GOTCHA!!!

We've got our girl!! This afternoon we went to the big grocery store and stocked up on some groceries and diapers. Then we headed to the orphanage to pick up Valerie. We went in and signed a book, then gave our gifts to the caregivers, social worker, director, and doctor. When we walked back into the hall, someone was bringing Valerie in from playing outside. She smiled and came right to us. I picked her up and we went upstairs to her room where I changed her into the dress we brought for her. Many of her caregivers gathered around and were watching us so I handed her off to one of them and we began snapping pictures. They all held her and gave her a kiss. Then we left. It all happened very fast and was really an emotional experience. We are taking her away from the only life she's ever known. She has been loved but we are giving her a family and she has already brought us so much joy! God has answered our prayers!! We are so blessed to have the daughter that God intended us to have. She is a perfect match for our family!


She did great in the van and did not get upset at all. When we got back to the apartment, we played a while. She and Blaine laugh and laugh together. Then I got supper ready. We had leftover chicken soup that I had made for lunch. It was amazing to watch Valerie eat. I put her in my lap and fed her a spoonful. Then she grabbed the spoon out of my hand, bent over her bowl, and began spooning the food into her mouth so quickly. She didn't chew or anything, just gulped it all down. Todd handed her a piece of bread and she held it in one hand while spooning with the other. She was extremely efficient. It's obvious that she had a very limited amount of time to eat at the orphanage and learned how to get it all down before it got taken away. I'll be glad when she realizes there will always be plenty of food and she can take her time and enjoy it.


After supper, we had a bath. That did not go so well. She only gets sponged off at the orphanage so she's never had a bath in a tub before. She was scared and cried some but she finally splashed around a little. She never really enjoyed it though. After bath, we played a little more. Then I got in the bed with her and sang awhile. She laid right down beside me, cuddled, up and sucked on her fingers. She was still and relaxed but it took her about 30 minutes to actually fall asleep. She looks like a little angel laying there!

We had another Gotcha today! We finally got our luggage! All 3 bags! It was like Christmas around here today. We tore into those bags and were so excited to have all our things. Todd went to the airport and picked them up just before we went to get Valerie. Another answered prayer - Thank you everyone! It was perfect timing because all our gifts were in our luggage as were Valerie's dress and shoes. Aren't they cute? We can't wait to send real pictures instead of headless ones but we have to wait until our 10 day wait is over. We are looking forward to tomorrow and enjoying our time with Valerie so much.

Sightseeing in Khabarovsk

We walked around Khabarovsk all day today. We got to show Blaine lots of neat things and we all had a great time! This is Todd and Blaine in front of the gold church. When we went inside, a wedding was going on. It was very interesting to watch with so many rituals and things that we didn't understand. The priest would sing and then there was a small choir that sounded so beautiful. The acoustics in that giant church were amazing. It was strange to us that others came and went, praying and lighting candles, oblivious to the wedding that was going on. The inside of the church is ornate and absolutely gorgeous.
Then we walked to the World War II Memorial. It was really something to see. This is Blaine and I on one side of it.
This is the eternal flame that burns in the center of the War Memorial. On each side are thousands and thousand of names of men from Khabarovsk Krai who were lost in the war. It is a really beautiful place. Notice the bride and groom in the picture. We saw at least 8 couples of newlyweds around town today. Apparently it is traditional to have their picture made at different places all around town on their wedding day.
Then we walked down to the beach and enjoyed some ice cream. Many of the sunbathers on the beach wore little or nothing. We got tickled that Blaine was totally oblivious to that! He'd say, "Wow! Look at that ship! Hey there's a pretty rock! Check out this shell!" But never one word about the naked women or the men in their underwear! Such sweet innocence!
We had fun climbing around on the rocks and watching some fishermen and watching the boats go by.
Then we climbed to the top of the stairs and Blaine and Todd looked across the Amur River into China through a telescope.Oops, I thought I turned this one. Then we visited the beautiful blue church. Blaine liked the gold church the best. They are both really something to see

After all this sightseeing, we were tired and starving. We went to the Intourist Hotel and had a really nice lunch. Then Blaine saw this cool lion. Then we went to some shops and bought a few clothes for Valerie and a new T-shirt for Todd and Blaine. I wasn't very successful. I guess I'm picky but I also had a hard time finding anything my size. We still don't have luggage and don't know when we will. The 1 bag of 3 that was supposed to arrive today did not. Go figure. Ginger made me laugh today. She has a new acronym for Delta: Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive. There were a few others but that was the best! We've been joking that we are living in a nudist colony. This morning we all 3 were stuck in the apartment with our pants hanging out the window praying they would hurry and dry! Don't worry, I won't post pictures!!

