More Mixed Nuts- Well Wishers and Naysayers

Well, we're home and settling in. Sasha has unpacked her things and put them away. She loves our dog Jazz and he is thrilled because she throws the ball to him more often than the rest of us combined. Beth loves having a little sister. She showed Sasha how to use the hair straightener and takes her out for ice cream.

Josiah loves having a little sister as well. He plays wii with her and tickles her until she nearly wets her pants. His face in this picture as he looks at her says it all.

Sasha loves that her two closest friends from Russia also live in the area. They were there to greet her at the airport. She has already spent several hours talking to them on the phone. We can already see that we will have to switch cell phone plans to one with more minutes. :)

Texas summers are definitely NOT Russian summers. We spent our second day at Grandma's house in their neighborhood pool. Sasha loves to swim, most likely because of the heat here. Grandma and Grandpa don't mind. Any excuse to have her over is good with them.

Our homecoming was a great experience. Thank you to everyone who made it so special. There was an army of well-wishers at the airport. A group of people from church came and cleaned our house and stocked our pantry. AMAZING! And thank you Courtney Horvath for taking the amazing photos of our homecoming at the airport. I will cherish them and I'm sure Sasha will also.

Our adoption agency, Buckner, asked our permission to have a television crew at the airport when we arrived. Channel 11 from Dallas was there to record our arrival and interview us. You can find the video at this link http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/05/27/wylie-family-brings-home-adopted-russian-teen/

On the Channel 11 website, there is an area below the video where people can leave comments about the stories. I guess I'm not completely surprised by the negative comments people made about us. International adoption is a touchy subject everywhere. When we are in Russia we hear angry Russians telling us that we shouldn't be taking Russian children from their culture. When we are in America we hear angry Americans telling us that we should adopt American children in the foster system instead of going overseas. There is a common factor in both groups. Those in Russia who do not like us would never dream of adopting a Russian orphan in an effort to keep them in their native culture. And those in America who think we should only adopt American children would never dream of adopting or fostering an American child themselves. The global orphan crisis is just that- global.

So, am I upset at the angry naysayers? Nope. Not in the least. I am actually quite excited about it. Nothing gives me a bigger high than to poke a stick into a hornets nest and then watch what happens. I figure that if the world is angry at what I am doing then I must be smack in the middle of God's will. Check it out.
1John 3:13- So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
1Peter 3:16-17- Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

So let them rant, let them murmur, let them stare. I will joyfully keep doing what I know Christ would do. 

Our Current Flight Arrival Information

It is currently Thursday, May 26  at 4 pm. We have landed in Chicago and wanted to give everyone our current flight and arrival status. Our flight to Dallas is currently delayed 25 minutes.
If you are planning to meet us at the airport, please make sure to contact American Airlines before leaving to check on our flight status.
You can get updated flight arrival information for flight AA2341 at www.aa.com or by calling 1-800-433-7300.

We will meet everyone at our baggage claim area. They currently show us arriving at 8:10pm gate A25 (Terminal A) baggage claim A28. However, this information is likely to change so please check first.

Love you all and look forward to seeing everyone.

Sensible Shoes

We are so excited to go home! This was our last day in Moscow as well as our last day in Russia. We slept late for some much needed rest and spent the afternoon at the Zoh-park (Zoo). The Moscow Zoo is not that large so we were able to see most everything including the dolphin show. Sasha loved the dolphin show. I was able to get a good picture of her with the giraffe.

This picture is pretty much it because she was such a camera hog! :) Good grief but this kid loves to take pictures. Maybe she'll grow up to be a photographer some day. We didn't want to pack the big camera around the zoo today so we just used our iphones. My iphone is now full of twenty-trillion photos of this animal and that. Come to think of it, I'm really glad the Moscow Zoo is small or I wouldn't have any memory left on my iphone.

People watching is quite a hobby for me. I really enjoy being around a lot of people and really enjoy people watching. Russia is a great place to people watch because Russians take their fashion quite seriously. I'm serious. These people really know how to dress. They dress up to go everywhere and the women really enjoy wearing high heels. The odd thing is they wear high heels everywhere- and I mean everywhere. And so, I found myself at the zoo in line to watch the dolphin show and suddenly found myself feeling under-dressed in my jeans and t-shirt. Check out the lady in line in front of us. I just couldn't resist snapping a picture of her heels.

