Our adoption story.

Dave and I have decided to adopt an 11 year old Russian orphan girl, who is a Little Person!! See the Meet Anna section. Scott, Matt and their friend, Ari, met her in the summer of 2006, while on a mission's trip. Matt and Ari went back and saw her in 2007 and 2008 and I met her in October 2008, on my trip over there.

For a year before my trip, I had a picture of Matt with this little orphan girl at my desk and I couldn't get her out of my head or heart. Before my trip over there, I asked God to confirm whether we should try to adopt her by having her acknowledge one of us as a family member. In my thoughts, I imagined that she would call Dave, “Papa.” Dave was supposed to go on the trip, but couldn't because of work, so I figured the whole deal was off. But...when I showed Anna a picture of me and Matt, she took it, stared at it, looked me in the eye and said, "Moy brat" which means "My brother" in Russian. YIKES!! In July, after months of mentally processing whether or not I could really do this mothering thing again, especially with her dwarfism, Dave and I decided that we should try to adopt her.

We are moving forward, and are aware that with this being an international adoption, there could be some kind of snafu, but things are moving along so far. It could still be 6-12 months before we get her. We have decided to have a lunch/auction to raise money for this very expensive undertaking. We are asking for donation items for the auction, which we hope to hold in November. If for some reason the adoption falls through, we will return the not “bid for” items as well as the donations made for those items. As a family, we are not a non-profit organization, so, the donations are not tax-deductible. We really need all the help we can get! We understand times are tough and do appreciate your sacrifice on Anna’s behalf.

Welcome to a small view into the life of Anna in her home. The photos and videos are from Matt and Scott's trip there, my recent trip last fall and from others that went before me.