Word Family Adoption

Smiles, Hugs and Kisses.....

2011-06-20T20:46:00.007-04:00

When you fall in love with a child, Smiles, Hugs and Kisses mean so much more!!!! We cannot believe that we have passed the 3 year mark since we first met our precious daughter Alyssa. We traveled the first week of June in 2008. We fell in love with her before we even traveled on the first trip. The referral photo's took our breath away. And when we finally met her, the Lord had "knocked our socks off" with this amazing little child. She did not know what smiles, hugs and kisses meant. She was so scared, and she did not understand that her world was changing forever, and so was ours!!!!
To see Alyssa today her smile makes us laugh and sometimes cry. She has this amazing little laugh and she is so full of life. Her hugs are so tight that sometimes we think that she will not let go. Sometimes she says "Mommy, hug me really really tight"!!!! I squeeze and squeeze until she starts laughing and smiling saying "That's enough Mommy"!!!! She loves little kisses on the lips and the chin, and she also loves to have Butterfly Kisses!!! When I take off my glasses to give her a Butterfly kiss, she tells me "Mommy you are so beautiful"!!! To look so closely in the eyes of this amazing child I am so overwhelmed at the love that she has for us. She makes every day so much fun, and we are very humbled that the Lord chose us to be her forever family.
She is growing up so fast!!! She turned 4 years old on May 5th. We had a Cowgirl birthday party at the park. We had a pinata, sack races and stick horse races. Alyssa is so in love with cows, horses and farm animals. She keeps saying that someday she is going to be a farmer. She used to say that she wanted to be a veterarian, but now it is a farmer. We believe that she will be involved with the care of animals in some aspect.
Wade and I have most recently completed a playhouse for her, which she calls her barn. We bought a used playhouse, and transformed it into a wonderful playhouse. It has farm print curtains, wood flooring, a door bell and it will also have a kitchen that Wade is building.
We are starting to enjoy our summer, and looking forward to the Fall. Alyssa will be starting PreK at Russellville this Fall also. She was in a program that is like PreK at First Baptist this past school year. She really loves to go to "school".
We are also looking forward to our last post placement visit in October for Russia. We have most recently been looking at the pictures of Russia from both trips. We really wish that we could return to Russia to bring home another child, but at this time it is just not possible. We are still in prayer and thought about another child. The Lord provided everything needed for our first adoption and we are anxious to see the next path that He leads us on.
We are glad that some of you are still asking about the blog. We were not sure that anyone was still watching. We are so very busy enjoying our family that we just do not post enough. I will try to post again in the near future.
Thanks so much for stopping by. And remember to say a prayer tonight for all of the children in this world that do not have a family. We pray that the Lord will watch over these children until maybe someday soon that they will also know what it is like to have Smiles, Hugs and Kisses....

Blessings to your family...
Julie

"Big Girls Do That...."

2010-06-06T21:00:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone!!! It has been quite awhile since we have updated on Alyssa's blog, but yes, we are all still alive and kicking!! Alyssa is growing up before our eyes. She is such an amazing little girl. She is constantly talking and running around. Where she finds all of that energy, we will never know. We made it through the Spring and are looking forward to the Summer. In April we traveled to Michigan to see friends and family. It was so great to spend time with the Smith family who live just outside of Detroit. They had adopted a little boy from Russia the same time that we adopted Alyssa. We had spent the first and second trips together, so we became very close to them. They are like family and always will be part of our adoption journey. To see the children play together was simply amazing. They seemed to remember each other from when we brought them home in December 2008. Besides our trip to Michigan we have been gearing up for Summer by planting a garden and doing work outside on the house. On May 5th Alyssa turned 3!!! We cannot believe that she is already 3 years old!!! We had her "Dog and Cat" birthday party the Saturday before her birthday. We all had a really good time!!! We had many family and friends at the party. Alyssa had a really great time!!!
Alyssa is learning everything so very fast. She is starting to potty train and she is always so eager to try to do everything her self. She has a very independent soul, and can be very stubborn also. As adoptive parents we know that this is not always a good thing, because we want the child to be very dependant on us. It helps with the bonding process. But as far as bonding goes, we don't seem to have a problem with that. This child is so much a part of us, and us of her, that it seems like we have had her forever. She is definitely a "talker". She loves to talk all of the time, and it is so funny that you can hold a regular conversation with her. She has all kinds of phrases that makes us laugh and also brings us to tears. One of the newest and funniest is "Big Girls Do That"!!! We sometimes tell her when she is doing certain things that she is not a baby anymore and that she can do it, or she can help. She has come up with that phrase. It is so funny!!!
We are trying to decide where we will go to the beach this summer. We had planned to go to Navarre Beach in Florida along the Gulf coast, but with the oil spill we are not sure if that will be an option in August. We are also having yard sales this summer as a fundraiser to raise money for our next adoption. Hopefully by the end of the year the LORD will show us where HE wants us to go next. Our dream for Alyssa is to have a little sister from Russia. But who knows, we will see what HE plans for us next. Our journey as a family that began when Wade and I married in December of 1995 has been such an amazing journey. Our family has been very blessed along the way, and it makes we smile and wonder what will be next in our journey. For all of you that have kept up with our family, we are very grateful. We are grateful for the well wishes and prayers, and we look forward to sharing Alyssa's journey in her "Forever Family".
Blessings,
Julie

Winter 2009

2010-01-17T14:41:00.004-05:00

Snow.....??? We live in Tennessee.... Did someone say snow??? Yes, it did snow and it has finally melted. We made it through it without too many problems. Schools were out for 3 days, but they are now back. Alyssa really loves the snow!!! She tries to catch the snow flakes in her mouth, and she loves to try to make snow balls. We did not have snow at Christmas, but we had the most amazing Christmas!!!
Alyssa asked Santa for a car..... Yes, you heard me right, a car!!! And he filled her wish.... A red Ford Mustang convertible!!!! She must have been a really good girl because she did rather well on Christmas morning. It was really fun for Wade and I to watch her face as she opened the gifts. This child is the light of our lives. Everyday is a new adventure. She is really starting to talk, and you can actually hold a conversation with her!!! One of the funniest things that we have heard her say was at Christmas. We were teaching her about the real meaning of Christmas, and birth of baby Jesus. To hear her say baby Jesus is so funny!!!!
She pronounces baby Jesus as "baby Jeee" and Joseph as "Joanie". It sounds like she is talking about a rap group or something..."baby Jeee and Joanie". She makes us laugh everyday. Yes, having a 2 year old in the house is fun, exhausting, and trying, and yet these are the best days of our lives!!!
To bring you up to speed also on the future plans for our family.... We have decided that we are going to pursue another adoption!!!! What I can tell you now is that we are contacting America World Adoptions again about starting the process again. Depending on the answers we get from them on a couple of questions, we intend on starting the process again this year. We are in the process right now of trying to come up with some ways to raise money!!! One thing that we are going to do is start to ask for people's donations for our adoption on our blog. There is a donation button on the right that you can donate through Paypal!!! We have also decided that we are going to have an all out fundraising campaign starting in the Spring through Fall. We are going to have a yard sale every other Saturday starting in March!!! We are going to put an add in the newspaper asking for donations for our sale. You can either call us and we will pick up the items, or you can drop them off at our house. We will have the sale twice per month until the Fall. We know that other adoptive families have had a really good outcome with their fundraising efforts doing yard sales. We will not be pricing anything at the sales. We will only be taking reasonable donations for the items that you would like to buy!!!! At every yard sale we will have newly collected items, and we intend also to be selling baked goods!!! I am also coming up with a couple of other ideas about making some Russian items to sell. It seems like that when I would try to find some little things for our Russian adoption, they were hard to come by. I can find all kinds of things for adoptive families that are adopting from China. So I will let you all know soon what our plans will be with that!!!! We also still have a few cookbooks left for sale from our first adoption. Please let me know if you would like to purchase those as well!!!
Well, I guess I will go for now. Keeping up with this blog is sometimes extremely hard, but I do know that we still have many, many followers, so I will try my best to keep you all informed of our next adoption journey!!!!
Blessings,
Julie

GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

2009-11-21T20:47:00.002-05:00

We can hardly believe that the day has already come..... Our first "Gotcha Day" as a forever family. It has been exactly one year today that we picked up Alyssa at the baby home in Sosnovoborsk, Krasnoyarsk Russia. We had left for the orphanage at about 4:30 in the afternoon on November 21, 2008. We were so excited and nervous all rolled up into one. The 45 minute drive seemed to take forever. We tried to soak up everything that we could on that last journey to the orphanage. We took a video for most of the trip so that we would not forget the ride. When we arrived, they had Alyssa in the room ready for us to change her into the clothes that we had brought with us. She had this "lost" look in her eyes. She had no idea what was happening. For all of you adoptive parents out there, you know what I am talking about. We took a few pictures before we left and then out into the sub zero temperatures we went. It was dark and cold when we left. The streets were a solid sheet of ice. When we started out on our drive, we found out quite quickly that Alyssa did not like the lights of the oncoming traffic. She screamed and cried. The only thing that I could think of to do was to sing to her. Me, not being a very good singer, I sung very low so as not to drive our driver Sergei crazy. I sang Jingle Bells for the full 45 minutes back to the hotel. It worked!!! She fell asleep for most of the trip, so I guess she enjoyed my singing.... HA HA HA !!!!
That day changed our lives forever. To see this child today you would have never guessed that she has been through such trauma.
Today as we look back at our amazing journey, we decided that we would spend the whole day together doing "fun" things. One thing that we did was attend an adoption celebration at a local church that was celebrating National Adoption Day. It is pretty cool to think that this day fell on our "Gotcha Day". We went there and visited with other families that had brought their children home from Russia this past year or two. We exchanged names and phone numbers so that our children could have a connection from their homeland of Russia. We also learned what we will need to do to readopt Alyssa in Tennessee next November!!! We really look forward to that day also!!!! Later in the afternoon we headed to Pigeon Forge to go to Dollywood. They are all decorated for Christmas and Alyssa really loved all of the lights. She also really loved the light parade which had Santa included in it. She rode her favorite rides, the ducks, the bees, the pigs and the train. She had hot chocolate for the very first time also. It was a HIT!!! This girl loves chocolate!!! We had a very fun and exhausting day, but it was such a wonderful day. The LORD has so blessed our family. We thank HIM every day for bringing this child into our hearts and our family. She makes every day a joy, and we are very humbled by the fact that the LORD chose Wade and I to be her parents. For those of you out there who are considering adoption, your life will never be the same. There are not enough words to express all of the emotions that you will experience in the journey of adoption. The highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. But what you may think of as the end of our journey, we feel that our journey has just begun. The journey of "forever"!!! We love this child with all that we are, and we feel such gratitude for the whole journey........
Thanks for stopping by.....
Love, Julie

One Year Ago Today.....The Start of Forever!!!!!

