Reunited!!

This morning we woke up to another rainy day in Kiev. We got all of our things packed up and ready to fly to our daughter's region first thing, and then headed out to breakfast. I know it seems that we are totally obsessed with food (and we are!!), but the truth is that until we have court and have our adoption finalized, we are VERY limited on what we can share about the actual every day goings on here. So, what better way to fill in the blanks than with our cuisine adventures:) So, for breakfast this morning, we decided to try a place called Limonade that we have passed by several times (yes, it is spelled correctly). 

We had an amazing breakfast! Ryan had his favorite espresso yet, and he ordered some super yummy eggs benedict. I ordered the "english breakfast" which consisted of fried potatoes, eggs, sausage, beans, and tomatoes. It was delicious!

After breakfast, we headed back to the apartment to grab our luggage and wait for our driver to pick us up and take us to the airport. As luck would have it, there was a ginormous traffic jam in downtown Kiev that encircled our apartment on all 4 sides. Cars were literally parked for hours in the middle of each street leading to our apartment. So, our driver could not get to us. What did we do? We got to drag our 2 massive suitcases, 2 carry ons, and Ryan's backpack (with 2 laptops in it) through the busy streets and sidewalks of downtown Kiev. Did I mention that it has been raining since we arrived on Sunday?? Rolling our luggage through huge potholes and ponds of water was not on the top of our to-do list. I know all of the people walking around this morning enjoyed our little show. And did I mention that we were staying near Independence Square, which is one of the busiest areas of downtown? So much fun!!:(

Once we finally made it to the car, we got to the airport and had plenty of time to check in and wait before boarding the plane. The airport was kinda creepy today. We flew out of the smaller terminal and it was like a ghost town...there was hardly anybody there. All but one of the little kiosks were closed and the lights were out all over the terminal. Very strange. 

Drive to the airport...look at those clouds!

 Bathroom at the airport....I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to use a toilet that has been disabled (side note, after snapping this picture, a man with very wet hair walked out with a towel in his hand. I found this quite humorous)

Such a bustling airport!

We made it to our daughter's region and the rain followed us...yay! The baggage claim is outside, and the rain and wind were nuts so I was completely freezing!! Our fabulous facilitator Angelina picked us up and we headed to check out our new apartment. The landlady is super nice and is in the middle of renovating it, but it is very nice!

Baggage Claim

Outside of our new digs

 Bedroom in our new apartment..it has a spacious sunroom off it with beautiful views of the town

View from our new apartment

Another view...if you look closely, you can see the mountains in the background

Another bedroom

Living Room...Ryan is already making himself at home

Our Retro Chic kitchen!

After checking out our apartment we got to go see our baby girl!! We were thrilled to see her, but hate that she cannot stay with us yet:( We are looking forward to getting to spend more time with her soon. I so wish I could share pictures of her, but we can't just yet. She was so happy to see us, and it was so wonderful to FINALLY get to give her big hugs and hold her hand once again. 

Tomorrow, we will spend more time with A, and continue to prepare for court. Please pray for us as we prepare for court on Friday. We are super anxious and nervous, but we know the Lord already knows the outcome and that it is in His hands. Thank you so much for all the continued prayers and support! If you could please ask your friends and family to join in and pray for us in these next 2 days, we would GREATLY appreciate it!!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". Philippians 4:6-7

Embassy Day 1 and an Update on Anya!

After our marathon of sleeping yesterday, as expected, Ryan and I could not sleep last night. I was up by 4 am and Ryan was up and at em by 5 am. Since we were being picked up by our facilitator at 8:30, we decided to make the most of our early morning and go find a cafe that was open for breakfast. We made our way through the early morning rain (with our new trusty umbrella!) to Coffee Time, off of Independence Square. I enjoyed a yummy Vanilla Machiatto and orange crepes, and Ryan stuck with an espresso. It was a delicious way to start our day!

 Ryan's espresso

Orange crepes

My scrumptious Vanilla Macchiato!

Following breakfast, we picked up our friends who had business to do at the embassy as well, and headed across town to our little piece of America:) We thought our facilitator would be going in with us, but when we got there, he informed us that he would be waiting outside...and we were flying solo! We honestly felt like chickens with our heads cut off, we had no clue what we were doing:) We finally made it to the right side of the ticket windows that we were supposed to be on, and waited our turn to be seen....much like at the social security office or DMV back home. When it was our turn at the ticket window, we were trying to hand the poor lady all kinds of forms that we weren't supposed to. We finally pulled out the correct forms that she needed out of our massive folder...thank goodness we brought every single piece of paper we thought we *might* need with us. 

