Year End Thoughts

International News

First, I wanted to update those that don't know yet that the law banning Americans from adopting Russian children has passed. President Putin signed it late last week. This is horribly devastating to many people. We are so sorry for your loss, and this seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

For us, we are moving forward. Currently there have been no restrictions put in place with Canada, and we hope, with all our hearts, that it stays that way.

Progress and Updates

So a few updates for us and our process.

We're getting things ready to courier off to the agency on the 2nd. We have a few things we need to send, including hand-written reference letters, many photographs, and copies of legal paperwork.

Next week we have our final home study interview and home inspection! Today was been a day full of cleaning, organizing and purging. We're managed to get our spare room aka gym aka future child's room squared away a bit and now I want to fill it with a little person!

As for our immigration paperwork, we got the letter saying our application is being worked on and we should have our approval in the next 2 weeks! This is great!! This is normally one of the items that can delay the dossier being ready for translation, so I'm thrilled to know we'll have the decision in the first 2 weeks of January. Yay!

We'll soon be coming into the part of the process that is out of our hands. And that's going to be hard for me! If you know me, you know I like to handle things so having it in someone else's control. Especially something so very important to us, our hearts, our family and our future.

So once our home study interviews are done, our social worker needs to write a report. The report will be to either recommend us for adoption or not. This report will go the province and they, in turn, will decide if we are provincially approved or not. And that's what will cue the agency to have our file translated and sent to Russia.

We're hoping to have our report by the end of January, and hear from the province in February. I'm not sure how long it'll take but I'm going to be as optimistic as possible!

I have it in my head and heart that we will be registered in Russia by the first week of April. I really hope so!

Matters of The Fragile Heart

If you only knew how hard it was to not be able to realize the dream of parenthood. We see so many people land in it accidentally. We see people want it and have it happen with almost no effort. We also see people deal with infertility and succeed.

Adam and I have cried. We have stayed home when we couldn't handle being around kids. We have cuddled children and left crying silently trying not to show our tears. We have held our tongues when people take what they have for granted. We have put up with asinine comments from people who have no clue how hard it is. We struggle every holiday. We struggle when we see the adorable clothes at the Superstore. We struggle when we see someone doing something that we dream of one day doing. We struggle with our ages. We struggle not knowing what will come of things, because you never know.

I tell you this so you know and understand that adoption is something to be taken very seriously. I tell you this so you understand that it's not trendy to adopt - it's a way to parent.

Most importantly I tell you this so you know, more than anything, that we do this for us. This is for our family - so we can build one. This is to make our dreams come true. This is to give us a child to raise, educate, teach and learn from. This is so we can be surprised by the amazing person our child grows into. This is so we can go to soccer games, dance recitals and school plays. This is so we can hide Christmas presents and Easter Eggs. This is so we can hold and soothe them when they hurt.

Adoption is for us. We are not saving anyone. We are not rescuing a child from a down-trodden life. We are bringing them into our home to grow with us, so we can cherish one another and wrap each other in love, cuddles and hugs.

We are not heroes.

We just want to be a Mommy and Daddy.

International News

The adoption word is buzzing with day-to-day updates of the Russian bill to ban American adoptions. As I had mentioned in a previous post, we aren't sure what to make of everything yet. Even if the bill passed President Putin it's not clear how long it will take to have an effect.

What does this mean for Canadians? Well, at first I wasn't so sure. We have a close relationship with the USA but we also have a relationship with Russia. To be honest, I'm not that good with politics! But here's what we do know for sure:

In 2011 a Private Member Bill from a member of the Liberal Party in Quebec, Bill C-339, was brought up. This Bill was similar to the one the USA had recently passed, and could cause a similar adoption situation for us.

The Bill did not pass last time. While this is encouraging, recent developments with the USA and Russia could very well influence our policies and draw our government's attention to that bill.

We are very nervous and very scared. We don't know what this means, or if it were to pass what would come of it.

The idea of not being able to fulfil our adoption path is heart-wrenching. We fully believe that this is the right path for us and we are certain we are doing the right thing.

Simply changing to another country is not an option. Yes, we would look, but we've already done that. We chose Russia for many reasons and when something feels right you need to trust it. Russia is right for us, so we ask that our friends and families understand that telling us to simply change countries is like telling an infertile to "relax." Please don't.

