Passports Finally Arrive!

Hi everyone (if anyone is still following this). I'm sorry it's been so long since the last posting. Scott applied for the passports on March 13th, and it has taken this long to get them. They finally arrived this morning, but apparently it took about twice as long as most people's. Needless to say, by Friday of this past week, Scott was really worn down mentally and panicking because his time off comes to an end this week. We thought that I might have to go back over so that he could come home and go back to work. Fortunately, everything worked out just in the nick of time!

Scott has been keeping the kids busy and entertained as best he can. He's my hero - staying over there by himself and taking care of our kids. It sounds like they've figured out how to communicate back and forth pretty well, and he says they are just awesome and very well behaved. They even make their beds in the morning without being asked!

We had purchased a Leap Frog system for each of them before we embarked on this journey. We were going to save it for the plane ride home, but Scott finally had to break down and give it to them this weekend. He says they absolutely love it (hint hint to those of you adopting kids old enough to understand them). He said they caught on and figured things out pretty quickly, and there are plenty of learning games that come with the base system in addition to the add-on games. We got a good deal on ours at Costco in the fall, but maybe they still have some.

Scott has been taking the kids with him every day for the last week to check to see if the passports arrived. The kids know what the passports mean - they can finally come home to America. On Friday when they went, the lady told him the passports had arrived. He got so excited, but apparently they were for some other kids. Today when they got there, the lady told him the passports had come, but he didn't want to get too excited in case they weren't his again. Finally she had the kids come back around and Scott said they went crazy when they saw them. They are so excited to finally be coming home!

I have to be honest - I've been worried that they'd forget me after I left. After all, I was only with them for 2 weeks before I came home, and it's already been over 3 weeks since I've been back. Scott said our translator today had a long conversation with Daria, and that she really misses me. She was able to describe what I look like: "mama has red hair and a nice smile", which made me very happy. I cannot wait to see my kids again. I've really been missing them since coming home.

We're hoping that they can finish up everything that they need to do at the Embassy tomorrow, and then fly home on Wednesday. It's sometimes possible, and easier with one child than two. But, I know the Embassy people will do they're very best to get everything finished tomorrow. If not, the worst case is that they will be home on Thursday. I will know in the morning when I wake up. Finally, something worth getting up at 5am for!!

Meanwhile, our friends Peter and Charlene have finished their 10-day wait. They adopted 2 children from the same orphanage that we did, and their daughter and Daria are friends from the same class. We are looking forward to keeping the kids in touch when we're all back home and settled in.