2/28 - Next Court Date is March 16th!

We heard from our attorney this morning that our next court date will be on March 16th! Seems like we just got home and now it's time to go back again. I'll be traveling alone on this trip...leaving on March 14th and returning on March 18th. I'm a little nervous but not too bad. We found a great deal on a flight that goes through London again so I'll be traveling the same route Robert and I traveled together last time, staying in the same hotel in London.

I'm a little nervous about this next court session because I've heard that this court is very stern and cold. I'm told the people in this court do not smile and they make you stand when you address them. I only pray that when I open my mouth to speak that something at least a tiny bit intelligent comes out. When I get nervous, all bets are off. No telling what's liable to come out...could be a squeak or could be jibberish! I'm sure all will be fine but I can't help but be a little nervous.

The awesome part of this trip is that after this court appearance, Christina will be our daughter. The last step in this process will be to go back once more and pick her up. The Latvian government imposes a mandatory 20-day waiting period after this court rules so once that's up, I'll go back to get her.

Sometimes it hits us and we have to just stop and ponder the magnitude of what we're doing. We are adopting an 11-year old (soon to be 12) from Latvia. WOW!! Looking back on all of this, we can't help but see God's hand in the entire process from beginning to end. Everything has just fallen into place and even though we had to wait longer that first expected, it's actually turned out to be better. Christina will have some time to have fun in the summer, learn English and get used to her new life in America before having to adjust to school. She'll be able to start school in the fall just like all the other kids.

We plan to call the kids tomorrow to give them the news of this latest court date. Christina probably already knows. She has a way of getting the news before we do!

2/25 - Waiting for Next Court Date

Sorry I haven't posted any updates since we got back. There's really not a whole lot of news. Our attorney says we should hear our next court date by the end of this week. To be honest, we're really in no hurry. Once we get Christina home, we'll have to figure out what to do with her all summer. I'll be able to take a lot of time off from work so that helps, but I won't have the entire summer off. Rob can probably take a day or two here and there but the summer is usually a busy time for him so we'll see. We're ooking into getting Christina signed up for a fun camp or something and also a vacation bible school program. Things have fallen into place so far, so we know these remaining details will work out. I've already contacted the school Christina will be going to so we'll be setting up a meeting with the principal to discuss our situation and get their recommendation for Christina's grade placement. We're thankful we have all summer to get her tested, etc. before school starts next year.

We've talked to Christina twice since we've been home. She has been very talkative and sounds so excited about coming to America. She said she's only told her closest friends about her adoption because she doesn't want other kids to pick on her. This last time we talked to her she was very sick with the flu and said she had to miss school. She mentioned something about an ambulance coming to the school to take some of the sick kids away. We didn't totally understand what that was about. We have heard that when kids have a serious case of the flu, they are sent to a sanitorium (sounds scary at first, but it's not like what a "sanitorium" is here). My understanding is that their sanitorium is a place to be quarantined and cared for until they are better. Christina said she's been there before and was able to be out of school for the entire two weeks while she stayed there. Of course, she liked the part about missing school.

Olegs is a different story. He did take our call the first time we called after returning home, but we think it's only because the teacher that answered the phone yelled at him to talk to us. We could hear her screaming for him to get to the phone. He wasn't very talkative but we were at least able to tell him that we love him and miss him. He's not as open about his feelings like Christina is so it's hard to pinpoint what's going on with him, especially over the phone. We feel that he's probably sad to see that things are progressing with Christina's case while he has to wait. There's still a possiblity that he won't be cleared for adoption at all and there's nothing any of us can do about it. When we called last week, he didn't want to talk to us so we just told Christina to tell him we love him. We've just left it in the Lord's hands and will continue to try calling him and writing him. Even if he won't take our calls, we feel it's important for him to know that we won't stop trying.

It's hard to believe that the summer will be here before we know it. There is a group from Simple Obedience Ministries in Latvia now meeting with different children's homes and selecting children for this year's summer hosting. If you know of someone who is interested in hosting, please have them contact Jennifer Peters at Jennifer@SimplyForLatvia.org. For us, hosting has been one of the most rewarding experiences and it has changed our lives for the better.

2/12 - We're Home!!

It's true that there is no place like home!! We finally made it home last night after a long and excrutiating flight from London! Our flight from Riga to London on Saturday was pretty uneventful and only lasted 2 hrs. & 20 mins.

Early Saturday morning, Robert and I went to the bakery to pick up some pastries for breakfast. Ilga and Janis came by and shared them with us and we had a good visit before time to go to the airport. Evita, one of the ones who picked us up from the airport when we first got to Riga, came by right on schedule to take us to the airport today. We got there extra early so we had some time to kill. We were so excited to find that there is a Lido restaurant in the airport so we enjoyed our last Lido meal together while we watched the planes land and takeoff. It was so nice not to have to rush.

When we got to London on Saturday night we stayed in a hotel since our flight home didn't leave until Sunday morning. Everything was super until we got to our gate Sunday for our 9 hour flight home. Robert and I were sitting and talking as we waited to board our flight, just commenting about how smooth everything has been on this trip. I should have known that would "jinx" us because at that moment we noticed a rowdy group of about 30-40 preteen kids coming towards our gate. We instantly attempted to pray that somehow God would intervene and keep them walking right on past us to another gate. No such luck. They began congregating at our check-in counter...it was obvious they were going to be on our flight. OH NO!!! Well, as we boarded the flight we kept our eye on this bunch as they scurried to their seats like a bunch of ants.

To make a long story short, it was all we could do to keep our cool. We had two of these monsters sitting behind us, yelling at the top of their lungs and bumping the backs of our seats. Hour after hour this went on. Robert was about ready to roll up his Sky Mall Magazine and start beating them but instead tried reason. He politely but firmly pointed out to them that they were sitting right next to each other so there really was NO REASON TO YELL to each other!!! They calmed down for a little while but then cranked up the volume again to yell across the plane to their friends. Then, I just started to fall asleep when I awoke to feel my seat shaking like we were going through heavy turbulance. Instead it was our little friends behind us again. This time, I must admit I freaked out and probably looked a bit crazy when I came over the back of my seat at them and yelled, "WOULD YOU PLEASSSSSEE STOP SHAKING MY SEAT!!!!!!" (all the while shaking the seat myself to add to the dramatic effect). This seemed to work for a little while. They both looked at me like they were scared to death!!

The other passengers were clearly annoyed, as well. The flight attendants tried to keep order and warned the chaperones (who were seated all together away from the kids, by the way) that they'd better keep control because other passengers were complaining. One of the chaperones came and talked to the thugs behind us so they did eventually get better but it still was miserable. Robert was still not feeling well and fighting a fever at this point so this was pure torture. As you can imagine we were so thankful to finally land and get out of that flying tin can! WHEW!

So, as you can imagine, we're exhausted. I don't even want to think about when the next trip to Latvia will be. I'll be traveling on my own for that one. We're expecting it to be in about 4 to 6 weeks. At least that trip will be for a much shorter duration so maybe it won't be so bad. Our attorney will notify us of the date as soon as she hears something. As of this moment, I'm in no hurry!

2/9 - Okay, It's Bitterly Cold & We're Ready to Come Home!

The weather here is freezing now!!! All of a sudden my puffy goose down jacket and Land's End boots aren't cutting it. Every time we go outside, we feel like we're slowly morphing into ice cubes. We're just ready to get back home to our nice warm house and our dog and kitty cats.

Today has still been a great day despite the freezing temperatures! We just returned from taking Kristine back to the children's home. She wanted to go back a little early because she has missed her friends. Robert and I were actually a little happy because it seems like we haven't had much time to relax together. Finally, no more running to and from the bus and no more appointments to go to. Our final task will be to make it to the airport on time tomorrow. We took a cab to the children's home today because Kristine had her suitcase and we weren't sure of the bus schedule during the middle of the day. It's entirely too cold to be waiting for a bus! Our cab driver was Russian and didn't speak a word of English so thank goodness for our little translator, Kristine. ((Oh, by the way, she has decided that her new American name will be "Christina Michelle" so I need to get used to writing "Christina" now. We just loved her name so much that we didn't want her to change it altogether. She came up with the new spelling herself. It's actually because she likes Christina Aguillera but that will be our little secret. We're just thankful she finally gave up on being "Britney Spears")). Anyway, back to our taxi ride. Our cab waited outside for us while we went in and said hello to Christina's children's home director, Ilga G. About all we could say to her was "hello" and "thank you" but that was all we needed to say. She gave us a big smile and wished us well. We can tell she really cares about Christina and all of the kids under her care. We can imagine her job isn't an easy one for sure.