2009-11-11T10:30:00.001-05:00

Where do I begin.....As tears are flowing from my eyes, I am remembering this day exactly one year ago today. We had gotten up early after a rather sleepless night. We were very excited and nervous because our court day had finally come. We had arrived at the court house with our translator and facilitator and waited for our turn to go in to see the judge. After going through about an hour with the judge, she returned to the court room with the answer we had waited for 2-1/2 years to hear.... DAH !!!!!
The judge said YES, that our adoption of Alyssa was approved!!! Our world was forever changed. All of the years waiting for a child was finally over. There are just not enough words to describe the feeling of becoming a mom after such a long wait. When we first met Alyssa in June 2008 we knew that it would be forever. All of our hopes and dreams for a forever family had come true. All of the paperwork and waiting was soooo worth it!!! To remember back on this whole journey is just completely overwhelming.
We cannot believe that it has already been 1 year!!! Alyssa has changed so much in such a little amount of time. She has grown about 4" and has gained 8 pounds. She has gone from a look of being so scared, to a look of complete joy and happiness. There is not a day that goes by that we don't just beam with joy about her being in our family. She is like a little ball of light. She has an amazing little spirit, and an amazing way that she loves the people and things closest to her.
We look back with such gratitude to our LORD, for giving us this great joy of being parents. We thank all of you for your love and prayers on our journey to our daughter. We could not have done this without all of you!!!
In a few days we will be celebrating "Gotcha Day"!!! On this day we will celebrate Alyssa and we will rejoice in our "Forever Family"!!!!!
Every year we will reserve this day to be together as a family, and to tell Alyssa just how special she is in our lives.
Thanks for stopping by.....
Julie

FOOTBALL AND FALL IN TENNESSEE!!!

2009-09-21T22:26:00.009-04:00

Did someone say that it is almost Fall??? Tomorrow is the official start of Fall.
How can it be here so fast??? It is also hard to believe that we are getting ready to do our 1 year post placement visit and report for Russia!!!! We got the call in October of last year about our court date and also our second trip to bring Alyssa home. The LORD has blessed our family sooooooo much!!! Alyssa still brings tears to my eyes almost daily, and we cannot even remember our life without her now. She is doing amazingly well. She is really starting to speak alot of new words on a weekly basis. She is learning her letters and numbers also!!! She can recongnize about 6 letters of the alphabet using her magnetic letters on the refrigerator. She loves to count to ten and she loves to sing the alphabet song!!! A very interesting fact that we find simply amazing is that she still recognizes Russian words and phrases when you say them to her, and she tries to say them back. Also, some of the pictures that we have showed her from Russia she recognizes also!!! I have started working on her Life Book also, which is an album that she will always have just for herself that tells her the story of her adoption. We are going to instill in her that she should be proud of her heritage, and that mommy and daddy are proud to have such an amazing little princess in our family and our lives. If anyone out there that reads this blog is thinking about adoption, I just want to tell you that it was worth every worry, every document, every tear, every sleepness night, every low, every high and everything in between. The LORD brought us to adoption, and HE continues to show us amazing blessings for our family. I often ask myself how I can be so lucky to have been given this child to love and to raise??? She is everything that I could have asked for and sooooo much more!!! When she smiles her little face just radiates such joy, and as a mother, I wish no more for her than complete happiness. Adoption is so much more that bringing a child into your family, it is
LOVE......The LOVE of the LORD......The LOVE of being called MOMMY..... The LOVE of everything great in this lifetime!!!!! I continue to learn about myself, learn about Alyssa and grow closer to the LORD just because of this adoption!!!!
We know that we will adopt again, hopefully within the next year or so!!!! We just know that Adoption is just toooooo important!!!! These children need homes, and we feel absolutely honored and humbled by the love of this precious child. Thanks so much for stopping by. Please enjoy a few pictures of our little Alyssa...
Blessings.....
Julie

MORE SUMMERTIME PICS.....

2009-07-12T21:52:00.001-04:00

SUMMER TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!!

2009-07-12T21:24:00.005-04:00

Did someone say summer??? Yes!!!! Little Alyssa is starting her first summer here in Tennessee and it is a HOT one!!! Having come from Siberia this little girl sure loves being outside in the summer sun. She tans so easily which makes me rather jealous.... I just burn only being outside for 10 minutes. She has started this summer off on a great note. For her 2 year old wellness visit we were told that her immunizations that she had done in January, along with what she had done in Russia, she will not need anymore shots until she starts school!!! Thanks Children's Hospital for that wonderful news!!! Alyssa is learning to ride her new bike that she was given for her birthday by Grandma and Grandpa Word. Although she has not quite gotten the hang of it, she gives it a try. She loves to swing on her playset, and she loves to play in her sand and water table. POOL!!!! Did someone say POOL???
Yes, this girl loves the water!!! She has a small pool at home which she really loves. She also has gone swimming in her cousins pool. We are hoping that she learns to swim pretty soon. We will probably have to have her take some lessons.
We had a pretty good 4th of July!!! That morning we headed off to the Knoxville Zoo. It was her first time at the zoo. (I love all of these firsts!!)
At night we had a few family members over, and did a few small fireworks. Alyssa was ok with the little fountains, but when it came to the big shells she really wanted no part of it. So we went in the house to watch them through the front window while Aunt Lori and Daddy shot them off.
We are gearing up for our first "vacation from home" to Grandma and Grandpa Church's house in a couple of weeks. It will be a long weekend, but we are looking forward to everyone meeting Alyssa!!!
We cannot believe how much she has grown since we have been home. She has grown about 3 inches and gained 7 lbs!!! She has grown so tall!!! She is learning more and more words everyday. And she is really starting to like some childrens shows on t.v. She loves Blue's Clue's more than anything. She had her first dental appointment a few weeks ago, and passed with flying colors. She has only 1 more molar to come in, and then we are home free on teething!!! She is constantly drooling and biting on her fingers, which in turn causes a little rash on her face. She is enjoying the summer during the work week at Grandma Donna's house. Sometimes her cousins Logan, Bryson and Ethan are there also.
Well I guess I will close it up for now. Enjoy the pictures.......
Thanks for stopping by.....
Julie, Wade and Alyssa

A Day in the Life of Alyssa.....

2009-05-12T10:59:00.003-04:00

A day in the life of Alyssa truly is a blessing!!!!
She makes us laugh and cry, and keeps us on our toes. I have posted a few pictures of Alyssa for you all to enjoy. We had taken a trip to the aquarium in Gatlinburg on Good Friday so I have included one with Alyssa and Wade inside one of the aquariums. We have been enjoying some of the warmer days by taking Alyssa outside to play at the park. Alyssa is really coming in to her own little person. She pays attention to everything, and she tries to figure out how things work. She tries to be very independant, but also loves to be held by her mommy and daddy.
Another funny thing is that she loves the singer "Lady Gaga". When ever she sees her on T.V. or hears her singing on the radio she gets very excited!!!!
Our daughter definitely loves music!!!! Our family is so blessed to have Alyssa in it!!!!! Keep watching.....
Love Julie

Alyssa is 2 !!!!

2009-05-12T10:38:00.004-04:00

It is hard to believe but our little Alyssa has turned 2 !!!!!
Her birthday was Tues. May 5th, but we had her Princess Birthday Party on
Sat. May 9th. We were hoping to have her party outside, but because of the threat of rain we had it in the basement. We decorated with pink and white balloons and the cake was a Princess Castle. Alyssa's aunt Cheri made it!!!! It was so beautiful!!!! We had many family and friends at the party, and we had a really fun time. On the day of her birthday we had a small dog cake for her which she really loved!!!! Alyssa got many presents, and loved playing with the other kids.
It is hard to believe that Alyssa has been home with us for 6 months!!!
She is growing so fast, and we are so overjoyed at watching her grow!!!
We have been so busy with everything that I just don't take the time to post.
I will do another post so that we can catch you up on little Alyssa.
Thanks for stopping by....
Julie

Spring is Here at Last!!!!

