Celebration dinner

The day began early... I literally was on the last leg o the paper chase!! Docs from Doc, everything certified and apostilled, scanned, emailed and then...

Eli and I Fed Ex'd our last 10 documents tonight;) (3.4lbs of paperwork) yeah!!!

Only thing left is one final document coming from our facilitators in Russia. You can imagine how we are praying for that document to show up;)

In celebration, and to make this a special moment for Mommy and Eli, we went on a date to Tom's Ice Cream Bowl.... Yummy!!!



Hang on baby girl!! We are doing our best to get back to you as quickly as possible!!

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Going Private

Our Family Coordinator has expressed some very valid concerns over our blog.  We are hoping to keep our family and friends informed and let them live the trip with us.  We especially wanted Eli to be able to experience the travel with us in prose, since he can't be there in person.  However, since Lael is not yet ours in the eyes of the court, we must be circumspect and careful to do nothing to jeopardize that final outcome.

In lieu of that, we will be be making our blog private this weekend.  Anyone who wants to follow the blog can!! We just need you to email or facebook us a request with your email address and how we know you (for friends of friend that may be following the blog). 

Then, you simply place your email address in when prompted and you can view the blog.  Thank you for your understanding- please stay with us and pray along with us as we experience this amazing miracle in our lives. 

Paperwork Week

Monday morning, Tim and I woke early (thank you, jet lag:)) and had a great time with Eli.  We were planning on getting our labwork drawn and chest xrays completed and dropping off my request for a new passport in the mail.  When I called to verify it would only be a few days for the expediting service, I was literally horrified to find out that regular passports take 4-6 weeks, and expediting, with an additional $60 fee,  takes 2-3 weeks...WHAT????

After dropping Eli off at school, I called and spoke with a representative about getting one done sooner. 

"Well," she said, "You can go to a passport center to have it done." 

"How long before I can get the passport?" I queried.

"Should take 5 days... hmmm....and the nearest location is Detroit, MI... Hmmmm... OK, I see here that the Detroit office does not require you to have a set travel date to get an expedited passport, so you should be able to go there and request it.  You should have it in about 5 days."

URGH!! Our return to our daughter is in direct correlation to when I get my passport, since the number appears on several of my final documents that need to be completed. So, I began to plan for a trip to Detroit on Tuesday!!

Our lab draw and chest xrays went smoothly, both completed and films on our countertop, waiting to go with us to Moscow for our physicals. 

Monday night was quite emotional for Eli (and us!!).  He didn't want to be apart from us again after being so brave and being apart for a week, but we were both leaving before 5 on tuesday morning, and this allowed both Eli and Mamaw to sleep in:)  We went over and tucked him in and heard him crying as we left.  Oh the sacrifices required to bring this second little one home.  Soon, my sweet children, soon, this will all be a dream behind us!!

Tuesday is a blur in my memory.  I left at 5:20am and arrived home at 5:20pm.  In between I traveled all over the globe during the end times with the Left Behind book on CD series.  Sure made the time go quickly!!  When I arrived at the passport agency, there was, of course, screening of bags, jackets, etc to enter.  The guard looked a little quizzically at me and asked why I had so much change in my purse.

"Oh," I said, without thinking, "That must be the Roubles.  I haven't had a chance to clean out my purse yet.  We just got back Sunday evening from Russia where we met our daughter for the first time.  That's why I'm here, to get a new passport, so I can go back and get her soon!!"

He looked at me and laughed.  He handed the purse back to me and said, "Anyone that admits to having Roubles in their purse is not trying to get away with anything."

The staff were all very friendly inside the office.  It reminded me a bit of the American Embassy in Moscow.  I asked when first being processed if there was any way I could wait for the passport and receive it today??  The agent asked when my travel dates were.  I explained that I didn't have any, but they were directly related to my obtaining my passport as the numbers were needed for the paperwork we had to turn in to get the travel dates, and I REALLY, REALLY wanted to have travel dates very soon.

"Sure," he said.  "No problem.  Pick up time is usually around 3-3:30.(I almost swooned--- it was almost 10am when I was talking to him)....but I'll put you in as waiting and we should have it done around noon."

I wanted to sing.  I wanted to burst into tears of happiness.  I wanted to jump up and down and praise God, shouting to the heavens that only God could have done this!! Instead, I quietly said thank you and sat down and began my waiting.

I finally decided to head to lunch while waiting so I could make it home as early as possible.  I had just come back from Russia, a foreign land, where I don't know much of the language and customs are dissimilar to ours.  I wasn't afraid to go out there.  I actually embraced it.  I laughed at myself that I was afraid to leave the building to find something for lunch.  I felt so unnerved even thinking of walking around the block in this almost downtown area of Detroit!