When we got back from our tour, we were greeted with wonderful news from Catherine. She is now the proud mother of Peter and Elizabeth (and Alex back in CA)! We are thrilled for her. Tomorrow we get to pick up all three children and bring them here with us! I can't wait to get Valerie and really start bonding with her. Right now, we are just some fun people who come and play with her. I am so anxious for her to know we are Mama, Daddy, and Brother!

Some of you have emailed and said your comments aren't showing up on the blog. I don't know what to tell you to do differently. If you don't have a google/blogger account, just click anonymous, then type your comment and be sure to sign your name. Please keep trying because a word from home means so much to us! Thank you all for your sweet words and most of all your prayers. We are truly blessed!

Visiting with Valerie

We had the best time visiting Valerie today! This is us at the front door of the Baby Home. We got to take her outside to the playground and she loved it. We all 4 played and laughed hard for about 2 hours. It was so much fun! She has quite a personality and we are really getting to know her better. She loves Blaine and watches him closely. She obviously has a good relationship with several caregivers because whenever one would walk by outside she would run to them for a hug. They talked so sweet to her and I can tell they will be sad to see her go but are pleased that she'll have a family. I so wish there wasn't the language barrier and I could talk to some of them. We can't get over how big and chubby she is now. She looks so healthy and cute! Her big laugh gets us all so tickled. We have tons of cute pictures and I can't wait to share some with you.

It was so hard to leave her there today now that she's really ours. We don't get to visit her or get her tomorrow because our coordinator will be busy with Catherine completing her case. She got good news regarding a document that needed correcting today! We should all be getting to take our kids with us on Thursday!! We wish we could have Valerie tomorrow but have a special day of sightseeing planned with Blaine and are looking forward to that.

I was so excited yesterday when I talked to Delta about our baggage. I called today for an update to be sure they had made it to Moscow. One bag was on its way to Moscow, the other 2 were in Indianapolis. I cannot imagine why. They were then to go to JFK, then Moscow, then on to Khabarovsk but noone had any idea when that might happen. UGH!!! They were all to come directly to Moscow from Atlanta. That route makes absolutely no sense and why did 1 bag come and the others not? We've been discussing what's in each bag and which one we hope will arrive first. My clothes and Valerie's are packed together. Todd's bag has his clothes, most of our toiletries, and the gifts we bought for the caregivers, coordinator, translator, driver, etc. Blaine's bag has his clothes and lots of food and other things to make us more comfortable while we're here. Right now we're not too comfortable. Come on Delta, get your act together!

Some travel shots!

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! This is Blaine on his very first plane ride. He was really excited and thought flying was really cool. We took 4 flights total to arrive in Khabarovsk: a 1 hour, a 2 1/2 hour, an 11 hour, and an 8 hour flight.
After the 3rd flight was over, we stood in line forever in passport control and customs, found out none of our suitcases had made the flight, took a very frightening ride through Moscow to another airport, and waited there about 8 hours for our next flight. Not looking so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed anymore are they? We then got on the flight to Khabarovsk and I've never been on a hotter airplane. They only served coffee and hot tea and when I asked for water they would pour me half of a tiny cup. We were so ready to get off that flight! We layed down for a "nap" yesterday at about 5:00 pm and woke up at 1:00 in the morning. We went back to sleep a few hours later for the rest of the night. We are looking forward to a good night's rest tonight and are feeling so good about our court decision and that our baggage was finally located.

Proud Parents!

We are now officially the proud parents of Valerie Diane Hunt!!! Our adoption was approved by the judge today! We were very nervous before court but felt that we had been well prepared by our agency about what would be expected. The judge had each of us stand and state our names then she began questioning Todd about why we wanted to adopt, why this particular girl, his occupation, our finances, Blaine, Valerie's medical conditions, and our ability to care for her. Todd was so calm and did a perfect job of answering all the questions. Then the judge asked me if I agreed with all Todd's answers and if he was telling the truth. She then asked me about how I would discipline her and that was it for our part. Irina, our coordinator added a few comments, then the social worker and representative from the MOE who had observed us at the baby home spoke on our behalf and recommended the adoption be granted, that it was in the best interest of the child. The judge took about a 5 minute recess and came back with her decision to allow us to adopt Valerie. The whole thing took about 50 minutes. We felt so relieved and are thrilled to now officially be a family of 4!

