YUCK!

Rosie ate a piece of old, chewed gum she found on the airport floor. I just about lost it - how gross is that? Yuck. I just stopped paying attention for a second because a lady asked me where Rosie was from. Yuck. No more airports thats for sure.

It all started about 2 weeks ago. Robert and I found out we needed to go to Moscow to finish up some paperwork. I had to drive to Bonn twice to get our Russian visas. I came home with them Friday the 30th and that evening our car took its final puff and died. It has been very traumatic not to mention inconvenient for us. My mom came Friday night so she could watch the boys and dogs. Robert and I flew to Moscow on Monday (with Rosie) and Rosie and I flew back home on Wednesday night.

It really feels like we are getting close now. It was tough going through all the travel stuff alone with Rosie - she is definately doing the "independant 2's" thing now and she made several great escapes from me at Security, Customs and other crucial places. Exhausting! Anyway, totally worth it because we are getting close now.

Robert continued on to Vladivostok where he is finishing up some more paperwork and formalities we need before we can get a court date. He gets to go visit Anastasia tomorrow (Friday) - I sent a bunch of clothes, school supplies and candy with him so hopefully he will be well received. He is so nervous about the initial meeting - will she be angry with us for taking so long? Will she be her indifferent 12 year old self? Will she be curious? We just don't know what to expect after so long. Max is going nuts wishing he could be there but we just couldn't afford it. Everything is SO expensive we have to be really careful. Now that our car died we are praying for another miracle to direct us.....

Thank you everyone for your prayers and love - it works!

I will write tomorrow after Robert's visit with Anastasia.