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!