So, passport done, as soon as I reached my car, I took a picture with my phone and sent to our family coordinator and social worker to get the paperwork finalized.  Our family coordinator emailed the new passport to our facilitator in Kras, so hopefully, the final document we need from her will be coming to us soon.

Wednesday was a lull in paperwork as I exercised my Pharmacy muscle at work in Somerset.  Nice to see my coworkers and swap stories with them for a day.

Yesterday we got our labs back, all notarized and ready to go for our physicals in Moscow.  We stopped by, got the final paperwork notarized that we had, picked up Eli and headed to the Dr for our physicals.  Today we received the final paperwork from our Homestudy Agency.  

So, as of right now, the big question everyone is asking is this... When do you go back? We should receive our medical letters Monday or Tuesday, everything else is done and ready to be County Certified and Apostilled (want to do that Monday if we get our Medicals back early) and hopefully, prayerfully, our petition to court very soon.

Once these several documents, along with the 30 other documents already turned in for our court dossier, are all translated they get submitted to court.  30 days after submission, we should receive a court date.  30 days after our court date, we will be able to return and take custody forever of our little girl.

So now, we are waiting on the the courts to make legal what we already know in our hearts.  Lael is our daughter!!

Thank you, God, for your hand on every aspect of our adoption.  Thank you for your amazing blessings so far and for providing the large fees we must have within the next few months.  Thank you for bringing our baby girl home!!! 

Final leg home

We had a delightful time in Moscow with Philip.  We were able to go for the afternoon with him to walk around a Soviet Era park.  It was very interesting to see the buildings, and so very nice to be able to talk with Philip.  When we were here before we toured with his wife, Anna, and had a blast as well.  Our whole team we work with, from start to finish, is wonderful, filled with caring people. 

We left the next morning for home, so thankful to be able to look forward to hugging on Eli!! The Airport was, again, so beautiful! It is new and lots of marble and sparkles with cleanliness.  Our flight to the US was only a few hours long (minus the 8 hour time change) but seemed like forever!! A few highlights...One of the flight attendants looked just like Eric Estrada... Remember Ponch from CHIPS?  He was very friendly and engaging... and he slipped me extra desserts:) Yeah!!

The flight touched down in New York and boy were we happy to be home. 

Until we got off the plane.  Seems unfair to compare an older airport to a very new one, but OH BOY!! was JFK ever confusing!! We made it out of plane and into the building where the customs line was.  Only 20-30 people ahead of us, and 5 or 6 officers...Yeah! our 1 1/2 hour layover will be enough!!  Then 3 or 4 guards got up, told the folks in their lines to find a different line- they were closing. 

Within 15 min there were about 200 or more people in line and 2 harried border guards trying to process as quickly as they could (and this was just the US Citizen line... After about 20 min, and moving maybe 10 feet in line, we were pulled to the other side where the visitors area was and assimilated into their lines.  It was very nice to have the guard smile and welcome us home. 

Finding luggage in baggage area, and then going through another line, we found ourselves in a part of the airport, not quite sure what to do.  We were told to go down a corridor and first stop to the left to recheck bags.  Seriously, that's all we did.  Put them on the conveyor belt and showed our boarding passes for next flight.   She gave us a slip of paper with directions.  :(

We walked around the corner, up the escalator, down the hall, onto a train, off at the first station and found ourselves walking outside the building!! We walked across the roadway and into the other part of the terminal and stood in another line for about 30 min... one guard was looking at passport/tickets and then the notorious scanning-- we were processed all over again with new arrivals coming into the airport for flights. 

We finally made it to our gate... as they were announcing final boarding for the flight!! Thank you God!! We had waited less than 5 min before we were on the plane ready to fly to Ohio. 

Tim's coworker met us and we had a quick bite to eat at Chipotle and then we drove home, anticipation of seeing our son giving energy to our spent bodies. We pulled into the driveway and jumped out, rushing into the house.  Eli saw us and the room dimmed compared to his smile. 

"Mommy!! Daddy!! You're home!!!" He came running over to us, leapt into Tim's arms, hooked an arm around my neck and began alternately hugging and kissing each of us.  We were in a big sandwich for several minutes sharing this store of hugs and kisses we had missed out on.  It was a great reunion!!

Thanking God for safe travels, favor with the officials and a speedy return to our daughter!!!

Dinner

Yummy!! Fish was so good!!


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First leg of flight home

Had a great evening last night;) the weather has been beautiful this week. After a little bit of packing and skyping, we took a walk around the city block for some fresh air. It was lovely!! No big bulky heavy purse, no agenda, no where to be... Simply a few minutes to soak in the sunlight and enjoy the scenery around us for the pure enjoyment of being together.

This morning we woke, finished packing and talked with our favorite little guy on Skype. He is holding up well, but we sure do miss each other!! Can't wait to give him all the Smoochies we have saved up for him!!

