Happy 14th Birthday Micah!!!

So what does a 14 year old girl want for her birthday, well mine wanted to come to Latvia to complete the adoption of her younger sister. She actually paid for her passport and over $200 of her ticket. She brought her own spending money and is doing well holding on to it until today.

We got up, showered, ate breakfast and walked to the train station (2+ miles away) to go to Jurmala, a Baltic sea town. We made a few stops along the way for something to drink, Latvian made perfume, a few souvenirs for the boys at home and a small snack. I very confidently purchased our tickets (only had said confidence thanks to Stephanie Norman & Linda Smith's instructions). We made up the stairs in perfect time to board the train and take off. Leigah started having a good
conversation in Latvian with a Russian Babushka (grandma). The kind lady asked her about Micah and me, where we were headed, why was she with Americans and then asked her how she liked America and her new family. After a short 30 min ride we got off at Jurmala. This is where Micah wanted to go. I think it had more to do with the train ride because I promised her years ago we would take one.

We didn't waste any time getting to the beach.






















After hanging out on the beach for at least 2 hours, we walked the length until we came to a WC - TOILET!!!! The WC was the first thing on the road that led off of the beach to the shopping strip of Jurmala. We found a very busy cafe and bought the girls each a bottle of Coke, tea for me and Peragies for each of us and 2 sweet pastries to share. Micah, the child that is super picky asked for another peragi. These are meat, onion w/ salt & pepper wrapped with bread dough, brushed with egg white and baked to golden brown. The first ones we tried were shredded pork w/o onion. Then we tried the bacon & onion ones. MMMMMMmmmmmm!!!!!!

After a little more souvenir shopping, we headed back to the train station. It was a quiet and relaxing ride back to Riga.

I was trying to have a full day at the beach but was chomping at the bit to get back to the B&B. Why? Well, Ann Kimmel, her mom, Diane and daughter, Alina were due to arrive at the B&B anytime in the middle of the afternoon. You see Ann & I connected in early Feb 2010 because we were both attempting to adopt foster sisters, Inessa and Meggie from Viesite. We traveled this journey together yet never meeting in person. In the fall of 2010 we were both heart broken with disappointment and confusion when both of these girls (separately) changed their minds. We have privately shared our emotions with each other, bared our ugly, our crazy, our determined, our confused, our pull-your-hair-out-why-in-the-world-are-we-still-doing-this "sides" to each other. But it just so happened to work out that Ann was going to be in Riga at the same time I needed to be here for my 3rdtrip and Daina knew it all along. She asked if I wanted to come this week because I might actually know the family traveling then. ???The Kimmels, she said???? Ummmm, YES MA'AM!!!! So, when we got back and there was an email from Ann saying they were in but napping but would pop their heads up in about 2 hours....I got all antsy!!!

When a small knock came on the door ~ imagine two little kids at Christmas!!! I opened the door and we both did a happy dance and ran into each others arms!!! My Ann was in front of me. The one, besides Joe that has been unloaded the weight of my "stuff" during this adoption was in front of me! As she said, "There's a real person to attach to the name" (paraphrase)! Leigah and Alina looked at us like we were nuts ~ rightly so! We cleaned up a bit and headed to the grocery store with them, back to put away groceries and then to Double Coffee for dinner. The conversation was sweet, company comfortable and the food yummy! When we got back to the B&B we parted ways and headed to be but not without one last hug from the new "old" friends!

Tomorrow Daina will pick our family up at 11:45am to head to Dr. Caunes office for a physical of sorts. She will be clear on the medical concerns related to Leigah, look for any others and complete her latvian medical history. We have brought reports from our pediatrician, the lab work and immunization records.

The day has ended wonderfully and I think we will all be able to sleep very well, without waking up much tonight!!!! GoodNight!

Our trip to Latvia!

The girls for days have been super excited to travel and as I said a few days ago, Leigah kept giving us the countdown several times a day. We took several hours on Wednesday packing and finished the rest of it on Thursday night. We each had a backpack, a carry-on and we had 2 large suitcases. One of them was filled to maximum weight allowance with jeans, sweatshirts, sweaters, shoes, boots and few other items that were donated from us and friends for the Spiridtis Orphanage in Jurmala. The other large suitcase was just our shoes, hangers and all of our food and toiletries. Yeah it weighed 46# - heavy shoes, right?

Anyway, the cheapest flights this time were out of St. Louis on American Airlines/Finnair. I don't think Leigah ever got nervous but was giddy all day, clapping and jumping around. Micah on the other hand - she was excited but her tummy was butterfly filled. She almost hyperventilated on the first flight.