We don't have many options left on the road to parenthood. So please think good thoughts and hope that we make it through.

The Week Before Christmas

It's a quiet, blustery week here.

We received our letters from the bank that we need for the agency, but we had to ask them to re-send them as there was an error. But it's till one more thing (almost) done!

My main point of the post today is to share a news story regarding Russia-USA adoptions. This story has broken on CNN.

I decided, after reading, to take a look at the Moscow Times to see what their news was reporting. This story seems to include the premise that the proposed ban is in retaliation, and this opinion story is very much opposed to the ban. And this one other story seems to have a good explanation of both sides.

I'm not sure what to make of the news quite yet. I hate to see the potential for families taken away from the children. The thought that childless couples would not be able to build a family with the help of Russia breaks my heart, as I can't imagine what would happen if the option was taken away from Adam and I.

However, I know enough to know that I'm not aware of all sides of the story, and that there are details that I'm not privy to.

Let's hope that, no matter what, things work out for the best for all involved. Perhaps Couple X are meant to adopt a little girl in the Ukraine but hadn't been looking there. Perhaps Little Boy X is meant for a family in Russia who will be inspired by the ban to reach out to the orphanage. I don't know. But I am reminded that the path to success look something like this:

Immigration - Check!

The Immigration paperwork is done!

Adam will pop it into the mail tomorrow!

The weekend has been a low-key one. I am finally able to keep down solid foods for 24 hours (hooray!) and we managed to sleep and relax.

There isn't much to be done for our home study until January which is great, so the next couple of weeks will focus mostly on paperwork for the agency and getting set for our home inspection (an excuse to do some cleaning-out and re-organizing).

Adam and I are trying to decide if we want to pick up the Rosetta Stone program for learning Russian. We'd love to hear feedback if anyone has used one of their programs as there are mixed reviews out there right now.

We would also like to thank our readers for following our journey. As it stands we have readers from all over the world and it's a wonderful feeling. Thank you so much!

Mailed!

Adam popped our medicals into the mail today! 2 of the forms went to our Social Worker and 1 went to our agency.

I (Pam) have been battling the flu so the only actual effort I've been able to put in is sitting at the computer not moving too fast! But nonetheless, things are moving along.

Our CIC paperwork will be in the mail on Monday! Everything is being notarized over the weekend.

We spoke to our bank last night and requested the paperwork we need from them (basically a letter saying how awesome we are).

We've started choosing which pictures we will send to Russia - you need many and they are pretty specific. You need photos of each room in your home, your pets, yourselves, your families, etc. You need to send two identical sets - one for your dossier (which is reviewed by Russia's Ministry of Education and helps them find a good match for you) and one for your court file (which is taken very seriously as the judge has complete control over granting the adoption).

As the holiday season is starting, all government offices are slowing down and some will be closed for a time. This will slow things down a bit, but we hope it will give us a chance to have some free time together as well. Adopting is a lot of busy work (at least to this point it has been) and between that and our work schedules we haven't had much down time. We'll have everything done that we can, but we are looking forward to a bit of a break where we can walk in the snow, play cards and cook a nice meal without worrying about what needs doing the second we're done. Perhaps there will be enough time to even see the new Twilight movie!! I've never been this late seeing one!

I'll wrap this post with the link to another blog site. Mrs. Slick and her husband have recently adopted a little boy from Russia.

She hasn't blogged her way through it as her agency has strict policies about that, but now that they've come home she has been catching us up piece by piece - and it's a wonderful story! Congratulations to them!

Medicals are D-O-N-E!!!!

Just spoke to the doctor's office and my medical is now done! So I'll be picking mine up in an hour or so.

I (Pam) called our Social Worker and let her know, so we've booked our final interview and home inspection for January 9th!

Almost done this part and I'm over the moon happy today!

Citizenship and Immigration Canada - A Guide

Immigration is definitely a large part of International Adoption. Obviously!

This post is mainly just a how-to for this part of the adoption process. Since I know we're not the only ones going through it!

We have been told by our agency to start the process now. We need to have pre-approval (aka Part I approval) before we can be registered in a region in Russia, so it was off to the paperwork!

Let me just say that CIC paperwork is a little confusing at first glance. The website is decent so it just took some time to sort through it and figure out what route to go and how how to do it.

To start with, you need to choose between two processes:

1. Immigration aka sponsorship, or
2. Citizenship

This page explains the fundamental differences.