This morning at 9:45 we had our second orphan court session where the four court panel (two of the four women were different this time) asked us additional questions about our time with Christina and if we still intended to adopt her. They also asked us to leave the room so they could talk to Christina. Thankfully, they were also satisfied with her answers so we were relieved about that. You never know what that girl will say! The women on the panel were much friendlier this time (they gave lots of smiles) and were happy to tell us that they approve of our adoption and will recommend that the district court grant our adoption of Christina. The social worker from Christina's children's home forgot all about the session and missed it altogether. Luckily, it didn't affect the court's decision or delay things. Thank goodness Daiga, our translator, was there. WHEW!

After our court session this morning, we had to go to the notary office again to have a Power of Attorney document drawn up for Daiga to handle certain matters for us. Our attorney just had a baby so she isn't able to handle as much right now so she's delegating. We have nothing but great things to say about everyone who has helped us so far. This trip has been problem free from the moment we hit the ground at the airport.

Here's a recap of the time since my last post...

2/7 - Our attorney, Agnese, came by to meet us and brought her newborn baby, Esther Anne. This is the first time we've met Agnese in person. Agnese is a beautiful young woman (maybe early 30's) with jet black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She speaks a little English so we were able to communicate just fine in person. The phone calls are a little more challenging though. We went over some specifics about our case and talked about the procedures for our next trip. She assures us that all should go as planned. Agnese has taken care of every detail for us and even though we won't see her much during this trip, she's behind the scenes working hard to make sure that the correct documents are submitted on our behalf and that our translator is there when we need her, etc. Little Esther Anne was bundled up in the cutest little puffy white snow suit. The cold didn't seem to phase her one bit. We all kept our distance from her since we've been fighting the sore throat bug lately and didn't want to pass it along.

Robert was feeling really sick today with the painful sore throat that we've all had at some point on this trip. He stayed in while I went to pick up Christina at the bus stop, but was able to participate in the meeting with Agnese. We had all made plans to get together with Ilga this evening but Robert just wasn't up to it. Christina and I went on our own to meet Ilga. Our original plan was to go walk around the Art Nouveau district but since Robert couldn't go (and it was too cold anyway!), we changed plans and Ilga took us to the Laima chocolate store (chocolates made in Riga) and the special honey store. We had mentioned that we wanted to get a few gifts to take back to our friends. Our first stop was the aptieka or "drugstore". Each time I mention that one of us is sick, Ilga insists on taking us to get just the right medicine. We've accumulated various herb teas and cough drops, bee pollen etc. LOL! This time, we got some kind of throat spray that has antibiotic in it and as of this moment it seems to be working. Robert's feeling much, much better.

We set out on our walk to the chocolate store first. As we passed each block I thought surely it will be at the next corner. Well it was all the way across town and my feet were practically frozen solid!! I was so jealous that Robert was at the flat all warm and toasty in bed. The cold didn't seem to phase Ilga as she shuffled us down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. She and Janis have been so sweet to us. They have done so much to help us learn our way around and have shown us so many things. They are truly great friends that we know we'll have for a lifetime. Finally, we made it to the chocolate store where I was overwhelmed with all the choices. Robert wanted me to pick up this certain candy that he wanted and all he remembered was that it was in a blue wrapper and was a chocolate covered wafer. I tried to describe to Ilga what a wafer was and ended up saying "cookie." I think I got everyone confused. Well, I ended up getting a different candy in a blue wrapper that turned out to be the wrong one and was the one that we remembered we didn't like. The wrapper looked familiar to me so I thought it was safe. Oh well! While at the candy store, Janis showed up to meet us since his work is nearby. Both he and Ilga kept recommending various kinds of candy so they kept putting different things in my basket for us to try. I finally said I'd better not get anymore because I had no idea what it all would cost and had no clue what I was getting. It turned out not to be that much so we were fine.

Our next stop was the honey store. Once Ilga and Janis found out we like honey, they insisted we go to this special store. I just like basic natural honey. I wasn't prepared to choose from the many varieties at this store. We walked in and there were just too many choices. I just wanted a basic jar of honey. They were treating it as if we were picking out a fine wine or something. I'm just as happy with the plastic honey bear with the squeeze top that you can get at Publix. Finally, I just picked a couple of jars that were on the cheaper side and Janis said they looked like good choices to him. He also suggested I get this special bee pollen for Robert. It's supposed to have lots of vitamins, etc. Robert's taken it once or twice since then, along with the herb tea, etc. and he's feeling better. The last thing we want to do is be sick while we're here.

We began the long walk back towards our flat and I asked them if they knew of a good bakery. The walk back was just as agonizing as the walk to the stores. The company was great, but the weather was FREEZING! Poor Christina refused to wear the long johns we brought her so she was especially cold. We were in the middle of Riga's rush hour so the sidewalks were just full of people weaving in and out in between each other and walking a million miles per hour in all directions. All of a sudden we came upon some kind of accident. We couldn't tell what had happened but saw a police officer interviewing people and writing up some sort of report, his tiny police car pulled up on the sidewalk. Next thing we knew, the crowd we were in the midst of was slightly detouring and shuffling past something on the sidewalk, still walking at a million miles an hour. Well, as we came upon it, Ilga turned back to us (while still walking) and said, "Be careful. It's dead." It didn't register what was happening until we were almost past a dead body lying there next to our feet and covered by a tarp. I don't know if this person got hit by a car while walking across the street or what but it was just such a disturbing experience to see. Someone lost their life here and people were just shuffling by without skipping a beat. It seemed like we should be having some moment of silence or something...a human being just died here!! Ilga and Janis continued guiding us towards the bakery and tried to make us feel better by changing the subject to what we wanted to get at the bakery. We got some fresh pastries at the bakery, said our goodbyes and Christina and I headed back to the flat. When we got back to the flat, Christina and I just hugged each other, taking deep breaths and trying to make sense out of what we saw. Sometimes we don't understand why things happen the way they do. Robert and I only wish we could have somehow protected Christina from witnessing this. She has already seen and experienced so much hurt in her life. I think we were officially ready to go home at this point.

2/8 - The main event for today was our second inspector visit. The inspector, Arte, and another woman named Ruta (a very nice older woman...maybe Arte's supervisor) arrived before our translator, Daiga. Arte and Ruta began asking Christina questions while Robert and I sat there not understanding a word. I did understand when Christina told them her new name "Christina Michelle" so that was good. If she's picked out a new name, that tells them she wants to be adopted. They all kept looking at us and smiling so we felt they were either laughing at us or Christina was saying nice things. Thankfully, it was the latter. Arte was the same woman who came the first time and she was very warm and friendly. She assured us that they support our adoption and that they are just going through their procedures so that everything will be in order. Ruta was also very friendly and at times took the lead asking us questions (Daiga had since arrived by this time to translate). Christina was so interested in Ruta's hair which was a deep burgundy color, a bob style with bangs. The questions we were asked weren't too difficult, much like those we were asked in the beginning. They mainly want to confirm whether we still want to adopt Christina and confirm that we're all getting along. We were all so relieved when it was over and we got our official invitation to come to the court session on Feb. 9th. WHEW!

Please keep Olegs in your prayers. We didn't get to see much of him since last weekend. He has some relatives in town that he's been spending time with. We've been okay with it since this trip we're supposed to be focusing on Christina anyway. We're always happy if he's getting attention whether it be from us or from his relatives. It's been hard on him to see things happening with Christina now while he has to wait. Since we saw him last, he has said he doesn't want to take our calls. He obviously is trying to distance himself from us because he's hurting. We mentioned this to our friend Helen and she offered to take him a letter for us. She is so busy herself but took the time to drive all the way to Olegs' children's home and read our letter to him herself, translating it for him. Now that is a true friend! We just wrote Olegs a heartfelt letter telling him that we are happy that he's getting to spend time with his family and that we will always love him and be his American family no matter what happens. It's just hard because we still don't know which way the court will rule in his case. As time passes, he may decide he doesn't want to be with us. Robert and I have just given it up to the Lord to sort out. We can't control any of it anyway. All we can do is keep writing and trying to call Olegs. We just want him to really understand how much we love him.

Other random things...

I made the mistake of buying water w/gas (as Latvian's call it) or what we'd refer to as sparkling water at the store. The bottled water is either spring water like we're used to or the sparkling water. Well, I just grabbed a bottle and got the wrong kind. Very frustrating!

