The adventure Saturday to get home was actually much easier than expected.  Some of that was due to the blessing that Valera got his own seat on the Singapore Airlines flight from Moscow to Houston.  He got to play and climb all over the seat.  While the girls watched numerous movies on their own TV’s, he took two naps that totaled about four hours. 

Once in Houston, we went through customs and a special room for immigrants and Valera became a US citizen.  Again, it seemed anti-climatic, but it’s real.  He slept on the flight home from Houston to OKC and never really woke up the rest of the night… until 4am Sunday morning, that is.

Then again, it felt like Christmas morning.  He woke up and we had to show him that we were both there and then introduced him to his room and all his toys.  He played for hours in the early morning and has decided that the buckets his toys were in are his favorite.  He slept well last night and seems to have already adjusted to the new time zone. 

We are still amazed that he is our son.  We feel so blessed to have such an incredible little boy and that he seems to be attaching to our family so well.  He certainly is a Mama’s boy and Krista is his favorite person in the world.  I am also glad that I seem to be his 2nd favorite person.  He is so full of life and has brought a joy into our life that seems to make most of the challenges in life seem insignificant. 

As I reflect upon our journey to adopt Valera, I realize that God has always intended for him to be a part of our family.  It’s a humbling thought.   I’m also amazed that his personality is such a great fit for our family.  He’s not reserved or shy, but loves the attention and has hundreds of expressions and enjoys playing up to his mommy.    Krista and I took him to Qdoba tonight for dinner and he gave some young ladies some interesting facial expressions and waved at them.  He really knows how to play to an audience.  So funny.

I’m also very grateful that Brittany and Alyssa both choose to go to Russia with us.  I personally got to enjoy some great memories with them and appreciate that they both have shown great maturity and selflessness in welcoming Valera into our family.  I really enjoyed getting to spend some daddy/daughter hangout time at MacDonald’s and Starbucks in Moscow.  Some great memories that I will never forget.  I am very proud of them and very impressed to see the great young women they are becoming.

So, although it still seems unreal, Valera is our son.  He’s home.  Forever. 

We are so grateful and are more excited about life than I can remember.   His presence in our house has become a reminder about what is truly important in life.  Loving God, loving each other, and living with those priorities is more important than anything else.  Not to worry, but to trust that God has a better plan.  For us, that plan was Valera.  It meant trusting God for nearly five years that He had the right plan for our family.  Valera had no home.  God gave him ours.   God is trustworthy.  I see it in Valera’s face every time I look at him. 

Gratefully,

Chris

Js 1:27

After a 5 hour flight delay trying to leave Siberia Wednesday, we finally made our way to Moscow. Valera was quite the ham on the plane. He hadn’t had a nap and wasn’t interested in sleeping on the plane either. He enjoyed grabbing the hair of the people sitting in front of us and screaming just for the sake of hearing the sound it would make. By the time we got to the Marriott in Moscow he was completely “cray-cray” as the girls say. He was laughing, crying, and swinging from the panic handles in the car…all at the same time.

The hotel here is great and we have a crib for him, so we all got some rest. Valera slept 14 hours and then we took him for his medicals . We saw 4 other American families at the Dr office and even met a family from Pawhuska, OK adopting two boys over the age of 10. Very cool. Great people.

The Dr’s diagnosis of Valera was “spoiled and ‘drool-itis’”. He could tell Valera was an orphanage favorite because he shows no fear of adults and he’s got a good sized belly :). He also is drooling a lot from cutting back teeth right now.

Our coordinator was able to race us from the Dr appt to the US Embassy to get ALL of our documents submitted with only 4 MINUTES to spare so we could have our interview today and fly home on tomorrow! YAY!

I’ve taken the girls to KFC, McDonalds (twice), Sbarro, and Starbucks so they both think that Moscow is better than Siberia.  I personally liked the low key slower pace in Tomsk.

Today was a great day that included the visit to the US Embassy with Valera.  He was a great boy and enjoyed watching all the other orphans being adopted by American families.  We were there with about ten other families and are all cleared to come home tomorrow.  Valera will officially be a US citizen when they stamp his papers tomorrow upon arrival in the States.

