Loyet Family Odyssey

Benjamin became a US Citizen at 4:38 PM Sunday, December 11th.

We made it to New York Sunday afternoon, our flight was over an hour late due to weather, customs and air traffic. We missed our connection to Cincinnati, but were able to get on the next flight but not to Lexington until the morning. So Benjamin's Aunt Heather offered to drive up and get us. As we waited for our departure time, gate agents boarded one of the flights before us onto the wrong plane and thus created a backlog of flights. As our flight time came and went we grew more and more tired, 20+ hours of traveling with a baby was taking it's toll. But we managed to board our flight about thirty minutes after the expected departure time. As we taxied toward the runway, our captain made an announcement over the intercom. We were last in a long line of planes waiting for takeoff, and to sit back and relax it was going to be awhile. Our flight attendant served beverages and snacks twice before we took off. But we were counting our blessings that it was still Benjamin's nighttime and he was sleeping through it all. We landed safely in Cincinnati and were warmly greeted by Tara's mom and Heather. We arrived home shortly before midnight. We now begin the arduous task of not only reacclimating ourselves to Eastern standard time, but completely changing Benjamin's schedule. Please keep us in your prayers.

Today marks our last full day in Russia, and we decided to venture out to see Red Square. We decided in advance that the twenty degree weather would allow us only a short visit. Benjamin still has a little cold so we bundled him up Russian style, so many layers he couldn’t move. We arrived at Red Square and saw at least a dozen limos in the parking area. Our driver Zhaynya explained that it was tradition for couples to be married on Saturday and then visit a particular monument in Red Square and place flowers. As we made our way into the square we were struck with the beauty of St. Basils Cathedral. The cathedral is over five hundred years old and has some of the most vivid colors in its architecture. We walked along the wall of the Kremlin and learned about its history as a fort. It now serves many purposes, including the residence of President Putin. We walked further into the square and marveled at the architecture. We came upon Lenin’s tomb and Zhaynya explained that on certain days you can view Lenin’s face as it has been preserved. We walked to the other side of Red Square and Eric and Benjamin stood on the center point of Moscow and made a wish as is tradition in Russia. At this point we were all very cold and Benjamin was ready for a nap so we headed back to the hotel. We hope you enjoy the pictures and we will see everyone very soon.

Well, we have gone nonstop since arriving in Moscow. This is our first chance to post, but it will be well worth it. We have several pictures of our boy for your viewing pleasure.

We were able to have the medical exam for Benjamin’s visa done Thursday morning. At this visit there were three other families who adopted as well. We shared stories of our time in Russia, and were reminded of how truly blessed we are. Two of the families have been in Russia on their second trip since we were here for our first. They have actually been in their region for six weeks due to a difficult judge and regional requirements. We are so blessed to have been able to complete the adoption process with such rapidity.

After the doctor’s visit we were informed that we would have the visa interview at the US Embassy the same day as well. This part of the process has gone so fast we aren’t sure if we’re coming or going. We arrived at the Us Embassy approximately forty five minutes prior to our appointment and began the lengthy security process. Upon entering the embassy, we made our way to the cashier, paid the visa fee, and waited for the interview to begin. We waited in an area with seventy five or so other people. After a few minutes an embassy representative addressed the crowd and administered an oath. She informed us that we would be seen by one of three agents by number on the tickets we received when we arrived at the embassy. We looked at our ticket and realized that we were #5, what a blessing. We wouldn’t have to spend several hours waiting for our turn as Benjamin grew weary. We completed the interview in a few short minutes and were done with the final step in the process. At this point we were free to leave the country and return home. All in all, we were done at the embassy by our original appointment time. What an absolutely amazing birthday present for Tara!

We decided to try to get an earlier flight home and headed to the Delta office in Moscow. We were able to get a flight home Sunday through Cincinnati. We are on waitlist for the flight to Lexington; if we can get on that flight we will be home Sunday evening at nine thirty in the evening. We are more than ready to get home and get started with our lives. Living in a hotel is becoming very tiring and we are growing weary of the food.

Enjoy the pictures and we will post again Saturday. We have lots of pictures to share and look forward to sharing Benjamin with you. He is a remarkable child and has adjusted so well, we continue to be amazed at his personality and good nature.

Until tomorrow,

Eric, Tara and Benjamin

We thought that once court was over we could relax and enjoy being parents, not so much. After three very long hours in a court room where every word spoken had to be translated for us, we began the wait for the adoption decree. At this point we began coming down from the adrenaline high we experienced during court. We waited for half an hour and then another 15 minutes for a correction to be made. During this wait our translator told us that our agency associate would be along soon to collect us. As the minutes ticked by we began to wonder what was happening. Our translator told us that our agency associate was on her way and we would be off to apply for Benjamin’s new birth certificate. After waiting an hour and a half, we were picked up and on our way to the vital statistics office.

