We have Visas and will be on our way home tomorrow!

           I know that I am long past an update, however blogging and journaling have never been one of my strong suits, for that I apologize. Nonetheless, I do have a lot to update everyone on. Once Fran and Rita left I was left up to my own devices to find entertainment, thankfully Bill and the youth group at church, Don’s movies, and Inna and Lena kept me from being bored.

I spent most of my final days shopping for stuff for the kids (thanks to Inna’s help, she made it soooooo much easier), visiting the kids at the orphanage, getting my fill of Ukrainian candy, and having tea with Inna and Lena. I could not have asked for a better way to end my journey.

Our 10 day waiting period was up on Monday the 15^th, so Tuesday the 16^th set in motion the mad dash for the finish line. For me it was a hair pulling day, Victor, Roman, and I spent all of Tuesday morning running around Berdyansk. From the  court house to the bank to the court house to vital statistics to the apartment to the inspectors office to the orphanage to the inspectors office to vital statistics and finally back to the orphanage to pick up the kids. By the time we hit the orphanage I was exhausted. But I must say that I was very proud of the kids, they walked away from the orphanage with their heads held high and never shed a tear. They said good bye to a few of their friends and bravely marched into the unknown…I must say that they are braver than I will probably ever be. We then made our trek to Zap (I would spell out the entire name, but I would only butcher it), Taiya was asleep after 15 minutes in the car and Jacob sat wedged between the 2 front seats…he never missed a turn.

We hit Zap around 3:30 and we got our passports and were at the train station with about 30 minutes to spare. I was worried that we were not going to make the train, but Victor never wavered and just as he had promised we were on the train Tuesday night to Kiev.

The kids absolutely LOVED the train ride. They were thrilled that we had bunk beds and were excited that they got to sleep on the top bunk. We made everyone’s bed, took a ton of pictures and settled down for the night with tea and cookies. Taiya settled down pretty early and was passed out asleep by 9, Jacob on the other hand was still in awe. He sat until well after 11 with his face pressed to the glass of the train window. The two of us sat for a long time and just looked out of the window, he kept saying “WOW” and giving me the thumbs up and smiling and every train station that we pulled into he would say “Mama, Kiev?” “Mama, Kiev?” I finally showed him my watch and told him what time we would be in Kiev. About 1:30 Jacob decided that sleeping on the top bunk was no longer that much fun and he was afraid that he would fall out, so he and Victor switched places.

We got to Kiev around 6ish and made our way to the apartment and chilled out and watched TV for a couple of hours before we headed out for Breakfast and to make our way to the U.S. Embassy and to the kids’ medical appointments. Everything there went without a hitch, except I got a lecture from the Doctor about parenting, I got worried that she was not going to let the kids go, but Victor said everyone gets that lecture from her. Nonetheless I was relieved to get her stamp of approval.

Then we headed to the grocery store to stock up on some snacks for the apartment and the trip. Jacob was in utter awe at it all, I do not think that either one of the kids have ever been in a grocery store that large before, and Jacob wanted everything in sight. If he thinks that store was big, wait til he sees a Super Wal-Mart! We then went back to the apartment and hung out til dinner time. After dinner we settled into a movie and bed.

Today we went shopping and went back to the Embassy to pick up the Visas!!! I have never been so relieved in all of my life. The woman at the counter said that I could finally go home, I don’t think any words could have been sweeter. So tomorrow at 6 we will begin our trek home. We leave Kiev and fly to Zurich, then from Zurich to New York, and finally from New York to home. I can’t wait. Seeing Dave, my parents, and my family and friends will be an awesome feeling. I love to travel and to see the world, but I am ready to be home.

Hopefully within the next couple days I will write about our journey home. Until next time…