Reservations are made!

I have finally firmed up all of our reservations and I think have all of the paperwork done. I was awake at 5:00 this morning and decided to just get everything done this morning. We have been waiting for some further information before making our plane reservations, since there is the possibility we could wait out the time between trips in Moscow. But I decided to just to do it and if things get moved around a bit we can always pay the fees and change our return date. Honestly in some ways packing for both trips at once is a wee bit overwhelming.

I also made arrangements for a driver/tour guide to take us around on Wednesday the 6th. That way we make sure to see the sights in Moscow from the warmth of a car. On 2nd and 3rd we will walk around a bit on our own or possibly with Marie and Shane and their new son, Bryson. They hope to be back in Moscow with him on the 2nd and are staying at the same hotel as us. They live just a couple of hours from us and Marie and I have met up a couple of times. It would be so wonderful to share in their joy and meet Bryson!

I feel that we have been so truly blessed! I so hope that things are finally going to be smooth for us but know that I have nothing to complain about. A good friend of mine had her referral withdrawn from their family today and she is so sad! I just cannot imagine the pain she is feeling right now. Sometimes it seems that nothing in this process is fair. You just have to pray that at the end the pain vanishes when you finally have that new person home. I know that all things happen for a reason and at some point that reason will be known to you but getting there can be so tough!

We have been fortunate enough to talk to several of the families we will be traveling with! It is nice to realize you will not be alone on what at this time seems like a scary journey. I have also been so fortunate to have my dear friend, Donna to guide me. Her beautiful little one was adopted from Kirov last year and she has been a wealth of information but more importantly a fantastic friend that I know I will have for life!

So here is our schedule:
Friday, February 1st - leave Fort Myers for Russia
Saturday, February 2nd - arrive in Moscow, play tourist
Sunday, February 3rd - depart Moscow late afternoon for Kirov on overnight train
Monday, February 4th - arrive in Kirov in morning, meet our baby
Tuesday, February 5th - visit orphanage, return to Moscow on train overnight
Wednesday, February 6th - arrive in Moscow in morning, play tourist
Thursday, February 7th - depart Moscow, arrive home late

Tomorrow is our 9th wedding anniversary! Hard to believe in some ways but others seems like we have always been together!