Tuesday, June 2, 2009

We Made It

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We made it to Moscow on June 2nd around 10am Moscow time. The day was uneventful but very long. We had two layovers before boarding our flight at JFK. The sun never set during our flight over so we did not sleep more than an hour on the plane. We were extremely exhausted when we arrived. Just as planned, we had a driver waiting on us at the airport, and he drove us into the city to meet with the main agency representative - on the side of a major highway. We then went back to the airport in Moscow. They arranged for a domestic flight to St. Petersburg for us. We left Moscow at 3:15pm and arrived in St Petes about one hour later. Another driver was there waiting, and he brought us to our hotel and helped us get checked in. We are not close to the city center...it is a little further than we were hoping.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had a banana and coffee on the plane before landing in Moscow, and then we just ate trail mix and meal bars for lunch and dinner. By the time we made it to our hotel, we had been up for about 28 hours. We showered and then fell asleep. I am not sure about surrounding restaurants, and I am not feeling too adventuresome. The staff here speak perfect English, however, so we will ask for recommendations tomorrow.

JC awoke around 11pm our time and IM'ed a few friends. We are so thankful for wi-fi here. We did call and talk to our boys tonight. It brought tears to my eyes and made me realize just how far away we are from them...it's breaking my heart. We were able to set up a Skype account at the last minute so we have been able to call very inexpensively. That is a tremendous blessing...

JC is back asleep now. It is currently June 3rd at 2:11am our time. Of course I am wide awake and now I am constantly thinking about our meeting tomorrow. We have a very busy day. We start at 9am and end with our agency representative at 6pm. We do get to meet Emma tomorrow. I cannot wait!!! It feels so surreal. We do get to have two visits Wednesday and Thursday and one on Friday morning. I can't even describe my emotions right now. I guess you could equate it to knowing that you were going to have a C-section or be induced the next morning. I can't believe that we will get to meet a member of our family in less than 24 hours...just indescribable.

Thank you to all who have prayed for our safe journey. I won't lie and say that I wasn't scared to death to fly after hearing about the Air France flight just hours before taking off. Please keep the prayers coming. After calling home, I really feel very FAR away, and it is a little scary. We LOVE to travel, but I don't like feeling this far away from the boys.

More to come...

10 comments:

☆ Loren ☆ said...

So glad you made it safe. I'll contiue to pray for You, The Dentist, Emma, and the Boys. It is difficult now, but will be far beyond worth it in the end!! Good Luck Tomorrow. Let little Emma know the blogosphere is praying for her! :)
P.S. I know you can't post pictures of Emma but are you able to describe her to us? I want so badly to put a face with her name! :)

Tara said...

I am so glad to see this post. I have been thinking and praying for y'all. I was hoping you would have internet access. I know you miss your boys....I couldn't imagine being that far away. Can't wait to hear about your visits with Emma. Have fun and enjoy every minute!

fleur de lis cottage said...

Glad you guys had a safe trip. Praying for your adoption journey. I had the same feeling when I was in China...I felt so far away from my son!

Hugs and hang in there.

Sarah said...

Thanks for the update. I hope y'all have an awesome day tomorrow!

Rachel said...

So glad you made it there safely. I hope you can catch up on some sleep and hope that your meeting with Emma is everything you hoped it would be. I can't wait to read about it!

I know how you feel being so far away from your boys. Just know, you will be back soon enough.

Jo said...

SO happy to hear from you. I must tell you that you popped into my thoughts several times today for no explained reason ~ during math and reading groups, and making dinner ~ so strange but now I know why. I totally understand the being "so far away" feeling. However, mine is simply from CT to NC while my son is away. I will continue to pray for your entire family while you are apart. I CAN'T wait to see pictures of sweet Emma ~ lots and lots of them!

Enjoy every minute of your visit ~ this is only the beginning of a life long journey!

Jo

Jodee said...

I am also glad to hear you made it safe and sound. What a long day!

I can't wait to hear about your meeting moment! I am over the moon for you!

Sending you hugs from Nebraska!

CarolinaGirl said...

What great news! I will send prayers your way, and I can't wait to hear all about sweet Emma!

Monica, Brian, Carter and Cameron said...

What wonderful news! I will continue to pray for you and can't wait to hear all about Miss Sweet Emma. I totally understand your feeling of being so far away, that's how I often feel when I am away from my boys. Enjoy your trip as it is the beginning of a life time journey!

Barb said...

Glad you made it there safely. I read your post earlier this morning, so all day I've been thinking about how your day is going . . . was the lady at the MOE still so straight-faced? how far out was the orphanage? how much time did you get with little Emma? . . . Looking forward to your next update. Blessings,
Barb

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