Computer dificulties

We've had computer problems for the last day and a half and have been unable to post on the blog. We do appreciate your prayers for and interest in this journey to add to our family. They mean more than you can imagine.

As far as the adoption goes, we met Monday morning with the ministry of education. The meeting went well. They accepted our application and officially have 10 days to get us a referral. Obviously, we asked them to expeditie the process. Realistically we hope to have an official referral by tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon. We'll post more as we move along in the process.

We've had an interesting and eventful day and a half since meeting with the ministry of education. Today we met the pastor of a local evangelical church in Nizhny Novogrod (Nizhny). We have mutual friends from the states. He graciously gave us a wonderful tour of his city and shared with us his testimony and about his ministry. We learned much about the Russian culture and history in order to share with our Russian born children as they grow up. We hope to worship at his church tomorrow night, time permitting.

Nizhny is the 3rd largest city in Russia, home to 1.2 million people and 550 km north and slightly west of Moscow. It dates back to 1221 AD. In 1917, at the time of the Communistic Revolution, it's name was changed to Gorky (as was St. Petersburg to Leningrad). Gorky (which means "Bitter") was an influential writer at the time who favored the teachings of Marx and Lenin. After the fall of communism in 1991 it was renamed Nizhny Novogrod.

We toured the Kremlin in Nizhny. Each large city in Russia has a Kremlin (or Fortress). The local Kremlin houses several governmental and military buildings as well as a 15th century Russian orthodox church and military cemetary memorializing the Russian equivalent to Medal of Honor recipients who fought in WWII. This Kremlin was originally constructed with wood in the 13th century and subsequently with bricks between 1508 to 1511 AD. It overlooks the Volga River. The Volga was once the eastern border of Russia and hence the need for a fortress for protection from invading Mongols from the east.

Nizhny is a very picturesque city. It is located at the intersection of two large rivers (Volga and Ocka). It's climate is similar to northern Minnesota. We've even had the opportunity to swat some Russian mosquitoes. They are less numerous but faster than the Minnesota variety. There are several beautiful onion domed Russian orthodox churches dotting the landscape and seemingly around every corner as we walked through the city.

There is a long cobblestone paved street nearby with several shops and restaurants. It is like an open air mall, where no cars are allowed. It is filled with people enjoying the beautful weather. They have several metal statues of playful animals and of whimsical humans portrayed in victorian era clothes that give the street a lot of character. Most historical statues are of non-soviet figures that celebrate much of Russian history. This includes the Russian equivalent to Charles Lindberg who was the first pilot to cross the north pole by air. He traveled from Nizhny north and then south to Vancouver, BC.

The most eventful part of the trip has related to our accomodations. We were supposed to spend Sunday night on a train from Moscow to Nizhny. Fortunately, or unfortunately (we haven't decided which) there were no seats available so we took a plane and arrived Sunday evening. Our plan A hotel was full so we stayed at the plan B hotel. It was directly across the street from the ministry of education which was ideal. However, it was very pricey.

Our local facilitator/translator found us a comparably equipped but much less expensive hotel (plan C) only a kilometer away that was available for Monday through Wednesday nights. We gladly accepted that hotel, largely due to the price. Unfortunately, she misunderstood the price for a late checkout from plan B and we paid an additional 50 percent to the already steep price. We had the option of either being upset and angry for the misstep, or to give it to God, knowing that He is in control despite things not turning out as we thought they should. We chose the latter option and have never looked back.
Once again, we thank you for your prayers. We are honored that you are interested in this journey of ours. We'll keep you posted as the story unfolds.