We went to the same restaurant for breakfast, stopped for a few minutes at the park across the street to take a picture and on our way back to the apartment we were stopped by Yelena and Serge driving past to go to the apartment. They gave us a lift;)

Saturdays are nice;) it would have been a nice day to stay;) the weather was beautiful and there was very little traffic!!

We grabbed our bags and gifts, left the apartment looking fine and took off.. It was interesting to see the scenery along the way to the airport. It has always been dark before.

Had some interesting conversations with Serge on the way about the political climate. Apparently, the Russians think Romney is the devil. Very interesting.

The airport looks the same on the outside, similar on the inside. The restrooms are lovely with green marble and a separate wash area and there is a separate smoking room downstairs. Yeah!!! It was much more pleasant to wait today;) before we could barely make out the room due to the strong smoke, and free wifi.

Taking off now for Moscow!!
Thank you to everyone who was praying for take off... The excitement of getting home to see Eli and get all the paperwork done to come back helped to deaden the pain of realizing we are leaving part of our hearts behind.

As the plane lifted from the ground and the view became more panoramic, I whispered Das vydania, muy malish, goodbye, my baby, as a single tear escaped my watery eyes and coursed down my face. We will be back... Praying VERY SOON!!!

Yeah!! Finished the photo album of our visits that we must have done for court before battery got too low... Landed safely and now waiting for our ride;)

Checked into the hotel. Ouch. Tomorrow is Easter in Russia.... Huge religious holiday here... So we have holiday rates. So thankful we are only here for one night!

We relaxed for about an hour in the hotel room and Philip arrived. We had the pleasure of traveling with him to a park that is very popular for Russians... Very popular during Stalin era with statues, monuments, fountains... All showing the accomplishments of USSR.

It was raining when we arrived in Moscow, and much snow still on the ground. Then, as we rested, the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we had a lovely time walking and talking with Philip and Tim.

We walked around Moscow for a few minutes on Traverskya st and are now waiting for dinner.... The first meal for us since breakfast at 8 this morning in Krasnoyarsk... 15 hours ago... The little snack on the plane has done a good job tiding us over;)

Can't wait to find out what we ordered;) always interesting to order in another language;)


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Oh Baby!!

They dressed Ksenia in the adorable outfits we found... They all fit perfectly!! What a great one to wear today!! LOVE IT!!


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I'll Be Back!!!

Ok, so today's post is very difficult to write... I'll begin with the happy details;)

Had a great evening staying in the apartment last night... Made chicken parmesana minus the cheese and had a lovely meal together.

Free Wifi and Skype has enabled us to be in more contact with our family and friends than we have been able to do from home... Really takes any lonely factor out;)

We watched O Brother Where Art Thou last night, washed some clothes in the washer (soooo loud, sounded like a train coming through apartment;)) and Skyped with mom and dad.

We have been doing very well with our schedules this week, sleeping at the appropriate times, and waking at the appropriate times;) so grateful the jet lag hasn't gotten us very badly.

This morning we Skyped extra long with Eli. Boy oh boy, we can't wait to give him a hug in person! We miss him soo much!! He read us his new library book... Soo proud of him!!!! He does so well with reading.

We ate breakfast at the same buffet. Very nice, again!! Tim found the Russian name translates to GastoBar.... Ugh!!! I'll stick w Bellini!!

When we got back from breakfast we were able to talk to some very good friends... And then... Time to go...

Our ride to the baby home was great!! We had some conversation with our facilitator and then something really tickled her and we all were laughing for a while. It was a great ride.

I feel so melancholy today, knowing it is our last visit on this trip. Ksenia was extra playful today... We even got giggles and a few laughs... She ran all over in the bouncer/walker... Walked all over with us holding her hands. Crawled all around on 1 knee and 1 foot.

She danced and clapped her hands to the music.. On time!! And oh the priceless grins!!!

At one point she pulled herself up at the couch... Almost ran along one side and then took several free steps to grab the other side!! We got to see it!! Thank you God for baby steps... Literally!

She started to get a little fussy about 20 til 2... She leaves at 2 for lunch, so I scooped her up and swayed gently, lightly dancing to the music from the Vtech bunny.

Then, oh sweet joy!!! She fell asleep in MY arms... Ah, to feel that little body pressed close to mine and to be able to savor her warmth and smell for a last few minutes before saying adios ( I say that because it means go with God... NOT GOODBYE). I CANNOT stand this leaving!!! My heart is torn in 2 and I can barely see the letters for the tears in my eyes. Tim grabbed the camera for a few shots and got Ksenia leaving with her caregiver.


Thank you, God, for the reminder that I can look forward to loving on our son, whom we desperately miss as well.