So the handy dandy form that we turned in was a form called the i600. We turned in its predecessor, the i600a, back in March with our immigration paperwork. As we stood there, turning this in, the lady said, "So your child has already turned 16?" We said, "Yes, in July of this year". She then preceded to tell us that we were supposed to have turned in this i600 prior to her 16th birthday. Trying not to completely freak out, we told her that we had been told that only the i600a had to be turned in prior to her 16th birthday. She told us to wait a moment, and went to converse with another embassy employee. She finally returned to the window and told us that there was a 180 day window between filing the i600a and the i600. As it turns out, we came on the 180th day. She informed us that had we come TOMORROW then we would have been unable to adopt A. I cannot begin to describe the shock that Ryan and I were in. I mean....seriously. To be cutting it that close was nothing short of a miracle. Even the embassy lady said, "it is like something from above that you are here today and not tomorrow". We could not have agreed more!!

So, what was supposed to be a relatively uneventful trip to the embassy turned out to be quite nerve wracking. Thankfully we think everything is all set and ready to go there. The only thing that is worrying us at the moment is that we spelled A's new middle name a different way then what it is spelled on her court paperwork, etc. I know it seems crazy that we can't remember how we spelled it, but her new middle name has 2 common spellings and we know how we are planning to spell it, we just hope we put it the right way on all the different sets of paperwork:) When you are stressed out, your mind can play evil little tricks on you, and make you second guess everything you have done!!

After the embassy, we stopped by the notary for Ryan to fill out a little paperwork allowing me to finish everything up once he returns home after court, and then we headed to lunch. We ate lunch at a yummy Mediterranean cafe called La Med, right around the corner from our apartment. They served delicious bread and hummus while we waited on our order. Ryan ordered a Chicken Carbonara and  I ordered the Pasta Arrabiata. Both were fantastic!

 Pretty views of our little neighborhood

We were hoping to visit some sites we have not been to yet after lunch, but I was so tired from our lack of sleep last night, that we decided to head back to the apartment to rest. The rain helped aid in this decision as well. After a restful afternoon, we met our sweet friends for dinner at our favorite little Turkish/Tartar restaurant Krym. I ordered a dish called "Pot". The only description for it was a "tasty little miracle". I had no clue what that was, but how can you not try something with a description like that?!? Ryan ordered the Lagman soup that I had the night before last, along with Susme...a bean and noodle dish. As always, our meal did not disappoint:)

 Menu from our favorite restaurant Krym

Ryan's dinner...Lagman soup and Susme

My little pot of tasty miracle:)

Tomorrow we head to our daughter's region to see her and prepare for court on Friday!! Please pray that we have safe travels and that our court preparations go well. 

Now, for the update on Anya.....I cannot begin to describe to you how thrilled I am to be able to tell you that I found out this morning at 4 am that Anya has a family coming for her!!! Talk about an awesome wake up call!!! This sweet family has been praying over Anya for several weeks, and they feel that she is meant to be in their family forever. I cannot introduce you to them just yet, as they are still in the process of notifying their family and close friends. I can tell you that Anya is going to be one loved girl, and this family has already begun to prepare for her future within their family. Later this week, I, along with Ryan and A, will have the privilege of telling Anya about her family, and showing her pictures of her new family. Please join me in praying for both this sweet family and for Anya as they learn about each other and get to know each other. Pray that Anya will be willing to accept the love of her new family quickly just as they already love her as their own. 

Thank you to each of you who prayed for Anya and shared her story. It is because of all of you that Anya has a family coming for her!!!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Take Two

Yesterday was the day we had been waiting for since leaving Ukraine in July...the day we would finally fly back to Ukraine to finish up our adoption! We arrived to the airport 2 hours early like good little flyers, only to find out that our flight had been completely cancelled. No notice, no we are sorry, just a " your flight has been cancelled and we have re-booked you on a flight leaving TOMORROW". Ummm...that just wasn't going to work. After standing at the ticket counter for 30 minutes trying to find a flight out of Little Rock, only to have a massive line form behind us and being told that "they simply could not find a route for us today", we were told we must get in the back of the line and wait our turn again. Seriously?!? Ryan was ready to give up and go home to wait it out until the next day. I, however, was not going to give up. I had already said my emotional good byes to our precious babies, and did not want to have to go through that again. 3 hours later, countless phone calls to our travel agent, and a 1 1/2 hour phone call to our airline customer service, we were booked on another flight that would have us arriving in Kiev at the exact same time. See, stubbornness does pay off;)

Bye Bye Little Rock!

