We are so happy to be home. But it is bittersweet knowing our Samuel is so far away. Despite a little jet lag and a sinus infection, we are doing well. Finally we are back to normal, thanks to strong antibiotics, and enjoying family and the comforts of home! Our 23+ hour trek home was good, yet eventful.A few highlights...
Our flight from Rostov to Frankfurt was delayed, only no one told us. So we sat and waited for a couple hours, watching the clock, wondering if we'd make our 11 hour flight to LA. No announcement, no explanation, and almost 2 hours late we boarded the plane to soon find out the air conditioning was not working! It was a hot & sticky 3 1/2 hours, but we survived. 
Unfortunately, because of the delay we had only a few minutes to make it to our next flight. After a slow bus ride from plane to terminal we went on a mad dash...up and down stairs, on and off the sky line tram, oops wrong stop, back on and off the sky line tram, and then up and down the stairs again, carrying our bulky carry-on's. At one point as we ran through the terminal, Ryan turned around to see me lagging behind and said, "you've got to be kidding, is that as fast as you can go?" Confident this was said in love, and too out of breath to argue, I did my best to catch up. We arrived at the check in desk 10 minutes after scheduled departure, just as they were boarding the last family. Whew! We said farewell to our luggage, as we knew it would never make it in time and boarded the plane. We knew our seats were awful...row 36 in the back of the plane-smack in the middle, no window, no aisle. As we boarded, to the left was first class, and as we turned right we walked through two sections of business class, before coming to "Economy Plus", all on our way to "no knee room" class. I spotted 2 empty seats, 1 window and 1 aisle, and together! Knowing we were the last to board the plane, I asked a flight attendant if we could take the empty seats. He knowingly grinned and said he had no idea about the seat assignments. Taking his que, and knowing no one else was boarding behind us, we plopped down and claimed them. Ahh, God is good. Of course, this is true, whether we are in row 36, seats d and e, or if we are stuck in the Frankfurt airport for 12 hours. But it is especially cool when he gives us these little earthly comforts when we think we need them the most. I told Ryan as we rolled away from the gate, if our flight had been on time, we would have never known these seats were available.
Unfortunately, because of the delay we had only a few minutes to make it to our next flight. After a slow bus ride from plane to terminal we went on a mad dash...up and down stairs, on and off the sky line tram, oops wrong stop, back on and off the sky line tram, and then up and down the stairs again, carrying our bulky carry-on's. At one point as we ran through the terminal, Ryan turned around to see me lagging behind and said, "you've got to be kidding, is that as fast as you can go?" Confident this was said in love, and too out of breath to argue, I did my best to catch up. We arrived at the check in desk 10 minutes after scheduled departure, just as they were boarding the last family. Whew! We said farewell to our luggage, as we knew it would never make it in time and boarded the plane. We knew our seats were awful...row 36 in the back of the plane-smack in the middle, no window, no aisle. As we boarded, to the left was first class, and as we turned right we walked through two sections of business class, before coming to "Economy Plus", all on our way to "no knee room" class. I spotted 2 empty seats, 1 window and 1 aisle, and together! Knowing we were the last to board the plane, I asked a flight attendant if we could take the empty seats. He knowingly grinned and said he had no idea about the seat assignments. Taking his que, and knowing no one else was boarding behind us, we plopped down and claimed them. Ahh, God is good. Of course, this is true, whether we are in row 36, seats d and e, or if we are stuck in the Frankfurt airport for 12 hours. But it is especially cool when he gives us these little earthly comforts when we think we need them the most. I told Ryan as we rolled away from the gate, if our flight had been on time, we would have never known these seats were available. This story goes along with our long flight 7 days earlier, on our way to Russia. We asked the lady behind the desk who was checking us in, in Fresno, if we could better our seat assignment for our LA to Frankfurt flight. Our original seat assignments for that flight were also in the back of the economy section, row 34 I think. She moved us to a window and aisle seat assignment in row 24. We were just happy to have moved up from the back of the plane by several rows and for Ryan, to a window. He's like a little boy on airplanes, marveling at everything he sees out the window. Later, as we checked in at the gate in Los Angeles, the gate attendant instructed us that our seats were in the "Economy Plus" section. She said these seats are normally a $150/seat upgrade and have a couple of more inches in leg room than the standard "Economy" seats. For those accustomed to first class, this may not be a big deal, but to us, these seats were luxurious, and we were grateful.
2 international flights, 10 hours going east, 11 hours coming back, and 2 upgraded seat assignments to rows 21 and 24, seats A and B, without an extra penny.
Home, we love being home. When we arrived, we were greeted with the much anticipated hugs and kisses from our kids, and many funny stories from camp. We got an earful about the treehouse built with Papa, which they had affectionately named "Fort Papa", snakes, airsoft gun wars, baby birds, donuts, movies, video games, and something about Noah overflowing Papa and Grandma's entire septic system. You'll have to ask Papa about that one, but sounds like GOOD TIMES to us. Calmer heads figure the overflow was actually the result of a large increase in water usage at the campsite, for many baths, showers, and nonstop laundry. But Noah was at the wrong place at the wrong time, so all of the campers lay the blame on his mighty little shoulders. Oh the funny stories that erupt when 5 boys are together for too long. Thank goodness for little girls to at least balance the smells and noises a little bit. 
The head counselors, I have to say, did a fabulous job. All campers were happy and in one piece. My mom was busy 24/7 cooking all their favorite meals and washing clothes. It was a rude awakening on Sunday morning at home, when Taylor awoke to make-your-own-bagels! Thank you Mom and Dad, we love you! The sacrifice was great, we know, but we hope the reward is great as well.
We are missing Samuel and each night we pray for his day as it is just beginning for him. We were able to show the kids some video of Samuel playing. They think he's very cute and expressed they can't wait until he is here. Lauren, at bedtime that night said "Mom, when I was watching that video of Samuel, I was crying with joy." No doubt God is doing a work in our childrens' hearts to prepare them to love and accept their new brother. We know he will be the perfect addition to our family!
Much love,
Ally for Ryan
Prayer Requests
* For Samuel as he waits for us.
* For paperwork - that we'll complete all we have left to do, to receive our invitation to go back as soon as possible for our court date.
* That the US Citizenship and Immigration Service would process our application QUICKLY (see below)
For those that aren't aware of what this means. When you adopt an orphan from another country, you need approval from the USCIS, before you can get a travel visa for him to enter the US. In most cases, you apply for this as you begin the process of adopting, because it can take several months to get the approval. Generally this is okay, because it usually takes 6 months or much longer to get a referral or invitation to travel. By that time, you have the appoval you need. In our case, because we didn't plan on adopting from Russia until God introduced us to Matvey right before Memorial Day, we didn't apply until June 5th, just as we began the process to adopt Samuel Matvey. Currently, our local USCIS office, is processing applications submitted in January. So it could mean months of waiting on our government, even if Russia is ready to invite us back in early September, like Oleg is estimating. We haven't received any response back yet from the local office, but know they've cashed our check. The first word we'll get, will be a fingerprint appointment. After that it can take several weeks to get the formal approval.
Please pray, that God would intervene and move our application through very soon. We want to bring Samuel home. God is in control of this whole process. His timing will be perfect and we know He will do what is best for Samuel and for us.
