There is no cost to the county for this program.

263

We had to have a criminal background check and then there was a trained course we had to go through, so it was kind of a rush job but we made it.

193

We tried to explain to him that it'll be OK, ... We have to make one trip to Russia for a visit before adoption and we're hoping to do that sometime this winter. Next spring we have to go there for court and we told him (through an interpreter) that maybe we can take him home with us then. It will definitely be a happy moment.

173

I met a lady there from Buffalo, Mo., and I shared about the mission trip we took to the Ukraine last year and how I had saw a little girl there who I wished I could take home with me, ... That's when she told me she knew a lady who worked for an adoption agency and how they bring these Russian kids over to stay with host families for a couple of weeks.

146

The first day he was here he started calling us mama and papa. The very first evening.

142

I said to my husband, what will Slava be worth in five years? Every day people pay $30,000 for a new car and trade it off in a few years, but what will he be worth? He's blended in to our family so well. Sending him back there (to Russia) is to me the equivalent of abortion because living out there is like living on the outskirts of hell.

119

He absolutely loves McDonald's, especially their chicken nuggets. They don't get a lot of fruit over there and so he's absolutely a sponge for Vitamin C. The first day he was here he had eight bananas!

116

Right now, there isn't a high level of participation by county employees.

115

We all stood at the window and cried.

93