You make all things beautiful in Your perfect time. I pray so fervently that the time be short til we again return for the next leg of this journey and can be reunited with our precious little girl.

Thank you for sealing her so tightly in our hearts and thank you for holding my heart together as it feels it might shatter.

So thankful for all the blessings you have given us. I am blown away at what you have done, are doing and have yet to do. Thank you for wrapping us all closely in your arms!!


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Family photo

Only missing one hand in our family photo...hope to have both our children together soon!!


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Happy birthday hug

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Happy Birthday, Papa!!

Happy birthday!! We just made our quest for Ksenia official in the eyes of the court!! We signed off that we have met her, are aware of any an all health problems and would like to pursue legally becoming her parents. The notary just witnessed our intent, and now we are on the way to visit our baby once again;)
This morning has been great!! We woke early to Skype with Eli before he went to bed, and then went back to Bellini for the breakfast buffet. So relaxed and elegant!!
Yelena came to our room with a box of chocolates for Tim and a big happy birthday!! Our facilitators are just all around amazing!!
What a great start to our morning;) more later on our visit today;)
We brought about 15-20 little outfits and several gifts today to present to the workers taking care of Ksenia, a well as others caring for the children here. As I was setting them out, I heard the rapid click of heels coming down the hall and guessed our baby was coming...she doesn't walk yet.. The footsteps we hear are of the worker that brought her;)
She came right to me, and after a couple minutes cuddling, I gave her to her Daddy's arms. Yelena was able to get our camera and get a few pictures of us together. Ksenia spitting up all over herself and Daddy soon led to cleanup operation instead of photos. ;) We quickly cleaned up and then we began to play;) she was much more active at first, boy oh boy is she fast!! She is doing an almost walk crawl, knees not often touching the ground. We were very impressed at eye hand coordination as she grabbed the stacking blocks easily. She began to hit her teether ring on the cup and was quite tickled with her actions. She really enjoyed knocking over the little towers I built from the remaining cups.
A little time in the bouncer walker yesterday and she was a pro today!! Scooting at an almost run all around the room. Oh the grins and giggles are priceless!!
She walked holding my fingers to the ball pit. Once inside, she was standing in the balls, holding on to the sides, bending over and grabbing balls!! We didn't think she'd have the balance for it, but she proved us wrong;) Over she'd go and come right back up with a ball;)
She seemed a little sleepy after that. I asked her Papa if he wanted to hold her (it IS his birthday, after all;)) and he was very positive in his response.
So, as he held his baby girl, swaying softly, she relaxed completely, eyes drifting shut, slowly but surely winding that cord tight around our hearts... We could feel our hearts expanding as that amazing love growth occurs. The same love that allowed God to shrink to human form, slowly is stretching our hearts to a more God sized love, encompassing our children completely and spilling over onto everyone around us.
Oh the Father's love!! So amazing to watch Daddy dancing with Cinderella, like in Stephen Curtis Chapman's song. Tim looked at me and, when I asked him what he was thinking, he said,"... Dancing with her at her wedding..."
She slept in his arms for almost 30-45 minutes. I got a lot of very sweet pictures of them;) oh the sweet look in her Daddy's face... Tenderness and compassion... What must God the Father look like when he looks at us???
She finally woke up and was perky and playful... She crawled over and fell to the floor. I fell down across from her and began kicking my legs like she was. She looked at me with a crooked smile... Just like Eli did at first when I would be silly with him...
And then, just that fast, it was over!! Her caregiver had come back for her. We said good bye, paka!! And we're able to say "Zaftra" tomorrow, one last time.
Can tomorrow really be our last day of seeing her for this trip???
I do hope and pray that as we return home and I am pushing as hard as possible to get our documents done as quickly as possible that all whom I am pressing to move quickly will know it is only to return and hasten the time before she is home with us forever!!!
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Day 2 with Ksenia

What a wonderful day!! We skyped for a long time this morning with Eli and Mom and Dad... Just after we hung up and were preparing to go out and find a scarf for me, the power in the building went out.

Not really a problem... Just 9 flights of steps to navigate up and down.;)

Found a great scarf at the market and made it back to the apartment with just enough time to finish getting ready before it was time to go.

When we arrived today, Ksenia saw us and smiled!! She came right to me and snuggled close. It was so difficult to pull her away from me so Tim could hold her as well. Her favorite part about any toy is still the chewing part. She'll most likely have at least 4 teeth before we see her again.

We played in the ball pit a little bit... She picked up quickly on our throwing the ball up the slide, but was just setting it on the edge... Good job!! I told her, very good!!! Then hugged and kissed her. She smiled and was so happy!! Still sleepy, fingers tucked into her mouth, we thought she would sleep for sure, but she never did. Almost as if she, too, knows our time is short.
We came back to the couch and she caught her second wind. She started crawling all over... Very quickly. I caught a lot on video while Tim chased her. She babbled a bit as well... Precious first words... So glad to hear them!!

