We finally posted the last entry we wrote in Russia and figured out how to download pictures. They are the previous posts and if you click on the pictures you can see in a larger size. Tom and I had to wear face masks because the orphanage was under quarantine for the H1N1 flu.

We are now working on getting visas and plane tickets for our next trip. We will be leaving Jan 10. Tom will not be able to go this time, so Bethany and I are going together. That should be quite the adventure. It is a bit scary for me to go without Tom, but I know God will be with us. It will be a stretching and growing time for me, but I'm glad I get to experience it with Bethany and I'm glad she will get to see the country where her two youngest sisters were born. We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for our last trip to Russia and that the transition for Dasha will go well.

This is our precious daughter, Dasha Anita Howard.
Dasha with her new mama and papa. There was a quarantine at the orphanage because of the H1N1 flu, but we have big smiles on under those masks!
This was the last day we visited Dasha. She was officially our daughter and she wanted to go home with us right then.

After court

To finish up our journal of this second trip to Russia, we will start with Monday night, our last evening in Nizhny. We returned from the orphanage and were picked up by our Russian friends, who we met last trip, Their daughter was turning 20 and they had an aunt, uncle, cousin, grandma and a few friends visiting. They served us excellent food, the best Russian food we have had, and we had great conversation. Tom was asked medical questions as well as what he thought about the "Obama health care plan", economics and religious issues. They were very gracious and the daughter, Mom and one of her friends spoke good English so they could translate for us. It was very enjoyable to experience Russian family life and a blessing to share a bond with Christians half way across the world.

Regarding our visit with Dasha after court; let's just say it was the a perfect way to end our trip. We got the biggest and longest hugs from Dasha. She hugged me (Cheri) about three times before she left. She told us she wanted to go with us now and that she would be waiting for us. Although we didn't want to leave her, we are so happy with how she is excited to come home with us and is so comfortable with us. We think God has prepared her to join our family. She seems to be well taken care of and the orphanage director is very nice and seems to really care for Dasha.

God has been answering our prayers to watch over Dasha these last 17 months and we trust He will do the same this last month. We pray that God will guard her heart and mind, give her hope, and help her to feel His great love for her. Before we left we gave her two chocolate bars and told her she could keep the UNO game to play with her friends while we were gone. She kept saying that her Mama gave the chocolate to her. Poor Tom, I should have let him give one of them to her.

As we ate breakfast prior to checking onto the plane Tom smiled and said he was excited. I said "for what"? He said "to have another daughter." We praise God for His gift to us and for his grace along this long and windy road to Dasha. We pray that someday she will understand how God longs for us and wants to adopt us into his family and make us his own sons and daughters. He pursues us and waits for us. " How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1

comment to all of our friends and family following this adventure

You guys are great! Thanks for all of the comments. Your prayers have been answered. Not exactly in every way that we would have liked, but definitely in the most important way. We're sorry that we've kept you waiting or are wearing out your knees, or bringing too many tears to your eyes, or keeping you up at night. Having said that, we're glad that you care for us so much that that is happening. That means so much to us. See you soon. As they say in Russia "Dasvedanya".

Court Report!!

The court decision is final. Dasha Anita, formerly Daria Vashanova, is officially a member of the Howard family!! It is almost too hard to believe.

The court went relatively well. The judge's main questions for us in cross examination were why it took so long between the visits for us to complete this adoption. We know many of the reasons, most centered around satisfying a myriad of stipulations from the judge and to untimely expiration of several documents. We will probably never know all of the reasons. Suffice it to say, it took nearly 18 months, and we are done in Russian court.

We had petitioned the judge to waive the 10 day waiting period for various reasons. Unfortunately, she did not grant us that petition. Therefore, most likely on Jan. 10th we return to Russia to bring her home. She needs a Russian passport made in Nizhny and then an American Visa needs to be granted from the US Embassy in Moscow. Additionally, she will then need to be registered at the Russian Consulate in Moscow. Then a trip to America. When she sets foot on US soil she is officially a dual citizen of the US and of Russia.

We are dissapointed that the petition was not waived. However, in the long run there should be no problem from the delay. We are confident that once she is in America all of the delays and hassles will be forgotten and we will move on with the process of adding another child to our family.

We then were able to spend more time with Dasha. Dasha is definitely looking forward to coming to Minnesota and wishes that she could go now. It was very exciting to tell her that she will be a part of our family. She needs to wait only four more weeks.

We don't have much time as we are leaving for Moscow on a train in an hour. We will be back in Minnesota Tuesday night. Thanks again for your prayers. We sincerely appreciate them.

Sabbath day of "rest" and preparation.

We had a wonderful time attending Calvary Chapel in Nizhny. The church has grown since our last visit and now has separate services conducted in English and one in Russian. We were able to share at both services a little of our journey and the pastor prayed for us at each service.

We then rushed off to the orphanage to visit with Dasha. She had enjoyed playing UNO with her friends the past two days and was happy to see us. We showed her photos of extended family members and learned more about her life. She seems willing to help teach us Russian. She hasn't showed much interest in learning English but she will certainly have to do that soon enough.

Lastly, we have spent several hours preparing for court tomorrow. Things should go well as far as the questioning is concerned but there are always opportunities to say the wrong thing or be misunderstood. We have a list of reasons why we are going to petition the court to waive the 10 day waiting period. From our perspective, they are very valid reasons. We pray the judge will feel the same way.

We need to go to bed now. We will write tomorrow as soon as possible with the news. We love you all and appreciate your interest in this journey and for your prayers in particular.

