Yarbrough Family

Anna Turns 4! (October)

2012-01-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

Our sweet baby girl is now 4! We celebrated her day doing a couple of her favorite things...going to the Zoo and having a party!

Her favorite gift by far was her new, pink, big girl bike! She is just like her big brother Brooks, she LOVES to ride :-)

Summer Storm

2011-07-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

I just love the Summer storms that seem to happen quite often here in the South. One minute it is hot and humid and the next you see dark clouds rolling overhead and you know that something is about to happen! Our latest storm sent Brooks and Anna rushing outside to play and splash in the rain, laughing at and loving every drop that fell on them:-) I stood safely in the garage snapping pictures of them until they both stopped and seemed to notice at the same time this unbelievable rainbow that was forming right over our house! It was the most beautiful perfectly full rainbow I had ever seen. They were both so excited and were yelling as loud as they could "Thank you Lord for rainbows!!!" I love moments like this!

2011-05-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd Gotcha Day!

2011-05-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

This month we celebrated Anna being in our family for 2 years! It is special for us to set aside a day to remember and be thankful for our family and the way God knit us all together. Of course He knew Anna would be our little girl when He created her, but when we stop and remember all the details that came together we stand in awe of how He orchestrated it. It is such a perfect match!

Here are a few pictures of how we celebrated. First Ryan gave Anna her present which was a bracelet with a charm inscribed "Daddy's Princess" (it's too big now so she wears it as an anklet) . She loves to show her anklet to everyone she sees and talk about how she is her daddy's princess.

In keeping with tradition we also made a typical Russian meal of borscht soup, stuffed cabbage rolls and bread. Surprisingly, the kids have liked to eat this both years we have made it! It was so cute when Brooks asked Anna "Do you remember this food Anna? Does it taste like Russia to you?"

We love our little one, she is growing up so fast but I still remember everything about our first day with her just two years ago.

Anna is 3!

2010-11-21T12:07:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe that our little baby girl is now 3! Anna has brought so much joy into our family, she is sweet, silly, smart and sassy all rolled into one. Here are some pictures from her birthday party, she looks so grown up to me!

Anna's gaga (Grandma) came to town to help us celebrate with a cupcake themed birthday party along with some of the neighborhood girls who love to play with her. She had a great time playing the games, decorating her own cupcake and of course the presents!

Amy's Birthday

2010-10-02T13:38:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this week Ryan surprised me with a sunrise hot air balloon ride! I thought I would be terrified but it was so peaceful and gorgeous with the crisp autumn air, the beautiful changing leaves and rolling green hills that I forgot to be scared! It was a great way to spend the morning and to see the view around our house from the sky!

>My mom flew into town this week to be at the boys school for Grandparents day and to be here for for my birthday. It is a special treat for us when we have family in town, we all love having her!

FUN, FUN, BUSY Summer!!

2010-08-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

We were so busy having fun this Summer, there was no time left to blog! Now that the boys are back in school (sigh) I will share what we did in pictures since there is too much to tell in just one post!

Here is a run-down of our time since May:

* My good friend Cammie and her son (Bradey's best buddy) flew in to visit us from WA

* Our family spent a week in Gulf Shores, AL with our friends the Trimbles who we knew from our time together in Holland

* Anna and I flew to California for my cousins wedding and were able to see lots of family. Anna was on the dance floor from the moment the dancing started until the last song ended, she is a dancing fool:-)

This is Anna's Great Grandpa E

* We took a 9 day road trip to Pennsylvania and stayed with our dear friends the Hanna's, then spent some time in D.C. on our way home

* Ryans parents and our nephew Sam visited us for 10 days. We took a road trip to Gattlinburg, TN spent a few nights there and hung out at Dollywood!

* We drove to St. Louis, MO to see some friends and catch a Cardinals b-ball game

Somewhere in between all our travels, we did spend some time hanging out at the pool and playing with neighborhood friends. Here is what our trampoline looks like on most evenings, we love it!!

It was a great summer and we were so sad
when all the fun had to end for school to
start!

Brooks Graduates!

2010-05-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Last week was a milestone in Brooks life...he graduated from preschool!!!! We figure with this degree under his belt the possibilities are endless:-) He was so proud of himself and we enjoyed making this a special day for him.

Next year he will join big brother Bradey at Grace Christian Academy for half-day Kindergarten. They are both so excited to finally be at the same school.

Here are some pictures of our proud day!

1st Gotcha Day!

2010-05-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Anna being with us for 1 year!

It was a great day of celebrating together as a family as well as with Amy's parents who flew in from California. We plan on making this a special day for Anna every year by focusing on her Russian heritage and talking about our memories of the day she was finally ours. We made a meal of traditional Russian Borsch soup and stuffed cabbage rolls (recipe courtesy of our Russian friend Nina!). We also set out various souvenir's and mementos from our time in Russia. I remember the day we took her from the orphanage as clearly as I remember the birth of the boys. Every moment was so special, a new beginning for all of us! It has been a tough year in many respects but also a wonderful year, I am so glad to be where we are today in our understanding of each other. Sometimes I wish we could go back in time, knowing what we know now of Anna's needs and personality and redo some of those days of trying to figure it all out. I am so thankful to be where we are!

Leaving the orphanage one year ago with our sweet baby

One year later, a complete family!

Anna with some of the Russian souvenirs

Playing with her Matryoshka doll (this is a special thing I normally don't let her have it because I am afraid we will loose some pieces!) She loves to play with this!

The day was even better celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa and of course a few presents!

Easter Day

2010-04-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter day this year! It brought back memories of last Easter when we were packing and preparing to leave on our second trip to bring Anna home. We are so thankful that this Easter she was home with us!

Here are some pictures of how we celebrated:

Our tradition is to make "Resurrection Cookies" the night before and read the account of Jesus sacrifice for us on the cross. In the morning the boys love to race downstairs and discover that the tomb is empty and Jesus has RISEN! Here they are EARLY in the morning eating their cookies.

Let the hunt begin!

Anna seemed to know just what to do, she was not going to let her brothers get all those eggs!

Bradey and Brooks were very sweet and left the easy ones for Anna to find while they hunted for the harder ones

We, along with many others, are concerned for the future of Russian adoptions because of the recent horrible act of one family. Please pray that the countries can come to an agreement and allow U.S. adoptions to continue in Russia. There are thousands of Russian children who have been adopted into loving families, it is heartbreaking to think that the door could be closed to so many of the children still waiting in orphanages. I can't help but think that what if this happened one year ago and we were not allowed to bring our daughter home? We are confident that God has a plan in all of this and He will prevail!
"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:5-6

A Typical Tea Party

2010-03-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since we last posted we are not even sure if anyone is following this anymore! So many things are going on since our move it has been hard to keep up. I have lots to post and update, but thought I would start with our tea party that happened a few days ago.

Anna's favorite thing to do is serve up tea! She will work on a tea party to make sure everything is just right and everyone is served properly. One morning she was really wanting to do it and I so I bribed Brooks into joining us. I told him I would pay him 25 cents if he would come:-) He negotiated and said he would join us for 25cents as long as R2D2 could join in as well! I wanted to document one of our tea parties so I could always remember them, so I grabbed my camera and captured how it all went down:

First off everyone gets all dressed up for the event. Who can resist wearing a tutu!! Even Brooks sported an animal print one (he will not be happy that I posted this!)

Anna works very hard to put everything just where it should be!

Tea parties are serious business!

Here Anna is learning that an uninvited robot is joining us... she is not happy

At some point a fight broke out

R2 prevails and gets to stay for tea

Everyone is happy...

We all enjoy our tea and animal crackers

Being a party planner is hard work, Anna falls fast asleep for naptime!

Lots of changes!

2010-01-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in our family since the last time we posted! Just a few days before Christmas we moved out of our home in Washington and sent the movers on their way to our new home in Tennessee! In the meantime we flew to Arizona and California to spend Christmas with both of our families. We had a great time seeing them even though it was too short! A few days after Christmas we flew to TN and closed on our new home just outside of Nashville. We have been in the house 3 weeks and are absolutely loving the area, our home, the neighborhood, boys schools, etc. We feel so blessed that this has been such a smooth transition, many prayers have been prayed for us! This is our 4th move with Ryan's company and lets just say I don't typically handle the change so well:-) We are missing our friends in Washington, our church, and everything that was familiar there. However, the people here have all been very friendly and have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome (gotta love Southern hospitality!)

Here are a few pictures to show what has been happening:

Anna sees Santa Claus for the first time...not a big fan! Oh well it made for a really cute pictue. When she sees a Santa now she still signs to me "cry" or "sad".

Our first Christmas with Anna, what a blessing to have her with us!

Anna's favorite things right now are babies and tea parties. When we go somewhere she typically wants to take a doll with her, when we are at home she is usually busy making anyone who is willing a cup of tea! I love it! What a change our home is seeing to our typical legos and swords!

