We made it!

Thank you to all of you who are so faithfully following our journey and praying with us. I am happy to finally have time to update you on our trip! Our flight to Moscow was fine and we had no major troubles. There was a brief scare at the airport, where they couldn't get my tickets figured out, and told me we had to buy a roundtrip ticket for Sam (what?!), but it all got sorted out before we had to board the plane. On the long leg to Moscow, there was another adopting couple sitting behind us, as well as another family from our agency just a few rows back. So it was great to share stories and pictures with them.

We arrived in Moscow 12 hours before our train left for Nizhny. Our Moscow coordinator said the only hotel rooms that were available were $600 a night, so he arranged for us to stay with a host family. It worked out great! They had a room just for us, and we were able to take a good nap to make it until the train. The husband fixed us a delicious lunch and dinner, and we enjoyed talking with him. It was a great arrangement.

The train ride to Nizhny was great, and we were able to sleep most of the way. Before we knew it, we were back in our son's birthtown! We had time to shower, rest up and eat breakfast before meeting Julia for our trip to the hospital to see Sam. Once he came into the room, it felt like we had never left--except that he's grown and has more hair! We got to take him on a car ride with one of his nurses to go get his picture taken for his passport and visa. He did great in the car (sitting on my lap--no car seats here), and was mesmerized by everything around him. No car sickness, which was a nice surprise. :-) All in all, we got to spend over two hours playing and interacting with him. It was incredible. He warmed up after about 20 minutes, and he was making a lot of sounds this time. They told us he is saying "Baba" (grandma) "ma" and "pa" but we didn't hear any of those. He still has his bear, and plays our voices all the time. And he still has the photo album too. We are grateful!

We found out that his doctors want him to stay in the hospital as long as possible before we bring him home. So, Gotcha Day will be on Monday. We'll get to go see him on Friday for his birthday and celebrate with him there. But no visits all weekend. You can pray for our hearts, as we're sad about that. We took some video today, so that will have to get us through when we can't see him.

Our court hearing is Thursday at 10am (2am Eastern time). We'd appreciate your prayers before you go to bed on Wednesday night. Please pray for favor with the judge, and that she would waive the 10-day wait. Please also pray for us, as we prepare our speeches tonight--that we would remember everything we need to say, and that we answer questions well. We aren't nervous yet, but we know this is a very important hearing, and we want to be as prepared as possible.

I'll post when we get home from court and tell you how it went. And we look forward to posting some video when we get back to the States. Thanks for all of your prayers and for posting your comments--you are getting us through! We love you all.