#23

** Back in business! The day I posted this, we met with the adoption agency, and received the worst case scenarios talk that we've received so many times. It was too much to process AND have this publicly out there, which is always a challenge for me anyway. But we processed, and are well on our way, emboldened I am sure by prayer. I can't wait till our boy comes home!!! And no, I don't know when, but though it will be months at any rate, everyone seems to be working as fast as they can on this side of the ocean.*

And some more pictures.

 I think he is about 11 here.

This was a couple weeks ago, opening some gifts we were able to send to him.

This is Oleg, or Aleshka as he's called.

We have recently begun the long process adopting this beautiful boy from [a country I've just learned I'm not supposed to name until the adoption is final]. He is kind, and good, and beautiful, and he belongs with us.

I wish I could say, ask any question you have. And yes, I'll try to answer your questions. But I have kind of a hard time talking about this, because it's really a massive walk in faith.

It feels like when Luca was born. People looked to us to answer questions - but what did we know? We were just the people God had asked to parent this child. We had so very much to learn, and our hearts on the line as we did so. So, one foot in front of the other.

A few questions I can answer. Frank and I have spoken often of adopting, but it was nowhere near front of mind. Around Easter, I saw Aleshka's picture on a random FB "friend's" page, and felt an immediate connection. We spoke of it, prayed about it, and asked people who know, about it.

He will technically age out on December 6, but we will have filed with Immigration by then. So then it's months of paperwork and visits to Ukraine before he's home.

The boys all know about Aleshka, we're just waiting for him to come home.

So please pray for us, and for Aleshka.

(If you haven't read it already, this is where he "lives" right now.)