We are meeting another family for dinner tonight. They are staying at the Kras hotel and are leaving tomorrow. Will be nice to hear their story... One of the only drawbacks to not staying at the hotel.. Don't see as many families adopting.

There aren't as many. We found out yesterday the baby home Eli and Ksenia were in has over 180 children now. It is the largest.

Please pray with us that these children will find homes. I know some will read that and feel a little bitter and ask about the children in our own country without families... I pray for them all!! The Bible tells us He puts the lonely in families... I pray all those families will come forward and be blessed as they bless another with family.

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Oh sweet joy!

My heart runneth over.

We arrived at the baby home around noon. Sosnovoborsk has grown tremendously since we were there 4 years ago... The large hotel with the letters of the town above it is no longer on the edge of town. There are so many new Huge apartment buildings there now. Our interpreter told us it is becoming a new suburb area for Kras.

The entrance area of the babyhome has been totally redone and looks amazing... The pool is gone, all new tile and a large play area.

Galena, the baby home director, was with another family when we got there, so we were told we could meet Ksenia and play with her until Galena was ready to talk with us.

Tim got the video camera out and ready on the little tripod, and before we knew it, she was walking through the doorway to us. I said, "Here comes your baby girl, Papa!!"

I walked up to her and said hello in Russian... And she grinned at me!!!!! I pulled her into my arms and just savored the feel of her there. She melted right into me, with her arm around my neck.

We just stared at her for a few minutes, touching her hair, gazing into her eyes and then I handed her to Tim and grabbed the camera to get a close up of their first father daughter dance, as Tim swayed to the unwritten music we all follow as we hold a baby in our arms.

Soon we were on the floor playing with the blanket with textures and a kitten on it... So cute and soft.

We got out the photo albums as well. She got to see her big brother and tapped the page enthusiastically when she saw him.

When I realized the most fascinating part of the blanket were the rings attached to the kitten's paw (immediately placed in mouth to be chewed on), I asked Tim to grab the teething toy rings we brought. That was the favorite toy;) She alternated between chewing on them and slapping them together.

We moved to the play area after a bit to allow her some different textures for crawling...bouncing on the texture ball, bouncing on the trampoline and then smacking the little ball back and forth.

She soon ended in my lap, eyes drifting shut, internal furnace turned on. Then the peaceful state of slumber surrounded her and we watched with blissful joy as our baby girl sleep in my arms.

Galena came back just then. She laughed about Ksenia being asleep as she mentioned that she is a very active little girl. We were able to meet with Galena in the baby room as we held Ksenia in slumber and discussed all the background info. Oh how sweet to see the tender essence of true love and joy in Tim's face as he gazed at the sleeping infant in his arms. So precious!

When we finished talking with Galena (and one of my questions WAS-- can we just take her home now???) I could wait no longer and asked Tim if I could hold her again;)

In the transfer to my arms she startled awake, and seemed reassured to see us there. We then had more floor time, playing with teething rings again and the vtech bunny that talks, lights up and plays music. She did seem to enjoy that a lot as well.

Her shoes were knit booties, a tad small for her feet, and the leggings were a tad big... We cracked up as we watched and realized she was scooting back and forth to kick off her shoes and scoot out of her pants. After pulling everything back on several times, we decided to try on one of the outfits we brought to check her size. She was wearing a 6-9mo top... A very cute warm fleece with leggings, and the 6-9mo outfit we brought fit her very well.

As we were playing she actually began talking!! She has the sweetest voice!! Can't wait to hear it again!!

Unfortunately for us, just after she began talking and feeling very comfortable with us, the worker came in and said it was time for her feeding.

So we said, "Paka!" and waved as she was carried out.

We then gathered our stuff and went to lunch in Sosnovoborsk with Galena, Serge and Yelena, Yelena our interpreter and the woman from the set of education who will be on our court team


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Breakfast buffet

Oh.my!! Breakfast was wonderful!! What a fabulous setup! The restaurant is gorgeous!! Dark hardwood floors, fireplace w cheery fire, dark cherry tables stylishly decorated and lovely paintings throughout and all the music is American classics. Tiffany style lamp shades and waitresses all in pretty dressed that match.

Only 3 blocks from our apartment, the Bellini group gets high marks from the Swingle's;)


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The day of introductions

Oh my, oh my!! The day has arrived!!! I am so incredibly excited!!

Oh the adventures we have already had;) the people here are so nice and friendly and helpful. When we exchanged our money we got a VERY large bill... Worth $168!!! We knew that it would not be spendable at any of the markets. So we ventured out to the bank. I found in our phrase book, "Do you have anything smaller?" And walked in. The wonderful young lady that spied us first knew as much English as we know Russian. She took us to a coworker that spoke English.
That very nice coworker explained to her in Russian what we wanted.