Then it was Catherine's turn for court and we were asked by the judge to leave the courthouse, not the court room but the entire building. We thought that was very strange. Unfortunately, Catherine's court didn't go as smoothly as ours did. There was some problem with a date on one of the documents prepared by the state representative so the judge wouldn't make a decision today. Her court is rescheduled for Wednesday. I really feel for her but she has a great attitude. This is her second adoption and I guess by now she has become accustomed to all the many bumps in the road that are part of this process. We can't wait to celebrate with her on Wednesday! We will probably not be able to get Valerie until Wednesday because everyone will be busy getting Catherine's problem resolved, which of course is the most important thing right now. We just can't wait to get Valerie here with us and begin bonding as a family.

More good news! I have been calling Delta every few hours and until tonight they still did not know where our bags were. They were finally found in Atlanta, are scheduled to go out on a flight to Moscow, then on Siberia Air on to Khabarovsk, where we should be able to get them on June 4! Hallelujah! It will feel so good to put on clean socks again! I've also been very worried about bringing a baby out of the orphanage without any supplies or clothes for her. This is definitely an answered prayer!

Court in a couple of hours!

Hello from Khabarovsk! We have court in a couple of hours and are feeling nervous but prepared. Thank goodness I've read so much advice about traveling and decided to bring our court clothes in our carry-on luggage. The travel was pretty hard and it would have been so nice to come into our apartment and settle in. As it is, we have nothing. We bought a razor, a hairbrush, and some deodorant at a little store yesterday. I don't have any of my hair stuff and look horrible but surely the judge won't deny us because I'm having a bad hair day! Catherine and her sister have fed us, loaned us clothes and other necesseties. I don't know what we'd do without them. As Mom said we are pretty frustrated over all 3 of our suitcases not arriving but we've met with Valerie twice now and are reminded that that is why we are here. Blaine and Valerie really hit it off. She was very taken with him and he could make her laugh with silly faces! Our comfort is secondary to the fact that we are about to officially become parents to a beautiful sweet little girl!!! I'm going to grab a bite of lunch then it's time to get dressed and go to court! We'll update afterwards.

Safe Arrival

From Susan and Calvin
Cindy called at 10:00 this morning our time from the apartments in Khabarovsk to say they arrived safely, but were exhausted and frustrated. Their luggage and that of about 20 others did not arrive in Moscow with them from Atlanta. The airport authorities in Moscow assured them that their luggage would be sent to their home when it arrived in Moscow! Even Andrei, their driver was unable to convince the authorities that it needed to be sent to Khab. So, Cindy called Delta Airlines with the baggage claim numbers and was told their bags would be sent to Moscow then on to Khab. When is the question. Fortunately, in their carry-on bags they had court clothes, a little contact solution, toothbrushes, a few other toiletries, and their laptop. However, the satellite phone is in one of the checked bags, so she was calling from the hotel phone. She said Blaine has been a trooper through it all, that he was able to sleep on the flights and didn't complain about the unfamiliar and often undesirable food. He did a good job pulling his suitcase and was able to keep up. Catherine (who is also there adopting two children) and her sister and cousin have taken very good care of them since their arrival by purchasing them pajamas and preparing food. What a Godsend! Catherine's group arrived earlier via Seoul. Cindy and Todd were able to visit Valerie for about 1 1/2 hours upon their arrival in Khab. She hesitated a bit, but then came to them readily and wanted Cindy to hold her and bounce her on her lap. She has quite a hearty laugh. She is walking/toddling now, and has gained 2 lbs and 1 inch in height! They had nothing to give her to play with as her bag was checked luggage, but Catherine graciously gave them a toy to take. It must have resembled a cell phone because Valerie held it up to her ear and to Cindy's and Todd's too! Blaine will get to visit Valerie at the orphanage before court. Which brings us to their specific request: Court will be at 2:00 pm Monday, June 2 Khab time. That will be 10:00 tonight (Sunday) our time. Irena has advised them about the procedure. Most of the questions will be directed to Todd, but they will both have to speak. Questions include, "What plans do you have for 'thus and such' situation?" It should take under an hour, then there is about a 20 minute wait for the judge's decision. Please pray that they will be rested and have clear minds and that the judge will approve the adoption. We all believe their decision to adopt Valerie is God's answer to their prayers. Romans 8:28!!! Cindy said they would call sometime around midnight (our time) tonight to tell us the results. She would also try to blog at that time too. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and concern for our "kids" throughout the adoption process.