Many of you have asked if we have Emma with us yet? We do not!!!
Our judge would not waive the 10 Buisness Day waiting period for us. We decided it would be best to come back home and spend time with the boys in between trips since Emma has to stay in her Baby Home until after the 10 days are complete. Plus, our agency personnel in St Petersburg are not available to take us to see Emma even if we had stayed.
We leave again on Saturday the 26th and arrive in Moscow sometime Sunday afternoon. We will go straight to the domestic terminal and wait to board a plane for St Petersburg.
We were instructed to make this departure flight in August by our agency, but we found out this week that we will arrive in St Pete too early to start the final paperwork for Emma. We cannot start until Tuesday afternoon. We don't even think we will get to go and visit her on Monday because there is another family finalizing an adoption the same time we are, and a prospective family arriving in St Pete on Sunday as well. That means our one agency representative will be responsible for three families at the same time.
We have also been told that all of Emma's paperwork (her police clearance, birth certificate and Russian passport) will take up to 5 days - not 3 days like we were originally told. This means that more than likely we won't make it back to Moscow to complete our US Embassy requirements in time to catch our flights back to the USA on October 6th.
Emma's face says it all!!!!
We are pretty distraught about this! First of all, we will be away from the boys for an undetermined amount of time, and Jackson has already cried about us leaving again. Second, we have no idea when we will be able to get Emma from her Baby Home, and third our flights are nonrefundable which means we will have to buy more tickets to return home.
We are praying that we can still make our timeline and fly home on October 6th, but it is not looking favorably for that to happen. What can we do at this point though?
We are so very anxious to get back for Emma, but we are really dreading the traveling and the toll it takes on your body. It really took us from Thursday to Sunday to feel human again after this last trip!
Please add us to your prayer lists. It is going to be a trip of a lifetime, but we know what to expect and most importantly, we know there are going to be many more hurdles before we finally become a family of 5!
Happy 20 Month Birthday Today Miss Emma!!!
13 comments:
But you know those hurdles will be soooo worth it in the end. I can't believe she's only a few days older than Andrew. He turns 20 months the 5th of Oct.
Praying for your whole family!!
Praying for you!!! Would you mind if I added a prayer request to my blog?? Let me know!
Blessings, Ashley
You will be in my thoughts and prayers! I hope everything works out the way it needs to.
That hair! It's a lot like Summer's. You'd better stock up on leave-in conditioner spray!!!
I will keep your family in my prayers...Be careful and I can't wait for you to bring Emma home...
Jessica
Oh i am sure this is so hard on you ALL! I will pray:)
Kim
praying for your whole family!
I am so sorry to hear this update. She will be soooo worth the long wait. Hang in there!
P.S. These pictures are just precious! She is absolutely perfect!
You're in my prayers! Hope things work out for a smooth pick-up trip!
That sounds frustrating! I know you will be so glad when you have her home with you.
It must be so hard to have your heart pulling in two directions for your children. You are certainly in my thoughts and prayers!
Jo
Woke up to 45 degrees this morning ~ burrrr!
I am so sorry to hear that things are not going exactly as planned. As hard as it is to leave the boys behind, you know that this will be the last trip. She is finally coming home.....
You will be in our thoughts and prayers. I hope you can make it out on the 6th with your beautiful girl and officially become a family of five.
Lisa
First of all, I've seen mountains crumble in St. Pete at the hand of God... but just to help God out a little, take really great gifts (I mean REALLY great gifts) to the passport, police clearance, and other gov. offices. You'd be amazed what a nice gift can do. We got passport and clearances on the same day we applied.... thanks Chanel No. 5 :)
Second, though it's SOOOO hard to be away from your kids... try really hard to focus on every minute detail of the day you spring her from hell. I have always had a hard time focusing when I'm so tired, but I end up with these gaps in my memory that I wish I could fill.
Praying!
I'm sorry you are having these delays. If you think it would help to have a letter in russian to explain why you need to expedite the date of departure, I would be happy to translate one for you from eng. into russian. Just let me know.
You do have a beautiful family and it will all be wonderful in the end no matter how long it takes.
You and your family will be in my prayers.
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