Welcome Home...Ninmann Family

Brothers met for the first time when Brian, Debbie, and Nathan arrived in the good ole' USA! If you read our blog you all know their story, and know that Nathan and Evan lived together in the baby home. You probably also helped pray them home. It was a very long trip in Russia, over 2 months, away from their oldest son JJ.

First trip to meet Nathan...October 2004
Home TOGETHER as a family of four...March 2009

It's been a long road!

A favorite of Debbie's... Ps 117 - Praise the Lord, all you nations, extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.

We so enjoyed following along with them on their journey through their blog. Debbie is actually the one who got me into blogging all those years ago when we traveled to Russia.

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Welcome to the USA...Holmes Family!!

Introducing Harry Holmes!! The precious boy who we all prayed home is now fitting in and adjusting just fine in his HOME in MA! He's a doll with the cutest personalty!

Last Thursday, Harry Holmes became a US Citizen when he landed in Atlanta, GA. We were there to meet him and welcome him to the USA. Also, welcoming him were The Groffs, who you all know...Anicka and Evan lived together in the Baby Home in Russia. And, Lisa and Darren with their two small children, who drove down from South Carolina. Lisa and Darren are currently waiting to bring their son home from Irkutsk. Their first trip was in Oct. 2005.

Everyone who closely knows me or reads our blog knows how I get when I go to the airport. This time was no different. Judy and I feel like we've known each other for years but didn't officially meet in person until January 4th, when they were on their way to Russia.

Read about it on our blog here.

This picture just cracks me up. What's so funny, you ask? Well, he was laughing at Evan's Southern attempt to speak Russian to him. Every time that Evan would say something in Russian to him, Harry would crack up and then respond back to him in Russia.

Evan and Harry

The Angarsk/Irkutsk Connection. Oh...These precious, special kids!

Skip, Evan, Anicka, Aidan and Asher (waiting for brother) and Harry front and center.

The Moms.

Kirsten Groff, Brandi Hodges, Judy Holmes, Lisa

Praise the Lord! Adoption Granted!

At approximately 4:30pm local Irkutsk time on Friday, January 30, 2009, our friends, Brian and Debbie were named to be the parents of Nathan Eugeny Ninmann! After over 4 years, their adoption was granted!!!! We pray that the approval of the Holmes and the Ninmanns are only paving the way for many other friends that we have who are still waiting. Continue to keep the families of Irkutsk in your prayers.

Another Court Date!!!

The Ninmanns go to court for the second time Friday, that's Thursday night here for us. Please keep them in your prayers for their adoption of Nathan to be granted. This has been such a long wait for them from October 2004 from their first trip to meet him. We are praying that the approval of the Holmes has paved the road for all of the waiting families.

It's a Boy!!!

At 2:30pm today, Irkutsk time, after 4 1/2 years of waiting and 5 grueling court hearings, the Holmes family we've been praying for became, in their words, "the parents of a bouncing (running, jumping, and talking) baby boy"!

Praise the Lord! We can't wait to see them again and meet their newest addition at the airport when they layover in ATL!

Adoption Family Prayers

I'm so far behind...but here's a quick adoption update.

You all know that the Holmes family was to go back to court for a third time...well yet again...they were postponed! They go back Thursday...that's tomorrow night for us.

Also, the Ninmanns are in Russia for court. I'm sure you remember them, Debbie and her son JJ actually came to visit us twice from WI. They too were postponed...until the 30th. Their soon to be (officially) son and Evan were in the same groupa and actually sleep in beds next to each other.

Though this isn't the news that we hoped for it isn't all bad because it wasn't a denial. Please continue to lift up both families in your prayers.

Reunited...

Evan was reunited with an old friend from Russia!

You've all heard us talk about the Holmes family and ask for prayers. Well, they are headed back to Russia for another attempt at adopting their son. We pray that this will be the final appearance in court and that the adoption will be granted this time.

Our families became very close and connected over the years as virtual friends. We finally got to meet in person last Sunday, as they had a 6 hour layover in Atlanta. It was so nice to finally meet face to face.

Evan and their son, Skip were in the same baby home and lived together around the age of 1. They too are virtual friends and talk about each other's blog and stay connected through science projects and crafts that they "see" each other build and post on the blogs. Sunday, was the first time that they have seen each other in about 4 years!! Of course, they didn't remember each other, but talk about a reunion! They hugged and quickly became best friends as they made the connections of their past.

We hope to open up our home to them sometime once their adoption of Harry is finalized. Adoption has a way of linking friends and making some amazing connections with them. We are so grateful for all of the special families that we have met.

