George, Angie and Michael on a day trip to the capital of Bulgaria (Sofia).

Angie and I were both very nervous and also very excited, knowing that 10 hours away was waiting the most important aspect of our lives. We landed in Sofia on Sunday and met with Tanya our lawyer representing us and we were driven to our Hotel Zdravetz up in the mountains. The hotel was really very picturesque and our hosts Georgi and Deni were both amazing people. Right away we felt very comfortable. Angie and I could not sleep at all that night anxious at what awaited us a few hours away.

Tanya and Vesso showed up at the hotel to pick us up and we were on our way to the orphanage. From the outside we realized that the orphanage was not really taken care of, but were very surprised to see that the inside was very clean and orderly. We met with the Director of orphanage and were told that Michael was one of the most popular children at the orphanage.

Finally our time came and were taken inside Michael's room to see him. What can we say, it was love at first sight. Both of us were in tears at the sight of this little amazing child.

Michael was very nervous and scared at first not knowing what to do. After a few days he became more outgoing and very loving to the both of us. What a difference a couple of days would make. In the beginning Michael was throwing tamper tantrums at every opportunity when we went to pick him up at orphanage, but after a couple of days he was running to the door to greet us. He became very attached to me and was always looking to get picked up and played with. Angie became very attached to Michael from day one and was at times crying at what was coming. We were leaving on Sunday and did not know when would be our return trip to pick up our son. Our last day in Bulgaria was very traumatic because we had to say our goodbyes. I took Michael aside and spent several minutes alone with him and began to cry uncontrollably and Michael was aware of this. After Angie spent time with Michael to say her goodbyes she began to cry as well. Michael knew something was up and when we took him back to the orphanage he began to have a temper tantrum because he did not want to go back inside.

Now what!

Michael in his new surroundings - in bed his his new friends.

We waited for what seemed to be an eternity to finally go down and bring Michael home with us. At first we thought we would have him by the end of October but after several problems that had arisen in Bulgaria with the Ministry we began to wonder if we would get him before Christmas. After all the wrinkles were ironed out with the Ministry and his birth certificate was validated we received the word from Elena that we were flying down on December 11 to finally pick up our angel. Upon arrival we were told by our lawyer that Michael's visa was not ready as yet but they did not foresee a problem with getting it before our flight to return home. After not being able to sleep again, it was time to go and see and pick up our little boy. Both Angie and I were wondering whether or not he would remember us after 5 months of being apart. Our answer came when we went inside the orphanage and immediately he recognized us and ran to the door. We dressed him up and took him outside, he didn't even look back to say goodbye to his caregivers. Our little boy was finally ours and nobody was going to separate us again. Upon our arrival to Toronto we were told by our relatives that the temperature was a balmy -35 with the wind chill factor, it was +3 in Sofia. Michael had a homecoming befitting some royal dignitaries.