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

Hanging out...

Priviet everyone! (That means hello).

Yesterday we got to go to the orphanage and have a “party” with the kids from Masha’s group. It wasn’t much of a party, we brought 2 cakes and a bunch of grapes and strawberries for the kids. All of the kids were really quiet, there were about 14 of them. But they enjoyed the cake and fruit. Then, we went off to a puppet show that had come to the orphanage to put on a show for the kids. It was fun for the kids, I even understood 3 or 4 words during the hour-long show! I did a quick head-count of the kids too, there were 55 kids who need a mama and papa waiting at the orphanage.

All of the ladies were very nice and gave Masha a hug when it was time to go. Her care-giver gave her some money that was apparently given to the orphanage by a “sponsor” who rewards the kids for good grades. It was nice because in reality, her care-giver could have just pocketed the money and we would have never known. It was about $40US. As we were leaving, Masha said good bye to the director and her secretary, they all shed a few tears.

Once we got back, we just hung out and twiddled our thumbs, and goofed off so that we could pass the time. Oh, and I so kicked Masha’s butt in another pillow fight! I am the champion of the world! (well, room).

Anyway, today (Friday) we don’t have anything to do, so even though the weather is not that great, we are going to walk down to the sea and just bum around for a bit.

Love you all!

Brent & Chris – and Masha!

For Auntie Sam!

This picture is for Auntie Sam!

Brent has done a good job keeping up with the blog so far but I thought I would take a turn! We had a raining day and we spent most of it relaxing, watching T.V., napping, and playing games.

We did have our interview at the Consulate Office today. Our paper work is on it’s way to Moscow.

Brent also got Masha’s plane ticket changed. We could not do that here but we could change the date on Brent’s and mine. We had to email our travel agent to change Masha’s. We will arrive home on June 4^th! A full 10 days early!

Of course at this point we are bored and going crazy! There are now 7 other American couples here and we meet up stairs in a room called “The While Rabbit” and call it “7:00 Sanity check”. Trust me we all need it! Five of us have our kids and the other 3 couples are here for their first visit!

We love talking to the kids each day and seeing them with the computer camera’s Brent has set up. I was worried she would run!

It makes me fell good to know Grandma is still there! I know Logan is bored now that he is out of school and Alex has a few days left! Of course Rae is always busy!

Thank you for all your prayers and please keep them coming!

Need Some Prayers!

Today is the day that we were supposed to go to the American Consulate office and take care of the final paperwork before it was shipped off to Moscow.

Well, things don’t always work out the way that we would hope. I guess the Consulate is stuck in China and trying very hard to get a flight back to Vladivostok, but so far – no luck. So, we now need PRAYERS that the Consulate can make it back very soon so that we can still go there first thing in the morning and that our courier can still make her flight to Moscow without any further delays.

So, basically, we just hung out today and waited for our phone call so that we could go to the Consulate. We walked down to the East Sea again. I actually stepped into it a little bit to get a cool-looking shell. We also went to the motel playground a bit. Nothing much, but we have to keep busy – or go crazy.

Please keep praying for us, we really need some right now so that our courier is not delayed!

Love you all!

Brent

More Photos - Frisbee

Just a quick post.

Today we went to get Masha's passport and also to the doctor.

We also got our plane tickets changed. We are coming in on the same flight number at 23:55 on June 4th. We had originally been scheduled for the 14th.

Played some frisbee today, so here are some photos.

Love you all!

Brent

Walking around Vladivostok

Yesterday, Sunday, we got to go to downtown Vladivostok with 2 other American couples. We went down to the submarine so that Masha could go in it and just see something that she probably has never seen.

We spent about 5 hours walking around and checking things out. We went to the beach, along the East Sea, and walked a bit.

One thing we were on the hunt for was Mt. Dew, but we did not find any in cans with Russian words on them, so we will still be hunting for some. One thing that we did find was a little shop that we purchased a “Disney” DVD from. It has 7 full length movies on it, and several short films. It only cost about $7.00! Amazing!

Oh, we also went and got the plane tickets for our courier also. When we started out, we were told that the tickets started at 25,000 rubles ($1075). But, the tourist season just started, so we were then quoted 41,000 rubles ($1775), but when we got to the travel agency, it ended up being 36,500 rubles ($1560). So, still more than we hoped, but less than we had been quoted.

We also found out that we would be coming home on Wed June 4^th(?). We don’t know the time yet, but will post it when we know. We had hoped to come home on Saturday the (31^st), but Memorial Day the American Consulate office is closed, so that throws us off by a day – and the next flight that we can get on is Wednesday instead of Saturday. Chris is more upset than me, she is really bored and wants to get home, but I figure we are still getting out 9 or 10 days early – so whatever.

