Home 14 weeks

I really didn't think anyone was reading our blog until a nice old friend asked me "when are you going to update your blog". I thought I better get on it! I know when we were in Russia this was Brent's "thing" but I guess now that we are home it's mine. No big deal I love to tell a good story.

Masha tells us stories about Russia, the orphanage, friends, her mother. I have told her a few times to "write it down" when she tells me but I don't think she has. She tells a lot of stories about being in the hospital and people around her dying. It no wonder she has bad dreams! But she prays about "no bad dreams".

She has much love and understanding of God and a prayer life that took me years to get to! We finally found her a Russian NIV bible and she loves to read it with Dad at night.

Oh! Here is a good story! Our oldest daughter, Rae, started college and is learning Russian. She brought home some homework to get help from her new little sister! I told her "that has to be cheating". But really both girls had fun talking about the words. It was good bonding time for them!

School is still an issue for her. She is not used to a full school day. In Russia the big kids went a half a day but Masha was taught in the orphanage for 2 hours. So, 7 hours of school is a long day for her. But she complains less and less. On the flip side of all the complaining we have heard from her, she is doing good in school. (ok as I type this she is complaining about school)

Bedtime is going okay. Really she does not like to go be bed alone. And I know if I made a little bed on the floor in our room she would be there every night. But as that goes it didn't work out well for us with Logan (sleeping in our room for 11 years) and do not want to open that can of worms with her.

She does play well with all the kids. But really she has a great time with Logan. She has issues with Alex. I just think...I don't know she does not always like him I guess. But I see them playing more and more. But she loves to tell on him when he is pulling "an Alex". Like digging in the bunny nest the mama bunny made in our yard. Why the child wants to get eating by a wild mama bunny, I don't know. But I was glad Masha was there to tell me!

She can't wait for her birthday! I could not believe it when she asked to go to Six Flags for her birthday. She figured that out by looking at the other kids scrapbooks. But I think everyday she says "I can't wait October". I love to see the excitement in her eyes!

8 weeks

I can't believe Masha has been home 8 weeks already! Every day she amazes me with how well she is adjusting to her new family and live in America.
She started school 2 weeks ago and is struggling with that schedule. In Russia the kids only go to school a half a day. Her day is really long for her and her teacher notices she is more tired in the afternoon! She has cried in the morning leaving for school and she has cried the night before about school too. I feel bad for her but she needs to be in school. I would love to keep her home but I know I can't not leach her what they can at school. And in school she is with kids how own age and she really needs that!
Home life is good. She loves to ride her bike, jump on the trampoline and swim. She had swim lessons a couple weeks ago and she loved it! We are looking into a one day cheer camp and a one day soccer camp now. She is willing and excited to try anything!
I wish you all could meet her. She is a loving, kind and thoughtful young lady. She loves to help Mom and play games with Dad. She plays with the other kids as if she has been here forever. She is funny with Alex and they already have the sibling rivalry thing going on.
She has figured out the shopping thing! Meaning you only go for cheaper items! I show her the prices tag and if it's expensive she says "Oh Mama no" But if the price is low she says "Mama Masha likes"
I am hoping to figure out how to get pictures up in case anyone looks at this site anymore!

Back in the U.S.A.

We made it back! We actually got back on Wednesday the 4th at around 11:50pm, so it was almost Thursday. Travelling was very long, but went well and we didn't have any problems.

Masha seems to be fitting right in with the family. She is very funny, loving, and active!

I'll write more and post some at home photos within the next few days.

Brent

Captain's Log, Star Date 2008.06.04

We are packing up and getting ready to head to AMERICA!!!!

I am posting our last batch of photos. I was going to post a video of Masha playing with a crab, but the video was too large to post.

We are almost giddy with excitement - just waiting is hard, and we know that we have about 35 hours of traveling ahead of us, but at least we won't be stuck in a hotel any more!

We love you and can't wait to see you all!!!!!

Brent

1 Day Left!

Only 1 day left! Instead of doing one of the many exciting things that we could do, we are counting down the time left until we leave. Ok, I was kidding about the exciting things to do around here…

We got our high-speed back, so I am posting a few more photos. Many families are leaving this week, so it will be getting pretty quiet around here. A new family came in yesterday for their first trip, so they will only be here until Saturday anyway – and they will be extremely busy the whole week.

We have been wrestling and goofing-off at the hotel. Masha is doing great.

Please pray that Masha handles the flights well. She has never flown before, so we just pray that she doesn’t get motion sick.

Yesterday I went to the bank in Ussyrysk to close Masha’s pension account. That went very good, and we are going to open an account for her back home to save for college.

All we can really think about right now is getting home, so I don’t know what else to write about. So, we’ll see you all SOON!

Love ya!

Brent

Interesting Day

So today was an interesting day.

I tried to connect to the internet and it seems that our 10 hour card had stayed connected, even though I turned the computer off. They can’t check things out until tomorrow, so we are stuck with dial-up until we can straighten things out.

It was finally sunny, so we went out for a walk. It was still pretty chilly, about 60. The kids at the beach were bundled up like it was winter. Then, there were adults – or seniors, that were playing volleyball in their Russian speed-o’s. It was not pretty, but was quite interesting to see.

Then, we found out why one of the little babies here had a skin rash. The orphanage doctor kept saying that he was allergic to this, that, and about everything else. However, he actually had scabies. So, now we need to keep an eye on each other to make sure that we didn’t get them as well.

Then, we went to the playground at the hotel. Again, the kids were bundled up like winter, and there was a girl playing tennis in a bikini.

We are still bored out of our skulls. But surviving and counting down they days.

Love you all!

Brent

Wow, another rainy day here in Vladivostok. One of the families that was here for their first visit left yesterday, and another who was on their first visit left today. So, we are down 2 American families.

I walked with Masha and a couple other dads down to the store today – even though it was raining, just so that we could get out of the motel for a little while.

Yesterday, we walked down to the sea again and walked a bit and picked up some seashells. It is nice down there, just not too exciting.

Oh, we also went downtown (me and Bart (from Arkansas)) to get Chinese food. When we got to the restaurant, we found out that the Chinese food here is nothing like at home, and everything on the menu seemed to have eyes! So, we went to the local "burger" place and picked some up. Ugh.

We all wrestled a bit this morning, and that was fun – and killed about 20 minutes.

Monday I have to go back to the town where the orphanage is to take care of some banking stuff. We have to get the “pension” money that was set up for Masha out of the account before we leave. Otherwise we would have to come back here to get the money. It is not a ton, but will be nice to open an account or something for Masha to save for college.

All of us Americans are still meeting in the evening to talk and kill time. I have been putting a movie on for the kids each evening – it keeps them busy, and quiet.

Anyway, I wanted to get a few more photos up on the blog – but didn’t have anything exciting to write about.

We look forward to your comments! They don’t appear right away, I have to “approve” them first, so be patient.

Talk to you all later! Love you!

Brent