Our agency has quite a bit of experience with the Sponsorship route - many families have chosen it in the past as it's been known to be quicker. However, Adam and I have chosen the Citizenship process as we would prefer our child become Canadian right away.

There are 2 parts to the process.
Part I: Done in country . . . now
Part II: Done in whatever country the adoption is finalized; in our case this would be in Russia.

PART I

There are 3 steps in Part I:

1. Application Documents
2. Pay Application Fee
3. Submit Application

PART I, Step 1: Application Documents

There are 3 documents:
Checklist: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/citizen/CIT0484E.pdf
Form: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/citizen/CIT0010E.pdf
Instruction Manual (very useful!) http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/CIT0009ETOC.asp

If you follow the instructional manual it will go pretty smoothly, but I'll outline some key points anyway.
Only one of the prospective Adoptive Parents applies, although you will need to list both of your info.
You need to include a bunch of source documents to prove you are who you say you are.
For the one applying you'll need 2 pieces of ID

• a driver’s licence
• a health insurance card
• a copy of your passport page containing your photo and personal details, etc.

For each of the prospective Adoptive Parent you'll need to provide proof of Citizenship using one of the following:

• Provincial/territorial birth certificate
• Certificate of Canadian citizenship
• Certificate of naturalization
• Certificate of Registration of Birth Abroad
• Certificate of retention issued between January 1, 1947 and February 14, 1977

But don't forget to include proof of legal name change if you're married! (meaning your marriage certificate)

And you have to get all these document copies authenticated! We'll be using our lawyer who's a Notary Public to do the notarizing for us (he's wonderful). You're options are:

• a commissioner of oaths
• a notary public
• a justice of the peace 

But a simple stamp won't do! Nope! They need to say “I certify that this is a true copy of the original document.” AND it needs to have the following:

• the name of the original document,
• the date of the certification,
• his or her name,
• his or her official position or title, and
• his or her signature.

PART I, Step 2: Pay Your Application Fees

You can pay at a bank, or (like every other bill in the 21st century) you can pay your application fee online. No matter which process you chose it's $100.00 for Part I (no idea at this point what it is for Part II). 

The key part for this is that you MUST include the receipt with your application. MUST! It has a barcode on it, so they scan that and that's the barcode by which they file your application.

If you're as paranoid as I am you'll print off three copies and keep them in a page protector and THEN email it to yourself. But that's just me.

PART I, Step 3: Pay Your Application Fees

Package it all up and mail it off to:

Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Case Processing Centre—Sydney—ADOPTION
P.O. Box 10030
Sydney, Nova Scotia B1P 7C1

In case that's not direct enough for you, the website gives you this helpful little picture:

Next Steps

When your application is received you'll receive a letter saying the office got it. After Part 1 is assessed, you'll get another letter with the decision. THIS is the letter you send to the agency.

If your application is approved, you will be told when and where to submit Part 2. In our case that will be at the Canadian Embassy in Russia. We'll get an entry VISA in our LO's Russian Passport and then be on our way. It'll take a little bit for the Citizenship Certificate to be processed and arrive at home for us.

So that's it! A long but brief (hehe) look at the CIC process. Hope this is helpful to someone!

Medicals

And we're . . . practically done. For now.

Adam's medical paperwork is done and we're waiting for 2 blood results to come back on me. It's odd they didn't come back with the first batch!

But otherwise we are done for this part of the process.

So the medicals included:

1. Family history
2. Personal medical history
3. Blood tests
4. Urine tests
5. Hearing tests (our GP wants to refer us to an ENT Specialist who would refer us to an audiologist, but we skipped that and saw a private audiologist - much quicker)
6. Eye tests (more extensive for Adam than myself)
7. Letter from our Reproductive Endocrinologist (aka Infertility doc)
8. Letter from my Neurologist
9. Vaccinations

Every one was very supportive of our decision and some didn't charge us because we're adopting! How wonderful is that? (And very much in the Christmas Spirit as well). 

As Adam mentioned in the last post, we had hoped to have our home inspection/final interview done before Christmas, but due to a delay in getting our medical stuff done it looks like that will have to wait until the new year. I'm still holding out hope that the final tests will come back in the next 24 hours making it a slight possibility, but it's not likely. But at least we're getting there!

