Nov

30

Play Day!

November 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Our court date was yesterday and the family we have been traveling with is in court today. So that means we have a free day to explore Cheboksary and just have some fun! Our gracious host (Peter the Great) was kind enough to drive us all around the city and show us many of the [...]

Nov

29

Court Day!

November 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Today was our day in court. The Supreme Court of Chevashiya to be more specific. It took about 3 hours and we were instructed to come back at 1:15PM for the ruling. There were 2 issues under consideration. One was the approval of our adoption of Sasha. The other was whether or not the judge [...]

Nov

28

Visiting the orphanage/Picking up Sasha!

November 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment

As my last post left off we were boarding a van for a short drive from the train station in Shummerlya to the orphanage where Sasha has spent the last few years of his life. Another family from Wisconsin was also traveling with us as they were also adopting a child from the same orphanage. [...]

Nov

27

Hannah has no shoes!

November 27, 2007 | 7 Comments

We were supposed to arrive in Shimmerlya (via train) at around 5:22AM. The plan was that the conductor was supposed to wake us at 5AM so we could get ready to exit the train. The scheduled stop in Shummerlya was only for 2 minutes (that’s right, 2 minutes). So it was critical that we have [...]

Nov

27

Train Ride to Shummerlya

November 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Shummerlya is where Sasha’s orphanage is. The small city is about 2 hours outside of Cheboksary. We boarded the train in Moscow at around 7PM (Moscow time) for another 13+ hour ride accross the frozen Russian countryside. The girls were skeptical at first but it didn’t take long for them to settle in and embrace [...]

Nov

26

Long Flight to Moscow

November 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Well, we made it. It’s amazing how quickly you forget just how L O N G the flight is from Atlanta to Moscow. 11 hours. Sitting straight up. No sleep. Then of course there was the russian “diplomat” who had claimed our 3 center aisle seats as his own and then begged us to sit [...]

Nov

20

Back to Russia!

November 20, 2007 | 2 Comments

Well, we’re leaving this weekend. Bound for Russia. And this time we’re going to be bringing Sasha home! We’re very excited as you can imagine. But there’s a healthy dose of anxiety there as well to balance it all out. We’ve spent the past several weeks preparing the house (and ourselves) for his pending arrival. [...]

Nov

13

6 Weeks old today!

November 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Scene 1: Boomer takes Control. Scene 2: The masses start to rebel. More pictures here!