Summer Bridge of Hope Party

We attended our third Bridge of Hope party. Every year the same wonderful people open up their home to a bunch of people and their kids and make you feel very welcome. This year the weather was very warm and we reconnected with a bunch of people who have gone on the same adventure as us, some were crazy enough to do it twice. I am still amazed that I did it once.


We met Howard and Marty in the parking lot and their son Vanya. They were in the same group as we were and they went over in the winter and early spring, when we didn’t get there until late summer. I’d still rather be in Birobidzan in summer after seeing their pictures. Snow and cold vs. ravenous mosquitoes, I’ll take the mosquitoes.
  We also saw Fran and CJ, with their sons. Sat and talked to both and made plans to get together, now the trick is to get the time to do it.

I was surprised when a couple of people commented about my blog. I thought I was down to one loyal reader, Elaine. I will try to post a little more often, life does get in the way sometimes and you know.

Some people asked me how we are doing with the girls and for some reason I dug a little deeper into just how we are doing. Like any family we have our good days and then we have the days were you are screaming at the girls and you feel that you are lost and you are the worst parent in the world and it was a big mistake and the girls would have been better off with someone else and how different life would be and how smug I could of remained in my opinions about the right way to raise children. I have gotten an answer to that age old question that I’ve asked “Why do parents let their children do that?” And the answer is we’re just too damn tired to stop them for the forty-seventh time and if it doesn’t kill them maybe this time it can be over looked.

Yesterday, I saw a mom talked to her two children and the kids were no responding, at all. I saw another quietly yelling at her son (I know, you can’t quietly yell at someone, unless you’re a parent.) who was told to leave the chair alone and continued to move it anyway. I’ve been there and done that. I sorry, but it was nice to see I’m not the only one who has these problems with their kids.

I talked to a women whose daughter has some rather large issues and she was very open about it. I don’t have issues like hers and I thank god so far my wife and I don’t. Raising two kids, I knew was going to be expensive, but I didn’t expect it to be this expensive and the demands from our respective jobs increased and a lot of our supports disappear due to the same demands. I think my biggest disappointment is the lack of time we have to spend with the girls. You would like to arrange play dates with other kids and it can’t be during the week, because you are working and on the weekend they are doing something with their family and can’t.

On a lighter note, Howard comes up to me and says he was up at the snack table when Nastia comes up and picks up a cupcake. A woman says to her in Russia something and a girl next to her says she said there is paper on the cupcake. Nastia says I know I’ve been here two years.

An explanation on the opening inside joke from the last posting. We have very gassy girls. On the way home last night Nastia says to Elena, I’ve got gas so bad, I am going fart on you and your grandchild will smell.



We did get some information about Elena having a half sister. She is in Chicago with a host family who are trying to see if they can handle her and adopt her.