Incorporation (One Body)

And so begins the incorporation of another of God's children into a new life.

A life filled with love from an American family filled with children from three countries.

Kazakhstan

China

USA

Jackson delights in so many toys!

We are grateful for the support of family and friends, including the wonderful Neals from Nixa.

Jackson learns songs, numbers, and letters.

Noah works on an art project for school.

Fun on the computer for Samuel and Annabelle

Jacob creates a new world of blocks with MineCraft.

Jackson loves his new momma.

Lucy and Noah bat the ball back and forth. Lucy uses only her phone.

#doesthatvoidmywarranty?

Noah's fancy new Nike glasses

"Just Wear Them."

Relaxing Time!

Sophie (always posing for the camera; love it!)

Noah can pose, too.

Uh, ...okay.

Samuel, boy of 1,000 faces

Brothers before bedtime

A Trip Back in Time: October 2002 (Adopting Lucy Aigul)

In 2002, you had to travel through Moscow to go to Kazakhstan.

St. Basil's Cathedral

Red Square

Kremlin

World War 2 Memorial

Russia had very high casualties.

We drove across Moscow from one large airport to the other large airport.

We flew to Orenberg, met up with our Kazakh hosts, and took a long car trip

in blowing snow, stopping often to be interrogated by Russians with AK-47s.

Finally we arrive in Aktobe and find this sweet little girl!

Yeah, I'm kinda cute!

This pink blanket you guys brought me is Super Soft!

My favorite drink: caffeinated hot tea with tons of sugar

The orphanage is named the Kazakh word for "hope."

Even as an infant, Lucy had great muscle tone.

Leila: our coordinator and also our host.

We stayed with her and her family in their apartment most of October, 2002.

Leila with her daughter

The day we finally got to take Lucy out of the orphanage 

Next town, Almaty, KZ

Then back to Moscow and finally home (October 31, 2002)