Rila Monestary

The next day we decided to do some sight-seeing with everyone. It was us, L, his foster mom, and our translator. We went up to Rila Monestary.

On the drive there, L was getting car sick. We stopped a couple times to get him some air, then decided to move him to the middle row with me instead of the back.

He immediately snuggled up to me! It was such a beautiful moment! He kept looking at me and smiling so big. I held him, kissing his head every few minutes and soaking up the snuggle time!

I was touched by how safe and comfortable he seemed to be with me so quickly. He's so wonderfully affectionate!

We are so blessed by V, his foster mother. She is one of the best people I have ever met. She has prepared L for this the whole 4 years she has had him. She is grateful that he is being adopted and so gracious with us. It's like a dream!

She encourages our relationships at every turn, reminding him that we are mom and dad and that J and B are his brother and sister! She's truly a beautiful and gracious woman.

L becomes our kiddo

After we met, we walked across the river to a cafe. We gave L his gifts and explained them to him. We flipped through the photo album we made him and introduced him to our family.

After a few minutes of that, we asked L what kinds of things he liked and Minecraft came up. Immediately J and L started bonding over video games and YouTube! They were giggling and sharing time like they were old friends.

We talked with the help of the translator for a while and saw how well everything was going. It was amazing! He seemed to want us as much as we wanted him!

After a couple hours of talking, Dan and I decided it was already time to ask him the question we had been thinking about for months. Dan beautifully told L in Bulgarian that he is precious to us, and said that we want him to be our son and brother. He then asked if L wanted to be a part of our family. L answered yes right away! He asked when he could come home!

We spent the rest of the day together testing our relationship and then had to head back to Sofia. What an amazing day! We never expected the connection to be so sure!

Meeting our son

It was a whirlwind adventure meeting our boy. We walked into the social worker's office in his town and waited. Our stomachs were twisting anxiously. We exchanged pleasantries through the translator and waited.

We heard footsteps outside the door walking quickly. In walked a beautiful site. The boy we had seen limited pictures of, read limited information on, dreamed of, and imagined the possibilities of was standing in front of us.

He was visibly shaking and mirrored the anxiety we showed on our face. He was introduced to us and gave us nervous embraces. He called me "mom".

Dan introduced us beautifully, using Bulgarian words for wife, daughter, and son. That did it for me. My eyes welled up and I was lost to a whole new love.

I was already so happy, so satisfied with life. I didn't realize my heart could grow to accommodate a whole other person! This beautiful boy became my son in a matter of seconds. Any doubt I didn't know I had was erased.

Plovdiv

We drove 2 hours to Plovdiv today which is on of the oldest cities in the world. It was so different from anything I've ever seen!

We drove around the city until we found a place to eat lunch. It was delicious and we were able to continue practicing out Bulgarian. We're getting better every time we try! Dan especially.

We found Old Town Plovdiv and walked the cobblestone streets after the adventure of driving down them and parking!

There was a beautiful monastery and a church and then the Ancient Roman Theatre built around 100 AD. It was breathtaking! We were able to walk all around it and explore, climb the stairs, and take lots of pictures. By the time we were finished, the sun was setting and we had to head back to the hotel.

Not having GPS led us to our first real challenge since we got here: me leading us an hour away in the wrong direction!! We finally saw signs for one of the coastal cities that Dan recognized and turned back. Thankfully we made it back to the hotel, just a little later than we expected.

We had a nice dinner at our hotel and we are hitting the sack early tonight! What an amazing day! What an amazing country!

Exploring Bulgaria

We have had an amazing time here so far! We have a fantastic hotel. The staff is super friendly, the rooms are really nice, and the food is amazing!

We are starting every morning with our complementary breakfast buffet or meats, cheeses, veggies, fruit, eggs, pastries and the most incredible yogurt!

Yesterday we explored Sofia after napping most of the late morning/early afternoon. We saw beautiful churches, architecture, and parks. We walked a couple miles from our hotel to see one of the coolest cathedrals I've ever seen.

We walked back towards our hotel after and stopped in a cafe for dinner. We had such yummy food and chances to practice our Bulgarian. We were rewarded with smiles and laughter. They were happy we were trying. One waiter answered my влагодаря (thank you) in Bulgarian and then proceeded to continue on talking to me. I had to confess that i didn't speak it and just blurted out "english!" Super embarrassing!

We went back to the room, played some cards and passed out. I think we all woke up this morning almost fully adjusted to the time change.

Day 2

Wow! What a long long day! We started in Chicago this morning with a tasty breakfast buffet. We had a nice ride to the airport and friendly staff checking us in. We got to hang at the USO until our flight, and then we were off to Atlanta.

We had a nice layover in the international terminal in Atlanta, and then we hit the long flight to Amsterdam. It was 7 hrs and we had movies, tv, games, dinner, and breakfast! It was a great flight!

We got into Amsterdam early and had to wait 4 hours for our next flight! We started to unravel a little as we were nearing the end of our endurance limits.

We all got excited when the Bulgarian Air plane showed up! The flight was a quick 2 1/2 hours and then we were here! It felt incredible to see this beautiful country from above and land here knowing our purpose.

We went through customs and were met by our adoption agency here. They were very nice and it felt great to be met here by someone!

We rented a car.... What an adventure! We had directions, but quickly learned that there weren't any street signs! The gps on my phone picked up just in time and we were back on track. We made it to our hotel despite the lack of signs and crazy drivers.

We are showered and about to get some room service, then we will sleep until hopefully tomorrow morning!

Thank you for all your love and support! If you are looking to pray specifically it would be Joe's stomach and for all of us to get used to the time change quickly.

We hope to do some tourist things until Monday when we meet our kiddo!

❤❤❤❤❤

In Chicago

It's been a great first day of travel, and a short one! We are settled into our hotel and getting ready for sleep.

We had a good friend take us to the airport and had a great meal at Root Down DIA.

The flight was smooth and there was a lady sitting behind us who spoke a little Bulgarian! She corrected Joe's pronunciation of "dopir dulu" or "touchdown"!

We have a 10:30am flight to Atlanta in the morning. Thanks everyone for your prayers, love, and support!