Still in Kiev...

Preeviet!  We are still in Kiev.  Actually this is our last evening here as we head out to Maripol near Donesk tomorrow afternoon to settle in to our new apartment (at least until we get our bearings).  We have possibly located a little girl that we are going to go to the orphanage to gather more information about the true possibility of bringing her into our family.  The news is getting brighter but as we are learning there is never any certainty here in Ukraine.  This is both what makes it fascinating and terrifying.  Kind of like life in general.  Since we have no new information to share I wanted to share some pictures of our experiences in Kiev.  Of course we have pictures on phones and cameras so forgive any mishmash that occurs in future blogs jumping back and forth.

To start here is a map of Ukraine.  Right now we are in Kiev, the capitol and will be flying about 1.5 hours further east to Donetsk and then driving about 2 hours to Mariupol.

Following I am going to attempt to recreate our time here with photos and captions.

Rob and I in front of the Ministry where all adoptions are overseen and St. Andrews Cathedral.  Our first apartment was right up the hill from this spot.  This was the first afternoon when we arrived.  As you will see in later pictures it was snowing and the snow coupled with the beauty of the city created the impression of being inside a snow globe.  It is so surreal it is like being in an Epcot exhibition.

This is St. Micheal's Cathedreal (Michalevsky) I am not sure I got that spelling correct...most of what we are learning is verbal and definately things get lost in translation.  Rob and Susan our facilitator are posing in the center of the square right up the hill from our current apartment.  Next blog will let you visit a Ukrainian apartment.

Here is Susan and our translator Diana in the same square.  Diana has been as awesome as Susan and Alexander Ivanovich who you will be introduced to in future blogs.  Diana was with us during our meeting with the ministry and really helped us advocate for ourselves during this meeting.  She has also shared with us what it was like growing up in Ukraine during the fall of communism and Chernobyl.  Diana has a very special place in our heart.

Susan and Rob in front of the stairs to St. Andrew's.  Susan has been instrumental from beginning the process back home to making our journey as smooth as possible.  She has not only been our fearless leader but also an amazing hostess while in Kiev.  Her experience and understanding of the country have made this trip truly magical.

Arriving in Kiev.  As you can see we are a bit jet lagged but more than a little excited to have arrived at our destination and to be at least in the same country as our angel baby.  Thank goodness for the English subtitles...with the time differences and non stop travel pure Russian would have been difficult.  We are slowly learning how to read important signs or at least use context clues to figure them out.

Stay tuned for blogs that will introduce you to the cuisine and local market in Kiev, our apartment and some other photos of our stay here.

Dobrey Nochee, Pakah!  (Good night and bye)

Update on our journey...

I just want to reach out and share an update regarding our journey and how things are progressing.
We had our meeting with the Ministry in Kiev but are waiting for more information and next processes before we even know anything solid regarding an adoption.  It has been a unique, sometimes emotional but always love filled adventure toward growing our family.  Of course, we will post information as we get it and appreciate all the support we are receiving from home.  Susan, Diana and Alexander Ivanovich from adoptionservicesinternational.com have been instrumental in moving the processes and contacting the appropriate ministers regarding documentation and the legalities of everything associated with our situation.

I will post some photos later this evening documenting our experiences in Kiev.  Please check back in a few hours and we will bring you in on living in Kiev over the past 5 days.

What a long strange trip it's been...

And this was the last time we will ever leave our home as a couple without our girls.  This was taken by Willy our limo driver on the way to JFK airport.  Anyone that we spoke to prior to leaving knows how much difficulty we had in packing.  How does one pack to go away for one month with one medium size suitcase?  Exactly like our advisor told us to.  After being here just two days we have a shipment to go back to the States.  Third floor walk ups are just one reason you pack as light as possible.

How not to pack for a month in Ukraine:

We arrived at JFK in plenty of time to make it through security, get undressed and redressed as required by homeland security and enjoy a bite to eat and drink before boarding our flight on American for Heathrow, London.  It has been nearly 20 years since I made that flight across the pond.  Boy does it get rough sleeping in the center seat when you are as amped up as I was to get this party started!  We got there no worse for wear and Rob was quite refreshed and totally excited to be that much closer to meeting our angels...

We wanted to make sure we got a jump on jet lag and not let it get the better of us...so we decided to start sight seeing immediately.  We rented a car and after trying out every round about between the airport and the Marriot Heathrow we dropped off our bags and started toward Stonehenge and Bath.  It was exciting for me to share with Rob something I loved that he had not seen before as I have been graciously able to be shared so many of the amazing things Rob has experienced and loved and shared with me.  Stonehenge was truly a spiritual experience as the energy there is just something to be felt.  The fact that it was considered an ancient sight to the Romans when they invaded England puts in perspective how truly amazing this place really is.  The fact that the tools used to build it were animal bones makes you wonder about the ingenuity of man to be able to move these enormous stones hundreds of miles and  them in such a way that we were able to visit it still visibly standing in 2012.