We also tried Kvass which is the drink people here try to pass off as Latvia's version of Coca-Cola. Well, let me tell you it is NOT anything close to Coke. It is just plain NASTY and tastes like some kind of licorice tea or something!! We're told that most Americans don't like it and Robert and I are now officially on that list. We did have a friend of ours describe it as tasting like dirty, sweaty gym socks. We should have just taken her word for it and left it alone. Christina insisted that we try it so we did. She loves it. YEEEEEUUUKKK!!!

I don't know if I mentioned that when you purchase things at any store here, you don't just hand the money to the cashier. You have to put your money or credit card on a small tray at the check-out counter. You'll get funny looks if you try to hand the money directly to the cashier. It seems inefficient to me, but what do I know. They must have a good reason for doing things this way but I can't figure out what it is.

With that, this is will be my last post from Latvia. Tomorrow, Ilga and Janis are coming over for a goodbye breakfast and Evita (the woman who helped reserve the flat for us) will be taking us to the airport at 1:00. We're flying to London and will spend the night in a hotel this time before traveling the rest of the way home on Sunday. We are so thankful we've survived our two weeks without problems! We know that's in large part due to your prayers! Stay tuned for the next post from American soil! Boy do we appreciate and miss our country!

2/6 - Having Fun but Homesick

This morning was pretty crazy. For some reason our alarm didn't go off and we woke up at 7:20!! Well, Kristine has to be at the bus stop at 7:50 to catch her bus for school!! As you can imagine, I shrieked in panic as soon as I saw the clock. We all jumped out of bed and scurried around as fast as we could to get her ready in time. We are so thankful that she's a morning person. We haven't had one problem getting her to wake up and get ready in the mornings. She got dressed in a flash, ate breakfast and we were out the door. We even got to the bus stop with a few minutes to spare! WHEW!! Talk about an adrenaline rush!!

Here's a recap of the last few days. I'm at the internet cafe, so I'm trying to hurry. Actually, the cost isn't that expensive but I still don't like to pay one penny more than we have to. It costs about .50-.60 lats per hour..about $1 per hour in US dollars. This particular internet cafe is located at 75 Elizabetes Iela. This might be helpful to you if you'll be traveling to Riga without a computer. Our flat is on Terbatas iela so this cafe is very convenient for us.

Okay, here's the recap...

2/2 - This day, we woke up to our typical morning race to the bus. Robert and I had thought we'd have plenty of time to relax but there's not much time for that between getting Kristine to and from school and trying to get out and see the city in between. There was snow on the ground again and the shop owners were already out on the streets shoveling the snow from the sidewalks into neat piles. It really is interesting to see all the locals going about their daily routines...parents taking kids to school and workers heading to work, etc. For a moment, we feel a part of it until the strange stares start happening again. One thing we have to be careful about is the traffic here. This is not a pedestrian friendly city. You almost just have to run across the street with your eyes closed and pray that you make it to the other side. We mainly cross when the locals cross so at least then we feel that we have a fighting chance. I'm so glad we didn't rent a car. There is no way we would be able to navigate these streets with the snow and sludge and the other wreckless drivers. You basically have to do everything defensively here and you'll be okay.

Robert, Kristine and I are all fighting sore throats. There must be something about the air here. Ilga helped us get some good medicine and herbal tea that is helping so we're taking that. The last thing we need is to be sick. This day was pretty uneventful. I guess the most exciting thing that happened was when a big clump of snow fell off of a building as Kristine and I were walking home from the bus stop after school. It just barely missed hitting us. Robert stayed at the flat that day so he missed that excitement. While I waited for Kristine at the bus stop after school, I got more stares. As one of the buses stopped, I noticed a young guy on the bus nudge his friend sitting next to him and they both looked at me and started laughing. It was all I could do to keep from sticking my tongue out at them. Instead I just smiled and decided that they must just be jealous...jealous of what, I don't know but it made me feel better anyway.

2/3 - Saturday was a fun day. Olegs got permission to spend the night with us so we met him at the bus stop at 11:30 a.m. Ilga & Janis arrived a few minutes later in their car so they could take us around. Our first stop was the HUGE market in old Riga. This market is housed in gigantic hangar buildings that were used during World War II to house zeppelins. We would estimate the size inside these buildings to be about three or four football fields put together...HUGE!!. There are maybe four or five buildings and each specializes in a different product. For example, one is strictly meat, one is dairy, etc. We had thousands of items to choose from in each specialty. Thank goodness Ilga and Janis were there to steer us towards the best products. They pointed out that if there is a line at a particular counter, that means that the products sold there are better. In the area outside the hangars, vendors had all types of boothes set up with clothing, shoes, souveniers, fruits & vegetables...basically, a giant flea market.

Olegs had lost the gloves we bought him in the US so we found him some gloves at the market. We tried to find Kristine some shoes, but she couldn't find anything she liked so we had to abandon that plan after trying almost every booth. Robert found a Russian style hat made of rabbit fur that a friend had asked us to find. I forget the name of it but it's one of those traditional old style hats that you'll see a lot in old Russian movies, pictures, etc.

Our best acquisition was the kilogram of crab meat we purchased for about $3.00 (US amount). This was just the crab meat without the shell too. We also got some other type of smoked fish that had cheese in it. We finished up by getting some smoked chicken legs and wings and some fresh butter. When we got home, we melted some of the butter and dipped the crab meat into it. Talk about being in heaven!! One other item we got was a small jar of chopped of seeds of various kinds. The woman selling those had spread the seeds over a slice of bread with butter. It sounds so simple but is actually quite delicious.

After our trip to the market, Ilga and Janis drove us out to their flat in Jurmala. This is the resort area where there is a beach on the Baltic Sea. The flats look much like houses you'd see in any beach town. There are some really big ones and small ones, etc. Our first stop was the Baltic Sea. The water was very choppy and huge waves were crashing on the shore. It was such a unique experience to see a beach with ice and snow on the shore instead of white sand. Robert, Olegs and Janis had a snow ball fight with each other and that was fun. The sand there, at least what we could see in between the ice and snow, is actually a beige and grey color. The weather was bone chilling cold that day and the wind was whipping right through us. This was a high point on our list of "must sees"...how cool it was to see the real Baltic Sea!! Ilga said that when the weather is really cold, the entire sea freezes over. She talked of times when she used to go lay on the ice and was able to hear certain sounds of creatures underneath the ice swimming in the sea. WOW!

After we left the beach, we went to Ilga and Janis's flat which is actually on a river that flows near the sea. There was lots of snow and sludge on the ground and on the road. It is so amazing to us how Janis and Ilga are able to navigate their small Ford Fiesta through this stuff without even coming close to getting stuck. On the way to the flat, we saw many fisherman out in the river fishing. We walked out to the river bank to get a closer look but had to turn away because the area was marshy with ice and sludge. There were maybe 15 or so men out there fishing and Robert would've loved to have been one of them if we had more time and if the weather had been just a tad warmer.

We were all starving after our big day of sight seeing so we finished up by eating at a place called Big Lido. This place has the same type of food as the smaller Lido's I mentioned before but there are maybe 3 floors to this place. It is a huge log cabin type building all decorated in lights. They also boast that they have the largest outdoor ice skating rink in the Baltics. One thing to mention about this place is that they only take cash. The smaller Lidos take credit cards but for some reason this place doesn't. If you eat here, you'll want to have cash with you when you check out. They do have an ATM at the front door so it's not a problem if you have your ATM card with you.

After stuffing our faces with more authentic Latvian cuisine washed down with an American Coca-Cola, we ventured out to the ice skating rink. Robert and Janis decided to watch rather than skate themselves. I actually got out there and tried it (my very first time ever ice skating) and am proud to say I only fell once. Olegs was a pro and went up on the high ice banks on the edge and flew down the side. Kristine was a little slower so she hung out with me some. Ilga had her own skates and was also a pro. This was nothing new to her as she had skated hundreds of times since her childhood. Kristine asked me to rent her a "penguin" which was actually partly for me too. At the rink they have three foot tall fiberglass penguins with handles on each side of their heads that you can hold onto to keep from falling. You skate behind the penquin and hold onto the handles. You'll see mostly young kids with these but I used it quite a bit myself. I had to bend a good ways down at the waste to hold onto it but it did help me stay up and keep from falling. I was able to go faster too. I got a few laughs but I didn't care. We were having fun so that was what mattered!! We skated about an hour and then it was time to go. We were pretty pooped after a fun day. Ilga and Janis dropped us off at the flat.

2/4 - Today we had met up with Ilga and Janis again so we could attend church with them. It turns out that Olegs had some relatives in town so we put him on a bus early to go meet them. Any time he can see his family we encourage that of course. It's hard to understand how he can have family, yet he has to live in a children's home. We just pray that what's best for him will happen. We can't control anything anyway so that's pretty much all we can do. We just don't want him to grow up in the children's home. If his family can't care for him, then we want to so badly.

