We're Back!!!

I am happy to announce that we are back from Russia! It was a whirlwind trip, one filling the entire spectrum of emotions. It was hard leaving Russia knowing that he was staying behind. But at least we know that he is being taken care of until we get back to Russia. We had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people who helped us along the way. Russia is an amazing country, and I can honestly say that I can't wait to go back. We had the honor of spending our two days in Krasnoyask with a wonderful family from Illinois who are adopting from the same orphanage as Mikhail. It made it much more comfortable to travel around a foreign country, and easier to share the ups and downs along the way. Any place we went in public, we would just be laughing and having a great time. We got many stares from locals for our public displays of happiness (frowned upon on Russia by the look of things), but we didn't let that stop us. I felt that the Russian people shared their culture with us, so we decided to share a bit of ours with them as well. God loves us, and that's reason to smile and laugh.

We were cramped into our plane early Saturday morning in Krasnoyarsk, and off we flew to Moscow. A six hour layover in Moscow at least got us out of the plane. Stress boiled over the breaking point when an airport security official threw away Sara's unopened $4 bottle of water, calling it "not good". We were just happy to get on the plane and be heading home at that point. The flight was long, but uneventful. How many times can you watch "Christmas with the Kranks" really? It was weird going through customs with English-speaking officials, but nice at the same time. We couldn't wait to hit In-n-Out Burger on the way home. It tasted sooooo good. My stomach paid for it that night.

Now begins the last bit of our paperwork process, and trying to raise the last chunk of money to finish the process. We know Mikhail is waiting for us, and that makes it hard. But every time I look at his picture it reminds me that we have to keep pushing. I want him here with us right now. Please keep praying that this last part goes smoothly, and that we will get a court date that is sooner than later and the paperwork goes without a hitch. We will keep you updated.

For those of you that are waiting to see a picture, we need to get approval before we post any pictures of his face. Sorry. Consider this a teaser.....

Thanks for all of your prayers, and be dilligent as we are as well.

Jeremy