Anyways, everyone is in a great mood because we all know we are only a few hours from bringing our entire family HOME!  (we are of course considering our Benadryl strategy to help the 11 hour flight go by for the little guy

Thanks again for your love, support, and prayers,

Chris

You can see more of our photos of Valera at this site:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95830&id=650838249&l=749a63799c

We are all very grateful for your prayers, because this past week we had two very significant and unusual blessings in the process. The first one came when we learned that our coordinator, Katya, was able to convince the judge to begin our 10 day waiting period on the day of court allowing us to stay on our originally planned flight schedule. Without this favor, we would have stayed in Tomsk one extra day, but would have cost us a weekend in Moscow (3 extra days) and required us to change all of our plane tickets. We were amazed at Katya’s determination. She actually spent 2 1/2 hours in the judge’s office pleading our case. The second blessing came this past Friday. Monday is officially our “Gotcha Day” when we pick up Valera for good, but because our translator was taking the weekend off and our driver would also be gone, our agency agreed that we should ask to have Valera over the weekend. So we were allowed to take him Friday night for good. What a tremendous blessing to be able to spend the additional time with him before having to make the difficult trip home next week.

So, the last 48 hours have been exciting. The past two weeks we have watched him experience a stroller, car seat, ice cream, crepes, etc for the first time. But the past two days we have also gotten to take naps, eat meals, take baths, go shopping, and sleep all night (or at least he has) together. It’s really been an overwhelming process.

Valera clearly knows that Krista is mom. He is most attached to her. We make sure that she picks him up when he gets hurt, she feeds him all his meals, she bathes him, and gets to hold him the most. But I get to put him to sleep. A task I simply love. I’ve learned the Russian word for sleep (pronounced “spee”) and he will lay down with me and usually fall asleep with me rubbing his back or simply holding him. It brings back so many memories of when Brittany and Alyssa were young. I cherish these times and spend them just praying over him, just as I did with the girls for so many years. It’s in these quiet moments when I realize the power of what we are doing here and realize that we have been so incredibly blessed.

We all look forward to bringing him home, allowing him to adjust more. He still seems too wound up and is probably wondering where all his little friends went, but he also seems to really like all of us. I continue to pray that we would adapt well and enjoy our newest family member. I also pray for his emotional well being. I can only imagine what is running through that tiny head of his.

Well, stay tuned. The next blog entry will introduce Valera Stephen Marisov Lusey to the world…pictures included!!!

Thank you again for your love, support, and prayers.

Chris

Yesterday we wrapped up the shopping for the Baby House with Xenaida (Zena).  I can’t tell you the joy that it brought her to be able to buy some very needed supplies.  She shared with us that the global economic crisis has hurt their budget at the Baby House.  The City had limited their annual budget for new equipment to less than a couple hundred of dollars.   That money was spent long ago and now also explains why I’ve been asked so many times what I think about the current economic crisis.  

Here is the list of items that was purchased with the money that you contributed (est 62,000Rub):

Dozens of shoes (6200Rub)

Nearly 100 items of clothing (12000Rub)

Building Blocks (3500Rub)

Outdoor Toys (1000Rub)

Kitchen  Supplies: (20000Rub)

Meat Grinders (2) one for cooked meat and another for uncooked meat

Water Boiler (purify water for children)

Blender (for puree for babies)

Playpens (8000Rub)  very sad story…ask Brittany

Office Supplies (2000Rub) for baby’s adoptive records

Pharmacy/Medications (5500Rub)

Hardware/Lumber (3500Rub) for repairing outdoor play equipment

As you can see, the Baby House Director took very careful consideration to meet as many needs as possible with the funds that you contributed.  She was also very cost conscious and negotiated with each store letting them know that these items were to provide for orphans.  Many of the vendors gave us anywhere from 3-15% off their prices.

It has been so awesome to see how giving a few dollars will help take care of more than 60+ babies in Tomsk, Russia.  I had no idea the financial strain that had been placed on this orphanage when we visited last month and I am humbled that our family and yours have been able to meet so many needs. 