2009-04-05T22:22:00.006-04:00

Has it already been a month since I last posted??? Once again I have failed to keep posting on a regular basis. I know that many people still log on to see little Alyssa, so here we are again!!!! We get so busy that time flies by so quickly!!! We are so glad to say that Spring is finally here!!! Today it got to 75 degrees, but guess what...... Tomorrow it will only be a high in the 40's with snow showers.....???? Did I just say snow showers????.... Yes I did!!!! So much for the Spring flowers!!! Let me catch all of you up to speed on little Alyssa.
We celebrated Wade's birthday on March 5, which was really special since it was his first with Alyssa. She helped me make him a cake, and it could not be complete of course without a cat somewhere on it. (I will tell you more about that later). The only cat that I could find for the top of the cake was from a Halloween cupcake topper that I had in the drawer. Alyssa didn't care......it was a cat....that is all that mattered!!! She added all of the sprinkles and the cat!!!
As you can see in the picture, she had such fun making it!!! I am just wondering what I will have in store for my birthday???
Let me tell you a little Alyssa secret. Life is not worth living unless it involves a cat or dog!!!! From the moment she wakes up and then again before she goes to bed she has to make sure that her stuffed dogs and cats are in the correct spots. We love how she says "kitty..kitty". We cannot explain the way that she says it, you would have to hear it for yourself. All that I can say is that it sometimes bring me to tears from laughing at her.
Another love of Alyssa's is clothes and shoes!!! Great......I guess when she becomes a teenager we will have to get 2 more jobs to support her clothes and shoes habit. One day in JCPennys we were shopping in the store and were getting ready to leave, well it just so happens we were passing by the teenage girls clothes section and she decided that she did not want to go.... She had things that SHE wanted to look at!!! She pulled daddy over to this one shirt hanging up, and you will never guess what this shirt said........"Remember me, I am going to be famous"!!!!!
Well that told it all!!!! We knew that she was our little drama queen, but that confirms it. HOLLYWOOD bound we should go!!!! We have high hopes for our daughter, but stardom is probably not one of them. Who knows though.....She loves music, she could be "Your Next American Idol"!!!!! She loves the show!!!! She will clap and yell "YEAHHH", only if they are really good. She definitely has a love for music!!!
As you can see by one of the pictures I posted, she LOVES daddy's boots!!!
She can actually walk in them too!!!! When ever she can, she walks around in either our shoes or our socks, but she refuses to keep her own socks on!!!
As some of you know, Wade has been reduced in hours at work like alot of people in these slow economic times. It has put a tightening on our budget, but it has been somewhat of a good thing for Wade to spend some quality time with his daughter. One day during the work week Alyssa spends with her daddy instead of her grandma. Wade is such a great daddy. She really loves the time that he plays with her!!! She has gotten very close to him in the past month or so. He took her for the very first time to Panther Creek Park a couple of weeks ago. The picture I posted is from the top of the overlook, looking down at the lake. What probably most of you don't know is that is the spot that Wade proposed to me!!!! We also had our first date there!!!
We have very fond memories at that park, and knowing that he took his daughter there for the first time brings tears to my eyes!!! She got to see her first deer there that day, and she got to see her first boat go across the lake from the overlook.
As you can see by the picture of us in our front yard by the Bradford Pear tree, spring is in bloom!!! We had Lori take this picture so that we could use it for our 6 month Post Placement assignment. Yes, I said 6 months!!! Under the guidelines from our agency and from Russia, we have to complete a post placement visit for them about Alyssa at 6 months, 12 months, 24 months and 36 months. We have a social worker from America World come to our home and visit with our new formed family. They check and see how Alyssa is doing, and see how our family is adjusting. We just had our 6 month Post Placement visit on Friday April 3rd. It went really well!!! She said that Alyssa is bonding beautifully, and that our family is doing great!!! We have to have this report turned in to Russia by May 11th. That will be 6 months from when we were told that we were officially Alyssa's parents!!!!
We look back on the whole adoption experience as an amazing ride!!! We look forward to all of the days ahead, and who knows........ Will we start this ride again????
Maybe!!!! Keep tuned in..... We may decide to adopt again!!!! Talks are in the works.... We believe that Alyssa needs a sibling.......As for now though, we are enjoying every second being the parents of little miss Alyssa.....
Love, Julie

There is a First Time for Everything.....

2009-03-01T21:57:00.007-05:00

Riding in Daddy's Stang...
First Valentine's Day
First Day of Church!!!
Having fun in a box
First ride in my wagon...

When we began this adoption journey I would always think about all of the things that Alyssa would learn and do when she joined our family. I would tell Wade, "I cannot wait until her first Christmas, her first birthday, the first trip to the zoo, and her first day of school". Now that she is home all of that is coming true!! It is so amazing to watch her learn something new each day. Each new day brings a new experience for her, and for us!!! A couple of weeks ago we had a very warm day on the weekend, so we broke out the new wagon!! She really liked it, until mommy got tired of pulling and we had to stop. We took a little trip down the road and back, and then a small trip into the play yard to visit with Toby and Wendy. I think that her favorite thing to do besides play with daddy is visit with and feed the dogs a treat!!! She is a definite animal lover!!! We cannot wait for summer to take her to the zoo in Knoxville.
The next picture was of Alyssa playing in a box from her diapers. Wade would put her in it, and they would race around the house and through the air like an airplane. She loved it also, until the sides of the box gave way!!! I guess I know what the next diaper box will be used for!!! HA HA HA !!!!
The next picture is one our absolute favorites!!! This was Alyssa's first day of church. This little dress was so cute. We had not seen her in one since she was in Russia at the baby home. She is really a girly girl. She loves to wear dresses and pretty shoes!!!
The next picture is of her first Valentine's Day. She was not too crazy about the whole thing, until I gave her some chocolate M&M's!!! It was the ones that come in a mini M&M little guy container. She is definitely like her mama!!! Loves that chocolate!!!
The top picture is of Alyssa sitting in the front seat of daddy's Mustang. She really likes his car. She really likes to push the horn!!! She helped daddy move the car in and out of the garage last Friday on his day off. He really looks forward to taking her to his car shows this summer. We hope to give her the little Mustang pictured in an early post this coming fall if she is big enough. We may take it with us to a few car shows and see if she can win a trophy!!!!
We would again like to thank everyone who asks about, and says a prayer for our family. We have so many people still watching this blog, and I am afraid that I am not keeping up so good with the posts. I will try to post more often so that you can watch our little Alyssa grow in her new family.
Wade and I are so very blessed to have her as our daughter!!! She makes us laugh and cry happy tears everyday!!
With all of the hardship going on right now in our country this happy journey gives us all something to be thankful for!!! Even though this country is under a tremendous amount of stress right now, be so very glad that we live in this free country!!! There are many, many people in this world who are not as fortunate as we are to live in the United States.
Please say a small prayer for all of those orphan children here and overseas who may never know what it is to have a "family". We became so blessed to bring little Alyssa into ours......
God Bless...
Julie

2 Months and Counting....

2009-01-25T22:42:00.003-05:00

First Sucker!!!

I have finally gotten a free minute to try to catch you up to speed on little Alyssa. It is Sunday night, and Alyssa is sound asleep after a restful day. I cannot believe that it has been just over 2 months since we had "Gotcha Day". We had picked up Alyssa on November 21st from the baby home in Sosnovoborsk. To see her today you would think that it is a different child. She has already grown over
1 inch, and she has gained over 2-1/2 pounds!!! Someone who had looked at her picture then, and then her picture now said that they could tell that she was growing like a "weed". Her little face is filling out, and her pants are getting shorter and shorter on her. She also has 4 more teeth coming in!!!
We have been extremely busy with bonding with Alyssa. She is very attached to me, and seems to be getting closer and closer to Wade everyday!!! She comes to him to be held and for hugs and kisses!! We have been trying to get her used to our close family, and so far that seems to be going well. She has taken pretty well to my mom also, which is good since she is now watching her since I went back to work on Monday Jan. 19th. We are trying to get used to our new routine now that I am back to work. Alyssa is very excited when she sees me there to pick her up after work. So far, me leaving her with Grandma has not been a problem.
She is starting to say a few more words everyday. She surprised us this past Friday morning when we were leaving for work and she said "Hi Toby" very clearly!!! She tries to copy what we say, but usually it just comes out as the first syllable of the word. When she tries to say blanket, baby or bee, she says "Be". She continually makes us laugh, sometimes even to tears!!! She loves every kind of animal that there is, especially Toby and Wendy!! She got to see Grandpa and Grandma's cat named Miss Kitty this weekend, and she loved it. She kept trying to pet the cat, but since the cat wanted nothing to do with a little girl, the cat hissed a little. This made Alyssa run and wonder what on earth was wrong with that cat!!!!
We have learned tonight that a family that is very dear and close to our hearts, will finally get to return to pick up their little boy in Russia. He is in the same baby home that Alyssa was in. They had traveled on the first trip with us when we met our kids. We got a chance to visit with him on our second trip and sent pictures back home to them by email while we were there. They have been in our thoughts and prayers this whole time. We were so happy to hear that they will be leaving soon for Krasnoyarsk.
Sorry once again for not posting sooner..... We get so busy anymore, that it is a struggle to get on here to update all of you.... Many people have been asking for more pictures and updates, and we feel so blessed that all of you are still following this little girl's journey!!!!
She is our dream come true......
God Bless,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

When Dreams Come True....

