We made it home!! 

We had a fun overnight in London...Robyn shopped while I took the kids to a Christmas Fair in Hyde Park.  We enjoyed real hotdogs, hot chocolate, and cotton candy. We took the city double decker bus and toured some of London Yesterday morning, we took a quick trip downtown to see Big Ben, the London, Eye, Westminster Abby, and area before heading to the airport. 

We took the bus from the Leonard to Paddington Station and then the Heathrow Express train to the airport.  We almost missed the plane as we had a ticket agent that appeared to not really know what she was doing.  It took her 50 minutes to print our tickets.  After finally receiving the tickets, we spirited to security and then found out she had done something wrong.  We spirited back to another counter and had to have them fixed.  By the time, we got back to security, the guard said that if we had been ONE (1) minute later, he would not have been able to allow us to proceed on.  WOW!  So we then quickly made it through security where most of us had to get the full body pat down and then we were off to the races to catch our plane.  O.J. Simpson has nothing on Robyn when she is trying to catch a plane after being gone for a month.  That girl had some moves!!  I brought up the rear as I continued to count heads and push Sarah Jane.  We made it to the gate with no time to spare but we did make it on the plane....whew!! 

Loved the moment we first saw Canada and I was able to show Karolina and Sarah Jane "America!!"  They kept looking down and saying "America!!" over and over again.  So cool to experience that with them. 

Arrived about an hour later than planned but made it through Customs and then Immigration very easily.  They stamped the kids passports and then they were official U.S. citizens!!

We then picked up our 10 big suitcases of luggage and as we were leaving we were randomly picked to go through an Agriculture inspection.  Oh boy.  So we headed down to that room and unloaded all the bags for scanning and then packed them all back up.  We were met my Grannie, Grandmother, Poppy, and Edsel at the exit.  The new kids ran up to them and gave them big hugs.  Life is good.

(Big thanks to them all for bring us our vehicles.  Grandmother and Poppy even drove home so we could get some rest. Thank you!!)

Headed home in our two Expeditions.  Yes, it took both to haul all of our family plus bags back home.  Kids were super excited to tour their new home and kept running from room to room saying "WOW!!" Some sweet friends and family had decorated our home for Christmas and made everything so neat and clean (take a picture).  We finally settled in about 2:30 in the morning (or 9:30 am back in Poland).  So good to sleep in my own bed again...oh, how I missed you.

We have visas!!

Sasha delivered us the visas he picked up at the U.S. Embassy today.  So we can now all go home. We have an overnight layover in London - got to hate that ;) - and then we are home Wednesday evening.

Prayer bracelet

My personal journey into adoption started during a medical mission trip that Tucker and I took to Ecuador back in 2009.  Tucker and I went by the local orphanage to drop off some clothing and other supplies we had brought from the States.  This orphanage had 55 children in a 1,200 SF home.  The children actually had cubby holes for beds and were limited in the amount of time they could come out because of the lack of space and workers.  The Lord spoke to my heart right then that we could provide for orphans that need forever families. 

At the orphanage in Shell, Ecuador

The following year, we were in Peru where I met a little girl named Brittany.   She and I bonded immediately.  She did have a mother but no father.  On the last day of our trip, she made me this prayer bracelet that I have worn continually ever since. 

I have prayed for Brittany every day since then.  The bracelet was also a reminder for me to pray each day for orphans and the children that God would allow us to adopt.  So now that we officially have Karolina, Peter, and Sarah Jane, we celebrated by taking the bracelet off...three and a half years after another fatherless child put it on my wrist. 

Genesis 22 talks about how God had to take Abraham on a long journey to prepare his heart for what He had planned for Abraham and his child.

Thank you Lord for taking me on our journey to adoption.  It was not an easy journey, at times, but one that the Lord took us on to prepare us for what He had planned. One that started in Ecuador then Peru, and now on to Poland.

Back to Krakow

We had to leave Krakow to come back to Warsaw for the children's medical exams before the Christmas Market opened. Today, Robyn and Tucker went back. They took the train from Piaseczno to Warsaw and then another train from Warsaw down to Krakow.  So glad and proud she went back.  I took them to the train station a little before 7 AM and they were in Krakow before noon.  They shopped the markets and other stores in the area.  They went to Coffee Heaven and had a nice lunch.  They headed back about 4:30 and I picked them up at the station in Piaseczno (5 minute drive from our house) about 8:30 PM.

Us kids just had a good, relaxing day at the house (with a little cleaning and catching up on the laundry).

Laundry

Our place has a very small washing machine and no dryer.  In fact, dryers are very unusual in Poland. Here is part of our laundry for a typical day. Polyesters, wools, and blends dry much faster than thick cottons.  We have clothes strung up everywhere downstairs...here in the laundry area, the hallway, and the other small room.  Lots and lots of clothes to hang and wait to dry.

