WE ARE ADOPTING!!!!

Oh, where do I ever begin. Jon and I have toyed with the adoption idea for a few years now. We didn't even do much research, but we found out how expensive it is and it was put on the back burner. We decided if we were to adopt, we wanted a little boy from Russia. This way Lincoln could have a big/little brother to bond with since the girls had eachother. Granted, Lincoln has the girls, too, but we just so wanted a brother for him. Jon's heritage is Russian as his grandfather (Gregor Tkachenko) came to America from Russia.

I've been praying about this and asking God to give me a sign or help us along our journey so we know what we are supposed to do. The money was always such a big factor. We have the Geo to put in yet and that will cost approx $10,000 just to buy the stuff to finish it off so the girls can move upstairs. They would have to be moved upstairs before Lincoln could move into their room so his room could open up to someone else. Anyway, we never watch TV on Sunday nights, but this past Sunday the kids and I were eating supper and Jon was working and I happened to turn the TV on and Dateline was on. This was at 6pm and I didn't know Dateline was ever on that early! Lo and behold, Dateline was about a couple from America who ended up adopting 3 sets of twins from Russia and the kids were all biological siblings! It was an amazing story and ever since then I just knew I had to look into this more. I knew Jon wouldn't have time to do it, so I did some research and contacted a few adoption agencies and then presented the info to Jon.

I did find out that only about 50 agencies nationwide are accredited to work with Russia and the adoptions. I then did research to find out which agencies are accredited. I contacted Child Link in the cities and they said they weren't accepting any new Russian applications at this time. Yikes I thought. I did more research and found out that as of June 2006, there are only 16 agencies nationwide that are currently accepting applications for a Russian child and only these 16 are accredited. So, I checked the 16 and thought what are the chances that one of these is in MN? I did find one and it is called Hand in Hand and this is their website: http://www.hihiadopt.org I emailed them and have been in contact with a lady by the name of Karin and she has been wonderful. I've been saving the emails in a file in Word so I can refer back to the info and then share it with Jon. Karin sent an entire packet to me and the info was so exciting to go through! There is a fee schedule also enclosed so we know what kind of money we need and when.

Now, we need to decide when to start the process. We really should have a Journeyman hired so when we are in Russia, we have someone to take over. Right now, Dustin and Tim can't technically be on their own and if we had a Journeyman, everyone could still work. It isn't fair to them to not be able to work since we are gone. Plus, in the event that someone would call, we need someone to be able to handle the situation. Another factor is the money. Like Jon said, in a year or so, we'll have more time to save money, etc and by the time we'd probably get our little boy, would be 2 years. Before we sign the contract, we need to decide about the approx age we want. We would like Lincoln and our new son to be close in age so they can play together. In 2 years, Lincoln will be 4 so maybe if we would get a 6 or 7 yr old, that would be fine. I guess we don't have to think about that right now. We just need to concentrate on getting our bills paid down so we can bring our son home! That has such a sweet ring to it!!

I have discussed this with the girls and they are sooo excited!! Sierra said, "Wow, I can learn a new language and I can teach him mine!" Mercedes said she is excited because she'll have another sibling to play with. Woo hooooo!!

I talked with Jon and I asked him if we were positively going to adopt and if he was with me on this decision. He said yes! So, now it's a matter of time and money. I'm soooo thrilled!!

Peace.

Hospital visits and pedal pulls!!

Man, where do I begin? I guess I can back up to the last day of school. Sierra had such a fun year and was sad to see it end. Her teacher is getting married tomorrow, so our whole family will be attending the dance. The kids are so excited because they will know all of the people there!

On June 3rd, 2006, dad was admitted to Waconia ER, then transferred to HCMC with a brain bleed. It wasn't an aneurism, but a blood vessel broke or leaked or something. He was there that Saturday through Thursday and has been home ever since. He is doing much better and I have to bring him to HCMC on Friday, July 7th for a re-check.

The girls have been doing the pedal pulls and have done so well!! The very first one was in Glencoe. Mercedes got 3rd place (2 boys got 1st and 2nd), but she didn't get a trophy. (She got a full pull on her very first pedal pull!! However, the 2 boys also got a full pull and when they did the second pull, her foot slipped off the pedal and she stopped immediately. I know she could have gone farther if her foot wouldn't have slipped. :0) We were so proud of her!!!) She did get a 3rd place ribbon, though. Sierra placed 4th or 5th. All boys were ahead of her so at least she was 1st place with the girls! The second one was at Hamburg the following week. Mercedes got 1st! She did a full pull again and the other kids were under 20'. A full pull is 45' with this puller. She earned her first real trophy and she was thrilled. Sierra did well and got 4th. She was 1.5" away from a full pull and there were 3 other kids in her bracket that got full pulls, so she was bumped to 4th. She was happy, though. Last weekend we went to Stewart for the pull and both girls were determined to get a trophy and 1st place. Mercedes had about 7 kids in her group and she got a full pull and ended up with 1st. She, again, was thrilled! Sierra was up with the 7 yr olds and there was about a dozen of them and some of the boys were absolutely huge. I seriously had my doubts because the kids were so big. However, SIERRA GOT 1ST PLACE!!! She was absolutely ECSTATIC!!! She said, "mom, I had no idea that I would get 1st!" She was so happy with this. When she was 4, that summer we went to 19 pulls and she got 19 trophies with most of them being 1st and 2nd. She was in so many newspapers and she was in her glory. When she was 5 she still got quite a few trophies and then when she was 6, she only got a few and now this year she got her first one. We told the girls how proud we are of them. Woo hooo!!!

Peace.