The Baby House Director (pictured above) asked that I thank each of you for your contribution.  She promised that they will be well used and appreciated.

It is with great humility that I thank you for allowing my family to be a vessel for your generosity and love.

May God bless you as you have blessed others,

Chris

Js 1:27

As the days have passed we have really started to see Valera seem more and more comfortable with us, especially Krista.  He’s always very excited to see us arrive at the Baby House to pick him up.  He seems okay with both the stroller and the car seat, both of which he was a bit scared of at first.  The hardest part is dropping him back off at the Baby House after each of our playtimes each day.   We are only allowed to check him out from 10-Noon and 4-6pm each day.  Krista has already started to count down not only the days but also the number of times that we must drop him off and listen to him cry and even kick his feet in frustration.   As of this writing, we only have to drop him off eleven more times.   Monday is “Gotcha Day” for us.   This is largely because Katya spent 2 1/2 hours pleading with the Judge to allow our ten day waiting period to begin last Wednesday so we could remain on our schedule (plane tickets) to go to Moscow on the 29th and HOME on the 1st of August.  (We are grateful for your prayers and the favor given to Katya)

Because of only being allowed to spend a few hours a day with Valera we have filled our time with hanging out at the hotel.  We really can’t do much without transportation or a translator and each of those cost money each time you use them.  We have wandered out on our own, but trying to communicate is impossible.  We can manage the grocery store and sometimes the beverage stands on the streets, but we are also a long way from downtown.   I have managed to run nearly every morning.  The experience has been overwhelming. 

This longer trip has allowed each of us to observe a lot more of the culture here.   I must admit, it’s really quite depressing.  So many of the men are clearly alcoholics.  So many of the women wear extremely provocative clothing, as to almost attract what I would consider negative attention.  When I run early in the morning, I’ve seen numerous people still up and drinking from the night before.  These are not people that are what we would consider homeless, but nicely dressed, well kept alcoholics.  

As we’ve interacted with some vendors they are also lack what we would consider a warmness or friendliness that we experience when shopping in the States.  During one interaction, Krista and I walked up to a street vendor selling Diet Coke (Cola Light), she was an older woman sitting down.  I greeted her, (здравствулте), and she completely ignored me.  I said it again, and again she didn’t even look up.   We had to walk down the street to another stand to purchase a couple cokes.  I mentioned the incident to our translator later and he said that is extremely common with the older generation in Siberia.

I have just pondered that experience for the past two days.  What causes us to interact in courteous ways with one another?  Why are you polite and show courtesy to others?  Do you?  Has this culture been so difficult for those that live here that they have no energy left to show enthusiasm or courtesy to others?  It’s almost as if the life has been sucked out  of them.  I think back the warmth and friendliness that I normally experience in the part of the States that we call home and it seems like a million miles from here.  Why do we have such joy?  Why do we show such courtesy?  What do we have or what do we know that these people don’t?   For me personally, it’s an easy answer, but what about you?  My personal joy comes from a deep intimate relationship with Jesus, but that can’t possibly be the answer for our culture, can it?   I think it also comes from having hope.   A hope that says, things can always be better.  A determination that we can make a difference.   Regardless of our motivation, I believe that Americans do feel a sense of pride from being the one nation that actually cares about doing good.  Do you feel that way as well?  Don’t you want to extend love, compassion, mercy, and a confidence that others can have hope as well?   When you think of your nationality, does it come with a sense of duty that we defend the rights of those less fortunate?   I think this culture has placed so much burden on the backs of the people they don’t see the power in having the freedom to be a messenger of love and grace to others. 

So here is my final question.  What’s your motivation?   What are you doing and why?  If you are an American, you should feel obligated to return the favor that your family was extended when America opened its arms to them.  If you are a Christian, I implore you to respond to the love of God and remind you of this passage:

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Mt 25:35-40)

I hope that you are challenged as I have been.  I have spent a lot of time lately thanking God for what He has blessed me with.  I think He is also challenging me to enjoy life.  I have also found myself feeling more and more fortunate that I was born an American.   It is also a blessing that comes with responsibility.   One not to be taken lightly, but used to honor Him and bless others.   My prayer is that our experience will create a spark in you to respond to the call He has upon your life.   I think back to the examples that Ken & Nita Surritte and Joel & Lori Mott have been and realize that God used them exactly the same way in our lives.  

