It
has been a crazy year for Leigh and I. In March of 2007 we
left on a 6 week trip to Ukraine to adopt 2 children. I will
spare the long details, but it was one of the hardest things
we have done. The Ukrainians we met were not very warm and fuzzy, the
system and especially the culture, is incredibly corrupt – and
few people seem to have the children’s best interest in mind.
After 3 weeks in country we still didn’t know if we were
going to be leaving with children, and spent the vast
majority of our time waiting, waiting, waiting. We finally
met our future son and daughter, and spent the next 3 weeks
living in the town where they were located, getting to know
them, and eating a lot of bad food.
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| Just soaked by Shamu |
But
at the end of the day, we finally came home with a boy, Theo
– 3 yrs, and girl, Anna – 6 yrs. They are awesome kids, and
don’t have the negative behavior characteristics we were
warned about for institutionalized children. They were adjusted
to the new life after about 3 months – Leigh and I are still getting
used to it!
So
things are going well. Anna is in Kindergarten, speaks
fluent English, and just learned to read. She now knows more
Spanish than Ukrainian. It is crazy how adaptable kids are at this age.
She is very physical, and loves gymnastics, dancing, and art.
Theo is now a chatterbox, and his English keeps improving.
He has caught up to his peers for what a typical 3.5 year old
should be able to do, which is remarkable considering how
far behind he was. He is very mechanically oriented, loves
the water, and anything having to do with music. They both
love rock climbing, skiing, and most everything outdoors. I think
they are going to fit in just fine!
That
news really dwarfs anything else that has gone on. We are
still staying fit and have a few events planned for the coming
year. I ran my first marathon last fall and still managed to do 1
mountain bike race. I’m going to be pacing a friend for the
Leadville 100 trail run from mile 50 to hopefully 100. We
will see how that goes. Leigh also has her eyes on some great
trail running events for the year. We are still traveling,
thanks to frequent visits from grandparents while we go play. 
So there is the executive summary. Hope you are all well.
Bryan
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