No pics so far...internet adventure continues

With the help of our translator, we were able to connect tonight to WiFi internet one floor up from our room at the hotel. You have to pay in advance for a card that provides 50MB of usage. How long that lasts for blog posts we have no idea.

Tomorrow we leave for Andrew's orphanage at 10:40, and then will go to Kathlena's orphanage. "Sergei" from the Department of Education will be there at Kathlena's orphanage to observe us with the children. Tomorrow at 2pm, we go to Sergei's office to prepare my speech for court at 10am Tuesday; Gina is thankful that I have to speak on behalf of the family in court. She will only have to say she agrees with me--maybe I should ask for a copy of the transcript to have that on record:-)

OK, so I just tried to upload some compressed pictures, and the bandwidth won't support even one small picture at a time-definately no video will be coming in the next few days. I'll try again in the business center to post some pictures. Apparently 200 rubles wasn't enough!

From Emily: Saturday 5/17

Five years ago, my parents decided to adopt. I was eight then and was thrilled at the prospect of another sibling, but did not share my parent’s sentiments concerning Russia. Fast forward 5yrs to when we went on our first trip to Russia and met Andrew and Kathlena. While we were in St. Petersburg we did a lot of touring, and really got a chance to get to know Russia, and it’s people, I gradually began to fall in love with this country, it’s bitter cold artic wind, it’s beautiful old buildings, it’s history, and it’s rather melancholy way of life.

Then upon returning home we went into a three-month in-depth study of Russian history. We read The House by the Dvina –an autobiography of a survivor of the time of the Russian revolutions and the Soviet era. In addition to this I did a great deal of complementary online research. It was through this time I truly began to love Russia, despite its flaws. I learned to love this country as I do my own, and this love reached an augmenting climax on the flight to Moscow.

After nine and a half hours of flying over the Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Sweden and various other countries, we slowly began to descend as we neared the capital of Russia. I switched seats with J.Michael and began taking pictures of the scenery out the window. As the little quilt patches began to take shape we suddenly went into a colossal cloud. At times, the ever-present airplane wing-several rows in front of us-would vanish in the dense fog, only to reappear for but a moment.

We were in the cloud for several minutes when unpredictably we burst out of the cloud and had an unobstructed view of the land below us. My breath caught in my throat as I beheld the immense beauty that was before me. Beautiful crystal blue rivers woven through green meadows, diminutive villages, and fields of minute yellow flowers. The setting sun shone favorably upon this immaculate scene, sending it’s warm and inviting rays of pink, purple, and golden yellow out to embrace the glorious scene.

I was finished. Like it or not I was in love with Russia, for better of worse.

5/17/o8

We are now on a plane to Arkhangel’sk, the time is drawing nearer. We have been waiting five years for this day to come; yet it seems so surreal. We have been talking about the day “when there are six of us” for some time now, but it always was a distant, far-off event. A dream, that is always before us, never with us, much less behind us.

Yet here I am, on a Russian plane, which is even now descending upon my brother and sister’s homeland. In a matter of days we will appear in Russian court and Andrew and Kathlena will be adopted into our family “once and for all”.

from Gina: Sunday morning

We arrived in Arkhangelsk finally after a three-hour delay due to snowstorms in Arkhangelsk. Our plane was to take off at 10:00am and we had been at the airport since 7:30 to go through security and check luggage. At around 9:00am we were sent to check in and once through security we waited at the gate to check our luggage, but no one was there. As we waited two young men and a young woman approached us and asked if we were flying to Arkhangelsk…they were on our same flight. When we could not understand them they realized we spoke English; they then told us of our flight delay. We explained that we were Americans here to complete our adoption of two children. All three, Ivan, Olga and Yurdic, were very nice and helpful and we spent most of the next three hours visiting with them. All three of them spoke very good English, and it was again a display of God’s traveling mercies on us to have met them. It is only when we are at the airport for intra country flights that we do not have translators from our agency with us.

When we boarded the plane the Lord providentially placed our new friends in seats that were right behind us, so we continued to visit with them until we arrived in Arkhangelsk around 3:30pm.

On our first trip we really began to have a love for the Russian people; now after having had the opportunity to visit and get to know Ivan, Olga, and Yurdic the Lord has knit us closer to this country and it’s young people.