May you respond to His love,

Chris

Yesterday afternoon we got to take a trip with the Director of the Tomsk Baby House.  “Zena” is the head Doctor and Director of the City Baby House in Tomsk.  She has been overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family.   As you can see from the pictures, we have begun spending the $2000 dollars that was given to us by you.   Yesterday we bought dozens of shoes (literally all the small sizes the store had), toys, and around 100 items of clothing.   Based on what we’ve seen the children in the Baby House wearing, I know these items were desperately needed. 

The good news is that we still have around two-thirds of the money left and we will soon purchase a “meat grinder” (I think we would call it a food processor) for them to puree meat and other high protein foods for the children along with more shoes and clothing.  “Zena” has been an extremely frugal shopper with us and is trying to make your money go as far as possible to help the 65 children she is responsible for.

It is very easy to tell that your contributions have made a significant impact, not only for the children, but also on the Director and our agency workers.

I can’t possibly thank you enough for allowing us to be the messengers of your love, grace, and mercy towards these orphans.   I pray that you will realize that you have been obedient to James 1:27 and that your example will be an encouragement to others to do the same.

Humbly,

Chris

Krista and I spent nearly four hours in the courtroom yesterday presenting our statements and reviewing nearly 60 documents for our petition to adopt Valera.  The Judge returned with his ruling and decreed that Krista and I are granted permission to adopt Valera.   We were also permitted to change his name from Valery Semyonivich Zobolev to Valera Stephen Marisov Lusey.   The judge was actually surprised when we submitted the name Marisov and I was able to explain the reason why during my statement.   I think the Judge liked my explanation and he also mentioned that it was a sign that I was to adopt from Tomsk, because another one of the Judges in this town is named Marisov and he said it’s possible that we are distant relatives due to the rare family name.  The only disappointment is that we have a ten day waiting period in case of any submitted appeals and since our court date wasn’t until Wednesday, our tenth day is a Saturday and therefore, by law, Monday becomes the tenth day and we probably won’t have enough time to get Valera’s passport and leave Tomsk on our scheduled date.  This will mean that we change all our airline flights, spend three more nights in Moscow (joy…), and I will have to use another 2 days of leave and return to the States on Aug 4th.  Please pray that somehow we are able to get his papers and passport in one day. 

Anyway, we are not going to let some minor details get in the way of celebrating that Valera, aside from some very unexpected appeal, will be our son.   So we are waiting for what they call “gotcha day”.  After the ten days, we will be able to take him from the orphanage.   Until them we are allowed to visit him as much as we want unsupervised on the orphanage property and also allowed to take him on supervised field trips with our agency.   We will visit with him twice a day for the next two weeks.

Our visit yesterday afternoon was great.  He’s starting to become more comfortable around all of us and has definitely formed a very tight bond with Krista.  No matter what we are doing, he’s always aware of where she is in the room.  We made an intentional effort to not over stimulate him yesterday and he responded extremely well.   Today we plan to purchase a stroller to take him to the park later in the week.  We will take it with us this afternoon just to familiarize him with it.   We all are trying to imagine what it will be like for him to see the park.  As far as we know, he’s never seen a park.   He’s never seen a water fountain.  He’s never ridden in an stroller.   It’s hard to imagine what he will be thinking.   We feel so fortunate to be able to love him and be the parents that get to share all these experiences with him.

We are so grateful that God has led us to this little boy and I know that our lives will be as transformed as much as his life.

I also wanted to share the statement that Krista presented in court yesterday morning.   It was very difficult for her to say without tearing up, but she read the statement that she obviously wrote from her heart.  I am so grateful to call her my wife and blessed that she is the mother to my children.

