Month: March 2007

3/26 6:50am Russia Time

/ Gina Marie / 1 Comment

Good morning – well, I am not sure when you will be reading this, but as I begin to write it is almost 8pm California time. I can also add that my body is rebelling against the time difference in many ways – feeling alternatively extremely tired and then defiantly wide awake. At present I am feeling quite tired and wishing I could go back to bed! However, we are getting ready to get our free Russian breakfast at 7 as Deana has an appointment with Natasha to prepare for court – she is scheduled to arrive at 8am and then Deana is to leave for court at 9:15 am. As I said yesterday, the court session is scheduled for 10am.

On a side note, Deana sends her apology for not blogging yet – she just cannot bring herself to do it as of yet due to emotions, nerves for court, being tired, etc. She is a little more nervous that she is doing this entirely on her own today as I will need to stay back at the hotel. I will use the time to finish my first week of Astronomy homework!

Okay, when we get back from breakfast I will write more details. For now, it feels almost reassuring to be in the same hotel in NN – to see familiar faces in the lobby, know what is on the menu, etc. Deana still had a bad experience with dinner last night and only ended up eating her French fries again. I loved my meal and have the garlic breath to prove it! But I have to say, I am nervous about staying in Moscow as it is very different there. I am hoping things are as easy to adapt to there as it has been in NN.

Okay, leaving for breakfast.

Yep, we are in RUSSIA!

/ Gina Marie / 2 Comments

3/25 6:45 pm Russian Time

Wow, what a whirlwind we’ve been on! Basically, we just ate our first full meal in NN and have gotten to our room, etc. Deana is taking a coveted shower right now as I sit here and wait! It is approximately 36 hours since our plane left Los Angeles.

Getting here wasn’t that bad, it’s just so many things back-to-back. The flight to Moscow was 13 hours, but we were fortunate that the plane was not very full so we could lay down to sleep, etc. Then we got to Moscow and wasted some time in the wrong line, but finally arrived at immigration and met up with Olga #3, our Moscow translator. She was nice enough to take us to an Italian restaurant and we had VERY GOOD pizza!!! Then we got on our overnight train ride to NN. This was a bit humorous because you need to bring your luggage into the compartment with you – since Deana packed the donations and gifts for the orphanages, we had four VERY LARGE pieces of luggage! They almost didn’t fit. But bottom line, we had a private compartment with two “beds” and were able to sleep a good portion of the trip.

Saturday night, or technically Sunday morning, Russia “sprung forward” for daylight savings time. So we are now 11 hours ahead of our friends and family in California.

We arrived in NN at 6:25 am and were met by Sergei, Olga #1 the attorney, and a new translator – Alla (Olga#2 the translator has had her baby, a little girl!). We drove directly to the hotel to drop off our massive luggage and brush our teeth and then we were off to the orphanages post hast. Getting into a car for a 3-4 hour drive after having traveled so much already was not a pleasant idea. However, the idea of seeing Zack and Sophia again was enough to overcome Deana’s tired body.

Oh, there is no (or not very much) snow on the ground here now so the drive was not nearly as cold as when we were here last!

Okay, I am very tired, but I know you all are wondering about the kids. We went to Sophie’s orphanage first and apparently the director didn’t advise the Sunday staff that we were coming. No biggie, just meant we had to wait a bit longer for them to confirm it was cool that we were there. Then, as if it were just yesterday that Deana last saw her, Sophia walked through the door and ran into her arms! She was wearing one of the outfits Deana had brought her last time as well as one hair bow. She is much taller than in December! While her hair is still on the short side, it hasn’t been cut so that was nice. Sophie was very excited to see her Mama, although she was a LITTLE shy at first. This did not last long, in fact, she became way more outgoing than in previous visits and proved to have similar levels of energy we had previously witnessed with Zack. Also, the pictures Deana left seemed to help because Sophie knows she will be seeing her brother again very soon.

Let me just say that SHE IS ADORABLE AND YOU ARE ALL GOING TO LOVE HER!

Due to tiredness I am jumping ahead.

Zack’s orphanage knew we were coming and in fact the Social Worker had arranged to come in on her day off to meet us. They brought Zack in and he seemed much the same size as before. He was much more reserved when he walked in – VERY much like the first time Deana met him. He acted very shy, although he was practically glued to Deana’s side. It did not take very long for him to go through the stages that he went through over the 3 visits Deana shared with him last time, and he ultimately was very happy, playing, growling at me, and otherwise playing. He also took some time to show Deana how his is able to put together “block puzzles” which seemed amazing to me, especially with him being so young. Deana asked him if he wanted to see his sister, and he emphatically said, “NO!” so he sounds like a normal brother!

His hair is still short too but it appears it was not cut since we were last here.