Our attempts at keeping 3 kids busy with outside temps below freezing while we unpack the entire house

The boys are both enjoying their new schools. Bradey is in a small private school about 25 minutes from our house and Brooks is going 2 days a week to preschool

I bought this dress for Anna during our long wait in between trips to bring her home. It hung in her room as a reminder that one day she will be home and be able to wear it. Last Sunday she wore it for the first time! I can't believe she has been home over 8 months now, she has grown SO much in so many ways. She is still receiving Speech therapy to help with her expressive language, however, her therapist believes it is just an articulation and speech delay and nothing more serious. We are so thankful for our healthy, beautiful, smart, silly little girl.

Memories from a year ago...

2009-12-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

One year ago today we were in a orphanage in Siberia and finally held the one we had prayed for and waited for so long, our little baby Anna. She was only 13 months old then, and it was one of the sweetest days of our lives. I remember so much from that day, and it is hard to believe that it has been a year. It is really hard to put into words what we were going through, it was so emotional. All I know is God was so faithful to us, although Anna was knit together in another woman's womb, He knew from the beginning of time that I was to be her mommy and Ryan was her daddy and she is right where she is meant to be.

Here she is one year later napping again on her mama, but she has traded in her thumb for her "lovie" blanket

Anna's 2 Year Pictures

2009-12-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little girl is now 2, it is hard to believe one year ago we didn't even know her. We are still amazed at how perfectly she fits into our family, she is definitely a mix of sugar and spice! She is learning the ropes here in her forever home, however, she can still work us with her sheer determination and adorable smile. She is now insistent that we read her 4 books and sing her 4 songs at bedtime (we started at 2), if I try to cheat and just sing 3 she lets me know!

Enjoy!

This dress was made by my grandma for my sister and I when we were young. I love that Anna now has it to pass on.

Bradey's Christian Character Award

2009-11-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

Anna's Turns 2!!

2009-10-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

We had a very special weekend last week celebrating Anna's 2nd birthday, her U.S. Re-Adoption court day, and her and Brooks dedication at church. We were so glad we were able to pack it all into one weekend so our parents could fly in to celebrate with us!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the weekend so special. Anna enjoyed all the attention and we were so happy to be able to celebrate her birthday for the first time!

Here are some pictures from all the festivities:

Anna's adoption was finalized in Russia, however, we opted to have her "re-adopted" in the U.S. so she can receive a U.S. birth certificate. Both of our parents came, Amy's cousin Shanna and her kids Aiden and Marina, and our friends Keith and Shelley Brooks with their children. Thank you all for joining us, it was a MUCH easier process than the questions we had to answer in Russia:-)

The first of many birthday celebrations with our Anna!

Fun Party!

Brooks and Anna's Special Day being dedicated at our church

4 months today!

2009-09-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today marks four months that Anna has been home with us. It has gone so quickly in lots of ways, but it also feels like she has been a part of our family for a long time. Today we had our six month post-placement meeting with our social worker (yes 2 months early in order to get it written, notarized, apostilled, translated and to Russia on time). As we sat and reflected on her first weeks home, I was reminded of how far she has come in such a short amount of time. She was taken from the only building she had ever known, quickly flown across the world and then entered a new family where everything was completely and totally different. As much as we tried to slow down our lives for her, just living in America requires many car trips, busy stores, new food, lots of faces, etc. It is so much for a little one to take in! Looking back we realize how much fear she had. Her many sleepless nights, her constant need to be held, fear of the carseat, fear of her crib, jealousy of her brothers, fear of people, etc. All of that was her trying to deal with the very scary new things that were now part of her every day life. I think I would have been crying and upset too!! Now that we are here at our 4 month mark, she is a completely different little girl. She now loves her crib, sleeps through the night, will say HI to strangers but prefers mommy and daddy and loves her brothers immensely. She has the most adorable giggle and can light up our world with her smile! She truly has come so far from the scared little baby who had a death grip on me as we flew to America. We love our precious Anna and thank the Lord every day that from the beginning of time he knew she would be ours, and then moved mountains to make it so.

This is pretty much what our flight consisted of for 11 hours, Anna crying and me trying to console her. Poor little thing.

Arriving home to our welcome committee!

Now look at our silly girl!

Learning all about dress up from her friend Faith! Hanging out with her buddy Yosef (also adopted just 6 weeks before Anna)!

This is all her brothers doing...Brooks is Luke Skywalker, Bradey is a clone, and yes Anna is Princess Leah!

Vacation to California and Arizona

2009-08-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we traveled to CA and AZ to introduce Anna to all of her extended family. She had already met her grandma's and grandpa's, but there were many Great Grandma's and Papa's, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. waiting to finally meet the little one they have all prayed for so long for. It was 2 weeks of lots of new faces, but Anna did great and loved all of the attention. There are SO many pictures to post, but here is just a sampling of the loving family that Anna now has forever!

Anna and her sweet cousin Megan

"Anna Christine" with her Aunt Christine

The boys with their cousins Collin and Joshua

The adults out celebrating Christy's birthday!

Anna smooching her Great Grandma O

Anna and Grandpa

Playing with Grandma

The boys with their AZ cousins Ben and Sam

Anna and GaGa

Great Grandpa Vogel and Granny

Gaga and Papa

Sibling Love

2009-07-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Bradey and Brooks absolutely love their little sister. They argue over who's turn it is to get her out of her crib, who gets to unbuckle her from her carseat, who gets to hold her hand, carry her, etc. For the most part Anna too loves her brothers ~ about 90 percent of the time she tolerates them carrying her around like a ragdoll and manhandling her. As long as they aren't getting too much of mommy's or daddy's attention she's happy :-)

Comfort Food

2009-07-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Poor Anna had a cold this week and you could tell just by looking in her eyes that she felt miserable. I decided to make for dinner what we saw her eat in the orphanage with her group, mashed potatoes mixed with meat, onions and cabbage. We are not a big meat and potatoes family, but I wanted to try to give Anna some sort of comfort. Well as you can see, it worked! Little Anna ate the biggest portion of food we have seen since she was in the orphanage! She gobbled down every bite that was in her bowl and even finished some of mine. The boys were not quite as excited about the meal (they can't stand potatoes) but they saw how excited Anna was and it encouraged them to eat it too.

All mixed together potatoes, cabbage, meat and onion

Oh thank you mama, I LOVE it!

All Gone!!

Yeah for familiar food, lets do that more often:-)

Celebrate!!

2009-07-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of Anna's first Independence Day as an American citizen!

We had a great day celebrating our freedom and this wonderful country. Ryan's mom is in town visiting, the kids decorated their bikes and rode in the annual neighborhood bike parade, then we barbecued and enjoyed the huge display of fireworks courtesy of all our neighbors.

KABOOM!!

Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of how we spent Anna's first Father's Day!

Life can be crazy somedays with three kiddos!

Daddy's little shadow

Bradey challenged daddy to a game of Mario Kart Wii...daddy lost :-(

Out flying kites after dinner

One tired baby...

Bradey's Recital

2009-06-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Bradey had his second recital this week. He worked so hard and we are busting with pride!

One Month Home!

2009-06-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

Anna has been home with us one month today! It is interesting being on this side of our adoption process. I followed so many other families journeys and watch them bring their children home and sometimes doubted if it would ever happen for us. Now she is here where she belongs, and I sometimes still can't believe it! The other day I was driving around and looked in the mirror and saw her sleeping peacefully in her carseat and couldn't help but cry. She is REALLY here, in my car! a place I have prayed for her so many times while driving carpool, running errands, etc. Thank you Lord for bringing Anna home, you have been so faithful even when my faith was weak.

As you can see Anna is not such a fan of her crib (yet!) She made the transition from our room to her room this past week, but is still in her pack-n-play.

I know I am a big meany for taking this picture of her crying, but it was so cute I couldn't resist. Someday she will love her crib, I am sure of it:-)

She has gotten over her fear of the carseat! YEAH!

She decided to join her brothers in the sprinkler and she LOVED it!

A Night of Pampering

2009-06-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday night, my sweet friends gave a shower for me and Anna. It was such a fun, relaxing evening and a treat to be able to hang out with my friends! Many of them have walked this journey with Ryan and I for the past two years so it was fun to finally be able to show her to everyone.

Thanks girls for all the adorable clothes and toys!

My friends Cammie, Melissa and June who did the party for me.
Thank you my sweet friends for doing this for me, everything was so beautiful!

Anna's Firsts

2009-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

I realized today that I (Amy) have not posted to our blog since we were in Moscow. Where have the days gone? We don't quite know how to explain it, but having 3 kids seems like much more than 2+1. The first week was brutal in terms of sleep deprivation and re-entry into our new normal lives. Every day has gotten better and I can now say I am able to do more than what just HAS to be done in the day (i.e. feed the kids).

Anna amazes us every day with how she is adjusting. Of course we know this is just the beginning and there could be many bumps along the way, but from what we see so far she is doing wonderfully! I could go on and on about her, there is no doubt in the world that this little girl was born to be in our family. She just fits perfectly and we all love her to pieces. We took her to an International Adoption Specialist yesterday in Seattle. We are SO glad we made the effort to go and get a very in-depth check-up from a specialist who knows about Eastern European adoptions and what is typical from children from there. We would encourage any fellow adopting parents out there to do the same if you have one available anywhere near you. It is definitely worth it!

Here are some pictures of the "firsts" Anna has experienced with us in the 2 1/2 weeks since being home.

First time in a pool

First haircut

First popsicle

First look at the ocean (its actually the Puget Sound but it counts!)

