I had a dream ...

I had the most wonderful dream last night! Borya was part of a travelling church group, and they came to America. I got to go see him sing, and was able to sit with him afterwards and talk. I had expected him to know a few words of English (he's taking English lessons), but to my surprise he could speak fluently, and we had such a nice, long conversation. He finally had to go, but I was able to give him a hug and tell him I would see him again soon. I remember lying in bed half awake, wishing for the dream to continue. Hopefully part of it will become reality, and we will someday soon be able to sit together and talk. Keep praying for us to find a way to make this adoption go through!

Broken Arm

I just received word from Pastor Alexey that Borya broke his arm, but is doing fine. I don't have any information other than that. It's so difficult to have something happen to your child when they're halfway around the world and there's nothing you can do, not even give a hug.

Still no updates on the adoption process ....

Roadblock

We received bad news from our coordinator that the authorities in Ridder (the town where Borya's orphanage is located) are saying they will not allow the adoption. It has to do with their interpretation of the regulations. In no way do I consider this the end of the road, just a pretty major roadblock we've got to find a way to get around. We're working on it, and will keep you posted once we find a way to get this behind us.

New picture

This is a more recent picture of Borya, though I think it is still almost a year old. He had just opened up a package I had sent him, and is modeling his Eagles cap!

Update

Well, it's about a month later, and we're still working on our dossier. We've been fingerprinted both locally (for FBI clearances) as well as in Philly (for BCIS clearances). We've had several dozen documents completed and notarized, and are waiting on a few last things before we send all our papers to the state for the all-important apostilles. Once those are recieved, we can assemble the dossier and send it out to our agency.

I was able to arrange through Pastor Alexey's contacts back home in Kazakhstan (Alexey is now in the US for about two years) for Borya to receive English lessons once a week through someone at the church! Hopefully if I can refresh my Russian and he can learn a little English, we'll have a little bit easier time communicating in the beginning.

Let's get it started ...

The title probably makes it obvious, but this blog is dedicated to bringing Borya home. For those of you who don't know the story, let me fill you in. When we adopted Bellaa from Kazakhstan back in August of 2003, we met an 8 y/o boy there named Borya. He touched my heart so much that I even decided to ask if he was available for adoption. The answer was no. But we talked every day and drew pictures for one another and I grew to love him. When we returned home, I asked another travelling family to bring him a gift for me several months later, but he had already been transferred to another orphanage. I began sending letters and packages to the orphanage I had been told he was sent to, but never heard back. Finally, with the help of a few people who lived in Kazakhstan, I was able to track him down in an orphanage called Ridder, which is up in the mountains very close to the Russian border in the northeast of Kazakhstan. Although over two years had passed, the person who found him and talked to him said he still remembered me. Again through the help of the wonderful Anya Wolf, I was introduced to Pastor Alexey, who was the pastor at a nearby church. I could e-mail him letters, and he would translate them to Borya. I could send packages and he would get them to Borya. After about a year of this newfound relationship, I asked if he could help me arrange a trip for Borya to come visit us in the US. After speaking to the authorities, Alexey informed me that although Borya could not come for a visit, the authorities would now support our petition to adopt him! Although there are no guarantees, we have decided we have to take this shot, so we are now in the process of assembling our dossier. This blog will help us track where we are in the process, and keep family and friends informed when we are overseas.