Home

We are home!! It is so great to be here. All of our flights were on time and we acutally landed a bit early. Natalie got sick toward the end of the flights and Benjamin threw up this morning. But they are doing great now.

We were met at the airport by some wonderful friends and came home to some good old southern comfort food!! Natalie & Benjamin checked things out and then went outside to play. We ate a little, got showered and all were asleep by 8:30.

We woke up at 6:30 this morning, had breakfast & coffee, talked to some friends, played, went shopping and now all are gone bike riding at the park while I unpack and head to Walmart.

Our first day is going smoothly and we are the proud parents of 4 amazing children!!!!

Done!!!

Gotta say....our facilitator rocks! Zhenia left Kiev last night at 10:00 on a train headed for Poltava to pick up the childrens' passports. He arrived there at 4:00 and sat at the train station waiting for them!!! He said they would likely get there by 10:00 or 11:00.

We left the flat at 8:00 and dropped some documents off at the Embassy and then went to the medical center for the required physicals. Zhenia told us to be ready for to wait up to 2 hours, as they see children with their passports first. We went to Dr. Yuriy's office, gave him some papers and he showed us into his office. He immediately went to work with their physicals!!! Praise God. While we were there, Zhenia called and said he had our passports at 9:15!! I love it when God shows up and shows off!!!

David left to get some money to pay for the Embassy fees, as we were going to head straight back there to get paperwork started and pay the fees, and I stayed to finish things up at the medical center. After we left the Embassy, we went back to the flat for lunch and a rest. We then went to the Embassy. We were there about 2 hours and left with Visas in hand!! We thought we were going to have to go back in the morning and pick them up.

Celebration pizza for dinner and now we are resting and thinking about packing. Tomorrow we will head out around 12:30, grab some lunch at TGIFs and then go to the airport. Our plane leaves around 5:30. As I said before, we have a night layover in Paris, but are going to rough it in the airport.

Thank you for all of your prayers, emails, and encouraging words. We know that we could not have made it mentally, physically or spiritually without God or without your support!!!

In Kiev

We are finally in Kiev!! To back up a little, on Sunday we hung around together and on Monday, we packed and got ready to leave. On Sunday, we also had a party for Natalie's class. Alot of the children leave the orphanage on the weekends, so our party was about 7 boys and 2 girls. We had fun though. We brought them candy, fruit and toys. We talked with them and asked each other questions. They tried out their English on us and we tried on Russian on them. When we left, I had the opportunity to hug and kiss each child. It was a blessing for me!! On Monday, we were waiting on word about our passports and we found out that our passports were processed but did not get sent to Poltava. So, we made the plan to travel to Kiev this morning so that we could go to the medical center.

So, we got up at 5:00am and got dressed and started the last of the preparations. The kids got up around 6:15 and we headed out in a passenger van to Kiev- with Zhenia. The trip took about 4 hours. On the way over, we found out that we would not be able to go to the medical center due to some paperwork issues. So, we got settled into our flat. It's a pretty spacious place. We then walked to McDonald's and had lunch. David and I are pretty tired, but the kids are non-stop. Hopefully they will wear down early tonight.

The plan for tomorrow is to go the Embassy at 8:30 and give them some papers so that they can start work on the Visas'. We will then go the medical center and get the children's physicals done. Then we will wait on Zhenia, as he is going back to Poltava to retrieve the passports we have been waiting on. Once he returns, we will head to the Embassy to finish the paperwork on the Visas'. We hope to then get the Visas' on Thursday morning and we fly home that afternoon.

Now, you can see that many things must fall into place for everything to go as planned. We have encountered many delays and obstacles throughout the process. We ask you to pray for this end of our journey. Unless you have been here, one has no idea how things change from minute to minute and how people seem to make up rules as they go along. Please pray that all of the necessary paperwork will be completed in time for us to fly home on Thursday afternoon.

