Home Sweet Home

arrived safe last night! Thank you for all the prayers & good wishes...we had many traveling mercies as the 1st flight was 11 hours & the second a little over 5! We are home adjusting to being a family of 4 & the crazy time changes!!

Talk soon,
Love,
Greg, Jeanette, Thomas & Andrey

We are coming home.... early!

Hello everyone, things are better. Sorry for such the downer posting last time, but things were hectic, when you're tired and kids are screaming and your options are limited, you get a little down... Thank you for the wonderful posts, they have been very uplifting to us!...

We arrived in Moscow yesterday and were immediately wisked off to get medicals done for Andrey done and get his visa ordered. The doctor was also nice enough to check Thomas for no charge, becauae he is still coughing. She said he was fine, as long as things don't sound worse. We also got Andrey's us passport pic taken. Then... we have room service... burgers!! sooo tasty! and we slept from 600pm-630a! much needed... so, things are better, this hotel, the Marriot Treskavaya is expensive, but very comfortable.. so that helps...

Due to Jeanette's dads illness we are coming home 2 days early, so we\ll be home tuesday night.. we are very excited about that.

what else... Andrey is great, active and in to everything. Thomas is getting better at being a protective big brother.. the common phrase coming from Thomas' mouth is "Andrey Nyet!" in english - "Andrey No!" but you can see he is getting better, they play together now, and thomas tries to protect his new brother from getting hurt. If we did bnot have light switches that were so fun to play with, that would cut out half the arguements! They are so fun!

well, i am off, thomas and i are going to ride the elevator some.. sounds fun huh?

thanks again, Greg

ps.. here's something our friend Lori posted about what our names mean...and it seems to dfit with our trip

Greg (me) - vigilant watchman... keeping the fam. safe!
Jeanette - God is gracious. thios adoption idea was hers.. she is very gracious.
Thomas - Twin, one of Jesus' disciples..
Andrey - manly, strong, courageous. so true.. his world has been turned upside down, and has ben a trooper.. and yes he is strong. moves tables and chairs in the air with no problems..\

thanks lori...

Get us outta here!!!!

Not going to lie to you folks. This is the toughest thing Jeanette and I have ever done. We need out, now. Thomas is a sick, struggling big bro. Jeanettte stays with him, I walk Andrey to pass the time. Its cold. This sucks. No one is sleeping well.

I would pay a large amount of money to get out. So, pray for us, we're struggling, no doubt, but we'll make it!

side note: a drunk guy walked into the salon here whuile we got Andrey's super long hair cut yesterday, and caused a minor scene. Security ushered him out, but he came back in a few minutes later.. There are many "tough looking" security guards here, and I was suprised they let him back in. He approached Jeanette Thomas and I... If Andrey had not been on my lap, i may have dropped him. I won't lie, with the emotional, physical state we're in now, and my itch do get back to Police work... He may have gotten hurt :) sorry, just being honest!

alrighty, see you all soon....

Greg

ps.. my father in law had surgery, and was not supposed to make it thru, but he did! he is doing well nowand we are sooo very happy! It was truly a miracle Sal is still with us, and... he was supposed to have been paralyzed in his arm but he has regained feeling, which is another miracle... wheeeeew, quite and emotional week for everyone!

did i mention i want to get the heck out of here?

He has landed.....

Where do I begin, what a crazy night!