Ilga had told us beforehand that their church service would be three hours long but it actually didn't seem that long once we were there. They had headphones that we could wear so we could hear an English translation of the service. It was much like our services at home except ours is just an hour. A couple of the songs they sang were actually Latvian versions of songs we sing at our church. That was neat. It was just special to see all of these people worshipping freely, knowing that just a few years ago they would have never been able to do so without persecution.

On a side note...Kristine had decided she wasn't going to talk to us that day so we had to get Ilga to talk to her yet again. She did and things got better later. After church, Ilga and Janis took us for a stroll around Old Riga. Basically, the city is separated into two major sections, New Riga (where we're staying) and Old Riga. The Daugava river is the dividing line between the two sections. The real historic buildings can be found in the old section. What an amazing (sorry to use this word so much but it just fits so well) place. Many of these buildings date back to medeival times...back to the 1200's. Robert and I love the history that can be found here. We just don't get that in America since our country is so young. We saw beautiful cathedrals, parliament buildings, etc. I'll try to do a more detailed post about the places we saw. I don't have my notes with me so I forget the names of many of the places. We're finding out so much about the struggles the Latvian people have faced over the years to become an independent nation. This country has spent so much of it's existence being occupied by other countries, including Germany, Switzerland, the USSR, etc. It was only just a few years ago in 1991 that this country became truly independent. Just knowing this helps us understand why the society may appear cold to us. These people have been through so much and were lied to for so many years, it's probably not easy to trust. One place that Robert and I want to return to is the occupation museum. We stopped there with Ilga and Janis but didn't have time to go through the exhibits since the museum was closing. We did purchase a book that includes details about the years of persecution the Latvians endured. It only makes us love and appreciate this country even more. We want to learn all that we can since this is such a big part of Kristine's heritage.

2/5 - The only thing on the agenda for today was to get together with Helen Vipass, a British missionary here in Latvia who had been one of the chaperones who accompanied the kids when they came during the summer. We had a scary experience when we first got to Helen's office. I was on the phone calling her to come outside and meet us when all of a sudden a terrible car crash happened before our eyes. I told Helen and she immediately ran outside to see what was happening. The wreck was between a small SUV and another smaller car. The SUV flipped over on it's side just a few feet in front of us. A crowd had gathered and Robert ran over to try to help get the guy out. Thankfully, he was okay and was able to climb out on his own. The other person was also okay and able to get out of the car under his own power. It was amazing that no one was killed. What was even scarier was that Robert and I had just crossed that intersection only a few minutes earlier. The locals, trying to be helpful, pushed the SUV back upright but then it started to roll and hit another car. At that point, the drivers all began shouting at each other so Helen, Robert and I decided we'd better go inside before a fight ensued.

Once we all calmed down, Helen told us more about her work in Latvia. She is one of the founders of Hope for Children, which is an organization that runs day centers and foster homes for children throughout Latvia. There are thousands of children who live in children's homes here and even more who live in horrible abusive, family environments with no encouragement or love. Helen talked of how she had no plans to start such a mission but it came about after she began talking to children one by one as she saw them on the street. After hearing each child's individual story, she grew to love them so much and sought to do anything she could to help. First it was by buying an individual child something to eat for the day and later it grew into something much bigger. She showed us pictures of many of the children she's helped and shared their stories with us...some have happy endings and some don't. It's hard to describe here but it was just such a moving experience to see what a difference she has made in her own small way.

We took Helen to lunch and then went to the bus stop to meet Kristine. We told Helen we'd bring her back aftewards so she could see her. It turns out that Kristine got out of school early because the teacher for her last class had to go to the doctor. She was at the bus stop when we got there but said she'd been back and forth between the bus stop and the flat looking for us. We told her it was very smart of her to go back to the bus stop and wait. The last thing we need is to lose the girl. We have our second inspector visit on Friday and we don't this to come out. Everyone says it's okay for the kids to come home by themselves from the bus stop. We've been walking Kristine to and from the bus stop everyday anyway. I think Robert and I will be so glad to get home to the US where we might get some much needed rest. LOL!!

One more note, we were so excited to see that the Colts won the super bowl. YIPPEE!!! Robert stayed up until about 2 a.m. to watch the game. After surfing the millions of channels on our satellite, he finally found a German channel that was showing the superbowl. He couldn't understand anything the announcers were saying but at least he could see that plays. I went to bed early that night because I was just as happy to find out the winner in the morning. Ever since Tony Dungy left the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, we've been hoping he'd get his super bowl win. He is a class act so we were so happy for him!! My fingers are about worn to nubs after this post. Robert is here on the computer next to me and says "Hi". It's almost bus time so we'd better get motoring to get Kristine.

2/2 - Adjusting to Latvian Life!

Things are going almost too perfectly (except the locals still make fun of us :-)). We had our first meeting with the orphan court inspector on Wednesday afternoon (1/31). It turns out that this woman was the woman who headed the court session on Monday. This meeting was very informal and she was extremely nice. Our translator, Daiga, was there once again to help us all communicate. The questions were rather routine. The inspector wanted to know how we were spending our time with Kristine. We told her we've been spending most of our time taking Kristine to the bus stop for school and picking her up afterwards. We did mention giong out to eat once or twice and said we spent time with our Latvian friends, Ilga & Janis (it was good to name drop Ilga's name because the inspector knew of her). The woman asked why we didn't request to have Kristine miss school while we were here. We told her that we had been told that she must attend school so we didn't think keeping her out of school was an option in our case. We added that we thought it was important for her to keep up with her school work so she agreed. It's actually been nice having her go to school because it gives Robert and me some time to catch our breath. The only pain is that we have to pick her up around 2:00 so it's hard for us to go exploring to far because we have to make it back in time. We plan to do some fun things this weekend.

Okay, back to the inspector visit....
The inspector asked Kristine some questions and we were stunned when Kristine told her that she didn't feel comfortable asking us for food. WHAT???!!! Of course, Robert and I jumped in and reminded her that she didn't appear shy when it came to asking for fruit rollups, cereal, juice, bananas, sausages, or the many other things we've let her pick out at the grocery store. The last thing we need is the inspector thinking that we don't feed the girl. Kristine later clarified her statement and said she was shy on the inside. WHATEVER!! That made absolutely no sense and the inspector just chuckled and continued with her questions. The inspector went on to ask Kristine certain questions about her past and the tone of the conversation began to change. Kristine began to become withdrawn somewhat. We had to remind her that the orphan court is only looking out for her best interest so they have to ask her all kinds of questions. She understood and reluctantly continued answering the questions. All in all, it was a very positive meeting. Daiga called us afterwards to tell us that she had a good talk with the inspector and she is very supportive of our adoption. She was concerned that we might be worried that things didn't go well. Actually, we weren't worried at all because but it was nice of her to take the time to reassure us.

This morning we met Daiga at a notary office so we could sign the Power of Attorney document allowing me to handle things on Robert's behalf since I'll be traveling alone for the next trip. The notaries here are not like those in the U.S. Here they are more like attorneys and also have the power to draft and negotiate agreements. Our process this morning was quick and painless. Daiga was there to translate the document for us so we could be sure all was in order. We are so thankful for her help and would be lost without her!

Yesterday evening, we met with the children's home director, Ilga G. We met our friend, Ilga L., at her work so she could drive us from there to the children's home. This was a good time for us to deliver some gifts we brought for the director, her staff and the children. We brought the director some coffee and chocolates and brought the kids some board games and candy that they could all share. Our meeting was really nice and informal. We mainly wanted to know if there was any additional information in Kristine's background that we should know about. The orphan court had asked us if we had reviewed her documents and at that time we hadn't. We want to be able to state that we have seen her documents when we have our next court session on Feb. 9th. The director pulled Kristine's book which includes documents about the circumstances surrounding her arrival at the children's home, etc. It turns out that Kristine has already shared most of the information with us but it was good to hear it from an official source. The director was very supportive of us and a kind woman. It helped that she and Ilga L. are friends so we could all talk informally. Kristine's case is pretty straightfoward and she sees no reason why things won't move along as planned. We also used this opportunity to ask about Olegs. She reassured us that she has submitted the documents to get him cleared for adoption. The court that handles those cases is very backed up so it could still take 6 months to a year for him to be free. When it's time for Olegs' case to be heard, he will be asked what he wishes so he'll be able to say that he wants to come with us. He will have his 12th birthday in March and once kids turn 12 they have more say in the process and their wishes are given more weight by the courts. We just told Ilga G. that we already feel like a family and she shared that she noticed such a big change in the children after they spent time with us. She agrees that it would be a positive thing for us to adopt both children. She even commented that we already look like family. We finished the conversation by inviting Ilga G. to America. Ilga L. is trying to convince her to learn English so she can be a chaperone for one of the future hostings. We told her we'll be happy to show her America if she comes one day. It was just so nice to meet her and for her to see in person how we interact with the kids. Kristine was with us and then Olegs popped into her office for a hug and kiss before we left. I think she can see that we all share a genuine love for each other and hopefully, she can share this with the court when the time comes. One other happy thing is that she surprised us by saying Olegs can spend the entire weekend with us. She had previously said it would be better if he didn't stay overnight. That means he gets to spend the night on Saturday!! We are SO excited because it's been hard on him knowing that Kristine is with us while he can't be. We'll be meeting him at the bus tomorrow morning along with Ilga L. & Janis. Ilga & Janis are going to show us around Jurmala, the beach resort area where they have a vacation flat. We won't be venturing out into the water, but it will be neat to see. Then we're supposed to go to a huge restaurant called Big Lido where they have an ice skating rink. I've never ice skated before but told them I'd try. I figure everyone's already laughing at us anyway, they might as well laugh at me while I try to skate. So far, Robert said he's not going to skate but maybe if we apply some heavy peer pressure he'll change his mind. :-))

