We are now a Family of Three

Greetings from Russia
We arrived safely in Moscow on July 26th. We apologize for those of you who tried to call or E-mail right before we left. We had little time from when we received our notification of travel to our departure date, so please understand that we could not call or e-mail everyone.

We had some opportunity for sightseeing in Moscow, but once again …. We had the “luck” of discovering that the Kremlin and St. Basile’s was “closed.” The Russians were rehearsing some entertainment for the Olympics and closed those places to the public AGAIN! Hopefully, the third time will be the charm and we will be able to see upon our final return to Moscow.

Once again, the train was a memorable experience. David had the “pleasure” of experiencing one of the public rest rooms at the Moscow train station. When he came back upstairs, his face looked slightly green. You are charged 15 Roubles (65 cents) for this experience (hopefully one that he will never need again).

This time, our train berth was “air conditioned.” The A/C turned off each time we stopped at a station. David was not a happy camper as the car was not very cool at all. He got less than an hour sleep, while Shari was out cold … NOT FAIR!! (you know who is writing this paragraph ….)

We arrived in Voronezh and was met by our host Ludmilla. She is amazingly organized and is a pleasure to work with. She has amazing pull in Voronezh and our hotel. She walked up to the front desk, and suddenly we were provided with a meeting room and beverages. She and our interpreter Ludmilla (yes we have 2 Ludmillas … so we call them Ludmilla 1 and Ludmilla 2 affectionately). Ludmilla 2 loves to play video games. Her favorite game is Jewel Quest. This game is old and not available in Russia. We managed to find Jewel Quest 1 and 2 back in the US and brought it to her as a gift. That night she played it until midnight.

We prepared for our court session by discussing possible questions that the judge and/or prosecutor could ask. Our session went very well.

That evening we met our friends Galina and Yura for dinner. We went to a Russian restaurant called “City Center.” The food was delicious!

After dinner, Galina took us on a tour of her city. At one stop we met some very happy and happy wedding partyers. Once guy was so drunk he waved to me while peeing off a bridge. He then tried to impress us that he could speak English. Unfortunately, the only two words he knew were Mother F*&^er and he could hardly walk straight or crooked.

She took us to the Eternal Flame for Russian Soldiers. We stood in front of retired tanks and artillery from the Soviet military.

The next morning we went to the baby home to see Ilyssa. We needed special permission to go to the baby home, as they are in the midst of a Chicken Pox epidemic. We found out that she caught them in June. Ilyssa was quite happy to see us.

When we saw her back in May, she was not crawling. This time, she was crawling rather quickly. She also grew more hair. Still no teeth … but they will come in time. She gained 1 pound since we saw her last. She loves to play with toys that make music she was playing with a toy cell phone just what I need another cell phone person) She was very happy and playful.

We had to leave to get back to the city and change into our suits for the court case. We walked with Ludmilla 2 to the Court House and waited for all parties to appear in the court room. Our case lasted less than 2 hours. The judge was very nice and even cracked a few jokes with us. We already had the feeling that Ilyssa would be ours. Our only concern was whether she would be able to waive the mandatory 10 day appeal.

She came back and delivered the verdict and was very happy to inform us that we are the proud parents of Ilyssa Ami Langer. We would receive all her personal documents. On the flip side of things, she regretted that she would not be able to waive the 10 day appeal as there was no medically life threatening reason that would require our immediate exit from Russia.

We also went back to the baby home today to see our daughter – it was such a different feeling as she is now part of our family.

Since we will not get custody of Ilyssa until August 8th, Shari and I will leave Voronezh and take a few days up in St. Petersburg. We plan to visit the Hermitage Museum and a few other attractions. The train from Voronezh to St. Petersburg takes 24 hours (this should be “fun”).

We will return to Voronezh on the 7th and take her out of the Baby Home on the 8th. From that point on and for the rest of her life, she will be together with us.

The next step is to get her passport ready while in Voronezh. Once that is set, we can leave for Moscow as a family and go to the US Embassy to file her immigration papers. She also needs to be examined prior to entry into the US. Once this is done, we will be flying home on August 14th.

Since we are going to miss some birthdays of some very special people -- we want to wish a very happy birthday
Grandpa Howard Langer (today)
Aunt Debi Diaz (July 30)
Aunt Judy Geonie (July 31)
Aunt Kathy McQuillan (August 4th)
Aunt Stephanie Trees (August 13th)

We miss everyone and want to thank you for the wonderful emails

WE ARE PACKED AND READY TO GO

We are semi packed. Yes I know we are leaving in 12 hours Just doing the final packing - We are very excited for the next stage in our lives.
As you might recall from our 1st trip, communication through email might be tough but we will do our best to keep everyone informed.. we are hoping for a 7 day visit instead of the full 17 days. Thank you for all your wonderful phone calls and prayers.

We have our Official Court Date!!! - Ilyssa is Coming Home at Last!!!

Our long wait is over!! We have our court date and have been invited back to Voronezh to bring Ilyssa home, once and for all.

Our painter Charlie painted her room Benjamin Moore "Westin Flax" which is a creamy yellow. The crib is in place and we will order her furniture once we come back. We fell in love with a bedroom set from Pottery Barn Kids. We hope she will love it. No .. her room will not be equipped with a computer (at least not yet .... ). Bedroom pictures to follow once the room is complete.

Our court date is set for Monday, July 28th. By the time you read this on the 28th, the verdict will already be in (as Voronezh is 8 hours ahead of New York). All your wonderful posts, E-mails, Phone Calls and kind words have helped us through these months of waiting.

We hope that the judge will waive the obligatory 10 day appeal process and let us come home with Ilyssa without delay. The cost of the airfare and hotels in Russia are tapping into her
Car/College/Wedding Fund (not that these things exist yet, but who knows, maybe we'll hit the lottery).

If the judge waives the 10 day appeal process (Wide Horizons is planning for this), we leave Voronezh the next day with Ilyssa and endure the 12 hour train ride back to Moscow. We will purchase a train berth for 4 people. It is no larger than the berth we took down to Voronezh; this has 2 upper bunks. Daddy drew the small straw and will sleep in the upper bunk. Let's hope Daddy doesn't fall and break his neck/arm/leg, etc. when he gets up on multiple occasions during the night to go the bathroom.

Once in Moscow, we must go to the American Embassy. She will be examined by American doctors and her paperwork will be completed. She will fly out with a Russian passport, but she will have a special sealed envelope that we must present to the Immigration Officials in New York. Once Immigration clears her, she will have dual citizenship.