We have finally seen and are experiencing the light at the end of the tunnel! Gertrude and I got back from Latvia on Sunday, March 9 about 2:00 a.m. Everything went fairly smoothly, except the trip over. We were supposed to travel Atlanta to Frankfurt, then on to Riga, Latvia. There was a bad storm in Frankfurt at the time we were supposed to land and they closed the airport. We landed in Cologne, Germany and waited about 2 hours to fly back to Frankfurt. Consequently, us, and hundreds of other people that were supposed to fly from Frankfurt to other countries missed their connections. We waited in line for 6 hours and 10 minutes, knowing there were no more flights out that day to Riga, and wondering if we would even get on one the next day. I had to get hold of Scott but had no way of calling (the cell I had only works from Latvia). I needed to let the hotel know we would be a day late and let Scott know so he wouldn't worry. Scott was actually out of town too, and Tena was home with our neighbor Emilia that stayed with her. So, finally found a phone that could be used to call internationally by using a credit card. I called Scott and told him the situation, and he called Tena and had her e-mail the hotel and our attorney to give them an update on when we would be there. Thank you modern technology!! Of course, once we got home and got our credit card bill, we found that those two 5 minute phone calls cost us about $65.00 each! Anyway, we finally got to the front of the line and got a ticket for the next morning. They put us up in a nice hotel not far from the airport and it included dinner and breakfast. We got to shower (and boy did we need it!) and rest, and I was able to get internet access and e-mail people in Latvia to let them know what was happening.Once there, we got our hotel which was a decent place but 6 floors up (circular stairs) with no elevator. We got a lot of exercise while staying at this place! Monday we had to take Gertrude to the Embassy doctor for a physical, and then get her new passport. Our attorney took us back and forth to the doctor and passport office (had to return to pick up the passport, bring it back to the doctor so 2 trips for each). Then she took us to a photo shop to get Gertrude's visa photos. So, basically we were finished with all the paperwork that had to be done. On Monday evening we went out to dinner with the Children's Home director, and our friends Ilga and Helen, along with about 10 of Gertrude's friends and her sister. Many of her friends brought gifts for her, games and stuffed animals, and the director brought a photo album they put together for her. It was a wonderful celebration but a sad good-bye.

Since everything was done on Monday, I called the Embassy and moved our appointment up to Tuesday from Wednesday. We dropped off all the documents and had to wait till the next day for the visa. That night we had dinner with some of our adult friends again, and Gertrude’s sister. This was the last good-bye for the two girls. I’m really glad they got to spend that time together. The following day the visa was ready and we picked it up. Once we had the visa in hand, Gertrude was very happy and asked, "Now I'm your daughter?!" A very sweet moment! Since we had the visa, that means we were completely finished and ready to go home by Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, to change our tickets would have been about another $1,000 so we opted to stay till Saturday anyway. On Thursday we went to Big Lido and went ice skating and had lunch. It was fun and it snowed the whole time we skated. It was like a winter wonderland out there, very enjoyable. Then we had lunch there and went back to the hotel. Friday we didn't do much, just walked around and went into some shops. Saturday we were on a plane (actually 3 planes) for the long trip back. We were both so happy when we were on our last flight. Gertrude said she was so happy and she just wanted to sleep in her nice soft bed. I have to say, my sentiments exactly!

So, back home and couldn't be happier. I love Latvia but there's nothing like the good old USA! Gertrude started school on Wednesday, March 12