Saturday, Day 37

Not much excitement today. Both Natalie and Benjamin are sick with a cold. This has slowed them down a little. We stayed in until around 1:00. We went to exchange money and walk to the bazaar. It was really hot today. All I have are long sleeve shirts and it was hot. The bazaar was a little walk from us. It is outside, so no relief from the heat. We picked up some tennis shoes for Natalie, as hers are worn out. Benjamin and Natalie also wanted a play telephone. Benjamin really likes his. Natalie wants a real one and I guess she thought it would substitute well. She thinks it's fun, but lost interest quickly. We walked to the market afterwards then came back home.

We spent the evening playing games, talking, eating and watching movies. Does this sound familiar? Everyday, I get the opportunity to get more information from Natalie about her and Benjamin's past. I am so thankful that she shares and look forward to when we can really communicate, so that I can get to know them more closely. All of our children are getting along pretty good. There is the occasional outburst, but all is good.

Jacob and Caleb found out today that they will make their Route 66 party on the first Sunday after we return and they are really psyched about it. This is a party at the end of the year held by our church's children's ministry. Any child who has said all 66 books of the bible may attend. They accomplished this last year, but are able to go again this year. It's alot of fun and they have been looking forward to it for some time now. So, I am glad they will not miss it. They had to miss Cub Scout camp and this was a real disappointment for them.

Benjamin and Natalie are excited about going home and talk about it often. What will we do there? When do we get there? Tell me about my room again? Can I get my hair cut there? Will we go shopping. Those last two are from Natalie, she is all girl. Today, she showed me all of her pink things and said she really likes pink. This is good, so do I. Her new shoes today were pink.

Zhenia says we should get our passports on Tuesday, then we will all head to Kiev. He said that Wednesday will be a very busy day. Please continue to pray that all gets done in Kiev to allow us to fly out on Thursday evening.

Home soon

The past few days have been busy. We have been learning more about our children- all of them. We see happiness, fears, joy, uncertainity, so many mixes of emotions. This is true of the parents, as well! We know we must lean on God alone, as He alone will equip us daily to parent our children.

Thursday, we went ice skating with friends and then to eat. It was a large group and alot of fun. In the evening, we played around at home. On Friday, we went to the Last Bell ceremony at the orphanage. This is the last day of school where everyone graduates to the next grade. It was an elaborate celebration and I am thankful I was able to watch. Afterwards, we spent a few hours at the amusement park with friends. It was alot of fun. The last few days have really helped with our homesickness and giving us that extra spark we needed to keep going.

We found out later in the day that our passports should be here on Tuesday. So, our plan is to travel to Kiev on Tuesday, finish up the rest of the paperwork and fly back home on Thursday. We will spend the night in the airport in Paris, but I am up for anything to get back home. Please pray that our paperwork in Kiev will be completed in one day, Wednesday.

Beautiful day

Today was the first day we had the kids all day. Last night, David brought Natalie and Benjamin home around 7:45. They were really wound up and were so excited to be here. We got so many hugs and kisses from them. I think Benjamin would have jumped around all night. Natalie had already brought her belongings throughout the week and Benjamin carried a small bag of clothes- most of them we bought for him earlier in the year. We all got baths and were in bed by 11:00. It took a while to get them to sleep, but after I laid down with them, out they went.

Today, we woke early and hung around the flat. Benjamin is running a small fever and has a cold. About 11:30, we went to sign papers at the passport office. This is the beginning of getting our passports. Next, off the play then to the market. Back to the flat. After a bit, Benjamin wanted to go to the internat to get the rest of his clothes. So we walked there. Most of his things were too small, so we left them, but he did bring home his backpack. We walked back to the flat. Had a quiet night and got the kids to sleep around 10:00.

Tomorrow, we are getting some documents scanned for the passports and should know a date to fly home so that we can start to plan our flight. Also hoping to connect with the Hall family, here to adopt, and our friend, Cathy.

Please pray that we will find out that our passports will be ready by the first of next week. Also, pray for our family's adjustment- especially Jacob and Caleb.

Paperwork update

David just called and they were able to get both sets of birth certificates and the tax papers today! Heading to pick up Natalie and Benjamin for good tonight.

Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."