Update

Here's the latest...We're still waiting. We got a call today from our family coordinator. She wanted to let us know that they are now projecting the reaccreditation to occur in March instead of February. The MOE has 3 months in which to reaccredit an agency from the time they receive the paperwork. Our paperwork evidently arrived shortly after they began accepting reaccreditation paperwork at the end of December. She also wanted to let us know that the reason that some families from our agency are getting travel and court dates is because their region has decided to allow movement without reaccreditation. Our region was allowing travel w/o reaccreditation up until right after we received our referrals in September. Nice timing huh? Please pray with us that our agency would receive their reaccreditation before March and that Kras will decide to allow movement w/o it. We are so tired of waiting!!!

Homestudy update!

I just got my updated homestudy in the mail! Yay! Now I have something to do. I'll be sending the updated paperwork to be apostilled tomorrow. I'm actually waiting for some other docs to come back from being apostilled. It feels good to have something to do for our adoption. All this waiting is getting a little monotonous. Can I get an amen? Soon I'll have a whole stack of updated paperwork to be sent to our agency. Woohoo!

Bird Suicide?

Nothing is happening regarding our adoption, still. So I thought I'd blog about something completely unrelated. Bird Suicide. Does this phenomenon really exist? Allow me to state my case. Yesterday as I was driving to a church function, I was traveling in my car at abut 45mph when I saw 2 birds headed my way. At first I thought they were ducks flying a little too low but as they came precariously closer to my car, I recognised them. They were turkey vultures. South Florida is plagued with these filthy and ugly creatures. Although I dislike these birds, they do have their place in the ecosystem. They do a good job cleaning up all the roadkill. But I digress from my story. There I was, minding my own business, driving towards my destination, as these birds flew closer and closer towards the windshield of my car. It was a surreal moment. I thought to myself, surely they'll fly out of the way, but they did not. They were birds on a suicide mission. Perhaps even kamikaze birds. I did not aim for the birds, but they sure looked like they were aiming for me. It was like the road was their runway and they were landing no matter what was in their way. I drifted into the left-hand lane to avoid a collision but the insane bird hit my car anyway. I watched in my rear view window as the birds made a quick landing. They both seemed unfazed. I'm not sure if the one that hit my car made it, but they were both just standing in the road as I drove out of sight. My mom was the first one to tell me about bird suicide after my first driving experience as a driver with a learner's permit. I was driving home with my family when something white and blurry seemed to have hit the front of the car. I was nervous that I had hit something but my family was sure it was only a piece of garbage in the road. It was only that as I was parking the car in the lot that I saw a wing flapping in the breeze. Indeed I had hit a bird and it was stuck in the grill of our car. My mom comforted me by telling me that it was a case of bird suicide and there was nothing I could have done to avoid it. I wasn't sure about the existence of such a thing until yesterday. Now I know that it does indeed exist. What do you think? Have any of you ever experienced this phenomenon before?

What to post?

There's nothing going on as far as the adoption goes. Everyone is back to work after the Russian holidays though so that's good news. Hopefully we'll get reaccredited very soon.
I don't know what else to blog about. Same ol', same ol'. Ministry is good, we're always busy with that. We're just trying to be content in our circumstances and to trust in God's timing for everything. We know He is bringing all the details together so that we can bring our babies home.
Chris is at a Pastor's conference for a few days so I've got some movies to watch and a good book to read. Tim Lahaye's Babylon Rising books are awesome and I just picked up the latest installment at the library.
Debbie has just given out all of the Secret Blog Pals and I know who mine is. Her name is... oh wait, I can't tell you that, it's a Secret!=) SBP's are encouragers during the adoption process and I'm really looking forward to getting to know mine.
I want to thank everyone for continuing to pray for us. Please know that as soon as we hear anything, you all will know immediately. We will be shouting it from the rooftops!
For some reason my spell checker is not working so please forgive any spelling or grammar problems.;) Thanks!

Makeover!