One Week Home

2009-05-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

We have now been home for a whole week. Apologies to our loyal blog followers for our silence over the last few days. Life has gotten a bit more hectic with 3 kids and a job! We are just feeling like we are getting our legs back under us.

We hit the ground running with a soccer game for Brooks on Saturday morning and work and school on Monday. We came home to the very pleasant surprise of a new front deck and landscaping. We have the most amazing family and friends!

The week has gone pretty well, we are all getting used to being a family of five. Our house seems to have somehow shrunk and apparently every shelf is within the reach of an 18 month old. I (Ryan) used to pride myself in being able to change most any diaper with a single wipe...I am WAY off my game. It has taken all week for Anna to get over the 15 hours time difference. Her schedule was so regimented that our on-the-go lifestyle is quite a change for her. She really loves her big brothers giving them lots of hugs and kisses. It is so funny to see Bradey walking around the house holding her, usually at Anna's request. It is clear that she finds a lot of comfort being in the company of other children. Both Bradey and Brooks used Anna as their show-and-tell this week.

We sometimes have to stop and remind ourselves of all the changes Anna (and the rest of our family) are experiencing. We so appreciate all the encouragement and prayers from all of you. We promise to start answering the phone and the door and the emails and the mail again soon!

HOME!

2009-05-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

We are safely home. The flights were crazy long but the result was good. Anna is doing great and we are all trying to get over the jet lag. Bradey and Brooks are absolutely in love with their little Sister and it seems the feeling is mutual. We will post more later but wanted to let everyone know that we made it.

USA BOUND!!!!

2009-05-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

We leave in 20minutes for the airport. We realized from the time we leave the hotel until we land in Portland it will be a total of 24 hours. Please pray for us that it will be a good flight(s).

As soon as we land in the states Anna will officially be a U.S. citizen!!!!

God Bless the USA!

See you all soon!!!

It Takes A Village

2009-05-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

During our long month of being gone, we have often reflected on how many people it took to get us to this point. We finally have Anna in our arms, and so many of you have helped to get her here. Of course we could never thank everyone enough, but we at least wanted to attempt a shout out for all those who have supported us on this journey:

Our boys: You have been so brave while mommy and daddy are gone to bring home Anna, we are so proud of you and miss you deeply. You will be the best big brothers ever!

Our moms Linda and Donna: For taking such wonderful care of our boys while we have been gone. Words fail us to describe how much we love and appreciate you.

Our dads Steve and Ed: Thanks for giving up your wives for 2 weeks as they watched the boys for us and for your love and support.

Our AWAA (adoption agency) family: Thanks for all the support and prayers, you have been invaluable in all the information you have provided.

Kristen (agency coordinator): Thanks for patience with me as I called to ask you questions you have probably heard 100 times. Thanks for allowing me to cry to you on the days the wait seemed unbareable.

All our aunts, uncles, cousins: Thanks for your excitement to welcome Anna into the family.

Mike, Christy, Collin, Joshua and Megan: You have been so encouraging from the moment we told you we were adopting 2 years ago. Thanks for not letting the physical distance between us affect your excitement. Collin, Joshua, Megan your precious prayers said for your cousin Anna mean so much to us.

Scott and Shawna: You are both wonderful encouragers to us, thank you for your prayers, words, and excitement for Anna to be in our family!

Chad and Cammie: Chad, only a true friend is willing to do an airport run at 4am! Cammie, thanks for your friendship to our moms while they were in town, extra playdates for Bradey, and all the other "little" things you have done.

Keith and Shelley: Our fellow adoptive family friends, we have loved sharing and experiencing our journeys together with you. Thanks for sharing your story with us, listening to us share ours, and for mowing our lawn!

Troy and Shea: Thanks for all the adorable girl clothes!

Jeremy and Danielle: Thanks for the plane ticket!

Everyone who donated money for the orphanage needs: This was one of the highlights of our trip, to see how excited the director was to receive this donation!

Everyone who posted on our blog while we were gone, each note was a little gift from home and we appreciated every one.

Moscow

2009-05-07T22:49:00.001-07:00

Sorry we have been quiet the last couple of days. Anna has not been feeling well, she just has a cold, but it has kept her from getting good sleep. We spent most of the day on Wednesday packing up the apartment and getting the last of Anna's Russian documents completed. We flew out early yesterday morning for Moscow. She did pretty well on the flight she cried some but we were expecting that. She did fall asleep off and on for about 3 hours so that was a huge praise!

We arrived early in the morning Thursday to Moscow and we were all starved. We asked our driver to take us to the nearest McDonalds. They were only serving breakfast, but that sausage biscuit tasted sooo good! Anna didn't seem to care too much for it, she refused to eat the pancakes we ordered for her, but she did eat some egg. Everything she has had to this point seems to be pureed, so she is not used to food she can pick up and eat. After McD's we were taken to get her U.S. Passport photo, then to the hospital for her medical evaluation. Tomorrow Russia is celebrating their Victory Day here in Moscow which is a big celebration for them. All of central Moscow is basically closed off to traffic for the celebrations and parade. As we were walking to the hospital we were able to see the huge display of aircraft practicing the flying formations for Saturdays parade. There were over 100 planes flying really low along the parade route in various formations. After that the huge army tanks came down the street. It was quite amazing for us to see, poor Anna, so much to take in for one day.

Each day with Anna we see more of her personality showing and she seems to get more comfortable with us. She switches between only wanting mommy for sometimes and then only wanting daddy for sometimes. Today I dressed her in a shirt that says "I'm Wild About Daddy" and it's so true!

I am finding out I am clueless on how to do little girls hair! At the orphanage they always had it in those bows or little pigtails on top. I am having a hard time just putting a barrette into it. She sits very still, and doesn't seemed bothered by anything in it. It is comical to see what it looks like when I am done, even Ryan has commented that I should maybe practice some more:-)

The next few days our facilitator will be handling our paperwork at the U.S. Embassy so we just have to sit tight in the hotel. Monday is a holiday here so on Tuesday we go to the Embassy to finalize Anna's papers. It seems like so much down time just sitting around and we are so ready to get home!

Day One -- So much fun!

2009-05-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

I am starting this post today while Anna is taking her nap. I forgot how much work an 18 month old takes! It is all so much fun, everything she does is too cute and we want to see her every move:-) I realized just a minute ago that I had mashed potato and carrot chunks in my hair leftover from her lunch...isn't that sweet! She is quite a force when she is awake, constantly going, going, going! But then, when she is tired, it is like a light switch. I pick her up, hold her close, she finds her thumb to suck and her eyes shut almost immediately. I wish she needed me to hold her longer, but now I just stare at her sleeping until my arms feel like they are going to fall off. I am not sure if this is her normal way or if she is just extra tired and overloaded with all things new. Yesterday I wanted to hold her all night long and watch her sleep, I was so emotional having her with us for her first night. I keep trying to describe how amazed we are that she is finally with us, but there are no words. It is all the same feelings we had the days our boys were born, however, this was a 2 year "pregnancy" so the result seems sweeter. Plus, I am not confined to a bed and I have enough energy to take care of her:-)

Last nights bath was very traumatic for her (and us too)! We had no idea she would react in such a way, it was sheer terror. We had planned on getting her first bath on video, but we were all so upset that we totally forgot. We might stick to sponge baths until she is more comfortable with us. We wanted to take her swimming at the Moscow hotel pool, but now we think that might be a bad idea.

Tomorrow is our last day in this apartment. We need to go somewhere to sign papers, then the rest of the day we will be packing to leave very early Thursday morning.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Well, what a difference a day can make! When I started this post is was in the afternoon, since then we decided to try Anna's bath tonight in the kitchen sink vs. the bathtub (thanks to my sisters great advice, THANKS CHRISTY!) as you can see, viola...she loved it!

Ours Forever!

2009-05-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

Today was the long awaited "Gotcha Day" that all adoptive parents look forward to, remember and celebrate forever.
May 4, 2009 will always be one of the three best days of our lives. Enough with the words because we are now aloud to share pictures, here is our precious Anna!

It was a great day and we could tell we were covered in prayer. We had been anxious and nervous about her reaction to being taken from everything she knows as normal. It is amazing to think how many new experiences she had just today, from being taken outside the orphanage walls, to riding in a car, to hearing English all day, to riding in an elevator, to seeing all new things.

The minute we left the orphanage and got in the car Anna's eyes were huge and full of tears, and then closed. She fell asleep not even 30 seconds into getting into the van! She peacefully slept most of the car ride back to the city. This was a huge blessings as it really helped calm all 3 of us! Thank you for your prayers.

We went directly to take her passport picture and then back to our apartment. She was happy the whole way and even took a pretty good passport picture, which is more that I can say for myself! We all enjoyed the day exploring around the apartment, Skyping with our parents, and getting to know one another. Sort of the first day of the rest of our lives!

She took a good nap this afternoon, ate well, screamed through a bath, pulled everything off every counter and made her sappy parents tear up with each movement. It is 8:30PM here and she is now just asleep. We are praising God for how He orchestrated this entire process from placing it on our hearts to adopt over 2 years ago, to now this very special day. He knew long ago how special May 4, 2009 would be and we are so grateful.

