WE LEAVE TOMORROW!

This is the time we have been waiting for!!!! We are packed and ready to go. We will arrive in Moscow around 12:15 p.m. on Sunday. We will be picked up at the airport in Moscow by our translator (I believe Nadia) and our driver and they will take us to Kaluga which is about a 3 hour drive.

I spoke with "C" today and she said that we probably will not get to go to the orphanage until Monday. So, I guess we'll go to our hotel, try to settle in and get organized and get a little sleep (TRY anyway).

We both cannot WAIT to see this little girl. Hopefully all goes well and we are able have some good news to share!

Bye everyone....next post will be from RUSSIA!

Renae and Joe

WE GOT OUR TRAVEL DATES!!!!!!

I received and e-mail from "C" today telling us that we are going to Russia on Saturday, October 11th and leaving Russia on Saturday, October 18th....yeaaaaah!

We are now going through the crazy rush process of sending for our visa's and making flight and hotel reservations. Hopefully that will all be done tonight and tomorrow.
"C" said that we will arrive in Moscow on Sunday and a car will pick us up to go directly to Kaluga, which is the region where we are going to visit this sweet little girl. The trip from Moscow to Kaluga is a 3-5 hour drive. We will then go to the orphanage to visit on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday....drive back to Moscow on Thursday (hopefully after accepting our referral), have our 8 doctor medical on Friday and fly home on Saturday.....whew!

I'll keep you all posted!

I sure hope all of you other families get some good news real soon also!

Renae and Joe

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!

We are FINALLY going to Russia! I actually got a call last Tuesday from "C" who offered us a referral for a little girl in Kaluga. She sent us some pictures and a little bit of medical information and, after reviewing her medical information with our IA doctor over the weekend, we called "C" and told her that we would love to go and meet this little girl!

We are SO excited and yet nervous at the same time! "C" said she thinks we will be traveling the weekend of the 11th....that's in 2 WEEKS!

I called my son Michael and the rest of our family to tell them the WONDERFUL news and they were ALL just as excited as we were! It is SO great to have such a loving, supportive family and we can't wait to bring our daughter home to be a part of it!!!

Now the packing and preparation of traveling begins...yikes! I have to get my lists made!

We'll keep you updated!

Renae and Joe

STILL IN KEMOROVO....FOR NOW

I spoke with C last Thursday and she said that they want to keep our dossier in Kemorovo after all. She was told that there is a CHANCE that there may be another girl referral in September. She said that she will not keep us there long though, so if there isn't a referral by the middle of September, we will again discuss our options. I am going SO crazy....I really hope we do get a call in September!

Meanwhile, Joe and I took yet another trip to the Florida Keys! I really needed it after being told we would possibly get our call in July....and didn't.....and then being told that Kemerovo wasn't giving any girl referrals until at least January of next year (which may not be the case now...who knows). It felt REALLY good to just relax, drink some delicious margeritas and do a little fishing.....who CARED if hurricane Fay was on it's way to the keys also.

Saturday night Joe and I were at Lazy Days, one of our FAVORITE places to eat overlooking the ocean. We got a call from our Captain for our Sunday morning trip and he said that it's going to be some GREAT fishing tomorrow and that the storm isn't supposed to REALLY hit until Tuesday night. He said that they just called for an evacuation for all visitors for Sunday morning at 8:00, but we're coming back in at 3:00 and then we can just get into the evacuation line. ARE WE CRAZY?!?!?!

So, we DID go out and it WAS beautiful most of the trip except it was a little windy and the waves were about 5 foot. I wasn't nervous until we were heading back and it got REAL dark and REAL windy. We did catch alot of dolphin, but it was just a little too rough out there and it was a bit hectic on the boat as far as the fishing went....but it was fun! Joe and I wished we were staying so we could actually see the storm, but we got out just before it got really bad.

Now, we wait and see if we get our call in September.....I REALLY, REALLY hope we do because this is WAY too stressful!

Congratulations to Karen and Cathy who traveled on their first trips to meet and accept their baby girl and boy!!!! And to Michelle who had her Gotcha Day with her precious little girl!

Good luck to the families who will be traveling or are traveling right now!!!!

bye for now,

Renae and Joe

WHERE O' WHERE IS OUR LITTLE GIRL?????

NOT in Kemerovo. Joe and I just got a call from "C" today around 5:00 telling us that there will be no more invites to travel to Kemerovo until AT LEAST January. Kemerovo said they filled their quota for the year. Talking about our bubble bursting!!!! Every day now we have been on pins and needles because we were told that there was a good possibility that there would be another girl referral from Kemerovo by the end of July. So, EVERY DAY we have been hoping it would be OUR day....and then we get this news.

C said that she would recommend NOT waiting in Kemerovo since we did not receive a referral from there. Joe and I totally agreed, so our dossier will now be sent to another region to wait on our baby girl. It's o.k. though, our agency has been moving pretty quick with the girl referrals so we feel positive about it being not too long from now anyway.....HOPEFULLY!!

I DO feel really bad, however, for a few of the families (one really good friend) who have already received their referrals from Kemerovo and do not know when they will be able to travel to meet their children...I know this has to be so difficult for them.

I guess we'll find out soon enough what region our daughter will be in.....hopefully SOONER than LATER!!!

Renae

STILL WAITING

Hi everyone,

Not much going on to post about lately, we are still ANXIOUSLY waiting to get "the call." We are NEXT to get a baby girl referral in Kemerovo City.....I'm sure most of you know the anxiety I am feeling right now. It has been a little over a year since our dossier first arrived in Russia (July 13, 2007), and we are praying our call will be by the end of this month!

What HAS been keeping me sane is seeing all the other families traveling and bringing home their BEAUTIFUL children. Congratulations to all of those families!!!!!

Bye for now,

Renae and Joe

YES WE'LL BE THE "GUINEA PIGS"

I received a call today from our agency...not "THE CALL," but an exciting one nonetheless! C from our agency called and asked if Joe and I would be interested in being a "guinea pig" in a new region that they have not worked out of yet. She said that Kemerovo City (not Region) has requested dossiers. Kemerovo City is in southern Siberia and is a 4 hour plane ride from Moscow. When I heard this, I was sooooo excited! Joe and I have had our hearts set on Siberia from the beginning of our adoption journey. She said that there is another family whose dossier she is going to send over also, but she is not sure if we would travel at the same time.

With this City, we would receive a referral picture and a little bit of medical...which I was so pumped about because we could have the IA doctor look at the medical and give us her opinion, as apposed to going in blind. The only thing C said was that she didn't know how long the wait would be in between trips.

I was like "Yes, we would LOVE to be guinea pigs for this City!" C said "good, I'll send your dossier over and see what Kemerovo sais." I was soooo excited! I hope that this is where we will finally be registered....and hopefully soon we will get our call we have been waiting for for almost a year now.

If anyone has adopted from Kemerovo City, I would love to hear your experience there!

On a different note, GO PENGUINS!!!!!!! we will be sitting in front of the t.v. at 8:00 tonight, with our "TERRIBLE TOWELS" cheering on the Pittsburgh Penguins who are playing the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup. GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!

Renae and Joe