Please keep them in your prayers! They got to court on the 12th, that's the 11th for us!

Continued Prayers

Update on the Holmes family...waiting for 3rd court.

I wanted to post an update about our friends in Russia who are there to adopt their son. They have now been to court twice and both times, it was postponed. The husband is flying home as we speak to get back to work. He will need to return whenever they get another court date. The wife and 5-year-old son are staying in Irkutsk at least through the end of this week. The judge has ordered the birth mother and the 6 remaining Russian families who decided not to adopt this child to file papers with the court by October 30. The wife is waiting to see what happens after that deadline to decide if she will stay in Irkutsk until this is really done, or, if it looks like it could take a month or more to get another hearing with the judge, if she and her 5-year-old will come home to wait. Please pray for them as the Lord brings them to mind. As you might imagine, they are very discouraged and frustrated. They are under a lot of stress – financial, emotional, physical – and just want some definite answers.

A New Addition to our Northern Family...

It's official!!! Our Northern Family...The Schattes are in Vietnam and they just adopted Josiah!!! I know everyone knows but just in case, the Schattes are the family who we lived with in Russia while we adopted Evan. They adopted their daughter Hannah the week after we adopted Evan.

We will be traveling to PA to visit them in November! Aunt Brandi can't wait to give him hugs and kisses!

Adoption Family Prayers

Please continue to pray for our Adoption Friends.

The Holmes Family...our friends in Irkutsk who after 8 hours was not granted the adoption of their son whom they been waiting for four years...will be going back to court this Friday. Please pray that the judge will find favor with all of their paperwork and will grant the adoption of their son.

The Groff Family...many of you know them as Anicka's family. She is the little girl who lived with Evan in the baby home in Irkutsk. (For those of you who don't know...They lived together in Irkutsk, Siberia and now live 45 minutes from each other!) They are on an in-between trip to visit their second daughter. They have been waiting for Tanya since 2004. They could use lots of prayers too. Tanya has been moved to an orphanage that has never done adoptions.

Keep Praying...

I couldn't wait to recieve a post from our friends in Irkutsk this morning, but it wasn't what I wanted to read, My heart breaks for them, keep praying!

This is their post...

Monday, September 29, 2008

To be continued..
as if 3.5 years of waiting, and 8 hours of ruthless badgering by both a judge AND prosecuter weren't enough, the court today decided they STILL are not satisfied with our paperwork, and continued the case pending receipt of the new documents. I am way too exhausted to get into details, but will try to describe it more tomorrow. We're looking at it from the point that she didn't say no, so..............Please continue to pray for us...

Activity in Irkutsk...Please be in Prayer.

We are asking everyone we know to be in prayer for the families and children of Irkutsk. Most of you know the situation, but for you newbies, I'll give a quick run down. We adopted Evan in April of 2005 after that there were two adoptions, one in June and one in August 2005. Around that time news broke of the death of Nina Hilt, a 2 year old who had been adopted from Irkutsk who was beaten to death by her mother, Peggy Hilt. As if there wasn't already enough red tape in Irkutsk, with us already having to wait a year between trips, this just added to it. Since then there hasn't been a single adoption by an American family...yes...since August 2004. Article here.

We have several friends who have been waiting over 4 years to bring home their children. While we waited for Evan, at times I didn't think people understood. (These were generally the people who drove us crazy with stupid questions anyway.) We (and all of these families) were with our child for an entire week, then forced to leave without them. It was the hardest thing that as parents we've ever had to do. During our wait for those who didn't seem to understand the pain and magnitude involved, I would explain it to them like this: Imagine that you gave birth to your child and you were only allowed to spend one week with him or her, then you were forced to say good-bye and had no idea when you would return to your child again. Can you imagine the pain? That's what the families of Irkutsk are enduring. We endured it for a solid year and could not imagine that it could ever get any worse...but it did! 4+ years worse!!

After lots of silence and nothing but declined paperwork, there is currently a lot of activity in Irkutsk.

Now that you've got a little background here's what were asking for...

Family 1: Some dear friends of ours finally received a court date!!!! This is the 1st American family to receive a court date since the last adoption in August 05...so make sure you grasp the magnitude of them being there. They arrived yesterday in Angarsk. They took with them their 5 year old son, who was also adopted from Irkutsk a few months prior to Evan. They will be spending a lot of time with their son in the baby home and will then go before the judge in court next Monday, September 29th. Remember, that Irkutsk is 13 hours ahead so that's the 28th for us. Please be in prayer for this family that they will receive favor with the judge and that the adoption will be granted. You can't even begin to understand how difficult she is, so pray hard!

