Pictures from Russia (touristy stuff)

Here are some of the pictures that we took in Russia when we went to pick up the boys:

Red Square

Inside a 'mall' next to Red Square

Last Days in Russia and Trip Home

Our last days in Russia were rather uneventful.  Tuesday we got the paperwork from the US Embassy and gave the boys' passports to Alex (a Buckner employee) to take to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to register the boys as living in the US.  Since Russia considers them to always be Russian Federation citizens, they have to be registered as living abroad until age 18, even though they are now US citizens.  If we ever move from our current address before the boys are 18, we have to notify the Russian Consulate in Houston. 

Wednesday we had a nice leisurely breakfast and then sat around in the hotel room until lunch time.  Rachael reorganized our luggage and stuff to make it easier to get ready for our trip home on Thursday.  For lunch, we walked to the Starlite Diner.  The boys had chicken nuggets with potato smiles, Rachael had French onion soup, steamed broccoli (which she shared with the boys) and ice tea while Chris had a club sandwich, french fries and a chocolate shake (he graciously shared a sip with Rachael).  Not quite like at home, but good none the less.  As we started to walk back to the hotel after lunch, it started snowing (with some sleet/rain mixed in).  It isn't very far distance wise, but it seemed twice as long with the wind and snow mix coming down rather hard and fast.

We finally figured out that morning that the TV in the bedroom had sound on the channels that actually had some cartoons on it so the boys watched cartoons during nap time.  We watched them in the living room.

We got the passports back around 6:30 that night and had dinner in the hotel restaurant (Radio City Bar and Kitchen).  Really good food!!

We put the boys to bed and then relaxed for a bit before going to bed ourselves. 

5:30 came way to early Thursday morning.  Our ride picked us up in the lobby at 6:30 and we got to the airport around 7:30.  The first thing we did was pack the jackets, hats & gloves as they would NOT be needed when we landed in Houston. The boys did good going through the security checks (including the scanner thing).

Our flight left Moscow at 10:40 (their time) and landed in Houston at 2:00 (our time).  The actual flight time was listed at 11 hours, 45 minutes.  It seemed much longer.  The boys only slept for about 2 of the hours and we didn't sleep at all.  There was space next to Chris so David sat by him and Michael stayed by Rachael.  David was much better than Michael on the plane.  Michael liked playing with the seat belt when he didn't have to have it on, however the last hour (seemed much longer) on the plane we had turbulence before landing and he had to wear the seat belt.  Nothing could calm him down.  Two of the stewardesses tried to help distract him, but it didn't work.  Once we finally landed and stopped at the gate, he calmed down almost immediately (of course that is when the seat belt was undone).  Longest hour ever.

Chris' mom picked us up at the airport.  The plane landed around 2:00 and we finally made it outside around 3:30.  When we went through Customs, we were pulled into a 'secondary room' so that they could process the boys' visas and paperwork (those all important sealed envelopes we got from the US Embassy in Moscow - see previous posts to find out about them).  We were told that it  could take up to an hour to get processed, but it only took about 30 minutes.  Finding our luggage after that was easy, there wasn't much left on the belt (once we found out which belt it was).  Thankfully there wasn't a line waiting to hand over the arrival card and we pretty much just walked up and through. 

The boys spent the ride home looking out the windows and trying to figure out what they saw.  We enjoyed talking with Lela (nice to talk with someone else that spoke American as a first language) on the ride home and catching up on news of family.

Now that we are home, we will post pictures of the boys, our trip, and more information about how they are doing (and how we are doing as well). 

Thanks for all the prayers and support you have given.  We really appreciate it all! 

Here is our 'first family picture' taken in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square:

Pictures from Russia (Snow...)

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Russia:

Park bench along the walk by the Dvina River outside the hotel in Archangelsk

Boat breaking up the ice on the Dvina River

Person ice fishing on the Dvina River

View from our hotel room in Archangelsk (snow!!)

The little white spots that are hard to see are SnowFlakes falling

Maybe you can see the SnowFlakes in this picture....

Home Sweet Home

We are finally home!

Left Moscow at 10:40 am (their time)

&

Arrived in Houston at 2:00 pm (our time)

Only spent about 15/20 minutes in the 'secondary office' of Customs getting the boys' visas registered.

It is so good to be home!

Will post pictures and more later

(we have lots to share!)