Here is Krista’s statement:

” Your Honor,

Before our first trip to Tomsk, I was told that when we came for court we need to be prepared to tell the judge how we bonded with the child on the first trip.  To be perfectly honest, I didn’t believe it was possible to truly bond that quickly.  I was prepared to enjoy spending time with Valera, and thought that once we got him home, we would begin the bonding process.  What actually happened was totally unexpected.  After our first visit, I was convinced that Valera was to be part of our family.  After the second visit, I completely loved him as my own.  I am a mother of two beautiful girls that I love completely and unconditionally, so I know what it is to love a child.  It is the same love that I have for Valera.  A love that will pick him up when he falls.   A love that will comfort him when he is frightened or unsure.  A love that will not waiver no matter what difficulties or health issues we may face.  And, ultimately, a love that will one day help him become a man of good character.

To that end, I plan to stay home with Valera to help him reach his full potential.  I have an educational background, and extensive experience working with institutionalized children.  I am very aware of the possible difficulties, yet I look forward to giving Valera all of the help he may need to overcome any obstacles he may face. 

My girls are very nurturing and compassionate and they very much look forward to having a brother to love.  After having met Valera our family will never be the same.  We have opened our arms, and he has captured our hearts. 

I know that Valera feels a bond to us as well.  If he were here, he would not be able to tell you with words that he has bonded with us, but you would see it on his face and in his actions.  When Valera sees  me, across a room or across a playground, he will try to get to me.  He puts out his arms to me, and as I reach for him, his whole face will light up in the biggest smile.  The first trip was enjoyable for him and us.  He recognized me each time and came to me,  but he also went back to his caregiver easily when it was time to go.  This trip has been a little different.  He will play with the girls, but his eyes will search the room for me to see that I am still there.  He comes to me and sits on my lap for much longer periods.  He wants to play, but he also wants me right with him.  Yesterday when I gave him back to his caregiver, he began to cry and kicked his legs to get back to me.  I believe that our separation between trips was confusing for him because he seems fearful that I am going to leave him.

Your Honor, I ask that you not allow us to be separated to be like that again; that you allow Valera to become a permanent part of our family.”

Our hope is that you are blessed by our story and we look forward to sharing our newest family member, Valera, with you.

God bless,

Chris

Js 1:27

So we arrived in Tomsk yesterday morning and had a full day of medical examinations (8 doctors!) and then had to dress up for an 1 1/2 pre-court session with our judge.   I was also informed that I would have to give a half hour speech on why I am petitioning the court to adopt Valera.   At that point I had been awake nearly 48 hours straight, so I figured I would attempt that task after some sleep.   We were also informed that because of some strange rule on the way they count the 10 day waiting period, we may not be able to leave when we anticipated, so we may need to extend our trip even further.  This is obviously not great news because we will have to spend at least three extra nights in Moscow and change airline tickets for four people with three different airlines…ouch.

We did get a chance to play with Valera yesterday for just a short time.   We returned today with more time to visit and were prepared with some of his favorite toys.  We have noticed his disposition has changed quite a bit.  He has been very cranky.   He has thrown several fits when we take objects away from him, but he also clearly knows who we are.   In fact, he recognized Krista the first time we visited him, and even tonight when we left he cried.   These are difficult situations to deal with emotionally, but we are also encouraged that he is showing some signs of emotional attachment.  At the same time, we also think he is trying to communicate some of the frustration of his confusion about what we are doing and why we come and go.  

We ask that you pray for specifically for Valera’s emotional well being.   I also would like ask that you pray for us to have favor with the court in the morning.   I would like to share the speech that I have prepared for the court in the morning:

“Your Honor,

I, Christopher Stephen Lusey, and my wife, Krista Kay Lusey, petition the court to adopt Valera (full name).

My wife, Krista, and I have been married for 17 years. We met at the University and were married within a year of meeting each other. Soon afterwards, we had both of our children Brittany and Alyssa. We made a decision soon after Alyssa’s birth that we would join a local church to provide the best possible environment for our family to raise our children with good moral and ethical values. We love both our daughters and are very grateful for the opportunity to be their parents. While we were still in our twenties Krista and I made a decision to not have any more biological children in an effort to be able to provide for our daughters and give them the attention we believe they deserve.

