Beach 2010

Earlier this month, some friends graciously allowed us to use their condo down at the beach. The weather was great and we were able to celebrate our oldest son's 20th birthday. This was such a blessing as there are few places that can accommodate a family of eight!




Here is one little girl who loves her big brother! She looks forward to him coming in from college whenever possible.

Raising Kids

As your children grow up, you often wonder if you did your job to prepare your kids for life. Our oldest left home for college a week ago and due to current circumstances, it was difficult to let him go. Our family is going through a lot right now and I did not realize how much I relied on him to talk to and lean on until he was gone. Early in the week, we exchanged e-mails and I had one of those comforting realizations that he was ready to face life's challenges. To have that peace of mind is so wonderful. I am sure he will make mistakes as I did, but his head is straight and his heart is good.

Children are such a blessing from God. I was told something in the past 10 days that hurt. It hurt because it came from a good Christian person and it hurt because I realized there are good Christian people that still do not get "it". This well meaning person that I have great respect for referenced "my kids" and "my adopted kids". I don't see my family that way. I have my wonderful wife and six wonderful children. I am adopted into God's family through Jesus Christ. God does not look at me (nor you) any different than His other children so why would I ever look at my children differently? I try my best to share the love the Father has for me with my wife and children - unbridled, unending, unconditional love. I had hoped others understood that love, but I guess I have not done my job well enough.

Family Update

On July 26, our oldest daughter Christina was admitted to the hospital. She came home two days ago (Friday) and is still in recovery mode but doing well. Friday was also the day Jeremy went off for school. It is odd not having him around. He will do well I just hate that his last week home for the summer was such a mess. Dawn and I were in and out of the hospital and did not get to spend much time with him.

The four youngest and I are in a play at a church here in town. Because of all things happening in our life right now, I first looked at this as a hassle, but the message is good and it has done me good to just listen - God is there and He is in control.

Two weeks back, we did go and have our fingerprints scanned at CIS in Birmingham. I guess we may hear of something soon on the matter.

About seven or eight years ago, I heard an adult speaking to our youth at church and he commented, "If the devil isn't messing with you, then you need to be questioning your life and the path you are taking." Sounds like a strange message, but I have come to learn how very true that statement is.

Russia July 2010

Back from Russia

Dawn and I got back Thursday night from Russia. Does it make sense to anyone else when I say the trip was too long, too short and very rushed? Let me explain a little:

Too Long - Being away from our kids here at home was hard. We had difficulty with our cell phone and could not call home for a couple of days. To make things a little more stressful, we thought we were staying at one motel in the region where our referral was located only to learn we were staying at another when we arrived. The families watching our kids would not know how to contact us in an emergency.

Too Short - We only got to spend a few hours over two days with the little boy we hope to adopt. More time would have been nice just to be able to get to know him and to let him get to know us.

Rushed - Get off the plane, Try to get acclimated to time change. Up at 4:30 AM to travel to region. Drive to region, spend some time with little boy. Drive back to Moscow. Get up at 6AM to get ready for medical screening. Go to hospital and spend 4 hours visiting 8 doctors. Eat dinner, go to bed, get up at 4:30AM to get ready for trip home. Arrive at airport at 7:30, clear immigration and come home.

I wish I could post pictures, but that is no allowed by the Russian officials until after the adoption is finalized. He is a wonderful little boy with very long eye lashes. He is three years old and is a very happy little boy. This was great to learn. Some children are not very happy and they have very good reasons for being like that. They read his complete file to us and asked if we had any further questions or concerns. We asked about food allergies and they did not know of any. They asked if we desired a new medical evaluation and we told them a new evaluation was not going to make any difference. I guess some parents ask for this, but it would not change our mind in anyway. We want to adopt him and that is that. Some argue that they need the evaluation to prepare themselves properly. I can see that, but Russian medicals are written in such a way as to scare the living day lights out of anyone regardless of your health status. When we get home with him, we will have him checked out head to toe by the IA Clinic at UAB. On Tuesday afternoon we signed papers of intent and had them notarized for court.

The detsky dom was very, very clean and had a wonderful director. You could tell she really cared for the children and was so sweet and kind to them. She showed us his bedroom with all the little beds in a row and where they kept their things.

We learned that if we had received our US Immigration clearance already they would have given us a court date. I am going to follow-up on that Monday to see what the status is. They have had our application for over two months and we have not even received our fingerprint letter. Anyway, if we do not go to court within 90 days, we have to travel to Moscow and have our medicals completed again.

I'll try an post a little more detail later. We are still trying to get back on our schedule here.

Visas Received

Tomorrow we leave for Moscow and it has been incredibly busy and hectic! Nearly everything that needed to be done was completed. With four business days to get ready, only one item didn't get completed and I pray they will let us get it done when we return. I knew when we received the call, it was going to be difficult to get it all done in 4 business days. The call came from Moscow and I'm pretty sure they did not realize Monday was a holiday here in the US. I don't know if having Monday would have helped with the one item. I'm just glad we were able to get the the travel visas (a stamp in your passport from the Russian Consulate that gives you permission to enter the country).

We return Thursday afternoon which is great. On our last trip home from Moscow in 2008, we did not get home until about 2AM. Lots of air time this time as we are routed trough Houston. Houston to Moscow will be about 12 hours. Unfortunately I was unable to see my doctor and get some "happy pills" for flying. Don't know what they are, they just put me to sleep!

The Good News

Dear Friends:

Sorry to be so cryptic, but late yesterday afternoon we received a call asking us to travel to Russia next week for a referral. This is great news, but SO much has to happen in just a few days - tickets, visas, etc! That is why we need your prayers!

We appreciate all your prayers -

Tony B.