Here's some random info about our experience. I'm at the internet cafe trying not to take too long so this is in no particular order.

We've tried lots of new foods. Kristine introduced us to something called "doctor sausage." That's the English translation...not sure how to say it in Latvian. She showed us how she melts the pack of butter by setting it on the radiator. Then she'll spread the butter on a sandwich and add slices of the meat. We've had those sandwiches almost everyday. Robert says it reminds him of braunschweiger (sp?). Kristine also picked out some really good frozen ravioli things that are stuffed with pork instead of cheese. She said she has them with white sauce but it turns out the sauce she eats them with is sour cream. We actually tried it and it's pretty darn good. Ilga introduced us to karums, which are large chocolate covered squares with cream cheese in the middle. They are very popular treats here and they come in all types of flavors like vanilla, chocolate, nut, coconut, etc. So far, Robert and I like the chocolate ones the best. Kristine says people eat them for breakfast but we've been eating them like dessert.

Our grocery store experiences are always interesting. The store called Rimi seems to be more like our Publix in that the food selection is better and the fruit & vegetables are fresh. The other grocery, Maxim, is much lower quality but it's closer to us. The other day we went to Maxim and the checkout lady was trippin' on us big time. As she was scanning our items, she'd glance down and then look up at us out of the corner of her eye (never making eye contact) and staring. Then she'd look down again. She seemed so nervous. I don't know if she thought we were going to rob the place, or what. She even looked scared. I thought she might go get security. Good grief!!! When these people stare at us I just want to yell at the top of my lungs, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT???!!! It made matters worse that I was paying by credit card (everyone else paid cash) so the line backed up. Then we got home and found out that the toilet paper we bought was actually paper towels. ARRRGGHHH!! I was in no mood to go back to the store, so I just told everyone that they'd just have to use the paper towels and I'd go back out the next day for the TP.

Robert had a similar incident when he went to a fishing store down the street. He went intending to talk to the locals about fishing in the area. Well, they wanted nothing to do with him. He wandered around the store and went downstairs where it turns out they had firearms for sale. He was just looking and checking prices when the clerk down there started watching his every move. He'd go to one end of the store and she'd go to the opposite end. Finally, she yelled to the other male clerk upstairs to come down so she could go upstairs. Clearly she was scared for some reason. So then poor Robert had a man staring at him. Latvians need to learn that if they want to sell things in their stores, it might be good business to actually talk to their customers and be nice. What a concept!!

Robert also had a staring contest with the guard at the American embassy. He stood across the street and the guard there stood on his side of the street just watching him. He had fun with it this time and decided to see if he could make the guard look away first. Finally, the guard did look away and was probably tired of all this nonsense. We're both trying to have more fun with it and we're staring right back at people when they stare at us. We can play that game too!!

Robert finally did have a good experience when he stopped to talk to the people who worked at one of the local optical shops (which are all over the place, by the way). He met the optometrist there and she spoke some English. They were able to talk about the products sold in Latvia versus the products sold in America. Many of the products are similar such as Acuvue contacts, etc. It was just a very nice experience and so different from the prior ones. I guess if we keep trying, sooner or later we're bound to make a friend or two.

Kristine says we talk too loud and that might be why people stare at us. When she and I go out together we play a game where I pretend to be Latvian and she'll talk to me in Russian or Latvian and I'll pretend to understand and reply in a simple "Da" ("yes") or "Nyet" ("no"). We usually get so tickled that we both wind up drawing even more attention to ourselves rather than blending in. Robert has this habit of whistling at times and it drives Kristine crazy because people stare. People in Latvia just don't whistle.

Oh, another interesting thing is that we keep hearing these birds that sound like seagulls. It's just strange hearing them here because it's so cold, but they sound just like the ones at the beach in Florida. Also, we've seen a couple of Latvian kitties. The cats don't play around either. They all have a place to go and have their thick wool coats on. Even the kitties look at us strange and run away from us. We're just Americans and there's no way to hide it, even the animals can sense it.

I don't have time to reread this so it's probably full of mispellings, etc. Gotta go get ready to pick up Kristine at the bus stop!

Atta ("goodbye"), for now!!

1/30 - Spending Most of our Time at Bus Stops

This morning we took Kristine to the bus and it came right on time. They don't play around. You'd better be ready to get on the bus or it will leave without you.. Rob had to even pry the door open as the driver tried to close it before Kristine could board. I guess part of that was our fault because we were hugging and kissing Kristine goodbye before we'd let her on the bus. She was totally embarrassed by the way. LOL! Another funny thing...we had told her that she needed to get up at 6:45 a.m. to get ready but she insisted that she not get up until 7:00 instead. Our solution to that was to set the alarms for 6:45 anyway and just tell her it was actually 7:00. Problem solved! :-) We enjoy the morning walks to the bus because it's usually snowing and so beautiful. We get to see all of the locals heading to work or school, shoveling the snow off the sidewalks, etc. and for a moment we get to pretend we live here. The strange stares from the locals, remind us that we'll never blend in. Oh well. We're just the American freaks as far as they're concerned.

We were a little nervous about putting Kristine on the bus by herself but she insisted and her children's home director and Ilga said it was okay. Rob and I were actually glad to have a little time to ourselves. I'm a little embarrassed to say that instead of sight seeing, we went back to the flat and went back to sleep. We had been up late the night before so we were exhausted. By the time we woke up, it was almost time to pick up Kristine at the bus stop again. YIKES! She said she could come back on her own but we insisted.

In the meantime, we got word from Leila that Olegs said today was a "special day" at school so he would be getting out early and could catch the bus to our flat earlier. Rob and I chuckled because he had never mentioned this before and we think he may have found a way to skip a class so he could come be with us. It's not for us to say though. If they say he can come over then we want him to come over and hang out with us as much as he can. So we had to be at Kristine's stop at 2:20 and Olegs' stop at 2:00. That meant Rob and I had to split up. He waited for Olegs and I waited for Kristine. I waited and waited for Kristine as buses with her number came and went. It turns out that her bus had already come and she had gone looking for Olegs. Finally, since she couldn't find him, she came back to her normal stop and met up with me so we could walk back to the flat.

A short time later, Rob and Olegs arrived at the flat. Olegs was so excited to be there. We all had an afternoon snack and he helped me work on our puzzle while Kristine did her school work. Afterward, we went to the grocery store so Kristine could get some paper and paint that she needed for her art class. This was a frustrating trip because we realized after we got back to our flat that we had all of our groceries but somehow the paint didn't make it into our bag. We got on Kristine's case about this so she started pouting, etc. AAARRRGGHHH! We finally decided we had no choice but to head back out to get more paint. We told her to be more careful because we had to pay for the paint twice!! While we were at the store, the kids helped us get extra minutes for our Latvian cell phone. Thank goodness they were able to figure out how to add the minutes to the phone for us. We would never have been able to figure it out.

Once the pouting finally subsided we took the kids to Lido again for dinner. This time we had fruit, sausages, etc. and I had this awesome chicken dish with cheese and spices and crispy things on top. We were all in heaven. By the time we finished, it was time to get Olegs to the bus back to his children's home. This has actually worked out pretty well. Since they kids have school ID cards, they get to ride the buses for free. That's a tremendous bonus!

1/29 - Greetings from Riga, Latvia!!