Our flights were pretty uneventful, which is good. We did not have seats together on our 9 hour flight from Dallas to Frankfurt, but a very kind man switched seats with me so that Ryan and I could sit together. The lady sitting next to me had a TV that did not work. She was not happy about this because she did not bring a laptop or ipad to help pass the time. There was only one other available seat for her to move to that had a working TV, so she moved. Which meant that I ended up having 2 seats all to myself:) If you have been on an intercontinental flight recently, and had to sit in a middle coach seat, you will understand what a huge bonus having 2 seats is!!

Wide awake on the plane when everyone else was sleeping:)

Once we arrived in Kiev, we immediately went on a hunt for a hair dryer for me, and found it in a "cheap store" underground mall. I found the store across from the hair dryer store quite amusing. Notice the shoes in the window. 

Don't think this Mama will be shopping for shoes here!


Pretty floral arrangements in the underground mall

After shopping, we went to our favorite Turkish restaurant here in Kiev. I was so tired, I literally could not keep my eyes open at dinner. You can ask Ryan, I was laughing hysterically at just about anything he said...and he was not being funny:) We got caught in a rainstorm after dinner, with no umbrella, and had to run a few blocks home.

Ryan drinking house made Kvass...it was very yummy and tasted like honey
(no worries our baptist friends...this is a non alcoholic wheat based drink;))


Lagmann soup with a side of Lazza (very spicy sauce)


Yummy house made bread


We love Chuberek!!


Tuberek

We got in bed at 8:30 and immediately fell asleep. I cannot remember the last time I went to bed that early. The sad thing is, I did not get out of bed until 2 pm today. Think I was slightly tired?!? I am so glad we had the day off from appointments! Today is my birthday (31!!), and it was nice to be able to sleep in!

Beautiful view from our apartment of downtown Kiev


View straight down from our apartment


Don't you love our apartment key?!?


Our Living Room


Bedroom...with a real bed!!


Very nice kitchen


Bathroom


Our bathroom has a bidet...aren't we fancy?!

Ryan was going a bit stir crazy, so I finally forced myself to get ready and we headed to St. Sophia's square because there is a very interesting exhibit that is currently on display. A local artist painted huge rooster and egg "nesting dolls"...we aren't sure why they are calling them nesting dolls because they don't "nest", but they were really cool either way. 

Giant nesting doll display with St. Sophia's in the background






The roosters were so intricately painted...very pretty!


Statue of Bogdan Khmelnitsky in between the 2 roosters
Hitching a ride :)




Ryan wanted to take an odd angled picture of the rooster!

Our sweet friend Allison is still in Ukraine, she and her husband arrived the same week we did back in July, and so we met up with her and their precious daughter for dinner. We went to a restaurant that we wanted to try last time we were here, but never had the opportunity. 



Notice that it says Tex Mex and Italiano. Gotta love that combo!! We ordered nachos for an appetizer, and I have to say, I have never seen "nachos" like this before. They were seasoned tortilla chips served with a side of... not cheese.... but mayonnaise with seasonings. Very, very strange. Not terrible, but definitely not what I would consider nachos! Ryan ordered pizza, and I ordered a chicken burrito. Both were pretty good!


Notice the first menu item...."chips of naches" aka nachos:)

Our "nachos" with a little friend...courtesy of our friends' daughter;)

Ryan's pizza with my chicken burrito on top (the icky looking black stuff is balsamic for Ryan to dip his pizza in)
 
After dinner, we decided we better hunt down an umbrella so that we would not be caught in another rainstorm without one. Our friends accompanied us, and we finished up with a nice visit in their apartment. 


After dinner stroll with my sweet little friend Miss O:)

Tomorrow we have an embassy appointment so that Ryan can return home immediately following court, and I can stay and finish everything up without him. Please pray that there are no surprises at the embassy, and that all goes well. We do not anticipate there being any problems tomorrow. Please also pray for all of A's friends that moved this week-end and started trade school. I hope everyone back in the US has had a wonderful Labor Day week-end!