So much for “Update the Blog once a week” on my task list! Despite every effort to keep our schedule manageable and to avoid over-stimulation, I’m finding that there are no moments to spare. I thought we were busy before… All of you parenting veterans will laugh your tails off at me, but I’m still holding onto the shred of hope that as Maria settles in and learns more English, she will become a little more independent, and I won’t feel as obligated to be there ALL the time. I also suspect that as that happens, I’ll get scared of […]

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Wow….a lot has happened in the last week. First, let me again thank all of you for your encouragement, support, love, and prayers. We never could have gotten through this phase of the adventure without each and every one of our family and friends! We left for the airport on Friday morning, and arrived with plenty of time to spare. Igor, our driver, delivered us to the checkin area at the airport and wished us well. We met another couple heading back with their newly adopted son, and had a nice chat while we waited. Our luggage came in just […]

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Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-13 June Since Tuesday rolled into Wednesday on an overnight train, my memories are equally fuzzy, hence one joint blog entry.  Yesterday morning, we got up bright and early.  The hot water was still out in our building, so we filled the tub with four inches of cold water, and then boiled four big stockpots of water and dumped it in.  Made for a decent emergency bath. Once we no longer smelled like homeless people, we finished packing and loaded up the car at about 9:30.  Our facilitator had arranged for a larger car to drive us […]

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Monday June 11th Our last full day.  We had recently become less diligent with our “shower whenever you can” strategy; the water hadn’t gone off in nearly a week. However, we woke up to find that our hot water was out again.  We made do, and Lisa arrived at our apartment about 10:30. We all met with Olga, the matroshka artist, and then wandered out to show Lisa the bookstore and a couple of shops near our house.  When we got back to the apartment, we gobbled up the leftover borsch…it was really nice to have a lunch guest!  Lisa’s […]

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Sunday, 10 June Our stay is drawing to a close…and time is running short! Today, we left the apartment at 11, picked up Kseniya and Lisa, and then met the second car at the orphanage where we picked up the girls. Our arrival is becoming a little more routine for them, too. They don’t drop what they were doing and race to us like they did the first couple of days; I think they are feeling much more secure with us, and beginning to trust us. During the summer, many of the kids at the orphanage attend various camps in […]

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