Last day with Liam

Family and friends,

We just finished our last visit with Liam. We arrived a little later than usual since there were three other couples arriving today to meet their new children for the first time. As you can imagine, a lot of excitement at the orphanage with 5 couples adopting five precious children.

Liam was his usual self today. Eating all of the cheerios and banana puffs along with checking everything out in the room. We can already tell, we will have our hands full when we get him back to Florida.

After spending our last time with Liam before returning to Florida, we got to spend time with the orphanage director who is a doctor (neurologist). She is very passionate about the children. You can see it when she talks about them and her staff. This is not a job, it is her hearts desire to get the children placed with parents. The orphanage is very well run with many care givers. The children are well cared for and loved. As the director said "we can give them everything except for loving parents". She said "tell everyone about the children here at the orphanage. Tell them to come". So we are passing along her wishes and telling our friends and family about the children at the orphanage.

As I traveled to and from the orphanage today. I thought about how often I complain about various things. Yet here, in the middle of Siberia, is a group of 200 children with nothing. I mean nothing except a group of workers who are loving and caring for them as much as they can. What is sad is at the end of the 4 years, they are taken to another orphange for children 4-18 years old. Their future is very bleak at best. Kids are rarely adopted after the age of 4. Of the 5 orphanages in this region for older children, no adoption agencies are working to place children with adoptive parents. This broke my heart.

As we prepare to travel back tomorrow for Moscow, we leave with mixed emotions. On one hand, leaving Liam for 4-6 weeks and on the other, returning to see our 4 beautiful kids. Liam will be well taken care of and it won't be long until we see him again. Next time returning home with us.

Thank you for all of your prayers.

We will keep the blog updated as we hear of our future court and travel dates back to get Liam.

Mike and Cathy

Day 2 with Liam

Friends and Family,

We have just returned from a wonderful day with Liam. He was even more precious today than yesterday. From his hugs to now his kisses to Cathy, he is taking our heart.

He started singing with Cathy today when she held and rocked with him. It was really neat to see them bond more today.

Liam is a ball of energy and loves people. With his big eyes and long eye lashes, he will get a lot of attention.

I found his ticklish spots today. As we wrestled on the floor, he laughed that contageous laugh that makes everyone crack up. He is a ham and will be the life of the party.

There is much going on here. Many God stories as we travel this journey with another couple here to adopt their daughter. This couple found out yesterday that their daughter had a "hernia of the spine". After meeting their daughter and taking some pictures, they talked to a doctor last night. The doctor quickly diagnosed as spina bifida. After an emotional day filled with many prayers and tears last night and talking to doctors in the US, they decided to tavel to the orphanage today to discuss their options with the director of the facility. I must say, their journey has been amazing to watch. We have watched as the Lord has brought the right people, perspective and grace into their loves for this little girl. As we traveling to the orphanage today, they were unsure what the Lord would do. They prayed for peace to know what direction to take (adopt her or get another referral). They have chosen to take this little girl and bring her back to the US for surgery. It is believed that her form of spina bifada is very correctable. I am writing this to ask for prayers for this family. Kerry and Karen would covet your prayers.

We miss our kids and home. We are scheduled for another day with Liam tomorrow then we return to Moscow and home on Friday evening.

in the grace of the Lord,

Mike and Cathy

Meeting my Son - Liam

Family and Friends,

Wow, what an amazing day today. After flying all night from Moscow to Novokuznetsk on S7 airlines (very nice A320 aircraft-I think they need LiveTV!!), we arrived to the most primitive airport I have ever seen. When we landed, I was concerned that the pilot had missed the runway. Then I realized that the runway has pot holes and this was normal. Very, very bumpy.

A bus picked us up on a deserted runway. The bus brought us to a short ally leading to a gate that said "to city". That was it. It was raining and 6:00 in the morning. No terminal. Thankfully, our translator met us outside the gate where we waited until they opened a door of something like a barn to get our luggage.

We then got in the a van with our driver and translator headed to our hotel. The hotel is 8 stories tall and is primitive as well. We stayed with the regular room which has 2 single beds a 9" TV and a shower/toilet. That's all. Simple at $100 per day.

We then departed at 9:00 am (we are 12 hours ahead of EST) for the orphanage. A 1 hour drive through the countryside on 2 lane roads. In summary, very dangerous and several nervous moments on the road with oncoming traffic. The countryside is beautiful (mix of East Tennessee mountains and pine trees like Seattle). High poverty.