Family 2: Some more dear friends of ours will have their paperwork submitted before the judge on October 2nd. Please pray that the judge will find favor with their paperwork and not ask for petty changes like she has always done in the past and that she will grant them a court date.

Family 3: Yet, more dear friends of ours will travel to Irkutsk for a week in October for an "in-between" trip to visit and re-bond with their daughter. Please pray that trust will quickly be regained and that they will have a wonderful trip.

There is finally a lot of activity in Irkutsk which we praise God for.

Please leave a comment to let these families (they read our blog daily) know that you will be praying for them.

A Stranger in Wal-Mart...

I just wanted to take a minute and journal for myself how amazing it is to me to know that God has been using me and our family’s story throughout our journey to Evan.

In August, (I have been meaning to post this for a while) I was in Wal-Mart uploading pictures when I noticed St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, in the woman’s hand next to me. So I said, “Excuse me, I have to ask…I see St. Basil’s are you adopting? My husband and I adopted our son from Russia.” The lady next to me was a complete stranger but before I could tell her our last name, she asked me if we were the Hodges! Yes! I said…how strange I first thought. Then after talking she told me that she kept up with our journey through others who were praying for us while we waited. She said that for the longest time (while we were still waiting) whenever, she would tell people that they were adopting, people would say, "Do you know the Hodges?" That just shows how many prayer warriors we had on our side. She then told us that she read about us in the Covington News when we got home, which is comforting to her. That day in Wal-Mart we met a life-long friend, her name is Gina and she and her husband are adopting their son from Russia. Their first trip was in February of this year.

I have thought several times now how neat it was for God to place us both at the photo machines in Wal-Mart at the exact same time. I needed to stop by Wal-Mart earlier in the day and didn't have a chance, God knew that we would not meet if my plan had worked out..."For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 This is a reminder to me of how God is always working for our good and using us even when we don’t know it.

This is an insert from an Email that Gina sent me….we decided in August 2004 to adopt and Russia is the place we feel God led us. One thing that is kind of neat, when I was at a Bible Study at Susan Capps house your mom was there and had a picture of Evan when he was a small baby, when Phillip and I decided to adopt and Russia was our country, I told everyone about your mom and how her daughter was adopting from there. So it has kind of come full circle, your adoption inspired us. : )

[Isaiah 43: 1, 5-7 posted on our blog] This just proved to me that God is always working; there is no doubt in my mind that God had our paths cross that day at Wal-Mart. Thanks for always being a source of comfort and showing me the peace that I needed these last few day.

I believe that God had us meet for a reason and that it is very important. Maybe it is for me to help her continue through the process or maybe it is for her to remind me what a special blessing I have on the days of toddler tantrums ;-) either way I firmly believe it is part of Gods plan.

I just had to post this because it is so amazing to me….how a stranger in Wal-Mart can become a life-long friend!

Please pray for our dear new friends…Gina and Phillip are waiting for Luke to come home.

God truly is amazing and is working all the time!

A Special Adoption Related Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating with friends who have become more like family. One of the many special things about adoption is the special connection that it ties other families together with.

You have all heard us mention our dear friends, the Groffs and many of you have prayed for them over the years. Friday, we met them at their house for dinner to help celebrate their 1 year family day. In many ways it is hard to believe that Anicka has been here for a year and Evan for 15 months but in some ways that seems like such a short time. As if they have always been here. When we first met Kirsten and Vince in 2004, we had just returned from our first trip to Irkutsk to meet Evan and they were about to travel to meet their daughter Anicka for the first time. Evan and Anicka were big buddies in the baby home and ate at the same table and slept near each other. Now both children have traveled half way across the counrty and are home, together in Georgia, USA all the way from begin together in Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia. What a plan God had to put us in each other's lives. It was so much fun watching videos of Anicka and Evan in the baby home together and seeing them play together as toddlers.

Many of you have also prayed for the Wimpy family, our friends from Warner Robins. They arrived home from St. Petersburg with their sons 5 weeks ago, Dima, 6 and Kirill, 3. They came over for lunch Saturday and we so enjoyed meeting the boys and playing with them. They are so much fun and full of energy. Evan would look and them and belly laugh whenever they would speak Russian to him. It was so much fun trying to communicate with them, with what little Russia I know. It made me miss the process even more. The boys seem so happy.

With the Wimpy's was Jane Cook who was visiting from Michigan. Jane is waiting to return to adopt her daughter, Sasha. Jane and I have become very close over the past year or so through the internet and phone. We felt like we knew each other though we had never met until Saturday. Another example of how adoption can knit bonds so close. Jane's first trip was in December, 2004.

