We have waited soooooo long for our final trip to Europe. This has taken longer than anyone including the adoption agency thought. But - our travel date is here at last. We will leave the house in the morning at 6:30AM. It will be a really long day and night but well worth the exhaustion. We will finally have our arms around Deniss on Monday. We know how excited we all are - we can only imagine the emotions that Deniss must be feeling at this point. We have not talked to him since April 25. We can't get through on the telephone - and we can't get him to email us. Thankfully, the communication issues will be resolved over the summer!
We are taking a computer with us. We know there is internet access in the lobby of the hotel in London and in our room in Riga. We won't know about Warsaw until we get there. So - starting Friday afternoon, we will be updating about our travels.
Ken and Aaron have packed their bags already. My stuff is laid out on the dining room table. We had to get ready early because tonight is church night. There are some special events tonight so we don't want to miss! Besides, we know that we will get some extra prayers for our journey - and we have certainly learned the power of prayer over the last year!
Keep praying!
Robin
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Update from the Dolan Family
I thought I would paste this email from the Dolan family. The Dolan's are another family from the ATL area adopting children from Latvia. My problems in Amsterdam are minor compared to theirs. Read on...
Hey Everyone,
We picked up Sintija and Maigurs yesterday. Well maybe I should start at the not-so-good beginning of our trip. Unfortunately, somewhere between Delta’s international ticket counter and Amsterdam’s passport check Michael’s fanny pack with his wallet in it was stolen. Fortunately, I had Michael’s passport in my purse. We’ve had to cancel our credit card, but we should be okay just withdrawing money from the ATM and converting the cash we brought into Lats and/or Euros.
Our day in Amsterdam wasn’t much fun because we couldn’t get money out of the ATM’s at first (all of our cash is in savings but their ATM’s just automatically withdraw the money from your checking account.) We had to wait until our bank opened so we could call them and have them transfer our savings balance into the checking account. In the meantime we had to walk about 7 km one way just to find a place that would convert our dollars to euro’s so we could pay for the hotel. Can you imagine what our cell phone bill will be like with all these calls to the banks, credit card companies and Delta? It’s $2.26 per minute to call from Latvia!
The trip started getting better when Daina, our lawyer in Latvia, met us at the airport. She has totally taken care of us since we’ve gotten here. She and our driver Dougness (sp?) took us all over Riga to find an outlet converter because the one we brought broke in Amsterdam (of course). Then they took us to our apartment that Daina had arranged. It’s 75 Euro’s a night (about $103) but it’s very big. It is in a very old building in Riga. The inside has a mixture of wood flooring and carpeting. There are four bedrooms, a very large dining room, a very large living room, and a narrow but long kitchen. The ceilings are very high with the original molding/plaster work. It’s beautiful. One bedroom and the living room have balconies that overlook the street. We are located near quite a few embassies including the British Embassy. We’ve found an extremely small grocery store that is very close, but later today will venture into old Riga (I didn’t think it could get much older than where we are at) and try to find a Rimi grocery store, which is like Meijer or Super Walmart but bigger and nicer.
Yesterday Daina and her husband Edgars picked us up at 8:30am. We drove close to 2 hours to the orphanage, much of the trip was over dirt roads. The country is absolutely beautiful. We were greeted by Zenta, the orphanage director, but Sintija and Maigurs were not in sight. We were invited in for tea and cookies, and finally after some small talk Sintija and Maigurs were brought in. They had lost the healthy glow that they left America with. Someone had dyed Sintija’s hair a lighter color – almost a strawberry blond. Can you imagine dying a 13 year old girl’s hair? It had been layered as well. I’m not sure she is too happy with it. I wonder if they were trying to make her look more like our family by giving her lighter hair? We were welcomed with big hugs, a welcome sign and small gifts. The kids then took us on a tour of the orphanage. It is very old, and so in that sense it is very run down. However, it is clean and as well taken care of as it can be given their limited funds. We were introduced to everyone and greeted very warmly. I got the feeling that Sintija and Maigurs had told everyone about us. There were beautiful little children (under 7, and not yet old enough for school) in one of the buildings. Michael asked me if I felt drawn to any of them, and I answered that I was drawn to all of them. They were all beautiful, and it broke our hearts to think of them with no families. Some of them would grab us by the hand to show us things like where they slept. You could tell they were very excited to see parents from America.
Shortly after our tour we left for the orphan court. We had to go the orphan court that was in the town where Sintija and Maigurs used to live with their parents. It was another 2 hours away, in the opposite direction as Riga. The kids, Michael and I all signed the papers we needed to, and then we had tea with the four women from the orphan court. They had fruit, cookies, candy, coffee, tea, juice and water – quite the spread for such a rural area. Then it was about four hours in the car back to Riga. We stopped at Lido’s, a huge restaurant and tourist attraction that people from surrounding countries come to. It was very good.
