Thanksgiving in Russia

Our Thanksgiving Day is almost over here and I am most thankful that we are flying home tomorrow morning to see our boys! We have had another amazing week here but by Thursday both times, I hit the wall. I miss my boys so much and it has been especially hard this time since it is Thanksgiving. We just enjoyed turkey dinner at our friends flat here in Moscow and it was great! Turkey, mashed potatoes, and beet something! :-) Although it wasn't the Pine Cove traditional feast, it was good. God is continuing to bless us more than we could imagine! We booked our flights back to Moscow for a couple weeks and the price had gone up significantly. Also, we have a new place to stay since we will have our daughter with us and the hotel costs are crazy here! At least $350 per night! While we were at dinner tonight with a bunch of people that we have really just met; a couple offered to let us stay at their apartment the entire week that we are here. They are leaving for the US the night before we arrive in Moscow and will be back after we leave. They even have a crib! God is just taking care of all the details!


Yesterday was an amazing day for our family! We went to court in the morning to "prove" to the judge that we will be amazing parents to a sweet, Russian orphan named Aleksandra. After a speech from each of us, lots of questions, and a couple hours later; the judge said that we were Saints to come all the way here to adopt her. She granted us the adoption and said that we were to pick her up on December 13th! Everyone started congratulating us and hugging. Michael and I were a little in shock since this whole process has taken so long and it was finally here. The translator kept asking me if I was excited since I was so quiet. I explained to her that since we still have to go back to the States, back to Moscow, and back home that it didn't really seem over yet. We have this amazing daughter and can't even be with her right now.

We called the boys and they seemed excited. Reed said he wishes that we weren't coming home without her but he is happy to see us soon. We will be home again (Austin and Dallas) until the 12th and then off to Moscow for the final trip! We arrive back in the US on the 19th. I could not ask for a more exciting birthday!