Once this part is done we'll start working on the list for our agency. Did we mention we signed the contract? No? Well - we did!!!! Very exciting!!

Progress!

Another Week, another series of medical appointments. Eyes and ears checked, heading through the process. It's looking like we won't have our homestudy done until post-holidays, which is a bit later than we hoped, but we're still moving slowly along. We've sent in our first round of forms/payments to our agency while we wait on finalizing things here.

Our cats are thrilled to be in the Christmas spirit - here's the oldest one on his Christmas-themed cat blanket:

That's one of the less grumpy pictures...

The younger one likes the Christmas trees, here looking at our little advent tree:

Pam and I have made it a tradition to alternate days on the advent calendar (our little advent house is big enough to hold small candies and little gifts), which we will share with our child some day. None of those increasingly terrible advent chocolates for us....I swear they didn't used to be so bad.

We're also starting slow on learning some Russian.  We've enjoyed listening to some learn Russian audio tracks in the car, trying with mixed success repeating back words and sounds (I really need to roll my "r"...never could figure it out for French, but maybe I can fake it well enough). We bought a book, the cover of which is hopefully not offensive to actual Russians:

Should be interesting. Before we go over, I want to have "Russian Days" at home, where we try to communicate only in Russian. I anticipate using How do you say... a lot, is that cheating? Also,"How do you say" turns out to be a very awkward phrase in Russian, so it will be good practice.

New Post Coming Soon!

Hopefully today or tonight - it's been a busy week! Stay tuned!

A Blast From The Past

Do you remember this?!?!?!?

Cabbage Patch Dolls!

My sister and I both had them, and I can't remember what hers looked like or what mine looked like. I keep looking at pictures of them online (from the 1980's) and I keep thinking "That one was mine!" "No, it's THAT one!"

One thing I do remember is this: my next door neighbour had just got one for Christmas. (Remember? It was all the rage to adopt a CB Kid!) And the best part was finding out what it was! We didn't know the gender - we had to check the birth certificate!

So we put the birth certificate in a bowl of water, so the film would dissolve, and then we found out the gender - it was a _________ (I can't even remember hers!). I thought the gender reveal was amazing!

So I decided to take a look at the Cabbage Patch Kids website.

At first, I wasn't sure what to think. It takes such grown-up material and makes it cute. It makes an orphanage seem like a fun, happy place. 

And then I realized I was looking through bitter, infertility glasses. They tend to make a person cynical.

So I looked again. And I found a whole new perspective. Perhaps I chose a whole new perspective.

It puts a wonderful spin on adoption. It also tries to make it "cute" enough to appeal to kids. That's right Boys and Girls - adoption is cool.

And finally:

 

Thoughts on Parenting by Adoption

Between our two work schedules life has hectic, but good. This weekend was a (now rare) 2 whole days free together. Quite often I (Pam) will be coming off a night shift Saturday morning or working a day shift on Sunday. It was a wonderful treat.

Sunday afternoon I was off to enjoy some time with a few girlfriends (again, very rare these days). There would be 3 other women and their 4 children. Of the children, 3 were in the 2 - 4 age range.

I couldn't help but think, on the drive there, about how wonderful it will be to have our own Little One to take and share in the fun with the group. Now, this isn't a new thought - this is a thought that has been on my mind since before we were ready to try for a family, but this time if was different. We may very well have a Little One to join in come this time next year.

What a wonderful thought! How miraculous and amazing - a dream that we can realize!

Then I began to picture it in my mind. Our wonderful child, in the car seat on the way over, looking out the windows at the ocean that stretches out forever. Our child, hopping out of the car and reaching his/her small and delicate hand to mine to guide them.

What would it be like? Would s/he run and play and race and squeal with delight with the other children?

No, I don't suppose they will. At least, not at first.

There are some defences that become learnt behaviours as a child grows up in orphanage conditions. There's no fault to be had; the defences are simply product of circumstance.

Children from orphanages often have few-to-no possessions of their own, particularly at a young age before they can protect, preserve and defend their own. But they try. They always try. Leave a snack, a toy or a teddy unguarded and it can be gone.

So they learn to do what they can to keep what they have. If you have a toy, put it behind your back to guard it. If you have a treat to eat, don't let anyone get close enough to take it away.

These are justified, normal and expected behaviours.

Taking turns and sharing is new. Giving something to someone else doesn't make sense. Then being able to have it back makes even less sense.

