Tuesday, December 4 was Gotcha Day for Chris, Danica and their new twin daughters, adopted in Perm. It was a long time between trip one and trip two, but the girls were home in time to celebrate Christmas. As new parents, Chris and Danica may not have much free time to blog about their adoption journey any more, but you can read all about how they got to their happy conclusion here. Congratulations!

One funny note about how small the world of Russian adoptions can be: While at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Chris and Danica met Steve and Stefanie from "A Dad's Journey Through International Adoption", who had their Gotcha Day on November 30. They don't live even remotely close to each other in the United States, and knew each other solely through their blogs. You can read about the whole meeting here.

Wednesday, December 26 was the magic day for Zack, Laura and their new son Dimitry, whom they had been trying to bring home from Chelyabinsk since December 2005. That's the good news. The not so good news is that Chely is adamant about not waiving the 10-day waiting period, Russia shuts down until after Orthodox Christmas and Dimitry's orphanage is not close to where they have been staying. So rather than wait in a hotel and being unable to see their son, they have decided to return to the United States and go back to Russia in January. Here's hoping "The Winding Road to Siberia" will see all them together at home soon.

Matt and Julie have a January 15 court date to bring their son home from Tula, which is a few hours south of Moscow. Their new son, who will be named Creed, will join an older brother, West, who was also adopted from Russia. This is their blog.

Things are moving very, very rapidly for Rob and Dede. They landed in Moscow on December 2 for trip one and they already have a court date--January 21. This, after two years of waiting for a referral, a change of agency and more than their fair share of frustration. I don't know how they managed it, given the haze of jet lag and sensory overload that seems to accompany most adoption trips to Russia, but Rob and Dede posted one of the most detailed accounts of a referral trip that I have ever seen. If you are waiting for a referral or anticipating trip one, make time to read their account, which is, appropriately enough at "Rob and Dede's Russian Adoption Journey". They are adopting from Moscow region.

Becky and husband, who blog at "Our Little Russia Peanut" and Troy and Rachel over at "Journey With The Williams Family" are some of the many families celebrating the re-accreditation of an adoption agency. Children's Hope International got its new license on December 14. Troy and Rachel have also reported that they have decided to switch from Vladivostok to Izhevsk, the capital city of the Republic of Udmurtia. Despite its name, this region is a part of Russia. It is located on the European side of Russia, bordering on Kirov oblast and Perm krai.

With the transition of so many bloggers to "forever family" status, it's time to add some new names to the mix. If you want to give me permission to read about your adoption journey, please e-mail me at virginiac@adoptionblogs.com .

Image credit: Kevin Rosseel at Morguefile.com.