Bath was beautiful and the Christmas lights and spirit permeated every nook and cranny.  We had our pub dinner of sausages and fish and chips with a good strong ale and that completed our one day tour of England.  Early then next morning we were off for Kiev.  Still as excited but maybe a little tired.  When we landed in Kiev, 4 hours later it was sleeting and very windy.  For all our pilot friends, it was amazing to see, or not see as the case was, amazing piloting skills of our pilots landing in a 300 foot ceiling of hard IFR and gusty winds...

We were greeted at the airport by Susan Kibler and Alexander Ivanovich, the wonderful folks from adoptionservicesinternational.com .  We were brought to our apartment and it was identical to the pictures we were sent.  The only way to explain our first impression of Kiev was that it was like being dropped in a snow globe.  The beauty of the city is surreal and coupled with the snow and reason for our visit made it magical.  After two days here the only thing equal to the beauty of the city is the beauty of the people inside and out.  Here are a few pictures to share what we can of our experience so far.

In this picture is Susan Kibler and Diana, our translator from adoptionservicesinternational.com .

Tomorrow morning at 10am Kiev time is our meeting with the Ministry to choose our girls.  Positive energy and thoughts are appreciated :)  We will post the results of the meeting tomorrow.  

Pakah!

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Preeviet (Hello in Russian)!Somewhere over the rainbow....in a far, far away land a special angel lies.  I can not believe that in 7 hours we will be on our way to meet our family addition!Not a whole lot to share right now but the emotions are overwhelming and I am the sole person awake in this quiet house on the greatest Saturday morning of my life.  The only Saturday to out do this will be next Saturday when we will have met the sweet souls that are waiting to complete our family.  Until then I will be busy finishing the photo cards and book to introduce the girls to their family, home and neighborhood.  I keep putting off the dreaded job of finally stuffing way too much in one little suitcase.  Once that is done...I guess I just have to remember to breathe and try to remember every emotion and observation along this journey of a lifetime.  Please know that this blog is for our family and friends but mostly for our family to be able to remember  every detail of everyday.  So in advance, thank you for being a part of this personal story of how our family became.Bakah! 

Off we go into the wild blue yonder...

We leave for the airport tomorrow and should arrive in London on Sunday morning.  We have about a 24 hour layover in London which we will use to do a little sight seeing (3 times in London and can you believe I have never seen the Tower of London!) and making sure to start our trip with a spot of tea.  

Monday, Dec. 3 we arrive in Kiev and are greeted by Alexander Ivanovich and Susan Kibler of Adoption Services International.  They will take us to our apartment and then off to go shopping for kitchen stocking and anything we realize we need.  From here we make a plan of what we will do while in Kiev.

Tuesday, Dec. 4 Diana, our translator arrives early. Alexander Ivanovich and Susan will meet with her for several hours. Then we will all meet together and go over everything and run a practice session for the next day.

Wednesday. Dec. 5!!! 10:00 - 11:00 am is THE meeting at the Ministry. Diana will get the information on the children we choose and we can enjoy Kyiv while Susan and Alexander Ivanovich make travel and accommodation plans wherever we are going.

Thursday Dec. 6  At 4pm we pick up the documents we need to present to the orphanage. Then we jump on a train, plane or bus.

Friday Dec. 7 We meet at the orphanage to get more background and meet our girls.

Sat and Sun - who knows!

Monday Dec. 10, Goal to get an doctor's examination.

In case things get crazy and I don't get to check in everyday this is an overview of our next week.  Tonight I look forward to finishing packing and enjoying some focused quality time with Rob, Alex and Zach...crazy that this is our last night as the family we know of today...next evening we all spend together there will be less room on the couch and more hands in the popcorn surrounded by a house bursting with love~

Will be posting pictures as they roll in :)

Bakah!

Then there were three...days that is!

We got information about our apartment in Kiev today.  

This studio (one-room) apartment is situated in the historical city centre; 200 m from St. Michael’s Square and 250 m from St. Sophia’s Square; 8-9 minutes on foot to Andriyivsky Descent, Khreshatyk (Kievan central street) and Independence Square. You will have restaurants, cafes, pubs, night clubs, shops and brand boutiques in the reach of a hand.

The parking in the yard. The front door has combination lock. Cozy and clean apartment with new furniture, recently renovated. The room has a comfortable double bed and a folding double sofa; the kitchen is fully equipped. The bathroom is equipped with a shower.

