GOTCHA DAY !

Saturday, June 14th


The long awaited Gotcha Day is here! We arrived at the orphanage after 12 noon to get Natalie and begin the last part of our journey in Voronezh. The orphanage director, Olga, took us to her building where she sleeps, eats and plays with 11 other children around her age. As soon as we entered the room with the cribs, Natalie got very excited and couldn’t wait to come to us. Little does she know that soon we will be taking her from the only place she has ever known. After a quick change into the clothes we brought for her, we were headed to the car for a long ride back to the apartment. All the ladies at the orphanage were saying their ‘goodbyes’ to Natalie as we made our way down the path and out the gate. It was very touching to see the mutual affection between them. Before we left, a caregiver brought out the bear we had left for her back in February. As soon as she saw it she reached for it and snuggled it. Then she proceeded to press the paws to hear our voices and screamed with glee. [During our second day of court, the orphanage representative mentioned to the judge about the bear we had left with the girl. She thought it was why Natalie had recognized our voices when we returned and applauded us for leaving such a touch

Natalie is a very loving child. Even though she has never received kisses before, she enjoys them immensely now and we are never short of supply. Steve kisses her hands as she touches his beard---who knew facial hair could be so entertaining.

I was prepared for the car ride with lots of finger snacks, juice and toys. She did very well and ate snacks for almost the entire 2.5 hour ride. We could not get her to take her second nap of the day—too much excitement and fun---too many new things to see and do. Finally at 10:40 pm she went down for the night and didn’t wake up till 8 am! Sweet sleep.

It was a good day and we are grateful for all your prayers. We feel them. There is a lot of transition for us and for Natalie. Tonight we board the train back to Moscow leaving our beautiful friends in Voronezh. We are coming home on June 20th at 8:32 into Dulles via Delta! Keep praying us home.

Love,
Karen, Steve and Natalie