Adopting is such a special part of our lives and to many people we know. Some who we have met in person and some who we just feel like we know personally. Please remember to pray for all of the children and the families who are waiting to return to Irkutsk. It has been a hard and long road for them. Please pray that the judge's heart will soften and that cases will be heard again sometime very soon. We think about you guys everyday and pray for you all the time. We love you all!

Brandi, Clay, Evan

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Wow, what a great year 2005 was for our family! Looking back I can hardly believe that almost the entire year was about our trip, coming home and then being home. We have been home for 8 months now and have had Evan with us for 9 months…that’s almost an entire year, WOW!

Christmas 2004 was very difficult we spent every month thinking that the next month would be it and when it would not be “the month” that we got our court date we would always say "Well at least we will be home for Christmas." And when Christmas was here and no word came that was very difficult.

However, 2005 rolled around and what a great year it was!

January 2005 began with our friend Kirsten traveling to Irkutsk for an “in-between” trip to visit her daughter Anicka. While Kirsten was there she was able to visit Evan almost everyday. The caretakers also allowed her to take Evan with her to private playroom with Anicka. While Kirsten was there she emailed us updates on Evan and when she returned she sent us lots of photos and videos…end of January to February.

February 28, 2005 we received the phone call that we had a court date! Set for April 15, 2005! Praise the Lord! “Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25

March until we left, of course we were very busy applying for visas getting plane tickets, packing, etc.

April 4th we left headed for Irkutsk! We arrived in Irkutsk 2 days later on April 6th. On April 7th we picked Evan up from the baby home and took him with us to the apartment. He has been with us ever since. It was so wonderful to be reunited with him after an entire year of last seeing him or holding him. I held him and cried and still do at times. Our lives were forever changed and we praise the Lord for that everyday.

On April 11th (also our 7th wedding anniversary) we met Judge Kotkina to hand over our paperwork. Also on April 11th we met part of our forever family…Mark and Carol Schatte and on April 12th we met their precious Hannah.

April 15th our Evan Denis officially became EVAN DENIS HODGES.

May 1st we left Irkutsk for Moscow.

Leaving Moscow, we boarded a plane headed to Austria…Austria to LaGuardia NY…LaGuardia to JFK NY...JFK to Atlanta GA.

May 6th…Home in Atlanta at 9:00pm greeted by family and friends! It was so great to see everyone!! When we landed in Atlanta we had been awake and either in an airport or on an airplane for 32 hours straight!!!! Boy, were we tired. We certainly were running on nothing but adrenalin fumes. Evan was so sweet and so sleepy. He had taken a few naps here and there, but Clay and I could not sleep at all…no naps for us…we were too excited to be going home and too worried to close our eyes with Evan there in our laps. We did take a short nap after our snack was served on the plane from JFK to Atlanta, but come on the entire flight was less than 2 hours. We were starving and stopped at McDonalds, I remember we were in line at 11:00pm so we must have gotten home around 11:30 or so. My parents and Wesley took us home and Clay’s parents and his brother came over, when they all left and we got into bed it was around 1am.

May 7th Clay was back at work.

And the rest is history!!! ...and much of it is blogged.

Time sure has flown by since we have been home; nothing like time was B.E (Before Evan). (Clay and I often laugh about time B.E.) B.E time sure did seem to drag by, day by day, even hour by hour at times. Some people don't understand, for them I say imagine seeing your child for the first time ever, perhaps, just given birth to your child then spending 5 days and 4 nights with him alone, and then being forced to give your child to someone else for an entire year…a year to the exact week. The wait was an extremly hard wait and made the year difficult for us (which many of our friends are still experiencing). We pray for them everyday!

2005 was a magic year for us and 2006 is going to be the magic year for many other waiting families. Please keep them in your prayers.

Happy New Year!!
The Hodges...family of 3!

Irkutsk Party

On Sunday, October 23rd we hosted an Irkutsk Party at our house! We had tons of fun meeting new families and catching up with other families. The connection that is created between the families through adoption in Irkutsk is a very special connection, one that can't be fully understood by anyone else. It was so wonderful to share stories with families who have adopted and who are in the process of adopting. We "knew" all of the families that came...though some of them we had never met in person. The internet was our meeting place, because of constant email connections we knew them well before we met them.

The weather was very fall like and we enjoyed our time together outside eating fried chicken and sides. The little ones especially enjoyed outside. Evan, Anicka, and Ana-Grace were so sweet together. What a wonderful sight it was to seem the three of them together. They each had so much fun playing in the yard...running and chasing each other, playing on the playset, and looking at the cows. Evan and Ana-Grace were so cute taking turns on the rocking horse...three or four short rocks for each and then they would switch. Anicka was especially fun to watch whenever Maci or Woody (our labs) would get too close. She couldn't quite decide if it was fun or not, but by the end of the night she was petting Woody and loving it, she giggled like she was so proud of herself.