Well after wandering around aimlessly for the first couple of days, we finally found an internet cafe near our flat so I'll be able to post updates regularly. I have a bored Kristine looking over my shoulder so I'll have to make this brief before the pouting starts. :-)

We had an exhausting trip to Riga on Friday/Saturday. The first leg of our trip was to London where we had an 8 hour layover. We were so happy we got an emergency exit row for this part of the trip so we had more leg room. However, when we got to our seats we found we were right next to the bathrooms. UGGGHHHH! Needless to say we got NO sleep whatsoever!! We just sat there and listened to the constant flow of passengers coming and going to the bathroom...the door contstantly slamming and opening. Then there was the turbulance that didn't help. Whatever!! When we got to London we hadn't made plans to really do anything. We were scared to venture too far because we didn't want to miss our evening flight. We wandered around Gatwick airport and ended up at the Hilton where we crashed in the lobby...still no sleep. We got something to eat, wandered around somemore and FINALLY it was time to board our 6:00 flight. The flight from London to Riga was uneventful. Thankfully, it wasn't a full flight so we didn't get claustrophobic. I guess all in all the whole trip took us about 22 hours to get to Riga and we didn't get a second of sleep. When we got to Riga, they were having a snow storm. It was a winter wonderland and so beautiful! When our flight landed, we had to walk in the snow to get from our plane to the airport. Rob and I were in awe as there were maybe 6 or 8 inches of snow on the ground. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

When we got to Riga, our ride was there as planned. A gentleman named Robert owns our flat and he was there with his translator, Evita. He is from France believe it or not so he needed a French translator. Luckily, he had a decent sized SUV for our many suitcases. They drove us around to show us where the grocery store is, restaurants, etc. It was about 11pm Latvian time by the time we got to our flat. It is an absolutely beautiful place...spacious and clean. Just perfect!! There are a few things that we have to deal with like the washer/dryer having French control settings. It's one of those machines that's a washer and a dryer so it would be difficult enough to figure out even if it were in English. Thankfully, my Robert was able to figure it out so we're able to wash clothes now. It just takes all day to do one load. Oh well. We're thankful for what we've got.

We were also happy to have satellite TV but soon found out that the satellite is mainly for access of French channels. It's a little odd being in Latvia and watching French TV. We aren't watching too much TV because as you can imagine the culture here is much more liberal than the US and it's not uncommon to see porn at all hours of the day. We pretty much keep the TV off now and hide the remotes from Kristine. There's so many other things to do anyway that we don't even miss it!

Sunday afternoon (1/28), Ilga and Janis (our Latvian friends) came to take us to Kristine & Olegs' children's home so we could pick Kristine up since she'll be staying with us. We took the public transportation which is the most efficient I've seen. There are all types of trams/buses, trolleys, etc. and they're all flying across the city in a precisely choreographed manner. The bus ride gave us a real chance to see how the locals get around. We felt quite awkward as they all seemed to look at us as if we had two heads. They don't make eye contact either. We could see out of the corner of our eye that they were looking at us but as soon as we'd look at them, they'd look away. It became quite funny actually.

When we got to the neighborhood where the children's home is, we saw older soviet era buildings, many with graffiti on them. We walked from the bus stop to the gate at the front of their property. Their children's home is set back from the street and we probably would have never found it without Ilga and Janis. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and it just looked so peaceful and beautiful. The entrance was around back and Rob and I held our breath as we didn't know if it would be an opressive place or not. As soon as we went in, Kristine and a couple of her friends were there to meet us with hugs and kisses. She led us upstairs to see Olegs and their other friends. Their home is actually pretty nice, considering. It's an older building but okay. They each have small rooms with bunk beds, but they are decorated very cute with posters and drawings. There are three to four children to a room. Things weren't dark and dreary at all. Olegs ran out to greet us and gave us more hugs and kisses. It was so good to see them and for them to see that we kept our promise to come to Latvia. After meeting Kristine's friends and their hamster and guinea pig, we were off again. Olegs got to leave with us and spend the afternoon with us.

After we picked up the kids, we dropped Kristine's things off at the flat. We could sense Olegs was a little sad because he wasn't allowed to stay with us too. That's very hard for all of us, but it's just how it is right now. We have to follow the government's rules. He understands that we will arrange for him to come visit us as much as we can. It was dinner time by this time, so we took Ilga and Janis out to a place called Lido. It is the most awesome place!! They have Latvia's version of down home cooking and it's cafeteria style.. They have all types of pork, chicken and fish dishes. This night we had pan fried potatoes and pork & chicken shish-ka-bob's. It may sound simple but it was to die for. Thankfully, between the kids and Ilga, we were able to communicate what we wanted. After dinner, Ilga and Janis went with us to the grocery store to help us pick out some food items. I'm so glad they did because the pictures on the labels aren't true representations of the contents.

I guess this post is turning out to be a little longer. Oh well. Kristine is being quite good, actually so I'll keep going. Today was our first orphan court session and we didn't think (at least I didn't) we'd be nervous until we got there. Our translator, Daiga, met us at the freedom monument for the walk to the orphan court. It took about 10-15 minutes. Let me add that the people here are all speed walkers. If you're not going with the flow you'll get pushed aside. It's much like those people who go 80 miles an hour on I-75. You have to keep up or you'll cause an accident. Anyway, we got to the court office which is a rundown building in Old Riga. You would never know that behind this huge wooden door in the old building is an orphan court uness you knew exactly where you were going. A few minutes after we arrived, Leila, the social worker from Kristine's children's home arrived. She is a young woman, maybe in her twenties, who has taken Kristine under her wing and really looked after her. We all sat and waited in the waiting area until we were called. When our name was finally called, we filed into this big room with long tables behind which a panel of four orphan court representatives sat and watched us without any expression whatsoever. I was immediately terrified and they say this is the EASY court. The room was very bland and old, without any artwork on the walls or anything. Daiga sat between Robert and I so she could translate. The head person asked us a few questions about our child rearing experience, how we got to know Kristine, etc. All the time she asked questions, the other three reprensatives just stared intently at us, trying to size us up I suppose. I got pretty nervous when they looked at my passport and the head representative got a puzzled look on her face. My passport was originally issued before I got married and was later amended to change it to my married name. She asked about that and then saw on the amendment page that all was in order. WHEW!

Kristine had to leave the room while they asked us questions and then we left so the court could talk to Kristine. After it was over, they officially granted us temporary custody of Kristine for this two week time period. I was so filled with emotion, I started to tear up. Just hearing the words spoken out loud hit me unexpectedly. We gratiously thanked the court and this time they smiled back at us in approval. What an experience!!

After court, we hung out at the flat most of the day. I brought a puzzle that we worked on for awhile and then later we went walking around again. We went to confirm Kristine's bus stop so we'd know where to take her to catch the bus for school tomorrow. Now that she's officially under our care, we can't screw it up by allowing her to miss the bus. We're all just so relieved that we survived our first court session. The next step is for a court inspector to visit us at our flat. That will take place on Wednesday so hopefully all will go well and there will be no embarassing incidents.

1/25 - We're Headin' to Latvia TOMORROW! YIKES!

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!

1/18 - 9 Days to Go Until We'll Be in Latvia!

We talked to the kids again today and they're both very excited. Kristine is still counting down the days...now 9 days until we'll be in Latvia. She also informed us that she has a new best friend. She didn't elaborate but simply told us that Agnese was no longer her best friend and she'd fill us in when we're in Latvia. Now she has a "new" best friend named....guess what?.......Agnese. I'm sure everyone will probably be friends again by the time they get there. There's always lots of drama involved when you're dealing with pre-teen and teenage girls.

Kristine wants us to take her and "new Agnese" to Livu Akvaparks when we're in Latvia. This is a huge indoor water park that the kids love. I'm sorry, but the thought of going to a water park when the temperatures are below freezing outside just doesn't sound very appealing to us. Since it's an indoor water park, it should be warmer but we'll see. We just told her that we'll have to wait till we get there to make plans. I'm trying to play up going to the zoo in the hopes that they'll forget about the water park. Don't think that will work though. Come to think of it, if the weather is below freezing, I'm not so sure I want to be wandering around outside looking at animals either. We'll figure it all out when we get there.

Our focus will be on spending family time with Kristine and Olegs. They'll both have to realize that we can't necessarily take all of their friends everywhere we go and spend lots of money for their entertainment. That's not saying we won't do anything...just that we'll have to be smart about it.

