Days -4 Through 5

Whirlwind.
Roller coaster.
These are the words people usually use to describe what we have been through in the past week or so.

I'm limited on time, so I'll add some highlights.

Day -4 = Last Wednesday, January 6, we received a very strange phone call from our adoption agency. Apparently, our kids' biological mom gave birth to a baby in December and that is delaying our adoption. {heart crack} What does this have to do with anything? With another blood relative in the picture, the kids are now connected to someone in Latvia (their parents' rights had already been removed). The court had to know how serious we were about adopting the three before he separated the baby. If we weren't serious, he would keep the 4 kids together. However, "If you want to go ahead and buy some refundable tickets, the attorney can let the judge know that you're coming and see if we can do an emergency separation. Just know, that we must receive the Ministry's referral today or tomorrow, or you'll need to cancel your plane tickets."

I bought about $8,000 worth of tickets, with faith, and awaited my arrival.

Day -3 = This was the day we were praying for! As the hours slipped away, my heart sank. The kids were leaving in 3 days and I was told the judge could take months to separate them, if we did not get this referral! Since communication with my kids is extremely limited, they'd never know when we were coming and may think we changed our mind. These were my thoughts. This was another night with merely a few hours of sleep.

P143 kids at airport

Day -2 = I barely slept a wink last night. The minutes were slipping away. I was told that if we didn't get our referral by 9am, it wasn't coming and we were to refund our tickets. I prayed. I begged. I was a wreck. I wailed Psalms to my Father. I demanded my inner being to be okay with God's will, if this was not to happen. I texted my agency and it wasn't looking good. My contact there was up throughout the night, waiting also. 9am came without a referral. At 9:04am, I got the text that we were heading to Latvia and better start packing. We were to leave within 48 hours! I screamed so hard my throat hurt. We were all so excited. Did I mention that the cheapest airfare we could find just happened to be on the same plane as all the P143 host children, including our own!?

Day - 1 = We had so much to pack! We couldn't fit everything... for subzero degrees, for 7 people, in 4 suitcases! But, it's $100 for an extra bag! And, my crown kept falling out! I had to find an emergency dentist to glue it back on. I don't want to rely on a dentist in Latvia! There went 2 much needed hours! Another night with hardly any sleep.                    

Texas P143 Families

Day 1 = It was finally here! We still couldn't fit  everything into our carry on suitcases plus our big 50 lb bags! We had to add another one. We decided to make it one of our host kids' suitcases, so we wouldn't be charged. We were all happy. The other families at the airport were not. We helped the P143 chaperones with the kids at the airport. I took photos of my friends' host kids and it was a pretty seamless flight on a big jetliner. Our host kids sat upstairs and we were downstairs. We were also apart on our second flight, but that was fine. We all needed sleep. Guess what? We didn't really sleep.

Day 2 = When we arrived at our destination airport, we sadly said "goodbye" to our host kids and told them we would see them tomorrow. We sent them on their way and continued to get our 9 bags and head out. When we found our attorney appointed driver, he was there with our kids and their caregivers. Sunshine came over to me and said, "We go with you." I said, "Oh no. I'm sorry. We'll see you tomorrow, though." Then she said, "Yes". I was so confused. Her caregiver pushed her toward me and said, "They are your kids now. They go with you." WHAT!?? All the crazy hours of suitcase stress and weighing them when we could have used 6 big suitcases? (Yes. that was my first thought. We knew that their caregivers take their items, so we didn't let them go with much in their one, small, combined bag.)

We headed to our 2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment, which was a good place in a great location. We tried to walk to a grocery store. We got lost in the snow. We ended up eating at a restaurant (the first restaurant our family has eaten at together since the day they left Texas last summer. We're not used to this big family and restaurants). We came home. The attorney came over to brief us. We slept. Jet lag was tough.

          

Day 3 = We were to be picked up at 9am for orphan court, about 1 hour away. There was a lot of snow, so it took about an hour and a half. We all showed up in snow boots (the attorney said that winter wear was more important than formal wear, so the court could know that we are taking care of the kids). We met Lulu for the first time. She  was adorable, of course. Her face had so many scars and "owies". Her caregiver said she had a rash and had clawed at her face. We had our court hearing. It was fine. Their caregiver said things about Sunshine and Iceman that were not nice. Ray and I were not fond of her. That is a nice way to put it. We asked to go back to their home so they could pick up some of their personal items, and we were asked what exactly we wanted (they really weren't wanting to give us much). I asked if we could at least have some of the gifts we gave them last summer. They ended up getting 3 items each (don't ask how many things they went home with last summer. The items weighed 99.98 lbs, though). I asked if Sunshine could, at least, have her drawings. She got them. I'm hoping we have a chance to go back there at our next date to get more items, if our kids want any. Our kids weren't really acting like they wanted any, so maybe it was just my thing.

January 12, 2016 - We are a family of 7. Lulu fit in just as swimmingly as the other two. We were told that she is bossy, she takes a long time to eat and that she talks a lot at bedtime. All of those things are true.

Day 4 = Another day of walking, walking, walking around the big city in the snow. Fun times! We ended up with an attorney appointed guide that we all happened to know. She was our P143 guide last summer! We sure do love her! What a great day!

Day 5 = We still haven't recovered from jet lag. I went to bed at 2am and woke up at 9am, to run to the store for some items Sunshine needed. We did a ton of walking today, and grocery shopping. Our budget doesn't allow much eating out, so we are doing meals in our apartment. I'm so thankful for kids who don't desire to eat at restaurants. Tomorrow is our first social worker appointment at the apartment. We must get this place clean! We have a washer that will wash a load about the size of 2 pair of jeans. There is no dryer. We have 7 people. I do numerous loads a day, yet we still have a ton of dirty clothing! {mom rant. done} 

 

This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:23