Playing Tourist in Moscow

Dinner last night was wonderful!  Natalia showed us a KFC not far from the hotel and we walked there for dinner.  Once we figured out the English menu (print was about a size 5 font), we ordered 2 chicken strip kids meals with french fries and apple juice, fries & chicken strips for us, Rachael had Coke (no ice offered) and Chris had Nestea (he savored it, even though it was lemon flavored!).  Apparently David doesn't like french fries and Michael eats everything.  We are still working on the sippy cup concept....

Even though beer was offered (2 varieties on tap), we declined.  Wonder if they will ever sell beer at the KFC's in the States???

The boys had another good night of sleep (Michael was in a crib and David & Rachael shared the bed while Chris slept on the sofa. 

This morning we had a good breakfast and met 2 other families that are here because of finalizing adoptions (a single lady from Chicago and a couple from Georgia).  It was wonderful to speak American!  It is amazing how much you miss it.

We also found out that the bar & restaurant have free WiFi, so that is good.  Trying to figure out the Internet card thing is hard. 

Natalia picked us up just after noon today to take us around some of the touristy places here in Moscow.  Thankfully she called about an hour before coming by since they had a time change last night that we didn't know about.  We are back to a 9 hour difference.

We went to Red Square and got pictures (Chris played photographer today!) in front of St. Basil's Cathedral (the traditional place for pictures) as well as other places in Red Square.  We saw Lenin's Tomb, but it was closed to visitors today and we couldn't actually see him.  Cool thought, but kinda creepy to see a guy dead for so many years....

We walked through a mall type place (3 stories and about 2-3 blocks big).  We walked through a 'food store' that is in there and really enjoyed the smells!  Didn't buy anything as we were trying to keep the boys from touching things (like the expensive wine bottles!).  We also saw the Cathedral of Jesus Christ the Savior.  Beautiful place, but so sad to see those people praying to icons, pictures, relics, etc.  Totally missing the message of Jesus.

Natalia had washed her car for us before we drove around and the kids totally dirtied it up with muddy shoes and animal cracker crumbs!  Guess that is what we will have to expect our cars to look like!

The boys were put to bed just after 2:00 for a nap, but didn't (no surprise there!).  They are probably up by now (Rachael left Chris upstairs with them, heh, heh, heh).  Rachael also left Chris upstairs this morning watching Sponge Bob (in Russian) with the boys while she checked out the free WiFi in the bar (heh, heh, heh).  This could become a nice thing....... (for Rachael, that is).

Not sure what we will do for dinner tonight, but it is bound to be good.

Tomorrow (Monday) morning the doctor will visit our suite to check the boys' health for the embassy paperwork.  He is scheduled to be here between 7:30-8:00.  According to one of the other families, it will probably take about 10 minutes.  Then on to breakfast before going back to the room to wait (from 10:00 - 11:00) in case Natalia calls from the embassy with any problems.  If all is good, we should have our Embassy appointment Tuesday morning around 11:00.  Wednesday we will register the boys at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will fly home on Thursday. 

Cannot wait to get home!!!!!  We already have a list of things we will need to get as soon as we eat dinner Thursday night: lock for refrigerator, side rail for Michael's bed, milk, coffee creamer, orange juice, apple juice, step stool for in front of the toilet and several others things not remembered right now.  Rachael just wants an ice cold can of Dr Pepper.  Chris wants a nice cold glass of plain ice tea.  Real coffee would also be good.  Anyway, we will be glad to be home and start settling the boys in.  We have wondered how Sheba will adjust to them......

Please keep us in your prayers for a few more days (or longer if you want!!) as we get things finalized here and ready to fly home. 

Will try to post more before we leave Moscow.  We will post pictures when we get settled at home, promise!

Last Days in Archangelsk

Friday was a good day for us.  The boys went to bed Thursday night around 8:00 and slept for about 11.5 hours!  Unfortunately, we didn't.  David sleeps really well; he doesn't seem to wake up or be bothered when Michael wakes up crying.  Michael was not very considerate of the others in the bed (we shared a king sized bed).  He moved around A LOT, kicking whoever was closest to him (mostly Chris on Thursday night).  He is waking up several times at night crying, but is usually easy to get back to sleep. 

