Nursery Pictures

Thought you all might like to see some pictures on the nursery. We kind of have everything in there right now....but it will be ready by the time we bring our little guy home.

Fiddler on the Roof!!

OK....I just sat down to eat a late lunch and turned the TV on and Fiddler on the Roof had just started and they were singing the "Tradition" song. So of course I am watching it right now as I am updating you all.

Are you all singing, "TRADITION!!" in your head right now??

Well, we had a conference call with Marti this morning (our agency rep) and it went well. We are all set and pretty much ready to go. We booked our plane tickets and our hotels and we were able to save a lot of money!

We leave next Saturday afternoon the 8th and fly to Atlanta and then to Moscow. Then we will leave late Sunday the 9th for our region and arrive in Novokuzneck Monday morning around 6am. We visit our child on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday...leave our region on Friday morning and fly back to Moscow. We leave Saturday morning for Atlanta and arrive back in Atlanta Saturday early evening and fly back to Nashville and arrive around 8:30pm on the 15th.

Now they are singing "Matchmaker." I love this movie!!!

So there it is. So far everything is good and well and quiet. We will update again one more time before we head out!! Thanks y'all!

WE HAVE NEWS!!!!!!

I am hoping that I can beat Coby to the computer to give you all some good news.....

WE HAVE TRAVEL DATES!!!!!! We have been told that we can travel March 8-15th for our first trip!!!!! So that is only 2 weeks away....crap...that is right around the corner!!!! We were also given 1 picture of the baby and his medicals. The picture is at his birth, so doesn't help the medical too much....but at least we will have a great birth picture for the baby book!!!!

The medical was not as detailed as the first one we were given on our first Andrey...but it was good enough. We spoke to the Dr. yesterday and we are OK with what we see. A few concerns.....but nothing that is telling us to say no to this referral.

WOW!! Isn't God good! I am fired up and very excited about a second first trip! Please pray for us this weekend as we look for flights and hotels and all that fun stuff!!! We will blog details as soon as we finalize them.

Well.....here we go again! Mark the dates and get ready to enjoy all Coby has to bring through the blogging in Russia...we are feeling that these updates will be better the the last! :-) All I gotta say is, I hope we kept the paper that says in Russian, "I don't fit in the normal seats on this plane. Can you move me to a larger row." If not...Coby better start stretching now and getting ready to eat his knees for 4 hours on the flight into our region!!!!

Here we go....one step closer to bringing home our baby Neil!!!

"Any news?"

This seems to be the question everyone has been greeting us with this past month. Not Hi! How are you? How are the dogs? How is the weather? How's work? Nope.....it's pretty much...."any news?" So I thought I might just write a little something to let you know what is going on right now with us. And just to let all of you know who have been asking.....that's fine, we appreciate your thoughts and concern. I have never encountered anything in my life that has grabbed the attention of so many people. Thanks you for asking and truly being concerned and loving us through this, we need it!!

Well, we were told that we do have tentative travel dates. The dates at this point are March 11-14. We will go and meet the child that they have referred to us. The trip will at this point, be very much just like the trip we took last October. So all of you that LOVED Coby's blogs....get ready, were going again and so we will try and make those updates even better!

So I know you are all sitting there going, "Wait! Did you just say you are making another first trip??" Yes, you are correct. Coby and I will be making two more trips.

Now....before you all go off the deep end...as Coby and I already have.....there are many reasons why we are going to have to return 2 more times. At this point, writing out the reasons and taking the time to explain why, will not do any good. Coby and I are having a very rough time and this past week has been the hardest yet. I know you all have heard me say this before....but truly this has been the hardest.

So we hope and I continue to pray for peace in our waiting to confirm these travel dates and to get a medical and pictures of the child. Please continue to pray for us, and specifically for our endurance to the end! Coming to a realization that our child will probably not come home until the end of spring, or even summer is trying on us.

I can't help but to be reminded of Peter in Matthew 14 where he walked on water out to the Lord. He saw the Lord walking on the water and so wanted to be out there with Him. As we so love Peter's excitement of faith and enthusiasm....he jumps out of the boat and walkes to His friend. His eyes fixed on Jesus and his thoughts not even on the rough water under him. But with time, he looks around and sees the immediate potential of death and fear engulfs him and doubt fades his view of his Savior. So he begins to sink and then cries out to Jesus, who does not hesitate or wait, but instantly pulls Peter out of his despair and sinking. Jesus did not allow Peter to go under the water and be overcome with death. He saved him!! When we call out on the Lord, He saves us immediately!

I know that God will continue to pull me out of my daily sinkings...when I call on Him. I also must remember that just because Jesus has reached down and pulled me out once, doesn't mean I have been freed of all future trials. It just shows me that He will never fail me. He is there with me as He says in Isaiah 43:1-2 "Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, You are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."

This is encouraging to me, and I hope to all of you! No trial we go through is bigger then any trial Jesus went through for us! I can't sit down and reason why we continue to walk through these trials, but I must continue to walk the path that has been laid before me with my eyes fixed on the prize before me! Thanks you guys for loving us as we go down our path. It is one thing that fuels us to endure another day!

Bam Bam Is Ready!

So we got our car seat in the mail yesterday and guess who found it to be a perfect resting place? This is Bam Bam our cat. We thought it would be a little humor for everyone while we wait for more news. So we hope you get a little laugh from the picture.

We have nothing new to report. Maybe tomorrow....

No news is good news.....

My mom told me this the other day.....so I hope she is right!

Coby and I have not been given any updates as of today. We are still waiting and seeing what the Lord will do. We were told that we might have updates by tomorrow and if we do, we will let you all know.

We ask for your continued prayers and thoughts with us. I do believe that we will have our little guy home as soon as he is ready to come home! Not a day too soon or a day too late.