 From here you can easily get to any place in Kiev. First of all our METRO (we call the Underground in this way) will prove useful to you, it takes less than 20 minutes to reach any area from the main metro station called MAIDAN NEZALEZHNOSTI (that means Independence square). It costs only 2 hryvnias (0,25 $.) In addition, you will have a lot of buses and trolleybuses going to every parts of Kiev.

 Limitless Wi-Fi...we will be in touch as much as possible!

 The flat is equipped with:

 - refrigerator

 - TV

 - Internet

 - shower

 - boiler

 - hair-dryer

 - gas cooker

 - kettle

 - washing machine

Photos of our new flat are attached below.  (My blogging abilities and editing skills hopefully will improve as we go).

Of course it will not be as bright when we are there as it is winter and not summer but Rob and I both laughed that it looks very lower Manhattan.  

Today we are moving pets to their new home at Aunt Dawn's house (Charlie the snake and Gary the gecko)...now that's a cool aunt that will bring reptiles into her home for a month and a half...we have informed both that they are in for an awesome Christmas and it will be party time until we get home.  Our cats, Gracie and Arnold will be equally spoiled at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  

We are pretty much packed up and now just finishing the photo book we are bringing to 

familiarize them to their new world and family.  It is hard to fully digest that in a week our home and hearts will be changed forever...and for the better.  Thank you to all our family and friends that have supported us with their love and blessings during a very long journey to get to this point.  You will all be with us in our hearts and minds as we travel to the other side of the globe and back to bring home the missing piece of our hearts to share with you all.  Thank you to all the wonderful friends we have made through this journey, thank you Susan our angel at www.adoptionservicesinternational.com. 

Of course during the winter it won't be as bright but the colors should brighten even the dreariest day.... although something tells me that there will be so much sunshine inside of us we won't even notice ;)

and this is the view from it's location:

Bakah (See you later in Russian)  for now!

T minus 5 days...

(no we are not taking the space shuttle to Ukraine...this picture just illustrates how we feel right now...)

Wow, can't believe it but the shock is subsiding and I am really beginning to go with this awesome flow of ups and downs, joy and fear and am committing to enjoying the journey believing that the results will take care of themselves.  

What did we do today to prepare for the journey?  

1. Visited the school to share the news with coworkers and get the scoop on getting the young- ins in school as soon as possible.  Mostly to allow them to socialize with children, have a routine and immerse them in their new language.

2.  Take care of many things as they pop into our minds...turn off the water outside, stop the mail, pick up the dry cleaning and make sure our documents are all set.  We have our travel set to leave Saturday with a stop in London overnight and then arrive in Kiev early Monday afternoon.  

3.  We had our final meeting with our angel, Susan from ASI-adoptions and reviewed the interview scenarios again...Rob and I are becoming a well oiled machine that can hopefully process the biggest decision of our lives easily and confidently in the one hour appointment to find our daughters.  And we got the most amazing surprise that Susan is going to be with us in Ukraine initially.  We were able to Skype with Alexander Ivanovich our leader through the process and felt such an amazing connection (even though we were only able to understand maybe 5 spoken words in Russian the human language is universal).

4.  Alex's bedroom is almost complete and he will sleep in his new man cave tomorrow for the first time.  The girls' room is painted and awaiting the arrival of furniture and their giggles. 

5.  We celebrated the most wonderful event of the day...ZACH'S THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY TODAY!  Some kid's get a pony for their birthday...Zach gets sisters...lol...only in the Christian family :)

6.  We had our last Russian lesson before putting our new knowledge to the test!
Spoykoy Nochee!  (Good Night) and thank you for the outpouring of love and blessings from all our family and friends.  These little girls are just getting ready to start a new day and have no idea how much love and anticipation is across the globe all because of them!  Talk about special little gifts...I just hope they know one day how their existance has changed us all.

And we are off in 7 days!

Family Blog #1: 11/25/12

Yesterday I casually opened my email to browse through all the junk mail hoping to find something to read instead of delete...hmmm...subject of email 3 in the list was written in Russian.  Great now I'm on Russian marketing lists...I opened it and OMG!  After funny enough nine months...there it was...an invitation from the Ukrainian government to meet with them on December 5, 2012 at 10:00 am to review prospective children to consider for adoption.  Holy cow!  We are going to meet the little ladies that have been living in our hearts for so long to bring them home to live in our house!  Then, looking around the construction mess in our home as we prepare it for the for mentioned little ladies the realization that we are leaving on a journey that will forever change our lives begins in one week...yikes !  And, oh by the way...thanks Santa, this is the BEST Christmas EVER!