Moving forward - pic of us in Siberia after signing docs to continue with adoption

We are home & settling in! We are sorry we did not post more in Russia... i was just trying to survive the travel & time changes & i had severe motion sickness on the 10 hour flight to Moscow...it was nightmarish but it passed. Note to self: take Dramamine before the flight!! Greg & I were joking that it's morning sickness for our new guy! Well, all went smooth & Greg & I were a great team & we met "A" (cannot post his name) & got lots of time getting to know him. PS - Thomas watched DVD's on the plane & it really helped pass the time for him!


It was wonderful to go as a family to meet our new family member. We signed paperwork stating that we are continuing on with the adoption (we never had a doubt really) so the court date will make it official - the judge in Siberia will have to give us custody. I have another batch of paperwork to complete - yesterday was not good as we had just been home a day & i found out all that had to be done before trip #2. Trip #2 will happen in 3-4 months. There is a 10 day wait period on trip #2, so it's going to be a long haul (2-3 weeks) but at the end we get to come home with "A." "A" is an energetic, curious little 18 month old that looks like he'll fit right in with us. Greg was so wonderful with him...making him smile & being playful with him. When i was there i just couldn't believe it ..everything was so surreal. Thomas did so well at the orphanage...he played & even got to feed "A" some of his snack. Because of confidentiality we cannot post pictures of him now. Here's some pics of us in Russia - it was a great learning experience to go to another country...Moscow was a big city where people were going in all different directions...there didn't seem to be that yielding to pedestrian rule that we Americans live by :)


Siberia (Krasnoyarsk) was kind of what i expected....lots & lots of apartment high rises left over from another age. The weather is harsh & the people are tough. It was cold but what we were more uncomfortable with was how hot it was inside! We kept taking our jackets off each time we walked inside & we noticed that the Russian were very comfortable in their winter gear...next time...easier jackets to remove & less carry-ons. So now back to the paperwork & preparation for trip #2. Thanks again for all the positive thoughts & prayers - we really felt God's hand guiding & protecting us.