We've got a new look! What do you think? My computer savvy husband created our blog's new look and I think he did a tremendous job. I have no idea how he did it being that I am so computer illiterate. Chris took the Krasnoyarsk flag and put pictures from Kras in the squares, pretty neat huh? We hope you like our new look.

It's our anniversary!

I can't believe we've been married for 8 years now! Time sure flies by quickly! I love you Hunnie! Thanks for putting up with me for 8 years. I look forward to the adventures that God has for us in the future. You're the best!
Enough mush... Today we are fervently praying that God would move in miraculous ways in our adoption, that there would be a major break through and that we will hear from Him today. I've been given such amazing peace about our children. I know they are coming home soon and that things are going to start moving forward again.
The high school near us is offering Russian classes at night starting Jan 22 and registration starts tonight. I'm going to be there! I've been enjoying learning Russian with my Pimsleur cds and I'm so excited that I can take an actual class soon. I hope to learn enough to have an actual conversation with someone, or at least get directions.=)
Chris is taking me out to dinner tonight at Seasons 52, it's one of my favorite restaurants. The menu changes according to the seasons and everything is healthy and delicious. My favorite thing is the desserts, they all come in shot glasses. The idea being you get just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. There are about 12 different desserts and they are all delicious. I'm really looking forward to it.

New Year's Resolutions

I'm resolving this year to wake up earlier, eat healthier, read through the Bible and exercise regularly. Will I actually do these things? I'm going to try! Getting out of bed in the morning at an early hour is probably the most difficult thing for me to do. I admit it, I'm lazy! It's pure torture for me to get up while it's still dark outside, everything in me is screaming "it's dark, you should be sleeping!" I want to have more time in my day and this is the only way I can think of making that happen. I particularly want to have a strong quiet time in the morning with the Lord. So far, the earliest I've gotten up is 7am. I'm working my way to 6am, slowly but surely. I'm going to be getting up early when the kids are finally home so I better get used to it now, right?
I'm also excited about reading through the bible this year. My husband is doing it as well. I'm hoping to end the year with a better understanding of God's Word and a stronger relationship with Him.
Eating healthy has never been a problem for me until recently. I love veggies and whole grains but I've been eating a whole lotta sugar products lately. Has anyone else tried the Hershey Kisses candy cane flavor? Amazing pretty much sums it up. Holidays! No more junk, I'm giving it up! I want to be eating healthy when the kids come home so they'll be eating healthy.
Exercise is my nemesis! I do it only when I'm in a class at a gym or something, never on my own. I cannot motivate myself enough to exercise alone and we can't afford a class right now- we're pinching pennies to get these babies home! Anyone want to come over and join me in a pilates workout on DVD? I didn't think so.=)
I'm excited about getting a secret blog pal. Debbie and Kate are putting them together. I have really enjoyed being a part of the blog world. It's so encouraging and fun reading all of your adoption blogs. Everyone has a unique story, and God's hand is in all of them. So cool!
Anyhoo, I'm off to gather more paperwork to be notarized. Expiring paperwork is so annoying!;)

Here it is, 2007. Here's hoping that this new year brings blessings to us all. January is bound to be another quiet month for us as far as our adoption goes. Russia takes about 2 weeks off for their holiday. I'm praying that we still may be reaccredited at the end of the month though. We want to travel to see our kids so badly. It'll take a miracle to get them home before Roman's 2nd birthday. Our God is a God of miracles though, right? I've heard through the blog-vine that Russia is now giving Russian families incentive to adopt by paying them a lump sum that equals about $10,000 for each child. This is not good news to me since most families are poor, alot of people will be adopting for the wrong reasons-$$! I'm not worried about a Russian family trying to adopt our children though, I believe that God has chosen them for us and has set them apart for us. Please continue to pray with us that they'll be home soon.
Our anniversary is on the 8th, it'll be 8 years. It seems like yesterday we were married and starting our lives together. Time really does go by quickly, it just doesn't seem that way when you're waiting for something you really want =). My husband is the best, I thank God for him everyday.