As we drove along we sensed something was amiss, but our translator did not relay what was being said so we brushed it off. As we pulled into the parking area for the VS office we were enlightened. As chance would have it our day took a sudden turn. We were informed that a very important document was missing and needed to be located before we could proceed. As the story unfolded it was revealed that the document was Benjamin’s certificate of citizenship. This document is necessary to complete the adoption and to leave the country. The magnitude of the lost document was explained to us; if it could not be found it would take six months to issue a new one.

If this is unclear, let me sum it up. The adoption decree would be invalidated and we would return home empty handed and heartbroken. Our agency associate proceeded to rush us to our hotel and make the two hour drive to Benjamin’s city of birth. There she worked with the hospital to find the COC and bring it back to Izhevsk.

We sat in our hotel room for twenty hours knowing nothing as we waited to hear about the document. It was a long wait but we both felt a sense of calm, knowing that he was meant to be our son. We had faith that the document would be located and we could retrieve our son from the baby home.

Twenty four hours after we had been declared Benjamin’s parents we received the call. A new document had been issued and we would be picked up to resume where we left off filing paperwork and applying for documents. After twenty hours of dead calm we began a whirlwind afternoon rushing all over the city. We were so exhausted yet so invigorated knowing that all that remained was to pick up our son and his passport tomorrow and head to Moscow.

Now we await the morning and the drive to the baby home to pick up our son. We will head to Moscow Wednesday afternoon, approximately 8am Eastern Standard Time. We will post as soon as we are able, and will have pictures of us and Benjamin in Moscow. We are so excited to bring him home and to introduce all of you to our son.

Today has just been an amazing day! Well, I’m guessing the question on the minds of you who have been following along is how did everything go? Ha, ha… I know something you don’t… just kidding. Ok… Are you ready for this? Perhaps you should sit down for this one… We are coming home and we are bringing Benjamin with us! The judge has graciously agreed to waive the mandatory 10 day stay so that we can get our lives started right away.

Ok, secondly, court… Hmmm… I’m finding it very difficult to describe this part to you. A very serious room, though at one point some very relieved participants… I’m probably going to have to collect my thoughts and get back to you on this one… Suffice to say, we, and by we I mean Tara has truly perfected the art of fulfilling Russian Adoption paperwork. I know I’ve said this before, but Kudos on a job well done, honey!

Well, there is plenty more to be told of this day’s events. I won’t spoil all of the suspense right away… Ok, actually, I’m just very tired and things are just a blur right now. Well, let’s just agree that the most important thing has already been said… We are officially parents!

Thanks again for the kind thoughts and warm wishes. We miss our family and our friends very much.

Ok, one more thought, while I’m thinking of it. As I’m typing this blog from the room of our hotel I am reminded of the character of George Bailey, who dreamed of big things only to realize that his riches were not found in the wealth of this world, rather, his friends and the people whose lives he touched. *It is a wonderful life!*

We are getting ready for yet another milestone in our lives. Its funny, I’ve spent most of the past decade referring to myself as somebody’s uncle. It’s so wonderful to say and hear those words. Daddy… Now, I can’t imagine spending another day of my life without Ben. Thanks again to our families and friends for your thoughts and prayers! I can clearly see God has been mindful of our (my) needs even when I have failed to see his plan.

I am also reminded of just how wonderful my parents have been to me. I was asked about whether or not I had ever learned anything of my biological parents. My answer was and will always that I am content knowing that my biological mother loved me enough to want to give me a better life. The life I live though has been for the ones who took care of me, who fed me, changed my diapers, gave me cloths to wear, spent time with me, who loved me. My mind is swimming with examples of their love! I can never repay them. Their love is priceless. I do make this vow though, that with Gods help I will be father to Benjamin that my father was to me. I will. I love him. He is my son.







The Orphanage:















The Okolitsa Hotel (and snow!!!)

After 36 hours of traveling we are safely in Izhevsk Russia and awaiting our court date Monday. We have been very busy traveling back and forth twice a day to the baby home where Benjamin is living. It was so wonderful to see him again after a month, an exceptionally long month for us. He behaved as if though we had just seen him the day before.

