Ministry Letter

WE JUST RECEIVED NEWS THAT OUR MINISTRY LETTER IS IN! YAY!!!!

Our agency will submit the information to the court on Tuesday. At that point, the Judge will be assigned and review the infomormation. We will keep everyone updated.

New Toy Box & Cute Shirts!

We put together this toy box for our little guy last weekend. Also, here are a couple of shirts that are hand me downs that I thought were really cute. The Hawaiian shirt is for Grandma Sherri, and the other one is for Grandpa Tony! Can't wait to put these on him :)

Watching the clock....

I have to admit that no Internet may be a good thing at this point. We are getting a little frustrated with the wait. We are READY to go back for Court and bring our little guy home. We have both been really good about the wait so far. Not a lot of fussing or complaining really. We are doing everything we can to stay busy and get everything ready (even doing things that do not need to be done). We are buying gifts, washing (even ironing) his clothes and putting them away, putting together a toy box, sanitizing everything, rearranging his clothing, arranging his bedroom furniture, putting together a trip 1 album, rearranging his bedroom furniture, etc…etc.

This is week 3 for the Ministry letter – so keep all fingers crossed and us in your prayers that we get it soon so the Judge can be assigned ASAP!!!

Hump Day

It's been some time since our last post. We have not had Internet access for about a week now, but should have it back finally this weekend.

The most recent news is that our little guy has started to walk! We are both thrilled that he is progressing developmentally. I wish we were with him to see his first steps though. We miss him terribly.

We also spoke to our agency yesterday, and are just in wait mode. We are waiting for the Ministry letter, waiting for the Judge to review the documents, waiting for trip 2, waiting for a court date, etc...etc. During the wait, we are filling our time by gathering gifts for the staff, washing the little guys clothes and setting up his room. As soon as we are done, I will post a picture of the completed work!

A cool card and an update.

Our little guy received a card in the mail recently to celebrate his birthday. It was his FIRST birthday card ever! There was a note in there from Nana and Papa. Isn't the card neat? We both love the world photos with the children standing around it. Very cool!

In other news, we had a conference call today with our agency. Our documents arrived in Russia this week. Now, we are just waiting for the Ministry letter to arrive. The estimated time for this is the end of August. A Judge is then assigned, and either sets a court date...or requests further documentation. We had an issue a few weeks ago that held us up, and although we are past that now - our medicals will expire about the time we travel. As a result, we have to get revised medicals. Long story short - October 2009 is the estimated time of travel. We were hoping for September, but October it is. Now, keep your fingers crossed that we actually get to go in October :)

Amy is Da Bomb!

We received an unexpected gift in the mail the other day. It truly shocked and amazed me on the kindness of the woman that sent it. Tatiana's mom, also known as Amy, took the time, money and energy to put together a gift package for us and send it to our house.

I am still stunned. Amy is well known in blogger world as she journeyed to Vladivostok and adopted the highly energetic "T". They have been home now for around 4 months and Tatiana is adjusting very well. Amy and I have spoken on the phone once, as well as exchanged several emails...but in a million years I didn't even consider she would send us a gift. She has been a great support system for us.

Thank you Amy! You are truly kind and wonderful. I can't wait to show our little guy his gifts from you and T!

July 11th - 12th Travel Days

We left from Vlad to Moscow around 7:30pm. The flight was full, and very uncomfortable...although non eventful. We arrived in Moscow and were met by German. He dropped us off at the 5 star SVO and we stayed the night. There is a 3 star SVO and a 5 star SVO. On the way over, we stayed at the 3 star.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. They had a nice buffet selection so we could avoid the early morning fish and go for the eggs and bacon. Our flight from Moscow to Atlanta left at 12:30pm on Sunday, and we arrived in Atlanta at 4pm on Sunday. Given the time change, we gained 13 hours. We were delayed in Atlanta around 30 minutes due to weather, but arrived home safely on Nana's birthday around 8pm. Papa picked us up from the airport and we were reunited with our furry friends Gracie and Copper.

Thanks to Nana and Papa for watching our girls for us and for the ride to the airport. Nana - hope you had a great birthday!

Little guy - we promise to be back for you! We love you and miss you immensely and will do everything in our power to get you home as soon as possible!