Get Ready, Set Go………to Court

We were able to spend one day in Seoul, South Korea on the way to Vladivostok. We flew Delta from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, and Korean Airlines from Atlanta to Seoul. The Atlanta to Seoul flight was 15 hours. The seats were as comfortable and roomy as any economy seats we have been in, better than Vlad Air or Aeroflot. The attendants were excellent and the service was superior. The entertainment center had about 20 on demand movies, several video games, some TV shows and a music venue. Each seat had its own entertainment center. Even though I got up often to stretch, by the end of 15 hours we were miserable. That is a long flight I hope to not repeat any time soon. Seoul airport was fairly easy to navigate thru immigration and customs and many people in Seoul speak English. Most signs are in Korean and English. We found our bus to the hotel. We were able to stay at the Hilton Millennium using David’s American Express points. We had dinner at the hotel and went to bed. We got up early to tour the city. We took a city tour bus. It circles the main sites in the city every two hours with busses running every 30 minutes. You get on and off the bus at any of the sites you want to visit, then get on the bus, visit another site to two and circle around to your point of entry. We were able to visit two sites, the Changdeokgung (Palace from the Chosun Dynasty) and the Seoul Tower in Namsan Park. We would have loved to visit more sites, but time did not allow, we were very happy with our day and two nights in Seoul.

We really miss our son David, we try to call him every day. We called him Tuesday morning before we went sightseeing in Seoul and it was just about bed time Monday evening. He was really missing us. That is the hardest thing we have had to bear in this whole adoption journey.

Wednesday morning we boarded a flight on Vlad Air from Seoul to Vladivostok. All I need to say about that flight is, we made it here safely. After flying Korean Airlines, it will be difficult for any other airline to impress us. We got to Vlad about an hour late. Irina and Lana were there to meet us. It was good to see them again. They really do work hard to get us all here as soon as possible. I know some things may get lost in translation somewhere between Vladivostok and Moscow, then from Moscow to St. Louis and finally from St. Louis to each of us at home. Be assured they are continuously working on our behalf.

Today we were able to visit with Danielle for the first time in 4 months, 3 weeks and 4 days. It also may have been a while since Danielle has been in the large gathering/music room where we first met her. The music room has been under renovation as well as almost every room at the baby house. There was another court family from another agency doing their pre-court visit with their little girl in the room. Danielle came into the room and was very frightened, too many people, a room she visits rarely and all dressed up in a stiff unfamiliar dress. She was in a very pretty taffeta dress, soft cream with tan/yellow circles. Her hair was French braided in a circle around the back of her head ending in a pony tail at one side of her head. She was very cute. She did not remember us and cried when she saw us. It took her a little longer than last time to allow me to hold her and she cried for a while. In hopes of sparking her memory we tried all the same activities we did on our first visit but she did not want to participate as quickly. She did like the treats from the Easter Eggs and she did eventually play with the lighted gears an eventually seemed to remember them. Danielle was very distracted, one of her classmates was in the room being visited and Danielle seemed to want to go play with her friend rather than be with us. She liked it when I tried on the shoes we had brought for her. All the shoes I had brought were too big. The other couple meeting with their daughter had brought a duffle bag of shoes to donate to the baby house. We were able to trade two pairs of shoes we brought with two pairs they had for donation. Thank you Jeff and Jennifer. We had two hours to visit with Danielle today. She did not want to go to papa. She cried each time I tried to hand her over to him. If we had had just another 30 minutes he may have won her over. She did let me sit her in papa’s lap to change her shoes just before it was time to go back to her room for lunch. We were also able to get her to hug papa by doing a big group hug. I am sure she will warm up to us on the next visit. We go to Court tomorrow and have been briefed by Irina and Lana about what to expect. Lana said “it is a just a formality, but a serious one. Get some rest and do not worry.” We will see tomorrow if we can have custody during our ten day wait. It is very unusual but it could happen. We just pray that the best thing for Danielle is what happens regarding custody during the wait.

Thank you all for your prayers.

Debbie and David, Danielle’s Mama and Papa