YOU WILL ALSO FIND OUT THAT ZACK IS ADORABLE AS WELL!

Both are very excited to go home with Deana. In fact, Zack was asked if he would cry when he left his home (the orphanage) and he again said “NO!!” Both children referred to Deana as mama and even said my name – Auntie Gina. It was awesome!

Zack’s visit was a bit hard for us because we were both dead tired. I had to start moving around in order to stay awake. Deana and I are about to crash.

Tomorrow at 10am Russia time Deana goes to court. I will remain at the hotel as it is a closed court session. Please pray for her if you are able – I know that is late for most of you.

I am now going to bed, I will try to write more soon.

The Documentary Continues…..

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

Hello!

Balance of 3/22:

Deana’s last day at work for the next 7 weeks turned out to be somewhat uneventful. I didn’t interact with her too much as I had my own business to attend to, but I was able to videotape key moments in her day; working at her desk, coming to my desk at lunch, leaving for the day. It was weird and cool at the same time. Deana seemed to be in the “I am not really leaving tomorrow” mode most of the day.

This continued in the evening, where she went on as if today was not a momentous occasion. She will be doing most of the finalization of the packing today as well.

Otherwise, here is the update:

The Visas are in transit as I type – they arrived at the FedEx location in LA about 20 minutes ago and should be at work before 10:30am. Thanks to everyone who prayed for this situation – it has totally been felt and things have really come together.

Okay, I better get my final packing done because I am going to work today for at least 4 hours!

The Documentary Begins

/ Gina Marie / 1 Comment

Okay, as I tried to do with the first Russian Trip, I am going to try to document as much as I can for this one ~ especially since this one includes the momentous piece of bringing Zack and Sophia home!!!! I will do my best to capture as much as I can by videotaping to get the emotions, but in the mean time I will try to record my observations in this blog.

Wednesday, 3/21:

Things really seem to be coming together – the court date is scheduled, the passports were received in San Francisco and the visas are on track, the hotels and trains have been scheduled by the agency……it’s almost surreal. Deana has been acting as if things were NOT moving forward, in the sense that it’s just another day. She has been frantically working on a project at work and our discussions have revolved around everyday life, not so much on Zack and Sophia. I even catch myself thoughout the day in surprise, realizing we are leaving Friday night – it seems to unreal.

It is becoming more real for Josh, too. He was counting the number of days before we return and he was exciting to know we would all take Zack and Sophie to Disneyland – the latest craze since Josh and Kenny had just finished their mini-vacation with Steph and Drew. At least Josh is anxious to go on Space Mountain with his Mom! 😉

Thursday, 3/22:

The day is still young, not much to report, but today marks the last day Deana will be going to work. While I will be going in for half of the day tomorrow, Deana will be home getting the last minute details together before we leave for LAX and ultimately Moscow. I will update more later on how the day goes!

I just can’t get out of my mind what I imagine Zack and Sophia’s reactions will be when they first see Deana! I hope I am able to capture the reactions on my camera.

Also, a special shout out to my DAD, who I love very much! Muay muay muay (those are kisses, people!)

Have a wonderful day!

"This is the most fun I’ve every had!!!"

/ Gina Marie / 1 Comment

Thus said my 6-year-old son excitedly over the phone yesterday. You see, Deana and I had arranged for Nanny McStephanie to take a little mini vacation with the boys because we would be in Russia. Well, the Russian part fell through but not the vacation! So Steph, Drew, Kenny, Josh, and Kenny’s friend Guy headed for Disneyland for a three day, two night adventure!

In the past, Josh had pretty much focused on the kid rides, partly due to his size and partly due to his disinterest with scary things he didn’t understand. However, he has been experiencing quite a growth spurt as of late and, apparently, has conquered some of his fears. I first heard of this through Deana, who had called to check on everyone just as they finished riding Big Thunder Mountain, which turned out to be Josh’s first attempt at riding a “big ride”. Not only did he scream “this is AWESOME!” throughout the ride, he was Mr. Chatterbox to D, saying “This is the most fun I’ve ever had!!!!!”

Not to be outdone, I called shortly after hearing and he got me up to speed – told me all about Thunder Mountain, told me how he “freaked out” on the Haunted Mansion but then laughed at the ghosts in the mirrors, and that he was going to the Matterhorn. He also went on the Pirates of the Carribean and so many more things! He was like, “This is the best day EVER!!!!” Those of you who don’t know Josh, he is a little more reserved than I am so his excitement was quite fun! He shortly cut me off and said he had to go.

He did call me right after the Matterhorn so I got to experience the excitement exactly how Deana did (booya!) but then he said he needed to go get his driver’s license at the cars so, well, I guess I wasn’t the center of his life at that moment! LOL

Kenny was a little too cool to get all excited but he was nice to me on the phone.