Today we are relaxing. We walked to the Olympic training center, and the grocery store, then back to the apartment for lunch. We’ll head to Old Riga as soon as I finish typing this letter. After dinner this evening, we’ll head to the coffee shop that offers wireless internet for about $2 per hour, so we can send this letter to all of you. So far, it’s like our almost ten months away from each other has just melted away. We’ve picked up right where we left off last summer. Sintija and Maigurs were excited to look at all of the pictures I loaded onto the computer. They loved seeing everyone in the family and are excited to talk to Amanda and Isaac on Saturday via Skype on the computer. Amanda and Isaac will be able to see us but we don’t have a webcam for the computer at home so we won’t be able to see them.
Take care and keep us in your prayers.
Jeannine (& Michael too!)
Hey Everyone,
We picked up Sintija and Maigurs yesterday. Well maybe I should start at the not-so-good beginning of our trip. Unfortunately, somewhere between Delta’s international ticket counter and Amsterdam’s passport check Michael’s fanny pack with his wallet in it was stolen. Fortunately, I had Michael’s passport in my purse. We’ve had to cancel our credit card, but we should be okay just withdrawing money from the ATM and converting the cash we brought into Lats and/or Euros.
Our day in Amsterdam wasn’t much fun because we couldn’t get money out of the ATM’s at first (all of our cash is in savings but their ATM’s just automatically withdraw the money from your checking account.) We had to wait until our bank opened so we could call them and have them transfer our savings balance into the checking account. In the meantime we had to walk about 7 km one way just to find a place that would convert our dollars to euro’s so we could pay for the hotel. Can you imagine what our cell phone bill will be like with all these calls to the banks, credit card companies and Delta? It’s $2.26 per minute to call from Latvia!
The trip started getting better when Daina, our lawyer in Latvia, met us at the airport. She has totally taken care of us since we’ve gotten here. She and our driver Dougness (sp?) took us all over Riga to find an outlet converter because the one we brought broke in Amsterdam (of course). Then they took us to our apartment that Daina had arranged. It’s 75 Euro’s a night (about $103) but it’s very big. It is in a very old building in Riga. The inside has a mixture of wood flooring and carpeting. There are four bedrooms, a very large dining room, a very large living room, and a narrow but long kitchen. The ceilings are very high with the original molding/plaster work. It’s beautiful. One bedroom and the living room have balconies that overlook the street. We are located near quite a few embassies including the British Embassy. We’ve found an extremely small grocery store that is very close, but later today will venture into old Riga (I didn’t think it could get much older than where we are at) and try to find a Rimi grocery store, which is like Meijer or Super Walmart but bigger and nicer.
Yesterday Daina and her husband Edgars picked us up at 8:30am. We drove close to 2 hours to the orphanage, much of the trip was over dirt roads. The country is absolutely beautiful. We were greeted by Zenta, the orphanage director, but Sintija and Maigurs were not in sight. We were invited in for tea and cookies, and finally after some small talk Sintija and Maigurs were brought in. They had lost the healthy glow that they left America with. Someone had dyed Sintija’s hair a lighter color – almost a strawberry blond. Can you imagine dying a 13 year old girl’s hair? It had been layered as well. I’m not sure she is too happy with it. I wonder if they were trying to make her look more like our family by giving her lighter hair? We were welcomed with big hugs, a welcome sign and small gifts. The kids then took us on a tour of the orphanage. It is very old, and so in that sense it is very run down. However, it is clean and as well taken care of as it can be given their limited funds. We were introduced to everyone and greeted very warmly. I got the feeling that Sintija and Maigurs had told everyone about us. There were beautiful little children (under 7, and not yet old enough for school) in one of the buildings. Michael asked me if I felt drawn to any of them, and I answered that I was drawn to all of them. They were all beautiful, and it broke our hearts to think of them with no families. Some of them would grab us by the hand to show us things like where they slept. You could tell they were very excited to see parents from America.
Shortly after our tour we left for the orphan court. We had to go the orphan court that was in the town where Sintija and Maigurs used to live with their parents. It was another 2 hours away, in the opposite direction as Riga. The kids, Michael and I all signed the papers we needed to, and then we had tea with the four women from the orphan court. They had fruit, cookies, candy, coffee, tea, juice and water – quite the spread for such a rural area. Then it was about four hours in the car back to Riga. We stopped at Lido’s, a huge restaurant and tourist attraction that people from surrounding countries come to. It was very good.