Another day in Nizhny

Today we had the day off. We were excited to walk around Nizhny and enjoy the familiar sights we had come to know when we were here a year and a half ago. The difference was that last time we were here is was the middle of summer. This time it was about 4 degrees, but we bundled up and headed to our favorite part of town with the cobblestone street and statues. We had a very nice day talked about all our children, and thanked God for his goodness and faithfulness to us.

We miss our kids at home very much and wish they could be here with us. We are so thankful to God for all of our children. He has blessed us so much.

We are so excited to see Dasha again tomorrow. We keep thinking about all the things we want to do with her, show her and tell her when she is "officially" ours. Please pray for another great meeting with her. That she will continue to feel comfortable with us and know that we love her and that she can trust us.

We also meet with our interpreter and power of attorney to go over court and what we should be prepared for. Please pray that the judge's heart will be changed and she will allow us to bring Dasha home with us this time. We think Dasha is ready to come home and we are certainly ready to have her.

What a difference 17 months make!!

When we last met Dasha she was a surprised and confused nearly eight year old little girl with very short hair. We spent only about one hour with her. She seemed scared, and was not very talkative and didn't even look at us much. Language and cultural barriers made it hard for us to judge her level of anticipation, or perhaps, apprehension for an adoption.

Not a day has gone by since that brief visit that we haven't prayed for her and thought about her. Today, over 17 months later, we finally got to see her again. Words cannot describe how wonderful it was!!

The orphanage was "quaranteed" because of a looming flu epidemic and so we had to wear shoe covers and face masks. We spoke with the orphanage director and her Pediatrician to get an update on her life since we last met. Her health, educational and social development have been great. She is a "good student", takes her studies seriously, and likes school. She is learning math, reading and writing but her favorite subject is Physical Education. (like an American already). She has no health concerns.

She then came into the room, smiled and gave us a hug. She's gotten taller and was dressed up in a nice outfit. Her now medium length hair was done with flower clips and looked so cute, like a little lady. She took us to another room where we talked to her for a while. She has memorized each of the kids names from looking at a photo album that we sent her last year. She specifically asked about Anjaela. She knows Anjaela is her age and seems very excited to meet her. Little does she know, Anjaela has been praying for Dasha almost every day since before we even met her.

We then played several games of UNO. We brought that game because you do not need to speak the same language to be able to play it. Dasha won the first two games and decided she really liked playing it. We had a great time and loved seeing her smile and giggle. We taught her how to shuffle the cards and she decided that was her job every time. She asked if she could keep them for the weekend so she could teach her friends. We took photos and some video as well. She liked our video camera and decided she wanted to say a Christmas poem for us to record.

We learned that after we last saw her she was very excited about the prospect of adoption. That excitement has waned over the many months, not wanting to be disappointed if it did not work out. How could she know how hard we have been working to bring her home. How could she know how many trips we made to the notary public and Secretary of State to complete the necessary documents. The many times we have been fingerprinted and had our criminal background checked. The many frustrations we have experienced that made us wonder if we should continue on.

Today's events tell us why we did not give up. The past frustrations now seem insignificant. Putting our trust in God has kept us going and now seeing answered prayers strenghtens our faith and gives us immeasurable joy. Thank you Lord for the patience to persist. Thank you Lord that you did not allow us to give up. What a terrible mistake that would have been.

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer".

What's next is another visit with her on Sunday and then court early Monday morning. Thanks so much for your interest in our journey. More importantly, thanks for your prayers as well. We are seeing now just how many have been answered.

Dasha apparently sometimes has a hard time falling to sleep at night, as does Anjaela. So now, God willing, once we complete this part of the adventure, Anjaela and Dasha will now have each other to talk to at night and keep each other awake even longer. What a scary and yet wonderful thing that will be.

A new beginning

We've been working very hard to get the correct paperwork to the judge in Nizhny. There have been many delays for almost unbelievable reasons. What normally takes 2-3 months has taken us 17. It's frequently been easy to get frustrated, which we did get many times. It would be easy to give up as well. However, knowing that God has a plan and that He is in control has guided us and comforted us this whole year.

A friend recently asked us why it took so long and we told her that it was God's sovereign will that it would take that long. Proverbs 19:21 says "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails". His plans are always superior to ours.

Having said all of that we will be returning to Russia next week, leaving December 9th for a court date at 10am on Dec. 14th. We should be able to see Dasha again on the 11th. If all goes well at court our next trip will be our "gotcha (got you) trip". We did not have to make three trips to adopt Anjaela six years ago but we probably will this time because the judge will likely enforce an official 10 day waiting period after the court date before she can leave Russia. That is 10 "business" days which then runs into Russia's holiday season where everything essentially closes down. Rather than stay in Russia during the required waiting period we will return home on Dec. 15th and come back early next year.

We thank you all for your prayers during our long waiting period and during the entire adoption process (we started this process 46 months ago). We now cherish your prayers for our safe travels to and from Russia. Please pray for safety for our children in Minnesota and for our relationship building with Dasha.

Please also pray for Dasha's understanding of what is going on. We have no idea whether she will be excited about the process or scared to death. Remember that she is being moved from the only place she has ever lived. She is changing cultures and nationalities and languages. Pray for her new siblings (particularly Bethany and Anjaela) as they adjust to having her in the family and that they can help her transition period as well.

Basically this is not the end of the process but really the beginning. In faith we move forward. We thank you for your interest in this journey of ours and for your love and prayers with us as well.

Tom and Cheri