I am very glad that they are having such a great time. I also am very thankful for Steph and Drew who are taking such good care of the kids. We get to meet them for dinner tonight at Goofy’s Kitchen – I love Goofy so I am very excited!!!!! Oh, and it will be nice to see the kids too! 😉

Surviving!

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

This picture was taken a few weeks ago when Deana and I went to the Getty Center. It was a beautiful day that day, very warm, clear skies (which is sometimes amazing so close to downtown LA!). The next day it rained almost all day and we were so suprised the weather could change so drastically from one day to the next.That is how the last few days have been. Extreme joy with Deana receiving “the call” about her court date, shock and anxiety to hear about last minute, unplanned charges, excitement knowing it would be just days until Deana held her children again, to finding out the trip would be delayed and having a broken heart. It’s been very, very difficult at times. But I can tell you that right now, Deana is relying on the Lord and, although she is definitely saddened by the delay, she is holding onto the joy that only the Lord can provide. This is an amazing testament to how God works in crazy circumstances.

Update – we were able to get a full refund on the original tickets – a real miracle as they are not changeable, but our flight from LAX to JFK had been cancelled during the hour I was on holding waiting for customer service. Because of that, the entire itinerary could be cancelled with no penalties. This was a direct answer to prayer.

Next hurdle – finding a new flight as Delta was totally booked on 3/23 and 3/24 due to the weather delays, and the best cost was $2600 PER PERSON. Deana called the agency and they were not prepared to make up that much for our changes. They asked Deana to wait until Monday to see what they could do about better prices for tickets. However, if you know Deana, her mind was spinning and turning. So she found a NON-STOP flight from LAX to Moscow leaving 3/24 and returning 4/6 for only about $120 more per person then the original tickets. (A real blessing not only for cost, but our original flights had some pretty ugly lay overs both ways – 10 hours going, 17 hours coming back). D called the agency and they said to book it and they would pay the difference. They also said that we might be able to leave earlier – they were trying everything they could to get her out asap.

I must note that Deana’s attitude with the agency has been awesome and the agency has done an amazing job to get this going. Several people, including Deana’s direct contact, had been stranded themselves in the weather and were not able to get to the office, etc. So the fact that they made the effort to contact us today (Saturday) and work with us is great.

Final hurdle – getting the visas re-established quickly as well as getting a quick rescheduled court date.

So keep your prayers going and picture Deana with a big smile on her face.

Urgent Notice

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

Hello Everyone,

I would appreciate you lifting Deana up in prayer as it seems “things” are in place to discourage her and the adoption process.

Bottom line – there was a paperwork mishap and our Russian Visas are due to expire early next week. Because of that, the trip has been delayed a week and a new court date must be obtained. I am currently on the phone trying to reschedule our flight tickets hoping to get the same or close to the same fares. Fortunately, the adoption agency has offered to supplement some of these costs for this but it is still very stressful. Further, Deana seeing and holding her children has again been delayed which is heartbreaking for her.

Also pray that the process of obtaining new visas can be expedited to meet the week timeframe and that a new court date is easily obtained.

If/when you see Deana at work next week, please be gentle. Any questions, please ask me or Wanda.

Update……sigh

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

Okay, very tired, very stressed (not even approaching Deana’s stress though!), but alive!

Update on school:

  • Research Project/Class – paper in, presentation done, class over. Woohoo!
  • Art Appreciation – just now sent my six page paper on the belief system of Ancient Egyptians and an analysis of the Book of the Dead. Yeah, you heard me. Yes, I understand that seems like it has nothing to do with Art Appreciation! But it’s done and the class is over! Yeah!
  • Sociology – I was able to finish and turn in all the work that I had over the next two weeks. There are two assignments that were given to me Monday night, but my teacher is very cool and said I could email them to her from Russia or bring them in when I get back. Sweet!
  • Astronomy – my next online class, which starts Monday. No worries, I will have online access in Russia!

As for the trip, well, stress all around. But things are good and I downloaded Lost Season 2 onto my iPod for the trip so I am looking forward to having English TV when there! YES!

I will try to write more later! Please keep me and Deana in your prayers because we both get a little catty when stressed, so you can imagine how it’s been the last 24 hours!

Gina Out.

Interesting Monday

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

Forgive me, I failed to post about a very interesting Monday that happened this week!

First, a little background info. I have lived in SoCal my entire life. My Dad’s family was in Michigan most of my life, but I was fortunate to forge close relationships with many of them as I grew. One such relationship was with my Grandma.

