We're in Moscow!

We arrived Monday morning after riding the overnight train. Sunday went well - Dima had a good birthday. We had a Georgian feast with the 2 grandmothers, 2 friends, girlfriend, and Natasha. The kids' biological mother did not come but they spoke to her on the phone before leaving St. Petersburg.

The friends - 2 15yo boys that rode the train from the orphanage camp - brought a cake for Dima, such a thoughtful thing for 2 15yo boys to do. And he got gifts from the others. The grandmothers gave us ALL gifts, so much that we were very thankful to have just enough room in our luggage! We have all kinds of souvenirs from St. Petersburg, and even 2 family photo albums that include pictures of when the kids were young. These are priceless items that most adoptive families never get. The paternal grandmother and a great aunt came to the train station to see us off later that night, while the maternal grandmother went back to the hospital to be with their grandfather. The kids of course had mixed emotions leaving their friends and relatives behind, but they maintained their excitement about things to come.

They loved the train ride. Dima says he slept for about an hour - he was just too excited. He gets so excited about everything - not overly so, but he has such a boyish love of life, appreciates the small things, and isn't afraid to show it. We hope he never loses that. Dasha slept the most but also had a really good time.

When we got here Monday morning, we checked into the hotel and the doctor came to visit us for the mandatory examinations for the kids' visas. We were amazed that doctors still make house calls! Dr. Read, we'll be expecting the same treatment when we get back :-) The visits were quick and easy, and the worst we found out is that Dasha has cavities and needs to see the dentist. No big surprise there.

After long naps that we tricked the kids into, we went swimming in the hotel's indoor pool. The kids love to swim, so we'll be visiting there for the next 2 days, I'm sure. Today we have an appointment at the US embassy to order visas, then tomorrow we are free to do as we please while Buckner staff takes care of the rest. We plan to go to Red Square for a little while.

The natives get restless with our long blogs, and we are in the hotel lobby, so I think we will head upstairs to wait for our embassy appointments.

Over and over we are reminded of how wonderful our friends and family have been to us during this long process. We have really enjoyed blogging and reading your comments back to us! We'll plan on blogging at least one more time, either from here or after we get home.

The kids are looking forward to the flight but are a little nervous about it, so if you could pray for peace and safety, that would be great! We love you and can't wait to get home!!!

Karen, Bob, Dima, and Dasha