We got an email from our attorney late yesterday afternoon telling us that we have been assigned court dates in Latvia on 10/9 and 10/23. That means we’re ready to travel to Latvia!!!! YIKES!!! During this first visit to Latvia we will be required to live in an apartment in Riga and have Kristine stay with us there for two weeks. At the first court date on 10/9 we will be granted temporary custody of Kristine. A social worker will then visit us at our apartment approximately three times to observe our “bonding.” Obviously, we’ve already bonded since she stayed with us at our home so this is just a formality. Since we are only adopting Kristine now, she is the only child we are required to have stay with us. However, we requested and got permission for Olegs to stay with us too so we can spend more time with him and he can be a part of the whole process.
On the second court date on 10/23 I think the social worker will give her recommendations to the court and they will hopefully approve us to move forward. Not sure if we’ll find out what our next court date will be at that point or if we’ll have to wait to find out. It’s so hard to believe this is finally happening. We’ve spent all this time waiting that it just doesn’t seem real that we’re gonna be traveling soon.
One thing we’re a little nervous about is that we have to take both children to school every morning and they both go to different schools. The last thing we need is to get lost and get them to school late or something. UUGGGHHH! I think Rob and I have decided the easiest thing to do will be to get the children back to the children’s home each morning so they can go to school with their friends. Then we can pick them up there in the afternoon. Our friend Ilga is looking for a flat (apartment) for us to stay in near the children’s home. We’re trying to avoid renting a car so hopefully things will work out so we can use the public transportation to go back and forth. Hopefully, we can figure out the schedules and routes so we don't get on a bus that takes us in the wrong direction. It’s all so intimidating now but I know things will fall into place when we get there.
So we'll be leaving for Latvia on 10/6 and returning on 10/24. We can’t wait to tell the kids the news when we call them this weekend. They may even already know since word gets around fast. We’re just so excited to be able to tell them that we have a definite date that we’ll be coming to see them. YIPPEE!!
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