The Weekend in Review

Saturday began with Travis' baseball game. Here is part of the team after the game. His team is called The Muckdogs! At the end of the game they stick in their hands and yell, "Who let the dogs out?!!" It is pretty cute. They are a pretty cute little team. I think they all believe they are playing in the big leagues! It was pretty warm and sunny, Connor and I got a little bit sunburned. Travis and Daryle just got more tan. At least now there is somebody else in the family who burns easily just like me! Ha! (and we even wore our 45 SPF sunscreen too!)
We have this place in town called Organ Stop Pizza. When I was a kid we would go there for special occasions like birthdays and things like that. Well, it has moved locations but other than that it is all still the same. It is hard to see but the organist comes up from this hole playing music. There are instruments all around the place, little puppets, flags, and lights. It is wonderful entertainment for the whole family. They play a variety of music and just the organ alone is captivating for everybody no matter what song is being played! Since Connor loves music we figured he would love this place. We were right, he was glued to it from the moment the organ started playing. He really liked the cats and was MAD when the curtain went up and they went away!! I guess this means we will have to return again one day!

Connor has not been feeling well and was not cooperating for a group shot. That's ok, his eyes are all swollen and puffy anyway. The dr said it is allergies so we are doubling up on his medicine to see if that helps.

Today I was able to type up yet another research paper. For this class I have to do one a week. It keeps me on my toes I guess!

All weekend long Daryle and I have been discussing the big news story regarding Russian adoptions. In case you haven't heard a mother in Tennessee sent her 7 year old son back to Russia, all alone, on an airplane, with a note telling Russian officials she didn't want to be his mother any more. She paid a man to pick him up from the airport and bring him to the Ministry of Education. She claims she was lied to and that the boy had severe psychological problems. There is so much more to the story, and I am sure there is even more that nobody knows. However, it was reported that at the 6 month post placement visit in January no problems were noted. The grandmother claims that the violence began after that and that is why they sent him back. The way I look at it they only gave this little boy about 3 months to help him work things out. When you adopt, and especially with an older child, you have to be prepared for major issues such as the ones they were experiencing. These children have major baggage and often have attachment problems. It is not an easy road for sure. It takes YEARS to work through these issues, maybe even a lifetime. We are just upset with this mother for handling the situation with such poor judgement. Mostly, she has single handedly affected adoptions for hundreds of Russian orphans who are waiting for families to adopt them. We are so thankful that this did not happen a year ago. If it did we might not have Connor here with us today. Please say a prayer tonight for all of the families who are in the waiting process. I can only imagine how upsetting news like this can be when you are this close to bringing home your child. So many families are heart broken and are waiting on pins and needles to find out if Russian adoptions will be frozen until the two countries can come to an agreement. Last year there were 1,600 adoptions from Russia to the US. We are so proud to be one of them. Not a day goes by that we aren't forever thankful for our boys.