1/11 - Phone Visit w/Kids

Today was the first day we got to talk to the kids since they've been back in Latvia. They were both right near the phone so they took turns handing the phone back and forth. Olegs reverted back to his simple "yes" "no" answers. There were people around so he may have been embarrased to say more. Kristine was just the opposite. When she got on the phone, she immediately said, "this is Britney Spears"...(remember, she wants to be "Britney" now?). Well, we quickly changed the subject (we'll deal with the name choices later). Kristine was excited to say it will be 16 more days until we get to Latvia. That was good to hear. If she's counting down the days, then that tells us she's excited. We also got to speak to her best friend, Agnese. We had sent her a small gift and she thanked us for it. We told her we're looking forward to meeting her when we're in Latvia.

1/9 - Saying Goodbye

This morning just flew by. As soon as we got up, we ate breakfast and headed straight to the airport. When I woke Kristine up this morning, she moaned in her sleepy voice that she wished she could stay instead of going back. If only it could be that easy. She understands that these are government rules and not what we want. The goodbyes this time were much easier since we all knew we'd be seeing each other in a couple of weeks in Riga.

At the airport, the Northwest Airlines employees were so awesome to us and allowed all of the host families to accompany their kids to the gate. In the past, we had to say our "goodbyes" at the security check-point. This gave us a little more time to love on them before sending them off. The mood was lightened when Olegs got nabbed by security for having his body spray (a/k/a "man perfume") in his carry-on luggage. Since there is a new liquid ban in effect for carry-on bags, we thought for sure they were going to confiscate it. Thankfully, they ended up putting it in a plastic ziploc bag and giving it back to him. Rob got to tell him "I told you so" because he had originally helped Olegs pack the spray in his checked bag. I guess he had to get one last spray in for the road. LOL!

As we got to the gate, Kristine's mood changed and she began to shut down emotionally. She must have had many thoughts going through her mind. Her life is going to be so different when she comes to America. I'm sure it's exciting and scary at the same time. All we could do was hug her and reassure her that we are coming to get her. We are so thankful for the really good talks we had that helped us to connect on a new level.

The tears started flowing as the kids headed to the gate. We had to get our last couple of hugs and kisses in before we let them go down that long corridor. We felt for the other host families who were going through this for the first time. We remember how we felt. After the summer hosting, we didn't know if we'd ever see our kids again.

We watched by the window with the other host families as we waited for the plane to taxi off. The flight attendant made an announcement on the plane to let the kids know we were waving at the window. We could see little faces and hands waving back at us. A couple of them even pulled their window shades up and down to signal us. Next thing we knew they were taxing down the runway and headed back to Latvia. The mood was a little somber as we walked out with some of the other host families. Rob and I were almost relieved at this point because we need to switch focus and plan our trip to Latvia.

YIKES!! We'll be heading to Latvia in 2 1/2 weeks!!! WOOHOO!!!

1/8 - Our Last Day Together

Yesterday after church we went to visit our friends, the Murphys. They also hosted a child last summer and have experienced some setbacks in their case. It's always good to get together with other families who understand how frustrating the process can be at times. This afternoon we had some more behavioral issues with the kids so they weren't speaking to us on the way there but things got better as the night went on. I think a lot of it is a result of our inexperience as parents and all of us having unrealistic expectations of each other. The Murphys have a biological daughter close to Kristine's age so they got to hang out together. Olegs was happy too since she had a new Gameboy that she let him play with for awhile.

Today was our last full day together and we spent the afternoon with friends of ours who own a small plane. We also invited Ilga in the hopes that she and the kids could go up for a ride in the plane. Unfortunately, it was very windy so they weren't able to fly. The pilot, Sam Lyons, is an extremely talented artist whose paintings grace the walls of the Smithsonian and the Pentagon. He and his wife, Mindy, were kind enough to show us around Sam's beautiful studio. His paintings are so amazing they almost look like photographs. The kids and Ilga were especially excited to meet their three young and playful cats, a sharp contrast to our geriatric ones. They had one of those poles with a string on the end that hangs down and the cats would jump and flip like crazy in attempts to grab the string. The kids could have played with them for hours if we let them. Ilga got a kick out it when one of the cats took a liking to her faux fur covered animal print purse as if it were a new love interest.

Olegs and Kristine had a blast driving and riding up and down the grassy runway in our friends' golf cart. Rob and I didn't go with them but noticed that somehow everyone came back dirty when it was Kristine's turn to drive. We didn't ask.

Sam and Mindy have other friends who adopted a beautiful 13-year old girl named Anna from Kazakhstan. She and her father came over to meet Kristine and Olegs. The kids got to talk to each other and Ilga in Russian. Rob and I were dying to know what they were saying. Thank goodness Ilga was there to tell us. It turns out that Anna has been through some of the exact same troubling experiences that Kristine has and was able to share her experience. I'm not putting all of the details here only because I want Kristine to be able to read this one day without seeing all of her business being shared with the world. I'll just say that we believe this was divine intervention that Kristine got to meet Anna because she was able to tell Kristine that things turned out fine in her case and she is so happy with her adoptive family. This really meant a lot to Kristine. Anna took the kids for a ride in her golf cart and once again they had a blast going up and down the airstrip. Anna commented to Rob and me that she thought Olegs was cute. So from that point on we kidded Olegs about his new girlfriend. We told him it was obviously the "man perfume" working. LOL!

We came back to our house later and Ilga was able to sit down with us and talk to the kids. We wanted to make sure that they both understand that Kristine will be staying with us when we're in Latvia but that Olegs won't be allowed to since we're not adopting him now. We were able to tell them that this wasn't what we wanted but what the government required. We also got to reiterate that even though we may get angry with each other, it's important for us to talk about things so we can work through them. We covered many topics and it just flowed perfectly as we talked through some of their concerns and ours. Kristine ultimately said that she knows for sure she wants to be in our family now. That's good to know considering we're leaving for Latvia in a couple of weeks!!!

After our talk we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. Ilga said she likes many different foods so we thought it might be a nice change of pace. The kids couldn't make up their minds at first but ultimately decided on the chicken wings. They didn't realize they would be spicy chicken wings. Luckily, they ate them anyway. Kristine got a kick out of saying "muchos gracias" every single time the waiter came to our table. After awhile I think it got on the guy's nerves but he didn't say anything.

After dinner we dropped Ilga off and went back home. I had made the mistake of sharing a big list of girl names with Kristine so she could tell me the names she liked. The first thing she wanted to do when we got home was go through the list. I knew better than this but I was interested to see what names she might like. Well, now she wants to be called "Britney" after Britney Spears. Rob and I both like the name Kristine but since being adopted is such a life changing event in her life we thought we might let her change it as long as we both approve. We'll have to come up with our list of approved names for her to choose from. One of the other names she liked was "Paris" after Paris Hilton. NO WAY!! I think we may try to convince her to keep her current name and come up with a middle name. We'll see how it goes.

We stayed up late helping the kids pack their bags and they were actually pretty good about it. They both understood that they had to leave things behind and they even left more than we thought they would. Rob and I had been dreading packing day because we thought we'd have another fight on our hands. Thankfully that wasn't so.

Now it's dawning on us that this time tomorrow the kids will be gone. I'm actually feeling okay about it. I can't say how I'll be at the airport though. I'm not good at goodbyes. We'll see.

1/6 - Skating Goodbye Party

I had to go back to work Thursday so the kids got to have a play day that day with one of the other host families and their children. Yesterday, Robert took Olegs for a haircut at the barber shop where the men go. I couldn't help myself and had to take a picture to document his first American haircut. He was totally embarrassed but too bad. He wouldn't let us take him for a haircut when he was here last summer.

After lunch, both Olegs and Kristine came back to my work to see where Cartoon Network is broadcast from. We got the grand tour of the various broadcast boothes for Cartoon Network among other stations. At the end, they got a bunch of cool cartoon souveniers to take home. Olegs kept asking about Sponge Bob and I had to remind him that he's from Nickelodeon which is a bad word around the Cartoon Network crew (their biggest competitor). HA!

After work, I took Kristine to get her hair cut. Last summer she got it cut & styled at a nice high end salon. This time it was Fantastic Sams, baby. This is probably where she'll be going when she's here permanently. I honestly didn't know what to expect but the stylist did a fantastic job. Kristine wanted a good bit cut off and she got some layers added. She got the most adorable cut and style for $20. We told her she looked like a movie star so she was happy.