Then the first worker took us to the teller (who had just closed- she tapped on the glass til her coworker pulled the screen up, explained what we needed, said goodbye to us and went back to work.)
The teller took our one bill and gave us a stack of bills about an inch thick. Our 5,000 roubles made quite a bit of change.

Unfortunately, at the grocery store, our purchases came to 500.98 roubles. We had a 500, which I gave, but the next lowest bill was 10 roubles... Last time we were here a missionary we met went shopping with us and the cashier kept saying something to me.. It was,"Do you have anything smaller?" she waved us on this time, rather than give back change from a 10.... Will need to get some kopecks soon (coin change)

We went to bed pretty early last night... Lasting only until about 7 pm local time... And with very few interruptions slept until a little after 6 this morning.

Then I couldn't sleep anymore, cause I couldn't wait to talk to Eli!! What fun we are having skyping with him, continuing our tradition of praying together every night as a family.

Eli was quite excited over the letters he has gotten from us;) I have written several small stories with an illustration page so we can put a book together when we get home with Eli as my illustrator;) Eli solved the problem for me... I just have Sonic deliver his letter everyday while we are gone;) Thank you, Sonic, for your speedy delivery!!

Getting ready to head out now for breakfast- we hear there is a fabulous buffet just down the road;)


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Location:ул. Красной Армии,Krasnoyarsk,Russia

Settling in

Our last flight went well... Rather turbulent throughout, my seat passenger sounded like she might have had pneumonia and they skipped over us with dinner... But we had to stay in our seats anyways, the gentle rattle of turbulence could be considered a massage by some and I was able to have a lovely conversation, only mildly stunted by our language barrier with Marina once I let go of my fear of getting sick and began praying for her;) I was even able to share some of the throat lozenges I brought along... I so wanted to council her about what to do to relieve the suffering... But couldn't due to our language barrier. Once a Pharmacist, always a pharmacist;)
Once we depressed our stewardess button, our meals were brought quickly;)

We exited the craft and walked to terminal. As we looked around, I spied the familiar faces of Yelana and Serge... Serge called out to Tim as he almost walked past him in the crunch of the crowd. I say crunch because there is no personal space here... I think it is 4 feet in America, but in other countries... Maybe 4 cm.

We got our bags and they brought us to the apartment. Oh my!! The building itself looks newer or at least a little brighter on the outside, but still so different. There is a large playground just across the road.

And the apartment is beautiful!! There are 3 keys to get in... One magnetic, one huge skeleton and one normal for us looking lock... Our room number starts with a different number than the floor we are on;) the elevator, though small compared to what we are used to, is quite adequate, clean and well lit.

We walked in the apartment and I felt as if I had walked into a Marriott Suite with a full kitchen. So beautiful. Will try to post pictures.

We were given a few hours to freshen up, eat breakfast and then go to our MOE appointment. We chose skyping with Eli over breakfast... Oh my do I miss that sweet little son of ours!!! It was soo good to see his face and blow hugs and kisses to the other side of the world!!

We got everything unpacked and put away, Tim put together a little movie of Eli for the MOE and then time to go.

We walked in, through nondescript halls until we reached a door. Feeling like we were in the back hallway in The Matrix, it was hard to know which door we were going to stop at. Yelena stuck her head in one door and told us to wait a minute. We spoke quietly with another Yelena, our translator for the appointment, and also the translator for our post placement docs for Eli.

The appointment went so very well. They were very encouraging and felt that our being return adopters to the same region and having proven ourselves with our first adoption, it may be a little easier for us in court. Please pray about this. Government tensions are running high and the stress is trickling down to affect placing the children in homes. Moscow has already suspended adoptions pending action. We are praying to ring our daughter home soon!!

She was soo very encouraging to us, enjoying seeing pictures of Eli now. We saw pics on her board of several families who were there the same time we were. The Dini's, Goeppner's and Jerger's.... All families we traveled with over 4 years ago.

We were able to find our daughter's full name and birthday, and she is in the same baby home Eli was in, so we will have the same team in court;)

After a wonderful time with Tatiana, we went to lunch at the Oceanview . The food was wonderful!! We realized it was the first meal we had eaten since our lunch in Columbus before we left Sat am... Except for the lovely meals on the planes;)

Now we are desperately trying to stay awake until bedtime around here... We stopped at the bank, the mall...(wow!!! I have never seen so many shoes!!!) and the grocery store. Heading out to the flea market in a bit;)

Thank you for your continued prayers!! We go to meet Ksenia tomorrow morning. Tatiana looked at us and wished us her best wishes for Ksenia to bond with us... She could see we already had a strong place in our hearts for her.

