One Missing Bag!!

We arrived to Magadan on a Sunday afternoon, scheduled for our court date on that Monday, March 5th. I had heard "horror stories" of people losing their luggage, and had also heard of others who "carried on" their court clothes, just incase they were lost along the way. So, in our carry on luggage, we placed our dress clothes for court. We also had the forsight to "mix-up" the bags, so that in each piece of luggage, there were some of evesone's clothing (that way, if any of the luggage was lost, we would all still have clothes to wear). So we did that with all of the luggage, all except for one bag. This bag was the one with ALL of the boys clothes, socks, and underwear. Of course, THIS was the bag that was lost!! I did have their shoes and coats, warm hats and mittens packed away in another bag!! Delta Airlines said they would try to locate our missing bag, in the meantime, we would just have to make do. After court, in the afternoon, Ludmila brought over all of the clothes we had previously bought for Kylen. We were surprized to see this, as we thought they would stay in the orphanage to be used by the other children. However, everything came with him, so that solved his clothing problem. In downtown Magadan, we found a children's shop and picked up a little outfit for Sasha. It was not my first choice in what to dress him in when he left the Baby Home, but I knew I needed something. I have heard from others that the baby homes and orphanages will not give back the clothes you have given to your child to wear, and that especially on the day you leave the orphanage you must bring the clothing you would like for them to wear. Apparently this is not so in Magadan. We were scheduled to leave for Moacow on Wednesday afternoon. In magadan, since the 10 day waiting period is generally waived, they prefer to keep the child in the Baby Home at night, and you may visit, or get the child during the day. Keeping the child on the same schedule, and not disrupting their sleep patterns helps the child to adjust to the new parents and minimizes the stress experienced. When it was time for us to leave for the airport, we took our newly purchased outfit with us in order to dress Sasha. The caregivers at the Baby Home in Magadan are so loving. They took pride in dressing Sasha, and they picked out the best ourfit he had, and dressed him in it. Now, as I said earlier, I had a new pair of shoes. When I pulled them out (they waved them away), and they put on a pair of cute little snow boots. Then they got this cute hat and coat.....and only when they saw my hat and coat were going to be warm enough, did they decide to use my coat and hat I had brought. The caregivers took such pride in dressing him. They wanted to give him and dress him in the very best they had. WOW!! When he was finally all dressed and ready to go, they all had tears in their eyes. They loved him so much, and would really miss him, and felt sad......but at the same time they were so happy for him to go to a family that loved him. By the time we left, we were all crying!! It was a beautiful experience to see how loved Sasha was by his caregivers!! They truly are sweet, wonderful, giving women!! Oh....and the bag with all of the children's clothes was waitng for us upon our arrival to Moscow!!