Just Do It!

This is a very exciting day for our family, as months of preparation and waiting come to an end, and the actual adoption trip comes to a start. Today we'll tie up the loose ends on travel details for our trip, and the homestead is all set for while we're away. Finishing the last of the packing, carry on bags for the lengthy flight overseas, making sure we've got all the wires for the electronics, etc. Tomorrow we'll climb into the plane for the 6,092 mile journey to the other side of the world. I've wondered so many times about the first time we'll see the kids at the orphanage and what that will be like. Now it's a week or less away from reality. Truly praying for God's protection and grace, for a smooth adoption process, for things to move along well and timely, so we can bring our new family members home as soon as possible.

Pack for a week, stay for a month

Woo hoo! Our flight out of Austin to fly to Kiev, Ukraine is in 4 days. All the wheels are in motion to keep the home and pets cared for with the housesitter, finances squared away, etc. etc. Now the real fun begins in getting packed for the trip. Packing for a long trip like this comes down to the smallest common denominator. What can we fit in a van with a family of seven on the way to the Kiev airport to fly home! Not how many bags we can take, or how much weight the airline will allow, or what our biggest suitcases are, or even can we fit in the car from the Kiev aiport. What will fit in the car to leave Ukraine with two adults and five teenagers! We have been waiting to get to travel and the day is fast approaching. We couldn't be happier to finally go and get our new family members!

39 and raining

This is so great! We are close enough to our trip that we can see our arrival date in the weather forecast. And, it's not zero to minus 20!

Forward Ho!

Whee! Adoptions are once again moving forward in Ukraine and we have our date! Our legal adoption will begin with our SDA (Ukranian gov't) appointment on Monday morning March 26th! We are very happy that all the preparation stuff is done and we can go and adopt these two kids now. We have been planning, preparing and waiting for a few months now we're now finalizing travel plans, packing, house sitter and pet care, getting our home ready for FIVE teenagers, etc. The kids are very excited that we are finally getting to come to Ukraine to get them!

Springing forward!

It's rainy in Austin today but sunny in our hearts as we got to talk to the kids in Ukraine this morning again. Conversations are always funny as we say something, overhear the translation in crazy fast Ukrainian, then a couple words from the kids, then translation back, and so on. We are told we should get our date this coming Tuesday, so we were excited to be able to tell them we will be there soon for them. They, we are glad to hear, are so excited that we will soon be there to get them :) From the hosting visit this past July and hearing more about them over the months, our hearts are tied to them, in our hearts they are already ours. Soon our bags will be packed and we'll embark on our adventure to bring our new son / daughter / brother / sister home to Texas. God has got this all covered for us, has matched us with the children He has intended for our family, and laid all the legal paperwork and facilitation stuff in excellent hands. Soon they will be in their new forever home, and ours :)

Happy Birthday soon to be son!

Today is Andriy's 13th birthday. We were really hoping to be there by now but the wheels on the bus go round and round at their own pace in the adoption process! I am totally loving the idea having another son and Dylan has always wanted a brother so we can't wait to get over there and finally meet him in person! We continue to be blessed with opportunities to keep in touch with the kids via phone and an occasional Skype but are so looking forward to the day I can just give him a big hug and tell him face to face that he is wanted and there is a nice place in our family all ready for him!

Speaking of the wheels on the bus, looks like they're spinning again! The word as of today is that Ukraine will start extending invitations and appointment dates this coming Tuesday the 13th. Please pray that all goes well and we'll soon know our appointment date and can pack our bags for real, and go get our kids :)

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!