Alive and well...

Yes...we are alive and well. The only major malfunction (besides jet lag) is my computer (and USB drive) which decided to quit working in Russia and it appears I brought the wrong adaptor so sorry for the late post (I will definately be better the second trip...promise). We arrived back around 2:00 this morning and are doing great. We are loving seeing our daughter and thankful we came back on Friday to spend time with her over the weekend. I will post pictures over the weekend as we are in another hurry to get home and I still am struggling with the USB drive. But here are the last highlights from trip number one:

* We were able to spend twice a day with our little man for both days in Petro. He warmed up quite a bit to us and every time we visitied him we fell more in love with him. He is super sweet. On our last day I spend about 20 minutes rocking him with him just clenched to me - he is just thriving for attenttion and love. We also spent some time in his playroom with the other children his age. They are all so wanting that attention and the orphanage workers are so overworked - it was hard to see.

*We signed all official paperwork our last day there with the Ministry of Education. All our documents are set to go. They were waiting for one more item from the orphanage and then will be sending that off to Moscow where it will get processed (which takes 3-4 weeks) and then a court date will be set (pray for SOON!)

*Leaving the orphanage and Petro was hard - the feeling of having two children on totally opposite sides of the world hit very hard. The train ride back was very jerky and we did not sleep well. When we got to Moscow we did our 8 doctor medical appt. - 8 doctors in 3 hours with little sleep and no shower - quite an experience and not my favorite part of the trip!

*We stayed on the 22nd floor of an apartment in Moscow our last night - struggled to sleep due to the constant sound of sirens and noises.

*We then spent 24 hours traveling. Many of you may disagree but let me say - we do not know traffic in this country - it took twice as long to travel in Moscow as it did to fly from New York to Minnapolis! Literally no movement for 90 minutes!! The ride home was long - we did not sleep on any of the flights or layovers so we are tired. It was wonderful to see our daughter this morning. Our plan is to show her the video we took of her brother and explain to her (as best you can to a 3-year-old) what will happen next.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and kind words - having support from family, friends and the adoption community has been what has held us together!!