2008-12-30T14:33:00.007-05:00

If you would have told me that the love that you feel for a child could be this strong, I would not have believed it!!! When Wade and I dreamed of starting a family and we found out that us giving birth to our own child may not be possible, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that our lives could be this happy!!! When the Lord brought it upon our hearts to adopt a child from Russia we were bursting with excitement and joy. All of the paperwork and waiting I believe just made this experience all that more worth it!!! I am sitting here blogging after not having blogged for a couple of weeks. Sorry about not keeping up with it, but spending time with Alyssa has been such a joy!!! We had the most wonderful Christmas that I think that we have ever had in our family!!! Also Wade and I had our 13 year anniversary yesterday!!!! When I married him I was so in love, but as time as passed by I have fell more and more in love with him everyday!!!! He is such an amazing father to Alyssa. Her eyes light up when ever she sees her papa!!! I am sitting here in tears as I am filled with such emotion about our little girl. She is taking her nap this afternoon, and Wade is at work. Yesterday morning when Alyssa got up she decided like many mornings to have me hold her and rock her on the recliner. Well, she fell back to sleep and that is where my happy tears come from. Thinking back about that very first day that we met her, she fell asleep in my arms and the joy that overwhelmed me happened again. I watched her little face as she slept in my arms. I rocked her and rocked her for almost an hour. I watched her as she was dreaming. She would get this great big smile and then move her hands and eyes. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen. I think that I could have watched her all day!!! The Lord has just filled my heart so full with love and joy for Alyssa. To watch her learn and grow everyday has been just amazing. I do not see how our lives could be any more blessed than they are. The Lord continues to amaze me with such a happy life that sometimes I think that I am not so deserving of such things. How much love and joy can fill ones heart??? I just hope that this dream that we dreamed for so long continues to amaze me and fill my heart with such love. This child that needed a home in a far away land is now here in our home, filling our lives and hearts with love. Alyssa is such an amazing little girl!!! She loves to laugh and play, and she is starting to learn new english words everyday. On the 1 month anniversary of us picking her up at the baby home (Dec. 21)
we were riding in Wade's truck. It really overwhelmed me to think about our whole story!!! We were riding along listening to Alababma on the radio, Alyssa was dancing in her car seat on our way in to town. I told Wade "Just think..... 1 month ago today this child was in a baby home in Siberia Russia on the other side of the world.... now today she is here in your pickup truck, riding along enjoying listening to Alabama in East Tennessee." It really brings things in to perspective!!! For the children that continue to wait for a forever family, we pray today that the LORD keeps them healthy and happy until their turn comes. Although we know that not every child will get a home, we pray that many, many more people will step up and help this world's orphans!!! There are so many of them not only in Russia, but also here in the United States. If any of you have a chance to help an orphaned child, please do not hestitate!!! It is the most rewarding experience that you could ever have in your whole life!!!!
Thanks for stopping...... I will keep you updated.... I Promise!!!
Love, Julie

More Photos!!!

2008-12-14T22:26:00.003-05:00

Here are some more for your blogging pleasure!!!!

Wishing Upon a Star....

2008-12-14T21:54:00.003-05:00

When Wade and I began this adoption journey, we had no idea how long the wait would be and how much was truly involved in the whole process. Knowing what we know now we would do it all over again. We have had people who had adopted tell us that all of the waiting and paperwork is well worth it..... We are here to tell you that it is definitely the truth!!!!! This wonderful little person has brought such joy into our lives already!!! Do not get me wrong however, we still have a long road ahead for bonding and joining together as a new family, but seeing the smile on Alyssa's face tells it all.
It has been just over one week since we arrived back in the United States. Did I tell you how glad we were to be back!!!! This country that we live in is definitely a great place to be!!!! Never, ever take this country and the many blessings that we have here for granted.... Traveling abroad will make you truly realize just how lucky we are!!!
It has been a rather uneventful week at home. Bonding with Alyssa is going pretty well. She hangs onto her mama like glue, but that is ok with me!!! When papa comes in from outside or home from work, Alyssa's face lights up and she dances and runs through the house saying papa...papa....papa!!!!
We have not taken her out to see many people yet, however she has visited with her grandparents, nephews, uncles and aunts. We are having some problems with getting her to eat any kinds of food that have texture. She does not like to eat meat except for hotdogs... She also somewhat likes macaroni & cheese and chocolate chip cookies!!! She is just like her mama..... LOVES THAT CHOCOLATE!!!
She seems to really enjoy seeing our dogs. They meet each other at the back door all of the time. Wade took Alyssa outside to play on her swingset on Saturday and while they were out there Alyssa fed the dogs a treat!!! Of course this will make Toby & Wendy her friends for life!!!
I will be posting all kinds of pictures now that I am using our home computer. I will try to upload as many as I can for you. We will leaving on Tuesday for a 2 day trip to see an International Adoption Specialist Dr. who is familiar with internationally adopted children. He himself has adopted from Russia. I have a link on our blog for Dr. Douglas. He will do some blood work and testing and tell us exactly what we need to do to get off on the right foot with getting Alyssa ready for her immunizations. He will be able to give us info about things we may have questions on that pertain to her medical. Please keep our family in your prayers as we prepare to travel on Tuesday to Concord N.C. Please also keep Alyssa in your prayers as she bonds with her new family!!!!
Thanks again for stopping by!!!
Love, Julie

We Are Home!!!!

2008-12-05T14:55:00.003-05:00

Never in our lives have we been so happy to be home!!! When our plane touched down on U.S. soil in Atlanta late Thursday afternoon you would have thought that we won the lottery!!! We were praising the Lord for bringing us home safely and we were so thankful for being able to bring Alyssa home. The flight from Moscow to Atlanta took approx. 11 hours. In total we had been up and traveling for approx. 23 hours from the time we got up in Moscow until we got home in Morristown. For the most part our trip went pretty smoothly except for extreme fatigue!!! Alyssa once again kept us on our toes on both flights. She had me hold her the entire way. Once we made it to Atlanta we had to go through immigration with Alyssa, and at that moment she automatically became a U.S. citizen!!! A bittersweet time though being that we had to say goodbye to our close friends, the Smith family and their adopted son. They are from Michigan and we had to part ways in Atlanta. They will always be a part of our family. Spending 30 days with them and going through this amazing journey with them brings tears to my eyes.
When our flight arrived in Knoxville we had many, many people there to greet us!!! Alyssa's aunts, uncle, grandma, grandpa, and a close family friend were all there with cameras in hand watching us come down the gate. This day will be forever etched in my heart and mind. Alyssa did not quite know what to make from all of the attention. Usually she is the life of the party. She always wants to be the center of attention. She had most of the people on the flight to Atlanta waving and saying goodbye to her when we got off the plane. She is definitely a sociable girl!!!
Well, we are so happy to report that we are home this Friday and trying to get somewhat settled back in to home life. Alyssa is trying to take a nap and we are reading our 2 piles of mail from the past month along with unpacking. Please keep updated on our blog. We will be entering posts continually so that you may follow the story of little Alyssa as she discovers this great big world here in East Tennessee!!
Love,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

Getting Packed & Ready To Go!!!!

2008-12-03T06:56:00.004-05:00

This is our last full day in Moscow Russia!!! Alyssa is taking her nap, and we are blogging and packing. We cannot believe that the day has finally come!! Our flight to Atlanta leaves tomorrow afternoon, and we can hardly wait. When we touch down in Atlanta Alyssa will be a little U.S. Citizen!!!! She is getting more and more confortable with both of us each day, and we look forward to getting home and settling her into her new home. We are going to miss seeing the other family traveling with us though. It has been such an enormous blessing to have them with us on both our first trip and the second one. Their little boy is so beautiful, and it has been so great to see their journey as well. They will definitely be a part of our family from now on. We look forward to visiting with them in Michigan, and we hope that they can come and travel to Tennesse to visit with us!!!
Well, I guess I will sign off for now!!! We will blog again when we touch down in the States!!!! Please keep watching our blog. On friday I will be home and be able to download all of our wonderful pictures!!! We know that you will not want to miss that!!!
Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we prepare to bring our "little Russian Princess" home!!!
Blessings..
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

One More Day In Moscow!!!

2008-12-02T07:59:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is our last day in Moscow!!!! We are trying to find things to do today to occupy our time. We decided this morning to try to go to the park that we can see from our hotel. The wind was quite brisk, but the temperature was not too bad!!! We pushed Alyssa in the stroller. She does ok in it, but after awhile she wants me to carry her!!! In a snowsuit and boots she feels like is weighs 50 lbs. She is definitely not fond of bundling up "the Russian way". Thank goodness she is going to be a Tennessee girl!!! We don't have to pile on the cold weather gear most of the time. There were alot of people at the park despite the cold wind. She did not want to play on any of the playground equipment, but she loved seeing the other children!!! She started to throw a small fit on our way back so we tried to bribe her with these little bread sticks that she likes so much. Most of the time it will make her hold out until we get back....but not today. We stopped and looked at the Christmas tree that they have erected outside of the hotel last night. Everywhere you look people are putting out trees with lights!!! This really makes us anxious to get home!!! Wade ventured out to the grocery store again, which is usually an everyday or every other day venture. We get milk, bread, snacks, Pepsi, juice, breakfast stuff, baby food, diapers and bananas. Alyssa loves bananas!!! You would think that she is a little monkey!!! We have decided to stay in the rest of the day. Maybe we will venture out tomorrow. It will be our last day in Moscow.....
Thank goodness!!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by..... :)
Love,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

U.S. Embassy Approval!!!