As soon as we disembarked the plane we saw a familiar face, Vladimir, the man who was our driver on our first trip. Helen does not arrive until tomorrow so we had another translator, Irina to help us get settled in at the hotel. The Hotel Dvina is quite nice and we are in a two-room suite. The best part is that we are right next to a huge market/mall so we are able to go and buy food—part of our international camping is preparing meals with only an electric teakettle and a refrigerator! I love the challenge. The coffee toddy is brewing…decided this time to take no chances and just brought the coffee toddy maker with us and of course our Starbucks coffee.

Tonight, 8pm we meet with Helen to begin preparations for court and set up our itinerary for the next few days. We will be seeing the children tomorrow, and they will then know we are taking them home to live with us.

from David, Saturday night.

As I’m writing this, it’s Saturday at 9:30pm (just after noon Saturday back home), and Gina and the kids are down for the night I think. I can’t get connected to the internet, so this post will not be “live” when it goes up. We have finally arrived in Arkhangelsk and are very near now to Andrew and Kathlena—nearness measured by geography, time and emotion. I can hardly believe my new son and daughter are only a few miles away from me right now. We will see them Monday.

It’s still light outside, and probably will be all night long. It will be “dusk” from around 11pm until 3 or 4 am, and then it will get brighter. Definitely not what we’re used to, but even the brightness is not familiar. How ironic that a place where the sun doesn’t set can be so dark; in fact I had forgotten that the darkness here has little to do with the cold, gray skies. It is a darkness felt more than seen.

It’s been a wearisome couple of days, but our Lord has been very kind to us. Many of you have been praying for us, specifically for “traveling mercy”. I reminded my troops this morning that we have experienced precisely that. We had a wonderful apartment in Moscow last night, and although we had been up for almost 35 hours (excepting unproductive airplane naps), four + hours sleep last night was able to refresh us all tremendously, and we were delighted over a simple breakfast this morning and by the excitement of traveling still closer to the moment of liberation. I’m reminded of Psalm 3:5 and 4:7-8. It’s worth looking up these verses. Amen.

Then today our flight was delayed due to heavy snow storms in Arkhangelsk, leaving us at the Moscow airport for almost five hours waiting on our aircraft. But even then, we had a serendipitous meeting with three late-twenties travelers (two young men and a young woman) on their way to Ark for the weekend. We met them in line checking in for our flight. One of them asked us a question in Russian that we clearly could not answer. Rather than the usual indignation this type of thing causes, one of them asked where we are from, and they all laughed at the one who thought we might be British. We began to talk, and they explained all the Russian airport announcements to us and helped us navigate our way through the multiple delays. We had the opportunity to speak with them about our adoption story, about Russia, about America, and a little about the Lord. They were all very friendly, and very helpful. Thank you Ivan, Yari (hope I’m spelling correctly) and Olga. The Lord used three strangers to make our path smooth and learn more about Andrew and Kathlena’s country at the same time.

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day, and we hope to rest. We need his refreshment not only for our bodies, but also for our minds and our souls as we prepare to face a socialist judge and negotiate the ransom terms. Thank you for your prayers—we have been embraced by the hand of our Father and by His people.

Mission Impossible?

Internet access has proven to be an elusive creature. We arrived at the Dvina Hotel in Arkhangelsk almost 24 hours ago, but I just now got connected in the business center (3pm local time, 9am back home). I think I'm paying a small fortune for this brief access, but English is more rare than internet, so I can't be certain until our guide, Helen, arrives tonight at 8pm.

I did manage to blow a breaker in our hotel room with our voltage converter, and somehow successfully communicated to the front desk (with a children's translation picture book) that we had no power. J. Michael suggested pointing to the picture and saying "ka-BLOO-ee!!!" Thanks son, that's why Mommy sends me to go to the front desk. The maintainance man flipped the breaker and we're back in business. Too bad our picture book was written in 1983 and isn't any help with internet-related issues.

Gina, Emily and I all wrote some things to post, but I can't upload documents or pics to the hotel computer, and laptops will not connect. So maybe we'll get to add those later. Let's just say getting here was an adventure. Heavy snow storms in late May?? We must be in Russia! For now, I want to thank our new Russian friends Ivan, Olga, and Yari (hope I spelled correctly). You were a blessing to us yesterday!

God is good; we are all safe and well, and we get to see Andrew and Kathlena tomorrow!

Heading to Ark

The streets of Moscow.