Here’s the play by play... we left the hotel at 430pm, and headed to the court house to pick up the final documents. To our delight, none of Andre’s family decided they wanted him in the past 10 days.. Wheeew! Then we drove to the orphanage. Now I should probably stop and tell you about how we were feeling right about then, and before we left. All day, Jeanette and I were nervous. Butterflies in the stomach nervous. The day dragged by, but went fast at the same time. WE baby proofed the room, got the crib. (Old playpen) 2 familes leave tomorrow, so we’ll get their cribs, real wood ones. But Jeanette and I wanted to get on with it! Enoigh already! But we were nervous. As we left I got kinda giddy, a nervous type giddy, and the ride to the orphanage seememd extra bumpy. Our facilitator said in beautiful broken English, “maybe you are more sensitive today”. And by golly, I think she was right. So, an hour later we got to the orphanage, and walked up to the playroom that we always go to, it was like any other visit. We got even more nervous. Andrey is usually the first once of (remember, we are travelling with the Swingles, and their boy Eli, is always late in arriving) So Andrey comes in with his caregiver and he begins crying, again, like a normal visit. We shove a goldfish in his mouth and bam! He’s our best friend. So the next mission is to put our clothes on him. Jeanette and I have been dreaming of putting him in American looking clothing, and getting him out of the orphanage gear. He let us re-dress him, except for the booties we brought for him, he crunched up his big Siberian toes, and held them crunched together the whole time. Like 30 minutes., we never did get those booties on, ever! So, we got him dressed, and guess who he looked like - -big bro Thomas! Speaking of T, we left him at our hotel in the good hands of Sheri Axtell, another american who is here and will get to bring her 3 yr old girl home next week. So by this time, Eli was here and getting dressed, and we were ready to go. WE felt better now, like we were actually taking Andrey home... It had been the end to a 18 month journey..So, we headed downstairs to leave, and the most touching/sad thinghappenend. Andrey’s caregiver showed up, wanting to say goodbye to him. He smiled and wanted to go to her, she kissed him, hugged him,and was crying. Basically what she said in Russian, we later found out, was she thought of Andrey as her own son, and loved him very much. You could see she was sad and would miss him. It was a very deep hurt.

So, we took him out to the van and away we went ! It was a great feeling, it was emotional, it felt like we had a kid and were bringin him home. Diiferent from a childbirth thing, but similiar. It was hard to explain.

In the van, Andrey looked at everything, as Jeanette fed him every few seconds. Imagine never seeing cars or anything, and the little guy is seeing it all for the first time. WE were trying to avoid a meltdown, and about 30 mins into the drive, a funny thing happened, Andrey out his thumb in his mouth and went to sleep. Thomas didn’t know he had a thumb until he tunred 3, so this was new for us. He slept all the way back... We did have a small incident in the van, Our new friend Eli got a little motin sick, and threw up a tad. I guess it’s prety common for that to happen. The whole van got a little “tangy” inside.
So we got back and took Andrey upstairs, he had woken up.

We got to introduce him to Thomas.

We walked in, and Thomas looked like he was a bit in shock. I guess it hadn’t really hit him until just at that moment. Also remember, Ole Thomas doesn’t do well after his bedtime has passed (it was now 800 or so. ) So we hung out for a bit and tried to feed Andrey some food. It only is fed pureed type things in the orphanage, so when we tried to mash up some steak and chicken, it didn’t really like it.. So we gave him yogurt and milk and that was about it. So Sheri left and it was just the 4 of us. It was weird, Jeanette and I had imagined him being here, but he actually was.... The I smelled it. Could it be? Our first with Andrey? Yes! It was a big pooper! That was fun, it had been awhile since Jeanette and I had changed one, so we tag teamed it.. Just like old times!

Then, it began.. The sibling rivalry. Andrey grabbed a train, and Thomas erupted. They went back and forth, Thomas just hated it.. I believe that’s when my lovely wife sat on my mom’s digital camera, and yes.. Sorry Grandma Sue, it broke!! We’ll take care of it...

So, off T went to bed, and that left me with Andrey. Thankfully we have a suite with 2 rooms. So I rocked him a little and figured, time for bed! Well, I put him in the crib, and he didn’t like it. He screamed, so after a few minutes, and after Jeanette told me to, I picked him up, and immediately his thumb went into his mouth and he dozed off... I laid him down, in the crib, and that’s all she wrote... he slept until 645am, and he popped up like he had always lived here....

Thats all for now... don't have much more time to write due to now having 2 active children in the room! and... Thomas is sick, but my lovely wife brought antibiotics, so he should be getting better...

Andrey is a handfull!! and its snowing and 15 degreees... we need Calif. badly..

Greg and Jeanette

ps.. my father in law is having surgery right now for a blood clot in his neck.. so keep him in your prayers please :)

Another day... getting closer..

Today is our last day as a threesome. Kinda weird if you think about it. It's like Jeanette is pregnant and we have been seeing ultrasounds everyday, and she's due, for sure, tomorrow. No walking to make sure the baby comes out, no having sex for the purpose of helping the baby come out. This one comes out "ready to go", like a furnished apartment, ready for action. We are enjoying being 3 today, but we're all ready to be 4. Tomorrow night we arrive at the orphanage at 6, he gets stripped down of all his standard orphanage issued gear, thankfully! and we sign some paperwork, and he is ours! should take 15 mins.