2008-12-01T12:40:00.003-05:00

Today at 1:00pm we left the hotel for the U.S. Embassy. Alyssa really does good on all of the car rides that we have been on so far!!! She loves to make the sounds of a car or truck (vroommm...vroommm)(beep...beep). She has not gotten car sick yet!
The other family with the little boy usually travels with us as well. I think she just likes to be where he is!! She keeps trying to hold his hand, but he does not like that idea. She also loves to throw "kisses" to everyone when she says goodbye. She is starting to pick up on a few english words already. She says mama, papa, go. She understands the words: no, yes(shakes her head), go, drink, eat, ride, tickle, and a few others. When she has had a good amount of sleep she is so funny to watch. She thinks that she is a little comedian!!!
Back to the U.S. Embassy appointment. The building is a rather large one, but we were kind of disappointed in the fact that there was not a U.S. flag on the outside of the building. The Russian flag was flying on the building though. We thought also that we would be greeted by the Marines, but that was not the case. We were however put ahead of everyone in line because we were Americans. We were told to pay and get our number in line. We took the number and waited our turn. When they called us they already had Alyssa's passport and paperwork in hand. They looked at her and she smiled and waved hi to the man. We had to raise our right hands and swear to the accuracy of our documents. We also had to sign papers saying that we would have her vaccinated when we get back to the U.S. There were about 10 other families there besides us. The children probably ranged in ages 9 months to about 10 years old. There was one family there that was adopting for a second time. They had adopted an older girl and then when they got back home, the child wanted to know if they could go back after her best friend!!! So they went back and got her!!! Now instead of best friends, they are sisters!!! They live in Italy I believe.
Once we had our papers we returned to the hotel for the evening. Alyssa had not had her afternoon nap, so she has been a little bit wild tonight. Wade is in the room with her trying to wear her down for bed. She has had her bath, and we usually try to get in bed by 9:30pm.
Tomorrow we have decided to go to the park!! We can see it from the hotel so the walk is not that far. We know that the kids will love it, as long as we can get Alyssa to agree to put on her boots and snowsuit. It was a high of 37 degrees today!!! Hopefully it will be that warm tomorrow. They will love to ride on the swings and walk around.
Thanks for stopping to check on us again!!!
We could not have done this without all of you!!!
Love,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

Sunday at Red Square

2008-11-30T13:05:00.003-05:00

Today we got up and went with Ana to have another tour in Red Square with Alyssa. The other couple and their son also joined us. The kids love to copy each other, so the ride in their strollers and on the subway went pretty smooth!!
We took a few pictures, but Alyssa had fell asleep on the subway going to Red Square. I will have to post more pictures when we get home. Unfortunately I cannot upload any in the business center either. Their computers do not accept my memory stick. Kind out of date I guess!!!
We will be going to the US Embassy tomorrow to take care of some more paperwork. We are getting very excited about coming home. Alyssa finally slept through the night last night in the crib. She is soooo funny. We love to hear her laugh!!!
Please keep watching our posts. We have alot of good pictures, and as soon as I can, I will put them on here!!!
Thanks for checking in on us....
Love,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

Last Saturday in Moscow!!!

2008-11-29T03:07:00.002-05:00

I am up this morning in the lobby trying to put in a small post. I will probably try to upload some photos today in the business center. We are still having problems uploading them on the laptop. We have our hands full with Alyssa. We are still having a hard getting her to sleep in her crib or even in the bed. She wakes up after only a couple of hours of sleep, which means we are going on little sleep as well. She is definitely a "drama queen", which is what the Dr. in Moscow said that did her medical exam. When he talked to her Russian he could calm her down. Unfortunately we do not know the language well enough so that does not help up. She thinks that everything goes her way or know way. Constant tantrums are a regular for us, so we are really ready to come home. The Lord has definitely blessed her with a good set of healthy lungs!!! HA HA HA!!!!

We are doing fine though. When we do get to see that little face when she is asleep it is the most peaceful thing you could ever imagine. Please keep her in your prayers. She is going through some enourmous changes, and she needs some extra prayers...
Thanks for stopping and checking on our new family!!!!
Love,
Wade, Julie & Alyssa

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-27T13:37:00.002-05:00

We have soooo much to be "Thankful" for on this day!!!
We have a wonderful little girl that keeps us on our toes!!
To celebrate Thanksgiving we had dinner with the other couple and the kids in one of the hotel resturants for dinner. It was Alyssa's first meal in a resturant!! She did really good because she had the little boy with the other couple to pal around with. It is soooo funny!!! They copy each other on everything!! He is 2 yrs old and she just loves him!!! When you say his name she knows exactly who it is!!!
Alyssa is asleep in the room this evening with Wade, and I am in the hotel lobby with free internet access. It is very expensive in the room so we may not be able to call by Skype unless there are not many people in the lobby at the time, or you may not be able to hear us. I am getting ready to go back to the room to watch some Thanksgiving football with Wade. We miss you all and home terribly!!! But we are counting down the days until we arrive in Tennessee.
I will try to get some more pictures on hopefully tomorrow.
We are still having computer issues with downloading our photos!!
Thanks again for stopping by....
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

We are in Moscow!!!!!

2008-11-27T01:51:00.004-05:00

We flew out Wednesday morning with no sleep the night before. Alyssa kept us up all night. The flight took approximately 4 1/2 hours and Alyssa kept us on our toes the whole flight. She finally fell asleep on the ride into town in the van. We found out we had to stop for her physical before going to the hotel. She was not very happy with that, especially the blood drawing!! We then had to stop for a photo for some paperwork. We finally arrived at the hotel. It is the Marriot Renaisance. The room is very nice but not very child friendly. There is not much floor space to run around in and there are lots of mirrors and pretty furniture for a child to abuse. We are getting ready to venture out to the grocery store. We will blog again later.
Love,
Wade, Julie & Alyssa

Packed and Ready for Moscow!!

2008-11-25T08:14:00.002-05:00

We are packed and ready for Moscow tonight. I am writing this with our whole family together here at the computer. We leave for the airport at 4:30 am Wednesday morning. Alyssa is trying to type which makes things interesting. We are extremely excited to leave for Moscow. We will be there for 8 nights getting the final paperwork done to head home. We will be visiting Red Square a few times with Alyssa, and hope to post a few pictures of our time in Moscow. We fly home on Thurs. Dec. 4th. Keep watching the blog!!! We will post when we get to Moscow tomorrow!!!
Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

One More Day In Krasnoyarsk!!!!

2008-11-24T02:26:00.003-05:00

We can finally say that we have only one day left in Kras!!
It seems like it has been a long road since our court date. The weather outside is just too cold to be out there and enjoy yourself. We have had snow flurries this morning, and the wind is quite brisk!! We took Alyssa outside for just a few minutes but it is just too cold out there. Right now she is down for her nap so I have a few minutes to catch up the blog. Unfortunately our computer will not let us upload any more new pictures off of our camera, so I have included a couple from earlier. We may have to try to use the business center if we want to add any brand new pictures. Our laptop has some kind of error on uploading photos.
Last night was once again a difficult time to get Alyssa down to sleep. She is terrified of the crib. I have to cradle her to sleep and then put her next to me for the night. When it is nap time it is no easier either. We are very anxious to get to Moscow. We will have something to do almost everyday before we come home.
We leave for Moscow early Wednesday morning. We will visit the U.S. Embassy on Friday after Thanksgiving, and then the Russian Consulate on Tuesday next week.
We will be flying back home on Thurs. Dec. 4th.
We will be posting more pictures when we get to Moscow if not before.
Please keep Alyssa in your prayers as she is trying to adjust to life in this "great big new world".
Love,
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

Look at Her Now!!!

2008-11-22T02:15:00.002-05:00

We thought that we would post a few pictures everyday of our journey so far while in Krasnoyarsk. It has been an amazing road. Wade went with our Facilitator today to finalize getting Alyssa's Russian passport. We should be able to pick it up on Tuesday. We will be leaving Krasnoyarsk early on Wednesday morning.
Wade just got back from bringing us California Pizza for lunch and dinner!!! Alyssa is taking her afternoon nap so I thought that I would put in a post.
It is hard to believe that we only have 12 more days before we go home. It will probably be here before we know it. Alyssa is a busy body and loves to play. The other couple that is traveling with us also picked up their son yesterday. He is so beautiful. Alyssa got to meet him last night and today. She is a little bit timid around other people and she always makes sure that we are within arms reach of her. She continually babbles and laughs when we play, and I think that there is no better joy for us than to see her laugh!!!
We look forward to coming home to introduce her to all of you.
Please keep us in your prayers while we continue our stay in Russia.
Thanks again for stopping by...
Julie, Wade & Alyssa

GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

2008-11-21T10:30:00.003-05:00

The day has finally come!!!! Today was Gotcha Day!!! We are finally a forever family!!! We waited for the minutes to tick away today. We did not leave our hotel room until the time had come to leave. We left the hotel bound for Sosnovoborsk at about 4:30pm. The drive to Sosnovoborsk takes about an hour with heavy traffic. The baby home is located there. It is a relatively smaller community than Krasnoyarsk. Krasnoyarsk has about a population of 800,000 people, but Sosnovoborsk is probably about a tenth of that maybe....
When we arrived at the orphanage Alyssa was waiting for us in the music/playroom that we always visit with her in. The Director was there with her waiting for us. We had to take off all of her clothes and put on the ones that we had brought her. She seemed like she was really ready for us to take her home. Before leaving we took pictures with the Director and also pictures outside on the step before we left.
Alyssa did pretty well all in all on the trip back. However with it already dark outside she did not like the oncoming cars with their lights shining in her face. She would not sit still even in my lap. I finally decided to sing to her knowing that she loves music. I am soooo glad that I tried it.....It worked!!!! I had to sing Jingle Bells all that way back to Krasnoyarsk. About half way there she fell asleep in my arms. I continued singing though hoping that it would keep her calm. She did not get sick in the car and we are greatful for that!!! When we got back to the hotel we prepared her some food in the room, and she seemed to settle right in. We played with some of the toys we had brought from home and also some that we had bought at the toy store. We put her down for bed at about 10:00pm. She moved around and around in the crib for about 30 minutes but finally fell asleep. She is sleeping soundly as I am writing this post.
We are so excited to finally introduce you to our precious little girl that we call our "Little Russian Princess"!!!!
Please keep our new family in your prayers as Alyssa adjusts to a new life with her mommy and daddy!!!
Keep watching our blog and I will try to post daily about the rest of our journey home to the U.S.
Love...Julie, Wade & Alyssa

Counting our Many Blessings!!!

2008-11-20T08:40:00.003-05:00

Even though it is not yet Thanksgiving, both us and the other couple that are with us have had great conversations about the many things that we miss from home. Food is probably one of the big topics!!! We cannot wait to have a great big hamburger when we get back to the States. We realize just how much the small things mean to us when we are so far from home. Our list includes: Great hamburgers, fries & milkshakes; our own bed; brush your teeth with tap water; more than 1 channel on t.v. in english; 50 degree days and nights; underwear and clothes that are not stiff after handwashing & hanging to dry; picking up the phone to call family & friends; putting ice in our drinks; driving; a smile or wave from anyone you meet; being able to read any sign, book or food items...... We could probably go on and on and on!!!!
We do however have many blessings here as well. We have become the parents to the most energetic, sweet, cute, mind of her own, giggling, timid, curious, amazing little girl that we would ever ask for. We are so very blessed with this little girl that the Lord has given us. We are also blessed to have all of you praying for us, and for being with us on this long long journey!!!!
Tomorrow we cannot wait to share this little bundle of joy that has been brought into our lives!!!!
Thanks for stopping by...
Love, Julie & Wade

Where is Walmart when you need it???

