"When Are You Going Back?"

"When are you going back?"

That's been the question of the moment...day, week, month, season!
("Do they speak any English?" is a close second place. The answer, "Nyet!")

Here's where we are at: We are waiting on 1 very important document called the Petition to Court. This comes from Russia, to our agency, then to us. We complete it, notarize it, and have it apostilled in Sacramento. We then send it back to our agency, who sends it to Russia, where it is translated and processed, then submitted to court. THEN, we receive a court day, usually within a few weeks.

I was told this week that the Petition to Court should be hear SOON. Hopefully by next week. So, while no one can say for sure, we are still thinking an early June court date is likely.

On our next trip, we'll be in Russia for 4 weeks! We spend a couple of days in Moscow for medical visits. Then we'll fly to Kras. We'll go to court and then be required to spend 10 days in the region before we can take custody. During that time we should be able to visit the kids in their orphanages. A few more days, then fly back to Moscow. This is a 5 hour flight, and will be our first leg of travel with 3 kids. Now it takes several more days to get visas and passports taken care of in Moscow. AND THEN... back on a plane to head home. This trip will range from 12 to 20 hours depending on layovers. I'm in denial about how hard the traveling will be with 3 kids, so just keep telling me it won't be too bad.

We've been keeping busy with projects around the house. I've been working some extra days at a different school to bring in a little more money. Thanks to our amazing friends and family, plans for our benefit dinner and raffle sales seem to be going well. That's coming up soon, May 4. All in all, things are moving along. We're never going to get everything done, but I probably should get used to that feeling, right?

Everyday, I wonder what the kids are up to. Will they remember us? Are they safe? Happy? Please keep praying for them and those who are caring for them.

And now, just for fun...
See how much we are enjoying the van?! Here we demonstrate how spacious it really is. I won't tell you what Scott was murmuring through that cheesy grin! (But it was something like, "If this van is rockin'....") :)