Bringing Our Warrior Home: Trip 1 - Day 18

Today was our last full day in Rig@. Warrior woke up today thinking we were going to hop on a plane any moment. He started packing all of his stuff into his one bag - whatever he could get his hands on went into the bag! He was running around here saying, "America, America!" Rachel and I left early to take Chuck Kelley some of our non-perishable foods (some of which had been given to us) so he could keep them in his apartment for other adoptive families. Chuck was kind enough to show us his two most recent paintings.

Once we were back at the apartment, we packed our lunch and headed to the park in Rig@ one last time. We ate lunch, fed the ducks and pigeons and got some last pictures of this magnificent park. On the way out of the park we ran into the sweet L@tvian lady we met on the train heading to the zoo two weeks ago. She was walking in the park with her grandson and she remembered us. She didn't understand a word of what we were saying, so it was very difficult to converse with her. She let us get a picture with her and her grandson. We then split up and Kristie, Rebekah and Rachel did some final souvenir shopping in Rig@ while I took the younger kids for one last trampoline jump (the trampoline where you pay for your kid to jump for 10 or 20 minutes).

At 2:30 I called a taxi to pick me, Rachel and Warrior up to go to the Embassy to get his visa. It only took a few minutes at the Embassy. I was handed his L@tvian passport with a new page for his US visa. So we're good to go to travel back to the US with our L@tvian.

As we finish packing and cleaning up this evening, it seems like we've been here an eternity. During these three weeks, we've seen a lot and done a lot. We've learned a lot of history. (In its entire existence, L@tvia has only been a free country a total of just over forty years!) This is a magnificent and beautiful country.

We'll need prayers for a safe and easy journey back to the US. We'll leave at 11 PM Eastern Time Thursday (6:00 AM Friday L@tvian Time). We'll fly to Frankfurt, Germany, then to Newark, New Jersey. Finally landing in Atlanta around 5 PM Friday afternoon.

Thanks for following our journey on this blog (and those that are following it on Facebook). We will do our best to keep this blog going as we transition into a family of seven in the US. I will have a short trip back to L@tvia probably in October for a third court appointment. Warrior and I will travel back to L@tvia for one final time for one week hopefully some time this winter. When our Warrior comes back in the US at the end of the third trip, he will be a US Citizen. He will always carry dual citizenship in both countries as long as he is alive.

Thanks again, and we look forward to catching up with friends and family in the US soon.