Emily is very excited as we are able to see some of the "White Nights". The sun went down last night at 10pm and it was daylight by 5am. We all had a restful night even amidst the sounds of the city. Us country folks are not use to hearing the all night sounds of a bustling city...especially on a Fri. night. We truly feel that we are experiencing what others are praying for us...traveling mercies. Thank you faithful friends for lifting us up.
It is raining here in Moscow today but it is a beautiful city. I am trying to soak up all the sights, sounds, and smells so that years from now when I am telling this story over and over to my children and one day grandchildren. I will remember every aspect of this foreign land that has now been grafted into our heritage.

Breakfast in our apartment. Yummy Russian pastries and kefir/yogurt.

Made it to Moscow

Our plane ride on Singapore Airlines was really awesome...going to be tough to go back to Southwest and peanuts. :) Well, the flight was very comfortable and we caught up on a few movies we have missed over the past yr or so. The food was great too. We really loved having the direct flight. It was only 10 1/2 hrs and now we are in Moscow sleeping in a bed overnight instead of the airport waiting for the next plane...can't imagine trying to do that with 2 little ones. The direct flight is worth it. Arriving in Moscow was quite different from St. Petersburg. Even passport control was no problem; people smiling and helpful. Of course the second trip is a little easier as we know a little better what to expect.
Moscow is a nice city, and if it weren't for all the signs being in Russian you might think you were in a major city in America. Alex (male) met us at the airport and took us to get groceries and roubles. He then drove us to our apartment...it is not close to the Embassy but a nice place to stay. Wish we were going to be here longer...we have internet in the room and free phone calls to the USA but, we will be leaving tomorrow at 6:50 in the morning. We did get another apartment close to the Embassy and they were able to find us a place for Memorial weekend so we will be in Moscow after all! The Russian staff here is amazing; they work so hard to accommodate adoptive families so they are comfortable during their stay.
Alex was telling us about a family that is leaving tomorrow...they adopted 4 children--all siblings age 2,4,6, and 7, and they have another adopted child back home in the states. We would have loved to have met them. Alex speaks very good english and was also our driver...he didn't even say a word about all our suitcases and he had a minivan that fit us all nicely. So far we are really liking Moscow and look forward to coming back here and seeing some sights with Andrew and Kathlena.

Last post before we are on Russian soil

I find myself unusually calm today. The morning started with our piles of things strewn about the house not in suitcases, David working, and a mountain of last minute details to complete. Yet somehow, the Lord gave me such a peace that all would come together and anything forgotten would just be that, forgotten. We now have space bagged 15 suitcases of stuff into 4 with 3 carry ons...amazing!

Even the kids are taking it all in stride. Here they are taking in one more game of Risk before we leave...Thank you Reeds they love this game!

I just set up appointments with the pediatrician for Andrew and Kathlena...that was so strange yet it seems so normal at the same time. I suppose it is just one of those "Mom" moments. It is truly sinking in that we are really bringing them home. I catch myself imagining them playing in the yard or at my side in the kitchen...soon very soon.

Thank you sweet friends and family for all of your prayers, emails, calls, and kindness towards our family as we complete the adoption journey and begin the family of 6 journey. We have so much to be thankful for. All for now...until Moscow...Das Va Danya (Russian for Good-bye).

24hrs to go

Okay we are still not packed but, our piles are neat and tidy ready for final inspection tomorrow. David is working tomorrow but will be home early to finish last minute details. Today we received our visas and everything is in order. We also received the rest of our lodging accommodations...we will be in Ark over the Memorial Day holiday as a conference in Moscow is preventing us from lodging until Mon. night. So, we will get to have snow for 9 days...we will be so spoiled when we get back to warm Houston. It will be fun though to spend the time in the city of our Russian babies birthplace.

We will be leaving our house around 6pm for the last time as the 4 of us. We received many jackets tonight for Andrew....thank you sweet GFBC families who are so generous, we are so grateful for the help. Well this is a really short post as I must get some sleep.... will try to post once more before we board our flight. Das Va Danya!

48hrs to take off

Well today I am feeling the pressure of the clock ticking. It is all coming together though. We received part of our hotel/apartment accommodations itinerary today. We will have an apartment on the first leg of the trip in Moscow, the Begovaya. We are hoping to be staying here on Fri and Sat nights then leaving for Ark on Sunday. There just are not many options in Ark so we were unable to book an apartment there but will be staying at a different hotel than our first trip, The Hotel Dvina .

