We found an Internet Cafe!!!

Hey, everyone! We are doing well and are having a good time. Lots has happened the last few days! We went sight-seeing on Tuesday and saw many beautiful cathedrals. We've eaten lots of Ukrainian food and enjoy it very much. The weather is foggy, damp, and chilly, just like Michigan has been lately. Today we have time to kill and we are on our own. We left our apartment and started walking. We thought we were walking toward downtown only to find out after 5 long blocks that we were going the wrong way! We turned around, found a restaurant, ate, and asked about an internet cafe. We were excited to finally be able to check email and blog. Enough about the sights! I'm sure you're all dying to know about the appointment!

We woke up yesterday to the phone ringing. It was our translator. She had some bad news. There was a glitch with our paperwork, nothing too serious, but something that needed to be taken care of. We went to the US Embassy to have it taken care of and also a translation/notarization service. We made it to the SDA at 1:45 for our 2:00 appointment. Things went well at the appointment. We chose a set of siblings. Unfortunately, today, we found out that there are some problems and we will be returning tomorrow for another appointment. Obviously, we are disappointed, but these boys were not meant to be. We know to expect the unexpected here and are following the lead of our translator and trust she is doing everything she can for us. Please try not to worry too much! We are in good spirits and hope that tomorrow's appointment will go well.

Please pray for us that tomorrow goes well! Hopefully we will get a referral and maybe travel to region over the weekend. Thanks for letting us know Bosco and Jasper are okay:) Hi to all my kids and teachers in the Purple Room! We'll try to post again soon now that we know where the internet cafe is!

Amsterdam

Just thought I'd send a quick post to let everyone know how we are doing. We made it to Amsterdam just fine. No glitches on the flight. We'll be getting on a plane for Kyiv in about an hour and a half. All is well so far! We're very excited to finally be on our way. I typed up a longer post on our computer that I will post once we arrive in Kyiv and are settled in. Laura tell the class I said hello! Mom, give Bosco a big hug for me:) Thanks so much to everyone who has said prayers and sent us may well wishes!! These things mean a lot to us and keep our spirits high!!!

Peace, Kelly

Info about the process

This info is borrowed from a fellow groupie who will be leaving very soon for their appointment. Thanks, A!!

Here are the answers to a few questions that we have had!

#1 - WHERE is Ukraine?
** Ukraine used to be part of the Soviet Union - they became their own nation in August 1991. Ukraine is west/southwest of Russia, south of Belarus, east of Poland and north of Romania and Moldavia. Directly north of the Black Sea as well! Just fyi - the name of the country is UKRAINE - not "the" Ukraine as many people say... it would be like saying that we were from "the" America!

#2- WHAT language is spoken?
** Russian and Ukrainian are spoken. Most everyone speaks both - and frequently they interchange a Russian word with an Ukrainian word.

#3 - HOW does this work?
** We do not have any idea "who" our child is until we get to our appointment. It is called "traveling blind". It is illegal to have a child pre-selected in Ukraine. At our appointment - we are given what are called "referrals" based on the criteria we have given them... ie boy/girl, age, health related, etc. We then get to choose our referral based on the background information of the child. After we choose our "child" we have to travel to where that child is currently living. For children under 4 - these are called "baby houses" or up to age 6 are called "detsky domes".
We travel to the "region" (similar to counties here - only larger!) where the child currently lives and we are able to see the child. We are allowed certain timeframes to meet and bond with the child before making a final decision on the adoption.
From there - its all paperwork baby! We have to go to court to be approved and then more paperwork!
The whole process can take 3 to 5 weeks...(we are hoping for 3!)

13 days to go!

Yikes!! The time has been flying by as we count down the days to our trip. We have been busy buying last minute items to pack, picking out furniture and getting together with friends & family before we leave. I'm busy at work preparing for a substitute. I'll miss my students very much and worry about how they'll be. I know,though, that they will be just fine. The sub will take good care of my kids:)

We're looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with our families. This will be a nice time to be thankful for all the good things we have and those things to come. We know our families are so excited for us and can't wait to meet their new grandkids, cousins, nieces and nephews. It's just so amazing that we will be looking at pictures of our children in just over 2 weeks.

We've been following other families' blogs. Their adventures are so exciting to read. They are meeting their children and all seems to be going well so far! That's good to hear. We are praying for them and hope that all continues to go well. I'll write back soon as our day to travel draws nearer!

Kelly

3 weeks from today!

It's hard to believe we will be leaving on an airplane 3 weeks from today! We leave on November 26. Panic set in a little bit this weekend, but I know we will be fine. We're just a little nervous. We did some shopping this weekend for various items. We are going to go furniture shopping this week and generate a list of furniture that will work for a variety of age ranges. That way our family can order the furniture and set it up for us. We are also going to register for car seats for various ages, so those things can be purchased also. I wish we could have more things prepared now, but it's too difficult not knowing the ages and if we'll have boys, girls, or both.

So many people have given us words of encouragement that are very much appreciated. This has been a long journey and it's very nice to know we have people thinking about us and praying for us. Everything is coming together and we can't wait for everyone to meet our new additions!

Kelly

We have a due date!!

We received an email this morning from our facilitator that we will be traveling to Ukraine for a November 29 appointment. This was a very pleasant surprise! I read the email at 5:15 this morning and couldn't tell anyone because Bill was in Madison, WI on business. They are an hour behind us. Luckily, he had an early flight so I was able to talk with him at 6am our time. I was bouncing off the walls! I had to wait 45 minutes to tell someone. Bosco, our dog, was looking at me like I was crazy. One thing that Bill said that sticks with me is that we have 3 weekends left with just the two of us. We will be busy for the next 20 years. It's all worth it, though:) We've been waiting a long time for this. We keep calling each other "Mom" and "Dad." We will be keeping everyone up to date through this blog. As long as we have Internet access, we will be able to keep everyone in the loop! I'll talk more later as we prepare for our travel!