We have had four visits with him so far and they have all been great. We’ve played with toys and he’s crawled, he’s even started to try to take some steps with help. When we are sitting he will crawl to us and climb up our leg to a standing position and be very proud of himself. He is babbling more and more every visit; he says several different things repeatedly, including “dada” as clear as day. Of course Eric loves that, even though we know it is just babble it is so sweet.

We took him today to get his picture taken for his passport and visa. It was quite an adventure to say the least as the two types of pictures are different in Russia. We were accompanied by a caregiver from the baby home, our translator and driver. We had to go to three different places to find one that would take both types of pictures and do it today. The first place we stopped at only took passport pictures, so we all piled back into the car and headed to the next place. The second place was not doing pictures today as it was the “camera’s day off”. By the time we reached the third place I had asked our translator if she might go in alone to check if we could have the pictures done there. The reason for this was because at every stop we were all unloading and traipsing through at least a foot of snow. Yes, a foot of snow, and that’s just the last day and a half of accumulation. The third place was able to do the pictures and we all unloaded and went in. We unbundled Benjamin and got him ready for the pictures. His hair had so much static that it looked like the pictures of me as a kid at the Magic House in St. Louis. There you could put your hand on a static ball and your hair would stand straight out on its ends. We joked about how he would have a funny story regarding the picture that would be in his passport.

Of course we experienced what all parents do when they get their child all dressed up for a picture. He proceeded to throw up on us and himself and we scrambled to get him cleaned up for the picture. As is usually the case in situations like this, we were the ones bearing the majority of the evidence and so the pictures proceeded as planned. He was pretty cooperative for a one year old and after several shots we were able to finish. Before too long the pictures were ready and we paid for them. Much to our surprise the photo technician had edited the pictures to remove Benjamin’s “wild” hair. So we now have quite respectable pictures for his passport and visa along with a funny story. We are unable to scan his pictures here but will when we return home. Everyone absolutely must see his expression in the photos, it epitomizes the look most Russians carry on their faces, very solemn and serious. We have two more visits with him before court and if all goes well we will head to Moscow Thursday to complete the requirements to obtain a visa for him to travel to the US.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in this journey to become parents and bring Benjamin home to Kentucky. Your support and encouragement have been invaluable and we will never be able to thank you enough.

Benjamin turned one today, Thanksgiving Day. Eric has been in India for the last 2 1/2 weeks and the team there had a cake to celebrate Benjamin's 1st birthday.

We are traveling back to Russia to finalize the adoption of Benjamin and bring him home. We leave for Russia on our ninth anniversary, November 30th. We will return the 12th of December with our little boy. We are so excited and can't wait to share him with everyone.

Well, we made it back to Moscow safely. We are both very tired, so I’m going to post a few more pictures and then it’s off to Sleepy Town! I just checked the time and its only 1PM in Kentucky, although my body tells me its way past my bedtime! Goodnight!

The past few days have been a roller coaster of emotions, compounded by the nine hour time difference. We have been allowed to spend a substantial amount of time with Benjamin. It has been a blessing to be able to familiarize ourselves to him. Although we are complete strangers, he responds to us much better than we expected. He loves to be held and is perfectly content to sit on either of our laps for long stretches at a time. He also enjoys when Eric walks him around holding him to his chest.

We brought several toys for him to play with and he loves to put them in his mouth. He is teething and I’m sure it feels good on his gums. He also likes to throw things to hear the sound they make. We typically sit on an oriental rug on the floor in the music room and play. He loves to go to the edge of the rug and bang on the hardwood floor with his hands or whatever toy he may possess at the time. A future drummer perhaps? He crawls really well and raises up on his arms and rocks front to back, he’s definitely trying to get up on his own.

The psychologist spoke to us today through our translator and asked how our visit on Wednesday went. We told her all about what he was doing and that he was starting to coo and babble for us. We explained that he cried for less than a minute when another little boy was crying when he was brought into the room to visit with his parents. She asked how we were able to calm him, and we said that we walked him around the room and he quickly quieted down. When the translator told her this a look of surprise came over her face, along with a smile. She said that it was wonderful because he is a very difficult baby to calm down. We were very pleased of course; he is clearly becoming more and more comfortable with us. Eric was able to get him to smile this evening as well. What an amazing feeling to be with him and just soak in his sweetness.

Benjamin does the cutest thing when he is sitting on our laps. He will lean back against us and tilt his head back and just look into our face. It is a good sign that he will make eye contact with us and let us hold him. We have already fallen in love with him and will miss him desperately until we return for court and bring him home. Thankfully he is in good hands with his caregivers at the baby home.