2008-11-19T08:52:00.003-05:00

Today we went back to the kid's store to buy Alyssa a stroller. We knew that the price was very expensive from when we looked at them on the weekend. We were asking ourselves where is Walmart when we need it?? The price of this stroller was 2690 rubles!!! Which in U.S. dollars works out to be about $103.00 !!!! We are talking about a collapsable umbrella stroller here!!! We had thought about bringing one with us from home, but we knew that we would be charged by both airlines going in. We know that it will be extremely helpful to have it though, especially in the airports coming home.
The weather has warmed up a little bit today. It was overcast but at least you could go without a hat and gloves in the afternoon. When the sun goes down it is a totally different story!!!
We also did a little grocery shopping today. We have been trying to save some money by eating breakfast and lunch in our room. We have a supermarket around the corner from our hotel. We have bought juice, milk, bread, jelly, fruit, chips, snacks, Pringles, tea, instant soup bowls and soft drinks. You can find just about anything you need at the store but we have a hard time reading the names of what the product is. Pictures on the products help a great deal. We have been eating our dinners out at either the hotel restaurant, the German restaurant across the parking lot or California Pizza. We also bought a few things for Alyssa. Diapers, wipes, milk, yogurt and also a little toothbrush that I forgot to pack!!!
We had a great visit with Alyssa today also. She loves the sippy cup with juice, and the look on her face when we were getting ready to leave said it all. I think that she is about ready for us to take her home!!!!
2 more days and we get to bring her with us!!!
Thanks for stopping by...
Love, Julie & Wade

Passport Photo Day!!

2008-11-18T11:05:00.002-05:00

Today we had a wonderful surprise when we got to the orphanage!!!
They told us that we were going to take Alyssa to get her passport photo taken so that we would have it for her passport!! One step closer to bringing her home!!!
We had to bundle her up with many layers. She did pretty good in the car. We only had to drive a couple of minutes to the photographer. She held onto our hands while looking out the front window. She had not been in a car before except when she was first brought to the baby home when she was born. She had a very stern look on her face, but she handled it quite well. She did sway back in forth to the music that Sergei our driver had on the radio. She really loves music!!!
When we returned to the orphanage after the picture, we got to tour her area in the baby home. We took many pictures which we will share with you very soon!!!
We are looking forward to tomorrow when we can say that we are halfway done with this long trip. We really enjoy visiting Alyssa everyday. We learn something new about her little personality with every visit.
We will go for now....
Thanks for stopping!!!
Love, Julie & Wade

Married with Children????

2008-11-17T22:58:00.004-05:00

We have been keeping ourselves occupied on our down time with either watching movies that we had brought from home, or have been watching Russian television!!!
There are 2 shows that came on the t.v. that got our attention and made us laugh!!!
They have a show that is an exact copy of Married with Children, and also Third Rock from The Sun!! The shows characters are copies from our original shows. We cannot understand the dialog, but we watch them anyways because they make us laugh!!!

We are getting ready to go see Alyssa at 2:00pm again today. Yesterday(Monday) the caregivers brought in her afternoon snack. You should have seen the quantity!!! The children get fed incredibly well!! They brought in a HUGE freshly baked roll along with a cup of warm milk!! I had to break the roll up for her, but that did not stop her pace. She kept on stuffing it in her mouth and chewing. For such a little thing, she can put down the food!!! The warm cup of milk was in a little tin cup. She can hold the cup herself and not spill a drop!!! She gulped it down so quickly we thought that she would spill it..... No spilled milk!!!
We had also brought her a sippy cup of juice and a small snack which she had already ate before they brought in the roll and milk. At first she did not know how to use the sippy cup, but by the second try she figured it out. She did not want to set it down until she knew it was all gone. Keeping this little girl fed will be a challenge!!!

Well, I guess we will go for now. We hope to get a tour of the orphanage on todays visit!! We will let you know how that goes!!!

Thanks for stopping by and checking on us!!!
Julie & Wade

California Pizza Here We Come!!!!

2008-11-15T04:25:00.002-05:00

Once again we hit the California Pizza. Actually twice today!!! We went out and had some lunch there, and then after a big shopping spree at the 3 story toy and child's store we went back to get some more pizza as carry out for supper. It is really good pizza. It reminds us alot of being at home. We also get a 10% discount since we are Americans!!!!
The other picture is of a building in Sosnovborsk where the orphanage is. We wanted to show all of the icy and snowy trees and landscape on the drive back. I don't think that the pictures can do it justice. It is incredibly cold, and we wonder when the next big snow will be. We are counting down the days until we pick up Alyssa. I guess we will just hang around the hotel on Sunday and try to stay out of the cold. Only 6 more days until we bring our little angel back to the hotel with us!!!!

Thanks for stopping by....
Love, Julie & Wade

How Cold Did You Say It Is????

2008-11-13T09:00:00.002-05:00

Thermals!!!! That is your word for the day!!! If you don't have them, do not go outside. It was -16 degrees celsius today. And that was the high for the day!!!
We did venture out twice today though. We went at 2:00pm again to see Alyssa. It was a really good visit. She did not want us to go. Everyday she is getting more and more confortable with us. We found out today that we will be getting to pick her up next Friday instead of Saturday!!! We are very excited at this news!!!
We also ventured outside to get a bite to eat. We just had to walk across the parking lot, but it still felt like we had walked to the North Pole!!!
Walking is not an easy job with nothing but ice to walk on!! Ice is everywhere. I am just waiting for the time that I hit the ground with everyone laughing!!!
Tomorrow is Friday, and we will get to visit Alyssa then, but not on the weekends. We will be doing some heavy duty shopping though!!! Anything to pass the time without Alyssa!!!!
Thanks for stopping!!!
Love, Julie & Wade

Waiting and Visiting in Kras!!!!

2008-11-12T09:04:00.006-05:00

We went again today to visit with Alyssa. She recognized us a little more today. She says mama and papa which warms our heart!!! She is a little shy, but plays alot more when we speak some russian words, or give her something to snack on. She is just soooooo cute!!!! We are counting down the 10 day wait. We have been spending our down time with a great couple that are here with us adopting a little boy in a different orphanage. We have been traveling with them ever since we left Atlanta's airport in the U.S. They are staying in the same hotels, had the same court date and will also be leaving the same day that we leave. It has been such a blessing to have them with us on this awesome journey. They will always be our dear friends for life. We hope to get our kids together sometime when we return to the states. They live in Michigan, so we will have to make it a definite vacation spot!!!!
We are looking forward to going shopping this weekend since we can't go to the orphanage on the weekends. We are going to go to a huge toy store, and maybe the mall. We just ate at California Pizza tonight!!! Yes, you heard me right!!!
California Pizza!!!! We got a discount for being American's. Who would think that we would find this place in Siberia!!!!!!
Well I guess I will go for now..... Keep watching!!!!
Love, Julie

It's Official....We Have a Daughter!!!!

2008-11-11T08:43:00.002-05:00

It's official..... We have a Daughter!!!!
We had our court hearing today at 10:30 am. It felt like a long process. We had a small glitch with one document that could have held up the decision until Wednesday, but with the help of our Facilitator, she corrected the error and we were officially told today at 1:00 pm that Alyssa Marie is our little girl!!!!!
The picture above is of us outside of the court building in Krasnoyarsk. It is really cold and snowy here, and we are more than ready to come back to warm Tennessee!!!
We had went and visited with Alyssa yesterday, and she has grown just a little bit. She was a little bit shy, but warmed right up to her daddy when he brought out a snack!!! We will be visiting the orphange tomorrow, and hope to share some more news with you. We will not be posting a picture of her until the 10 day wait is over, which will be on Saturday Nov. 22nd.
We would like to thank everyone for their many prayers. We could definitely feel them all the way around the world to us here in Krasnoyarsk.
Keep watching!!!!
Love Julie

Snowy Krasnoyarsk!!!!!!

2008-11-09T22:54:00.003-05:00

We arrived in Krasnoyarsk to alot of falling snow!!!! It is very
cold and we are wondering how much snow we will get while we are here!!!
Our plane arrived on Sunday morning early, and we were very glad to get here.
We are still trying to get connected with wireless internet from our room,
so for now we are in the business center. It is now Monday morning at 11:00am.
We are getting ready to go and see Alyssa at 2:00pm. We will post again hopefully very soon!!! We will be sure to include pictures from Krasnoyarsk and all of the snow!!!!

Hi From Moscow!!!!

2008-11-07T10:15:00.004-05:00

We are so exhausted from our long flight. We arrived in Moscow early Thursday morning.
We finally got a good nights sleep on Thursday night. We got up this morning and had our physicals. It took about 3-1/2 hours, but we are finally done with that important step.
Wade had the Dr's laughing!!! He forgot how long we have been married when he was talking to the pyschologist!!!! But we got all of our 8 Dr's stamps of approval!!!
We are getting ready to settle in for the night(Fri) We will be flying out tomorrow night(Sat)for Kras!!!! We will update you further when we arrive!!!! We are counting down the days until we see Alyssa!!!

Me and My Daddy's Stang......