I spent some time with him yesterday, and we had fun. we flew around like superman, we fed each other goldfish, he then pretended to feed me, then took it back.. little tease! then he made up for it, by biting it in half and feeding half to me.. i thought it was a nice gesture on his part!

so today i went to the bank, they didn't like one of my hundreds because it had some writing in ink on it, a very small letter in ink... so, bring clean money here!! they are not kidding! then i strolled to the grocery store and spent 950... rubles... about 40 bucks, on groceries... need to stock the fridge for our hungry orphan when he makes landfall tomorrow night... the first 2 weeks they eat everything and anything, then after that, they become a normal 2 yr old.. they get picky! imagine that, 2 yrs in an orphanage, and in 2 weeks they forget the gruell, and begin turning away food! :)
spaking of gruell... it's like a porridge, something kinda of food...i hated it at first, but now it's a staple of my breakfast! i would pay 100 dollars for 3 eggs up, hash browns, sausage, oj, and coffee, right now! althought i had a wonderful cafe americano yesterday.. it may have saved my life ..

it snowed overnight, like 3-4 inches, that was nice to wake up to..

by the way... 5 below yesterday.. eeeeash!

so... thanks for hanging in during the wait period... it'll get good again once we get the little (big) guy.. enjoy the pics :).. and again, thanks for all the great posts, i love them!

-GD

TV, made in Russia

I have an idea for a new TV show in America. American Idol for strippers! Oh wait, they already have it here in Russia, dangit. No really, they do, its everything American Idol, but they are strippers with their pole. It’s on MTV Russia. Another TV show we discovered was one of my wife’s favorites, the Nanny in Russian. They copied it right down to the outfits. Very funny. I then switched over to AS Roma vs Real Madrid and was in heaven. I watched a movie yesterday, 300. Lots of fighting, and blood. I liked it. Jeanette visited Andrey yesterday while I stayed with Thomas. They had a nice time, but again, as I have repeated over and over, we are ready to bring the little Ruskie back and begin the next phase. We can’t really bond with him much more at the orphanage, we need to get him back here so he can start depending on us. At the orphanage, he is still comfortable because he is still in his “hood”. His eyes still light up when he sees his care giver. But that will change soon. We also heard for sure that we will be picking Andrey up for sure on Friday night. We’ll leave here at 5pm, arrive at 6pm, stay for 15 minutes and bring him back with us. So by 615, we will have Andrey out of his standard orphanage issued clothing, and into our lap for good. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to blog about once that happens. I washed some undies in the shower last night, that was exciting! I could use some fabric softener, but other than that, they are fresh! We had a chance to meet some American missionarys yesterday. The Winklers. They are from Visalia and have been living here for 5 years with their 4 kids. They picked us up and we went to their apartment, which was extremely nice. 3 bedrooms, looked very American. Thomas had a great time playing with their kids, ages 8 and under. They fed us, I actually had a sandwich with mustard on it!! I wanted to steal it from them!! Side note, I went to Subway here the other day, and the only spread I was familiar with was mayo, so I had only mayo on it.. But it was actually pretty close to the american version. Cabbage instead of lettuce, but not bad. So, the winklers, it was good to sit and visit with them, it was like having a little slice of America in Russia. We enjoyed it. They are actually supported by Shadow Mountain Baptist church in Morgan Hill.. Small world.... I snowed a couple days ago, which was nice, and after that it got cooooollld. Today it is about 10 degrees. I haven’t been in weather that cold, ever, so it was a new experience. Last night while we were out, the wind picked up, and both Jeanette and I thought our ears would just crack right off if someone touched them right. It’s supposed to get colder this weekend, so hello Siberia! Today I’ll go see him while Jeanette stays with T. We met another couple from california today. (Pleasanton), so that was cool. They are on their first trip. Boy does that seem like a long time ago when we were on our first trip. Let’s see, anything else? We have just been hanging out, waiting, walking. We went out to eat at a German place last night. Had a fun time. Thanks for all the posts.. short sleeves and 70 degrees sounds really good right now. Well, see you all soon...... Greg

Hurry up and wait...

Waiting is rough, especially when you have a 3 year old that is not used to putting on 6 layers of clothes because its 20 degrees out.

