Planes, Trains & Automobiles

A great deal of this trip is travel: 15 hours of air travel, 13 hours by train & 5 hours by car, all on the way there! Luckily, we usually travel well. The big difference in this trip was sleep or lack thereof. It's not the accommodations so much as it is the thoughts racing through our minds. What are we going to say? How will the kids react to meeting us? Will they like us? All these in between an hour or two of sleep. It doesn't help that I didn't sleep well the entire week leading up to the trip. The night train is no different.

I watched many kinds of scenery on the train. We started out in the city. Very typical city- buildings, people, walls, fences, graffiti. This gave way to trees. Lots of trees. Big beautiful green trees- pines, others that looked like Birch, some that looked like Aspens, bushes & wild flowers running along the sides of the tracks. As morning broke, the dew came down to settle just above the grasses through the trees. Scattered old farmhouses made of wood were hidden. Some were natural while others were painted. One had bright blue window frames, another was mustard yellow, others followed in Kelly Green, brown & Olive. It's hard to catch it all. I don't want to forget any of this. I suppose I can sleep tomorrow.

Most footage or photos I've seen of Russia is war related. The sights & sounds remind me of movies I've watched or photos I've seen around the WW2 era. When the train stops at each station a Russian voice speaks. I feel like I'm in a movie. Many of the buildings we pass also look like they were built during that era. I feel like we have just stepped by in time.

We have arrived!

The first look I got at Moscow was the moment I stepped out of the airport. It was beautiful! The sun had just set & a light fog was settling. We are absolutely exhausted. We haven't sleep well in the past week & didn't sleep any better on any of the flights. Traveling away from the direction of the sun, we see it go down & come up rapidly. Our internal clocks have no idea what time it is or even should be. We have eaten meals & snacks at strange times & we end up just missing a day somewhere in between. It's Saturday when we arrive in Moscow & are happy to finally be here.

In case I missed it, patience repeated

We are here! The plane has landed! Moscow, we are ready for you. Her reply is Americans, ready or not, here I come! As we disembark the aircraft, we follow the stream of passengers. Normally, this works out fine. But, when most of the passengers are coming home to Russia, this doesn't work so well. I suppose it's more helpful to actually look at the signs. 

OK, back on track. We find the right line of foreigners, check. We pass through customs, check. We find our baggage area, check. We look for our bag. We look for our bag. We check our baggage number, correct. No bag? Correct! We find two friendly employees, neither speak English. They find us another lady who does. She tracks our bag & finds out it didn't make it on the plane to London at Dallas. Serious delay. It caught another flight, but won't get to the airport in Moscow for 24 hours. Patience, remember? Go with the flow, I said before we left.

I will save you the details. With our travel itinerary moving along at a fast pace, we will always be a day ahead of wherever they can send the bag. Bottom line- we won't see our bag until the night before we leave Moscow. I suck it up. We take inventory. Everything we absolutely need is in our carry on. Really? Is that possible? Double check. Yes! We have everything necessary. Wow, God is good!

Moving along now. We find our driver, decide to go shopping tomorrow & order room service upon arrival at the hotel. Why is it that I am constantly getting tested on this patience thing? I've got this down...kind of. I believe that I passed...after an extremely short freak out moment, which 8'm sure no one even noticed :) Well, either way, the day is done. My burger with fries has arrived & I have my bottled water. I got it right this time! Apparently, all I needed was a little patience practice & to hold the panic.

Patience Now

Our last flight from London to Moscow is abroad Transaero Airlines, a Russian airline.  It's our first taste of interacting with people from Russia, many whom do not speak English. We are spoiled in the US. Most people visiting the US speak some English & when we travel many places have some English speakers. It's quite humbling to be surrounded be people all speaking another language. Most of the time, Americans just don't have to deal with fumbling with foreign words & settling with lots of smiling. Patience is required.

My first awkward encounter comes fast. I'm surprised at just how surprised I am by it! Time to order drinks. I've been on many planes. I know how this goes. Without thinking twice, I ask for water in English. There is silence. She replies in Russian. Ummmm, let's repeat slower & louder. Really? What am I thinking? Why do I think that works? Silence again. Smile? Panic sets in. I look at the cart & point to the first thing that looks familiar, Sprite. She says something in Russian, I nod yes & immediately think NO. What am I doing? I don't want Sprite! I want water! Why did I point to Sprite...which ironically is right next to the water! Well, it's poured. I drink it. I realize I seriously have to learn a little Russian.

To Russia w/ love

This is it. This is the day I've been waiting for! I am finally on board an airplane en route to see my two new children. It's hard to comprehend this is real. This is really happening. 

Yesterday was a busy, emotional day. Besides packing, I stopped at Costco to stock up on some food before leaving for Russia. I noticed some kid's clothing & decided to purchase a few items for my two new kids. I know this sounds like an uneventful task that moms do on a semi-regular basis, but this was the first time I have gotten to buy clothes for MY kids. Up until now, all the clothes I had saved for them was just that, for THEM. An unknown child. A child without a face. A little person who was yet to be seen by me. Now, I held up the outfit with navy & white stripes & a car on the front. I could see him. I could see his little smiling face wearing this outfit. And I knew if I stood there too long staring, the tears would come.

