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Children's
Hope International
Northwest Region
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 Meet
Miss Mia Nielsen!
This picture pretty much sums up
our life with Mia. In the short
amount of time she has been
home, Mia has given us more than
we could ever give her. She is
just amazing. We will forever be
grateful for all you have done
and continue to do for us. We
couldn't have got a little girl
anymore perfect than Mia, even
if we could have special ordered
her! She definitely has The
Nielsen Family humor and, if she
isn't cracking all of us up all
day long, she is busy cracking
her own self up. You would never
know that I didn't give birth to
her myself. Her brothers and
sister worship her. They are so
in love with her. It's amazing!
She makes our whole world go
around every time we wake up and
see her smiling face. We are
sooooooooooooooo happy to have
her in our family!
~ The Nielsen Family |
Meet the Sax family!
 We're
Jay and Bronwyn Sax. We adopted
a bright, cheerful, wonderful
little boy from Novokuznetsk,
Kemerovo region, Russia in late
December 2001. Theodore Joseph
Ilya is 4 years old and a
complete delight. We couldn't be
more pleased at being a family
and parents to such an outgoing,
happy boy.
We started our adoption process
and selected Children's Hope
International (CHI) as our
agency. They're quick to respond
to questions and are anxious to
help you bring your child (or
children!) home. CHI itself has
an excellent history of
adoptions in Russia and their
program is really head and
shoulders above many others in
the field.
We received our referral for a
little boy, Viktor, in late
October and then lost the
referral unexpectedly in the
middle of November when his
grandmother visited the
orphanage. We believe she was to
become his caregiver at that
time, which is marvelous for him
but was also heart-wrenching for
us. We very quickly received a
second referral, this time for a
little boy named Ilya who was in
Baby House #2, Novokuznetsk,
Kemerovo (southwestern Siberia).
About three weeks later we set
off for Novokuznetsk via
Aeroflot airlines. The flights
were still smoking at the time
(shortly to become non-smoking
as we understand it) and we
coughed our way across the
Atlantic and into Moscow. We
were met promptly by a
translator and driver in Moscow
who whipped us across town with
a brief stop at McDonald's for
dinner before we arrived at
Vnukovo airport. We flew Siberia
Air to Novokuznetsk directly --
a miserable four hour flight.
Somehow we never got our jackets
or boots off so we roasted on
the flight and tried to doze as
best as possible.
We were met cheerfully at 6 am
on Sunday morning by Natasha,
our translator, Natalia, the
Kemerovo coordinator, and
Viktor, our driver. Within a few
hours we were checked into our
hotel, unpacked a bit, and
rushed to the orphanage where we
met our son, Ilya, for the very
first time. We were able to see
where Ilya slept and played,
where he was fed and bathed, and
to meet one of his caregivers.
We will never forget standing in
the director's office at the
orphanage in our socks (boots
are removed when you enter) and
turning as the door opened to
see a beautiful dark-haired lady
walk in cuddling the tiniest
little boy with the biggest
brown eyes peeking up at us from
under a knit cap with a five
inch tassel. The first in person
glimpse of our son -- he was
obviously scared but extremely
curious about what was going on.
We managed to get a few smiles
out of him that morning.
Monday we were off to Kemerovo
city across the literally frozen
wasteland of Siberia. It's a
three hour trip from
Novokuznetsk each way, so no
visit to the orphanage this day.
Viktor drove astonishingly well
for someone traveling over 100
mph the whole trip. Our court
time went very smoothly and all
our paperwork was in order
(thank you CHI!). The judge was
this tiny, energetic blonde lady
who seemed delighted to be
helping families adopt. We were
now officially a family of
three: Jay, Bronwyn, and the
newly named Theodore Joseph Ilya
Sax.
Tuesday we returned to the
orphanage to pick up our son. We
dressed him in his first
American clothes, snapped lots
of pictures, and then left for
the hotel. Jay returned to
Kemerovo to deal with paperwork
and Bronwyn and Theodore got
acquainted in the hotel room.
 And,
that quickly, we were off on
Wednesday for Moscow again on
Siberia Air -- a wonderful
flight this time. The stay in
Hotel Russia was just great as
we were in a suite with a
separate living room and bedroom
(so the baby could sleep while
we tried to adjust to the new
schedule). All our paperwork
sailed along and we spent a
resounding total of 20 minutes
at the Embassy picking up
Theodore's visa. We flew home on
Aeroflot a few days earlier than
expected.
Not everything with our adoption
was smooth (a missing homestudy
at the INS, a referral that fell
through) but the whole process
overall was exceedingly well
planned by CHI. They rolled with
the punches as these things
happened and kept us informed
every step of the way. We truly
felt that CHI was looking out
for both us, the adoptive
parents, as well as our children
in Russia. The Kemerovo staff
was wonderful. Natalia, the
coordinator there, works hard to
place "the right child" with
each family. The orphanage staff
were pleased to have their
children placed in loving homes
and treated us very well.
