One month in....

January 22nd is when we arrived home and welcomed Alik and Misha to the US as citizens! Since then we have been busy, busy, busy!

The boys seem happy and the doc has declared them healthy! So we are feeling great. Alik has a little bit of low iron but we are getting that under control. From looking at him and all of his energy you would never guess it!


Marisa is staying home with the boys for about another month. She is working part time from home during the morning and late afternoon evenings. ALL of her co-workers at Deere have been very understanding and helpful during this very important family time. Some days for her are longer then others but they are filled with laughter, great moments and the occasional set of tears.

The kids are exploring everything. Testing boundaries and having boundaries set. They have a good schedule that they follow and know exactly what they need to do everyday. They have seen many new things in the last month. They love riding in the car or truck. Alik is a big helper in the grocery store and around the house with various chores. Misha loves to play and help with sweeping the floor and doing laundry! We hope the laundry thing isn't just a phase!


So far we have been to the doctor, which was a little traumatic for everyone since it was so long and there was blood work and shots and poking and proding... Alik watched Jason get his teeth cleaned and thought that was pretty cool. They both know how to say Walmart and Fareway.

We spent a day at Grandpa and Grandma's farm. The boys and grandparents played hard. Grandpa was asleep at the supper table the boys fell asleep quickly in the truck on the way home. They got tractor rides, saw the cows, pet the kitties, played in the snow and ate everything mom and dad would let them! Jason and Marisa got to spend a little time hunting for shed antlers but came up emty handed. Today was a trip to the vets office. I'm not sure if they were more curious about the "dog doctor" or the cat drinking out of the toilet!

Marisa is trying her hardest to teach them a love of cooking/baking. So far they have made sugar cookies, whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (ironically they had a cup of crisco in them), pigs in a blanket, banana nut rolls, helped put the rub on ribs for the smoker and today Misha helped her stir up the beans for the smoker.


Both have "helped" papa in the shop building things. This usually consists of sitting on the workbench with eye and ear protection and a hammer in hand, while Jason slaves away. They also helped papa plant the start of the garden. Since we have a hard time explaining that it will be months before a tomato arrives the boys usually check the tomato plants every day and sadly say no tomatoes. They have now started saying "many many many many din"(days) until we have tomatoes.

Food is hit and miss. I'm guessing this is common for kids. One day they tell you it is tasty and the next day they wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Oh well, we keep giving them new things. However, by far their favorite is probably hot dogs. Much to Marisa's dismay they have not picked up her love of Chinese food.


Thanks again for all those that are praying for us. We greatly appreciate it. We will try to get better about posting updates. The first month was a little busy to say the least. As we tell the kids each night "Dobre Noche!"