We are legal!!

We went to the embassy today. Elle has her Visa and we are legal to travel home!! We leave the hotel tomorrow at 9:30 am. Please pray for our safe travels. If any of you see Emma, tell her how very much I love her. Merinda

Love is thicker than Vomit

This morning started like every other with a trip downstairs to the breakfast buffet. Elle has had some intestinal challenges since leaving Vladivostok. Today, though, we had both ends. As I held her in my lap, in the restaurant, she threw up everything she had eaten -- apparently for the last year - all over me. As I was covered from shirt to pants, to shoes, I worried about my little baby. It must be love.

I am so very blessed

When I adopted my daughter Emma, my good friend Caryn flew all the way to Moscow to help me bring her home. Now with Elle, my good friend Debbie flew all the way to Moscow to help me bring her home. As I type this my new daughter is sleeping quietly in her crib and it is just five day until I get to come home and hug my little Emma and see our family. I have received emails and posts from people I love encouraging me throughout this process. This has been so terribly hard, but has been a wonderful opportunity to remember how very blessed I am.

God Works in Mysterious Ways

So, today I traveled to Moscow. I was placed in a bulkhead seat where a bassinet would fit. Aeroflot reserves these areas for families traveling with children because of the bassinet and there is a bit more room. It looked like I might be sitting alone, when a man appeared, obviously put out at the sight of a baby (which he continued to communicate throughout the flight). Understand, there were other seats empty on the airline, so he would have had to have requested the bulkhead -- where the families sit. But, that was not the worst of it. This man smelled worse than any person I have ever smelled in my entire life. I do not have a sensitive nose and have spent time around people from other cultures who believe BO is an aphrodisic, so when i tell you it was bad -- it was soooooooo bad. I actually started feeling nauseous because of the odor. He sat down and with every effort to get settled, a fresh waive of scent was released until finally, he became still and the odor became bareable. But then, a fresh waive of stench, horible, but different than before. Yes, you guessed it -- he took off his shoes!!!! Oh dear Lord, help me!! Nine hours next to that!!!

But, there is a silver lining. My poor dear darling did not have a good flight. She slept all of seven minutes during the flight and have three fairly bad (very -- oh my goodness horrible) bowel movements. One of which soiled an outfit to the point I threw it away on the plane.

If I had been seated next to a pleasent, non stinky person, I would have felt terribly about the stench, the constant movement, and the periodic crying. As it was, I felt free to concentrate all of my energies on the welfare of my daughter, with out a concern for my fellow passenger. As I said, the Lord works in Mysterious ways.

However, without further ado, the moment you have all been waiting for . . . (drum roll please)

ELLE RACHEL CONDRA