Would we do it again?
Absolutely! The process was
a lot of running around for
paperwork and then a lot of
waiting, but the joy of having a
child toddling around the home
has been worth everything. We
highly recommend CHI and
definitely recommend the Seattle
office to help in your own
adoption journey.
sax_family@yahoo.com
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"Motherhood is AWESOME! Benjamin
Kostya is the BEST thing
that ever happened to me, and we
are doing great!"
 He's
a TOTALLY different child since
he came home...he can do sooo
many things that were impossible
a few months ago...running,
jumping, dancing, crawling up
into his carseat, and TALKING up
a STORM!! He loves to read
(Goodnight Gorilla is the
current favorite), sing, make
animal noises and yell (we're
learning quiet voice for
indoors). He is always trying to
get the little girls at the
daycare to dance with him! His
coordination is SO much better,
and he's so much stronger...it
just blows my mind! He's the
best eater in the world (no
surprises there)..like any kid,
he far prefers cottage cheese,
yogurt or applesauce over green
beans or zucchini, but he eats
his vegetables like a trooper.
Since we're in Montana, he also
gets a lot of elk and bison
steak, but beef is pretty tasty
too. Anyway....that's just a
quick update and there's no way
I can express how awesome it has
been for me. I just thank God
every day, 'cause I couldn't
have gotten a more perfect
child"
The first time you hear "I wuv
oo" and you know he knows what
it means....talk about turning
your heart into an absolute
PUDDLE! Yep...what was I
thinking when I wanted a girl so
badly?--this little guy has me
hooked on motherhood like
nothing I ever imagined!
~ The Hoffman Family |
We wouldn’t have missed this for
the world
 Heading
into the CHI office for our
first visit with Linda Annable,
the CHI Northwest agency
Director, Matt and I were
seriously considering the
adoption of a baby girl. We had
three wonderful daughters
already, so we thought we’d
stick with what was familiar. We
sat with Linda, visiting and
looking at photos of many
beautiful children adopted
through CHI. Linda encouraged us
to continue to consider a girl,
if that was indeed what we
wanted, but not to rule out what
joy a little son may bring into
our lives. Linda planted a seed
that day, and we will forever be
grateful for the outcome.
In spring of 2002 our entire
family flew to Guatemala to
bring home our adorable 9 month
old son Salvador. In the days,
weeks, months and now years
since that day, we have asked
ourselves over and over: “What
if we had gone through life,
never having raised a son? What
if we had missed out on all of
this fun?” We are so very
thankful for the boy energy that
flows in our household; we truly
can’t imagine life without it!
Having Salvador keeps our family
laughing. His antics are
endless, and he finds a way to
turn ordinary daily activities
into highly entertaining
moments. Active and curious, he
is keeping us all hopping! A
contractor working at our home
chuckled at the fact that every
time he saw me I had a hockey
stick in one hand and a latte in
the other. I told him that it
takes a fair amount of caffeine
to keep up with my little bundle
of pep, and he just loves to
play hockey!
Linda has heard from us on many
occasions since we adopted Sal.
Like his first day of T-ball
when he was a “one man wonder”
on the field, and the coach told
him to let the other children
field a ball once in a while.
(He is quite the speedy runner!)
And his first soccer game where
he proudly scored a goal for the
other team. This little guy is
blazing through life, enjoying
every moment of it, and we
couldn’t be happier that we’re
right alongside him. If you are
considering adoption, please
keep your heart open to what
blessings and joy a boy
may bring into your life also. We wouldn’t have missed
this for the world.
~ The Crockett Family |
"I may be a little biased
but...."
It has been almost 6 years
since we adopted Colby from
Vietnam. He was 5 months old
when we officially signed
all the documents in Ho Chi
Ming City in January 2000.
What a way to bring in the
new century. There is not a
day that goes by that we
don’t thank God that he
allowed us this precious
child. When we adopted, we
traveled with 4 other
families, all adopting
girls. When we got back I
was curious and started
asking questions and found
that most people adopting
wanted to adopt girls, when
in fact most parents that
are expecting their first
child, say they want a
boy……….So why doesn’t this
hold true when adopting
their first child?
Colby has been a joy in
every aspect, sometimes my
husband and I look at each
other and wonder how we got
so lucky to have the best
kid on earth. He is smart,
sweet, loving and he gives
100% to everything he does.
I may be a little biased but
I could not think of my life
without our dear precious
son.
When we were in Vietnam we
were overcome by the beauty
of the country, the rich
culture and history.
