. We were starving and they were marvelous! Then Andrei came back with Catherine and her crew who's plane had been delayed. He sat down in our room with Todd to fill out our Embassy paperwork. Valerie was by the desk and he asked me to "move the child". As he was leaving he told us the doctor would come the next day but he didn't know when. I said that we had plans with friends (Todd and Angela Harris, who now live in Moscow) tomorrow night and it would be helpful to know when the doc was coming so we could plan around him. He rudely informed me that I needed to remember that we were here to complete an adoption. I was tired and cranky and was about ready to spit on him! We had brought a gift for him but he definitely won't be receiving it. After all, we're here to complete an adoption, not to be nice to people. This is the same guy who told us we would just have to do without our bags for the next 4 weeks when they didn't arrive last time we were in Moscow. Not my favorite person. Ok, ok, I got to rant and this probably won't seem like such a big deal later. We really do love our agency and all the employees we've dealt with except this one! He is correct about one thing, we are here to complete our adoption and as long as he gets that job done for us and gets us back to the airport in one piece, that is all that matters. But Dan Gibbs has a sign in his office that says, "Because Nice Matters" and I tend to agree. I guess us folks from west Texas just think differently about that!

As always, things looked brighter the next morning when we all woke up at 4 something. Literally, it was already light outside! Todd went to the fitness center and ran on the treadmill for a while. We showered and hung around the hotel until about 8, then we ventured out for breakfast. We found a neat little place and had some great fruit and pancakes and fresh squeezed apple juice that tasted just like you were eating a green apple, the way apple juice ought to taste, I guess. We were going to walk with Catherine's bunch to Red Square today but Valerie was getting deliriously tired so just Blaine and Todd went and I stayed here to let her have a nap. I bet we'll get another chance to go later on since our hotel is really close. The doctor comes today at 2:00 pm. Todd Harris is sending his driver for us at 3:00 and we are going to their home for the afternoon and for dinner. We are so looking forward to a home-cooked meal, some space for the kids to run, and a good visit with old friends from Monahans! It was so sweet of them to invite us. My Todd laughed and said who would have ever thought that a Grandfalls boy and an Imperial boy would be meeting up in Moscow!

We haven't really been told what we will need to do adoption-wise over the next couple of days. We fly out on Wednesday. We're in the home stretch!