Ahhhh.  We are in the final stages of our trip.  For the remainder of our Tuesday (to pick up from yesterday) we went for a walk along Arbat Street.  It’s entirely inconvenient to get there with strollers, because in order to do it, you have to go through an underground tunnel (called a perekhod) to cross the street.  The perekhods are conveniently easy ways to avoid death by automobile, but entirely inconvenient if you have a wheelchair or, in our case, a stroller.  But we went anyway.  McDonald’s is on that side of the street- we had to go!  We headed out, had our Happy Meals, and strolled the street a bit.  We came back to the hotel room and had KOOOPATSAAAAAH(!!!) and then read a bit and went to bed.  They have really began to adapt to us.  They are going to sleep when we say it is time.  We aren’t needing to redirect Benjamin non-stop; he is learning his boundaries.  He knows, for example, if he touches the computer it means trouble, so he doesn’t touch it.  (Every once in a while it’s too tempting, plus he has to test and see…is this rule still in place?)  But I am sure that we will start boundary testing all over again once we get home. 

Today has been a tiring day.  We, once again, had to get out.  So we went (you guessed it) for a walk on Arbat Street.  But we didn’t stop there, no, no!  We walked all the way to Red Square.  It is about a 2.5 mile walk.  But I wouldn’t call it as much of a walk as I would “extreme strollering.”  We had three of those perekhods.  In order to get down them, you must either take the stroller down one step at a time, or carry the entire thing, child and all, down them.  I will say, this is one point where Russians are very helpful.  We had several strangers help us get down these things.  But normally, no.  We just tough it out.  But it gets us out, gets the boys out, and helps us to see the city.  It is a very beautiful city, but we aren’t here to sight see- we are here to collect children.  If I was here just to enjoy the city (i.e. my children could walk on their own for 5 miles) I would really enjoy it.  But as it stands, it is keeping us from our other children. 

So what have we learned on this trip?

• Nothing in Russia moves quite the way you want it to.
• God is in control, whether you want Him to be or not.
• Prayer will be answered.
• The most difficult times are the times of most growth.
• The Russian government is overbearing, even if they don’t mean to be.  (The last two days are only to register the boys so that the Russian government can keep track of them once we get back.)
• God always knows what is best, even if you can’t see it at the time.
• Russians are just as wrapped up with themselves as everyone else.  But it feels much more oppressive here. 
• If you cherish your bumper, steer clear of Vladivostok.
• When hotels look for ways to be “kid friendly,” they come and observe the Hotel Belgrad and then do exactly the opposite.
• The cleaning ladies at the Hotel Belgrad are excellent, even if it takes a very long time to communicate.
• My wife is awesome when it comes to figuring out children.  
• Having kids that don’t speak the same language as you is very frustrating, but the conversations are great.
• The world does not revolve around any of us.
• Roads are for driving, sidewalks are for driving more slowly.
• What depravity really looks like.  (Parents are a blessing from God-for those that do not have them…well, things get ugly).
• What God’s unconditional love looks like.  (These kids are fighting us tooth and nail, yet we are polishing them up quite nicely even though they hate it.  God does the same thing to us.  It hurts to be grown in Christ).
• Everyone everywhere is the same… created in the image of God, yet fallen and sinful.  The problems in Russia are caused by the same things they are caused by in America-sin.

And what have the boys have learned on this trip?

• If you happen to be four years old, or almost four years old, having parents is better than not having parents. 
• Strollers are awesome.
• If these big people we are living with say “no,” then no matter how many times I try I will still get into trouble.
• I can’t touch the television.
• Having parents that don’t speak the same language as you is very frustrating, but the conversations are great.
• Spiting is not appropriate behavior.
• I can trust these people called Mama and Papa.
• No matter how fast I run, Papa will catch me.  (Okay, they haven’t quite figured this one out yet).
• If I run from Papa, it is automatic trouble.  (No…they haven’t learned this one yet either).
• Even if I’m having the most fun in the world during my KOOOPATSAAAAH(!!!) I still can’t do flips in the bathtub without either getting hurt or being removed from koopatsah (or both).
• Biting others is NOT a good idea.
• Mama and Papa will defend me from my new brother, if needed.

Oh, there is so much more we have done and gotten that I just can’t talk about in the blog!  We are beat, we are tired of living out of a suitcase and a little mini-fridge.  Nathan continues to be sick.  We thought he was doing better this morning but when we got to the Kremlin, we found out he had a fever.  We are acquiring a nice Russian medicine supply.

So our prayer requests are this:

• We leave tomorrow, and it will be a very long day.  We have two flights, the first is 10 hours the second about 2 1/2 hours.  We will add an extra 9 hours to our day.  We also have to get from the plane, though immigration (which involves paperwork for two new Americans) (though which the nice man who spoke English without a Russian accent at the American Embassy said should not be a problem), switch terminals, and make our flight to St. Louis in 3 hours.
• That the boys would behave, more-or-less, on the plane, and sleep.  It is going to be a very long day for everyone.  (We don’t expect perfection on a 10 hour flight!) 
• That mom and dad would keep patience during the entire day.
• That Nathan (and Shannon) would feel okay during the trip home.  We started Nathan on antibiotics due to a sinus infection.
• For transitions to our new home, both for the boys getting adjusted to a new life, but also for Erin and Sam adjusting to two new siblings.  It will be hard for them to share Mommy and Daddy with these strangers.
• For medical care to come quickly and smoothly. Benjamin is really hurting with his teeth.  We have been giving him ibuprofen (because we can’t find Tylenol here).  He has two teeth that must come out, and come out ASAP.  He has already had two others pulled.  There may be other teeth with problems as well.