We brought diapers and about forty pounds of fruit to the baby home today. The funds are just not available for them to have fruit very often, if at all. They were very pleased. We hope to be able to bring both to them on the second trip as well.

We will be traveling back to Moscow on Thursday after one last visit with Benjamin. Then back to the states on Friday. This has been a whirlwind trip and we pray that the wait between trips will go quickly. We can’t wait to bring Benjamin home and begin our lives together.

I think my sister-in-law, Heather, said it perfectly when she reminded me that next to Tara, today I would be meeting the most important person in my life. Truer words could not have been spoken!

This morning we had an appointment with Svetlana, the department head of the Ministry of Education to obtain permission to visit the orphanage where Benjamin is. This process took approximately one hour. It was completely painless and actually very pleasant. Upon receiving permission to visit the orphanage we traveled across town to the place where Benjamin has been staying since June. Once we arrived at the orphanage we spent what seemed like an eternity listening to the medical history. Then suddenly, the door opened up and there he was! Tara told me later I never stopped smiling from the moment we met. It was amazing! Tara and I both fully expected Ben to start crying but he warmed up to us very quickly. I loved watching Tara hold our son. That’s right. Our very own baby boy!

We will have a chance to spend more time with Ben tomorrow before returning to Moscow on Thursday.

Our pastor frequently speaks about the favor of the Lord; some may call this coincidence or fortune, we know it to be providence.

The trip to Russia was planned with great haste; in the hopes that we could possibly bring our baby home before Christmas. We knew it would be difficult to find seats on a flight to Russia one week before departure. We had specific dates to travel as given to us by our agency. We bought two of the last three available seats on the flight to Moscow. They were not together, but we knew that 12 hours on a flight apart would be little in comparison to the years we have spent longing for a child.

We called the airline several times over the last week to see if any seats had opened up. But the answer was always the same; the flight is full, and the only probability of seats together is to check the day of the flight in person at check-in. So we waited; and arrived at the airport in Lexington several hours before the flight time. The ticket agent gave us a few possibilities and we were able to find seats together in the middle section by another passenger. We were very happy with this turn of events and settled in for a nice long wait before takeoff to Atlanta.

When we arrived in Atlanta we had several hours before our flight was to leave for Moscow, so we decided to check with the ticket agent about the possibility of seats on the side of the plane. This may sound like a trivial thing, but in coach on a 12 hour flight, you would prefer to sit on the side so you may sleep in peace. Eric has worked for two different airlines and knew the chances to be slim to nothing. We began the long wait in line with many other passengers to speak to a ticket agent. We listened as many people went away unhappy with their outcomes.

Our turn came and we relayed our request to the ticket agent. She said that the people in front of us had just asked for the exact thing we wanted. They had been told that there was no possibility of changing seats. She looked up the flight and as expected there were no options. She said to wait and she would ask the person handling the flight.

As we waited we talked about how blessed we were to have seats together on the flight. It didn’t matter that we would be like sardines in a can with the third person in our row. We were flying halfway around the world to meet a little boy that may be our son.

She returned and started typing and before we knew what was happening she was telling us that we were in seats 18a and b, two seats by ourselves on the left side of the plane. She handed us our new boarding passes and we walked away from the counter not knowing what hit us. We both were speechless, remembering the couple in front of us with the same request.

We sat down and started talking about what our pastor had prayed for us the night before. He had prayed that the favor of the Lord would be upon us. We knew then that it was.

Hours later we boarded the plane and walked to our seats. We had the seats behind the bulkhead, the seats with the most legroom in coach. And over the wing, the best place to be for airsickness.

We had been assigned the seats we would have chosen if we were able to pick any seat we wanted.

It is the end of a long journey and the beginning of another. For me, personally, I’ve dealt with every level of emotion over the past 3 years. The past three years…. Hmmm… Has it ONLY been that long? For me at least, it seems I’ve been hoping to be a father for multiple lifetimes. Well, it seems Tara and I are on the edge of something very new and exciting. That’s an interesting place to be. I remember my parents always told me to stay away from ledges… We leave tomorrow morning for Russia and will arrive in Moscow on Sunday morning. We will be staying in one of the Marriott hotels while in Moscow. We will then leave for Izhevsk on Monday morning. On Tuesday we will visit the orphanage and God willing, meet our future son, Benjamin Peyton Loyet, for the first time. Then, on Wednesday we will formally commit to adopting Ben. How exciting!!!! On Thursday we will leave for Moscow and by Friday night we will be back in the states.

I just want to mention how much I appreciate everyone’s support and prayers! I’ll have more to write when I can see and type straight…. Good night!

Eric