Preparations Continue

We put together the swing set Saturday. Had to send off for a missing part, but it will be in full working order before Andrew and Bethany arrive.

Gayle is busy preparing photo albums of family and home to take on the next trip to show the kids, the court, the orphanage caretakers and others who support us during our stay. The ones for the kids are labeled with the words in English, Russian and with Russian phoentically spelled out. For example, dog, собака, sabaka.

We have started attending a new church "Light of Christ" in nearby Chandler. This is where our good friends and fellow adoptive parents, Art and Michele, are members. They are adopting an adorable pair of twin girls (Kaitlyn and Gabriella) from China (see link to the right) and should be back with their kids in early April.

The pastor of the church and his wife adopted from Russia a few years ago and are very excited for us. There are other members who have adopted from China and elsewhere.

Had to put $1800 worth of repairs into the '97 Jeep and it needs more. The '99 Oldmobile is making some worrisome noises. Wouldn't it be great to have a minivan? Isn't it great to not have any car payments?

We have friends and family that live in planned communities further to the east. Gayle's stepbrother and family live in one. They have two kids. Anthony is the same age as our Bethany. Halle is four. They have a big yard with no pool. The house (larger than ours) behind them is for sale and has a pool and a small yard. A gate could be built in the block wall that separates the two. Surrounded by parks and community activities.

House buying and selling is hard. Packing, moving and unpacking do not make for entertaining weekends. Larger mortgage payments?

Things to think about, but no time to act now...our next trip is in five days!

Moscow Weather: low -6, high 11, light snow