Thomas is not built for cold weather! I’m not either, but I’m an adult.

Our days have been spent walking, playing play dough, trains, smashing our toy cars, all fun stuff, really :) We walked to an open air market today and bought something we were really needing, no not another child, ha!, but some really nice fruit! Our travel partners pointed us towards this flea market/farmers market hybrid thingy. The first place we stopped we spent like 40 bucks on grapes, bananas, (actually good bananas, not leftover bananas that fall apart in your hands, and last 2.3 hours before they become mush. These were good! We bought apples, tangerines, it was nice. I ate that banana like it was the first one I have ever had, it was wonderful...

We go and visit Andrey tomorrow morning, after not seeing him for a few days. We have watched some video clips of him talking and feeding me goldfish like 40 times.

We are ready for him.

What else.... it still refuses to snow. I know I mentioned it got cold, but it’s still sunny most of the time and actually pretty nice. We would like a blizzard for a day or so while we’re here, Thomas would love it. Watch, we’ll get the blizzard the day we leave and get stranded for another week... be careful what you wish for Mr. Dini.

I got some time to myself today. I have been threatening to go downstairs and have a cappuchino for a few days, but I actually did it today. It was grrrreat. I read my fantasy baseball magazine and checked email. Our wi fi connection has been down in our room since Friday, that’s why I haven’t posted pics or anything. It’s supposed to come back Monday. I have our baseball draft the Sunday I get back, so I must be ready.

I may try and sit in the very popular areain front of our hotel tomorrow night and drink a beer and have a cigar. There’s apparently a lot that goes on (prostitution, drugs etc) at night, so maybe I’ll be entertained...

Good night for now...

Greg

Orphanage Strength

Don't you love the tank top? You don’t exactly know what it is until you experience it first hand. Arm wrestling challenge, Thomas vs Andrey. The Russian would kick his butt.. Thomas is fast, agile, but Andrey is freakishly strong. I tried to pry the bag of goldfish from him, and really had to try hard to get it. From what I hear its from years of protecting what is his is the orphanage. The kids take food and store it, and protect their turf. He reminds me of Mike Nelson. Probably never has to lift a weight in his life, but could pull a locamotive with his teeth, like Magnus vonMagnussen of World’s Strongest Man fame.

So here is a rundown of my two boys possible athletic futures:
Andrey : Wrestler
Thomas : Shortstop
Andrey : Nose tackle
Thomas: QB
Andrey: Soccer Defenseman
Thomas : Soccer outside midfielder (by the way, I have been enjoying lots of Champions League soccer since I have been here, it’s great! Arsenal/AC Milan, nice! Andrey : Hockey goalie/Hockey Enforcer
Thomas: Forward Andrey : Nascar pit crew
Thomas ; Driver of the number 20 Home Depot car! HEEE HAWWW! You get the point... Speed and power!

Or, in all reality , I’ll probaly have to decide between Andrey’s chess match and Thomas’ dance recital.... Which is just fine with me :)

By the way, I did find a coffee shop, thanks Lori! and it was great!! with lots of milk of course...

I think he's a keeper

I went to visit Andrey this morning, by myself. Thomas and Jeanette were exhausted from the week and the hour long drives back and forth every time we head to the orphanage. Let me expand on that. These hour drives are nutty. The traffic is horrible and there are no rules. We dart in and out of traffic- its tiresome. I can expand more on the traffic later, but until you have driven in it, there’s no way to fully explain it to you.. One quick fun fact. My Police friends will appreciate this. Three cops for Krasnoyarsk (1 million people) handle 148 accidents A DAY! They each handle roughly 50 accidents each! It commonly takes 5 + hours for anyone to respond to these accidents, even when there are serious injuries. I may get a ride along, but we’ll see..

