Day 3 w/ the kids

temperature today: Moscow -17 C, 1 F

I slip away early to grab a cup of coffee while the kids are still asleep. It is so nice to sit in silence for a few minutes. We have been stuck in this hotel for days w/ 2 small kids who have little to do. We have read every book, colored every page, watched every tv show, walked, ate, swam & it seems like the days are much longer than 24 hours somehow.

I return to the room & Corbin pulls me into the bathroom. He hands me the paper. The Moscow Times front page says that the government just passed a law yesterday that will ban foreign adoptions from Russia. This ban is set to begin January 1st. Are you kidding me? Tomorrow we are to obtain visas for our kids to leave Russia. Technically, they are Russian citizens until they are 18 years old even though legally their parents (us) are Americans. Russians are not allowed to leave Russia & enter the US w/o a visa from the Russian government. There is nothing we can do but wait to speak w/ our driver later today.

Our driver tells us not to worry. He says many people are upset by this news & it will need to be voted on 2 more times before it moves on to the next branch of government. They will need to vote on it 3 times before it would then move to the President. We are on our way to the US Embassy to get our children's paperwork in order. Most of the people inside are Russians getting visas to visit America. We do meet a few Americans though. One southern couple just adopted a baby. They are leaving tomorrow. It's nice to speak w/ people in English. Once you do though, you stick out like a sore thumb. It calls attention to the fact that we are American. This can be good or not so good. Some Russians have strong opinions about Russian children being adopted by non-Russians. While we are out of the hotel, Corbin & I try to not speak too much. I use the few Russian words I know to talk w/ the kids. Since they speak Russian, we usually get by as Russians. Once we are heard speaking English, the gig is up.

L spends much of the time singing a song or poem repeatedly. We think this is the same one we heard her sing during one of our visits to the orphanage. A woman next to us is waiting w/ her 2 boys. She strikes up a conversation w/ Corbin. She doesn't speak great English, but enough to make small talk & ask about our children. She tells us that the kids are beautiful. She also thanks us for taking them & says that we are good people. I suppose you have to be willing to hear the good & the bad. If she didn't hear us speaking English, then she wouldn't have said anything. Then we wouldn't have heard the positive comments from those Russians who are happy we are here.

As we leave the building, we see a large memorial set up in the front of the building. It is for the Connecticut school shooting that just happened. There are flowers, stuffed animals, posters & letters all along the fence. It is all covered w/ a thin layer of this morning's snow. It is a good reminder that while we are praising God for the blessings of our two new children, there are also parents mourning the deaths of their children back home today. Thank you Lord for today!