Good to see so many girls' clothes. :)

Glad I brought a flashlight

It was too icy and windy (25 mph gusts) this morning to run before heading into Warsaw.  So after we returned to the house, I headed out for a test run.  Test run - not sure if it would be 5 feet or 5 miles due to the patches of ice on the sidewalks and streets.  The first mile was a little iffy but not bad.  About mile 2, it started to get really dark.  I was thinking to myself, I know it gets dark here early but it is only 1:45.  Then I saw it, I huge wall of falling snow heading towards me.  I thought, well this will be fun to run with the snow falling.  Went another half mile with the snow continuing to fall faster and faster.  Now, nothing was sticking so all was going well.  Then, the snow started to stick.  Not just a little, a lot... within a block, went from no snow to leaving tracks.  Another block and solid covering of snow. Another block and I started hearing snow crunch under my shoes.  Oh boy!  Another block and decided to turn back towards the house. Had to turn into the wind which actually took my breathe away to the point I had to stop and walk (I DON'T WALK) for a few seconds.  Started to do my swimmer's breathing...turning my head to the side to catch a breath.  OK, another block down but now I am having a hard time figuring out where the sidewalks ends and the street begins.  So in about five minutes, we went from no snow to white-out.  Turned on my safety flashlight that is attached to my running jacket to help see and for cars to see me.  So it was a little after 2 PM and almost dark from the heavy snow clouds.  Wow - this is way cool for a boy from Alabama. 

Had a fun run back on a thick blanket of fresh snow.  Then had a great snow ball fight with the kids. Snow storm only lasted 45 minutes but lots of fun.

Note:  power has gone off and on since yesterday afternoon.  So remember to have a few flashlights handy. It was dark again for the second time today at 3:50.    

After the fun run

Sarah Jane - loved the snow

 Karolina's snow ball

Loved running on this stuff

Prepare to get naked

Went to the U.S. Embassy today for the first time.  Prepare to get naked...of any metals...to get in to the embassy. You have to give up your smartphone, cell phone, or any other electronic devices (I really feel naked without my phone).  Wearing a watch...off...wearing a belt...off...large jewelry...off...so be prepared to feel like you are in an airport. Also, note that NO large bags are allowed but passports are required.

So after our security search, we made it to the waiting area.  After a few minutes our "Specialist" arrived behind a large bullet-proof window.  She said we could not have our embassy interview until we had our kids' passports and DS260 forms completed and submitted. Sooooooo, Sasha and I raced down the street to the Passport office to see if we could get the Polish passports.  After a little wait, we were able to meet with one of the Administrators that issued the passports. We had to check all the spellings, DOB, etc... and then sign off on everything.  She then gave me the passports.  Once we got through there, we raced back out side and then Sasha asked if I had brought my laptop to complete the DS260.  I looked at him with this blank stare and said, "You did not tell me to bring MY laptop."  Oh boy, thankfully I had picked my smartphone back up on the way back out of the Embassy so I completed the forms on it - adding in the kids passport numbers, date issued (today), date expired (one year from today).  I had to review and confirm each page again of the form so it did take some time to finish.  Then I started on the next child.  Finally, after the third child's form was completed and I had pushed submit, we raced back into the Embassy. Back through a second "security screening" and then back to the waiting room.  Robyn and the kids had been hanging out there the entire time - her job probably was harder than ours just keeping the natives from going crazy.  We were then able to submit the passports to the Specialist and confirmed to her that the DS260 forms had been completed including the passport information and submitted online. She said to wait and she would see if we could get the interview scheduled. About 10 minutes later, we were called to another security window for our interview.  The nice lady, we are now surprised when we hear plain English, asked us basic questions:

• How long have you been in Poland?  "A month."
• Are the children adjusting well? "Yes!"
• Was Lifeline your adoption agency? "Yes"
• How did they do?  "Fantastic!"
• I see you changed from another country?  "Yes, Peru."
• Why the change?  "More multi-children adoption opportunities."
• I see you are from Alabama.  Did you watch the game Saturday?  Yes with big grins. 
• Are you both Auburn grads?  Thinking to myself...did the grins give it away?  "Yes and I am a third generation Auburn grad."  Yes, I needed her to know that...for national security reasons. 
• I see you have four other children? "Yes and they are with us here in Poland."
• Well, that should be a fun plane ride back home. "OH, yes!"
• I see you are flying out Tuesday?  "Yes."
• Well, the visas will be ready Monday morning for you or your representative to pick up.  "Thank you so much!"

SWEET!!  We have completed our to-do list.  Visas on Monday and then we are out-a-here on Tuesday!! 

One note:  It took us about 1:15 to get to the Embassy even though the GPS said 45 minutes with heavy traffic.  The traffic is just so congested. It took 40 minutes just to go the first four miles.  Not complaining, just pointing out that you need to allow plenty of extra time to drive anywhere.

Whew!!  Crazy but fun morning.