Alexander

The Middle School put on a talent show today. It was the last day of school before the Christmas break so it was a wonderful way to close things for the children. Robert took the day off and we both attended. It was lots of fun and the children put on a great show. Many of them had amazing talent and some just did silly or funny things. Alexander was 2nd to last to perform.

He sang, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful". He sang it so perfectly, with his clear and perfect voice, it brought tears to my eyes. I am so grateful he chose to sing that beautiful song, he thought about lots of songs he could or would sing, Elton John, Bryan Adams, I don't know how he came to a Christmas Hymn, but I'm so glad he did.

I am counting my blessings with my talented, righteous and wonderful boys.

Merry Christmas to All!

New Photos

Alex has returned from his trip to Vladivostok/Pokrovka. He was able to visit twice with Anastasia and bring her a few gifts. We don't have the report yet (we are going crazy to read it!!), but he sent the photos right away. He took lots of pictures so I will post a few here. Anastasia looks like she's grown several inches. We wish she were here to spend Christmas with us. It is just so hard...

The Final Nail

We have the news and it feels so bad and wrong. The end result is this: If all goes well with the Father's trial then we can try again to resubmit our paperwork in the Summer of 2006. If everything goes uncontested we would have Anastasia in 18 months. She would be 13 years old by then.

It should be no surprise to us, but it has totally devastated us. We have decided that she must be told. Our dear collegue Alex is making his trip to Vlad next week, we are hoping to have him convey this information to Anastasia. Thank you everyone who has been praying for us and fasting for us. Many have sent us notes with ideas and suggestions - your thoughts are so valuable and important to us - just that you are thinking about us and our poor daughter.

Please continue to pray for Anastasia - that she will be safe and that she will somehow survive this ordeal.