So, off we go to the market;)


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New airports

Tim, patiently waiting, as our plane is not yet here... Only 1 hour til we begin boarding;)

New airports

Last time we were here there was a lot of construction going on. This time, we are in all new airports!! They are so beautiful!! Very classy, very large! The waiting area is well laid out with several shops and kiosks along the way. And, best news yet... The signs all either have English on the bottom or the whole board changes to English occasionally.
How much more comfortable for English speaking folks!

I still cannot believe the folks that leave jackets, scarfs and hats on while they are waiting... It is probably mid 70's here in airport.

Max told us there are now several sheremetevo airports. Will be interesting to see what our plane looks like;)

Will try to see if I can post pics from here as well;)


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Next leg of journey

Getting ready to check out of our hotel... Amazing what a shower and 6 hours of sleep does for you;)
Heading out to the airport in a few minutes for our next flight to Krasnoyarsk. Will arrive tomorrow morning at 6:10am local time... 6:10pm Easter Sunday for our family in the States;)




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On the plane

We are currently enroute after a brief delay in New York... Hehe, congestion in New York City at 4:30??
The plane is very full! So many people, so many different languages and customs... We really felt for the folks in JFK who spoke no English. We've been there before... And will be in a few hours;)

There is a passenger somewhere behind us that has me in fits of giggles. I think he must have loose dentures... He keeps whistling when he talks;) reminds me of a cartoon character I saw once in a movie... Whistling whilst speaking...

On take off, with it being rather windy, the plane was pretty rough... Enough that it kept shutting our window blind... My sisters would be worried about me now... I am thoroughly enjoying myself, though laughing quite a bit.... Good thing these passengers are coming from America;) they have cautioned me that smiling at everyone, laughing out loud, and basically my personality is not normal in Russia and they may think I am quite daft!!
Aha... It is starting early;)

Here comes dinner on the plane;) yeah;) more later;)

Yummy;) Caesar salad, cheese/crackers and bread, HOT chicken Marsala with whipped potatoes, peppers and steamed broccoli... Followed by a cup of hot tea... How delightful;)

It is a full moon tonight... How beautiful!! The moon is situated just above the wing, reflecting the glory of the sun shining down on our family already so many miles away. It is casting a gentle glow allowing us to see quite clearly the thick cloud cover below us. It looks like a magical kingdom just waiting for discovery.

We are racing to meet the sun rise... Guess we'll have our own Sonrise service on the plane. ;)

Yeah for hosanna music on my phone that I can listen to while contemplating the celebration of the morning!

It's morning!!! We met the sun 8 hours early;) what a beautiful, glorious day;) Happy Easter!!

He is Risen!!!!

Preparing to land... Still trying to remember what character it is that whistles... Was it the beaver on chronicles of narnia? Hmmm... We are still giggling;)

What a beautiful day!!

What a great landing!! Through fog and thick cloud cover, we gently touched down within seconds of actually seeing the ground.

The airport has been completely redone since we were here 4 years ago... So friendly... Signs have English under them and the customs process was so very streamlined;) waiting for bags now and then off to a hotel for a beauty rest;)

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On our way to the airport

Well, trying out my new app Tim put on my phone;)

We are on our way;)

Bags in the car, Eli safe with close friends and already having a blast when we left. Check list crossed off, prayers continuing to be said.

And so begins trip number one... For real!! I have imagined this so many times!!

Thank you, God, for going before us and preparing the way and our hearts.

Happy Easter weekend!!


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Only a wake up left...

Yipee!! We leave in the morning!! Yeah!!! All packed up, Eli's stuff all in the appropriate places, resurrection cookies in the oven... yes, I know it's a day early... but it is amazing how much Eli gets it this year and we didn't want to miss it with him.

Wonderful service tonight at church.  Eli was attentive the whole service, even nailing his sins on the cross.  Makes me cry just to think of it.

Tonight, as we prayed together before going to bed, Eli said, "Thank you Jesus for all you did.  God, I'm not going to call it Good Friday.  Cause it's not.  Jesus died.  I'm going to call it Sad Friday.  It was good He died I guess to take away our sins, but, God, it's silly to call it Good.  I'm going to call it Sad Friday."

Soon to bed...

Yeah God!! You have gotten us so far!

