The Pitman's Journey To Russia

Our journey to adopt three beautiful children from Vladivostok, Russia

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Las Night In Russia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is our last night in Moscow. Yahoo!!! We had a great day. We just hung out at the hotel until about 1:30 and then we were picked up to go to the American Embassy. For the most part that whole process was uneventful but we did get to meet a lot of other families who had adopted and will actually be on our same flight to Atlanta. We had a big surprise when we got back in the van. Our coordinator in Moscow, Natalia, said we were going on a tour of downtown Moscow and all the historic buildings. It was wonderful. We got to see so many sites and she told us what everything was. You would not believe all the beautiful Christmas lights. With the snow coming down it felt like a fairytale. The kids did wonderful. It was so cute because AJ started fussing in the back and Olga, our tour guide, was talking to him to settle him down and Max said he was upset because he wanted to be in American right now! You just wonder what is going through their little minds. Max was a chatterbox the whole trip and at one point he asked Olga if this is where everyone lived because their were so many people & cars everywhere. She had to explain to him that people live everywhere and their will be people in America too when he gets there. Max only got sick when we were about 10 minutes from the hotel so we call that a success considering the driver was horrible. I mean really HORRIBLE, either your face was on the front windshield or the back of your head was on the back windshield and it was everything Becky could do not to get sick. We met a couple from Boston, Jim and Andira, who just adopted a little girl. They are staying in the same hotel as us but are not leaving until Christmas Day. We had a really nice dinner (OK as nice as dinner can be with children!). We are being picked up tomorrow at about 9:00 to go to the airport. Hopefully all goes well and our flights are on time. We were told at the Embassy that it will take 45 minutes to get through immigration with the kids so please pray it does not take that long so we don’t miss our flight. We can’t wait to be home. Merry Christmas to All! Have a blessed and safe holiday.

8 comments:

Heather Brandt said...

I bet we are going to see you tomorrow at the airport! We are flying to Atlanta tomorrow (12/24) too!

We are praying that the flight is pretty empty except for us adoptive families (and that the other passengers are patient with us and our kids!)

Heather
www.russianblessings.wordpress.com

Carey and Norman said...

Glad you had a nice time at the Embassy and were given a tour of Moscow afterwards. What a fun way to end your stay!

Safe travels and Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

What a great family picture! I was showing it to some of my co workers today and they all agree you have a beautiful family!

Anonymous said...

Immigration with kids sometime goes real fast! It took me less than 5 minutes my second time. Praying for a safe an uneventful flight. Love your blog!

Tracey and Chuck said...

Eric and Becky,
My husband and I are a CHI family waiting to adopt from Russia and have been following your blog. We are so excited that you are heading home with your forever family. We have just been assigned to Vladivostok as well. Maybe when you get home and settled we could chat one day about your experiences. Have a safe trip home and a very Merry Christmas.

Tony and Dawn said...

Merry Christmas! I pray you made it home safely with all the weather in the US when you were returning (I almost got stuck in Cincinnati). How about the Moscow McDonald's! Same food as hear but the service of Chick-Fil-A! Welcome home -

Cindy said...

I"m so jealous!!!!!! We didn't get a tour of Moscow, and we barely got any attention at all from the CHI staff while we were there. Irina and Lana in Vlad were wonderful, but the Moscow staff leaves a bit more to be desired. I'm sure they are nice people, but we don't all get the same service, for sure. Oh well! It's the end product from this whole experience that is the most important.

Cindy

Anonymous said...

This is a special privilege to be involved with this special event in your lives that will last forever. I am so glad that Harriet told me how to get on your blog.
Congratulations 3-fold.
Marsha Langdon