Over the years we have developed hundreds of good friends through our church and community. Krista and I have become very active members of our church and for many years have provided encouragement, support, and counseling to young couples with children. We have lead classes on parenting, marriage, and other social and emotional issues. Over the years of working in our church and our community we were specifically impressed with one man. His name is Ken Surritte. Mr. Surritte founded an organization called Hearts and Hands International that builds and supports orphanages in many countries across four continents. Mr. Surritte is a good personal friend and his example gave us a desire to do more for children around the world. Over the past five years we have supported Mr. Surritte’s organization financially. During the time Mr. Surritte was founding his organization, my wife and I also had friends that had just completed an adoption from St. Petersburg, Russia and we had an opportunity to meet their son. Soon after we saw their example of love towards an orphan, my wife and I had a conversation about adopting a child as well. We decided to pray about the decision and after just a few days we knew that it was what we wanted and also that we were supposed to do. Weeks later, we discussed our decision with our daughters, and to our surprise our oldest daughter left the room and returned with a journal showing us that she also had been praying for four months that we would adopt a little boy. We were grateful for the confirmation and excited to begin our journey toward adopting a little boy.

My wife and I choose Russia to adopt from not only because of the example of our friends, but also because my grandfather, Appollon Stephen Marisov, was born to Kyrill Marisov from Tiflis and Olga Antonov from St. Petersburg. Their family fled Russia during the revolution in the early 20th century and my grandfather was adopted by an American, Alghan Lusey, in China at the age of 18 and moved to the United States. Adopting a child from Russia seemed very appropriate considering our family history. My father, Rod Lusey, Appollon’s son is very proud of our decision and is excited to meet our new Russian son.

Krista and I made our decision to adopt in November 2004. We have waited through two different reorganizations of the Russian Federations’ Ministries that oversee international adoptions. We have also changed agencies, and have submitted our documents to four regions within Russia. Many of our friends have asked why not consider adopting from China or another country. We have always been confident that our desire and commitment was to complete this process regardless of the time, effort, or money involved. We have a sense of duty to this calling in our lives and have seen it through to be an example to others. We believe our daughters have learned a lot about love, sacrifice, and commitment because of our patience and obedience.

Our family lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. We are considered upper middle class within the United States and have a nice home with four bedrooms, two living areas, and two dining rooms. Our neighborhood has a park, playground, lake, and swimming pool for residents. I work for the largest communication company in America, AT&T. AT&T is considered one of the top 100 best companies to work for in the world and allows me to provide the best health care and insurance available to my family. I have been very successful in my career and have a lot of respect not only my employer, but also the hundreds of customers that I have worked with for many years. I was recruited to work for AT&T just over a year ago and they understood and were willing to allow me to have extensive time off to complete this adoption. I am here on paid time off.  My wife, Krista is a successful Real Estate agent, but we have already begun to have her work less in preparation for our adoption of Valera. It is our intent for her to remain in the home to care for and love Valera. I will be able to support our family entirely from my income.

Our friends and family have been extremely supportive of our decision to adopt. After our first trip to Tomsk, our friends held a party to provide gifts for our adoption of Valera. During our first trip to the City Baby House we noticed the children were well taken care of, but also noticed that some things were outdated and in poor condition. We shared this story with our friends and family and they have given us more than $2000USD of their money for the purpose of purchasing shoes, clothing, and any other equipment the Baby House needs. We have already shared this information with the Director and she will assist in selecting the equipment she thinks will most benefit the Baby House. We will purchase these items and keep a record that we will share with our friends and family so they can be a part of this adoption and also to encourage them to meet the needs of orphans.

We have worked with Dr. Julia Bledsoe in the United States who is a pediatrician that specializes in adoptive medicine from Russia as well as an expert on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Dr Bledsoe travels to Russia nearly every year to work directly with Baby Houses and with Russian medical professionals in an effort to provide the best medical counsel possible. She consults with more than 500 families per year and also has two adopted children herself. When we received the picture of Valera and his brief medical history we consulted with Dr. Bledsoe and we discussed his prematurity and other health conditions. We agreed that while we had some concerns about his prematurity and potential health risks, his medical report didn’t indicate any condition that would prevent us from adopting him. Our intent has always been to adopt a young boy that we could raise as our own. My wife’s University degree is in Education with a specialty in emotional disturbances. Because of our exposure to children that have been institutionalized during Krista’s 12 year career teaching in institutions, we have always been aware and ready to accept the challenges that are possible with any child that has lived in an institution. Because of this knowledge, we have asked to adopt a young boy that had mild to moderate health conditions. We have reviewed Valera’s medical records extensively and our family is prepared to provide for and love Valera. We fully understand and accept the responsibility associated with adopting an orphan with little information about his family medical history.