We enjoyed catching up with Sharon Stumb, our Social Worker and Vince, Kirsten, and Anicka Groff. It was great to see Rodney, Ronnice and Ana-Grace Stephens again too. It is so great to finally have a face to put with the emails and so wonderful to meet Dale and Sandy Wimpy and
Scott and Tricia Kennedy. Dale and Sandy are waiting to return to bring their son, Victor home and Scott and Tricia are waiting to return to bring their daughter, Hannah home. We continue to pray for the Irkutsk families who are waiting. Waiting is always so hard but especially when you don't know what is going on. I hope and pray that the party was somewhat uplifting for you guys. "We wait in hope of the Lord; for He is our hope and our shield." Psalm 33:20

This has to become an annual event for sure, we really enjoyed having everyone over. Next year, we look forward to inviting more Irkustk families and welcoming home new little ones.

Time with Anicka & looking forward to the Schattes

We spent Tuesday afternoon and evening with Kirsten and Anicka, Vince was out of town on business. It was so wonderful to watch our precious babies play together, to think about where they both were only 6 months ago...together in a Siberian orphange. They never could have known what awaited them in the few months to come...a loving family, limitless opportunites, and a whole new world to explore in the eyes of a 2 year old. One of my favorite firsts for Evan will always be the feel of grass on his toes. He didn't know what to think, I can only imiage how strange it must have felt.

I guess my only reason for posting this is just to say how truly faithful and amazing our dear Lord is and how thankful I am for such an amazing gift. He never failes us and I firmly believe with all of my heart that our dear friends will be doing exactly what we are in the next short months ahead. I also believe that the new judge is all part of God's plan.

Debbie I can't wait for your next visit to Georgia...bringing Nathan this time as well!

Such a joy...

We have now been home with Evan for 133 days. The scared little boy that we picked up at the orphanage that day has transformed into a tireless two year old, with limitless energy and enthusiasm that begins every day when he wakes up and doesn't subside until bedtime. No longer do we get the little baby cry when he wakes up in the morning. Instead, we get "mama...tu mere", or "daddy...I want out". His tantrums are extremly rare now and lead him to "time out" where he sits (as if his behind is glued to the floor) until we let him up. He wipes his eyes and says "no cwy", and then we get back to our activity as if nothing happened. He enjoys Thomas the Train, and he also understands that with TiVo, Mama and Daddy can never give the excuse that "it's not on right now". He loves to swim, ride in the golf cart, and go on walks with his mom. He explodes with excitement every time they go by a construction site. He loves anything that makes noise. He is almost completely potty trained now, with only the occasional accident, and even though it is an occurence that happens several times daily, he never hesitates to give himself a round of applause after a successful trip to the potty. We were warned throughout this process of the rough adjustments that many families face while the child becomes acclimated to his new surroundings, and while Evan is a two year old boy with a strong will and a hard head, he is such a joy to have home, and is completely adjusted.

My new favorite Evan story happened just a few days ago. He is recently recovering from a bout with strep throat. He woke us up crying late last Saturday night. Brandi and I got up and gave him medicine, sprayed his throat, and then put him in bed with us for a while. He cried and coughed pitifully until his medicine kicked in, at which time he became playful. Then, without any coaxing from us, put his hand on each of our faces and said "thank you mama, thank you daddy." as if to say...you fixed it.

He is begining to put words together to form sentences. His newest sentence is "I want____" not at all in a demanding way, just a sweet little boy telling you what he wants. He is loving school and looks so cute in his new school uniform.

Brandi completed her master's degree this month in Reading and Literacy Instruction but still has no desire to go back to teaching school. Right now she has the most important student she could ever have and is loving every minute of it.

On August 19th we went to the airport to welcome home the Groff family. Thank you all for praying for them. We met Anicka, and Evan was reunited with her. Evan instantly remembered her, they used to eat, play and sleep next to each other everyday. Evan began jabbering to her so fast...it was like he was saying "Welcome home, You are going to love it here....it is awesome." We have plans to visit them next week and can't wait.

Irkutsk Update: Our Judge, Judge Kotkina has retired and a new judge has been appointed. Her name is Mrs. Stepanova. Please continue to pray for families of Irkutsk and for the new judge also. With the new judge in office, we are hoping to hear of court dates soon.

Please leave us a comment, we enjoy reading them. Your comments will be part of this wonderful treasure for Evan one day.

The Hodges...family of 3!