picture from this summer

My sister, Leta just sent this. It's a pic from this summer, right before Sasha had to head back to Ukraine. We were over at Aunt Leta's for Elliott's (Sasha's cousins) high school graduation party. I remember she had such a great time that day hanging out. Won't be long and she'll be back on that deck!



Right now I'm waiting to here what's going on - Sasha is getting her passport picture today. So I'm just chilling. I think we're going to hang out a little around here today while we wait for stuff to be processed.

Interesting thing on different cultures. On the plane ride from Frankfort I sat by a really nice lady (30ish) from Ukraine. She asked why I was going to Kiev and I told her short story of how we had adopted Anastasia at 10 and were now returning for Sasha. About 30 minutes later she said "can I ask you a question?" Then she proceeded to ask - "why do you adopt adults?" And I'm like - huh, what, 10 and 15 years old? And she said, "yes at those ages, they are really ready to take care of themselves and be on thier own, so I'm wondering why you need to adopt them." Really - hmm. This is really a pretty common perception over here. When kids are 10 - they get to decide if they want to be adopted or stay in the orphanage. We thought this was crazy when we adopted Anastasia. Everyone kept telling her - this is your decsion. YOu are old enough to decide this on your own. Really? Back at home, she can't even decide what classes to take in 8th grade without us signing off on it. I mean look at this picture - this is not the face of an adult ready to live on her own.

On the other hand - my seatmate from Chicago to Frankfort has 5 bio kids and 4 foster kids and lives in Germany. They stay in relationship with thier foster kids forever cause he says kids never grow out of needing help and support from a parent. I really liked his way of looking at things!