I have been given good reviews from a few other adoptive families who have stayed here. All accommodations for "large" families such as ours (this is actually just the 4 of us, I think with 6 of us we are considered a "huge" family LOL) are difficult so we are going to try a little international camping. We will pack our air mattresses and extra sheets...now this is really the way Shiflet's like to do things. I am already seeing little forts being built from couch cushions...Andrew and Kathlena will quickly find out that we love adventure and rarely stick to the beaten path. We are not sure yet on our accommodations once we leave Ark nor when we will leave Ark. We are hoping to be spending Memorial weekend in Moscow in an apartment if our agency's Russian staff can find one that is available. This would put us in Moscow from May 23-29th so the bulk of our two weeks would actually be in Moscow.

I have not officially started packing yet but we do have our "piles" laid out for inspection. Once it goes in the suitcase it stays there. We discovered today some things we really needed like a jacket for Andrew(hmm...how could we have missed this when it is 85 degrees outside here???) Well, thankfully once again a sweet family from our church has come to our rescue...thank you Bratton Family. Emily, J.Michael, and I headed out to pick up photos for the photo album we show to the court, pick up our raw bars from Jubilee(thanks, these are longs flights--tired of airline food, life savers!), jeans for Andrew, p.j.'s for both kids, small fans for the hotel in Ark(it is still in the 30's there and in the buildings they keep the heat cranked up so fans help it to be less stifling-Thank you Barb for this tip) and two tiny toothbrushes. I even bought children's tylenol to take but, only to use as a last resort. We had to stock up on all the reptile/amphibian food for all of the animals too! Thank you, Stephanie for your willingness to take care of our animals...especially after all of the fun you had with them on our first trip...you are a good neighbor and friend. Okay, well we should have those visas in hand tomorrow and start filling those suitcases. It is really coming together. Praise the Lord for giving us such a peace during this time.

One week, 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes

I will lay eyes on my babies again for the first time in 3 months. I am enjoying these last days of the 4 of us together. It is sweet time. We also rejoice with each passing day of the re-uniting of Andrew and Kathlena with us. My heart is so full...joy, joy, joy!

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. A people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

1 Peter 2:9-10

Missed this by one week!

Russian soldiers in WWII era soviet uniforms.
ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP/Getty Images

As I mentioned on Friday Russia celebrated it's Victory Day holiday. Here is a write up about the event. Wow! it really would have been great to have seen this but in 5 days we will be standing where these pictures are taken. Amazing!!!

Russian Policeman guards Topal-M ICBM during parade rehearsal.
ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP/Getty Images


Victory Day Parade

My cup runneth over...

Today has been one of those days that you just go the Lord is so good and then He amazes you once more. Mother's Day is always special because my precious husband and children are so sweet and generous to me. Our news of travel this week has been made even more special on the heels of Mother's Day. I remember Mother's Day last year so vividly...It was one of the hardest. I was so ready for our adoption to move forward but we were caught in the shut downs, paperwork not arriving, passport delays, etc. I was so discouraged and sad and I could not even understand why...so much to be thankful for with two healthy beautiful children but mourning for my orphaned children I was longing to meet.

The Lord in his perfect timing gave us a precious gift this year 4 days before Mother's Day...it is time for Andrew and Kathlena to be orphans no more and come home to their family 6,000 miles from their birthplace and all they have ever known.

Here is the poem Emily wrote for me:

A Mother’s Love

A Mother’s Love,
What virtuous beauty!
Can such a love exist?
Heedlessness and true nobility,
United in wondrous ingenuity!

A Mother’s eye,
What a wonderful mystery!
Her eye of wisdom misses nothing,
Yet her loving eye is purblind,
For the objects of her love are so often unrefined.

A Mother’s Heart,
Who comprehends?
She whose love knows no bounds,
Time is irrelevant and
Space is non-existent.

Her love stretches beyond the seas,
Her voice is heard in all the nations.
Through ice and snow her love does roam,
Until, at last it finds a home.

Half a world away,
Across the Dvina river,
In the land of the Arctic sun,
Lay two little children waiting,
For their Mama and Papa to come.

They are not of her flesh; they are not of her blood,
But she loves them nonetheless.
And unto them she does proclaim:
“Though you did not grow in my tummy,
You grew in my heart just the same.”