Another moment hit me at Wal-Mart. I saw a toddler board book "My First 100 Words." I picked it up thinking that it would be useful. I imagined myself sitting on the plane, with two new kids, going through the book, pointing & speaking the English words. That's when it hit me. I get to teach them English! I may not have been there where they spoke their first word, but I will be there when they speak their first English word! Of course, it's a strange moment when an employee bumps into you, your eyes filled with tears, while holding a silly book. I wish I would have gotten that adoption t-shirt that says "adoption in progress- may cry at any time!"

Now I sit, waiting for this plane to land. I already miss my first three kids. I can't wait to meet my two new kids. I'm dreaming of the days ahead when all of my children sit together, in the same country, in the same house. What a day it will be, but it can't happen soon enough.

Is it true? Yes it is!

First, let me apologize for the last several posts all going up today & being backdated. We have been very cautiously moving forward for the last 6 weeks. We have wanted to share our exciting news but, after waiting so long were apprehensive. Here we go...

We leave in 4 days for Russia! The last week has been filled w/ conference calls, appointments, travel arrangements & asking favors. We are excited...but things can still go wrong. We are going to meet the children & officially accept the referral. At that point, things will be fairly certain. Our second trip will be our day at court. Will they think we are just plain crazy for wanting 5 kids? (have 3, now adding 2 more) Maybe. We have high hopes that they will approve us :)  Our third trip will be to bring the kids home. We estimate that this may be in November.So there you have it. Is it true? Is this really going to happen? Well, it looks that way!

Several months ago, I had a strange dream. We had finished our adoption & were finally home. I was a proud momma introducing our new child to friends that had prayed for him. One turned & said "I thought you asked for a little girl from Moldova?" Confused, I turned to see that the child I had brought home was a little Asian boy. Later, I shared my dream w/ friends (the friends in my dream) & we laughed. I joked that you just never know until you actually bring them home. I suppose that was more truth than I realized at the moment. I love to have things planned out nicely. It's just not the way our adoption journey has gone so far. We are still waiting upon God & He hasn't let us down yet. For when I think that I may have just asked for too much, He blesses me with more than I imagined.

The paperwork process drags on...

California is a beautiful state! I have many great memories from the state. I lived there for 16 years. It was the state where I met my husband. It was the state where I went to college. It was the state where my first 3 children were born. It was the state where I got married. And this is where things get sticky.

All started well when we began the paperwork process again. Mind you, I have put together 2 dossiers in the last 21 months. Therefore, this time around, it should be a piece of cake. I estimated that it would take me about 30 to turn this new dossier out. Of course, nothing can be used from the last dossier since Russia doesn't want documents submitted that are more than 3 months old. Also, a notary's commission can not expire for at least 12 months at the time they sign your documents. I have this down...

I planned well. To date, I have completed 81 of the necessary 84 documents. They are original documents or copies w/ affidavits, they are certified or notarized & finally they are apostilled from the state where the document originated from. This is where California tests my patience.

 I needed 3 certified copies of our marriage certificate & then needed an apostille for each from the Secretary of State. Easy enough, right? I knew this would be the item that would take the longest time. I sent for the certified copies on June 27th... Waited. ..Waited. ..Called on July 9th. Documents received, but not processed.. Waited. Waited. They finally arrive back to me on July 16th. We FedEx them the same day to the Secretary of State. Their website says that apostilles usually take 3-5 business days to process. We waited. Waited. Prayed. Waited & prayed. Called on July 23rd. Do they know its the fifth business day? I'm certain they do, I'm just double checking :) What? You have got to be kidding me!! I am told that today, July 23 rd, they are processing mail from July 9th. Tomorrow they may still be processing July 9th's mail. Do I want to talk to a supervisor? Oh yeah! The supervisor says that they can not go pick through July 17th's mail to find my FedExed item & process it. :(  But, if I come in person, they will process it while I wait. Really. She estimates that in 5 to 10 business days they will be processing the mail that contains my documents.

So, here I sit, at the Denver airport. A glass of wine & a hummus plate while I wait to board my plane to Cali. I will go, in person, to get new certified copies of our marriage certificate. Then, I will go, in person, to get each an apostille. There are many conclusions I can come to w/ the events of the day. Apparently, they miss my smiling face SO much that they want me to come & redo the paperwork in person...that's what I'm going with! I have a choice w/ every event that occurs in my life. How will I react?

What it comes down to in the end is that there are 2 little children, waiting in an orphanage in Russia. They are waiting for paperwork to be processed. I said I could have this paperwork turned around in 30 days...Today is day 30. Tomorrow this last piece will be sent. So I guess that makes it 31...oh well  :) California, here I come! Documents 82, 83& 84 will be done!