He got 'em

Our little Luke is covered with chicken pox. :( Jill and Chris went to visit him Thursday and he was itching and scratching, and had a high fever. Jill said that when they walked in, he grinned at them as if to say, "It's you, you came back to see me!" He is having a difficult time breathing, and the staff gave him a breathing treatment while they were visiting. They were able to stay about 2 hours and rocked him and loved on him. They are hopeful that he may be well enough to come back to the hotel with them in 5-9 days. They are hoping to get to visit him over the weekend, but will not get to see him Monday due to it being a national holiday. The coordinator and staff can not understand why they are ready to take him if he is so sick. They have waited so long for the privilege to take care of him, sick or well, and to pour out their love on him.
Jill asked that we pray for him to get remarkably better and pray that he can breathe well soon. Pray that the Lord will sustain them with patience, peace, comfort, energy and joy. Pray that they will see and be able to accomplish all that He has set in place for them to do during their stay, that Christ would be glorified above all. - April

Introducing: Luke Warren White!

It is official!! As of 6:30 last night (our time), Jill and Chris became the proud parents of Luke Warren White! They were not able to get Luke from the orphanage yesterday because their coordinator could not get in touch with the orphanage director to release him. Luke has bronchitis again, an ear infection, and has been exposed to chicken pox. The coordinator will not let him come back to the hotel if he presents blisters. Jill and Chris will go to the orphanage today at 12:30 p.m. (8:30 tonight our time) to see Luke and hopefully take him home with them. The judge would not wave the 10 day waiting period because Luke does not have a life threatening illness, so they should return home on March 12. This is quite a bit longer than they had hoped, but Praise God, they will return with their son in their arms!
Jill and Chris currently have no internet access. Chris' computer got a virus while in Moscow. They are hoping to find a computer store to download a new browser so they can better communicate with everyone. Until then, feel free to call them. You can purchase an international calling card at a drug store or Wal-mart for $10. Their phone # is (country code) 7-4212-216-234 then ask for room 303. I know they would be so encouraged to hear from you.
A little more about precious Luke..... He smiled at them and wanted to play, despite not feeling well. He is very heavy and eating well. He can sit alone, crawl, and is pulling up on things. They don't remember hearing him make any sounds, but the judge did say in court that he can hear some.
Plese continue to pray for this precious family! - April

Toto, We're not in Kansas Anymore

We are here! We left the 65 degree weather in Birmingham and arrived to a snowy Moscow. It is beautiful here! Thankfully our plane from Atl to Moscow was only about half full-so just about everyone on the plane was able to stretch out over a few seats to sleep-It was so nice! We are hoping it will be like that on our return flight. And the flight lasted only 10 hours-which was shorter than we thought. Andrei-our coordinator in Moscow was waiting for us at the airport-and took us to our hotel-which was about a 45 min drive. We checked in and ate some lunch at the hotel restaurant (which was pretty good)-and headed out into the snow. Attached are some pictures of the St. Basil's Cathedral and Red Square. Hope you all enjoy. It is so neat to be somewhere where you usually only see pictures of in National Geographic or on the Discovery Channel. We are getting anxious to see Luke (which we should be able to see him Mon & Tues before the court date on Wed). It was such a cool feeling just being in the air on the way to his country and knowing that we will return with him. And also neat to think that he has no idea that he only has a few days left alone in the orphanage and that he will soon be loved, safe and warm and in the arms of his mom and dad. Thank you all for your prayers and for keeping up with us.

We have travel dates!

We are finally going back! We leave Friday, Feb 13th for Moscow and arent sure when we will return. It could be anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Our court date is set for Feb 18th in Khabarovsk. We are spending Valentine's Day in Moscow and then leaving for Khab on Sunday-arriving on Monday-and then the court hearing on Wed. After the judge signs the adoption decree (which could be immediately or it could take 10 days) we will have to wait for his passport in Khab for 4 business days. Then we will fly to Moscow and apply for his Visa-which should take 2 days. So, depending on weekends and the one Russian holiday on Mar 9th-we could be home around the first of March or around March 12th. Also, we will know on Feb 18th if the judge will waive the 10-day waiting period before the adoption becomes final. Most importantly, we should be able to bring Luke back to our apartment with us after the court hearing. Thank you all for your prayer for us and we look forward to keeping you posted on our journey.