Cold...But Not as Cold as it was in January

So it's cold, but getting warmer. :) Really it is. 19 degrees ABOVE is way warmer than last time I looked!

To check out the weather for yourself

click here:

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/22887.html

It's amazing how hard it is to get to where we need to go. We're having trouble finding flights. It seems pretty remote. The doctor said that he is underweight by 4-5 lbs. but his head, chest, and height continue to grow. She said that being underweight is normal for a child in an orphanage and that it's good that he has continued to grow in every other way. She said to remember that it's hard enough for the average person to get enough food in the middle of winter in such a desolate area and that fact the fact that Alex has continued to thrive is amazing.

We're just taking a break from looking for tickets because it's not like we can get on a Northwest or a Delta flight or something like that. So far it seems like only Russian airlines fly within Russia. Maybe we should just hire a dog sled!

We're told is the best way to go is to just get to Moscow. Then take a flight from Moscow to Arkhangel'sk. Then take another plane or train to Kotlas where the baby home is. So far we can't find any flights that go directly to anywhere in Russia except Moscow anyway or if we're lucky, St. Petersburg.

Also, here's some interesting pictures in the winter:

(These look really, really cold. Jenna, I know you will love these!)

click here:

http://homepage.mac.com/roemhild/desktop-pictures/archangelsk/

Oh, one last thing....some of you guys are making fun of his PINK clothes! What can we say - he's in style!!! Just look back up at his future dad. (Now you really know who DOESN'T know the password to the blog. :) )But seriously, we have absolutely no idea what the deal is. Sergey, the first child we were referred, was wearing hot pink shoes! But don't worry, I've been told by another teacher at work that we will be bringing BLUE clothes with us!

Travel Dates!

Found out today that we need to be in Russia on March 18th. They want us there that whole week so we can meet Alexander and see if he's the baby for us. Now hopefully we can use those frequent flyer miles!!!

REFERRAL!

We accepted the referral of a little boy named Alexander.

He is about 7.5 months old. He was born in June. When he turns 8 months (any day now) we can find out when we can go and meet him.

He lives in Kotlas, Russia in the "baby home." Kotlas is in far northwestern Russia, kinda over by Finland. (If you look at a globe, it's at about the 70 degree North latitude line, near a city called Arkhangel'sk.) Sounds very COLD to me!! Erik is very excited about being somewhere THAT cold. He says you can hear tree branches explode if it gets cold enough....I'm starting to think we should've looked into adopting from Tahiti! :)

Anyway, we should find out soon when we can go and meet him. We had a doctor in Ann Arbor look at his medical reports and everything looks positive. The first trip should last about a week.

We hear that this orphange is a good one and it is nice to see that the Russian women holding him looks like she enjoys her job. We are hopeful that he is in a good place.

Just Checking to See if This Works!

So, we are thinking of starting a blog to record the "Russian Adventure" on which we are about to embark. Never had a blog before, nor do we have any idea how this will work!! So I am now going to add a picture....I ask you to please excuse whatever I pick ahead of time! It will probably be something cheesy like the cats or us! We are still learning...