Today was the goodbye party for all of the host families. It was also a birthday party for Liza, another hosted child, whose birthday is on Jan. 9th. I can't even remember the last time I was in a skating rink but I actually got out there and skated too. Poor Robert was stuck at work so I was solo with the kids on this outing. At first, I was going to ask for the skates with four wheels but caved to peer pressure and got the inline ones. Kristine was sweet and held my hand to help me until I got enough momentum going to move under my own power. Olegs was long gone and had hooked up with his friend Dima so he was playing cool and ignoring me by that time. Kristine soon followed and dropped me like a hot potato once she saw some friends she wanted to go hang out with. Skating was lots of fun until it came time to stop. When I used to skate on trails in Florida, I was able to hop into the grass to stop. I never mastered the brake thing. Here I found the padded wall and just ran into that when I was ready to stop. That seemed to work well enough. LOL!

All the kids had a great time and this was a good time for Kristine to talk to some of the other kids there who had already been adopted. We had suggested that she talk to others if she still had some fears about being adopted. They could tell her how their experiences were. Ilga was at the party too so it was good to talk to her. We're still trying to find out information about Olegs case and she doesn't have any new information for us. Everyone is telling us we just have to wait for the court to rule on whether or not he can be cleared for adoption. No one can even tell us when that ruling will take place. It's frustrating having to wait but maybe we're just meant to focus on Kristine now. There's nothing we can do to speed things up so we basically have to live with it.

Since today was the official goodbye party, it reminds us that the kids will be leaving soon. Somehow, I think this time will be easier since we will be going to Latvia just a couple of weeks later. We'll see.

1/2 - Fun in the Sun!

The second leg of our Florida vacation took us to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area which is our old stomping ground. The drive was much smoother than the one a couple of days before. We stayed with Robert's mom and hopefully didn't drive her too crazy. Overall, the kids were good but there were a couple of instances where the behavior went downhill. Anyway, it was good that the kids got to meet many more family members.

Kristine was enamored with my 21 and 22 year-old nieces who took her & Olegs on a couple of outings. One of my nieces has a Jeep Wrangler so she and her boyfriend took the kids for a ride with the top off. They loved it!! I was worried about Olegs having mostly girls around but he actually enjoyed it since they're cute. He got to wear his "man perfume." LOL!

The kids got to swim in a couple of different pools at various places. The weather was pretty warm so they were excited they could swim. One of the days we got to spend some time with Robert's sister and her four children. It was good for all of the kids to get to know each other. In typical kid fashion, they didn't speak to each other at first but by the time the evening was over they were cutting up and having a ball together.

On New Year's Eve, we spent the day at the beach with my sisters. It was the most beautiful day...80 something degrees and the sky was so blue. The kids had an awesome time jumping in the waves. Kristine enjoyed floating on a raft but we had to send Olegs out to get her a couple of times because she went out too far. With the language barrier, I wasn't able to explain my personal rule of always making sure there's someone out in the water farther than me so the sharks will eat them first. LOL! Instead, I just told her that sharks live in the far out water. Don't ask me why I said that. It was a dumb thing to say because of course it caused her to freak out. So she tried to stay in the shallow water and was letting the raft scrape the shells. I had to motion to her to go out a little further to avoid the shells. I'm sure she was so confused by this point...one second I'm telling her to get closer to shore and the next I'm saying go back out. Luckily, it didn't stop her from having fun. The water was ice cold to me but it didn't phase them. The Lord sure blessed us with a beautiful beach day because the next day it began to rain and get cold.

Since we had spent the day at the beach, Rob and I were too pooped for New Year's activities. Yes, we're turning into old fogies. In the old days, I would have had to be out at midnight somewhere celebrating but now I'm just as happy to go to bed early, wake up and kiss my husband at midnight and go back to sleep. The kids asked why we weren't going to a big party in America for New Year's Eve. They told us that in Latvia, they have a big party and all the kids go outside. We fibbed a little and told them that it's not a big deal in America. We did stay up long enough for them to see some festivities on TV but we told them they only celebrate in New York and the rest of the country watches on TV. LOL! They didn't fall for it but they were okay with it since they were tired too.

Our trip back home was pretty uneventful. Traffic was much better and the kids kept busy working in the puzzle books they got for Christmas. That's another thing. They got a ton of presents from the family. We'll have to break it to them that they can't take everything with them. We'll save that for another day.

12/28 - Our Family Vacation Begins!

Yesterday, we left at about 2pm to head down to Florida. We got a late start mainly because we had been up late the night before and needed our sleep. Our trip took 2 hours longer than expected due to nightmare traffic!! The moment we got on the interstate about a mile from the house, we came to a dead standstill and traffic crawled from that point on for 2 hours before it opened up. As you can imagine, the stress level began to rise. It didn’t help that the kids kept saying “go faster, go faster.”

Right away Kristine wanted to sleep so she stretched out and put her legs across the back seat over Olegs’ lap. Of course, he didn’t appreciate it so the yelling and shoving match started. This was one of many that took place due to each kid’s invasion of the other’s personal space. So picture yelling and shoving going on in the midst of a traffic jam. For a moment Robert and I even contemplated returning home and forgetting the whole trip. Obviously, we couldn’t do that so we pressed on.

Once traffic opened up, it got better and we all relaxed. Both kids figured out a way to stretch out in the backseat without bothering each other. We made the mistake of leaving the food in the back where they could get to it. Seemed like every few minutes we heard another wrapper being opened and the sound of them gobbling up more fruit rollups and cereal bars. When we stopped we moved the food up front so we could control things.

Our first Florida stop was at my parents’ house near Tallahassee. When Kristine got out of the car, the first thing she wanted to know was which way the beach was. My parents live way out in the country and their house is surrounded by forest land and horse pastures so it looks a lot different than the beach scenes the kids expected. Kristine said, “This isn’t Florida, this is Australia.”

Luckily, there is a beach nearby so today we took them for a swim. We would have never heard the end of it otherwise. The weather was chilly and the water was ice cold but that didn’t matter to them. It was funny to see the locals walking by all bundled up while Olegs and Kristine frolicked in the water. There were a couple of guys out in a fishing boat near shore and we could hear one of them say in his country drawl, “I don’t think they’re from around here.” It was pretty funny.

My parents have friends next door who have some beautiful Arabian horses so we also got to visit with them. We fed them treats and brushed and pet them. Kristine is a horse lover like me so we could pet them all day. The highlight of the day, however, was the Kawasaki Mule. It’s a rugged 4X4 golf cart that the kids got to drive. They took turns driving up and down the property and had a blast. That’s all they wanted to do the whole time. Kristine almost ran us into an electric fence on her first driving attempt but after that she was fine as long as Robert was sitting next to her and able to grab the wheel at a moment’s notice. Olegs was a pro the whole time.

12/26 - Hockey Game & Some Tough Issues!

This evening, Robert, the kids and I took Ilga (the kids’ chaperone & our friend) to a hockey game. The kids had said they didn’t particularly like hockey but once they got there their tune changed. The loud music and festival atmosphere made it fun. Our time with the kids this time around has been much different though. Kristine, in particular, doesn’t seem to be as happy with us and is testing us more. It was just nice that we were all able to get out and have some fun. A lot of that had to do with Ilga. She is an amazing woman who is adventurous and loves to try new things and go new places. She’s always fun to be around and she is someone that the kids trust.

The hockey game was exciting, but after awhile it kinda got old…at least for me. I was so glad that our team scored the winning goal during the last few seconds so we didn’t have to sit through overtime.

When we got home the mood quickly changed. All it took was us asking the kids to brush their teeth and get ready for bed and Kristine proceeded to throw a fit and spout off some not so nice (I couldn’t understand the words but the tone was clear as a bell!) words in Latvian. The tension had been building for awhile and that was the moment we put our foot down and called Ilga at 11pm at night to ask her to speak with Kristine. I must confess that Robert and I even wondered if Kristine was having second thoughts about us adopting her. If so, we needed to find out now before we follow through with our trip to Latvia next month. Kristine confided in Ilga about some of what was bothering her and Ilga was able to relay that to us so we could understand what was going on.

Kristine was very upset that we got Ilga involved but we told her we had no other choice. We all have some very serious decisions to make and we must make sure there are no misunderstandings. After Kristine talked with Ilga, I sat up with her in her room until about 2am just talking about what was bothering her. It took awhile but she finally started confiding in me and sharing her fears and some personal things about her life that help to explain why she’s been acting the way she has. I think we’ve all had some unrealistic expectations of each other and we need this hosting period to work through our issues. We explained to her that if she is not happy with us that we will not force her to come live with our family, but if she does live with us she will need to follow our rules. She needs to think long and hard about what she wants. I told her that we all have a lot to learn about each other and it will take time but families stick by each other no matter what. There were lots of tears but it was somewhat of a breakthrough to be communicating on a new level.

Overall, Rob and I still feel that Kristine is meant to be our daughter but there’s still no guarantee until we’re on that plane bringing her home from Latvia. We’re just taking one day at a time.