We Made It Home!

We left the hotel in Novokuznetzk, Russia at 5:45 am Wednesday morning (which was 5:45pm Tuesday night at home)and were taken to the airport with Natasha and our driver. We got checked in to fly to Moscow at 7:40. While we were waiting for our flight we met two other couples who were also adopting from another agency from a baby house in Novo. For one of the couples it was their second adoption, so they gave us some pointers to survive our next trip which were really helpful. It was nice to find some other English speaking folks in a sea of Russian speaking folks!!

Our 4 1/2 hour flight to Moscow was uneventful. It was again on the most uncomfortable plane I have ever encountered. They fed us what Natasha kept saying was a "substantial breakfast". Not your typical US fare for sure. They asked if we wanted "chicken, fish, or meat?". I went for the chicken and it was a mistake--it was about 5 small pieces of what looked like boiled chicken on some kind of grain product. I can't say I really ate much, but I did at least taste it. Rich got the "meat" and it was actually pretty good, kind of like chunks of pot roast on white rice. They also served a small salad, a roll, and some pieces of smoked turkey and ham.

We got to Moscow and then had to transfer to the other airport for our international flight. We were met promptly by our driver Dimitri, who didn't speak much English. It was about a 35 mile drive from one aiport to the other, but because the traffic is horrendous, it took us a little over 2 hours to get there. Once there, we had to say goodbye to our friends Stacy and Dave, as they were flying another airline home.

We took off for Atlanta at 1pm for an 11 1/2 hour flight back to the USA!! We arrived in Atlanta ahead of schedule at 4:10pm, then had to go thru customs. It was really kind of strange. We just had to fill out a form, go get our bags, go back thru security, and then recheck our bags. They didn't look in any of our bags at all. We then had a 3 hour layover, before we took off for our blessed Kentucky homeland. We finally landed 29 1/2 hours after we left at 9:30pm. Our bags made it the whole way this time--yeah!! My mom and Betty picked us up at the airport and we went back to my mom's house for a little while to show her a few pictures. We only stayed a little while as we still had an hours drive to get home. Rich decided since he was back in the USA we had to stop at White Castle for a few sliders for the drive home. I must admit they tasted mighty fine after the Russian food!!

So we are now back home. We finally got to bed around midnight Wednesday night and slept til after noon the next day. Luckily, I don't have to go back to work until Monday, so I can rest up before going back, and of course Rich is off on his sabbatical until January, so he has a lot of time to catch up on his sleep. Now the wait begins for our second trip. They told us 6-8 weeks while we were there, but we know realistically it will be more like 10-12 weeks. We are just praying we can get Haylie home in time for Christmas--what a Christmas present that would be.

Unfortunately, our adoption agency has asked us not to post any more pictures until the adoption is final, so I can't show you my pretty girl. Trust me that she is a doll, and as soon as we get her home I'll share LOTS of pictures.