So.... the drive is tiring and Jeanette and T needed a break.. And keep in mind, no carseats, so it’s little sketchy. So I had some one on one time with Andrey, and it was great. He spoke to me, smiled, he really loosened up. You can really see the difference in him from the first day to today. He is becoming more himself. We had fun. I found a Russian keyword that he liked, it is pronounced “Moi mah Lihsh” the last word sounds like “leash” It means, “My baby”. He loved it. We have a great book put together by a woman who did the adoption thing and thought it would be a great idea if some key words and phrases were all put together in a book for adoptive parents. When these kids come out of the orphanage, everything changes for them, the clothes, food, people, so it’s nice for them to hear some comforting words in Russian. So I say the above words to him, along with “good” “I am your papa” stuff like that. It seems to work, cause he doesn’t know anything else that we are saying. Keep in mind it is a book of words to use with kids, and when the guy at a pizza place put our 2 pieces of pizza in a to go box, I said, “”Hah rah Shoh” which means “good”, he looked at me funny, like I was saying “goo goo ga ga good boy!” So I need to use it in the right settings :) So we had fun, Andrey fed me goldfish, and we played and hugged, it was really a good time!

Take a look at some of the vid clips, they are priceless.

Saturday was quiet because it was “Women’s day”. A lot of the businesses were closed and the streets were very quiet. All the women out had flowers in their hands, Women’s day is quite a big deal here.... I would add that if any of my single male blog readers want to find a woman, come to Russia. I can say no more without risking getting in trouble with my own Sicilian Princess. But, I call it the 50 foot rule. Email me for more..... But everyone is good.. We (me) are all actually trying to shake off colds, and the cold weather has come back to Siberia. It is sunny no more... it snowed yesterday, and the temp has dropped 10 degrees with a little wind. I guess there’s prostitution going on in our hotel.

Our pals the Swingles were awoken to some “Bumpin and grindin” at like 6am. And we have heard it goes on here a lot.

We’re getting a tad sick of the breakfast buffet. Even my lovely wife has stopped singing its praises. I drink 2-3 cups of Maxwell house, and with each cup it tastes worse, but an addict has gotta have his fix!

So... that’s all for now.. We’re just waiting for Friday so we can pick up Andrey, so between now and then we’re just hanging out. There’s not a lot of things to do, but its nice to have some family time before we expand to 4 :) and we’ll go visit the orphanage every day this week, Mon-Fri. Feel free to email me or post comments, Jeanette and I love to see who is reading the blog. We actually have a lot of time to read them, so send away :) (It helps pass the time) Thank you for those who have posted so far. I really means a lot to us :) So, one more thing to say : Pah Kah!! (Good bye)

10 down, 21 to go....

10 down, 21 to go.....

Last night was fun.. Dad went out to provide for his wife and young son. Off to KFC!!! and you guessed it,, California Pizza Kitchen! I had decent directions so I ventured out. 15 minutes later and 4-5 blocks, I landed at KFC. I mission was easy, do not repeat what happenend at the Moscow KFC on trip 1. It was nightmare. Thomas was starving, it was 1000 degrees inside, and I had to fight through a crowd of Russians that don’t understand the concept of ORDER!! No one stands in line.. In their cars, in line, no where.so this time was better. I barged my way up to the register in true Ruskie fashion, and order a bucket of 25 pieces of chicken, nothing else. Piece up cake... as I left I knew T was pizza so I crossed the street and luckily no one was in line. I picked out what I thought was a cheese piece of pizza and attempted to pay. I assumed it would be maybe 40-50 rubles, (2-3 bucks) so I threw down a 100 rubles bill... (High roller am I) The lady said something I could not understand, it was probably in Russian, so I thought she meant, “Do you have something smaller” Russians hate making change. So I go into my very manly fanny pack and start lookin for smaller bills, and suddenly an older Russian lady comes out of now where takes my 100 and throws it down. The cashier obviously thought it was a different 100 than the one I had put down a few seconds earlier and gladly accepted it and gave me a receipt and change! Wonderful.. Well, it the few awkward seconds I had to wait for the “slice boy” to give me my slice, I gestured to the girl, and I said, “California” as I pointed to the sign, and then poiinted to myself. Like, “Hey, I am cool, I am from California, like the name of your restaurant!” HA! She laughed, the slice boy laughed, we all had a good laugh! It was funny... so I began walkiing back, thinking I am cool, and as I tried to navigate a large pond with small icebergs peaking out, and almost fell and lost all I had worked so hard to get.. That would’ve been tragic! Sidenote ; Since it is like 50 degrees here, everything, I mean everything is melting... all roads are wet and ponds are everywhere.. Go thing I brought my nike air running shoes!! :) When I got back to the room, Thomas said I was number one, and said “This is esciting 50 times, and that’s all that mattered. So....