A Mother’s love is a wonderful thing,
A gift sent straight from above.
Oft times I wonder, what was on the mind of God,
When He created a Mother’s love.

-By Emily J. Shiflet

Thank you my dear, sweet, multi-talented, Mommy's right hand, tender-hearted, precious gift of God to me, daughter-Emily.

I was also given a certificate to have Monica Scott make a scripture scroll for our home that I have been wanting. Yeah!!! Thank you, David, Emily, J.Michael, Andrew, and Kathlena. All of this was just before we left for church today.

Then, we arrive at GFBC for the last time as the 4 of us, only to return in 3 weeks as the 6 of us. David has been part of GFBC's leadership training and today David was preaching for the first time...the Lord is stretching us, challenging us, His amazing faithfulness; knowing all of these things would come to pass at the same time, He has carried us this week. My cup was running over with joy and then once again I was washed away by His goodness--At the end of the service our family was called forward, we were prayed over by our Deacon(Terry Cole) and Pastor Paul Renfro and then presented a check for $5000. Dear church, I do not have words to express how your support, encouragement, love, tears, and now this huge financial gift towards our adoption journey has touched the very depths of my soul. The Lord has drawn us in to a greater understanding of His adoption of us through this process and the kind of love you have shown us has been so humbling...absolutely amazing love. You all love these children you have never met; you wait eagerly to meet them and rejoice with us every step of the way. Thank you for your generosity and love towards all of us--you are part of this story that will be told to the generations. To God be the Glory.

Flights booked!! Whew!!!

Okay, it is official we are flying on Singapore airlines straight to Moscow. We leave at midnight on Thurs. May 15th(or 16th since it is midnight!!) We are still working out hotel plans with our agency's staff in Russia but should have that firmed up Tues. of next week. So, we can rest a little easy over the weekend as nothing else can be done til Monday. 6 days to go!

Booking Flights...visas on their way

We have confirmation that our visa applications arrived at the consulting firm in New York today but, Russia is on holiday--Victory Day; May 9th so, our visas will not be processed until Monday since the Russian consulate is closed. This will still give us plenty of time though as our visas will arrive on Tues. and we are not flying out until Fri; May 16th.

We are still waiting to confirm our flights. We are trying to get booked on Singapore Airlines. They are running a special right now that would save us huge $$$$ so we are praying this works out. Our only problem is the purchase of Andrew and Kathlena's tickets since the special is only for flights from Houston or round trip flights(trying to see if we can purchase this without 2 little passengers to Moscow). We are waiting to see how this works out but, the flight savings is significant and it is a direct flight to Moscow from Houston....no lay overs!!! I am really praying this works out as I think a direct flight home would be so much easier on Andrew and Kathlena than 3 flight changes; 2 of those being within 24hrs. It is our hope to have this booked by the end of today.

Thank you for your calls, emails, and prayers for us during this hectic time...the Lord is mighty and He is carrying us through. (1 John 5:4-5)

J.Michael's 10th Birthday

Just one week ago we were celebrating Kathlena's Birthday and now it is J.Michael's turn. Receiving a special birthday surprise that we would be leaving in one week to bring his brother and sister home topped his list of gifts this year. He had requested one of his favorite's for breakfast--chocolate chip pancakes(these were whole grain with kefir of course!); lunch we made his favorite taco soup followed by his most favorite of all for dinner--Fried crawfish tails. Do I have a budding chef on my hands or what?

Emily and I also made a large chocolate chip cookie with icing and candles for him to blow out on his birthday. He also had cards from family and a coffee maker/package from Grandmommie and PawPaw(hee hee, no coffee maker it was a safe sent UPS in a coffee maker box--wished I had a picture of J.Michael's face when he saw that it was to him.) His granparents know him well as he loves locks and safes! Thanks for making his 10th birthday special with surprise packages! :-)

He also received a phone call from his birthday buddy and good friend Taylor Gunnels. The boys have known each other since they were 2yrs and 3yrs old and have birthday's 2 days apart. When they were 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 they figured out that for 2 days they are the same age so each year since they call each other on their birthdays. It is quite cute...their conversations have changed through the years but what remains the same is their sweet friendship.

Today is J.Michael's 2nd birthday celebration with one more to go. Yes, we have really been excited about 10yrs!!!! He had his first little party with Nana and Dodad a few weeks ago since we would not see them for his birthday. We celebrated with cake and presents--receiving the airsoft sniper rifle he has been wanting. His Mema (Great-Grandmother Davis) celebrated with us--Thank you for the birthday money!

