Last year, a friend and I were talking about getting together so our "virtual twin daughters" could meet up again. We live 2,300 miles apart now but in 2009, the girls were in the same babyhome back in "the old country." The girls are 6 months apart (Kristina is older) and share that beautiful white blonde hair. When Trish and Tony were in Ekaterinburg, they took pictures of Kristina which meant the world to us. Then when we were there for court, we reciprocated and took pictures of Sophia while they were still awaiting a court date.
 |
Here's Kristina on the left and Sophia (known as "Masha" then) on the right at babyhome #6 in Ekaterinburg, April 2009 -- shortly after Jon and I arrived for our court date.
|
Kristina (left) and Sophia (right) haven't seen each other in almost 3 years. We joke about plucking hairs and stealing water bottles so we can perform secret DNA testing... :)
As we talked about getting together, the idea of a Disney Cruise came up. We discussed it with other families who adopted from Ekaterinburg and everyone was excited about it but we hadn't made firm plans. Jim (
my brother, who happens to be a Cruise Specialist!) and I discussed it when we were visiting FL last November and I knew it was time to get the ball rolling.
At the end of December, I created a Facebook page so we could all start planning our "
Russian Reunion Cruise" on the
Disney Dream Cruise Ship in July 2013. I opened the group with 17 Ekaterinburg members. Well, we all know someone else, who knows someone else, and so on... Now the group on Facebook is up to over 400 people who have adopted from
throughout Russia! More than 35 cabins are officially booked and we have more than 120 people traveling together as we hit the high seas for 4 nights to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral, FL. Who would have thunk?! It is
so exciting to finally meet the families who traveled a similar journey as us to make their family complete...and meet the kiddos who were so longed for!
And it's so cool to have something to look forward to in
1 1/2 years. Sure, it's a long wait but it will take that long to save up the moola as Disney is, well --
DI$NEY. We're still recovering from Kristina's birthday celebration at Disneyland a few weeks ago...
 |
| Our angel wearing her "Dream Angel" pj's...decked out in Minnie Mouse ears. |
We haven't told Kristina as I'm not sure I could deal with 1 1/2 years of "
Is it time for the cruise yet?" But if we did tell her, I know she'd be ready and packed in a heartbeat!
6 comments:
Oh my gosh. They look so much alike! I so wish we could make that cruise, especially since we haven't brought Colby to Disney at all yet. Sut still unsure. I wish we weren't at such a stand still here. I'm still holding out for a new home this summer. Guess we need to wait and see.
Melissa
oh my gosh -- that IS crazy. if they were 10 months apart i would REALLY be questioning.. they are both so gorgeous! good thing they live 2300 miles apart so the boys won't fight over both of them all the time and all be heartbroken by not 1 but 2 little sweeties!! we are on for the cruise - i just need to get my act together - between all the transitions here, still working, and trading colds and flus, we are slow moving here... 8 weeks ago we picked her up. crazy! but still i need to get my act together in the next few weeks to call your brother...thanks for your post on the "how"!
sooooo exciting!!!
that is so freaky howw much those 2 girls look alike.
Exciting! 1 1/2 yrs will fly by I am sure! Sounds like a great trip for the parents & children to bond! Wow! I can't believe how much those 2 lil girls look a like in BOTH pictures!
Ok, time for a new update! :)
Post a Comment