Trip 1, Day 7...back to civilization

As our host likes to say, we are back in civilization! So where to start....I guess with the train. The train car we were in could best be described as vintage. I came back from the rest room and Jason asked what it was like. I laughingly informed him it was no worse the the bathroom on the boat we went fishing on in Alaska. We made up our bunks (we had a compartment to ourselves) and tried to catch some sleep. 12 hours later we arrived on the north end of the island. We had to get permission from the department of education to visit the older boy and then we were off to see him.

It was an interesting trek out to the Children's home. I know some of you won't understand this, but it was Dog Lake Road except in Russia. I think we had the privelege of riding with "Brian" or at least that how fast it seemed he was going. For those of you who have not had the privelege of traveling down Dog Lake Road. There is a sign near the end that says something like you will never find anything this beautiful at the end of a paved road. In this case it was true as well. We found a beautiful little boy at the end of a very bumpy, snowy road. We were able see and play with the him three times. Each time we felt a stronger connection with him. We played cars, puzzles, coloring and spent some time playing in the snow. We left him some picture of us and our home (and of course Brutus and Linus). He carried the pictures with him everywhere. There was several times when he would stop what he was doing and study them. We had video of his brother on the camera and we showed that to him as well.

It was hard to say good-bye and even tougher to explain to him why we had to go. We had a map on the front of the picture book that included Sakhalin and Iowa. We told him when we came back he would get to ride on the train and on three airplanes to get to Iowa. He said "where is the airplane." We got the impression he did not want to wait. We got two big hugs and then he was off to eat lunch with his group.

For the most part we have been able to buy what we need at a supermarket (chocolate, cheese, bread, chocolate, meat, diet coke, chocolate) without any problems. When we headed north we condensed our stuff from 2 carry-ons and two suitcases to one carry-on and the one smaller suitcase. As you can imagine some stuff got left behind in storage at the hotel. Well one of those things was lotion. My legs started to itch something fierce so off to the supermarket we went. We stood and stared at the lotions, shampoos, and face stuff for a while. Finally, we found a bottle that said in English "Body lotion". Victory! We got our lotion (and chocolate) and we were off. I knew that it was probably not medicated and I would need to apply it a couple of times. So I put some on and a couple hours later put some more on and then again before I went to sleep. The next morning I noticed that the bottom half of my leg looked funny. We had bought tanning lotion!!! Our hands have a nice orange tint and my calves have never been tanner!

We'll spend a few hours in the hotel and then this afternoon there is a carnival up on the mountain that we'll go to. Tommorrow is paper signing day and then we'll head to the airport to head back to Iowa.
More to come.

Trip 1, Day 3

We got to see the younger boy again today. It was great. He loves to stack things. The Russian nesting dolls are right up his alley. Whether it is taking circles off a post and putting them back, or stacking dolls inside of each other, he loved it. Little cars, not so much. He would repeat words after us and likes to put the stacking blocks in Jason's shirt pocket.

Unfortunately we had to say good-bye though. I am sure at his young age he does not understand that we are going away to see his brother and will eventually return. It was very difficult for us to walk away but "thems the rules".

Tonight we get on a train and head north where we will be able to see the older boy. We are excited to continue on our adventure. We are unsure if we will have internet or not so it might be a few days before we have the opportunity to post again.

Know that prayers are being answered as our trip has gone very smoothly and we feel God's guidance every step of the way.

Trip1 and lets call it day 2

We got to see the younger boy today. It was amazing! A little sur real but amazing. Of course we are scary, giant, unknown people so we freaked him out a little in the beginning but that was too be expected. They brought him into a room that he does not usually go into, so that didn't help matters. There was, however, toys and that did help the situation. We got to play with him, hold him on our laps and interact with him. Jason even taught him how to "give 5". The care givers at the home have nothing but positive comments and he is a delightful little boy.

We have asked for prayer requests, but I like to remember that we should be thankful and praise God for all that He has done for us. There are so many but here is a short list.
Things to be thankful for:

• Answered prayer - someone (the short one) prayed that God would speedy up the process...guess that landed us in Russia sooner then we anticipated.
• Our driver - We are so thankful for our driver. He gets us to and from all of our appointments. And let me say, I do not think that if Jason or I were driving we would be getting anywhere. Some of the cars have the steering wheel on the left and some on the right. It is all very confusing to us.
• Our host - She is very willing to help and support us and answers all of our crazy questions
• Prayer warriors - Those who are always waiting and willing to pray when that "red phone" rings
• And of course, two little boys in Russia

Until next time....

Trip 1, Day ????

We left Des Moines on a Saturday, and got here (Russia) on a Monday. So does that make this day three or day one of the trip? We're not sure. We slept some on the plane but we are tired and trying to adjust to the slight change in time zone.

We made it here safe and sound. Our contact met us right outside of customs and took us to the hotel and gave us a quick tour.

A couple shout outs to a few people:

• Kudos to the Seoul airport for having a nice travel lounge. Nice place to sit, watch tv and shower rooms (now only if we would have packed towels).
• Kudos to Aaron for all the travel words of wisdom and last minute info
• Kudos to Hank for the tip on using wet wipes when you don't have access to a shower and still need to smell well not like an airplane
• And last but not least....could someone ask the rocket scientist why you have to have the shades up on the plane when you take off and land...

To be continued....

The camoflage comes off...

We figured it was time to reveal our secret. So for those of you that have not heard the big news...

We are in the process of adopting two boys from Russia. We got an invitation to travel to Russia on February 24th which was quicker then we anticipated. The wait time was estimated to be 1 to 14 months and ours was definitely on the lower end of that. We have received one picture of each boy and some medical information. We have decided to accept the invitation to travel and will be heading to Russia soon to meet the boys. We are very excited about our up coming trip.

We will try to keep the blog updated while we are traveling. We now that we will get to spend some time with the younger boy and then travel to meet the older boy at another children's home. Please, do not ask us to post/share photos of the boys. There are privacy laws to protect the children and we will be abiding by them in order to protect these precious children.

Jason has been busy trying to finish up the bunk beds that he began this winter. They are nearing completion with only the ladder left. There is a desk that goes at the end that will come after some of the other details are finished up.

Marisa has been keeping busy with her business accounting class and work. Steve and Twilla came for a visit in early March and were immediately put to working painting beds, the boys room and Twilla helped Marisa hang border. A picture of the room is below.


Now we are off for the adventure of a lifetime....