First cake was ice cream oreo.

Uncle Todd helping J.Michael

assemble his new airsoft rifle

First shot...works great! Thanks Dodad!

His Mom and Dad got him the "red dot" scope he was wanting for the airsoft sniper rifle. Emily also gave him a "camo" colored scarf that she knitted for him. It was so sweet...she was telling him she made it for when he goes hunting with Daddy so he doesn't get cold. So thoughtful Emily, what a sweet big sister you are to J.Michael.

We have one more cake and party to go on Saturday. Father/son airsoft war party that he has been dreaming of having for a while. It should be great fun...I think the Dad's are just as excited! J.Michael has mowed the yard and is busy setting up "hideouts" throughout the yard.

Bed's completed just in time

Daddy brought home mattresses today. Just in time. As David and J.Michael were bringing in the mattresses UPS delivered a package and saw J.M. carrying the mattress in and traded him for packages. What a sweet young man...he didn't even know he was carrying in the mattress for one of our Ark babies...we thanked him but he was gone before we could tell him.

Emily and J.Michael went right to work setting up their beds and putting their sheets sets on their beds. Here are some pics.


Kathlena's bed ready for her to come home.

Andrew's bed. J.Michael has filled it with
stuffed animals for him.

The boys F-16 loft bed. J.Michael is sitting on
Andrew's bed. They will each have their own
bed in the "Airloft" (Aeroflot is the
name of a Russian airline.)

As you can tell from the huge smiles on Emily and J.Michael's faces they are so thrilled to be sharing their rooms and bringing their brother and sister home in 3weeks!!!

Court Date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord! We have a court date; May 20th. We are in the process of getting visas together and booking flights for what looks like a May 16th departure. Yes! that is right--9 days from now we will be getting on a plane heading to Russia to bring our babies home. The long awaited words....It is time!

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as we have waited on the Lord to release His children to us. We will post as soon as we have more info.

Holding Pattern

Today as I was driving home I noticed planes circling the airport...a holding pattern. We had some pretty significant storms today with lots of rain flooding the streets. I could not help but, be reminded that just like those planes we are in a holding pattern just waiting for the call to land. Well, or in our case take off! Andrew and Kathlena are always on my mind...wondering what they are doing today? did they think of us today or wonder "are they really coming back?" I can't even imagine what is going on in their little minds as they too wait for us to return. I can only hope they some how know we are returning and pray that they are being given the photo album we left behind for them to remember us by.

If you have checked the Arkhangelsk web cam lately you might have noticed that the snow had started to thaw but now it appears a late arctic storm has passed through and again snow on the ground...a winter wonderland. I guess we had better keep those warm coats down we may still need them after all. I wonder though if the Dvina has started to thaw?

Yes! I did a search and found these pictures taken April 20th in Arkhangelsk.

The river is very close to Andrew's Orphanage. I wonder if he has seen it starting to thaw on his walks to school.

We miss you my sweet Archangels! Mommy and Daddy are coming soon.

Kathlena's 3rd Birthday

We gave her pretty pink bedding for her birthday and her
Build-a-bear Bunny.

Making the Banner for Kathlena's birthday

J.Michael making a special card for his little sister

Emily and J.Michael worked so hard decorating for our
party for Kathlena

The Cake!!!

Today was a big day...Kathlena turned 3 today. It is hard to miss this day with her but, we did our best to make it memorable and remember that even though we are not with her today she was not forgotten. We celebrated with cake, decorations, made banners and cards all of which we will save to celebrate again with her when she is home. Even the cake, we each ate a piece to celebrate the day saving the rest in the freezer to celebrate with her later. Emily and J.Michael picked flowers, bloomed today-gardenias that were a fragrant reminder that May has come, they made beautiful decorations for our May baby' Birthday.

We also celebrated by watching family video of Emily and J.Michael's 2nd and 3rd birthdays to remind us of this age and inevitably reminded us how quickly time passes. Truly a blessed day and we pray that Kathlena is healthy and comforted by her heavenly father that we are returning soon.
Emily did some research on singing "Happy Birthday" in Russian which is actually a totally different song. We found this on You Tube...Russian Birthday
We also sang "Happy Birthday" to her and recorded it for her.