2008-11-01T22:07:00.003-04:00

We have been meaning to show a few pictures of Wade's pride and joy....
No.... not pictures of Alyssa yet...... pictures of his Ford Mustang, and also pictures of the fun ride for Alyssa!!!! Daddy has hooked her up with this hot machine from Walmart!!! He is still trying to figure out how to make a mini garage, but for now he parks it beside his in the garage.....
This little girl is going to be soooooooo lucky to have such a great and loving father...... That is why I love him sooooooo much, and that is why I married him. Thanks for stopping by. WE LEAVE IN 4 DAYS!!!!!!!

Julie

Pack Lightly..... Yeh Right!!!!!!

2008-11-01T21:51:00.003-04:00

Did someone say that we needed to pack light??? For a month???? What, are you kidding me?? HA HA HA !!!!! This is harder than you think. We are allowed 44 lbs in our checked bag per person. We are still trying to figure out how that is going to happen..... We have almost everything packed except for a few gifts for our Russian friends, and also a few snacks for Alyssa for our visits with her, and for our trip home. We have packed very little clothing for ourselves, and we will probably be handwashing some items and letting them dry in the room. We are so very excited to get this trip underway, and we cannot wait to see Alyssa on Monday November 10th. We will be having our court date on Tues, Nov. 11th. Please keep an eye on our blog because we intend on putting an entry on here everyday or every other day. We will keep you informed the best that we can on this month long journey to bringing our little "Russian princess" home.

Julie

We Have A Court Date!!!!!

2008-10-23T21:51:00.002-04:00

Look out Russia, here we come!!!!! We just received the wonderful news that we have gotten our court date!!! We will be leaving for Russia on November 5th. Our court date is Nov. 11th, and we return home on December 4th!!!! We are crying tears of joy tonight while we try to get our visa's rolling along with getting our airline tickets. My head is spinning trying to remember all of the things that we need to get done. We would really like to thank all of you for your prayers and blessings in this long journey to our little girl. We cannot wait to share her photo after we have legally become her parents. Please keep watching our blog. We will be posting as much as possible from Russia. You can leave us comments and we will try to respond by email or phone. We will be using Skype to talk and video back and forth to the U.S. We are so excited that our prayers have been answered. Please continue to pray for us for safe travels, and also for an uneventful court hearing..
We will post again soon...
Julie

Petition To Court!!!!

2008-10-02T21:20:00.004-04:00

Praise the Lord, we have just received our petition to court!!!!
When I opened email this morning, there it was......the document that
we have been waiting for ever so anxiously!!!
Receiving this document means that we are very close to bringing
Alyssa home. Once this document gets back to Russia, we will hopefully
receive our court date very soon!!! We are looking so forward to seeing
her again!!! We really loved our first trip, and we look forward to seeing
our facilitators, drivers and everyone else that has helped to make this such
a wonderful experience. The Russian people were so kind and helpful to us.
It will truly be bitter sweet when we do have to come home from the last trip.
Everyone that has been working on our behalf really love these children.
We look forward to spending time in Moscow and our region, and look forward to learning alot more about Russia. The time that we spend in Russia will always be such a great part of our adoption story. Russia will always be part of our lives and a part of the heart of our family. We are going to be so proud to say that we feel in love with a little girl from the wonderful country of Russia. And we will feel so proud to say that she is our little "princess".
Please keep our family in your prayers to get a quick court date, and also pray for the many other families that are waiting also for petitions, court dates, referrals, and regions...
Blessings..
Julie

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

2008-09-15T19:42:00.000-04:00

We consider our dogs Wendy and Toby as our "official weather forecasters".
We have had such a hot summer this year that our dogs just kind of lay around and snooze. You don't even have to step outside to know exactly what the weather is. You can tell by watching them through the window. For some reason they do not usually find shade in their doghouses, but instead they stare at us through the window in the door and beg to come in. We know one thing..... A wet Toby is not a happy Toby. Whether it is just sprinkling, or it is pouring, he continuously taps on the door wanting in. When it gets to be cold in the winter, we sometimes let them in to warm up. They usually plop down on the rug, and take a long nap, or maybe watch tv.
We are really looking forward to cooler weather, and we know that our furry friends are also!!! Maybe we should just let them move in to the house with us... NOT!!!

Room For a Princess....

2008-08-12T19:42:00.000-04:00

We have had many people ask us lately about Alyssa's room. So we decided to share some pictures of her room now that it is complete!!! We themed it as a "Princess Room". We cannot wait to bring her home, so that she can play with her toys, and sleep in her princess crib. We are hoping that when we bring her home that she will still be small enough to sleep in her crib. We think that she will, but just in case we also added a twin bed. I am sure Wade and I will be taking turns sleeping in her room to ease her transition of sleeping alone. Right now she sleeps in a crib in a room with many other cribs of children. So we know that this will definitely be a change for her. As of today we still have no news from the agency about our Petition to Court document. We are waiting patiently for this document. It is the next big step toward our court date and second trip. We know that the LORD has HIS perfect timing, so we are just waiting and praying that the call will come soon. This Friday will be 10 weeks since we saw our daughter!!!!
Time is starting to speed up and slow down at the same time. It is hard to believe that it has been that long since our first trip, but then again, I find myself looking at the clock periodically throughout my day, and I wonder what she is doing at any given time. We long so much for her to be home with us. We cannot wait to bring our "little princess" home to join our "Forever Family"!!!!

Alyssa's First Swingset!!!!

2008-08-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

We thought that we would let you all in on the big project that we started and completed this past weekend. It is Alyssa's first swing set!!!! Wade and I had found this company on the Internet called Kids Creations that sell redwood swing sets, and we fell in love with this one. For one thing it does not take up too much room in our backyard, and there was good reviews by other customer's about their purchase with Kids Creations. It is a company out of Kansas that makes redwood swing sets that are built to last!!! And they are made so solid, that adults can play on them too!!! Their website is: www.kidscreations.com . The swing set was shipped in by a Roadway semi truck to our house last Monday. We had to wait until we got a couple of good dry days to put it together. The set was pretty easy to put together with directions that were fairly easy to follow. What took the most time was to get the swing set level. Our backyard is slightly sloped, so we had to dig and dig to get it level. With the wonderful clay dirt here, it seemed to take forever!!! When we got it completed, one of our neighbors daughters came over to "test it" for us!!! She had a fun time, so I guess all of that digging by Wade paid off!! What a great dad Wade will be... He is loving these projects for his little girl!!!! Who knows what might be next?? Maybe a mini garage for her soon to be purchased battery powered Ford Mustang Convertible!!!!

Coming Home Cookbook...

2008-07-27T20:23:00.001-04:00

As many of you probably know, I had written a cookbook to sell to raise funds for our adoption. The sale of these cookbooks has been going strong, all with the help of our family and friends. However, we still have about 70 books that we would love to sell to reach our goal of 400!!!! The cookbook has cherished recipes from our family and friends, and I continue to get compliments on it. We also included the story of our adoption journey. If you would like to purchase a book for $10.00 plus shipping of $5.00 please let me know!!! We accept paypal, check or money order.
Thanks!!!! Julie

Prayers & Blessings...

2008-07-27T19:47:00.001-04:00

We had an amazing time on Saturday at the baby shower that the girls at our church threw for us!!! We just wanted to say thank you to Veronica, Jennifer and Janice, and for everyone else that helped to make it an amazing event!!! Everything was so beautiful all decorated in pink, and the cake was adorable!!! We had many of our church friends and family there with us to celebrate!!!! We had snacks and punch, and of course we had received alot of gifts for Alyssa!!! The shower started with a beautiful prayer given by Veronica, and then we began snacking and socializing. Instead of playing games, we had a great time just sharing the story of our adoption journey so far. We told of how we came to choose AWAA for our agency, and how when we went to one of the seminars given by AWAA that we knew that the Lord had His plan for our family to adopt. We told of the endless paperwork, paperwork that even continues on today. We told of the day that we finally had gotten the call from Kristen that said, "We found her!!!". We shared the story about our first trip, and through my many tears, told everyone what a blessing that this has been!!!
I know that a fews tears were shed by our guests, but we know that they were happy tears, hearing the story of how a family formed by love and formed by the Lord just makes you happy in your heart!!!
We want to thank all of our church family for their many, many prayers and many blessings that they have given to us on this journey. To our Lord and Savior, we Thank You most of all for showing us your endless love, and for being with us by our side everyday of our lives!!!
Here are a few pics from the amazing shower!!!! Julie

Waiting and Wondering...

2008-07-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

Today I am once again thinking about our daughter far far away in the country of Russia. I wonder if she remembers us from the first trip?? We were told that we could leave her with some personal items if we wished. We left her with a photo album full of photos of us and our family. It has pictures of our dogs Toby(White Lab/Shepherd Mix) and Wendy(Black Lab Mix), and also a pictures of our house, her room, and my Saturn Vue. We also left her a Build a Bear Bunny that we had named Tasha. We wonder how much she has grown and if she is happy. Some days are more difficult than others just longing to have her home with us. When it all gets a little overwhelming we just pray and the Lord always puts peace in our hearts. Our Lord has his perfect timing, and we just have to trust in Him everyday. We are so blessed to have all of the prayers and well wishes from all of you.
Some news from the Tennessee homefront. We have completed a couple more documents that are needed for our court day. I have sent them off to be apostilled this week. We are also waiting for a call from a delivery truck that will be delivering a redwood swing and playset. We should be getting it by this weekend. We will have to put it together, but it will be a welcome thing to pass the time. I will post some pictures of the build and the finished product when we get it done!!!
Well we are just counting the days until we hear more news. This Friday will be 7 weeks since we last saw Alyssa, and we are counting down every minute. Please help us pray for a speedy court date and speedy second trip!!!
Here are a few pictures. Enjoy. Julie

More Baby Shower Photos!!!

2008-07-06T22:14:00.000-04:00

Alyssa's Baby Shower!!

