Eight-year-old Zhenya had almost given up hope.

Except for the month he spent this summer with Rick and Heather Prokopchak of Roanoke County and their two children, Zhenya's home for the past four years has been a Russian orphanage in the Tyumen region of southwest Siberia.

The morning of Nov. 21, Zhenya learned the Prokopchaks were scheduled to arrive that day to adopt him.

Zhenya first met the Prokopchaks in July when he visited the couple and their two sons through the Cradle of Hope adoption agency's Bridge of Hope summer camp program.

The Prokopchaks wanted to adopt Zhenya, but he had to return to Russia while the necessary paperwork was completed and processed.

When the Prokopchaks arrived at the orphanage two weeks ago, Zhenya jumped into Heather Prokopchak's arms.

"He [Zhenya] said, 'It was a very long time. I had almost given up hope,' " Rick Prokopchak said.

Seventy Russian children visited the United States through the Bridge of Hope program in July. Eleven of those 70 came to Southwest Virginia.

The Prokopchaks were the first family from this region to secure a court date to finalize the adoption. Another couple, from Franklin County, left a week ago to adopt a brother and sister they hosted through the summer program.

Extensive paperwork is required in the international adoption process. A complete dossier including a home study, birth or marriage certificates, proof of adequate housing, medical history, and more, had to be sent to Russia. After being reviewed by the Russian government, which takes approximately two months, a court appearance is scheduled.

Adopting a child internationally is an expensive undertaking. Linda Perilstein, executive director of Bridge of Hope, estimates that summer program expenses, legal fees and travel costs to complete the adoption will exceed $20,000. However, $10,000 in federal adoption tax credits is available to qualifying families.

Still, giving a child such as Zhenya a home is well worth the cost, the Prokopchaks said.

The couple's trip to Russia gave them a chance to see the place their future son called "home."

When they arrived in Tyumen, they visited with Zhenya before their scheduled court appearance and toured the orphanage where he lived.

"When we first pulled up it looked almost desolate," Heather Prokopchak said of the architecture's old, simple appearance.

Once inside, Rick Prokopchak said, he was pleased with the orphanage's "immaculate" condition. The orphanage houses, feeds and schools approximately 100 children, but there is no indoor plumbing. Living quarters are dorm-like rooms shared by four children; groups of 15, known as "families," are schooled together.

The orphanage is more than two hours from the nearest major city, so crops grown and animals raised on site are the primary sources of food. Self-sufficiency is a quickly learned way of life in an orphanage, Heather Prokopchak said. Zhenya was responsible for washing his own clothes.

For half of his life, the orphanage provided Zhenya with the safety and stability his biological parents could not. Zhenya's mother, an alcoholic with no steady job or home, gave up her parental rights; his father died last year.

"The staff told us they could provide a lot for the children," Heather Prokopchak said. "But they can't provide a family -- not a family of their own."

A family is exactly what Zhenya is getting. The bright-eyed, blond boy will join the Prokopchaks' other towheaded sons, 2-year-old Braden and 10-year-old Tyler Sharp, Heather Prokopchak's son from a previous marriage.

On the flight back to the United States, Zhenya said, "Mama and Papa and Zhenya and Tyler and Braden make a family," Heather Prokopchak said.

The language barrier has not created a problem for Zhenya and his new family.

Rick Prokopchak, a cardiologist at Lewis-Gale Medical Center, works with a woman who speaks Russian and can be called on to translate anytime something is not understood. Zhenya speaks very little English, but he is learning more and more every day, Heather Prokopchak said. He can say the alphabet and count to 10 in English.

On Nov. 28, the family visited Tanglewood Mall to see the holiday decorations. Rick Prokopchak excitedly tried to teach Braden and Zhenya how to say "snow" while looking at the fluffy, imitation snow surrounding Santa Claus.

On Dec. 2, Larry and Cathy Williams of Boones Mill left for Tyumen to pick up the siblings they are adopting.

Larry, a 55-year-old tractor-trailer driver, and Cathy, a 45-year-old medical technician, were unable to have children.

"I've always loved kids," Larry Williams said.

He said this experience has made him and his wife aware of how many children need families, not only in Russia, but worldwide.

"We didn't realize how two kids could change our lives in 27 days," Larry Williams said.

Six-year-old Nikita and 9-year-old Arina will officially become part of the Williams family when they return to the United States.

"I'm just so excited," Larry Williams said. "When they touch the ground December 10, they will become U.S. citizens."

Ironically, that is one year to the day after the children's biological mother lost her parental rights.

"This is the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life," Larry Williams said.