After consulting with Dr Bledsoe, my wife and I travelled to Tomsk, Russia on 09Jun09 to 13Jun09. We met with the Baby House Director and Valera on 09Jun09 for the first time. Valera was very reserved at first, a very good sign regarding his emotional well being, and then began to bond with my wife and I within the first 30 minutes we played with him. We visited Valera seven times during our first visit to Tomsk. Valera seemed to really enjoy playing with Krista and I. When we arrived for our third visit with Valera, he was playing outside with his group and when he noticed us walking up, he cried out and climbed to the top of the playpen reaching out for us. That moment brought tears to both our eyes. We brought toys to share with him and played many games including his personal favorite, chase. He loves to run and look back to make sure you are going to follow him. As our visits went by quickly, I began to realize how emotionally attached we were to Valera. I was also concerned that Krista would not be able to leave him here. Two nights before we were scheduled to leave, we had a long conversation about the possibility of allowing Krista to stay until it was time for us to return for our court date. It would have been an enormous expense, but we were willing to consider due to the bond we all formed on the first trip. We realized Krista could not stay because of the Russian Federation’s visa requirements. Travelling back to the United States without Valera was much more difficult than we could have possibly imagined. We looked at his pictures and videos from our visit to Tomsk everyday and tried to keep busy by continuing to get his room ready in our house. As you know, we also worked with our agency and even purchased tickets to travel here this week without your final permission and we are grateful for your consideration to hear our petition.

We have also already had contact via email with the family that has adopted Valera’s older brothers. We have expressed a desire to allow them to have contact with one another and are grateful that they have shared their experience with us. We were happy to learn about their family and read their post placement reports. We commit to not only complete all required documents for post placement, but have already began planning a return trip to Tomsk as early as the summer of 2011 to allow Valera to stay in contact with his home town and allow us to continue to build upon the relationships we have formed here in Tomsk. It is our intent to not only teach him about Russia, but to also allow him to experience it for himself. I was personally raised a good portion of my childhood in Western Europe and have already taken my wife and daughters there on many trips to learn and experience other cultures. We intend to provide the same for Valera and allow him to learn as much as possible about his own culture as well. Both of our daughters are here with us on this trip because Krista and I felt it was extremely important for them to learn about and experience the culture that their brother is from. We believe also getting to spend time in the Baby House will have a positive impact on them and encourage them to have compassion for orphans and follow our example in their own lives as they will soon become adults.

I would also ask the court to consider waiving the ten day waiting period, but not for the reasons of travel or rearranging our schedules. The court has already been extremely accommodating and we are extremely grateful. We fully respect the due process of law and will accept any judgment made by the court. We would like to ask for the waiver because our youngest daughter, Alyssa, is scheduled to work at a camp to serve younger children starting 03Aug09. She has prepared by going to many training classes this summer and has been looking forward to making a difference in these younger children’s lives. Unfortunately, our agency has informed us because of the way days are counted by the court, we will not have our documents in time to leave and still return to the United States before 03Aug09. Even if the waiting period is waived we do not intend to leave until 29Aug09. We believe it is in Valera’s best interest if we allow for a more gradual transition before we leave with him. I think it is also clear that Valera’s mother is the only known relative that could appeal and she has clearly taken no interest in his life. Please understand I only present this request to honor my daughter’s efforts and recognize that we are proud of her willingness to serve others.

I conclude by asking the court to give permission for my wife and I to adopt Valera. Although we are also asking to legally change his name, we feel it is important for him to keep his first name, Valera. At this time, he owns very few things, and we want to honor who he is and where he comes from.

Thank you for your consideration.”

Thank you again for your love, support, and prayers.