Our child will be new to our life, new to Canada and new to this world in so many ways. S/he will face many hurdles, which we will help them over. There will be many difficulties that other children simply won't have, but with work, patience and love we will all get through, and likely be much stronger for it.

Parenting by adoption is unique. But then so are we. So I think it suits.

Finance Friday & This Week's Re-cap

What a week!

It's Friday night and we are both very tired! It's been a long week at work for both of us, but we've managed to get quite a bit done as well!

We made it through this week's medical appointments a little worse for wear but still okay - we're getting tired of these! But, alas, we have (many) more to come so at least it's for a good reason!

Adam ordered his new passport, so once that comes in the agency will be able to start our paperwork. (We need to have the passport # for every document).

We did find out this week that another couple from the same agency got a multiple entry Visa granted, which we didn't think was a possibility, so this is good! Since you only get a couple of weeks notice to travel, not having to worry about a new Visa every time will be much easier!

I (Pam) had my individual interview for our home study today. I was a little nervous and a little scared beforehand, but our Social Worker is such a nice lady. She's easy to talk to and really nice. She has a quality that puts you at ease, which is a treasure during this process. I can't discuss the details, but it was pretty much what I expected, and not nearly as scary as I had thought.

Finance Friday

We've had orders for 13 bottle of Vanilla so far!!!!

This is a fantastic start and we are thrilled by the support of everyone.

Miniature Update

Today has been a good day!

Today saw the first couple sales of our Homemade Vanilla Extract. We're so excited!

We also received some of medical paperwork in the mail, and I (Pam) picked up my employment verification letters from my HR Dept.

And our agency registration made it to the agency!

Up This Week

• Medicals (Pam, Adam, and then Pam AND Adam)
• Adam orders his new passport
• Pam's individual interview with the social worker
• Waiting for the things-to-do-to-get-started email from the agency (eek!)
• Sell more Vanilla!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

I would also like to recognize the wonderful arrival of Arie to the Adding A Burden Family. Jillian and John picked up their son today and her blog post is just wonderful to read (it had me tearing up!). Jillian has been wonderful at guiding her readers through the Russian Adoption Process, and we wish her and her family all the best!

I encourage you to read about their big day on her blog: http://www.addingaburden.com/2012/11/oh-look-what-god-has-done.html

Get Your Vanilla Here!

Hello everyone!

We'll have a few different items to sell in the coming months, but the first one is ready to go!

 Homemade Vanilla Extract!

4 oz.

Price: $10.00 CAD

Great Stocking Stuffer!

For now we're only offering this in HRM, Truro and the Annapolis Valley. We're still trying to figure out a shipping method that isn't too expensive for us or our customers/supporters. We'll keep you posted.

Please EMAIL us to place an order @ pamandadamadopt@gmail.com 

Also, thank you to those who have shown us support. We appreciate it!

Welcome Family & Friends!

As you know, we announced our adoption plan on Facebook last night. We're very excited!

We're also thrilled to have you with us on this journey. Please feel free to ask us anything about our adoption. We're very happy and ready to spread the word!

A lot of your questions can be answered on this site, so take a minute and look around. And most of all, thank you for your support!

Hey, it's Adam's first post!

This week we have completed our paperwork for the local Social Worker, except we are still going through a few medical appointments. At the same time though, the social worker is being super-helpful and letting us go through the homestudy interview process. Pam and I have our individual appointments all set.

We have received tons of donations that will be going to the Russian orphanage. We also went to the Mic Mac Mall Zellers clearance sale yesterday and bought out a bunch of shoes, since we heard that the orphanages are sometimes short shoes (which makes sense, because shoes aren't something that people donate much...). Which means we now have these:

We also bought one of these on a great sale:

And tonight I also posted our announcement of adoption on facebook for those who we hadn't told early in the process (hi new people!).

Tonight we sent the first of our paperwork to the agency in Toronto too - Pam is excited - she always loves mailing things:

After all the time we spent trying, it's awesome (and a little weird) to be making actual recognizable progress towards getting a child!

Oh, and the cats were very well behaved getting their shots tonight. Good job little guys!

First Round of Paperwork

. . . . . .  is being handed in tomorrow morning! (With the exception of our medicals).

Adam has an appointment with the doctor tomorrow for another step in his medical clearance, and I'll be picking up another donation tomorrow afternoon.

