So we are leaving on monday and I am a little scared. I guess it is a good scared, but nonetheless frightened. We are slowly getting around to that packing thing. I actually have to remind myself that we are going to meet our son. We have been so busy with preparations that I keep forgetting that there is actually a purpose for this visit.
So here is how the trip is going to work out. We leave at 1:20pm from Seattle and arrive in Seoul, Korea at 5:00pm on the 31st (the next day!) We will meet up with Candy and Doug Jobes in the airport and have dinner with them. They are also travelling to Khabarovsk to meet their daughter. We then have a 16 hour layover in Korea where we will get some sleep at the transit hotel. We then depart at 9:30 am for Khab and arrive at 2:30pm. We probably won't get to go to the orphanage that day, but we will keep our fingers crossed. We are told we only will get to see the baby for 2-2 1/2 hours each day we are there. But of course we are only there 2 full days.
We plan on having dinner with 5 other families that first night in town. There is one family already there, they had their court date on the 24th. Then 3 families have their court dates the 31st, the 2nd and the 3rd. One big happy family! It will be so much fun to finally see these faces in person.
We will also get to see a family friend who lives in Khabarovsk. Galina Potapova is a friend of Derek's mom and has graciously agreed to see us while we are there. We have not seen her in close to 10 years. We hope she will be able to show us some sights of her town.
We then come home on Saturday the 4th. We depart Khab at 3:40 and arrive in Seattle at 10:10pm. Of course we will have stops in Seoul and LAX. Then it will be off and running to finish up our paperwork so we can go back as soon as possible!
We have one request from our family and friends. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and also pray for the children we will leave behind. We are preparing ourselves to leave the baby in the orphanage, but we need as much support we can get. We can't do this alone. Also, if you have the time please leave us a comment on the blog. We will be able to read email and maybe post to the blog. But we would love to hear some of your well-wishes while we are gone. It makes us feel very good to know that we have the support of so many.
Blessings to you all! Lisa