Goodbye Apartment, Hello Hotel Helia

5:21 a.m.

We heard footsteps upstairs and could picture in our minds exactly what the kids were doing: jumping out of bed and getting dressed to go to Budapest. It's GO time!

Thankfully after a few minutes, the kids settled down to watch cartoons on MiniMax while we got up and got ourselves ready. Then we made some sandwiches for the road, finished packing, and all ate breakfast.

Adam came at 7:30 a.m. to take us to our first appointment at 8:00 a.m in Miskolc.

First we had to report about how the last 30 days have gone, tell about the progress we've seen in the kids, and confirm that we do want them as our own children. The social worker asked the kids a few questions, (thankfully they said we were sweet!) and printed out the report for us to sign that we are officially their parents!

Next, we need to take this report to a different office to print out the new birth certificate. BUT WAIT----- today the whole system is down for testing. (We were told this testing has happened only one other time 20 years ago so today was the day to do it again.) WHAT. Gareth and I started praying while Adam starting calling folks. He got through to someone who said they'd do it for us and, Praise the Lord, we were on the road to Budapest by 11:00 a.m.

Once we arrived, we went straight to the passport office. After signing papers and having the kids' pictures made, we put in our order and will hopefully pick these up tomorrow.

Around 2:00 p.m. we made it to Hotel Helia.

This is the first hotel the kids have ever been in. They have successfully checked out every nook and cranny of our adjoined rooms. We unhooked the room phones, and they have loved playing restaurant/front desk games between the rooms using the phones and other gadgets you find in a hotel.

A few minutes after arriving, a doctor came to do a quick medical check-up and fill out papers for us to take to the embassy tomorrow. She was nice and spoke English very well. We were very thankful and blessed to have a doctor that would come to us.

Finally about 3:30 p.m. we hit the pool! They swam until they were hungry around 5:00, we stopped for some goulash (what else?) in the lobby cafe, then went to wind down in the room. We watched Madagascar (in English!), and the kids fell asleep without a problem.

We've had a big day, and we have several more until we make it to Petal, Mississippi. We'd appreciate your prayers as we continue to run errands to the embassy and passport offices. Pray for our children as they are in a new environment with a lot of questions. It's frustrating for us to not be able to understand what they are asking. We try to reassure them in the best way we can, but they can't understand us either! Pray for us as we try communicate what's going on and where we are going.

The view from our window is beautiful, and our room price comes with a breakfast buffet! This is such a nice place, and the kids can't seem to take it all in fast enough. As you can imagine, they are a little antsy with the environment change from apartment to hotel, and they'll be this way probably until we make it home late Friday night! But each hour of each day takes us one step closer to being in our home with our family. Thanks for reading and being part of our journey!