Today we are relaxing. We walked to the Olympic training center, and the grocery store, then back to the apartment for lunch. We’ll head to Old Riga as soon as I finish typing this letter. After dinner this evening, we’ll head to the coffee shop that offers wireless internet for about $2 per hour, so we can send this letter to all of you. So far, it’s like our almost ten months away from each other has just melted away. We’ve picked up right where we left off last summer. Sintija and Maigurs were excited to look at all of the pictures I loaded onto the computer. They loved seeing everyone in the family and are excited to talk to Amanda and Isaac on Saturday via Skype on the computer. Amanda and Isaac will be able to see us but we don’t have a webcam for the computer at home so we won’t be able to see them.
Take care and keep us in your prayers.
Jeannine (& Michael too!)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Just up late thinking
I am having trouble going to sleep lately thinking about the changes about to happen in the Hartzog household. But more about the unbelievable changes about to happen in Deniss' life. He has never really known what a loving family is like. Since he was 5 years old, he has never had his own room, never had a pet, never had much that was really his own. Yes - things are not the most important aspect of life but they are on the list! He has never had parents that worry about how he is doing in school, or who have been there to cheer him on in a sports activity. He has never had a family that just enjoys him being in the room. He has never had a family that gave him hugs for no particular reason. Wow - this next year will be overwhelming I am sure.
Thinking about all of these changes for Deniss have made me stop to look at the things in my life that are so easy to take for granted! It really makes me appreciate the fact that I was adopted as an infant and was blessed with a wonderful loving set of parents and a sister - as well as lots of extended family and friends. It makes me think back to lots of carefree childhood days. I have always appreciated the fact that my life has been blessed, but I am beginning to appreciate it all the more.
Just think, Deniss is starting the last three weekends of his life without a family close by. He has two more weeks alone, and then we will finally all be together!
Enough rambling - good night.
Robin
Thinking about all of these changes for Deniss have made me stop to look at the things in my life that are so easy to take for granted! It really makes me appreciate the fact that I was adopted as an infant and was blessed with a wonderful loving set of parents and a sister - as well as lots of extended family and friends. It makes me think back to lots of carefree childhood days. I have always appreciated the fact that my life has been blessed, but I am beginning to appreciate it all the more.
Just think, Deniss is starting the last three weekends of his life without a family close by. He has two more weeks alone, and then we will finally all be together!
Enough rambling - good night.
Robin
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Update on travel etc.
Well, we have the actual plane tickets now. I had to give up on my do it yourself job and go to a travel agent. It took three different tickets each, including for Deniss only going one way, to get us around Europe to all of the stops we need to make. And boy is it expensive! Thank heavens this is a once in a lifetime event! That makes it a lot easier to swallow. And of course getting Deniss home to stay is the big prize!
Even Aaron is getting to be excited. For a long time now he just said it didn't seem real. He hasn't seen Deniss since last August when he left America. And of course, Aaron has that 13 year old "I don't care" attitude most of the time. It reminds me of the cruise commercial running where they say they have seen their daughter smile which is a rare occurance. Well, Aaron has started to smile on occasion.
Yesterday was Deniss' birthday. Of course - we couldn't get him on the phone as usual. It has become increasingly difficult to get through to the office at the children's home. It was terribly frustrating not to be able to say Happy Birthday to him on that day. Thank heavens that will be the last time - at least for this reason. As of now, we will have no more birthdays, Mother's Day's or other holidays where he cannot be with us. (Except of course the reasons that start getting in the way when kids are grown and move away). Aaron and I will both celebrate our birthdays this year in Latvia with Deniss. Ken will get this next Father's day with at least two of his sons with him. (Bobby won't be with us because we will see him soon after on vacation.)
This is getting really exciting for all of us now!
Robin
Even Aaron is getting to be excited. For a long time now he just said it didn't seem real. He hasn't seen Deniss since last August when he left America. And of course, Aaron has that 13 year old "I don't care" attitude most of the time. It reminds me of the cruise commercial running where they say they have seen their daughter smile which is a rare occurance. Well, Aaron has started to smile on occasion.
Yesterday was Deniss' birthday. Of course - we couldn't get him on the phone as usual. It has become increasingly difficult to get through to the office at the children's home. It was terribly frustrating not to be able to say Happy Birthday to him on that day. Thank heavens that will be the last time - at least for this reason. As of now, we will have no more birthdays, Mother's Day's or other holidays where he cannot be with us. (Except of course the reasons that start getting in the way when kids are grown and move away). Aaron and I will both celebrate our birthdays this year in Latvia with Deniss. Ken will get this next Father's day with at least two of his sons with him. (Bobby won't be with us because we will see him soon after on vacation.)
This is getting really exciting for all of us now!