It wasn't snowing Friday, but was bitterly cold outside, so we stayed in most of the day.  We had a late breakfast, so lunch was light.  Rachael left at 4:30 to wait for her ride to get the boys' passports (the appointment was for 5:00).  She was back by 5:45 and we all trooped to dinner at Uno Momento for the last time.  Most of the things we had there are good; we wouldn't recommend the Assorted Cheese Pizza (has 4 different cheeses; Blue Cheese being one of them....).  It didn't set well on Chris' stomach but Rachael was fairly okay.  Friday night, the boys went to bed at 8:00 while we stayed up and watched TV.  Chris decided to sleep on the loveseat while Rachael braved the 'kung fu king' on the bed. 

Saturday, we had breakfast then waited for our ride to the airport.  Our flight left at 12:20 and the boys did great!  David seemed a bit apprehensive when we were taking off, but once he looked out the window, he was better.  They amused themselves by playing with the safety card, magazine and tray table in front of them.  Sandwiches were given out for lunch and the boys seemed to enjoy theirs. 

The landing in Moscow was extremely rough, but Rachael amused the boys and made fun of the movements of the plane (we don't want them to be scared of turbulence when flying).  The gentleman sitting next to Chris was turning rather green, but thankfully kept his lunch to himself.

Natalia met us at the airport and brought us to the hotel.  Once we checked in and got settled in the room, we did the paperwork thing and then she walked us around the area, pointing out places we could eat and such.

As much as we enjoyed our time in Archangelsk, we are glad to be gone.  The staff at the Pur Navolosk are really nice, but we are ready to get home.

Thank you for all of your prayers!  We really appreciate them!  Keep them coming; we aren't home yet!

Home for now & Pictures

We have been home for a week and missing our boys!  Today we went and had pictures printed (203 of them!) to put in a book to show.  I will post some pictures here as well. 

We arrived in Houston last Sunday (10th) about an hour early which was nice.  We got home around 3:00 and met up with Chris' Mom and StepDad for dinner before going to bed (around 8:30).  We both were really glad to sleep in our own bed!  The beds at the hotels were rather hard and not very comfortable (we are spoiled) and Rachael had a hard time with the feather pillows (she will be taking her own pillow on the next trip).

Chris had the week off from both jobs and spent the time resting.  Rachael took off Monday (was a staff development day) but went back to work on Tuesday. 

Here are some pictures we took during the trip (unfortunately we can't post any of the boys):


Chris in the Novatel Hotel in Moscow the first night

 

The restaurant we ate in at the hotel.  Chris had the Meat Lasagna and Rachael had the Chicken Kiev.



Closeup of the sign.....



Chris in the Pur Novolok Hotel in Arkangelsk (we stayed in the same room both nights: Tuesday & Friday)



The Pur Novolok Hotel in Arkangelsk



Rachael with our Assorted Meat Pizza at Uno Momento in Arkangelsk (really good pizza!)



Chris on the small twin engine turbo prop plane on the way to Kotlas
(our pilots were students in training with the instructor in one of the front seats)

 

View from Rachael's seat in the third row on the plane to Kotlas.

 



The entrance to the Cafeteria in the hotel in Kotlas with the hours posted.




Rachael snuggling with the boys' blankets in the sitting area of our hotel room in Kotlas.



Flying over Kotlas on the way home.

 



Rachael relaxing in the hotel room in Moscow the night before flying home.



We will post pictures of the orphanage later.

Thank you for your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for our children.  Right now we are back in the 'Paper work and Waiting' stage.



On the way home....

We are sitting in the lobby of the Pur Navalok Hotel in Archangelsk waiting for our ride to the airport to begin the journey home.  It is currently 11:55 am on Saturday, October 9.  Today we will fly to Moscow, spend the night and fly out on Sunday morning (10:30 am) to Houston (arriving at 2:00 pm; same day).  We are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed!

Our last post was in the same hotel before flying to Kotlas to meet our boys.  The airport we flew out of was a bit smaller than the one we arrived at here in Archangelsk.  The only issue Rachael had with the airport was the bathroom facility.  It was at the bottom of the flight of stairs, was labeled for women, had a sink and 3 stalls (with doors but no locks) and contained running water and toilet paper.  The issue was the fact that the 'seat' was on the floor (okay, it was a toilet shaped basin imbeded into the concrete floor) and you had 2 choices: to squat or to squat.  Apparently she still has fairly good 'aim' but isn't quite as flexible as she once was.  At least it had toilet paper.....

