Our family's miraculous adoption journey started over 15 years ago in the fall of 2002, when we adopted both Katya, then 11, from Russia, and Liana, 17 months, from Ukraine. Three years later in 2005 we added another little girl from Russia: Anna was almost 3 when we brought her home. Katya, Liana and Anna became the lights of our lives, and over the years, through the many trials and the triumphs, our family has grown stronger. Our girls are now 25, 15 and 14, and two years ago Katya gave us a wonderful grandson, Nicolas. Our experiences with orphanages and the children left behind in Eastern Europe changed our lives. We stayed in contact with Katya's friends, and volunteered with Kidsave International, the organization that helped us find Katya, including by hosting Katya's best friend and several other needy children. Gari quit her career to stay home with the girls and has dedicated her time to helping adoptive families learn how to parent children who suffered early trauma. Three years ago over Christmas we hosted two little girls from Latvia through Project 143. We knew almost immediately that they fit our family perfectly, but they were not yet available for adoption. We prepared and filed the necessary paperwork, and have stayed in close contact with the girls by mail and by phone. We have also been able to host them five times as their custody case wound its way through the court system. In many ways, they are already ours – we have noticed that every family picture includes them and they are, even at a distance, part of every holiday. Their case was finally concluded this winter, and we hope and expect to bring the two of them home for good this spring. And because we are a family that "goes big," we have decided to add a third, younger child who desperately needs a family to call her own forever. Without the support of friends and family over the years, we would not have been able to host the girls while we waited. Needless to say, hosting two girls five times was no small expense. Now, with our dreams within reach, we are once again asking for support to help cover the costs of bringing our little girls home. We would be so grateful for any and all help you can give us - each and every dollar, and each and every prayer, means an enormous amount to us.
