Last Day in Nizhny

8:15am Friday, August 1:
Today is our last day here in Nizhny and it will be a long one. We will leave in a few hours for our last visit with "Little Man", go to sign a few papers, do a bit of sightseeing/ shopping, hang out in our hotel lobby for a couple of hours and then take an overnight train back to Moscow tonight. We will arrive in Moscow very early on Saturday AM (your Friday night back in the states), sightsee for a bit, get a few hours of sleep and then leave at 3:30am for our 7am flight back to Frankfurt and then LAX. And if we survive all of this, we should be in good shape!

We had a tough day yesterday--mostly just having the fatigue and long car rides in hot/ exhaust filled cars catching up with us. Our visit with "Little Man" was good, but stressful as we considered all of the challenges that we/ he may face. It is such a scary thing--so much uncertainty and literally nothing within our control.

We got to see his nighttime sleeping room, orphanage bathroom, and play quarters yesterday. The sleeping room held 18 tiny cribs pushed next to each other in rows. His play room was larger than we expected, with 6 or so kids playing with a caregiver while "Little Man" and others were off napping in the day sleeping room. I am thankful for these memories.

After many tears last night and some good rest, we are feeling better today and are eager to visit him one last time.

Please pray for us. Pray for clarity and wisdom for both Phil and me--we are asking God to close doors that need to be closed and give us the faith to walk through those He has and continues to open. Pray that we would be made aware of anything we need to know about "Little Man" and his health. Pray for our peace and attitudes as we finish up our time here in Nizhny. Pray for our flight/ travel plans as our airline, Lufhansa, has gone on strike--not necessarily affecting us, but it may. Please pray for "Little Man"--for his protection and continued healing.

We are eager to be home. We miss our kiddos and friends. We look forward to seeing Moscow and then beginning our journey back to LA. And we think that our friends the Mocabees are absolute studs for surviving 1 month here...amazing you 2...and with 3 kiddos in tow!