Seriously? At the zoo? I mean check out the cobblestone path we had to walk all day on. My feet hurt just from my sensible shoes. If you want to make it big as a podiatrist, this would be a good country to open your practice in. Sasha wore a pair of ankle-breakers (that's what I call them) to the ballet last week. I spent the whole night using the Russian word for "be careful." I'm really good at saying that word now. Got it down.

Thank you to our family and friends for all the encouragement as we have been traveling. We love you all and look forward to seeing you again. Just a few more hours! Oh, and when we arrive, we will all be wearing sensible shoes- even Sasha.

Blessed To Be American

We've had a good couple of days in Moscow but we sure are ready to get home. We're all three quite stir-crazy in the tiny apartment since we just came from a tiny hotel room in St. Petersburg. We go out most days for quite a while but you have to go back some time. We're tired of tourist attractions, museums, and eating out.
One nice thing about being in Moscow is there are more American things here and there. We ate lunch yesterday at Hard Rock Cafe Moscow. The Moscow location is HUGE. Three floors- a bit overwhelming.

They have Starbucks in Moscow also. Yes, I got my Moscow City Mug. Just love those city mugs. You hear more English here and there also. A British couple struck up a conversation with us just so they could talk to someone else in English. Cracked me up.
We also visited the Kremlin, Red Square, and St. Basils yesterday. So much history here. Some of the history is sad and some of it is awe inspiring. Sasha loved the architecture and history as usual. She also loved the fountains and flowers. Everything is sunny, blooming and beautiful over here this time of year.

Today we spent the morning at the US Embassy getting Sasha's immigration paperwork taken care of and then we were just lazy all day around the apartment. The US Embassy was really an interesting experience. We met adopting families from Indiana, Connecticut, New York, Puerto Rico, and of course our friends from Texas. But the interesting part for me was the fact that it was "Student Day." What is student day you ask? Well, student day is Tuesdays at the US Embassy. This is the day that Russian students can apply for a student visa to study at a university in America. The lines were quite long and each student looked nervous, anxious, and ripe with anticipation. As we were entering the Embassy I saw several girls come out jumping up and down celebrating as they waived their coveted paperwork in the air. They were overcome with joy at the prospect of studying in America. As we left the Embassy I witnessed the exact opposite. Several young ladies were leaving the Embassy in tears. They had been rejected for some reason. They were completely grief stricken and their sorrow overwhelmed me. My heart really went out to them.

It really made me stop and think. I live in a very unique country. You can actually start at the bottom and make something of yourself. Opportunity is open to most anyone who wants it. That is just not true in most parts of the world. These young Russian students know the enormous opportunities open to them in America. Question is, do most American students realize it? The familiar becomes just that- familiar.

Thank you Jesus for the unique blessing I enjoy just because I was born in America. Give me wisdom to teach Beth and Josiah how blessed they are to be young American adults with a bright future ahead of them. And give me wisdom to teach Sasha to take full advantage of the unique blessing she enjoys as both a citizen of America and a citizen of Russia.

Farewell St. Pete, Hello Moscow

We said farewell to St. Petersburg yesterday. I was so sad to leave Natasha. I have come to love this dear woman who has literally laid her life down for the sake of helping children find forever families. We took a bullet train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. I had never been on a passenger train before. It was really quite fun.

We are traveling with another family from Dallas. We have known them for some time through Buckner and are having a great time together. Their new son is 10 years old. He and Sasha seem to really enjoy talking and playing games together. We talk with Sasha, but we only know enough Russian to have "baby talk" in a sense. Simple 2-3 word sentences. The kids tire of this after a while. When they get together they both talk all over the top of each other barely taking a breath. I guess they're just trying to get in as much Russian speak as possible not knowing how long it will be before they get another chance.
Sasha wanted to dress nice for the train ride. She chose an all pink and black ensemble so that her clothes would also match her luggage. Oy. :0 What you don't even see in this photo is the hot pink sweater that goes with the outfit. Too hot out in the sun.

As I shot this next photo I thought to myself how these two kids are so brave. They are leaving their city. They are leaving their country. They are leaving their culture. They are leaving the only home they have ever known. Could I do that? I just don't know. I admire their brave little hearts.