The link below has many more pictures of Anna from the last two weeks if you have the time.

http://gallery.me.com/ryan.amy#100118

Love,

The Yarbrough 5

We're ready!

2009-05-03T03:26:00.000-07:00

Today has crept by at a snails pace. We spent the day getting ready for Anna's arrival, we are so ready to have her here with us! We prepared the gifts for the caregivers at the orphanage, cleaned the apartment, did laundry, cooked up some vegetables so we can have them ready for when she gets hungry, set up her pack-n-play and took a final trip to the grocery store.

Most importantly we spent some time in prayer praising the Lord for bringing us to this day. There is no doubt He knew when she was being formed in the womb that she was going to be our little girl. We will never fully know all that He did to bring this little girl born in a small town in Siberia to our lives. But we know He ordained it from the beginning of time and His timing is perfect. We prayed that tomorrow will be easy on her, that she will be filled with peace from her Heavenly Father and know that we are here to love her. We prayed for her as she spends her last night in her room where she is comfortable with all her playmates, and we prayed earnestly for the little ones that are left behind, that someday they too will be going home.

We are amazed at God's blessings upon us. We are prayed up, praised up and geared up for tomorrow!

Rest assured, there will be many pictures of her sweet face posted as soon as she is in our arms!!

Last Saturday in Krasnoyarsk!

2009-05-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

For our last Saturday here we decided to hit the streets and see as much as we could on foot. We walked from our apartment across a pedestrian bridge to a small island on the Yenesey river. After that we stopped at our favorite coffee place to warm up and drink a cappuccino. We happened across a large bookstore and spent some time in there perusing and were able to find a beautiful photography book about this city written in both Russian and English (score!). After that we found a museum and spent time wandering through there. It was now about 3 o'clock so we found a place to grab some lunch then headed back home. It was a fun day seeing some more sights and learning about the beautiful city and culture our daughter comes from.

Courthouse where Anna was declared officially ours

Bridge we walked over today

Gates into the city

Typical Russian wear (women here love their boots!)

Random pictures

2009-05-02T05:37:00.000-07:00

Some of the random shots taken the past 14 days we have been living in the apartment:

This is how we rig up the adaptor and converter so I can use my flat iron. You do what you gotta do!

Laundry day

Enjoying our evening meal

Russian Coca-Cola...tastes slightly different but still scratches that caffeine itch

We put our life into this mans hands everyday on the drive to the orphanage, SCARRY!

Dueling laptops - Ryan catches up with work, I catch up on emails

The last visit

2009-05-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

The last two days we have gone to visit Anna later in the afternoon after she wakes up from her nap. This time seems to work better for her because there is less activity going on in our visiting room and no caregivers are coming in and out. In fact the last two days we have had the room all to ourselves with no interruptions. She is still crying when they bring her to us, but after a few minutes we are able to calm her down and get her to play. Today she was walking up the steps all by herself and when she turned the corner and saw me she immediately burst into tears and tried to get back down the stairs (now that just warms a mothers heart:-) Ryan is always so great with her and is able to get more laughs out of her than anyone. It won't be long until she's a daddy's girl!

We really enjoyed the Russian ballet performance that we went to a couple of nights ago. It was of Cinderella so we were able to understand the story line and follow along. We feel like we have been on a "date" for the last 17 days! Yesterday Ryan decided to take the elevator while I walked the 9 flights of stairs to the bottom floor. When I met up with him he said "Wow, I think that is the longest we have been apart in 2 weeks!" Kind of funny, but it's true:-) We are enjoying every minute of it, we know once we get home we will long for the days we could complete our conversations.

Today was our last day visiting with Anna in the orphanage. On Monday when we make that hour long drive, we will be going with the sole purpose of bringing her home! No more playing in that room, no more having to say our goodbye's, she will be ours! Over the weekend we are going to do as much as we can to make the time go by fast. Monday morning starts a new adventure for us and we can't wait!!

Anna seems to have a thing for shoes. Whenever we try to take them off of her she gets really mad. She is particularly attached to these adorable patent leather ones. She has worn them every day since we arrived last Monday, I considered asking the orphanage if we could take them with us, but I think I will buy her a new pair once we get home. Love those chubby legs:-)

Two steps forward and one step back...

2009-04-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

Today's visit started off great, Anna came right to both of us and we starting playing together. After just a short time, a few little ones from her group came in for a music class. Anna was so excited and jumped right in with the songs and motions. When it was time for them to leave she clung to her caregiver and started crying! It was really surprising because before when her group would leave she didn't seem to mind. She cried and cried while her caregiver left the room, it took us quite some time to settle her down but the day went downhill from there. A little while later another caregiver came to feed her her morning snack, again when she went to leave Anna cried for her and wanted nothing to do with us. She seemed particularly upset by them leaving her today. She would let us play for a few minutes then she would start getting sad again. After a couple of hours we realized she was only getting more upset and it seemed like the best thing would be to send her back to her group so she wouldn't be so sad. We knew this reaction was very likely at some point, but things had been going so well we were surprised to see her react this way today. I think she is starting to realize there may be a reason we keep coming back every day, and perhaps starting to resist us and the changes we bring to her normal routine. Hopefully today was just an off day and tomorrow she will be back to her happy self!

After our visit we went with the director of our orphanage to a large baby store to purchase the items with the money we received from donations. It was so much fun and a good day for some retail therapy! The director seemed very excited to purchase some "big ticket" items that she had been wanting to buy. She told us they were in need of baby strollers that they could take the smaller babies outside in during the winter and still allow them to lay down and be warm. We were able to purchase 3 of these! This was great because these type of strollers are very expensive and I am sure they will use them often. They feel it is important that the children get fresh air everyday and even take them outside as long as the temperature is above 5 degrees! We also purchased a large plastic play yard for crawling children so they can play inside a safe environment without escaping. She also chose many small baby teething type toys and a large quantity of Q-tips! I guess you go through many of those with 105 children:-) As they were loading up the van will all the purchases she told me they would always remember our family because of these items. I told her they were gifts from Anna's friends and family back home as a thank-you for the care she received from them. She told me "please tell them to come and adopt these children and babies". I was so touched by this, she truly desires to find loving homes for each of the children under her care. She is a wonderful lady.

Here are pictures of the purchases from many of you! Thank you, thank you!

Blah, Blah, Blog

2009-04-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of those days. We woke up missing our boys at home and frustrated that we only get 2 hours a day to be with Anna. The newness of living here has worn off, and now we are just trying to get through the rest of this waiting time. Typically families are able to take their child out of the orphanage on this coming Friday, since the mandatory 10 days of waiting after court day is over. However, this Friday is a Russian holiday, so we were hoping that we would be able to take Anna on Thursday since the courts are closed on Friday. Our facilitator told us today that it is not possible, and we have to wait until MONDAY to get her. I was very discouraged to hear this, I was hoping we would have this weekend alone with her to be able to start getting her more adjusted to being under our care. Now we will only have her 3 nights until we leave for Moscow. I know it will all work out, it's just not happening according to my plan! This also means that we should probably wait until Monday to post pictures of her face. They have cautioned us to wait until she is in our care before we send out her pictures. Just to warn you, we have already taken 920 pictures since we have been here, so you may be seeing more of her face than you would care to:-)

The good news is today's visit with her was lots of fun! It is amazing how our hearts are already so attached to her. We love our precious little girl. The clothes they had on her today were size 0-3 months!!! NO JOKE! I can't believe they could squeeze them onto her. Just 2 days ago they had her in 4T and she was swimming in it. I had happened to take along one of our 12 month outfits to try on her so that is what she wore most of our visit with her, she just looked too uncomfortable in the smaller one.

Tomorrow we are going at 8am to the orphanage and then we are going shopping! We are taking the director of the orphanage to go spend the money that so many of you generously gave to help with items they are needing. I am so excited to be able to do this and that the director is coming along makes it even better! We will be sure to take pictures and let you know what your money purchased.

We just realized today we have 17 more nights until we will be home. That seems like forever...

This is Anna and I looking out the window today, saying "let us out of here"!

This is the sweet little girl that is making this ALL worth it!

Lots to see today

2009-04-27T01:36:00.000-07:00

Anna walked right into the room today and came to us like she knew we would be there, YEAH! I was really concerned we would have to start over with her getting to know us since we had not seen her in 2 days, but she seemed to almost be expecting us! During our visit we were able to watch her participate in her groups "music time". It was like being at the library story time in our hometown! One of the caregivers played the piano and sang the songs while the children mimicked the movements with the shakers and toys. It was really cute to watch and we could tell they were used to these songs and knew what to do. Anna seemed excited to show us her stuff, particularly how she can spin around and clap at the same time:-) After her class time we played hard for another hour and a half. We could tell she was getting tired or hungry because she started acting like she was on Friday afternoon, just kind of fussy and hard to please. We brought out a board book we had with us and she sat contently on my lap and looked at it for at least 10 minutes. That was a good sign that maybe on the plane she will be pacified with "low stimulus" toys.