The next day:
Not a bad day today... we got up at a normal time. 8am... had breakfast, and walked to a toy store with the Swingles.. This toy store was something else...3 stories, all toys, clothes, everything you would need for a kid. Tommy remembered what it was like to drive his Home Depot #20 car and took the Police motorcycle out for a spin. He tried to get some boots for Andrey, but the language barrier was too much to overcome... we will try again.. We did buy some legos and things for Andrey and tommy-boy to play with once we get him.

At 2pm we got picked up and traveled the usual hour long trip to Sosnoborsk to see Andrey. We def. Made some strides today, and began to see the real personality. He laughed he threw balls, and ran around, he threw a fit, it was great! He latched on to Jeanette more today, which was great, he just let his true little self come out.. It was fun. It helped that Jeanette had a steady stream of goldfish flowing into his mouth :)

At the end of the visit, I really wanted to see how Andrey played with his playmates, and find out how he was in his place, where he felt comfortable. So we toured his play area and his bedroom.. He lives with 17 other kids and they all play in one big room. They also sleep in one big room. It is really something to see, 17 cribs, very small cribs, all together. It’s amazing any of them actually sleeps. The 2 caregivers were great, they were eager to tell us about Andrey and what he does and says.. It was really nice to see. When he got into his room, with all his “peeps” he smiled and played like he was on top of the world. He def. Looked like he was top dog at least in this play group. He couldn’t wait to get out of his little dressy overalls that they put all the kids in when they go meet their “parents”. I love the little tank top he had on underneath everything, priceless!! We were sad after, because he looked so happy there, but we know we are giving him a lot, and he’ll be much better off, even though its pretty fun to play all day, and have some lady put you on the pot every few hours :)

So, we just had room service, and Jeanette and T had just gone to bed, I will be there in a few mysself... 8am, we go visit again....it’s 0900pm right now...

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and prayers, keep up the good work! We’re having fun!

By the way, Thoms has been great, checkout our exercise pic :)

Greg

PS, funny store from the other day.

Jeanette, Thomas and I are in a German restaurant and we have just ordered. For beverages we ordered a beer, a sprite, and a milk and water for Thomas.. Well, the server must have thought we didn’t actually want the milk, so we didn’t get it. So I walk downstairs and in front of 3 female servers ask, “Milk?” and they all give me a blank look, like I am speaking another language, well, I am, actually.. So I say “Milk?” as I am motioning like I am drinking something. Again , a blank stare. So I ask, “Menu?” And immediately nods like she understands and she runs to get me a menu. I feel like all I have to do is point to Milk on the menu and we’re home free. Meanwhile Thomas is nearing a meltdown because he has no “Milk from the fridge.” Well, there is no milk in the menu. So I try again, this time adding some actual cow milking motions to my word, “Milk”. And the russian waitress says, “Oh, would you like a glass of milk?” She said it in such plain English, it sounded like the queen herself had said it! I said, “yes!” but wondered why is was so hard in the first place to understand what I wanted! Eash.....

Anybody seen a Starbucks around here?

What I would give for a grande drip with a little cream! The instant Maxwell House just ain't cuttin it. I would pay top dollar for a little sip of breakfast blend. Anyways... we went to go see Andrey today- Our first visit since being officially named as mom and dad. The gang fight scar is clearing up, and we just did a lot of holding and walking around. It's good bonding time. We will probably go everyday and visit Andrey until we pick him up on FRiday 3/14. By then he should be pretty adjusted to us. Jeanette and I were both sad today because we know Andrey will be a sad little guy when he leaves the orphanage. It's all he knows, and his eyes light up when he sees his caregiver after we visit with him. He's going to miss everyone. The good news is that he can bond, and he will bond with us, and he's moving on to bigger and better, not to mention warmer things! Well... its 122pm, and I just polished off a PB and J, it's our usual lunch now, and Thomas is going down for a nap. Can you beleive we actually slept in til 6am this morning? it beats the 2-3am wake ups for the first couple days! talk to you all soon! Greg

I now pronounce you, mother and father... and big brother to Andrey Chase Dini!

