Russia makes History

Russia has just passed a historical presidential term extension today. Now the president will be able to serve two six-year terms instead of four. According to AP news report the current President of Russia will now have "more power than the general secretary (of the Soviet Union), the czar and pharaoh altogether. And there is not a single element of control over his authority" see full article at Russian Duma backs presidential changes .

Some additional articles revealing the great possibility that Putin will be back in power sooner rather than later and Russia taking advantage of the change in leadership in the U.S.

Russian vote paves way for early Putin comeback

Sarkozy Urges U.S., Russia to Delay Missile Plans

Prayer for Russian I. A. Families

Here is the latest with the recent turmoil on Russia's border with Georgia. Please join me in prayer for the innocent lives caught in this conflict, International Adoptive families that are waiting for court dates that could possibly be delayed and for those currently in route to Russia right now to bring home their child(ren). (Especially for Paul and Jennifer who are leaving now for Russia to bring home their son.)

Georgia-Russian Conflict

Fox News Update

Can't Sleep

Well it is 2am here and I am wide awake. I am not sure if I am adjusting better or worse. I was up last night at 4am and never went back to sleep. D and the kids are sound to sleep and have done well adjusting to the time change. It was rough yesterday afternoon because we had a tour of the city but I was so tired I could not keep my eyes open. A beautiful city with so much rich history and our guide, Alex, is very knowledgeable of Saint Petersburg so it was a really good tour. Thankfully, E videoed most of it so maybe I will be able to catch the highlights I missed when I dosed off.

We received quite a bit of snow fall here over night and throughout the day...J has been itching for a snowball fight ever since. It is cold here but not as cold as I would have thought. They keep the buildings and cars so warm that we find ourselves leaving the window open because it gets too hot. Wearing layers is a life saver!

The hotel we are staying in is very clean and nice. The Brothers Karamazo, it is a restored old building made to look like the Russian hotels of the early 1900's. We had breakfast and dinner at the restaurant. Both meals were very good and authentic Russian cuisine. E and I split something that resembled Beef Stroganoff and the boys had steak and potatoes with this gravy sauce that J absolutely loved!

We will be doing more touring today before our flight leaves for Archangelsk. I am already getting "butterflies" in my stomach about meeting the children. I still cannot believe we are actually here in Russia and in less than 48hrs will have laid eyes on our children for the first time in person. I am going to try to get some sleep now, good night!