Take off from St. Louis

We made it to Chicago early but were given incorrect information from the information booth to take the tram from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 for Int'l flights. So we waited and boarded the tram. When we made it to the actually terminal the information desk there said that we were supposed to be in Terminal 3. What I haven't told you yet is that we only had an hour layover. By this time it was 3:10 and our flight was to take off at 3:45. We quickly go back on the tram, headed for terminal 3 and ran to the AA information desk and they scrambled to get us boarding passes and praise the Lord we were given priority access because of the girls. Which meant we didn't have to stand in the long line for security. As soon as we got through there, which we got stopped because Leigah had packed scrapbooking scissors, we took off running. We had to run down a long stretch of gates from K-1 to K-37. We were the last 3 passengers to board and it was 3:35. We, with sweat dripping down our backs, quickly found places to store our carry-on baggage and then found our seats! Whew - we made it!!!!

The girls read their books, colored, enjoyed their drinks and started watching the movie that was showing. During dinner I gave each one a Melatonin to help them start getting sleepy - which worked but only for a VERY SHORT WHILE! Micah slept about an hour and Leigah slept about 2 hours but only 10 mins at a time. Every time the screen for the movie would change scenes the brightness changed and woke her. If I moved, she woke up. And every time she woke up, she asked, "how many more time till we get there?" I tried to sleep but between Leigah constantly waking and asking (and with waking came the inability to sit still and she elbowed me EVERY TIME) and Micah shifting - Yeah I might have slept 10 mins! Oh Well!!! I did eventually tell Leigah that I was on the boarder of grumpy, that I needed to not be asked anything or elbowed and maybe just maybe I might come out of it! Micah gave up sleep and watched another movie, played on her Ipod or read. I put in my ear buds and cranked up 70's & 80's music and enjoyed the ability to escape for about an hour. Then they served breakfast and we were good from there on out. We landed in Helsinki, Finland with only an hour layover and easily went through passport security and to our gate!

The final flight was really short and we landed in Riga at 10:30 am. It was just long enough to get in the air, have juice passed out to everyone and then we landed. Leigah's giddiness was back!!!!! It was actually tough trying to reign her in by then. Lack of sleep and completely excitement - rough combination.

Our baggage made it there in one piece and we made it to the taxi station, paid, found an available taxi and were on our way to our B&B. The shuttle is 3 lats/person and can take up to an hour to get to your destination. The taxi is 10 lats up to 4 people and took about 20-25 mins. We checked in, unpacked, lounged for long enough to know we had to get out of here or we were going to out for the day!

We took the long way to the Cili Pica by Freedom Monument. We walked in and out of every shop on the way, just to kill time. By the time we got back to the B&B, it was around 3:30 and the girls could barely keep their eyes open and each one fell asleep by 4. They woke in the middle of night and watched a movie and ate some snacks but were back asleep within a couple hours and we were up and feeling fresh at 7:30am.

Will tell you about today's activities tomorrow!

Purpose of 3rd trip

What is the point of 3rd Trip?
* Visit with Embassy approved Dr. Caunes to verify medical records, immunizations and recognize any health concerns to notify the Embassy. Possible xray for older children and immunizations if not caught up. For future Latvian travelers: Have your child drink lots of fluids before go to the doctor. They have to give a urine sample and if empty bladder doesn't halt the process, nerves will.
* Visit Latvian Passport Office to get a new Latvian Passport with new name. We will pick up Passport the next day. Latvia recognizes the child as a citizen of Latvia and of United States - they will continue to have dual-citizenship until 18 where the child must decide where they want their citizenship to lie - Latvia or USA (unless Latvia law changes by then and states they can maintain dual-citizenship, which is actually possible.
* Go to US Embassy to give all documents from Dr. Caunes, I-800A, etc. to obtain immigrant visa.
* Pick up Visa the following day.

It's really not a long trip and as long as flights work out for you, you only have to be in country 3-4 days.

As we get closer to the finish line......

...I'm getting tired but excited for this 3rd & final trip. This last trip will make Leigah an all-American girl and as soon as she steps off the plane in Chicago she will be a US citizen. Leigah is counting the days and gives us the daily reminder actually several times a day. We have plans for meeting up with her foster mom, Maija, visiting 2 orphanages, visit with embassy approved Dr, visa/passport interview & pick-up, a trip by train to Jurmala (Baltic sea town) and officially meeting an adoption networking friend, Ann. Micah will celebrate her 14 birthday there, too!

As far as school goes, we are doing so well. Leigah had officially started schoolwork and is off to a good start. On Tues, the VI (visually impaired) teacher is coming over to do assessments on her. This wonderful lady is super exited that Leigah is home-schooled and that we are wanting help for her. We will find out after our trip their plans for her with the school district. This week we will add Math & Phonics. She is memorizing the pledge of allegiance in history. Its interesting to find out that Latvia does have a country song that is sung at ball games, Latvia's birthday but no pledge of allegiance.

On the home front, the kids are not excited for school to start because they can't be bumps on a log.

Until we are there....

Short but sweet...

Well, not much has changed in our life but I thought i'd check in.

