Reunion Eve Feb 13

Today was a relatively quiet day. We woke up at 9:20 (after going to bed at 6:30 last night) and then had breakfast at the hotel. We then ventured out for a walk and to see our surroundings. We went to a grocery store to see if Mike could find any Red Bull....low and behold! They have Red Bull in Latvia! All is right with the world now. Needless to say, Mike was quite a happy boy. We walked several blocks to a park that was absolutely covered in snow. We weren't out long before our hands started freezing...literally. Yes, we had gloves on. In fact, I'm so thankful we invested in some really warm coats and snow boots! They are a MUST for survival in this kind of freezing weather. The temp today...0 degrees, wind chill -7, and low tonight -8!! Not temperatures we're used to, for sure.

So, we did a lot of reading in our room, emailing, and resting. We had the chance to skype with Mike's sister, Kim tonight. We then had a 3-way phone call with Viktorija. This was the first time she has ever "met" her aunt Kim and cousin Josiah.

We have spoken to Viktorija 3 times since our arrival. She is so very excited about tomorrow. She told me she is getting up very early in the morning to take a shower and help her foster mom with preparing food for us. The plan is to leave our hotel at 9:30 am with our Latvian attorney. She and her husband will transport us 3-4 hours to Viktorija's foster home. We will visit with them for a short time and then off to court. Once court is over, our attorney will take us to our new hotel in Daugavpils where will will stay with Viktorija until 2/25. We have a second court date on 2/25 and then the attorney will take us back to Riga (where we are now). We will handle immigration details in Riga on 2/28 and 3/1. We will be very excited to return HOME on 3/3!

During our "bonding time" with Viktorija we will be doing school work, reading, watching movies, and probably a little bit of sightseeing. I can't imagine we'll be doing much outdoors since it is unbearable after such a short time. Either way, we will be happy just to have our daughter with us. It's been 6-1/2 months since we've seen her. Will she be taller? Will she look/act different? In about 18 hours we will see:-) Until then....goodnight all.

We're here in Latvia!

We arrived in Riga, Latvia 2/12 at 2:45 pm (we're now 7 hours ahead of the USA). We had a good trip with only one delayed flight. We're pretty exhausted....been awake for about 30 hours now and really can't even think straight. I'll be sure to srite more after what I hope is a great night's sleep:-)

Counting down the minutes

It is now only a matter of minutes before Mike's parents arrive to take us to the airport. The emotions are overwhelming. We just talked to Viktorija on the phone and to hear the excitement in her voice is worth millions! We will be taken to meet her at her foster home on Monday morning. She told me that her foster mom is going to make coffee, and for me, sweet tea:-). I thought that was very sweet. She tells us that there is "LOTS" of snow and it's very cold. This California girl is going to have the adventure of her lifetime! I'm bursting with joy over the mere days until we see our daughter!!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have been praying for us, and encouraging us. I have received some of the most wonderful and touching emails over the past few days. God has sent the perfect words at just the right times. Of course, He does....He knows what we need. For it is He who has paved the way for us to go on this journey. We fully trust that we are in His care.

The next blog will be from LATVIA!!!!

Love to you all.....

7 days and counting!

Oh my goodness!! With only 7 short days to go, I find myself wondering how I'm going to get everything organized for our trip, while working at the same time. So much to do, so little time! My personality is such that I'm usually ready for events far in advance. Although we've been ready and waiting, there are now things that have to be done that couldn't be done before. We've made the flight reservations, and today will make our hotel reservations. I thought I'd faint when I was told that if we check more than our 1 allowed checked bag/pp, it wold be $250!!!!!!!! So, there will be no extra bag for the things I wanted to take for Viktorija. We'll get creative with our packing, I guess. Our flight will be approx 16 hours. I'm thankful for the NOOK Mike got me for Christmas! I can read, access internet, play games, etc. This should keep me occupied for some time:-)

Continue to keep us in your prayers. My heart races, I can't sleep, and I have mixed emotions that go from excitement to fear. Once I see her sweet face and can hug her I know I'll be fine. But, for now, we press forward the best we can, with God's help.

Our date has come!

By now, most of you probably know that we found out our first court date in Latvia will be Feb 14, 2011!! We are beyond thrilled that the moment has FINALLY arrived! I think it's fantastic that our reunion with our sweet Viktorija will be on VALENTINE'S DAY!!! That day will have extra special meaning from now on.