It happenend! We are now proud parents of Andrey Chase Dini! We just returned from spending 1.5 hours in court telling a judge and "prosecutor" about everything from our financial situation to why we want to adopt... and... They said we are a great match with Andrey, yes we can tell you his name now :) The man, me, is the one who stands for a majority of the time in court and answers the bulk of the questioning. I think i was "on the stand" for a little over an hour. The translator stood beside me and we made it through. the court room looks similiar to one in America, but is a little simpler and the prisoners sit behind a big white cage. They use this room for both criminal and adoption cases. And we apparently got lucky, because the "stern" judge went on vacation, and we got the judge who smiled a little more. She kept asking why we would want to adopt even though we can have kids. it is something they have trouble understanding. Russians don't want to adopt their own. Anyways... it was good. I think the real plus was having Thomas with us on the first trip. The Ministry of Education (MOE) loved the way Thomas interacted with Andrey, and thought they would be wonderful brothers! so... take a look at some photos, since we can now post them :)

The next step is we visit Andrey now for the next few days until we finally take custody of him, probably on 3/14. They have a mandatory 10 day waiting period. So we just sit back and enjoy sunny and 40 degrees in Siberia! Not bad :)

and just to back track really quick, we did visit Andrey yesterday, and it was great.. we bonded and really made progress getting to know him. (bringing goldfish to eat never hurts the cause) he hugged us, laughed, it was wonderful. Thomas almost went into full blown depression when Andrey had to go. "Daddy, where's Andrey going? When do we get to bring him home?" it was really something to see..

see the attached photos from today and yesterday:) PS, the scar between Andrey's eyes is due to a gang fight in the group of 17 kids his age he lives with. You sholuld've seen the other kid! That's my boy!!

Greg, Jeanette and Thomas.

No "I" in Team.

Teamwork, that’s the word of the day, and of the trip. With Thomas being on this little adventure with us, it takes good communication and teamwork. For example: airport security, my favorite thing in all the world. We have 5 bags total, 6 if you count Thomas as a carry on, which he is most of the time. Give your passport and your boarding passes, take your shoes off, your belt, your jackets, laptop needs to come out and be in its own tray. Everything needs to be in it’s own tray. I tried to put Thomas in a tray, but they said no. Medication needs to come out, dvd player needs to have its own tray. And keep in mind, this is all happening with a hundred Russians behind you waiting to pass you, and security trying to tell you something in Russian. It’s mayhem, and I hate the 10 minutes it takes to complete it. I hand Thomas to Jeanette, my shoes come off, his shoes come off... you get the point.. And.... we had one instance where Thomas happily took his own shoes off and loved every minute of it, and then the next checkpoint, which happenened to be after we woke him up early after a nap, he did not want his shoes off, and had a mini-breakdown... so.. Jeanette and I have to be on our game to get through it, but we have and we will... We can’t help but imagine how it’ll be with Andrey when we head back towards Moscow and the good ole USA....

So we arrived In Krasnoyarsk this morning... 520am... Jeanette is a super star. Thomas sleeps on her basically the entire flight, so he’ll sleep the whole time, and we don’t have to entertain him the whole time. We are 15 hours ahead of Calif. time. Good flight, good landing...We are at the Hotel Krasnoyarsk, decent place. We got the big suite this time, which is great. Plenty of room to run around with trains and other toys to keep T busy. We had the breakfast buffet that Jeanette loves. She’s been talking about it every since we left for this trip. Then we slept until about 230p, and met our driver and facilitator Sergei and Yelena so we could complete the booking of our hotel room, which took about an hour. Jeanette and T are still asleep, which probably means we’ll have another wake up call at 2am.. I love it

Tomorrow, 2pm, we get picked up to go visit Andrey.. I am very excited There is another American couple here that just picked up two little boys, 20 months and 4 years old... When I saw the 4 yr old it really hit home for me that this is real, and we will soon have another little guy.. The little boy didn’t have a mom and dad for the first 4 yrs of his life, and now he does.. Sweet little guy... We’ll also get to prep for our 2hr court hearing tomorrow. We’ll learn what to say, and what not to say. It’s mostly what to say to make sure the judge is happy...

The weather is great here, by the way. sunny and like 40 degrees!!! Two weeks ago it was 10 below.
and we are having trouble calling out from Krasnoyarsk, so we apologize family for not calling :(

Well, that’s it for now...
See you all soon...
Greg and Jeanette..and Thomas.. we go to see Andrey in 1 hour :)

By the way.. Things are cheaper here... I just paid 3 dollars for an Americano You can’t get anything in Moscow for 3 dollars, except for maybe a strange look.....