One week from now....

One week from now we will be on a plane to Russia!!!!
We are so excited!

I went through all of the donations we have picked up for the orphanage. We have compiled A LOT of things for the kids, we have dedicated 1 suitcase for it all. I'm not sure if it will all fit though, we shall see.

Some tips we have heard and been using so far or wish we had used:

• We heard to pack light, and to carry on only. So we both are taking 2 bags. I think I will be able to make it work.
• I wish we would have tried to go to Moscow a day early on our day out. I didn't even think to ask the travel agent when he gave our itinerary. Instead we fly on Monday and don't check into a hotel until Wed night. Ikes! The couple we are going with did it the smart way and traveled a day early. I guess I was too excited, or didn't really think of it when Victor (our agent) gave me our plans. Oh well! We, or I should say RICH, will sleep on the plane. I have a hard time.
• I am buying a great travel pillow, it looks so comfy!
• We went out and bought a net book so we have a little computer with us.
• We are taking a disposable camera with us for the caretakers to take pics of him if they can.

So 1 week and counting until our Russia adventure!!!

Jenny

Moving along

Things are moving along!
Our travel agency got our visas today, we should have them back by next week.

We went back and forth on whether we would stay in Moscow or just at the airport hotel the weekend before coming back home.
We get into Moscow at 9am and leave the next day at 12pm to come home.
So we decided, even though we may be very tired, to stay in Moscow. The weather should be really nice, so wanted to take advantage of it and try to do some sight seeing.
We chose a really nice hotel, figured we would spend extra money on this 1 night. We decided to stay at the Moscow Marriott Grand Hotel. It looks super nice and it's right near
the Kremlin and other attractions we want to see. I also have Marriott points and hope to earn enough for some free stays on our next visit.

It is hard to believe in a few weeks we will be meeting our son! It's so exciting!!!

Jenny

Trip 1 scheduled!!

So we are on vacation in Estes Park, CO for the 4th of July, when Rich gets a phone call!
Maeven contacted him to let him know we get to travel earlier than expected. We get to leave on July 19th! Yes only 2 weeks away.Depart July 19th

When we got home I immediately called the travel agency and got everything booked. We used a company out of CA and they were very nice and helpful. Victor did all of the searching for me and found me the best rates he could. We do have a day at the end of our trip where we can stay at the airport hotel or go into Moscow. We are unsure yet what we will do.
Victor suggested the airport hotel, he thinks we will be exhausted. Maeven however advised that the other couple we are traveling with is going to go ahead and go into Moscow for the day. It may be nice to sight see when the weather is nice there.

Anyway, here is our itinerary, we are SO excited. It looks however that we don't get to any kind of hotel until the 21st and we leave on the 19th. Yes we will be very tired!!!

Depart July 19th
Arrive Moscow July 20th
Fly Moscow to Kemerovo July 20th-21st
Arrive Kemerovo July 21st
Visit DOE on July 21st, then drive to Novokuznetsk ( get to go to hotel this night and sleep in a bed)
Visit Orphanage July 22nd and 23rd
Depart Novokuznetsk July 24th
Arrive Moscow July 24th and depart to US

Rich and I have been waiting for this day and so excited it's so close!!!

Jenny

Delays

It appears we won't be traveling in June as we were hoping.
We are hoping and praying the US and Russia wrap things up with the new treaty soon.

We learned today that Kaz has stopped taking new dossiers effective 5-15. They are in the process of signing the Hague so there is no ETA on when they will take new dossiers again.
It's so sad, I feel bad for everyone in the process.
We just got our USCIS approval last week, so if we were still with Kaz we would have been impacted and on hold.

We just pray we still can travel soon to meet our little guy...

This really has been a roller coaster. I read other blogs and yahoo groups and know other people have been through worse things. So trying to be patient and have hope it will all work out in the end. Easier said than done on some days though!!!

Jenny

We got USCIS approval today!!!

We finally got our USCIS approval today!!!
It took over 5 months, we submitted our completed homestudy on Dec 1st. We paid and sent all of our other documents even earlier, in Oct 09.

We are just so happy we got it and it all looks correct!
Well except for we were just approved for 1 child. We were told to ask for 2, but they just granted one.
We only plan on 1 so ultimately not an issue.

So excited to have this, so far getting this approval has been the hardest and longest part of the paperwork.

Yeah!

Jenny

Talk continue, we are confused...

We checked the news today and it was reported that the talks between Russia and US went well but now they are not meeting again until 5-12. Ugh.

In the article it stated some of the Russian's demands. They want a Russian social worker to check up on the child. We would have no problem with that, we have to do home study visits anyway.

They also want American's to maintain the Russian customs, language and holidays.

Ok the Russian lang would be hard for us, not even sure how we would do that? The article stated Russia would have no issues closing and it is only 1 line in their law so will have no problem just closing it's doors!

Rich and I are confused. We moved to the Russian program for opportunity and really fell for our 1st referral. Since then things have not gone well.

We are checking with our social worker on things so we have an option #2. Seeing if we can easily move back to Kaz if it comes to that.

The lady in TN really ruined things for a lot of us. I wonder if she has any idea what her actions have done.

I guess we will know more (hopefully) after the 5-12 meetings. We are starting to think though that it was a mistake moving from Kaz...

Jenny

Still waiting and hoping

We are still waiting and hoping all goes well with Russia adoptions.
We are getting mixed messages in the press, but as of now it seems like nothing has stopped.
We hope next week that US and Russia are able to come to an understanding and Russia doesn't stop their adoptions!! We are hoping and praying all works out and we will still be able to travel soon to meet our little guy....

Jenny