Chris fared a bit better in the men's room.....

The plane we flew on could hold 19 passengers & 2 in the cockpit.  It was an older model with 'storage space' for the luggage in the back section.  We knew our luggage would get on the plane, because we loaded it ourselves.  No beverage service, not even a steward or stewardess (no room on the plane for them!).  If you were thristy, you had to bring it yourself.  The flight was rather smooth for the hour and a half it took to get to Kotlas.  Our ears kept popping because of the pressure in the cabin, but it was okay.  I will post a picture of the view from my seat later.

Once we landed in Kotlas, things started moving quickly.  We met Dimitri at the hotel before we left Archangelsk, as well as another couple adopting from the same orphanage in Kotlas.  it has been great to have another couple to walk through this process with.  They are from Michigan and are adopting a sibling group of 2 as well (boy & girl).  We met Anya (our translator for our stay in Kotlas) and our driver at the airport.  They took us to the hotel to settle in.  Our room was rather nice (and newer) than some of the others in the hotel.  We had a 'suite' that consisted of a sitting room, bedroom and bathroom.  It was really nice to have the water heater in the bathroom!  I think it got hot enough to boil!  The shower was small (about big enough for one person who didn't turn around or bend over too much).

The 'Cafeteria' was one floor below us (we were on the 3rd floor) and pretty decent.  It was basically a corner area that had doorways, a counter to order from and tables with chairs to sit.  The food was good (once we figured out what to order) but wasn't the portion size we are used to (I think we both have lost a few pounds).  We had pork pieces with potatos the first night and pancakes (we call them crepes) for breakfast the next morning.  Once the girl behind the counter figured out our pointing and broken words, she was very helpful!  Yesterday when we went down for breakfast, they didn't have pancakes.  That was all we knew to order, so she brought out a tray with sliced bread that had cheese & meat slices on it to offer for breakfast.  Was pretty good.  Chai was the beverage of choice for breakfast.  Hot tea is always good when you don't know what else to order.

We were able to spend 3 different times with the children at the orphanage, Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.  We got to spend about 2 hours each time.  We will tell you about all of that in another blog posting.

We ate lunch in Kotlas at Fortune Cafe both days .  Really good food (when it was cooked all the way through).  Anya joined us both times and we all had a nice time visiting.  Anya is an English teacher and was really excited about using and improving her English skills.  We were really glad to have her help us out.

We flew back to Archangelsk Friday afternoon on the same type of plane that took us to Kotlas (We know it wasn't the same because of the seat covers).  Vladimir met us all at the airport, dropped Chris and I off somewhere to another taxi that brought us to the hotel while he took Heather & Brian to the other airport to catch their flight to St. Petersberg.  We both got some sleep last night (finally!) and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast this morning before packing up and settling in the lobby to wait for our ride to the airport.

We will post about meeting our boys and the time we spent with them later.  We won't be able to post pictures of them until we get them home, so be patient as we will all have to wait!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray as we enter this last phase of paperwork and waiting to bring our boys home.  We have signed papers here to start the official adoption process here, but we still have papers to work on at home (INS approval, FBI clearance, other papers to sign & notarize....)

We're Here...

Chris and I have survived the trip so far!  We arrived in Moscow yesterday afternoon (Monday the 4th) and spent the night before getting up early and flyinging into Archangelsk today.  When we got to the hotel in Moscow, we ate dinner at a Tex-Mex themed restaurant in the hotel (Don Pepe) but didn't get Tex-Mex at all!  Rachael got the Chicken Kiev and Chris had the Meat Lasagne.  Good food, but definately not like home!  At least it was a hot meal. 

We didn't get much sleep on the airplane (seats didn't recline much) but we got to watch lots of movies since we each had our own personal screen & controller!  The food was good and we had enough to eat.  Once we had dinner at the hotel & went back to our room, we both were asleep by 7 pm.  We got up around 6 am to get ready since we needed to catch the shuttle bus to Terminal D (the hotel was at the airport) to check in for our flight to Archangelsk.

The flight to Archangelsk was rather uneventful.  We had Americano style coffee (espresso with water added) at the airport before getting on the plane.  They served breakfast (hot tea, orange juice, cheese & chicken 'sandwich' with a small bag of mixed nuts & dried fruit).  Pretty good.