Absolutely breathtaking! And
the people were so gentle
and kind, nothing at all
like we had expected, it
seemed that no guide book
could do justice to what we
experienced. We were so
humbled by everyone we met,
we saw great poverty every
day but we also saw a people
with great pride, courage
and ingenuity. We came back
with a beautiful baby boy
and memories that will last
a lifetime. Never will we
forget the generosity of
spirit encountered in this
beautiful country by the
sea.
Then we wanted to have
another child join our
family. Our prayers were
answered when Vietnam
reopened their doors to
adoption. We currently have
our dossier in Vietnam
waiting for our approval for
travel. Our second son Thai
(Quoc Thai - meaning
beautiful country) will be 3
in December. Colby can’t
wait for his little brother
to come home and neither can
we.
There are many choices to
make when adopting. What
sex, how old, what country
even health issues need
consideration. The choices
are limitless. After
adoption your life will
never be the same and you
will thank God ever day.
Little girls are sugar and
spice, but little boys are
also nice
Dawn M (mom to Colby and
Thai)
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The light of our lives!
Hello from the Searcys!
 We
can't express to you how very
happy & blessed we feel to have
been able to adopt our little
boy from Russia and how
wonderful it was to use CHI as
our agency. It is a once in a
life-time experience...and
although it can be trying at
times (you have to be willing to
be flexible and know that timing
is not up to you)....it is all
worth it in the end. From the
time we first saw our son's
referral picture at the Ministry
of Education we knew he was the
perfect fit for our family. Here
is an excerpt from an email that
we sent back to friends/family
when in Moscow.....we hope this
conveys to you how happy we were
with the experience and with
CHI. We feel that we have made
life long friends with the CHI
staff, both in Washington State
and in Russia! We will always
cherish the time we have spent
with each and every one of them!
This speaks volumes for the
quality and sincerity of
everyone at CHI!
"We
have arrived in Moscow and are
well! The trip over was perfect
and we arrived safe and sound. I
will keep this email very short
as it is very expensive to email
or call out. I want you all to
know that Scott and I met our
little baby boy today. He is 4
1/2 months old (birth date
7/10/2004). His name is Hunter
Kiriell Searcy (Kiriell is his
given Russian Name). He is
gorgeous and perfect...and we
will send pictures soon.
He
has dark brown hair and hazel
green eyes. We were with him for
about 1 hour today and during
that time he was happy and
content. He is very inquisitive
and also very calm. He is
precious in every way. Tomorrow
we will go back to the orphanage
to spend more time with him and
also have an independent exam
done by an American doctor that
we have chosen. From everything
we can see he is completely
healthy (although he seems to
have a bit of the sniffles at
the moment). We are having a
whirlwind of a time....I will
take the time to write in my
journal of all the things we are
experiencing. This city is
amazing and beautiful. The
people have been so kind and
welcoming. I cannot say enough
about how wonderful the people
at CHI are in taking us around
and providing us with any
information we may need every
step of the way. We feel so
blessed to be here and to
experience everything that we
are. We know that this is just
the beginning of our
journey...and one we have meant
to experience for so long.
Tonight we will go to dinner
with a couple who are also
adopting with CHI. We have
traveled with them every step of
the way from the time we got off
of the plane. They have found
out they are adopting a 6 month
old boy. It will truly be a
celebration tonight. Please keep
us in your thoughts and prayers"
We
are so thankful for the role
that CHI played in bringing
Hunter into our lives and we
hope to use them for our second
adoption in the near future!
If
you have additional questions,
please don't hesitate to contact
us. Best wishes on your journey!
Sincerely
The Searcy Family (parents to Hunter) |
"This beautiful little package
that I call mijo”
(Spanish for my son)
 I
remember writing "surprise us"
on our adoption application next
to the question that asked what
gender child you preferred. My
husband and I were open to the
idea of a boy or girl and knew
that our referral would be the
child meant to join our family.
Upon receiving our dossier we
received a call from Linda our
CHI Agency Director where she
joyfully proclaimed “Surprise...
it’s a boy”. We were thrilled.
Today, I am the proud mom of
Joey who is almost 3 years old.
Reflecting on what it’s like to
raise a boy, I guess I am most
surprised on how many different
sides to his personality there
are. A funny sense of humor, a
curiosity to understand how
things work and the occasional
need to wrestle you to the
ground and pounce on you until
you laugh so hard your sides
hurt. But most of all he is
sweet, thoughtful and tender.
When he places his little hands
on my face and says “love you
mama”, he melts my heart. I have
found that there is a beautiful
bond between a mother and a son.
I cherish my relationship with
him after all I am his very
first love, what an awesome
responsibility. My wish for
Joey’s future is to find someone
he can share his life with, to
know the joys of fatherhood and
true friendships and to find
happiness in the simple
pleasures of life.
Raising a son has been the
greatest joy I have ever known.
He is so many wonderful things
all rolled into this beautiful
little package that I call “mijo”.
~ Lisa G. (Mom to Joey)
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