Our Day in Court

On a cold, snowy day in Arkhangelsk at 12:10 pm, we completed our court hearing. The court hearing began around 11. We were each prepared with our little speeches and the whole event went quite smoothly. Our translator (in picture with Linda) was as nervous as us because this was only her second court experience.

Now the 10 day waiting period begins, then we are able to get Zech and Jaiden and bring them home.

I will update more later, but suffice it to say it was a long journey with an awesome end. We played with the children today and prepared for court. Now we are off to dinner with some friends - our court hearing is tomorrow at 11am. Thank for your prayers. And - new pics at www.shaneandlinda.com

Boarding in Orlando

Jesus - we recognize your reign and dominion over this venture! Amen

Travel Time

Here is our schedule over the next few weeks. We will travel back to Russia twice. Strangely enough, it is cheaper to return than to stay.

March 17 (Tuesday) 12:30 - Orlando to Atlanta to Moscow
March 18 (Wed) 8:10 Moscow to Arkhangelsk
March 19 - (Thursday) Prep for court
Mar 20 - (Friday) Court hearing (I get to wear a suit!) - fly back to Moscow that evening.
Mar 23 - (Monday) Fly home

March 29 (Sunday) 10:30 Orlando to Atlanta to Moscow
March 30 (Monday) Travel to Ark, pick up children
Mar.31 - Apr.3 - paperwork in the region
Apr.3 - submit documents for child passport to OVIR
Apr.4, 5, 6 - days off
Apr.7 - get children's passports, - at 5:30 pm take flight back to Moscow
Apr.8 - submit documents for child visa to the US Embassy
Apr.9 - get children's visa
Apr. 10 1255pm Moscow to Atlanta to Orlando (arrive Orlando 9pm).

Finally! News! We got the word and are headed to Russia on March 17 (next Tuesday). A lot needs to happen between now and then, but we have gotten plane tickets and paperwork in order. Our visas had to be fast processed and should arrive the day before we leave. Here we go.

Day Two - More Fun

I took way to much cough medicine in the middle of the night, and, combined with a bit of jet lag, this made the morning quite an adventure.

We made it to the baby home about 9am - and were able to play with the kids and ask another barrage of questions. Everyone has been very friendly and it has been a time of emotional ups and downs. The only down being that we have to leave and we will be unable to bring the kids with us. We asked, but all is so formal and straight forward down the line. It is like a very well greased normal operating procedure kind of place. Our hearts hurt because the wait continues . . . but now we have hugged and kissed and connected.

In a few hours we leave for St. Peterrsburg. We will stay there a day before returning to the states. For more pictures of day two, go to www.shaneandlinda.com.

Meeting the Kids!

What a fantastic day! Like no other in my life.

It was not as emotionally overwhelming as I thought. It was like meeting kids that we knew were ours all along.

Here are the photos

Early this morning we got a phone call saying that we would not be able to meet with the director until 1:30 pm. We were disappointed, but exhausted, so we did not worry about it. We went back to bed.

Then we got another call from Dmitri (our in town contact) saying he would be by at 9. OK? We thought we were going to do paperwork and then reconnect for the afternoon. Turns out, the first phone call was intended for another couple. Dmitri ran us over to meet the director and then we went to the baby home (on our way, we picked up Alexandra - our translator).

We were anxious, silent and wary. Not sure what to expect. At the baby home (which seemed very nice), we were taken to the back and introduced to the social worker in charge. She gave us a run down on the kids background and various questions we had. Then BAM, they brought them in.

It was almost nap time so they wanted us to see them before they went down. We wanted to play, ask more questions, and just stop the world to soak it in. They were gone to fast! That first meeting we may have only had 15 minutes with them - but it seemed like 30 seconds.

We spent the next hour or so asking lots of questions and meeting with the Dr. of the facilitiy. She was wonderful and gave us all the information we could have ever wanted.

We then went out for pizza and processing. About 5 minutes from the hotel we ate at Uno Momento - (had a pizza with an egg on it).

Then back to the baby home were we sat on the floor with our precious little ones and played and cooed and did whatever. It was great. It was surreal. I did not want to cry until later - I realized what a giant miracle this is!

Helsinki for an hour

NY to Helsinki went faster than expected. We were mostly silent with
exit row seating (but near the bano). We watched Ground Hog day on the
iPhone and then Mama Mia on the big(ger) screen.

The Travel

From my buddy Bryan

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Learn as You Go

Brushing up on Russian at JFK. We felt very relaxed on the last flight
and even slept a bit. We sense God's covering. He is so good.