Tomorrow we get to meet our translator (the person going with us to the orphanage in Kotlas) when he picks us up at the hotel here in Archangelsk at noon.  We have a booking for the flight in & out of Kotlas and we will pay for that at the airport (in Roubles) tomorrow morning.  The airport in Archangelsk isn't very big.  We got off the plane, walked down the stairs to the tarmac, got on a 'shuttle' to take us about 100 yards to the drop off point (basically the open gate area) that you walked through and you were in a 'courtyard' area that was next to the street.  We waited for a bit before they opened up the door to the 'baggage area'.  It is a one room building that has a moveable belt for the luggage to go around.  They drive the baggage cart up to a door at the end, open the door & slide the luggage onto the belt.  When they finish unloading the baggage, they close the door & turn off the belt.  Very efficient!

The driver brought us to the hotel & dropped us off.  Thankfully we had a reservation in our name!  We weren't really sure what to expect.  While we were waiting to check in, we met a really nice couple from Detroit that were checking out.  They met a little girl yesterday that they are considering to adopt and were on their way home.  They mentioned an Italian restaurant close by that we are going to check out tonight.

Well, so far that is a brief update of our travels.  We have paid for an hour of wireless internet time and it is about halfway done, so we will update more later, when we can.  We don't expect internet service to be available in Kotlas, so we may not post anymore until Friday.

Thank you for your prayers and support!  We fly to Kotlas tomorrow and spend time with the boys on the 7th & 8th before starting our expedition home. 

Paperwork is progressing

Spent 2.5 hours last night working on paperwork and most of today (classes and students were worked in during the day) but finally got our visa paperwork ready to go.  After Chris got home and cleaned up, we went and got our visa application pictures done (had to measure before cutting as they need to be a smaller size).  They have been glued to the correct applications (getting the applications to print correctly was NOT FUN and spent 10 minutes hogging the school copier to make sure I made 2 correct copies [front & back] while others were waiting for school work stuff).  It is so nice to work with such understanding teachers!

After school I stopped by the bank and picked up a cashier's check for the visa application fee (expedited service please!) on the way home.

We are ready to go to the consulate in the morning.  We are planning on going early (they only take applications from 9-12) so that we won't have to wait long (and have time to fix any thing not correct - PRAYING THAT NOTHING IS WRONG WITH THE APPLICATIONS!)

Tomorrow afternoon we are going to the church to get papers signed & notarized (our wonderful church secretary is a notary!) and mail them off to Buckner.

All that is left to do is finish going over the other papers for our trip, work on papers for Dossier Part 2, and add stuff to the Baby Registry we have at Wal-Mart (for those who want to get specific things for the boys/us - gift cards are always welcome!!).  I am sure that there is more to do, but I can't really think right now.  Brain is not working properly due to lack of sleep, and stress.  :)

Only a week and a half before we leave to meet our boys.  We are really excited, but trying to stay calm and relaxed.

We took advantage of Babies-R-Us's Great Trade In this past weekend.  We traded in an old car seat and booster seat for new ones.  We were able to get 25% off  (each) of 2 new convertible car seats that will also work as a booster seat later for Michael, as well as 15% & 20% 2 new tall back booster seats for David.  All totaled was a great deal!!  All 4 cost less than $250!!  So, we are set for transportation issues (one set per vehicle).  We are going to get the mattresses tomorrow. 

Please continue to pray for us and our boys during this time of waiting and paperwork, not to mention the traveling! 

ACCEPTANCE & TRAVEL

We have accepted the referral and are planning our first trip around the beginning of October!

We are really excited about meeting our boys! 

Until all of this is finalized, we won't post specifics or pictures (confidentiality concerns), but we can tell you some things:

*the ages are 4 & 2
*they look really great
*we are going to keep their Russian name as a middle name and adding a new name to go with their new family
*we are going to name the older brother David
*we are going to name the younger brother Michael

Please continue to pray for us:
*that we stay calm and focused
*that Rachael can get school stuff done in a timely manner (has to leave lesson plans, etc for a sub)
*that we get all the papers sorted, organized, filled out, signed, notarized, apostilled, etc as needed and as soon as possible (the sooner the dossier part 2 is completed & sent to Russia the sooner we get a court date!)
*that we make good travel arrangements (we will be traveling to the Archangelsk Region)
*we are about $8,000 short of what we anticipate
*there are probably more things but this is all for now.......