I'm Sorry to Inform You...

That we will not be home on schedule.  OK...sorry, that was mean.  But we can't leave on the 9th because J SAID YES!  And he's coming home!  And the orphan court needs that much time to get the ministry to issue a referral for him and then do court again.  So, we definitely need to change our flights...which is a stressor but, He'll work this out like everything else!

So, let's start at the beginning...this morning:

We had a great morning.  Thankfully Daina was too busy for a morning court time so we were scheduled for 1pm as you all know.  What a blessing! We slept til about 9am and then started in on breakfast (sooooo glad I packed that suitcase of food!  Instant oatmeal, granola bars...man what a savings!)  Zach was up first and we could tell he was worried...not troubled but concerned if that makes sense. 

We had a great morning though all piled on our bed drinking coffee, remembering funny moments on the plane, just laughing like crazy.  We needed to leave by 11:30am to walk over to Cili Pica to meet Daina so we started getting ready...picking out the right outfits and making sure we all looked our best.  E really slept late and about 10am he comes shuffling in our room already fully dressed in his blue jeans and auto t-shirt, auto socks carrying his new Vans shoes.  I ran him back to his room and put on the clothes we had picked out for court (thanks Chastity!  tan courdoroys, green button down...but I relented and allowed his auto shirt under the green one). 

We rushed to finish up and before running out the door, we all stopped to pray...to really give this day to God and thank Him for all the friends and family we had praying for us all over the world and to trust Him with the outcome.  Easy to say but hard to do, yet we truly felt His peace as we walked to meet Daina. 

We feel so citified (put my southern accent on that one).  We walked down the main avenue toward Freedom Monument and passed these gorgeous flower stands.  I SO wish my mother-in-law could see these flowers.  The size, color and kinds I've never seen before.  Don't worry, I did take pictures!  Walked a little further past the Russian Orthodox Church where Gary and I stopped to pray in March...on down past Freedom Monument...stopping briefly on the bridge for a photo to prove Riga is not frozen all the time!

Nerves are a little crazy at this point and you cannot imagine my relief when I spot Daina.  She's looking wonderful as usual but says she's suffering from her once a year headache.  She is truly like a calming balm in this process.  Between her and Kelly Barth, our case worker, I really don't know how they do it all.  All these families wanting their children and these two women work all over the great country of Latvia.  Daina literally drives all over, city to city, to be there in person for all these families.  Just amazing.  God's Angels in the flesh!

We jumped in her car with her son driving (again, her giving so much of herself! and her family too!) and head to Jurmala.  All the way there I am asking questions about how this will work, what if Janis does say yes, where do we have to be next...she is calm all the way, answering my questions as best she can and assuring me that if Janis says yes, she will get it done as quickly as possible.  We share with her we have no idea what will happen but we are hoping and praying for the best.

I have to stop here for a minute and just say I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW WONDERFUL IT IS TO BE TYPING THIS AND HEARING MY TWO TEENAGE SONS BANTER ABOUT SHOES AND COOL JACKETS!  God's mercy is amazing and wonderful!!

So, back to court...we arrive at Jurmala court and Daina says we need to sign three documents.  She says we will sign for E today but she has already prepared for J...in hopes that we are there soon.  We go in and head upstairs and  Daina lets them know we are all here and just waiting for Kristiana.  We wait a while longer and we get a call from  her...that she AND J are on their way.  According to Daina, my eyes got as big as my head and Gary and I both cried, laughed and then cried some more.  We didn't know what that meant but we knew for sure we were going to see him at least. 

We sat and waited and suddenly Mae said "Mom!  There he is!!"  He came up the stairs and we rushed over and cried and hugged and cried some more.  After he'd hugged everyone, he quietly said, "Mom...I've decided I want to come home."  I couldn't believe I was hearing those words.  Gary said, what did he say?  And I repeated it.  And Gary jumped up and danced a little jig and everyone was so happy to see all this happening.

I am forever grateful to everyone in Latvia who has faithfully worked on all of this to get us to this point.  We all agree, it is simply God working in His timing to make this miracle happen. 

