Really Don't Have a Creative Title So We'll Just Call This "Catching Up"...

Hello Everyone!!!!

Boy has life been busy in our home! Please excuse my prolonged absence from blogging; I'm sorry I've left you hanging for so long, Aunt Kathy!

Okay, so here's the deal... Remember Sergei, the boy we hosted over Christmas? Well, we're adopting him. And that explains my absence, dear friends. I have been up to my head in adoption paperwork, classes, and emails. I'm so happy to say that I've gotten almost 100% of my end done. We just have to submit our homestudy to INS and wait for approval to travel to get him. Once we get approval from INS, we will have approximately 4-5 weeks before we can go. So we're hoping to be able to travel early summer, but, of course, that's in God's hands.

I thought I would share some photos from his visit with us. It was a WONDERFUL experience! There were some challenges, but this boy is a sweetheart and we just can't imagine our lives without him now! And for anyone that would be interested in hosting an orphan over the summer from Eastern Europe, the new photolistings will be up and running on New Horizons for Children's website Monday morning after 10:00am. If you want more info, just go to NHFC's website or email me and I'll get in touch with you.

Sergei's first night in America.

I think he fits in just fine!

Lily giving him a ride on her John Deere.

Dinner at Olive Garden. Found out how hard it was for a Russian-speaking individual to order from an English menu. :)

On the way to see the Christmas lights.

We finished our gingerbread house, and all they wanted to do was to eat it. I had to watch them for days to make sure they didn't pick candy off and then it got stale and they didn't care so much anymore!

Flour battle while baking Christmas cookies.

Christmas morning - soccer cleats - he was elated!

My ipod was a huge it!

Yeah, he did this regularly. And helped carry in groceries. All without being asked. Yeah, I know. Wow.

Being silly with April. He really liked the chocolate syrup. Chocolate anything, really.

Sergei with April and BJ

Sergei with my parents. He really bonded well with all of our family members.

Sergei with Ashley

National Air and Space Museum - Washington, D.C. ~ this was a real hit for the whole family!

Okay, can you all tell that this photo was taken during our last few moments with Sergei? Look at my face, people. My heart was breaking knowing that in just a few moments I would be leaving this sweet boy at the airport. That was one of the hardest things Brad and I have ever done.

Our last family photo taken just moments before we had to leave him.

For any of you who are local, we are having a rummage sale on March 26th and March 27th from 8am ~ 3pm both days. If you're local, email me and I'll give you the address of the church where we're having the sale at. We're having the sale in partnership with another family from our church who are also adopting the boy that they hosted. All proceeds from the sale will be split between our two families to help with the costs of our adoptions.

Thanks for taking the time to look at all the photos! This was a great experience! And we can't wait to get Sergei home with us! Keep us in your prayers, please!