2 yrs ago we met Kristina

From my e-mail to family and friends, e-mail sent Dec 14th:

"I know you were all wishing to hear news about our adoption. We finally met the little one. She is absolutely perfect. Gorgeous, sweet and smart. Her name is Kristina and she will turn 4 on January 19th. The visit with her was great. She put on a good "well behaved child" show. They brought her in all bundled up because she had to change building to come and see us and the snow is heavy out there. So cute, all you can see was her little face. The caregiver shared pictures of a trip she was taken to the Back Sea for 21 days (ten kids were selected and she was one of them). She recognized all her little friends and shared stories about her trip. They then asked us to play with her. Oops, what do we do. But I asked her in my broken Russia if she wanted to sit on my lap and she said "da". So I picked her up and held her, and the tighter I held her the more she melted in my arms. She was enjoying the moment. But the little brat while she sat all calm in my arms she was kicking Jeff gently and playing with him with her foot. She is already figuring out how much are we going to let her get away with. They asked her is she liked us and she said yes. So here we are waiting for Friday so we can go and see her again before we head home to return some time next year to pick her up. The timeline is uncertain but all her paperwork is in order so now is up to the offices in Moscow to finalise some paper. Normally it take 3 weeks but with the holidays coming up it may be two months...up to eight they say. We wish we could take her home but she is in good hands right now. I feel comfortable leaving her where she is. She is absolutely loved by the whole staff and they will take care of her because "Kristina is going to be an Amerikanski now".