Almost... Almost...

We are in the busy final stages to get ready for our trip to Ukraine. It's funny that no matter how much you prepare, there is much to do at this point! We are eagerly awaiting word on our appointment date which we should find out anytime now. We are pre-packing for our trip (gotta fit in the suitcases, cars, airline size and weight limits), getting new currency from the banks to take along, learning key Ukranian words (yes, no, thank you, bathroom...)! A good contractor friend is helping us build out the boys room so we'll be chugging away this weekend (I have no actual construction skills so this is a good thing!)

I find myself wondering what the trip will be like. What 24 - 30 hours of travel will be like (I get bored on planes). Walking through airports and foreign cities where I don't know the language. Will McDonalds in Ukraine be the same as McDonalds here? What will it be like when we get to see Masha again for the first time since August? What will it be like meeting Andriy for the first time? Are we really going to stick out that much there being Americans? I am actually looking forward to the adventure of going on this trip, and much much more so looking forward to the day that is approaching when we walk out of the plane back in Texas with our two new family members!

These kids will LOVE Texas weather!

Zhytomyr, Ukraine Weather

Tomorrow Night
Partly Cloudy
-17°

Papers please!

Yes! After 6 months of preparation, our dossier has been submitted to the Ukranian government for adoption! We are told the application was accepted with no problems (thanks Nataliya and Oksana for your diligence :) and we should find out in a couple weeks when our appointment with the SDA (no idea what that stands for) will be to officially start legal adoption of Masha and Andriy. Time to start packing!

Hey, go put on a sweater...

I have been thinking about the kids a lot this past week. We're at the end of the preparations for adoption and ready to make it happen! It has been brutally cold in Ukraine in recent days with daytime highs just breaking zero and nightime lows in the -10 range and even colder! I pray every day for them, their friends, orphanage care workers, etc, that they stay safe and warm. I wish we were there to be able to make sure they are ok.

Our 3 kids we have are very well cared for. I would not say spoiled because they have wonderful hearts and generally are concerned for others before themselves, and not all into material things. It's not that they don't have everything they need and most of what they want, it's just that they're not really materialistic people. I don't know if or how much Masha and Andriy have had of that in their lives, but we are looking forward to getting them home and being able to love them and take care of them. I still think our lives will be changed by this experience as much as theirs!