We have had so many people say such nice things to us during this process. People have said that Dan and I are brave, that we are doing such a good thing, that Sasha is lucky to have us, etc. Don't get me wrong, these are very nice things to say to us and we are grateful for people's kind thoughts. I am just struck with these older kids though. We are adults, therefore we have some control. They are still kids, they really have no control. They don't really know what lies in store for them in a new family and a new country, and yet they choose to be adopted. Very brave.
Any family who is blessed enough to adopt an older child internationally is blessed with a very brave child indeed.

Grateful

We had the awesome privilege of meeting with two of Sasha's caregivers on Tuesday evening. These precious ladies actually came to our hotel room to meet with Sasha and her new family. It would be difficult for me to describe Sasha's excitement as she waited for them to arrive. These precious ladies have cared for her and many other children as if she were their own. I am convinced that people like this are truly the hands and feet of God. Just look at how they look at her.

Yes, angels. That is what these precious ladies are. We thanked them and thanked them. We brought gifts for Sasha to give to them. They humbly accepted our gifts and then gave us a gift that is more precious than we could have ever hoped for. They pulled out a USB stick with nearly 600 photos of Sasha since she first arrived in their care! What a treasure! Below is what looks to be one of the earliest photos of Sasha. I am not even certain how old she is in this photo. Details like this are ones that we will have to sort out as her English becomes more proficient.

No one was able to locate any baby pictures of Sasha. For Sasha, these are her baby pictures, her past, her history, her story. We are so grateful that these precious ladies would take time in the midst of caring for all of these children to make sure that these kids take with them a history.

As her caregivers were leaving, Sasha just had to show them the bathroom of our hotel room. Yes, the bathroom. You see, our bathroom has a gigantic jet tub in it. It's really very nice. It has built in lights, bubbles that come up from the bottom of the tub, and jets in the sides of the tub. Sasha is in tub heaven. I found it very odd that she would need to show the ladies our tub until they explained it to me. The orphanage only has showers, no tubs. With that many kids, you are simply not allowed a leisurely shower or bath. The caregivers said that one of the first things every adopted child calls and tells them is, "Oh, I took the longest, nicest hot bath!" And that is what Sasha has been doing. Taking nice, long hot baths. Of course with a personality like Sasha's things can get crazy pretty quickly.

Pictures from Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15

Outside of the Russian State Museum

In front of a statue of Cathrine the Great
Russian State Museum

Sasha resting her feet.
Russian State Museum

The canal directly across from our hotel.

Playful, playful

Bowling, Russian Art, and Other Mixed Nuts

Up at 5am. Yuck. Platinum Dan, my travel expert husband, says that day 3 is the worst and it will get better tomorrow. We'll see. The problem is the light. White Nights can really mess up your internal clock. It gets dark around 10pm, but the sun comes back up at about 3am. Very strange, and yet cool.

We have had a great couple of days together. We are in a different hotel this trip. It is newly renovated and in one of the old buildings overlooking a canal. Great view. On Saturday we explored on our own. We got brave and figured out how to ride the subway. We also found a really nice mall just 10 minutes walk from the hotel. They have a bowling alley! We took Sasha bowling. I would love to attach a photo, however I am sad to say that after snapping several pictures I noticed that we had not put the memory card back in the camera. Duh. We had lots of fun once we figured it out. No one spoke English there and there were no English signs. Dan and I can Cyrillic, but if the word doesn't phonetically translate to English is doesn't do you any good. Eventually an exasperated attendant took pity on us and set our lane. :) Poor guy. Little does he know we'll be back later this week and we're bringing another American family with us. They arrived last night and are adopting a 10 year boy.

You can really learn a lot about a person by taking them bowling. I already knew that Sasha was competitive but it was really on display with bowling. After rolling her 3rd - 4th gutter ball, she was done. She noticed that the neighboring family had the bumper rails up. Our lane didn't have bumper rails. She wanted the bumpers. She needed the bumpers. She wasn't going to rest until she had the bumpers. I used my handy dandy Russian/English translation book and explained we must finish this game but next game we will try to move to a lane with bumpers. She reluctantly finished the first game and was elated to start the next game with bumpers. With bumpers, on her third turn she got her first strike. She was so excited that she did a little dance to celebrate. She has had dance lessons so I will say that the dance was really quite good. Hip hop in nature with a Michael Jackson moonwalk at the end.