Also, a nurse I work with gave us a wonderfully large bag of clothes.

Progress!

Donations & Shopping & Fun!

Last night we had a wonderful night.

We got more donations (our second bunch) and again the woman was very nice.

Warm Little Mittens!

Then we went out to do a little window shopping. We need to piece together a child's bedroom after Christmas and we aren't too sure what we want, so we took a little look around. And I couldn't resist buying a couple little items that we will need no matter what.

 

And then we had a wonderful dinner at my favourite restaurant to celebrate my birthday last week. And I got presents! Adam lavished me with a beautiful card, day at the spa and a calender of Russia! 

 

Today we had a early morning blood work (*yawn*) follow by another appointment with our doctor for forms. In between, however, we managed to slip in a nice breakfast. Adam was tired and playful.

And then I (Pam) spent 4 hours (yup, 4) working on a questionnaire for the home study. 

So far so good here!

Orphanage Donations!

One thing that adoptive parents will often do when adopting from Russia is gather items for an orphanage donation.

These items can be (but ofcourse are not limited to):

• Warm Clothing
• Shoes
• Snow pants, snowsuits and winter jackets
• Hats, mittens

Another couple over at Adding A Burden have identified the following as the most needed items:

• Children’s Tylenol and Children’s Advil
• Neosporin and Benadryl Skin Cream
• Expectorants and Antihistamines
• Disinfectants
• Children’s Allergy Medicines
• Multi-Vitamins
• First Aid Dressing Materials
• Desitin

So Adam and I decided to put an ad on Kijiji asking for donations of clothing. You can see the add here.

Well, we asked and someone already answered! A lovely lady with a new baby at home got in touch offering us some warm clothes that her Little One has already out grown or hasn't worn. We went over tonight to pick the items up and when we got home and opened the bag we were shocked at her generosity!

And look at this adorable moose hat! I would love to keep it for our Little One but it would be too small. So we'll take it to Russia as a little token of Canada!

Perhaps Aunty could make one . . . ?

Also today, I received the 4 (FOUR!!!) original birth certificates I had to order. They have a lot of security features in them and it makes them look so pretty! It doesn't look like a fundamental legal document at all!

Next on the list is paperwork (yes, there's more), blood work on doctor appointments on Thursday and officially registering with our agency!

Medicals For The Whole Family!

Hello everyone!

Part of the paperwork process is getting a lot of medical information on paper and having your physician sign off on it.

In our case, being Nova Scotians adopting from Russia with a Ontarian adoption agency there is a lot of forms needed!

First thing - the basics!

So, being as we very rarely have time off at the same time, we both booked a vacation day on my birthday. And what's a more special way to celebrate a *cough* 29th *cough* birthday than to get needles!

(I get a laugh out of this pic!)

So we are all up to date with our shots now, and only need to get the one for Cholera & Traveller's Diarrhea within a couple weeks of travel. We also got a great deal of reference material that has some good info it for international travel.

 

And then it was off to meet a friend for coffee at Tim Horton's. They always have great fun with us and on this day we stuck on Adam!

Our next medical appointment was with our family doctor. As it turns out getting this paperwork finished up will take 3 appointments each, plus blood work in between (which takes about 2 weeks to come back). So we hope to have that completed by the end of the month.

But for fun, here's a pic of Adam on the exam table :)

And for the other members of the family, they have an appointment for shots next week! As you can tell, they are thrilled . . .

November!!!

It's November! Yay!

Also, it's Adoption Awareness Month!

Prepping For Home Visit

The final portion of our home study will be a home visit/home inspection.

Our social worker will come and check out our place for safety features and be sure there is adequate room for a child.

One thing we needed to get was a fire extinguisher. So today we did!

We also have outlet covers, and before we bring our Little One home we will be baby-proofing the rest of our place. One step at a time though!

References!

Just a quick update!

We have sent out the paperwork for our references to fill out. So one more thing done!

We're also working away at the paperwork tonight.

This is exciting!

The Imperial Palace

 

I came across a wonderful interactive website that allows the viewer to take a peak around Moscow from the view of the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace is better known as the Kremlin.  It's is where the President of The Russian Federation lives, and it was the home of the royal family.

I can't wait to see it in person, but for now, here's a fun website for you.

http://tours.kremlin.ru/#/ru&1_5

Enjoy!