We had been told at some point during our visits we would be able to see her eat a meal with her group. Ryan and I had talked about this some and commented that it probably takes forever to feed 15 small little ones their meals. Umm, we could not have been more wrong! They brought us down to her groups room and there at little small tables and chairs were about 11 other kids just starting to eat their lunchtime meal. She eagerly sat down and they brought hers to her. Before I could even get out the camera and snap a couple of pictures she had completely drained her soup bowl! I am not kidding, I thought she had spilled it or something. I have never seen anything like it, our boys could take some eating lessons from her! The tables they sit at come right to their chins so these little babies just have to basically shovel the food into their mouths with the adult size spoons they are given. Once the soup was gobbled down they brought their plates with a large portion of mashed potatoes with meat and carrots all pureed together. Same thing happened again, these kidos take huge bites and shovel every last drop in before you can get your mind around what is going on. After this, the caregivers served juice in a normal size cup (no sippy) and they drink it all on their own. It was a sight to see! Start to finish I think it was over in 10 minutes.

After witnessing some of her normal daily routines these last few days it is starting to sink in exactly how much of her life in just a matter of days is going to be completely new. I am feeling sad for her because of the changes we are about to thrust upon her. She is very comfortable in her environment and with her caregivers and we are going to remove her from everything that she knows. Her sights, sounds, smells, schedule, food, drinks, language, clothes, bed, playmates, caregivers, toys, absolutely everything will change. Although we know in the long-run it is what is best for her, we have to be so sensitive to the fact that her mind is going to be overwhelmed with everything new. My prayers for her is that somehow in the midst of all the changes that will be going on around her, that she will start to realize we will be her constant. These two people that smile, talk and dote over her all day will always be here and that she can learn to trust us. I pray that God will hold her extra close as we make our journey home and settle her into her new life. I also pray that we will be sensitive to her and be able to understand what she is needing (time to cry, time to be held, time to be left alone). We are discovering that our journey TO Anna is over, but now another journey begins.

Front of our apartment building

View from apartment building

Tastes almost like home

PS: If you read this and happen to see our boys, please give them a big hug from us. We are missing them so much it hurts!

Action Packed Weekend

2009-04-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

Ryan here....since we could not see Anna this weekend, we decided to pack in as much action as possible. Our facilitator and driver picked us up on Saturday to follow the route of the Amazing Race. Many of you may have watched recently when a leg of the TV show "The Amazing Race" came through Krasnoyarsk. On the show they had to stack logs by the river, build shutters, visit the huge dam and ride the "bobsled" run near the city. Our "handlers" (as we like to call them) were surprised that we knew of these places and, of course, had never heard of the show.

It was a beautiful drive up the river to the dam although it still has nothing on the Columbia River Gorge, in our backyard! Here are some pictures from where the ice is still formed even though it was 70 degrees today! No fish ladder on this dam so there are several fish markets where the "dead-ended" or turbine-chopped fish end up. Very nice to look at but we weren't too tempted to buy.

After visiting the dam we went to an amusement park / ski area that was recently built by the company who mines and manufacturers aluminum and nickel in the area. Amy and I were able to ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain and take some pictures looking back onto Krasnoyarsk. It was a gorgeous day at about 65 degrees and total sunshine. We then rode the bobsled ride down the mountain which has to be one of the best and longest in the world. The ride dragged us nearly 2 miles up the mountain and then we zigzagged our way down. Unfortunately, the picture does not do the ride justice but we got some great video of Amy screaming the whole way down that our boys will love!

Today (Sunday) we had the opportunity to visit a Russian Baptist Church on the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk. Through a contact of Peter Law (see previous post), we contacted the Pastor of the church, Yvgeny. He gave us the number of a woman who teaches english in the city and lives nearby our flat. We called her and organized to meet to take the bus to church. The cultural experience on the bus was complete as it was the day of the year when everybody visits the graves of their relatives. There is not an english word to describe how packed the bus was...did I mention it was hot today, too? We made it to the church and greatly enjoyed the service. It was a blessing to worship the Lord with these fellow believers on the other side of the world. The rest of the day was relaxing as we head into week two, the final stretch, until we can bring our daughter home.

I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to tell you how thankful I am for my partner in this journey (and in all of life). So many people have asked, "aren't you sick of each other, yet?" or "are you bored?" The answer is unequivocally no! We are really enjoying this time together and are making some long-lasting memories. We are even still speaking to one another! I am so blessed to have Amy and look forward to many more wonderful years together as a family of 5!

Til tomorrow....

Fun Day!

2009-04-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Today we were able to spend the morning with Amy's good friends Dad who just happened to be traveling through Krasnoyarsk! He is traveling with a missions team, so we were able to meet his team and spend some time with them. It was so encouraging to be around fellow believers and English speakers! Such a small world.

After our visit with him we went to the orphanage. She did not cry when she saw us and she eagerly came to me. She also warmed up to Ryan right away. We spent the first hour playing inside the playroom then bundled her up to take her outside. At first she did not want to walk on her own, she just wanted to be held by us. Then she went to just wanting me to hold her, then she went to wanting nothing to do with either of us and only wanted to be on her own. We are not sure if she was getting tired or hungry or just plain sick of us! We realized we are constantly in her face for the whole 2 hours and she was probably wanting us to back off:-)

We are not able to visit her over the weekend so we are trying to set up things to keep us busy. Tomorrow our facilitator is taking us to the bobsled run place that was on the show "Amazing Race" when they came to Krasnoyarsk this season. We are super excited to try that! On Sunday we have found a local church that we are going to go visit during their service.

We are hoping Anna does not forget us over the weekend and we have to start all over again with getting her used to us. We are still unsure of when our "Gotcha day" will be (the day we can take her out of the orphanage). Because of a Russian holiday coming up next Friday we may have to wait until the following Monday. We are praying we will not have to wait and that we can have her with us by next weekend so she can get more used to us before we take her on the plane to Moscow.

We'll post pics from the bobsled run tomorrow!

Picture of a man ice fishing this morning on the river

2009-04-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

We went to the orphanage this morning from 9-11am. It was good to see Anna at a different time, she did seem a little more spunky and busy. We are not sure if it was the time of day, or the fact that she is starting to get more comfortable with us. We are beginning to see some insights into her personality which is soo cute. She definitely can get her point across, even though she doesn't use words. She enjoys slapstick humor (our boys will love that!). If you knock something down or pretend to fall down, you will get the cutest belly laugh out of her! I am sure the boys will provide countless hours of this type of humor for her:-)

While we visited with her for the 2 hours today, the same room was also being used for different groups "exercise time". They would rotate in and out small groups of 5-6 children to play around and even walk on these cute little treadmills (I will be sure to take a picture next time of them and post it). Although these children were having a great time and enjoying playing with their caregivers, my heart was still breaking for each of them. Do they also have a mama and papa who were coming for them? Many of them were content to just sit and watch us play and laugh with Anna. I wanted to let them join in, but it didn't seem like their caregivers wanted them to. One little one in particular walked up to Ryan two separate times and gave him a hug, then turned and went back to her group. She kept a close eye on him and seemed particularly interested in watching him play with Anna. I will always remember her adorable face.

After our visit we ate lunch at an Italian buffet and came back and did some grocery shopping at the store and farmers market. I think we are getting the "American prices", in fact I am positive of it, since we just spent $5 on a few sprigs of fresh dill!!!!! Can you believe that?! We also paid $10 for a few potatoes, I thought potatoes are cheap and that's why everything here is cooked with them! HMMM it sounds a little suspicious.

I can't help but post a few pictures of our sweet Anna's head donned with various bows. I know someday she will not like me for this, but seriously they are too cute to pass up. We were just saying we still don't know the true shape of her head because EVERYTIME we have seen her she is sporting these ginormous bows. I have to hand it to the caregivers, I am amazed that they can tie such a thing into an 18 month olds hair. Truly a work of art.

PS: Today was Anna's 18 month birthday. Happy year and a half to our sweet little girl!

Day 1 with our Daughter!

2009-04-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun, relaxing day. We stayed in our hotel for the first part of the day, fixing breakfast, doing some laundry, skyping, catching up on emails, journaling, etc. It was so nice to be able to relax and not have a list of things we felt we had to do. We were discussing how nice it would be if we could bottle up some of this free time and use it later, once we get home with 3 children to care for!

At 2pm we were picked up to go to the orphanage. It was a different feeling this time driving to see Anna. The other three times we have gone I have been nervous and anxious. This time all I was was EXCITED! This was the day I was seeing her as her official mommy. I even learned how to say "I am your mommy" in Russian and probably told it to her 50 times today. She only cried for a few minutes when we first arrived (big progress from Monday) and warmed up to Ryan very quickly. By the end of our time with her she was initiating kisses from both of us and was all smiles. We taught her how to sign for the word "more" and she picked it up really fast. We also tried "thank you" but as usual for all of our kids, that one tends to take more work:-)

We had two "firsts" with her today. We were able to feed her the afternoon snack of crackers and warm milk served on a china plate and teacup! I can't imagine giving an 18 month old a real teacup to drink from. She wanted nothing to do with the milk because we had brought a sippy cup of water and she felt pretty special having it which was a totally new concept to drink from. After she finished her snack we were able to bundle her up and take her outside. They brought her outdoor wear for us to dress her in, it was another pair of pants to go over her existing ones, a coat, hat, scarf and boots. It was a beautiful day outside, we think at least in the 50's and we felt she did not need all those layers, but we do what they tell us! We walked around the orphanage grounds and enjoyed being in a different environment with her. As we were out walking, a group of little ones her age were being walked around by their caregivers. As they rounded a corner and saw Ryan about 3-4 of them immediately said "PAPA!". I stopped and felt such an intense sadness for those little ones, they see a man and instinctively call him Papa. Ryan also was moved by it and we are still shaken by the fact that those sweet, innocent little ones have probably never known a Papa of their own. It was such a reminder to me to be on my knees interceding for these little ones, that they may some day have an earthly Papa, and most importantly come to know their true heavenly PAPA.