Yesterday our guide Natasha took us to the Russian state museum. All Russian art by Russian artists. Simply beautiful and of course, housed in yet another Czar Palace. How many palaces can one city have? Sasha's knowledge of art history is quite amazing. She pointed out to our group that in a certain painting this particular artist had painted the eyes so that no matter what point of view you looked from, the eyes were looking at you. She knows what century works of art are from, artists names, what country they are from, etc. She knows architecture around St. Petersburg. She knows names of bridges, buildings, and cathedrals, when they were built, how they were built, the materials used to build them, and the name of the architect. Again I find myself asking, "Who is this kid?"

Who is this kid? That is where the grief strikes for me. In the midst of all of this joy I find myself grieving on the inside. I have missed so much of her life. A couple of weeks ago I babysat my niece and nephew. Jack is 5 and Sophia is 2. As I held Sophia's chubby little hand and looked into her face I found myself overcome with grief for a moment. I missed this time with Sasha. I will never even know what her chubby two year old hands and face looked like. That makes me so sad.

Grief and joy all at the same time. But she is so worth it. These kids are so worth it. Sasha and hundreds of thousands of Russian kids like her have enormous potential and so much to offer the world. They just need a family and a chance. If you include orphans in the rest of the world including the US the numbers reach the millions. Grief? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Is it for everyone? Heck no! But if you're the adventuresome type it is so worth it. The ultimate adventure. How many families have room at their table for one more?

Please forgive me for the lack of pictures. The internet connection at this hotel is simply awful. I will try to take my computer to another location with better wifi later and upload some photos.

Traveling Light

And so our journey begins it's final chapter. Sasha was at the airport waiting for our arrival this time. It was just super to walk through customs and see her standing there waiting for us. There she stood- with a new name, new family, new future, new destination, new destiny. An all new Sasha. I do not pretend to know what went through her mind as her head hit the pillow on her last night in the orphanage.

She was also wearing new clothes that we had brought for her on our last trip. When we reached the van, there in the back was a HUGE bright pink suitcase. We were informed that this was Sasha's suitcase. When picking her up from the orphanage, Natasha asked her if she was sure she needed all of this stuff. Sasha's reply was, "Oh yes, I need all of these things." We will work through it this week. We watched a similar situation unfold when we were here in February.

As we were going to pick Sasha up at the orphanage on our first trip in February, our guide Natasha was returning two large bags of clothes to the orphanage. Sasha is one of three girls who were room mates at the orphanage. They are all three being adopted by families in Texas. Sasha is the last to leave. Her two friends had just left the orphanage for the last time and Natasha now found herself bringing clothes back to the orphanage. The girls thought they needed to take all of those clothes with them. But once they saw that their new parents had new clothes for them, they decided they didn't need the old clothes after all and let go of them. I suspect they first hung on to the old clothes because it is all they owned in the world. They did not yet realize that now that they have been adopted, they are receiving a new inheritance and new identity that includes new clothes. Once upon a time all they owned in the world was a bag of worn out clothes. Now they walk in an eternal inheritance.

New.  New name, new family, new future, new destination, new destiny- new clothes. They now wear their new clothes and walk in their new identity. And so it will be with Sasha. I wonder what old mom can learn from this?

Galatians 2:20- My old self has been (past tense) crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 3:27- And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

Paul says very clearly that he IS crucified with Christ, not that he is trying to be. Perhaps this is where I have gone wrong for so long. I keep a list of all the areas in my life that I need to surrender to God and then keep trying to surrender them. How long until I finally realize that the old Kerri is dead and start walking as Kerri who is new in Christ? Oh yes there is a life-long process involved, but I think I look at many old patterns in my life as though I have to battle and kill them- again. This is simply not true. The battle is already won. Rather, I need to say, "that was the old Kerri, but that is not who Kerri is now."

What is sin in the believer who has put on Christ anyway? When I see sin in my life it is the Holy Spirit showing me old patterns- old clothes. My heavenly Father is constantly pointing out old clothes that I need to throw away. It is not who I am anymore. I am finally starting to realize that working out my salvation is less about defeating sin and more about recognizing what is simply not true anymore. It is a constant daily choice- wear the new clothes, or go dig the old clothes out of the trash heap.

It is my new role in life now to help Sasha let go of much of the past and embrace her new identity. That being said, I have a strong feeling that the Father will be guiding me through my own journey of letting go of the past. I guess Sasha and I will get to walk this path together.