Robin
Friday, May 11, 2007
Travel Plans
Ok - so we finally have some dates set. We are flying to London on May 31, which means we will get there on June 1. We are stopping there so that Ken, Robin and Aaron can have one last hoorah before our family changes. We did that just before we picked up Aaron back in 1993, so we feel like it is a family tradition. We will spend Friday and Saturday nights in London. The one big event will be for Ken and Aaron to tour the Chelsea Football Club stadium - Stamford Bridge. (For you non-soccer folks - the rest of the world says soccer is football) Robin may go tour Harrods department store.
On Sunday June 3, we will fly to Riga. We will spend four nights in Riga. On Monday, June 4, the long awaited day arrives. We will proceed to Likumi (Children's Home) to pick up Deniss. We will have our farewell party for Deniss and go back to Riga that night. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we have doctors appointments and visa appointments etc. for Deniss. Tuesday will be Aaron's birthday so we will have to do something for him that day but of course the weekend in London is all about him!
Thursday June 7, (Robin's birthday) we will fly to Warsaw Poland. Friday June 8 at 8AM we have the Visa interview appointment at the US Embassy. If miracles happen, we will have Deniss' immigration visa by three o'clock Friday. If so, then we can all come home on Saturday June 9. Ken and Aaron will come home anyway - Deniss and Robin will stay behind in Warsaw if necessary. If we don't get the visa on Friday, we will have to wait until Monday, which means we may not get out of Warsaw until Tuesday. Somehow, I think that wait will be the easiest one we will have to endure.
This will probably be the last post until the Hartzog clan is on the move again! Check back after May 31 so that we can update you on our adventures and misadventures!
And thank you all for the prayers and support. You will never know how overwhelmed we have been by the kind words of support and encouragement that you have given us over the last year!
Robin
On Sunday June 3, we will fly to Riga. We will spend four nights in Riga. On Monday, June 4, the long awaited day arrives. We will proceed to Likumi (Children's Home) to pick up Deniss. We will have our farewell party for Deniss and go back to Riga that night. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we have doctors appointments and visa appointments etc. for Deniss. Tuesday will be Aaron's birthday so we will have to do something for him that day but of course the weekend in London is all about him!
Thursday June 7, (Robin's birthday) we will fly to Warsaw Poland. Friday June 8 at 8AM we have the Visa interview appointment at the US Embassy. If miracles happen, we will have Deniss' immigration visa by three o'clock Friday. If so, then we can all come home on Saturday June 9. Ken and Aaron will come home anyway - Deniss and Robin will stay behind in Warsaw if necessary. If we don't get the visa on Friday, we will have to wait until Monday, which means we may not get out of Warsaw until Tuesday. Somehow, I think that wait will be the easiest one we will have to endure.
This will probably be the last post until the Hartzog clan is on the move again! Check back after May 31 so that we can update you on our adventures and misadventures!
And thank you all for the prayers and support. You will never know how overwhelmed we have been by the kind words of support and encouragement that you have given us over the last year!
Robin
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Waiting - again
We know the date that we can pick up Deniss. June 4 is the big event. We will have a party for the other boys in his group and give them some gifts. This is traditional when a child is leaving.
We know the date when we can go to Warsaw to visit the US Embassy. However, we still don't have an actual appointment with the Embassy. And now - we found out the President Bush will be arriving in Poland on the day that we want to have our appointment. Great- I guess we will be a little delayed in Poland.
We are planning to stop in London on our way to Latvia. Aaron really wants to be able to go to the Chelsea football (soccer in America) stadium and megastore. Since this will be our last few days as a family of three (I am not forgetting Bobby but he doesn't live with us) we wanted to do something special for Aaron at the beginning of our trip.
So - we are on hold for just a little longer waiting of the US Embasy. We know when we will go to London, when we will fly on to Latvia, when we will pick up Deniss, when we will leave Latvia to go to Warsaw. We just don't know when we can leave Warsaw. Oh well - we should be used to this waiting game but we are not!
More later
Robin
We know the date when we can go to Warsaw to visit the US Embassy. However, we still don't have an actual appointment with the Embassy. And now - we found out the President Bush will be arriving in Poland on the day that we want to have our appointment. Great- I guess we will be a little delayed in Poland.
We are planning to stop in London on our way to Latvia. Aaron really wants to be able to go to the Chelsea football (soccer in America) stadium and megastore. Since this will be our last few days as a family of three (I am not forgetting Bobby but he doesn't live with us) we wanted to do something special for Aaron at the beginning of our trip.
So - we are on hold for just a little longer waiting of the US Embasy. We know when we will go to London, when we will fly on to Latvia, when we will pick up Deniss, when we will leave Latvia to go to Warsaw. We just don't know when we can leave Warsaw. Oh well - we should be used to this waiting game but we are not!
More later
Robin
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