Tomorrow we will go to the orphanage at 8am. It will be good for us to see Anna at a different time of day and see how perhaps she is different in the morning than the later afternoon.

We will post some pics tomorrow. Dasvedanya!

Announcing...

2009-04-21T02:42:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that we are officially the parents of a beautiful, sweet, Russian princess named Anastasiya Christine Yarbrough!

Today was filled with lots of emotions. The court proceedings were a little intimidating, but Ryan did a wonderful job answering the judges and prosecutors questions. After he was questioned for about 45 minutes, I was able to stand and explain to the judge why I felt Anna was a good fit for our family and how I feel about her. I did shed some tears while speaking, but was able to pull myself together and finish all of the other questions without completely loosing it! I can't help but get emotional when I think how long a road it has been to finally have this day happen. For the last two years we have prayed and prepared and worked on endless amounts of papers to bring us to this point. The wait is finally over, we can now focus on taking care of this sweet baby who has gone the first 18 months of her life without the consistent love of a mommy and daddy. Wow, we can't wait to start catching her up on all the hugs and kisses she has gone without.

After court we came home and skyped with our families to tell them the good news. Later in the afternoon our facilitator and driver picked us up to go out and celebrate. We asked them to take us to a traditional Russian restaurant and order us typical Russian food. Be careful what you ask for, that was an experience:-) The first was a plate of raw fish which included caviar nested on top of boiled quail eggs. UMMM, this is not my idea of good food, but I did not want to disappoint, so I am proud to say I was the first to pound down the caviar and fish!! Ryan was very proud of me. I pretended I was on an episode of Survivor and had to eat it in order to stay in the game. With that over, the remaining dishes were much better (i.e. cooked!). We had a great time hanging out and laughing with them.

We are constantly amazed at how God has shown himself to us during this time. We are humbled and so grateful that He has chosen us to be the ones to raise Anna, what a gift of His love.

Celebrating and Praising Him!
Ryan and Amy

Long Awaited Day

2009-04-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great visit with Anna today! When she was first brought into the room she immediately started crying, really crying! She clung to her caregiver for dear life, it surprised me some, even though I had been warned that she may not remember us. In my mind I have replayed this day over and over, and anticipated it for over 4 months. Of course she is too young to recall those brief days we had with her way back in December, so we were strangers again to her. I finally was able to hold her and her caregiver left the room. She cried for a few more minutes but then was able to be soothed, unless she caught a glimpse of Ryan! It took her about 30 minutes until Ryan was able to bribe her with some Cheerios and get her to not be afraid of him. By the end of our time with her she was laughing, walking all over, and even went up to Ryan to have him hold her:-) She is so beautiful and doing very well. It is amazing how much she has developed in the last 4 months. She is now walking all over the place, has adorable soft curly hair (of course with a HUGE bow in it!) and we were able to see more of her sweet personality. The long awaited reunion was awesome!

We got a solid 12 hours sleep last night which was very much needed after going without for over 30 hours the previous days. We had time to do laundry, take a walk, read and rest up for the day. It was sunny and in the 30's most of the day which isn't too bad. We were brought to the orphanage later in the afternoon. The ride there and back was non-stop preparation for court tomorrow. Ryan gets to do most of the talking before the judge tomorrow so he was grilled on a multitude of questions. Please pray for us as we appear before the judge and the adoption is granted or denied (our court will begin at 6pm Monday west coast time). We are trusting God that we will officially be Anna's parents as of tomorrow!

We have enjoyed Skyping with our family and are very thankful for technology that has allowed us to see our kiddos back home. We are missing them so much and know that we have a long wait ahead of us until we are finally all together.

We will post again tomorrow after court!

We are here!

2009-04-19T01:52:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since our last post, so this may get a little long!

On Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful tour of Red Square with a lady who spoke great English and was an amazing Russian history buff! So much history in this country that we were completely naive to. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit cold with off and on snow but we still had a wonderful time and enjoyed learning what we could. It was so fun to be back in Red Square and relive the memories when Ryan and I were here together on our trip in college, which is when we met and started dating. Wow, lots has changed since then:-) Who would of thought that we would be back here together 12 years later, now married and adopting a little girl into our family. It makes me laugh to think God knew all of this would happen way back then!

After our tour we went back to the hotel and they let us hang out in our room until 5pm when we were picked up to go to the airport. Our flight left at 9pm and we landed here in Siberia at 5:30 this morning. I was getting emotional driving from the airport to the city. So many times in the last 4 months I have thought of this city and cried wondering when I would be able to return. Now we are actually here, it is hard to believe. Just sitting here thinking I am this close to Anna is making me want to jump out of my seat and go run to where she is! Unfortunately, since it is Sunday we have to wait until tomorrow to go and see her. I asked our facilitator if we could go today and she just laughed...we actually are not going until 2pm tomorrow, how mean is that??!! They are going to make us sit around all morning. Our driver tried to help and said, "oh she is fine, I have seen her she is getting bigger, walking, hair growing long, etc." I was like, I should know these things about her, not you! Take me to my daughter NOW!! He laughed too, but still no luck.

We had a wonderful surprise when we arrived here. They told us there was an apartment now available to rent, instead of having to stay at the hotel. We came to have a look at it and it is WONDERFUL! It is completely remodeled from top to bottom, new windows, floors, walls, paint, fixtures, appliances, etc. We are the first ones to stay since it has been redone. This is such a huge blessing! It has a full kitchen, breakfast nook, nice bathroom, king bed, flat screen tv's, free wi-fi and a enclosed balcony. We have already been to the grocery store and are starting to settle in and make this our home base for the next 3 weeks. It is going to be so much easier taking care of Anna here instead of in a hotel room. Now there is space to play and a way to feed us all instead of going to a restaurant for every meal.

Today is the Russian Easter holiday. We bought a typical Russian Easter cake that is only sold this time of year and we are sitting here having a cup of coffee, enjoying the cake and looking at the gorgeous view outside the apartment. Home Sweet Away From Home:-)

Ok, the cow tongue was in the grocery store so I had to take a picture of it. No we did not buy any!

We are missing our friends and family and love hearing from all of you!

Medicals done

2009-04-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Glad to have that over with! It's not every day I take my shirt off to a room full of people:-) We saw about 8 different specialists who all had to check various things, then we received the necessary stamps on our paperwork and were done. This plus a bunch of waiting took most of the day.

After that we took a walk to a nice restaurant, had some dinner and now we are hanging out in our room getting ready for a good nights sleep. Ryan is dealing with the shakes from Blackberry withdrawl...cold turkey has been rough!

Looking forward to a walking tour of Moscow city tomorrow, then catching the red eye flight to Krasnoyarsk.

Thanks for checking in. Wish we had more to say, but our day was pretty uneventful.

We are missing our boys, but know they are being spoiled and having lots of fun with Grandma!

Almost there

2009-04-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

We made it to Moscow! It is a cool feeling to know we are so close to Anna.

The flight was pretty uneventful except for the drunk guy in front of us who was begging everybody for more alcohol and Ryan losing our laptop and cameras for a few minutes. We landed in Moscow and made the 1.5 hour trek through traffic to the city center to our hotel. It is now 7:00 at night and we have not slept in 28 hours, we are looking longingly at the bed now.

Tomorrow we have medical appointments with several different Russian doctors (not sure what to expect there). On Saturday we will take a tour of Moscow and catch the red eye to Siberia.

Let the journey begin!

2009-04-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

In exactly 10 hours we will be in the air! If I go sit at the airport now, will it go faster?! We are so ready to be on that plane and start our journey to Anna.

We are filled with excitement and hope and joy and peace!
Post again soon,
Ryan and Amy

It's really happening!

2009-04-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

We had one of those moments today when a fed-ex package came and we opened it to find this inside!

Yes, you are reading that correctly. Anastasiya Yarbrough has a plane ticket to fly home to the United States on May 15, 2009! Seeing this in writing made us giddy with excitement!! We are having lots of "reality" moments like this the past few days and it is so much fun! The end of a long two year process to bring our child home is right around the corner. We are praising God for His faithfulness to us. If Anna only knew the work that is going on to bring her home, the poor thing has no idea what is about to happen!

One week until our adventure begins!

Court Date!!!

2009-04-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

We can't believe it! Something actually happened in this process quicker than we were expecting. We received our phone call this morning from our agency that our court date has been set in Russia for April 21!!! That means we leave here in exactly 2 weeks from today! We had expected our court date to be at the end of the month so this was a wonderful surprise.

