There were two interesting stories about older children adopted from Russia in the last week, and I'd like to tell you about them both.

The first appeared in The St. Cloud Times, under the headline "Prep soccer: He's from Russia, with (game) love". Now, let's just agree to pardon the pun, which is getting a bit tired. Headline writers can be pressed for space and they often revert to the obvious, even when it has nothing to do with Sean Connery.

The story is about one Michael Colborn, who came to the United States from the southwestern city of Bryansk seven years ago at age 10. He didn't have much to go on then, the words "Yes" and "No", the love of a new family and the love of a sport that, perhaps thankfully, translated well to a new country. While Michael doesn’t talk a lot about his former life in the story, he told the reporter that a coach at the orphanage taught him the game and took the orphanage team to national tournaments in Moscow. He's competitive enough now in Minnesota that he played with a regional Olympic development team this past summer. His prep school team is on track to compete in a state competition this fall. Sounds like a nice adjustment to a new life to me.

The second story also involves an older boy--actually four boys adopted by a single father in Las Vegas. The story appeared Monday in the Las Vegas Review Journal, again under the heading, "From Russia With Love" (note to headline writers: time to retire it). According the the story, David Robeck had been a Peace Corps volunteer in Russia in the 1990s, and kept the country's homeless children top of mind when he went home. He adopted his first two boys, Sasha and Misha, when they were five (they are now 14), and they were later joined by another set of biological brothers, brothers Dima and Alosha, who seven and eight at the time (they are now 10 and 11). Again, they are all thriving.

I've reached out to the parents of all these boys, in hopes that I can tell you more of their stories and perhaps inspire those of you who are considering older children. In the meantime, take time to read these newspaper accounts.