Who needs hairstylists when you have these two ?

Splish splash they're taking their first bath!

Ryan and Natalie's first bath (instead of a shower). They only had showers at the orphanage and in the apartment in Moscow.

In the bath, they have ducks, boats and squirting fish. Lots of fun at bath time! It is great to be in our bath tub at home.

It's been a long trip! We're home with the Ryan and Natalie!

What a long trip it's been. We left for Russia on Saturday October 7 arriving in Moscow on October 8th. We spent three nights in Moscow at a rental apartment. The apartment was a small studio that was big enough for us and the luggage. It was sufficient for the purpose although somewhat drafty. We spent the Monday and Tuesday in Moscow getting our medicals in order. This was required by the Regional Court.

On Wednesday morning, we left in a comfortable van for Ivanovo. It was about a 4 hour car drive to the Union hotel. Wednesday afternoon, we were taken to the orphanage and saw Ryan and Natalie again. They remembered us! The head teacher at the orphanage told us Ryan remembered Sherry's name and asked when Poppa was coming for them. What a thrill to know that the next day, we were taking them with us.

Thursday was the big day! October 12th was our all important Court date. It was what everything led up to. Court took about 2 hours and ended happily with no objections. The Judge was pleased to see a couple that had thought everything through and was well prepared for the children. After Court, we received the adoption decree and updated birth certificates to show us as their parents.

A few hours later we arrived at the orphanage again to pick up the children. We were talking with the head teacher via a translator and in came the children. We put on thier change of clothes and were ready to depart. Both children readily changed clothes but were bewildered when it was time to get into the car. As soon as Sherry closed the car door, they both started to cry as they couldn't imagine leaving the only home they knew. After we drove off, we gave lots of kisses and reassurances. The children started to calm down and looked out the windows with curiosity with so many new things to see. We spent Thursday night at the regional hotel and had dinner in the room. (The pictures of Natalie and Ryan in the chair and in the crib and sofa bed were taken in the regional hotel.) Mom and Dad didn't get to sleep until very, very late since Ryan and Natalie were a bit overwhelmed. Luckily, we were able to sleep until 9 am the next morning. We had breakfast in the room and Sherry went to pick up the passports. Stuart stayed with the children and packed up what he could from the room.

We left the region at about 1 pm and sat in the back row of seats with the children. The front row of seats contained some luggage with the majority of the luggage in the very back. Since car seats are not used in Russia, Stuart and Sherry felt that the back row was safer for the children. Ryan and Natalie spent most of the time looking at the sites. Natalie took a long 2 hour nap. Ryan became a little car sick when we got within the Moscow limits. Sherry was prepared though.

Once we arrived in Moscow Friday afternoon, we stayed in a 2 bedroom rental apartment on the 6th floor. These were Soviet style apartment buildings but the apartment was comfortable. The kids had their own bedroom and so did we. Although, one of us (Sherry) slept with the kids each night just so they would feel secure in knowing we were with them all the time. It helped.

We spent the weekend walking to the small grocery down the street and taking the kids for walks behind the apartment building to the playground. It was very cold so we were all bundled up. It was hard to play in the playground with so many layers. We managed to get some exercise and give the kids an outlet to play outside for a while.

On Monday afternoon, we were taken to the US Embassy for the all important US Visas. Once getting through all the security checkpoints, we were sent up to a waiting room with many other families. Stuart stood in line to pay the fees and turn in our ticket. Sherry sat with the children and gave them new puzzles to pass the time. We then all waited to be interviewed by an Embassy worker. The Embassy worker interviewed us in about 10 minutes and reviewed all the documents we provided. The interview went smoothly and we were given two sealed packets to be delivered to the US Customs agent when we arrived in Atlanta. We were told many, many times not to open these packets. After an hour of our arrival, we left to go back to the apartment.

On Tuesday, a representative of the adoption agency did the registration at the Russian consulate.Again more documents and more money.

The big day on Wednesday to go home!!! We left the apartment at about 9 AM. We were wisked off to the airport and got there around 10. We had a 12:30 pm flight to Atlanta. At the airport, things went smoothly. The kids were again amazed at all the new things to see. We made it through to the gate. We boarded the flight bound for Atlanta and knew we were in for a 12 hour flight! Eke... This by many adoption families who have gone before us is dubbed the Flight from Hell! As you might imagine, how long can kids sit normally ? Certainly not 12 hours. Well, nobody sat 12 hour for this flight. Many of the hours, we were up walking around trying to comfort either Ryan or Natalie. The kids were bored at times and not even a cartoon, a book or a toy could perk them up. We had packed new toys and books that they hadn't seen at the apartment. So we grinned and beared it for the time and made it to Atlanta. Natalie slept for about 2 hours after leaving Moscow. Ryan slept with for about an hour two hours before we landed. Sherry and Stuart didn't sleep at all.

In Atlanta, we were helped by an airport worker who carted our luggage for us through customs. What a big help this was with 2 kids! We proceeded through customs and handed in our packets. We were escorted to a waiting area for maybe 30 minutes. Once our names were called, we were given the children's passports with the US immigration stamp. We were told that Ryan and Natalie were US Citizens once the plane had landed. We were happy to see the US stamp as well! What a relief to get this far. It was great to be back in the US!!

From there we made it through customs to the next gate for our departing flight from Atlanta to Raleigh. We knew we had a lengthly layover at about 4 hours. When we made it to the gate, we had about 2 hours to go. So guess what we did ? Let's walk the kids around the terminal. Maybe one of them would fall asleep for a while. And yes, Natalie did sleep some. The kids were again amazed by so much to see. We had to the take the train to the correct terminal because of a terminal change. The children liked the train.

We finally boarded our flight after about an hour delay. Fortunately, it was dark and the kids fell asleep on the flight home. It helped us relax a bit although we were exhausted.

Once we arrived in Raleigh, we were met by Sherry's Mom and our TYJP friends Selanna and Gil. Selanna drove home our SUV with Sherry and the kids and Gil drove Mom and Stuart. Believe it or not, the kids got into the carseats without a hitch. They seemed to like them. That was a plus.

About 20 minutes later, we made it to home sweet home! What a relief and what a trip. So much behind us and lifetime to go.

Thank G-d for our safe journeys to Russia. The result is more precious than anything in our lives before. Our two children, Ryan and Natalie.


***** Please understand now that we're home we're busy getting the kids adjusted. Please be patient while we get into a routine. We may not be able to talk much on the phone. We are unable to talk in the the evenings. Getting the kids to bed can some times take a while so please call us before 7:30 PM. While we would like to be able to respond to emails we have very little time to even read them. Please post your comments here so we can catch up on many other things. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.