Tonight we've been busy doing last minute loads of laundry, packing more clothes, etc. I had gotten a bunch of nice truffles to give as gifts to various people in Latvia. However, my dear sweet husband confessed that I better go buy more because he couldn't refrain from eating a good bit of it!!! It's not like it was sitting out on the counter. No, it was packed away so he had to retrieve it from the suitcase. This means he had extra time to contemplate and rethink his actions. Oh well, I guess I might as well confess that I had a couple of pieces myself. I got more today so this time I packed it way down in the bottom of the suitcase so hopefully it will be safe.
It has been a stressful couple of weeks so we're just now really starting to focus on our trip. My grandmother who lives with us was in the hospital with pneumonia for a few days and is now at a rehab facility, so I've been going back and forth daily to check on her and make sure she's okay. Thankfully, she seems to be getting better and her caregiver, Cheryl, will be able to look after her while we're gone. Robert also had some sad news that his grandpa passed away last week after a long illness. They were very close so it's a difficult loss. We're so thankful that we were able to see him last month when we were in Florida and that he got to meet Olegs and Kristine. The kids were both so sweet and hugged and kissed him too. That really meant a lot. He was a very special person. It's in times like this that our faith kicks in and we're reminded that God is in control and will get us through difficult times. We wouldn't be able to cope otherwise.
We still can't believe we're traveling to Latvia tomorrow! We talked to the kids today and they're both so excited that we're coming. We plan to pick up Kristine at the children's home on Sunday and then our first court session will be Monday morning (1/29). We should get into Riga late Saturday night after an 8 hour layover in London. It's gonna be a long trip and we'll probably be grouchy towards the end (at least I will be for sure). Those of you who know me best know I turn into a major crab if I don't get my sleep. Oh well! :-)
We've gotten most of our things packed. I'm embarrassed to say that between the two of us, we're taking 4 suitcases and 2 carry-on bags. We're taking lots of food, games and gifts so that's taking up a lot of space. Everything was going well until we started weighing the bags. We're allowed up to 50 lbs. for the checked bags and a couple of them were over the limit. It didn't help that the kids asked us to bring some of the toys they left behind as well. A little creative redistribution of stuff took care of that and we should be good to go now. We're allowed to take heavier bags, but we'd just have to pay extra. We don't want to do that so if we have to pull some stuff out then that's what we have to do.
Robert and I are actually pretty relaxed about the trip now that we know we have transportation lined up to get us to our flat and to court. I guess the biggest thing I'm nervous about is the court session where we'll have to stand in front of a panel of stern faced people who will be asking us all kinds of questions about why we want to adopt Kristine. We've been told that they don't smile. I'm just praying that I don't have one of my laughing attacks that I tend to get when I'm really nervous or in tense situations. It always tends to come over me at the worst possible time in instances where there is absolutely NOTHING funny going on. Oh no! Can you imagine? I hope I didn't just jinx myself by putting that in writing.
I'm not sure what kind of access we'll have to a computer in Latvia. I'll do my best to try to update the blog if I can. I'm taking a journal to keep notes just in case I have to wait till we get back to make updates. So with that, we're off to bed for our last good night's sleep for awhile. Hopefully, our next post will be from Riga, Latvia!
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