Our family is complete!

We left on Sunday at 2:40 from Charlotte with 10 carry-on bags, 4 kids, 2 adults, and a ton of excitement and anticipation.  We had 2 connections, one in Dulles and another in Frankfort before landing in Latvia at 2pm Monday afternoon.  We were trying to get a signal with our cell phones when Scott noticed a guy standing with a sign that said "StayinRiga."  We were surprised because we were supposed to call for our ride when we arrived, but this was great.  Scott and I both walked up to the gentleman with smiles and asked "are you looking for the Beierwaltes family?" The guy sniffed and walked towards the parking lot without saying a word.  Okedoke...welcome to Latvia.

We split into groups of 3 and hopped into two taxis to be taken to our apartment in Riga.  The drive was fun.  The kids were excited because they weren't in car seats and the drivers drove fast and took turns that most of us in America would slow down for.  We put our seat belts on.  Along the roads were billboards and businesses such as grocery stores and car dealers.  Everything is written in Latvian, of course.

We arrived at our apartment and met with our contact Christina, who showed us how to get into the building, and then through the 2 front doors of the apartment, which are less than 12" apart.  Needless to say, it's very secure!  We toured the place and after completing the paperwork, we were on our own.

We unpacked our stuff, walked to the bank to pay our apartment rental and then off to a couple stores for basic items until we could get to a grocery store the next day.  We ordered in from a restaurant downstairs, had dinner, cleaned up, and went to bed.  Or so we thought.

No one was tired except Scott and I.  Scott hadn't slept at all during the plane rides in an effort to watch over us, so he crashed first a little after 6pm.  I put the kids to bed at 6:30pm because I was so tired, surely they would be too.  Nope.  I let them play and watch tv for another hour or so and then put them back to sleep.  I finally went to sleep only to be woken up every so often because someone was hungry, thirsty, couldn't sleep, wanted to lay with me, etc.  I eventually got up and watched a movie with Leah and Annie  because they were wide awake.  I think we all finally fell asleep by 5am (11pm NC time).  Scott woke up with Emma and Jack and I slept in with the two little ones.

When I woke up, Scott said he thought it was around 9 something. We planned to get dressed, go out for breakfast and then grocery shop.  About an hour later while I was finishing getting ready, Jack asked for help on the computer and I noticed I had a new email.  Our court attorney Daina sent an urgent message saying she was outside and couldn't get a hold of me.  I ran downstairs really fast and said "Hi.  I thought we weren't supposed to be ready until 3:10pm," and she said, "You were.  It's 3:45pm!"  Holy cow!  (We still haven't figured out what happened since that would mean Scott slept for 18 hours straight!)  I ran back upstairs, yelled to the kids to get their shoes and socks on, yelled to Scott to get out of the shower and quickly pulled my paperwork together for court.  10 minutes later we all were running down the stairs and into Daina's car to zoom over to court.  The kids were moaning that they were hungry and we were about to go into the courtroom.  No kidding!  We slept through breakfast and lunch and the time was heading into dinner.  Daina gave us all a mint!  :)  LOL.

The court process was quick and easy.  We had a translator and answered a few questions and left with custody of Andris until our next court case on June 26.  Yay!  Now, on to Irlava Children's Home to pick our son up!  The 1.5 hour drive was very nice.  It was beautiful to see the countryside and the simplicity of Latvian living.  Small farms here and there, horses and cows, and an occasional bike rider on the side of the road.

We pulled up to the Children's Home and we were so excited.  We wanted to video tape seeing Andris in person since January, but he surprised us and tapped me on the shoulder and as I turned around, he gave me a big hug.  Oh, it was so nice to finally hug my son.  After months of talking about it, we were finally here and it felt surreal.  Scott and the kids came over and gave him a big hug, too.  We asked him to show us his room and around his home, so we went upstairs to the 3rd floor to see his room and bed.  Andris showed us a couple collages he had made of our family.  We met a few of his friends and teachers, but then Andris was itching to leave.  He was not wanting to stay any longer than necessary.  :)

We drove back to Riga, with the girls playing in the back seat, Scott up front with the driver, and myself and the boys playing on the iPad.  We are complete and anticipate many more adventures ahead!

PS.  We forgot our cable to upload pictures/videos, but assuming we can buy one here, we'll upload them soon.