Photos and Videos

We heard "Yes" from Anya, and Artium is too young to consent, so he is also a "yes".  Names.  Artium will become Samuel Artium Moore.  Anya will become Anya Lucille Moore.  Anya is actually Anna, but consented to the change because we already have a Hannah in the family.  Hannah and Anna is a little too close, and in translation from Russian to English, Anna's name sounds like Anya.  We called her Anya for Journey of Hope, and she never attempted to correct us.  Other people in the orphanage also caller her Anya, so I think we got it right.  The name Anya and Hannah both mean "Grace", so it is derived from the same name.    We decided awhile ago we were going to change Artium's first name, but we weren't sure until recently it would be Samuel.  The meaning is "God Heard".  It really seems to suit him. We are likely about two weeks out from court, and another 10 days after that is "Gotcha Day".  We are trusting the Lord for all of this.  His will be done.

We got a decent camera that take some decent videos.  Here are two with Samuel (Artium).

 A great closeup of our newest little guy.  Samuel (Artium) is a treaure...a really cute kid.  We got to spend a good deal of time with him while the Orphanage was sending for Anya.

 Nellie and I got a great treasure in big hugs from Anya when she returned from school.  She knows we will visit every day.  I love that she scowls when I say we have to go.  I need to give her a little advance warning next time.  Pictured below is Samuel and Momma.

 This is a photo with Alyona, Zach, Anya, Matthias and Nellie.

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Pictured are Zach, Matthias, and Artium.

There are a lot of other kids at the orphanage, many not pictured here.  In the first video above, one of  the little scraps kept tickling me, so I had to launch a counter tickle.  And then every one of the little ones wanted to be tickled, so it took a while.  The little ones have an overseer ever present who can blow the whistle on this tickling nonsense whenever she says.

 The photo above is Alyona's brother, Rustam.  These kids are incredibly polite and sweet. 

I had to include a photo of Jessie.  This dog is a protector to everyone on the grounds at the Orphanage, and I wish there was a way we could take this dog home with us.  What a great dog.  Very loving, and even knew the word "sit", when this dog has heard nothing but Russian and Ukranian.  That earned her a piece of ham...she had trouble, though, deciphering where my hand ended and the ham started....silly dog.