We were excited to call Viktorija on Sat. to tell her the good news, only to find out that she had a stomach bug and was not feeling well. She sounded so pitiful on the phone, even though we could tell she was trying to act excited. We called her again today to see if she was feeling any better, and she sounded good. She was happy and laughing. She asked Mike if he would read her "Vinnis Puks" (English: "Winnie The Pooh") in Latvian as he had done when she was here last Summer. She got the biggest kick out of Mike's attempt at pronouncing Latvian words. She also asked him if he would sing to her in Russian again. Again, it was Mike's attempt to sing along with a Russian girl band CD. Viktorija enjoyed this and obviously has thought about how it made her laugh. Memories like this, of her stay with us, have helped to sustain her while she's been away from us. She told us she is praying for our safe flight and for her "American school". She has had plenty of time to think about everything. Although I know she is excited, she is in for some pretty big changes! I consider her one of the bravest people I know. I'm so nervous about going to Latvia (for many reasons), but when I think of what she did last Summer coming to America and not speaking the language well, or knowing much about us, I realize my fears are kind of silly. If a child can change her whole life forever, I can certainly take a 3-week trip to a foreign country!! It will be enlightening to see where she comes from. And, I know she will like to teach us about her culture.

We have SO MUCH to do in the days to come. My lists have lists! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for the biggest event in our lives. We plan to post pictures and videos while we're in Latvia as often as possible so that you can share in our journey.

Love to all of you!

Christmas without Viktorija

When I woke up this morning I asked God to give me the strength to focus on all of our many blessings and not the fact that our daughter was not here with us for this special day. It turned out to be a wonderful day with many reminders that God is very much in control. We spoke to Viktorija before my family arrived to have Christmas lunch with us. She sounded good. She laughed after we sang to her, "We wish you a merry Christmas". She told us she had been to church today and that she was also going to church tomorrow. It is "family day" at her church. Mike told her she could carry a picture of us with her, and that we will be with her in heart and spirit. She liked that.

We then called Viktorija a second time today after all of my family was present. They each were able to say "hello" to her and tell her that they loved her. This is the first time she has heard anyone else's voice (besides ours) on the phone. After we told her again how much we love her, and said our goodbyes, she said, "goodbye my family, I love you" to all of us. Of course, this was a touching moment. Not to mention, she has the sweetest phone voice...ever!!!! Wow, do I miss her! I want to hug her and never let go. But, even with all of hte emotions that I am feeling, I feel very much at peace in God's timing. Next Christmas will be extra special:-)

A lovely lady that my mom works with (whom I've never met) sent a gift for Viktorija. It was a lovely snow globe with a generous monetary gift attached. As I shed my tears, my family sat quietly in amazment at the kindness and generosity of this wonderful lady with a heart for orphans.

This was another reminder to me of how God knows our needs and how He uses many different people to meet those needs. It wasn't just the monetary gift, it was the love behind it that moved me so much (the love of someone I've not met...yet, and the love of our ever present Lord and Savior).

As I sit here quiety pondering this beautiful day, I think of the greatest gift God gave to the world...His very our son. "For God so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life". The greatest gift of all! I am humbled and so grateful for a love such as this. As much love as I feel for our daughter, God loved us even more. It's difficult to imagine. But, I'm so thankful!!!!!

where we stand now

It has been quite awhile since I've blogged. Merely because we had no new news. Dec 7 was the day we got our "official invitation" to go to Latvia for our child...this is a formality. We were then told our court date would soon follow. Well, it's now 12/21 and no court date yet. Mike contacted our adoption liason yesterday to see if we were any closer to having our travel dates. We then got the sad news that we may not get to travel until Feb, or even March!!! Since we were counting on Jan, this was a HUGE disappointment! Mike works at McGuire Nuclear Station and the month of Feb begins at outage. This is a time when nobody is allowed to take time off (approx 30-40 dys). Needless to say, Mike was very stressed and unhappy yesterday. I pray for patience and God's perfect will and timing. I know He has a reason for the timing, even though we don't see, or understand, it. We pray for Viktorija to maintain her faith and positive attitude while she waits for us to come and get her. When we last spoke to Viktorija she told us she was packing her suitcase so she would be ready for us. This is the hard part!! This is a child who has only dreamed of having a "real family"...something many of us take for granted. It will be difficult to tell her that there will be a longer wait. I think we'll try to avoid that conversation until we do know our travel dates for certain. We ask our friends and family to continue to pray for Viktorija, and us, as we wait on the Lord. Pray that our travel will not interfere with Mike's work outage. Pray for our financial situation as we move forward with the adoption and her education when she arrives in the US.

I heard a song on the radio today called "All I want for Christmas is a family". I don't know who sings it, but it was kind of gut-wrenching for me to hear. Through the roller coaster we're on, God has been ever-present to remeind me that He is indeed in control. We are truly blessed to be on this journey with Viktorija. It's amazing what God will do in your life if you let go and follow His lead. To God be the glory!!!!