This week I'm working on lesson plans for homeschool, as well as elementary age Wed. night curriculum. Its so hard to know exactly where to start with school with Leigah but this summer she did "summer school" and that short of have me a place to go from. She forges on in her schoolwork but forgets to ask for help or just choses to get things done fast & asking would take time. We will focus on letters & sounds, beginning language skills and early elementary American history, health & science. After I talk with the VI (visually impaired) resource teacher, I will figure out a math to work on. The girls will start school a week before the boys because they will miss a week of school when we go on our final trip to Latvia.

Which leads me to this 3rd & final trip. We still haven't booked our tickets yet. I have a friend with a lot of sky miles and he is looking at buying 2 of our tickets with his miles. That would be a ginormous blessing. W we only have to buy tuckers, pay for the B&B & food while there. These final costs are overwhelming me and stress me out.

Well I said this would be short, so I gotta get off of here! Probably going to be late for work at this point. Until next time.

Outta here...for now!!

Did most of my packing Tuesday night, so I was ready pretty quickly after breakfast. I had to exchange just enough money to pay for shuttle today & taxi the next time. I walked down a block & down another 3 to get to the bank. I also got a few things at the market for home. Leigah loves the black bread they have in Latvia. It's more than traditional rye/black bread, it also is sticky & sweet with molasses. I also picked up some candy, too.

My arrival to the airport was uneventful which is always nice. I finished checking in just about the time Leigah's foster mom showed up. She came with a flash drive of pictures of Leigah, medical & school documents. I have her pictures to take home. We talked a little longer and than she had to go.

I to my gate, waited & then boarded my flight to Prague. Easy flight with some turbulence but we made it there alive. T the next 19 hours were interesting as I waited for the next flight to Atlanta. I found a place to easy that had cushy booths but was closing their service area and made a pillow out of my purse & a T shirt. When I feel asleep around midnight I was the only one there. When I woke up around 4, there were at least 12. Guess I started a trend. Got up and changed clothes, deoderized and fixed my hair. There was a grocery store in the airport with fresh pastries & fruit, so I got both + a bottle of drinkable yogurt. Mmmmm...so good!!!

My plane to Atlanta took of off on time at 11:05 am & was okay. My legs & feet started swelling & getting but I was next to the window and I didn't want to wake the college guy up every hour!! Our drank a lot pic water and never had a lot of salt but my ankles look like elephant ankles. I'm currently waiting in Atlanta airport for my final leg of this journey. Only 2 more hours and I'm homeward bound. YEAH!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!

At least the next trip I will have the girls. This trip was awesome besides the travel because I was so blessed to be able to spend extra time with Daina & Cathy. It gave me ideas for the next trip!!! Will keep you posted for any new things in our life. As of right now we travel from Sept 8-17. Unless prices go down!!

Jurmala

Daina & crew picked me up a little after noon. The drive to Jurmala only took about 35 mins. But we weren't headed to the beach right away. We headed to an orphanage located in Jurmala. This orphanage houses 45 children from 0-24. The older ones are allowed to stay in a transition house & be supported if they are willing to work hard, study hard and help around the orphanage. There are currently 4 young adults in the transition home. We were privileged to meet all the children that were there because some were in town working. We were given a tour of the home. What was extra special was seeing where some kids that I know have been adopted used to live. To know that it was a clean place with gentle care takers that love the Lord and want what is best for these children. We sat with the social worker for this orphanage because the director is on vacation. The thing that surprised me yet made me smile is that she knew child by name. We asked so many questions I don't even remrmber them all. But one was what are some of their needs...jeans (all sizes), shoes (all sizes), school supplies, money specifically for the kids older than 18 to get care for their teeth. At 18 the gov't stops providing dental care. We met a young, 21 year old girl that used to live in the orphanage. She is the mommy to a sweet 9 month old son, Maris. The social worker said that she is a prime example of one that needs serious help financially for the dentist. The cost for filling 1 tooth, incl. novacaine is around 21 lats. We had tea and said our goodbyes.

We headed back to the touristy part. We walked through a section that had booth after booth of food, clothing, hats & socks and amber everything. We found stuff that we liked & could get later. We walked to the end of a road that went straight to the beach. The sand was very smooth and beautiful. Arvils, Daina's son encouraged us to walk into the water. IT WAS FREEZING!!! And the further you went out the colder it got. It felt like ice! We finished walking through touristy parts. Some strangely dressed folks there but we found out today was the beginning of a week long party. Everyone was awaiting a huge parade. We walked awhile longer and headed to the car. It was hard saying goodbye tonite to Cathy, her girls and Daina. But I will see them again -here, there or in the air!

I have everything packed and ready. I will eat breakfast here and be picked up by the airport shuttle at 11:50. My plane doesn't take off until 3 pm but I might as well get there. I am meeting Leigah's foster mom, Maija at 1 pm. My plane ride to Prague is around 2 hours but my layover will be 19 hours. Sp I need to figure out what to do besides sleep, which I eventually will do. Then off to Atlanta.

I am so excited to see my family at the end of the gate in Springfield, Thursday night. Then to start preparing for the final trip in September.