Today we go to the doctor and do a few other things, so we will post more later.

We love and miss you all!!!!

Brent

Pillow Fight!

So, yesterday Masha kicked my butt in a pillow fight!

She has really started to get more comfortable with us. We are having a good time with her.

We are going to head to town in a few minutes to purchase the tickets for our courier. We found out that they are going to cost almost twice as much as we were hoping, but since our 10 days was waived, we are not going to worry too much about it.

We are video-chatting every day with our kids and Margaret (grandma). It is pretty cool, and much cheaper than calling on the phone.

We cannot wait to get home! Love you all!

Brent

Day 1 with Masha

Ok, we walked around bit today. This is our first day that we have been able to spend with Masha. She has a lot of energy and is awesome.

We walked down to the sea and picked up some seashells today. We also went to the store and got a treat.

We still don't know exactly when we will be home, but it will definitely be before the 14th!

We love and miss you all, tons and cannot wait to get home!

Maria Christine Michalski

Well, we had court today and God totally blessed us! We were told that it would be very unlikely to get the 10 day waiting period waived, so we just prayed and hoped for the best.

Court lasted about an hour. They asked about how we would parent, how we would discipline, how we would school Maria, and many more things. They really seem to have a hard time understanding why we would adopt an older child that had serious medical problems. All we could do was to try to explain our reasons as best we could.

Maria was asked to come into the courtroom and they asked her some basic questions. She did awesome! She was pretty relaxed and gave good, clear answers. She even had the court laughing a bit. She was really scared before because she had expected it to be like a trial court that she had seen on tv.

The judge let us out while she considered all of the arguments and evidence, then called us back in. She read her decision and said that if we didn’t agree, we could appeal to the Russian Supreme Court within the next 10 days. I had just assumed that meant that we did not get the 10 days waived. She asked if we understood the ruling and I pretty much did, but Chris said no – she wanted further clarification. So, we asked straight-out, did the 10 days get waived. The judge said YES!

We were so excited! Maria was a bit shocked that she would not go back to the orphanage, but instead would come right with us. But, we are planning on going back and having a tea party with her friends so that she can say good-bye.

After court, we ran all over town getting paperwork done so that we could expedite our trip and the trip for our courier to go to Moscow and get the final documents. So, we had a VERY full day.

I am totally beat, so I want to get this posted, and get a few photos online. Then, I think we will go to bed!

We miss you all!!!

Brent

Visited today

Hi all! First off, sorry about the blog errors! I have no idea what happened, but since I cannot troubleshoot it from here, I moved to this alternate address.

We visited Masha today, and all went well. We have court tomorrow and cannot wait! We will post more after court and we know what is going to happen!

Brent

Made it to Korea!

Well, we are in Korea, waiting for our flight to Vladivostok!

It is weird because we left Los Angeles at 1:05am on Tuesday, and got to Korea at 6:00am on Wednesday! So, we basically LOST all of Tuesday!

Anyway, we are safe, kind of tired, but excited to get to Russia! The flight here was 12-1/2 hours of flight time! The flight to Vladivostok is only 2 or 3 hours!

We'll be writing more soon!

Love you and miss you all!

Brent & Christine

Leaving Tomorrow!!!

Well, we leave for Vladivostok Russia in less than 24 hours! It seemed like the day would never come - and now it seems like it came way too soon!

Please pray that the judge will waive the 10-day waiting period, so we can get back to America that much quicker. Also, please pray for safe travels! I am dreading the LOOONG flights and layovers, but the end-result is totally worth it!

Please, add comments and let us know how you are and how things are going back here in "the states". We need all of your encouraging words and prayers!

-Brent

Blog Growing Pains

I had a few little growing pains as I was moving everything over to the new blog. I think that I have everything worked out now - so people should no longer get error messages when they try to view it.

Things are definitely getting crazy around here since we leave for Vladivostok in less than a week! We plan on keeping this blog updated every step of the way! Also, you should now be able to leave us comments, so please, leave us comments! (Prayers, encouragement, etc!!!).

God bless!

We Got Our Court Date!!!

We finally got a firm court date! We appear in court on May 23rd! We will be leaving for Vladivostok on May 19th! WOW, that is coming up fast!

We cannot wait to see Masha again, and this time, bring her HOME!

Totally New Blog

Since I have proven that I cannot keep up with hosting our own blog and posting to it, I have decided to use Blogger and create a completely new blog to journal about our adoption!

So... Here we go!