I am praising the Lord that I will be with my baby girl on Mothers Day and she will officially be ours. I remember feeling a little sad last Mothers Day, knowing my baby was somewhere out there and not knowing when I would be able to get to her, now this Mothers Day I will be holding her in my arms:-)

Here is our itinerary so you can keep track of us!

April 15 - Leave US for Moscow
April 16 - Arrive in Moscow
April 17 - Medicals in Moscow
April 18 - Leave Moscow for Krasnoyarsk
April 19 – Arrive in Krasnoyarsk
April 20 – We will see Anna again for the first time in 4 1/2 months!
April 21 - Court Appointment!
*10 day waiting period* Visit with Anna everyday at the orphanage
May 7 - Leave Krasnoyarsk for Moscow with Anna
May 8 – Anna's Medical Appointment, Submit documents to the Embassy
May 9 – 11 – Embassy is closed for Victory Day
May 12 - Receive visa
May 13 - Apply to the Russian Consulate
May 14 - Receive Consulate Registration
May 15 - Leave Moscow for the US with Anna!!
May 15 - HOME FOREVER AS A FAMILY OF FIVE!!!

Praising God from whom all blessings flow...
Ryan and Amy

Happy Days

2009-03-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our petition came one week ago today. What a wonderful day that will always be in my mind. The circumstances around it were quite funny, it is a wonderful memory that I was happy to be able to share with Ryan's mom as she was here visiting us for a few days.

We had the document notarized and the next day drove to have it apostilled at the Secretary of States office in Olympia and then overnighted it to our agency. Our coordinator received it the next day and then sent it on to Russia via DHL. We are praying it arrives this week and that the documents will quickly be translated so they can submit them and receive our actual court date.

We have been scurrying around finishing up things that have been on our list which we procrastinated on for 3 months. The feelings going on inside me have changed this past week. I still have the ache in my heart for my baby, but now it is ache mixed in with excitement. To know we are this close, to know we will see her within weeks, to know soon I will be able to care for her as I have longed to do every day since December. I can hardly stand the anticipation!

The boys also seem to understand that the days for her to be home are drawing closer. They talk about her all the time, pray for her daily and LOVE to go into her room and touch the pretty things:-) Sometimes we find Brooks in there just looking around and he will tell us how pretty it all is and how excited he is to teach her how to wrestle. Oh they are going to be such wonderful big brothers.

We will post our travel itinerary as soon as we receive it. Thanks for checking on us!

Petition to Court!!!!!

2009-03-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

We got the news today that we have been waiting for for a long, long time. PTL! The call came this afternoon from our Coordinator and she conferenced Amy and I in. We received the last piece of paperwork that puts ours and Anna's information together for court.

Now, we will rush to get the document signed, notarized, apostilled and overnighted to our agency to be sent to Russia. This last document will score us the coveted court appearance which triggers our trip to bring Anna home. At this point we are probably about 4-6 weeks from travel!!!

Our world is spinning pretty quickly at the moment as we start to plan through all the details that need tending before we leave. However, we don't want to miss the opportunity to thank the Lord for answering our prayers. It has never been more clear who is in control and we give Him all the praise!

Blessings

2009-03-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

This week we received two completely unexpected blessings from the Lord. I just have to say they were so completely unexpected and so completely amazing that they could have only come by God's grace and mercy pouring onto us. I know it is His gift to us reaffirming our hearts that He is working in our situation and moving "mountains" to bring Anna home. I feel ashamed for ever doubting that He was hearing our prayers and our cries. He blesses above and beyond what we could ever ask or imagine.

I wanted to post about this to encourage any families that might be feeling God leading them to adopt. We have seen with so many adoptive families and experienced it so profoundly ourselves, that He will make a way for it to happen. Take your first step of faith and watch Him move, wow it is exhilarating!

We are hoping to receive our petition to court this month which is our last document needed to get us our court date in Russia. Please pray with us that it will happen!

Thoughts in the waiting zone

2009-02-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

Exactly 2 months ago today we met our daughter for the first time. 2 whole months since we have seen her. I wonder if she is walking now? Has her hair grown? Does she remember our faces? It is such a strange thing to not know these details about your child, yet we knew this was the way it would have to be. We watched our video tonight again with the boys. Not the condensed version set to music, but the whole video we have of our time with her. I love hearing her giggle and seeing her respond to us. I love how the boys talk about her all the time and want to watch her video with us. We are really praying we are half-way through our waiting time, the trend seems to be more like 5 months in-between trips but we are praying and claiming that it will be less!

A song that has comforted me so much during this time is the song we have playing right now on our blog (be sure and turn on your volume). It reminds me how big our God is. He is above all things, over all things and created all things, so I can rest in the assurance He is with our Anna and comforting her as only He can do. "I AM" by Mark Schultz

I Couldn't Resist...

2009-01-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

Oh how sweet is this dress?!! It probably won't fit for another year, but I was passing through a store today and could not pass it up. I can just picture our sweet Anna in it some day :-)

Remembering

2009-01-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

We have been home from our trip to meet Anna for one month. It seems so long ago, and I find myself replaying all the details in my mind of her and the day we met. The emotions and the memories are just as vivid as the day we had Bradey and Brooks. I will never forget how I felt driving out to her orphanage; scared, excited, nervous. Luckily Ryan was my rock and was holding it together for the both of us. I remember our translator talking to us during the drive, but not really hearing what she was saying, all I could think of was "is this really happening, is she really here in this town!" I remember getting choked up as we pulled up to the orphanage, so sad to know there are babies living here who need mommies and daddies. I remember the smell of food in the orphanage, the steps that led the way to the directors office. I will always remember my first glimpse of her, being walked up the stairs by her caregiver, her beautiful dark hair perfectly combed, pink tights, pink shirt, pink vest. When I finally had her in my arms, I couldn't stop saying "I love you" and kissing her. Had she ever been told that before? I wanted her to hear it over and over. I remember her giggle and how she loved to play with balls and sit in my lap. After a while she drifted off to sleep in my arms...what a moment. This has always been my favorite memories with our babies and I got to experience it on my first day with her. We prayed over her, cried over her and then had to give her back to the caregiver. The next day was just as memorable. She seemed more relaxed, crawled all over and even took a few steps for us. Ryan discovered she loves being tickled just like the boys, I remember her laughter and how she wanted him to keep doing it.

All of these memories I will hold onto and replay over and over. If you want to hear them firsthand you can call me, I love to tell them!

American Soil

2008-12-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

We just arrived back home this afternoon...and it is very good to be home!

We had an amazing, exhausting, exhilarating, emotional and heart-wrenching trip. 36 hours in the air in 6 days but all worth it for the 4 hours we were able to spend with our daughter. Since our last post we went to the Notary in Russia to officially accept the referral and spent another couple hours at the orphanage. We also had some time to explore Krasnoyarsk but could only handle the cold for about 15 minutes before we found an excuse to find some coffee. In front of our hotel they are preparing for Christmas and New Year celebrations with a huge tree and ice sculptures. The temperature hovered around -15 F most of the time we were there. This doesn't seem to bother the Siberians, but Peta would never be able to find enough paint to scratch the surface with all the fur coats.

Our second visit with Anna went very well and it took less time for her to warm up. She was laughing and playing and we were able to try some clothes on her as well. She loved to play with the toys we brought and was full of giggles when Ryan played "Airplane" (tame version) with her. We were comforted to see that she is really well cared for although any one-on-one time is scarce for her. Saying goodbye was excruciating. Having been able to spend time with her, see her environment, love on her and then have to leave her behind was as hard as we thought it might be. We rest in the fact that she is God's child and He will take care of her during this next phase.

Several people have commented that we have not shown pictures of her face...this is because the Russian government and our agency (as well as us) are keen on protecting her identity until we bring her home. We wish we could share the 175 pictures we took of her but that will have to wait.

After the long ride back to our hotel, we packed up and were up at 4 AM Thursday headed to the airport. We managed to miss our connection in Moscow so had a long layover but were in Amsterdam by that evening. It wouldn't be a full travel experience if our luggage wasn't lost so we were able to put a check in the box on that one for a night in Amsterdam. We were able to extend our stay in Holland and go check out our old stomping grounds. It was a really nice debrief and date day. We had coffee with our former Pastor and his wife, took pictures of the hospital where Brooks was born (filled a missing scrapbook page for Amy), ate Oliebollen in Wassenaar, caught up with our Dutch neighbor and had dinner with the Linkerhof's in Den Haag.

When we got home, we went straight to get Bradey out of school early. The boys did really well with Amy's Mom and we are extremely grateful to her for keeping the show running. We are so thankful for everybody's prayers while we were gone...we could feel it.

2008-12-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the day we met the little girl who we have cried for, yearned for and prayed for. Our little "Anna".

We landed in Siberia in -27 degrees Celsius at 5:30 AM. We were taken to our hotel for breakfast and a much needed nap. We had a chance to shower and prepare for our meeting with the Ministry of Education. This office overseas all the children who have no parents in this region. After a meeting with her we were driven approximately 45 minutes to the orphanage. We met the orphanage director and were able to ask her questions. She was a nice lady with a genuine concern for the children and the homes they will be placed in. She was a very warm, inviting lady who also loves the children she is in charge of, and desires loving homes for each of them. The orphanage was very well taken care of, clean with lots of toys and pictures. After our meeting we were walking to the room to meet our little one, and as we passed the stair well we saw her being walked upstairs by her caregiver. Immediately our tears started flowing.

