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.

Here We Go!

We've made the first leg of our trip! Mom took us to the airport last night where Josh and Jill met us and said a sweet prayer for us and told us good bye. We arrived safely in Dallas last night, had a good night's rest here at Ginger and Mike's house and will head to the airport soon. Blaine did great on his first flight! It was so much fun watching him as we took off, he loved it! We won't sleep in a bed again until we arrive in Khabarovsk on Sunday. We go to Atlanta today, then onto Moscow where it will be Saturday morning when we land. Then we leave Moscow Saturday night and arrive in Khab Sunday morning (which will be Saturday night here). We'll try to get on soon after arrive and let everyone know when we're there. We should get to go see Valerie on Sunday! I can't wait to get her in my arms again!
We are about as excited as we can be at 5:30 AM! Please keep us in your prayers. We know they work and appreciate you all so much.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It's been a whirlwind of activity around our place lately! Our passports, visas, and tickets arrived today so we can officially travel now. Hooray! We have a lot in suitcases and several piles of things we really want to take. The problem is there is no way all those piles will fit into our suitcases so it's time to decide what's really important. Of course all of MY stuff is important! Ha ha!

The weather could be quite chilly and it could be very hot. Being that we will be gone a total of 4 weeks, we're likely to see a little of both. I picked up a couple of travel umbrellas this morning as we are bound to get some rain there sometime. Speaking of rain, we got some more last night - 3/4 inch!! We are hoping to not come home to the sand dunes that we are living in right now!

We are just so excited to be going back. We miss that little girl like crazy! We are so ready to officially be her Mama and Daddy! This will also be an awesome experience for Blaine. I am a little nervous about traveling around the world with him but mostly just happy that he's going with us and getting to see and experience so many new things.

Blaine graduated from Kindergarten this morning! The ceremony was really neat and we couldn't be more proud of him. He loved every minute of Kindergarten and was always ready to go each morning! He has grown, changed and learned so much this year. Mrs. Cornelius is an awesome teacher and we're a little sad to see this special time in his life come to an end.
Ok, I'd better quit being sentimental and get back to packing! We leave for Dallas tomorrow night!
I have pictures to post but my computer isn't cooperating. I'll try again later.