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DH: Christopher Jacob "Chris"
DW: Summer Jeanna

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DD: Nana Momoko - 16
DS: Aleksiy Miroslav - 10
DS: Maxim Grisha "Max" - 8
DD/DD: Anna Katerina / Irina Svetlana - 5
DD: Aurelia Vioteta "Reia" - 3

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Nana came to us when she was 9 years old and was our first adoption after Chris and I found out that we could not have children of our own. It was Chris's idea to adopt internationally so after looking at different programs we choose this one and they found us our first daughter Nana Momoko. Nana grew up in a boarding school until her parents died and was sent to the orphanage. Nana was quite untrusting of Chris and I right away but came to love how it was just the three of us and how we spoiled her at all the changes we got. Because of going to the boarding school Nana already knew some English and caught on quickly. Now she is 16 and is quite the helper around the house and loves to play with the younger kids. She also has a boyfriend right now named Damian Andew Black, he's a sweet boy although Chris and I worry about how fast they are growing together.

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Aleksiy was our next adoption 2 years after Chris and I adopted Nana. Nana had been asked for a baby brother or sister and as a family the three of us decided to adopt another child instead of an infant. Through the same program we found Aleksiy Miroslav who was 6 years old at the time in Russia. He had ADD and was always alret and hyper, he was a great addition to our home. When we adopted him, however, he spoke no English and had to learn with us as a family. Nana was great with teaching him and always showed different pictures and pointed to differnt things saying the English word. Now Aleksiy is 10 years old and is enjoying all the sports Chris signs him up for.

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Then 2 years ago we were sent a letter by the same orphange about another 6 year old boy named Maxim Grisha who had lived in poverty most of his life and was quite the kid there. So as a family Chris, Nana, Aleksiy, and I decieded that we could add another boy to the family. When we first adopted him Max knew no English and had decided he had no intetion on learning any. Then it came to Aleksiy to talk with him in the Russian he still knew and because of this the two became great friends. Max is now 8 and does great in school, however he does not have many friends.

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Anna Katerina (prn: UHN-ah) and Irina Svetlana came into our family. Chris and I had seen them at the smae orphanage as the boys and we fell in love with them. Anna is very entergetic and loves to play with her dolls and tell wonderful stories while doing so while Irina is very subtle and enjoys resting in mine or Chris's laps. They are now 5 and although they have only been here a year they picked up their English rapidly and speak it fluently.

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Finally Aurelia Violeta just entered our lives this last month. The three year old was a jewel in our eyes when we decided to complete our family with just one more child, we had not decided weither we wanted another girl or boy but when we saw Reia we instantly knew she was ours. She is a bright and outgoing girl who loves to play with her siblings- especially Anna... and she loves to annoy her siblings too- especially Aleksiy. Reia is still learning English and we hope she will pick it up quickly, although since we have gone through this process with all our other children save Nana we believe we can handle it masterfully.

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*~~**~***~**~~*
Daughter to 6
Sister to many
Girl Friend to one
"Mommy" to another