Platinum Dan

It's a relaxing morning in the Admirals Club at DFW Airport. I've always hated how much Dan has to travel with his job. However, the perks are definitely paying off on this trip. After traveling all these years he is "Lifetime Platinum." Our friends joke and call him "Platinum Dan." I used to feel guilty about using the perks when we traveled, but those feelings are definitely gone on this trip. I felt no remorse at all as I checked in at the first class line, and walked right by everyone in the security line. :) I also feel no remorse as I sit in the cushy seats in the Admirals Club. And I will definitely feel no remorse at having been upgraded to first class seats on the flight to Chicago and business class seats on the long flight to Helsinki Finland. Nope. No remorse at all.
There's more to it than that though. There's Platinum Dan himself. I can't imagine being on this journey with anyone else. His calm, secure nature. His experience at world travel- he instinctively knows exactly what to do while I stand there looking lost. His integrity. His quiet, humble leadership. I'm in love with Platinum Dan. I'm privileged to be Mrs. Platinum Dan.

Link To Sasha's Big Concert Debut :)

Here is a link to a youtube video showing Sasha and other children from orphanage 14 in St. Petersburg. Roger Waters of Pink Floyd chose them to perform with him at his concert in St. Petersburg on April 25. They performed Another Brick In The Wall with him. The video is definitely not professional, but is pretty decent. Sasha is short with dark hair pulled back into a pony tail. She is pretty consistently located at the far left of the screen when they show shots of the kids.
Enjoy, it sure made me smile. What a neat experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-mkUf7wnN8

Normal Is Only A Setting On Your Clothes Dryer

Quirks. We all have them. You know, those little habits and behaviors we all have that make us a little weird- I mean unique. I find that quirks often run in families. I am enjoying the process of uncovering some of the quirks that Sasha already shares with her parents and siblings.

Big Sister Beth
When Sasha walks next to me she likes to hold hands. The next thing she does is to match my stride. What I mean is that she adjusts her steps so that her right foot and my right foot are stepping forward at the same time. She also avoids stepping on cracks or lines in the pavement. If she steps on a crack with her left foot, she also feels the need to step on the next crack with her right foot. Quirky. She shares this strange behavior with her big sister Beth. If Sasha starts humming songs all of the time we're in real trouble.

Big Brother Alex
Alex is our second born biological child. He passed away in December of 2004 at the age of 12. We love and miss him and his quirks. At least one of his quirks will be returning to our home with the arrival of Sasha. She makes little noises and sound effects with her mouth such as clicking her tongue and various other sounds. She'll often insert these into a sentence to help drive home her point, and perhaps to help us understand what she is saying since she is speaking Russian after all. Alex was a noisy fellow. We often laugh about how surprised we are that God didn't find him too noisy upon his arrival to heaven. Now he has a noisy little sister as well.

Big Brother Josiah
Josiah has been in our lives for a little more than a year now. We love him and often refer to him as our son. Josiah has done enough laundry at my house for me to confidently say that he is bad about checking his pockets before putting his clothes in the washer. He probably has the cleanest money, pens, cigarette lighters, etc. in town. Sasha sent clothes home for me to wash and bring back to Russia with us. I guess I was jet lagging and didn't check the pockets of her jeans. When I open the washer to transfer her clothes to the dryer, I was greeted by cherry flavored lip balm, several small wads of paper, two small hair clips, and many many sunflower seeds. Yes- sunflower seeds. Oh my.

Dad
Dan is a well organized fellow. He likes lists and plans and charts. He also likes to be touched and enjoys having his arm or back tickled. Sasha will be his little buddy in this area. Touch touch touch touch. She eats it up to the point that the two of them make me laugh. She also needs to know the plan at all times. So much so that we created a little calendar and chart for her to cross off the days until we return. This seemed to comfort her. Lord, help me.

Mom
Okay, so I have quirks too. Actually, I have a lot of quirks but one is a particularly bad habit that Sasha and I share. I am a nail biter. I bite my nails when stressed or anxious. Sasha is a fellow nail biter. On our first trip we were sitting next to each other in the orphanage directors office and she was biting her nails. She saw that I was watching her and quickly quit as if she was in trouble. I tapped her on the should and showed her my nails. Her reply was a little giggle and a big smile. Maybe we'll help each other stop.

So there you have it. The quirky Jensens. I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, normal is nothing more than a setting on your clothes dryer.