Day 9 - Caps for Sale*

*This post was updated with photos and additional info after adoption

Steve: Today was a good day for shopping. Not too cold, fairly sunny, and both of us had energy to spare. So we coaxed our interpreter into taking us hat shopping. We figured that the best way to remember our trip to the frigid Siberia like country we are in is to bring home a few things that kept us warm while we were here. The hats that people wear are very extravagant. The best ones are made out of mink fur or seal fur and the cheaper ones are out of squirrel and sheepskin. Maybe it was really out of rat fur cause we'd never be able to tell the difference. Don't worry though, the salesmen assured us that they were very good quality. You could tell by the way he would briskly smack it around and twist it up and it still looked like a dead animal.

Ack - Jamie jumping in here before the post gets out of hand.

We did have a great time hat shopping and ended up with some very pretty, very warm dead animals for our heads. The hat salesman said that Steve's makes him look both rich and serious, which is perfect because those are the perfect two adjectives that I'd choose to describe my husband. I have to admit, the new headgear is warmer than our fleece hats by a mile! Maybe I need a full-length mink... I'll work on that.

We were able to find good hats for Sam and Ben as well, now we just need to find a very small one for Sasha! We'll keep looking for a toddler-sized shopka.

Our visits today were definitely all about Daddy. One of our favorite daily activities is playing with a balloon. We have a very complicated balloon ritual. First, the balloon comes out of the magical bag of toys that we bring on every visit. Then Sash and Daddy take turns stretching the balloon out and enjoying the snapping sound (and she's managed to only snap her own fingers once in all of these visits). Next comes the blowing up and watching the balloon wiz around the room. Finally, Daddy ties off the balloon and we play some throwing and bouncing games. To be honest, we get more mileage out of the blowing-up process than the inflated and tied off balloon - it's really a lot of fun.

Prayer requests: Continued good health, both for us and for Shura. We're finally sleeping through the night, which is wonderful, but with the way illnesses come and go in the baby house, we'd sure appreciate your prayers for health and energy for all three of us.

Also please pray that we would continue to get to know the baby house staff. We're doing a good job learning their names and it's been fun starting to connect with Sash's caregivers. Please pray with us that we would continue to get to know each other and that we would be able to help out with their hectic days as much as possible.