Chris

Js 1:27

As I sit down to update our blog, I couldn’t be more excited about the news we have to share, but it wouldn’t be fair to just write about how we feel today without sharing how difficult the past three weeks have been.

As each day passed, we missed Valera more.  Krista and I would watch the videos from our trip and often just go to Baby’s r Us to pass time.  Preparing to bring him home would help us pass time instead of just sitting around wondering when they would ever let us return.   I’m still in awe of how much we fell in love with Valera in just a few days.  I’m overwhelmed with the depth of emotion that this adoption has brought into our lives.  It’s also reminded me how much I truly love Brittany and Alyssa.  I think sometimes when we interact with family everyday, we take for granted how blessed we are to have the relationships we have.

Speaking of relationships, our family felt extremely loved by all of the friends and family that came to our Open House/Baby Shower on the 28th.  It was humbling to see so many people take time out of their weekend to show their support, encouragement, and love for our family and our adoption of Valera.  We thank all of you for your generosity and love.

This past week certainly had the highest highs and the lowest lows.   We knew that the chances of returning to Russia on July 6th had completely vanished, but were still hopeful that we would be able to return on July 13th.  As we communicated with our agency they informed us that a judge had been assigned, but for some reason, no court date had been set.  This was concerning because we decided to purchase plane tickets due to some very cheap promotional rates that were going to expire.  We didn’t understand the delay until we were told our documents hadn’t yet returned from the Russian Federal government in Moscow to Tomsk.  This was a very disturbing discovery.   This past Monday, when Krista learned of this news, she could do nothing but cry.    We both spent time individually praying.   It’s in these moments that you know that trusting God is the only option, but looking back I realize it’s the best option.  With some encouragement and comfort with releasing our disappointment and frustration to God, we spent the rest of the evening together just doing more to prepare for Valera’s arrival to our home.

After several emails and phone calls over Tuesday, our agency actually told us to get our visas to travel and arrive on the 13th, but that an actual court date hadn’t been set yet.  Our agency informed the coordinator that we already had tickets to travel and also learned the same day that our documents had arrived from Moscow!!!  We sent off for visas, but still weren’t sure about the court date.    That’s when the really good news came.   Our coordinator in Tomsk met with the Judge and asked for a court date the week of July 13th.   The Judge asked to push the date back further, but our coordinator informed him we already had tickets.  He was surprised and asked why we already had tickets.   The coordinator informed him that we couldn’t wait to get back to Valera and that we also had an opportunity to buy them cheaper, so he agreed to work us into his schedule.   I can’t tell you how excited we were to hear that news!  

Over the past couple of weeks we have decided that we will take our daughters on this next trip to Tomsk.  So on July 11th, our wedding anniversary, we will leave Oklahoma to adopt and bring Valera home.   This journey has been long, but we are so excited that our entire family will get to go to Siberia, celebrate that God put us on this long journey, and that Valera was the boy that He always intended for us.    We are looking forward to being far away from our busy lives in Edmond.  I’m looking forward to building memories with our family and allowing God to show us all He wants us to learn from this journey. 

Speaking of, our last trip exposed us to the lack of resources at the Baby House in Tomsk.   We asked many of you to contribute towards shoes and other supplies for the orphanage.   We are so excited about using this opportunity to allow all of you to be a part of our journey.   We have already informed our coordinator in Tomsk to be prepared to buy shoes and other supplies for the orphanage.   Honestly, we expect this to be one of the highlights of our trip.   We will take plenty of photos and post them here on our blog so you can continue to travel with us on this journey.

We ask that you continue to pray for us and Valera.   Pray for favor with the court system.  Pray that we would be a blessing to the workers and children at the orphanage.   Pray that our hearts would be permanently changed by this experience.   Our prayer is that you are impacted by what God has done in our lives.  We look forward to sharing our experience and Valera with you.   Most importantly, we pray that you would learn of the God that called us to this journey.  His name is Jesus and He is calling for you as well.  Our prayer is that You would hear His voice and experience the love, forgiveness and joy that we have.

Thank you so much for your love, prayers, encouragement, and support.

Chris

James 1:27