She was hesitant at first, there were lots of people around fussing over her. After about 30 minutes of being timid she started to warm up and crawl around. She stuck close to Amy's lap, we called it her "home base". She would crawl to get a toy then back herself right back into my lap. She and Ryan started a game of pass the toy and she loved that. We played for about an hour and a half, then she drifted off to sleep in my arms while staring at Ryan and him whispering to her. At her mealtime her caretaker came to get her so we had to say goodbye until the next day.

It is 5:30 AM now, we are starving and in much need of coffee!! Not a Starbucks to be found in this Siberian tundra. We will go to the orphanage again at 2 PM. Please continue to pray, especially for strength today as we will have to say goodbye to her for the next few months.

We are struck by how big our God is...no doubt He knew long ago about this very little girl and placed it on our hearts 6000 miles away. We have no fear or doubts about this reality and have a sense of peace that only he can give!

Finally!

2008-12-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Almost there

2008-12-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let everybody know that we have made it to Moscow. Our flights were pretty uneventful and now we have a few hours in a hotel before catching our next flight to Krasnoyarsk. We will catch a bite to eat (they have TexMex in the hotel!) and a few winks before continuing Eastward.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers!

Hopefully we will post tomorrow after we have met our little girl!

Tick-Tock until Takeoff!

2008-12-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm done! Yep, we are officially packed, it took Ryan 20 minutes and me 5 days, but we are done packing our bags for our journey. So many things to think of since we need some clothes with us for our important meeting just in case our bags don't make it to us. But then there is the other factor of packing enough clothes for -7 degrees as the HIGH.

My mom arrived yesterday and has already been a huge help watching the boys, cooking food, baking cookies, and watching me pack.

Our ride comes tomorrow morning at 5am to take us to the airport. We should be traveling until approximately 6pm Sunday night west coast time. Please pray for us that night as we will be going directly to our meeting with an official then off to the orphanage to meet our baby girl. Pray for peace for us and for her. This will be a time of uncertainty and confusion for her, wanting to be held by complete strangers who don't speak her language. We pray that even in the short time we are allowed with her she will start to understand that we love her.

Our next blog will be from Russia, so stay tuned! We can't post pictures of us with her but we will give as much details as we can.

In His care,

Ryan and Amy

Siberia Bound

2008-11-30T21:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a whirlwind since we accepted our referral. We have been frantically working on our paperwork that is needed for trip #2 since we were told we may be able to cut some time between trips if we complete as much paperwork as possible to bring on trip #1.

On Friday we received our itinerary for our trip and we leave on Saturday, yes, in 6 days!! We mobilized quickly and booked our air travel and reinforcements (Amy's Mom) to take care of the boys. We are so blessed that we were able to cover our complete flight to Krasnoyarsk and back with airline miles and our friends (Pilot) donated the flight for Amy's Mom...thanks Jeremy and Danielle!!!

We leave on Saturday and after 19 hours (over 3 days) in the air will FINALLY get to meet our little girl! We are so completely excited to spend even just a few hours with her NEXT WEEK! We return on Friday, the 12th.

We hope to post more during our trip, so check back!

The Call

2008-11-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

We have been silent on our blog for the past week, but not for lack of things to tell! Our last post was about us daydreaming the day we would finally receive a referral. Well, it happened that very next day!! How good is our GOD!! We received the call on Thursday morning that our agency had a referral for us to review. So many emotions overcame us as we reviewed the medical information and pictures of what could be our little baby girl. We began to pray for the Lord's will to be done in this situation and not ours. Today we discussed the medical file with an International Adoption Specialist and any fears or concerns we may of had with her health were completely laid to rest. Praise the Lord! We have officially accepted her referral and are in the process of getting our visas and travel itinerary so we can go meet her! We hope to travel in the next couple of weeks.

We have been told not to give specific details about our little one, but we can tell you she is just over one year old and as adorable as can be!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers for us during this past year of waiting. We will post any new news as we get it.

Could this be the week?

2008-11-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

We are praying that this week we will get a call from our coordinator... Not the usual call that we are missing some paperwork, or that one of our papers needs to be re-done, but THE call, the one that says we have a child for you! Oh what a sweet day it will be.

Prayers Answered!

2008-11-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

The paperwork we were waiting to receive from The Netherlands was finally faxed to us last week! It seems it has been lost in the mail but Ryan was able to convince someone in Holland to fax us a copy in the meantime. So last Thursday, Amy and Brooks spent a good portion of the day driving to our social workers house to pick up our home study, then to the notary, then to Olympia to have the Secretary of State put their seal on it, then to the UPS store just in time to make the overnight shipping cut off. So according to our agency our paperwork is now in Russia and all we have to do is sit and wait:-) Ryan and I are having fun playing the guessing game of when we will get the call.

It is exciting times around here, the feeling that many good things for our family are just around the bend.....

stay tuned!!

Paperwork Prayer Needed!

2008-10-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is a call to all our faithful family and friends to pray for us. We have heard this week that we are not able to accept a referral until all our paperwork has been updated. Originally we were told that the document from The Netherlands will not hold us up, but that has changed. We are still waiting on Amy's police background clearance from The Netherlands to come. Ryan received his last week, which seems odd that Amy's did not come at the same time. Please pray that it will arrive ASAP, because our coordinator would like it to be hand delivered to Russia with a family that is traveling there early next week. Once we do get it, we will make a quick trip up to Olympia to have it Apostilled by the state and then overnight it to the family.

We know God can make this happen, so we are praying it and trusting in His timing. Thanks!

16+9=25!

2008-10-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's not over, until it's over...

We were feeling so relieved that our updated Dossier was going to be completed this week, (with the exception of the document still needed from The Netherlands) and we would finally be done with this paper chase and be able to focus on other things. Oh, how wrong we were! Our adoption coordinator told us she would be sending a packet of information relevant to the region we have just been assigned to, and that there would be some more paperwork involved with this specific region. No big deal we thought, we have done our Dossier 2 times now so what more could they possibly need from us? Only Russia could think of 16 ADDITIONAL documents they need signed, notarized and apostilled from us, and 9 more from our social worker. That makes 25 more documents to hunt down from California, Texas, The Netherlands, Washington and the FBI. What more do these people want to know about us!! Seriously, we are boring, law abiding people who just want to bring our daughter HOME.

The good news among this frustration is that these documents will not hold up our referral or our first trip. So we will start tracking all of these down now, and turn them in as quickly as we can in order to expedite our court hearing on the second trip.

Someday we might look back on this and smile, but today we are too buried in paperwork to see the humor.

Feeling Patriotic

2008-10-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple clips of our cuties. Brooks is 3.5 and Bradey had just turned 4.

Exciting news today!

2008-10-03T14:37:00.001-07:00

We were able to talk to our coordinator this morning regarding our next steps in the process. Typically when a family is registered it means a referral of a child will be coming within 2-3 weeks, however, for reasons unknown at this time Russia seems to be moving slower than normal for referrals. Our coordinator felt that we should be prepared to travel within the next 2-3 months. That is great news! The race is on to get the things accomplished that we wanted to before we meet her. We do need prayer that some paperwork we need from The Netherlands would come quickly and not delay these plans.

It looks like we will be visiting Siberia at a very cold time of the year! I am not too interested in knowing what negative temperatures feel like, but of course Ryan in his love of the extremes can't wait:-)

Happy Birthday To Me!!

2008-10-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

God is sooo good! We were going about a pretty normal Wednesday when totally by surprise we received an email from our Adoption Coordinator that we have officially been registered in the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia!!!! This is a HUGE step forward for us in the process. Typically when a family is registered it means that they have located a child that fits your request and a referral will be coming "shortly". We have a phone conference on Friday with our Coordinator and will receive more information then, but for now we are rejoicing in this big step closer to our little one!

What an amazing God that he was mindful of how much this would mean to us and He orchestrated it to happen on my birthday. He is so especially fond of each of his children that even a small detail like that he had planned. No greater gift I could have received. Thank you Jesus!

More information to come on Friday!!! Stay tuned:-)

Adoption Update

2008-09-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3

This verse is speaking to us right now as we enter our 10th month of waiting for a phone call to tell us there is a little one waiting in Russia for us to come for her. Many days the wait seems too hard to endure. Time passes, new school year begins, holidays come and go and still no phone call. We cling to the assurance that it will happen in His time and not ours, and when we look back on this it will all be crystal clear why the wait was for our best interest for the Lord is never late! Please continue to pray for our little one that she will be cared for and loved until we can bring her home.

Sweet Potato Meltdown

2008-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog where we will share the good, bad and the (sometimes) ugly moments of our lives.

Here is a little history before you watch this first video. For their entire lives there have been 2 things Bradey and Brooks won't eat - tomatoes and potatoes. Because they will eat almost any other vegetable without complaint we don't force them to eat these. Last week we put on their plate what they thought were sweet potatoes, the funny thing is it was really butternut squash and after all their drama we explained what it was and they happily ate it....such is the DRAMA some days in our house!

(Be sure to mute the music below before watching the video)