2008-07-06T21:40:00.000-04:00

We had such a great weekend this holiday weekend!!! My sister's threw us an amazing baby shower on Saturday July 5th at 6:00pm, at one of the party rooms at the West End Volunteer Fire Dept. They had done such an amazing job on the whole thing. They had it themed in Red, White, & Blue for not only the colors of the United States, but also the colors of the Russian Flag. They had invited many of our close family and friends, but unfortunately not a whole lot of them seemed to make it. I think the holiday may have played a part in that. We still had an amazing time sharing in the great food and friendship. Sharing pictures and stories about Russia with them was truly one of the best parts. My sisters had pictures of Alyssa all over, and they had made me a button to wear that had Alyssa's and my picture on it. Wade's mom Pat and his Aunt Twyla had came in from West Virginia, and it was truly a blessing to share the shower with them. My sister Cheri had made the cake, and it was beautiful!!! It had our daughter's picture on the top, which brought tears to my eyes!!! They had red, white, and blue balloons and favors on the tables. It was truly an American celebration themed shower. We received many, many wonderful gifts!!! Clothes that were 18 months - 24 months in size. A diaper Genie which is what I really wanted to keep the stinky diapers at bay!!! We got baby wipes, sippy cups, baby utensils, stuffed animals, a toothfairy pillow, and many, many other gifts. We also got a homemade blanket from Twyla, it is simply beautiful!!!! We would love to thank everyone who came and shared in this blessed event!!! Alyssa is truly loved already!!! Just wait until you all get to meet her!!!!
P.S. Thanks so much to my sisters Cheri & Lori, and my mom Donna for throwing us this amazing baby shower!!!! I am so blessed to have you in my life!!!! Alyssa will be so lucky to have your love and hugs!!! Julie

Working and Waiting....

2008-06-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

Today I was thinking about our daughter Alyssa, like I usually do many times during my day. I am always thinking about what she must be doing at this time or that. Krasnoyarsk is exactly ahead of eastern time by 12 hours. I am always wondering if she is having a good day or a bad one. I hope that a small part of her remembers our visit with her, and that she remembers who her mama and papa are. For the past few days I have been printing out pictures from our trip for family and friends. I am also burning DVD's from the video we took. It really amazes me how she responded to us in such a positive way. She was a little bit leery of Wade, just because we were told ahead of time that most of the children do not see men at the orphanages. There are usually only women caregivers. We found out that she really loves music, and that she is very inquisitive!!! I found out this past weekend that my sisters are having me a baby shower on July 5th. Everyone is so excited to see Alyssa when we bring her home. I also got a call tonight from a friend at church who said that they would also like to throw Wade, Alyssa and I a toddler shower!!! Our church family is amazing!!! They have been there for us through this whole journey so far. The Lord has blessed our family and this entire adoption journey. We have made so many new friends, and there are so many people that are willing to give to us their prayers and blessings, it really takes my breath!!! Little does our daughter realize just how much she is already loved!!! I can't wait to share Alyssa's picture, but for now that will have to wait. We cannot post her picture until after court. Just know, that she is absolutely beautiful, and so full of life!!! How did we get so blessed???

We Are Home!!!!

2008-06-09T22:26:00.000-04:00

We have finally had a chance to post after returning home on Sunday night at 11:30pm.
We had an amazing first trip to Krasnoyarsk to see our daughter!!! I did not get a chance to post before our flight on Tuesday. We left on Tuesday headed for Moscow. We flew Delta thru Atlanta and then on to Moscow. We arrived early Wednesday morning and checked in to the Aerotel for a few hours of rest before our next flight to Kras. We flew out on Aeroflot on Wednesday night and arrived in Kras on Thursday morning. We were then picked up by Sergei from the airport and then checked into the Hotel Krasnoyarsk. Then we were off again, with not much sleep I add, to our meeting with the Ministry of Education to formally ask to visit our daughter at the orphange. When we were done with that meeting, we were off to the orphange!!!
We met our daughter for the first time on Thursday. She was kind of timid at first, but she soon warmed up to us when we started playing with her. My sister Lori gave us some toys to take on our trip, and as soon as she seen them, there was no holding her back. We had arrived late in the afternoon, so about halfway into our 2 hour visit, she fell asleep in my arms. Let me just tell you, that there was no better feeling in the world than her trusting me, and falling asleep in my arms!!!
While we were there we got a chance to talk to the orphange doctor about her, and she said that our daughter is very inquisitive and gets into everything!!! She can walk and she can already drink from a cup. Alyssa stayed asleep in my arms for the entire meeting with the Dr. The Dr. was chuckling and smiling, and was truly happy to see how she was taking to us. The next morning (Fri.) we went back to see her for another 2 hrs. She was a little more calm because she kind of knew who we were. We played and played and she really opened up, especially when we would say a few words in Russian. She loves music and swayed to a piano being played by the daughter of another couple who had also went to the orphange with us to meet their son. We met 2 amazing couples that were traveling with another agency, and it was a true blessing to have them there. We really look forward to staying in touch with them as we follow along on this journey together. When it was time for us to leave the orphange on Friday, our daughter said mama and waved goodbye. That little face, that we finally got to smile and laugh, was telling me that she knew who we were, and that she couldn't wait to see us again really soon!!! We flew out of Kras on Saturday back to Moscow. We had pretty much all day Saturday to tour Moscow. A lady named Ana took us on a tour of Red Square, the Kremlin and downtown Moscow. We rode the subway(my first time), it was sure exciting!!!! We had bought a few things that we wanted to pass on to our daughter as she grows that were from Russia. We spent the night Saturday night in Moscow trying to somehow realize just exactly how we did so much in such little time while in Russia. We left Moscow after lunch on Sunday, flying Delta back to Atlanta, and then on to Knoxville. We would just like to say that we really appreciate all of the prayers and well wishes from you all!!!! Our daughter Alyssa, we hope, will be coming home soon!!! We think in the next 3 to 4 months (I am praying sooner)that she will be home with us to stay. I guess I will sign off for now, and show you a few pictures from our amazing trip!!!!
Picture #1 - Playroom in the orphange
Picture #2 - Orphange
Picture #3 - Hotel Krasnoyarsk

Ready To Go!!!!

2008-05-30T22:46:00.000-04:00

Today we got the new money that we needed from the bank....finally!!!
It almost took an act of Congress to get it!!! Our bank called Suntrust came through for us, when no one else would even try!!! Debbie you are amazing!!!
Yet another friend helping us out on this journey... Where would we be without our family and our friends help. We also got our visa's back today!!! The only thing left to do this weekend is to pack. This should be very interesting, since usually when we travel I find a reason to bring more than I really need. This trip will definitely teach me to pack light. We cannot believe that in a couple of days we will be flying out to see our little girl!!! LORD, thank you for blessing our family on this journey so far... we cannot wait to see what YOU have in store for us next.....

First Trip Travel Dates!!!

2008-05-25T21:00:00.001-04:00

We just received an email of our first trip travel dates!!! Praise the Lord!!!
We will be leaving on our first trip on Tuesday, June 3rd, and we will be returning on June 7th or June 8th. Excited and nervous are not the only words that we can express receiving this wonderful news!!! We have waited so long to find our daughter, and to know that we will be seeing her in just over a week, it just takes our breath away!!! At church this morning we made the announcement about our little girl. There were a few happy tears shed by myself, and a few by our church friends. Our journey so far has just been amazing. Our family is so incredibly blessed, and we are always so amazed how the Lord has worked in our lives and our adoption. We know that our daughter Alyssa will truly be blessed to have all of you in her life!!!

WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!!

2008-05-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

Praise the Lord!!! We have a referral!!! She is a 12 month old little girl in the region of Krasnoyarsk. We just accepted the referral today. Hopefully in the next couple of days we will learn when we will be traveling on our first trip. Kristen at AWAA told us that we should expect to travel in the next 2 weeks!!! We would like to take just a minute to thank all of our family and friends for praying for us during this long and eventful adoption process. We have learned so much in the past 2 years, and we have made some new amazing friends!!! We would love to post a picture of our daughter, but we will have to wait until after our court date. We will let you know soon, when we will be leaving on our first trip to meet our baby girl named Alyssa Marie...

Our Adoption Journey

2008-05-18T20:34:00.000-04:00

We start this blog today as a way for our family and friends to follow us in our amazing adoption journey to find our little girl. This process began back in 2004 when we decided to adopt after trying to have a child for 9 years, with no pregnancy. We began to gather information about adoption, and we attended many adoption group meetings. In April of 2006 we learned of an adoption group meeting at a church in Knoxville sponsored by America World Adoptions. After the meeting, and the video, there was not a dry eye in the room. We knew that our hearts belonged to Russia, and we would find our little girl there.
We started the paperwork called our dossier for the "paper pregnancy"
of our journey. After gathering all of our paperwork and having had a home study complete, we were ready to send our dossier to Russia in October 2006. Unfortunately at the time our dossier was sent in, re-accreditation had put a hold on all international Russian adoptions. Our agency along with all of the other agency's in the U.S. had to reapply to be able to work through Russia. This delayed all adoptions out of Russia until July 2007. In July we learned that our agency's umbrella company had gotten their re-accreditation, and the adoption's could begin again. While waiting through re-accreditation our dossier was expiring. All paperwork expires after a year, so we had to work on keeping it up to date. As the fall and winter of 2007 approached we started to hear of movement in Russia with families getting referrals and of families traveling to bring their children home. We were told that we should hear something in the spring of 2008 about getting officially registered in our region.
We got a call from America World in January and was told that we would probably be registered in Krasnoyarsk Russia. As we started to work on region specific documents for this region, we knew the day had to be getting close. We then got a call from Kristen at our agency, and she said that we were officially registered for Krasnoyarsk Russia as of March 2008!!!! We were so excited!!! All of the paperwork and the waiting was finally coming to and end. When will we get our referral??? It can't be that far away....