I lived for my Grandma – she tried to come out each summer of my life (at least, it seems that way) and I was always very close to her. She and I wrote letters to each other for years and years although admittedly, she was much more reliable at this than I! Back when I was a kid, before all the present security at airports, you could wait for a person right at the gate. Some of my fondest memories are of first seeing her face coming down the hall from the plane and the excitement I felt that SHE WAS HERE!!!! I loved her.

Except for one year – I really blew it. Grandma had come to my high school graduation and yes, I was thrilled that she would make the long flight to share this momentous occasion in my life. But I also was finding out how selfish I could be. You see, the day after graduation I had to go back to the high school to pick up something important. When there I ran into some friends and we thought it’d be fun to hold onto our high school fun by going to the movies together. I went to the pay phone (yes, this was pre-cell phones) and called home to ask my Grandma if that was cool (which is also funny since I was 18 1/2 years old!). She said that I could do whatever I wanted but she was disappointed that I wasn’t spending time with her.

Remember, prior to this I lived for my Grandma.

Anyway, being the good girl that I was, I went home. But let me tell you, I was not happy. I would say that I was even a little ticked! When I got home, something extraordinary happened – I witnessed, I believe for the first time, my Grandma crying. You have to understand, my Grandma always seemed so strong, self-efficient…..not really one to cry. So I was shocked to see her in such a state! She told me that she was very hurt that I would even ask to go with my friends when she was there for such a short time and that she always wouldn’t be there. She went on to say that she was getting older and this might be the last visit she would be able to make or that she might die (my Grandpa had passed away six months before). Please know that this was NOT a guilt thing…..these were her feelings.

Also know, at the time her actions (once I got thru the shock) ticked me off some more. I mean seriously, I just wanted to go to the movies for a couple of hours! I kept it inside, but it really pissed me off. I stayed, but my heart was not in it even though I had seen the real tears my Grandma had sent.

After she went home, I remember falling apart – missing her and realizing how true her words were. I sobbed uncontrollably in my room – so much so that my brother came in to see if I was okay. It was so hard for me to really acknowledge how crappy I had treated my Gradma whom I loved very much.

On a side note, my Grandma was able to visit more – she came for my wedding and I think at least one more time with my Cousin Lori….maybe another time. I also was able to visit her several times, including for her 80th Birthday – less than a year later she would pass away, in 1999.

So anyway, for some reason I woke up Monday morning missing her terribly. I am not sure if I had a dream (which I sometimes do, she is alive and I am so happy). I felt melancholy and thought how much I wished I could take back what I had done in my youth, but more importantly tell her that I really miss her. That she was right, I should have held onto our limited times together because they are so finite. That I was blessed to be so close to her despite the distance between us…..so much!

I went about my Monday morning, getting ready for work and such. Driving to work, I stopped for gas and, as I stepped out of the car, there was a bright and shiny new penny with the head up. I have no idea why (did Grandma mention it once?), but I totally felt like this was a sign from my Grandma, telling me she understood and she loved me. I know it sounds crazy, but the feeling was so strong. And I am not one to act all woo woo like so please understand that. So from that moment on, I felt so much better and smiled because my life was so filled with my Grandma and the blood that is flowing through my veins.

So, there is my interesting Monday.

Today has GOT to be a better day!

/ Gina Marie / 2 Comments

Don’t get me wrong, yesterday overall was a pretty good day! However, I had a few problems at school. I will also remind readers such as DEANA not to crack up laughing when they hear about my ordeal!

First of all, walking to my class. Due to daylight savings, it was very light and, in fact, the sun was very much in my eyes. I was crossing the street to get to class and, because of the sun, did not see that the recent construction on the street created a 4-5″ different between the concrete gutter and the asphalt on the corner. Because of that, my right ankle twisted as I stepped off the curb. No big deal, except my right hand was holding my purse so when I continued to fall, I lost more balance. My concern at this point was my new pants, as my left knee hit the asphalt prett hard. It doesn’t stop there – my MASSIVE backpack felt it was now the appropriate time to flip up, basically throwing my entire upper body face first into the asphalt. Fortunately for me, there was a 20 pound, just out of high school, young girl that helped me out. Oh, and I was also fortunate enough to have rush hour traffic witness the entire ordeal!

To sum it up – pants are okay, left knee bruised and cut, right hand cut, no damage to face, back seems to be okay, right ankle a little sore.

The fun doesn’t stop there. LEAVING school, 9:30 pm so the sun was no longer trying to undermine me. I begin to cross the street – I always look over my left shoulder to make sure no cars turning right are about to kill me. No cars, cool. But when I was about 10 feet out, here came a beautiful BMW! I didn’t have any time to avoid hitting the stupid car! I totally hit his car (or did he hit me????). Damn driver didn’t even freaking stop and I hope I scratched his car! But I am okay.

So today it has to be better, right?????