We then arrived at the orphanage to meet Liam. After a short introduction to the director and social worker, we began to hear about Liam's health and history. In short, he is very healthy, on the small side, and has a brother who is 5. His mother left him at the hospital when he was born since she was unemployed and could not care for him. His name is Georgy Nikolaevich Gerasimov.

It was then time to meet Liam. It was upon us quickly as a worker opened the door and Liam was holding her hand as he walked into the room. Cathy broke into tears and I walked over to my son and picked him up for the first time. Just as I had dreamed, he smiled at me and held on. We left the room for another more private play area. We had a ball. Liam is a ham. Always smiling and very inquisitive. He is all over the place. He quickly went to Cathy and did not want to let go. He put the death grip on her. It was not until we brought out the Cheerios that he let go of Cathy.

More play time ensued as we played ball, ate more, then he rode in a small car that I pushed around the room. At one time he even posed for a picture as he started to figure we were all about taking pictures. Smart kid.

After a short 2 hours, we had to leave Liam. When Cathy handed him back to the caregiver, Liam reached back for Cathy. It was precious. We are on cloud nine!!

There are over 200 children at this orphanage ages 0-4 years old. It was very clean and the children are well taken care of. Adoptions are slowing down (economy and Russian govt) to where there were only 5 families adopting this summer.

We then left for the 1 hour drive back to town. a short nap and now we are eating at an internet cafe with wi-fi access.

What an amazing day. The Lord has brought us to this point. As we left the car to go into the orphanage, all I could do was praise the Lord for his grace and goodness. Why are we so blessed to be chosen by the Lord to be Liam's parents?

We love you all for your payers and support,

Mike and Cathy

More sightseeing and heading to Novokuznetsk

Hello all,

We are sitting in our second airport outside of Moscow about to take off for Novokuznetsk. Excitement is building as we are set to meet Liam tomorrow morning.

We had another fun day touring Moscow. The picture is of Cathy standing in Red Square with the National History Museum in the background. I tried to get in and see Lenin's toomb but the line was too long. Maybe Friday when we are back. They say his nails are still growing (not sure if that is a rumor or real).

Then a tour of Cathedral of St. Basils where we heard a mens choir which was really cool. After a short lunch and a quick freshen up at the hotel, we began traveling to the airport.

The airport is packed and very hot. Not the Russia you would image. Our flight leaves at 10:00 PM and is a red-eye to Novokuznetsk for a 7:00 am arrival.

Enjoy the blog and we will update when we can. Next time will be with new pictures of Liam!!

Mike and Cathy

Red Square pictures

For you to enjoy

In Russia - Stage 1 complete

Hello all,

We arrived safely in Russia yesterday (it is now Sunday morning). We are 9 hours ahead. We arrived around 10:30 am (10 hour flight). Their inflight entertainment system did not work so I worked on my proposal for Delta during the flight.

After waiting 1 hour to get through the immigration line, we met our translator Anton. Very nice guy, 21 years old who is our translator and driver.

After a 1 hour drive, I exchanged some money (24.3 roubles per dollar), went to a food market for some lunch and supplies and then we arrived at our Hotel where we cleaned up and took a little nap before we went on our short sightseeing tour.

Very warm here (around 90 degrees F), yesterday (Saturday) was the hottest day of the year here. First, we went to Red Square and Kremlin (very cool considering my past life in the govt satellite world), then too the largest mall in Moscow, and to a local area with shops, ski jump and view of the city.

A quick dinner with tradition Russian food and then to bed.

Today we will do a little more sightseeing and then board our flight tonight at 10:00. Another redeye and we arrive in Novokunesk tomorrow morning. From there, a quick clean up and off to the orphanage to meet Liam.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. To our family we love you all very much. To our friends, thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Mike and Cathy

Off to Russia we go

Hello friends and family,

We are off to Russia today. We depart Orlando at 11:00 am through Atlanta and then to Moscow. We arriving Saturday morning around 10:30 their time. We are all packed, locked and loaded and ready to go.

After arrival, we spend Saturday and most of Sunday just hanging out on Moscow. Then off to Novokuznetsk (in the middle of Siberia) leaving Sunday night and arriving Monday morning. A quick clean up and we are off to the orphanage (1.5 hour drive) to meet Liam for the first time.

time zone is 12 hours off (just like the olympics).

I am getting excited to meet my son. I pray that the Lord will protect him and my family as we depart on another adventure.

Talk with you soon,

Mike and Cathy