Two Days and a Wakeup....

until we leave for Russia. Well we got the grocery shopping done for the "boys" (Keegan and our Nephew) who will be staying at home while I'm in Russia with Gloria. Tonight my goal is to finish my packing. Gloria has created a great calendar of events for me to use while she is gone...I'm horrible at keeping track of everything that is going on so this will be my guide in her absence. We are so looking forward to meeting all of our blog followers and internet friends who will be at the VMI the same time we (Gloria) will be. Gloria has a list of who will be there, when they will arrive/depart. Boy are we getting excited! The picture is what the room at the VMI is like that we will stay in until the kids come to stay there with Gloria (we expect the 20th, which will be after the 10 day wait).

Three days and a wakeup...

until we leave for Russia! We received our Visa's today and our travel confirmations. Suit is back from the cleaners......now I can finish packing. Gloria is already all packed. The picture is the courthouse in Vladivostok where we will be at on the afternoon of October the 9th. Remember that is 10PM (CST) Thursday night. So say a prayer before you go to bed on Thursday for us!

Five Days and a Wakeup

Until we depart for Russia. Here is a picture of the kitchen and dining area of the suite Gloria and the kids will be staying in. We hope to have her all setup with groceries before I leave. Well we spent the morning printing our thank you cards. We used a picture of the 4 of us from our first visit that my sister Sue had expertly photo shopped Keegan into...our first unofficial "family picture", as the front of the card...They turned out very nice. We of course had to make both Russian and English versions. Did some more packing...still don't know if we are going to be able to fit it all.

Seven days and a wakeup...

Until we head to Russia! We need to buckle down and get the thank you cards printed...Busy weekend ahead, Haircuts, close the pool for the winter, pickup suit from cleaners, go to bank to arrange for fresh bills and of course Football. Here is our "puppy". The youngest of our dogs...Indy. Nothing to reference his size here but he's about 215lbs of puppy (so he thinks).

Eight Days and a wake up...

Until we depart. Well we are trying to get everything done around the house so that we leave our Nephew Rob (who will be staying with Keegan and the dogs) with everything he and Keegan need to make it through the week and a half that I will be gone (and Keegan and I through until the 28th when Mom and the kids come home). Last night was pet food night! 88 lbs of dry dog and 24 cases of canned, two 15lb bags of biscuits and some other treats for the 3 Saint Bernards. A 15 lb bag of dry and 3 cases of canned for the single cat (that lives in Gloria's office at work). Now that this is done we can get the pool closed, hair cuts, Kitchen Tiled....etc...

9 days and a wakeup...

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Till we depart...This is our daily countdown...

Last night we agreed on the front for our thank you cards for the caregivers. Today we will work on the inside of the card and hopefully get it translated ok...perhaps tonight we can begin printing.

Packed!!!!

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Well our 4 big bags are packed and all 4 are right at their 50 pound weight limit! When we were in Spassk in May we asked the Staff what they needed for the younger kids...they wanted Lego's and cars for the boys, Done! A big bin of legos and 50 or so matchbox type cars! They also wanted baby dolls and strollers for the girls, Done, 18 baby dolls and 10 strollers! Of course all of this fills two full suitcases. I will be bringing home at least 2 if not 3 empty suitcases when I return on the 13th. Our hotel reservations are made for both the enroute hotel in Seoul and the Vlad Motor Inn for the long stay in Vladivostok.

We had hoped that we might get to have the kids at the hotel during our 10 day wait. WACAP tells us that this is probably not very likely. We will of course continue to ask up until the last minute. It is ultimately the Detski Dom directors decision and of course we understand that the kids are the responsibility of the Detski Dom until the end of the 10 day wait and the liabilities involved.

Well 10 days and a wake up until we depart...