And so the court proceedings began...they interviewed E and our translator said he did well.  Then they interviewed me and Gary...we did well but we were a little unclear on some of our questions.  They asked us how long we wanted to visit with him, keep him...and we didn't realize that they were asking for this "visitation" period while in Latvia...so we said forever!  HAHA.  They asked us what countless friends and family have either asked or thought about asking:  You have three kids, animals, demanding jobs...why in the world do you want two more kids?  And our answer?  Because God told us to and we love them like we love our own birth kids. 

Then they interviewed J...for a while!  After that we went back in to talk to them again, this time about J.  Then they agreed to allow us to "host" J and "preadopt" E.  They have to do it this way because we don't have the referral yet.  That's ok...he's with us...and tonight I get to experience what I have begged for...I am the Mama to five beautiful children!  So, now we have to wait for our referral, do another round of courts and then get visas...which will extend us til at least the 15th of September.  That's ok...we've said whatever it takes...and we meant it.  If we were in this for only the easy stuff, we'd have jumped ship long ago.

Please please be praying that by another miracle, all can get done faster and maybe we won't have to change flights.  And that if we do, the fees for the changes will be affordable for us to work with. 

So after court, we headed to Kemeri to get J's things.  It was so good to be back there...I LOVE the people there!  They love the children so much and truly try to work with them and for them.  We sat in Kristiana's office and had a civilized cup of tea while we reviewed documents.  J packed a backpack to come with us and we got our painting that Diana had done for us back in March.  We needed to kill some time before the train came at 5pm.  So we walked down the street, showing the children where J and E were from.  Came up by the local store and stopped in for sodas and water...E had to get an auto candy! 

We passed two girls on the street that looked shocked and they spoke to J in Latvian.  After we walked by he said they knew E from before and could not BELIEVE how different he is now.  We walked on toward the train station and saw E's old school and, now, J's old school and then on to the train. 

We headed in on the train and stopped off and picked up a friend of J's to come and join us for dinner.  Our day had been so so busy we never ate lunch...only snacks and breakfast.  We got into Riga at 6pm, walked to the apartment (can you believe there was some kind of festival going on in the park beside the apartment with Disney Cars bouncehouses!  E was in heaven!!).  After changing clothes we headed to Cili Pica for dinner to celebrate.  Dinner was great...we were starving!  And then we headed to Double Coffee for dessert and coffee.  A really fun night! 

We got back here at 9:30 or so and J's friend had to catch the 10:30pm train to Tukums.  Gary and Zach walked with them to the train station and we got little E in the bed.  Once they returned we had a great time just catching up.  No more silence, no more wondering if we really loved him in spite of anything he could have done or said.  He wanted to really talk to us and he did.  It isn't going to be easy...but he loves us and we love him and this is what families do. 

And every time I look over at the couch and see him sitting there beside Gary and Marleigh, I praise God for allowing me this.  Family is what matters..our kids matter.  They are worth it...if they are born to us or brought to us...they are worth it.  Every heartache, every stress, every disappointment...and every joy, every celebration, every hug.  We promise our spouses we take them for better or for worse...why in the world would we not promise our kids the same thing?

I promise not to get hung up on wanting things perfect immediately...it isn't going to be.  I do promise to enjoy every day starting today.  The really cool thing too is that E has never given up on J.  Tonight as I put him to bed, all the big boys had gone to walk J's friend back to the train.  He walked around the apartment saying "J, hug?  Zachturn hug?   Daddy hug?" And as soon as they got home they went in to make a little boy's night. 

There's a lot of history here for J...so we've decided we'd do every other day.  One day just us, bonding and building our family...and one day with one friend or family member from here.  We're being honest with each other and tonight started the real conversations of what we expect and what he needs.  He's an amazing young man and he's already fallen right back into the yes ma'ams and yes sirs.

Please keep praying for us...we've a long road to go yet.  But God knew the desires of our heart as a family and He chose to grant them to us.  And we'll be true to that.  Love y'all!