What a day!



The fog! This was when we were nearly
on the ground!

OH MY! That about sums up this day...where do I begin? First, I will go back I guess and finish up yesterday. So, as we were about to touch down in Riga, I saw exactly what I thought I would see...FOG and lots of it. We were nearly on the ground before we could see ground, but once we could it was so beautiful! Forests and countryside everywhere. It was like a fairytale. It was easy to get out of the airport and we quickly found our "angel", Venita. She is the woman who helps manage the apartment we are staying in when the owner is out of the country. She had promised to meet us at the airport so that she could help us find a taxi and get to the apartment. What a tremendous blessing this was! First of all, I don't know the first thing about taxis, I also had no idea where we were going (just the address), and lastly I know no Latvian!!! So, Venita was truly like an angel for us. She took care of everything and I officially LOVE that woman! We spent a short while settling into the apt and then headed to the bank to exchange some money for Lats so that we could eat and go to the market. We ate a yummy pizza (simple bacon) at Charlie's Pizza which is just 3 doors down from our apt. We also had some delicious fried dumplings. We couldn't believe how cheap it was to eat there! 5 lats!!! SCORE! We also ventured through Old Town to the Galerija and shopped at Rimi (a small grocery store). By this time, I was EXHAUSTED! So, we headed back to the apt and we went to bed at 6:00! After a 4 hour "nap" we were up and ready to talk to the kids on the phone at 11:00. Thanks to my new friend Melatonin, I was able to go right back to sleep and slept until 6:00 a.m.

Our first time with Lilia at court

Here we are, finally TODAY!! COURT DAY!!!!
So, Daina and her son picked us up at 8:45 to head to court. I was excited, nervous and well...very nervous. But, Daina has this amazing way of putting you at ease. By the time we pulled up to the court, I wasn't at all nervous. She had explained that we would get to see Lilia at 9:00! That we would then meet with the social worker from the orphanage to discuss her history and answer any questions. We stood in the hallway waiting for them to arrive and pretty soon there she was peeking around the corner of the stairwell!!! I went straight to her and we hugged, she looked so amazing! Oh, how I missed that girl! And, then things got a little...crazy...
Lilia kept looking past Daina and the rest of us, down this small hallway. Finally, she just simply walked away from us as we were entering a small conference area. I asked where she was going and Daina went to see. Things got a little hectic from there, but we quickly found out that her mom and grandma had been sitting in that hallway where we met the entire time and she was going to them! Oh my! I was floored! Bob and I just looked at each other and I said to Daina, "is this normal?" to which she replied "NO!" After much fuss and lots of translation, etc we were able to get Lilie into the room and it was decided that they would stay in the hallway until we were done at which time Lilie would be allowed to say "goodbye" to them. Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable situation for Bob and I. Daina was none to happy about it either. But, we want Lilia to have closure and to feel comfortable so what do you do?
Court itself went very well! Thank you, God!!! Lilia was very positive and happy. Everyone was kind and not too intimidating. ;) In no time at all they placed her in our custody and then it was time to go back to the hallway to say goodbye. We waited (very patiently) and after a few minutes she was done. She became a little emotional when I asked her how it went and if she felt okay? I don't know what was said between them, but I get the impression that she's made to feel rather guilty and like she is the bad person in this situation. Bob and I are praying that she is able to put distance between her and this woman who has caused so much stress and turmoil in her life. We know that in the months to come, keeping distance between them will be a great challenge and that Lilia may be rather mad at us from time to time. We are already taking steps to protect her here and we will continue to do so at home.
It is a fine line we walk, one that must be respected and handled with great care, we are up for the challenge.
We tried our best to enjoy the rest of the day. We did some sight-seeing and shopping together, spent some quiet time at the apt and went out for a celebration dinner at TGIFridays (yes, there's one just down the street here!). We thoroughly enjoyed our cheeseburgers and fries and had a lot of laughs. Just what we needed tonight!