Trip 1 ALMOST over....

Hello everyone! We are finally getting access to internet and thought we would give you a quick snapshot of our trip. Heads up - we are using our hosts computer and some of the letters might switch to cryllic...but you should still be able to understand. We arrived on Tuesday 3/3 and were greeted by our host, German, at the airport. The flight was smooth and we arrived with no problems. Then we were introduced to Moscow traffic - worse than ANY we have ever seen! NOVA people have NOTHING to complain about compared to here! We were exhausted Tuesday night after a long flight and 6 hours in the car from the airport. We got up early Wednesday morning to drive to Kaluga to meet Alexander. Again, more time in the car, but totally worth it by the end of the day. We arrived at the baby home at 3pm, met with the head doctor and she explained his legal and medical records to us. We had a translator, Anna, with us the entire time - she is wonderful! Then we met him - he had just woken up from his nap, so he was very standoffish at first, but that is to be expected. They fed him lunch and then we got to go downstairs to the gym with him and play together. What an ACTIVE little 2 year old - loves to play with everything (he especially loved the bubbles that we brought). He opened up with us while we were there - smiling and laughing. We spent about 1 1/2 hours together. THen we went to dinner and our hotel. We got to see him again on Thursday for about 45 minutes in the morning and then about 30 minutes in the afternoon. It was so neat to see his face light up when he saw us - he seemed to remember us - he even was giving kisses before the day was over. It was EXTREMELY difficult to leave him, but we know that he is in good hands with the caregivers and the doctors at this baby home - they truly love and care for the children. Then back in the car to Moscow (another 4 hours in the car). We got to sleep in today (FRIDAY). Marina took us to tour a monastery - VERY BEAUTIFUL and then we got to relax the rest of the day. Tomorrow we are touring Moscow and we leave early Sunday morning to head back to the states. We still can't post pictures on our blog, but I'm sure if you see us, we will have some to show you :). Just know, he is a BEAUTIFUL boy - big blue eyes, gorgeous smile, cute laugh - good things come in small packages and he is God's gift to us. We can't wait to come home - after being in a foreign country you begin to realize how blessed we are in America. Love to all and thank you for all of your prayers - please keep them coming.