A bit of catching up to do...

     We have been rather busy since my last update. On Friday Dave and I met up with Fran, Rick, and Kola, we actually caught up with them at the orphanage and they had the opportunity to meet our kids and we had the opportunity to meet Rita. She is a quiet but beautiful girl; I think that she will make a wonderful addition to the Rahn household. On Friday we spent another day outside, we played soccer and basketball again, had a snack, and just enjoyed each other’s company. These two are full of energy, for the 3 hours that we were there with them they went full steam ahead the entire time. I think that when we get home I am going to try and figure out a way to bottle up their energy and sell it; we could make a pretty penny off of it.

     On Friday we also determined what the names of the kids are going to be and how they will appear on their new birth certificates. Yakiv will be Jacob David Robertson, yes everyone there will be another David in the world, however I am not sure that I can handle two of them. Currently Jacob goes by the name Yashi, it is his nickname sort of like the Russian version of Jake. Tai’s name is going to be Taisiya Renee Robertson, her first name is pronounced Tie e see ya, but she goes by the nickname Tai (Tie ya). Dave and I tried to come up with another name for her, with thought about Teresa or Trisha, something that was similar to her name but different than her own, but we kept coming back to her original name. It is different and original, so we just changed the spelling from Russian to English and gave her my middle name.

     Saturday was much of the same, Dave and I slept in Saturday morning, spent the morning and early part of the afternoon being lazy. We went to the orphanage in the afternoon, and when we got there, we discovered that we were playing soccer again except this time Tai had assembled an entire team. When all was said and done there were about 8 kids and the 3 of us, Viktor included, we played soccer and volleyball until their happy heart’s content. We also had our first melt down of sorts, or rather a mix up in communication, Yashi and Tai have fallen in love with chewing gum. The only problem is that when the flavor is gone they spit it out and immediately want another piece, and on Saturday Dave told them no, that they could have another piece later…well that did not satisfy them and they got upset. Fortunately it only lasted about 20 minutes and with Viktor’s help they got over it. As a reward we gave them each a piece right before we left, I guess that when you never get chewing gum, it is quite the commodity when you do. Guess I know what to ask Santa for as stocking stuffers…

     Sunday I got up and made the daily trip to the market, we picked up a couple of small puzzles and a board game to play. Dave’s ankle needed a break so we decided to keep the kids inside, so we spent the day working puzzles, coloring, drawing, and playing a game similar to America’s Shoots and Ladders. The kids also discovered Dave’s lemonade in the backback, so Dave gave them his lemonade (he had put 2 of the crysal light lemonade packet in his water to make it extra tart, which is the way that he likes it). We fully expected to get the bitter sour face that most people get when consuming something that sour…nope not our kids, they loved it and drank the entire 20 oz bottle and asked for more. But I would rather it be crystal light lemonade than Coke or Pepsi.

     Today (Monday) we were up and at ‘em early. Viktor needed us to fill out some paperwork, hit the bank, the court house, and several other places. So we did not make it to the orphanage today, I know that the kids will be disappointed, but after all of the running around that we have done we are exhausted, and we want to make sure that the kids will have all of our energy and attention when we see them. So needless to say we will make it up to them tomorrow. We did get some of the paperwork started to get the kids passports, our Interpol checks have already come back and we have been cleared through them, and the committee meets tomorrow to determine if they will split up the family. Tai and Yashi are 2 of 7 children, and before anyone asks NO we are not coming home with all 7. They have 2 siblings that have aged out of the orphanage, 1 that is in another orphanage, then Tai and Yashi are numbers 4 and 5, and then they have 2 younger siblings that are still with their mother. The committee must meet to determine whether or not they will split Tai and Yashi up from the rest of the family, however considering the circumstances Viktor, nor the director of the orphanage think that it will be a problem. So things are moving along rather quickly, keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for a speedy process.

Well that is all for now, I will keep everyone up to speed as new information becomes available.

Love,

Dave, Heather, Tai, and Yashi