OLESYA IS 7

Olesya is 7!  How can that be?  It seems like just a few days ago that we were in Russia visiting her for the first time.  She was so tiny and sweet and we fell in love with her immediately.  It was all in God's timing.

I can't remember life before her. She is my life, my everything, my best friend. GOD IS GOOD!

Without her life sure would be boring.

I wish I were there the day she were born.  I wish I had those memories to share. The memories I do have are when she was just a little over two years old. June 1, 2011, She seemed happy and content but very shy.  I was told she was one of their favorites. Which probably means that she was well taken care of. She took to Steve right away they were like two peas in a pod. We enjoyed every minute of the time we spent with her in Russia.  It seemed to go by so fast yet so slow as well.  Just hard to explain.  We only got to see her two days and made the decision to adopt her.

It took quite a few months before we finally got to go back for our court date. And then 10 more days later after that to go get her to bring her home. December 2nd 2011 is the most important day of our lives. It was the day she was finally in our arms. We hurried out of that orphanage,  Olesya in our arms, as fast as we could and we never looked back. We kind of felt like we were smuggling a rare gift.  We were, of course.  We did enjoyed our time with her in Russia although we were excited and relieved to finally land in the USA back in New York City on December 8th 2011.  This was the biggest and best adventure of my life.  It took 2 1/2 years from start to finish.

The first few weeks back home were pretty rough.  We had to learn to communicate with each other. And she had to learn a new language.  Within a month she was speaking English very clearly and full sentences. She is very smart and picks up on things very quickly.

She is a smart, beautiful, happy, healthy, curious, opinionated, joyful child. She wants to please everyone. Poor Steve, she always takes my side in every argument.   She is full of questions and wants to know what everyone is doing.

She is doing well in school and is continuously making new friends.

She seems to not remember anything from her two and a half years in the orphanage.  Of course, she was so young.

We have made contact with 3 of her 4 siblings.  The oldest, a sister, keeps in contact with us weekly through www.vk.com.  She is happy Olesya has us.  She seems to be doing well.  She is in school studying accounting and about ready to graduate. 

We hope one day that they will meet.  When she is much older, of course. 

We love this child more than life itself.  She is ours and will continue to fill our lives with joy and happiness.