August Update...

We have already been home a month and counting down the days until we return to get Ayden. We were certain we would be traveling in August, but recently found out that Orenburg is closed for the month of August (summer holiday). We are hopeful that we will be traveling in September. We have been keeping ourselves busy while we wait... mostly relishing in the ease of having just two kids. We have been working on our zone defense. Garrett gives us some trouble, but his giggles make him easy to find.

My sister and her family came into town this past week and while we didn't take many adventures, we had a lot of fun swimming and spending time together. Jen put together a surprise shower with some of my friends while here and I was touched beyond words. She has so much going on in her own life, yet she always finds the time to do such meaningful things for me. I can only hope that Ayden and Jordan will be able to share this special bond as I do with Jen.

Garrett and Jordan have been a huge help in getting ready for baby Ayden. Jordan will often show me how she is going to rock the baby. So if anyone is looking for something to buy little Ayden... a helmet would probably be very welcomed. Garrett has really surprised us lately with his awareness of the addition. He will go up to the computer and say Ayden's name or just baby. He brings books into her room and launches them into her crib. (See another use for a helmet).



We will keep you posted on our travel plans. We are so eager to have her home! Keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

Gram and Coach survived....

Well, we finally made it home yesterday afternoon and it seems that that the grandparents survived the week with the kids. Gram kept a beautiful journal for us so that we could get a glimpse of each day they spent.

I was a bit worried about the homecoming and Garrett's response to us being away. I have come to realize that you cannot scar a child in a week and perhaps a long ski weekend will be in store for us this winter... alone. I am not stupid enough to ask them THAT right now. Our once beloved athletic "Coach" has taken on some new roles while here. As of today he can add, prince, various princesses , Ariel, dead person (yikes), Prince Erik, a savior (doctor or some superstar of some sort) and a fired prince (slacker). Coach has come a very long way. I am sure his buddies at the Elks will appreciate a reenactment. He has a lot of pride in these new roles.
We went for a long run today to purge our systems of the jet lag. Chris had to be carried home.

We spent the morning finishing up our paperwork for trip two and hope to have a quick turn around for a court date. We were told about 3 to 4 weeks.

We have to thank everyone for all the great notes on the blog. We lived by them day to day and found ourselves sneaking into the business center to see if anyone else posted.

Will keep you posted...

We are in love...

Greetings from Moscow. We made it here this morning. I just asked Chris why I was so tired and he just told me there was a two hour time difference from Moscow and Orenburg. We had a great last day in Orenburg. We got up at 6am for a 7am pickup. We did the 3 hour kamikazi ride to Orsk baby home. I have to admit, the baby home is very poor, but very well run. You get all dressed up (as if she would even notice) and you are so nervous... just hoping she will like you. With Ayden she is so easy going... it truly didn't matter what we wore. Our facilitator came in the room and asked us what her name was going to be. We immediately panicked. We have thrown out so many names... we had no idea. Picking a name with Chris is nearly impossible. She really looks like an Ayden though. What does any name look like??



We spent a couple of hours with her. We were able to take her outside and we could see the other care givers so happy that she was getting so much attention. We must have walked the perimeter of the orphanage several times. She is so easy going and even tempered. After a couple of hours of spoiling... we had to return her to the care giver. Seems as though they maintain a tight schedule. I can appreciate that. Chris and I gathered our things and walked outside. Chris being so handy spent a great deal of time figuring out all of the things he would love to fix/redo. As we were waiting outside a group of older children came out to play. We immediately followed suit and joined them. It is amazing how eager some of these children are for attention. It broke our hearts to see so many as we got in the car to leave.



We got back to Orenburg and had the remainder of the day to ourselves. We explored the downtown and went for dinner. Chris had cocka doodle doo that looked like oink and I had moo. You know it is bad when there is a selection on the menu of "meat surprise." What could that possibly be???? Anything lingering out back????? It was actually very nice to spend some time with Chris without the distractions of home. We got up that next morning at 4am for a 5am pickup for our plane ride to Moscow. We got into Moscow and spent an hour at the gym working out. It was a great stess release. It was weird not having the kids to juggle. We talked about them most of the morning.

Here is our new Russian LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

We took advantage of the time and the weather and headed to Red Square. It is absolutele gorgeous this time of year. I noted that when we were in Orenburg and even here it didn't matter how big or small the houses were, everyone seemed to have these gorgeous wild flowers growing out front. Flowers seemed to be everywhere.



It was weird to be out to dinner alone. We both reached for the phone a couple of times to call home and talk to the kids, but decided against it. We really enjoyed our time together and are heading to bed for our long journey home.



Thanks for all the notes... you have no idea how much they mean to us while we are over here.