Our itinerary:

Day Date Flight City Time Cabin --- ----- -------------------- -------------------- ----- ----- -------- Sat 7APR Delta 6040* LV Columbus, OH (CMH) 1235P Economy AR New York, NY (JFK) 229P *operated by Chautauqua Airlines Sat 7APR Delta 30 LV New York, NY (JFK) 405P Economy Sun 8APR AR Moscow, Russia (SVO) 955A (Moscow time, USA time 155A) 8hr ahead of USA Sun 8APR Aeroflot Russian Air LV Moscow, Russia (SVO) 945P null(Moscow time, USA time 145P) 8hr ahead of USA Mon 9APR lines 1480 AR KJA, Russia (KJA) 610A (Krasnoyarsk time, USA time Sun 8APR 610P) 12hr ahead of USA Sat 14APR Aeroflot Russian Air LV KJA, Russia (KJA) 1130A null (Krasnoyarsk time, USA time Fri 13APR 1130P) 12hr ahead of USA lines 1485 AR Moscow, Russia (SVO) 1220P (Moscow time, USA time 420A) 8hr ahead of USA Sun 15APR Delta 31 LV Moscow, Russia (SVO) 1140A Economy (Moscow time, USA time 340A) 8hr ahead of USA AR New York, NY (JFK) 155P Sun 15APR Delta 6062* LV New York, NY (JFK) 327P Economy AR Columbus, OH (CMH) 527P *operated by Chautauqua Airlines

Last Minute Rush

Oh Baby! We are leaving in only 1 day and a wakeup!!

Last Friday, I was talking to our family coordinator and some things came to light that were very troublesome!! The date was wrong on our criminal background checks we had done back in January.  The date at the top of the page was listed as still 2011, and the notary was 2012.  After a rather quick phone call to BCII we were assured everything would be fixed and to us on Monday.

We also found out the judge is requiring several more documents.  (Which is totally his prerogative:)) He wants copies of all our post placement reports for Eli, along with photos, and a copy of the chapter from the OHIO Law book about adoption, along with the Hague treaty.  Ohio has a lot of laws for domestic adoptions, so we are looking at adding over 60 pages with that one document alone. 

So, I spent the weekend scouring for the pictures we used for Eli's post placement reports, cleaning and setting up Eli and Lael's rooms to get updated pictures for our photo album we turn in after trip one, and preparing for this weekend. 

Special Aside.... Our small group did a Seder Meal on Tuesday evening.  Thank you, Kelly and Brian, for the wonderful time.  Eli and I had been discussing all about the Last Supper over the last few weeks and he really seemed to get it.  Tim and I were very blessed as well!

So, yesterday at work, it was like a Steel Magnolias movie.  We actually got the docs in that we needed to get started on the above requirements.  So with almost giddy aplomb I told my coworker our good news, that we might, just might, possibly get to take these docs with us to speed the processing.  It seemed to be flowing so well!! I was on a mighty high!!

Then, just after lunch, Tim called to let me know that the BCII copies had come in the mail.  The dates were messed up again.  I completely fell on that one...right into the arms of God!! He has been sooo very faithful and so very close through this whole process.  I was able to contact the appropriate person at BCII and she was able to get everything lined up to complete this morning. 

So, this morning, instead of taking Eli and Papaw to the special All Pro Dad's breakfast, I dropped him off and headed to London, OH- about an hour and 45 min drive one way.  IT.  WENT. FLAWLESSLY!!
Thank you to all who were praying with us!! Got the BCII check papers, court house was only about 2 miles up the road from the BCII office and I had to come back through Columbus, easy stop at the Secretary of State's office to get the apostilles done. 

Paperwork wise, we now have what we need to take with us.  YEAH!!!! The other docs can wait til next trip.  Praising God for rearranging my perspectives:)

Tim and I are almost packed and ready to go.  Eli is all ready to go.  Oh my... It is such an emotional day.  We get to hold our baby girl in just a few short days!!!

Other blessing.... We have to have brand new bills for our money- no marks, no creases folds or tears.  The money changers are legally permitted to give 30% reduction on exchange for damaged bills. Last week I was able to get new 100 and 20 dollar bills from our credit union.  Thank you!! But no one could get $50.
I spoke with a friend that works at PNC Bank in Zanesville that also goes to our church.  She said she would check for us to see if they could order some.  The next day, the answer was negative.  No $50 bills to be had. 

So, I continued cleaning and taking pictures, trying to photostitch to get a panoramic view of children's bedrooms.  It did not go very smoothly.  As I was fretting, I remembered to give it all to God.  I told Him I needed help, I felt as though I were drowning.  Just then, the phone rang.  It was PNC Bank.  A customer came in with a still paperbound pack of brand new $50 bills to trade in.  She was letting me know that she would hang onto it until I could come today to pick it up.

I still cry as I think about it.  God, you are sooo very good to us, and I know we don't deserve it.  Your grace is more than sufficient, your love unmistakable...We are traveling on the day your Son rose from the dead, allowing our adoption into your family.  I am SO OVERWHELMED by YOUR LOVE!! Thank you for allowing our adoption of our little girl to begin on the same day that your adoption for us is celebrated!!