The Flight

Our flight left on time today. We got through security and baggage check just fine – no problems or delays. We arrived in New York and walked right to our next flight, which was already boarding and it left about one hour late. Even with this delay, we still arrived exactly on time in Ukraine. During the flight they kept posting the flight information on a big screen. It said we traveled at 33,000 feet. The air temp outside was a balmy –27F! Our speed was close to 700mph, and it was really neat because it showed where we were on a map from time to time. We flew north over Canada, then over Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, then over Amsterdam, north of Belgium (where I used to live as a kid), then over Germany, Poland and finally here to Ukraine. While we were flying I looked out the window a lot and there were three things I saw which I wanted to make note of so I don’t forget. Once I looked out and saw a big white cross, which I don’t know if it was a building rooftop or what, but it seemed like a symbol to me to remind me that the Lord is with us through this experience. The next thing that was really neat was in a farm field I could plainly see a smiley face. Then after dark, I looked out and down below was a bank of clouds that seemed to be glowing in the moonlight. Then I looked out and up and could see the light at the end of the wing (we sat above/behind the wing) and right above it the big dipper. No other stars – just that constellation and it reminded me of laying in the yard just a few weeks ago with our girls and looking at the stars and seeing the big dipper above our horse barn. It was really neat to me to see these things. We already miss our little girls and just writing this makes me miss them terribly!

Touch Down!

Well, no problems at all getting through customs and to our apartment. We paid for VIP service, which is supposed to get you through customs much quicker and help you fill out your paper work, etc. It did exactly that! We did not wait at all! We went right through customs past everyone else who flew on our plane and was standing in line and went right to baggage claim. We never had to do a thing, and they came back to us with our passports stamped and we were ready to find our driver. Our bags arrived and we found our next contact person whose car was just big enough for us, and our bags! In fact one big suitcase had to sit next to me in the back seat and James sat up front with our driver and talked to him the whole way to our apartment. The drive was exciting – no rules to the road and we went about 150kph (I don’t know if that’s the right abrev. or not). Anyway, there is a lot of new construction here and many new apartment high-rises being built. However, many seem very old and run down looking – there’s a real mix of old and new. Our driver said that most of the buildings are 3 years old or less though. Then we drove across the oldest bridge in Ukraine, which survived WWII, and as we did we could see a beautiful Church across the river with the onion shaped dome roofs, which are covered in gold. Near that was a HUGE statue of a person holding a sword up above their head, and it is made out of what looks like shinny, silver. It looked to be about the size of the statue of liberty and it is to symbolize soviet independence. As we drove on we noticed that many cars are parked up on the sidewalks, which they have to jump the curb in order to park there. We were told that is because the tow trucks can’t move their cars from there and that’s why they park there – hahahaha! Then we drove into the downtown area, which is where our apartment is. It looks somewhat like Chicago. Eventually we got to the building where we were supposed to stay, or so we thought. We got out and hauled our bags up 5 or 6 flights of stairs only to find out the driver took us to the wrong building. He kept knocking on the door of this one apartment and the woman who lives there kept telling him that we were at the wrong place. Eventually, after many cell phone calls to another contact, our driver had us get back into the car and brought us to the right building and the cleaning lady was still here trying to get it ready for us. So, then we were left alone for about 7 hours and we were told they would come to get us around 6pm. Our facilitator did come when he said and he took us to buy some groceries and water, because we were dying of thirst and beginning to get quite hungry. The grocery store was very nice and we exchanged some money there and bought just a few things to hold us over. We understand that tomorrow we will go sight see and then the next day we have our first appointment. We are going to ask permission to go that day to the orphanage. If given permission to go right then, we will leave here and drive 5 hours to the town where Marina lives. It is a very poor area and I hope we will be able to find a good grocery store there as well. I’m going to ask tomorrow about this, in case we need to stock up here on things we can prepare for ourselves at the house we will stay at there. Tomorrow we will take many pictures and try to post them for everyone to see. We are going to try and rest some more now – we are having trouble adjusting to the time difference. We sleep a couple hours here and there and then are awake for a while. I just woke up about an hour ago and it is 1:30 a.m. here/5:30 p.m. at home. Looks like I will be up for a while during the night again:)

14 hours left

Well, we left the girls tonight, which was hard to do . . . for us, not so much for them - I don't think. Hannah was a bit more clingy, but Jordan just wanted to play with her friend Luke.

We met my brother and his family for dinner and that was enjoyable for us all, but James wasn't feeling well by the time we left and I suspect it is nerves. Hopefully he is not getting sick! I had two Coke's and now I probably won't sleep very good at all, so I thought I'd add one more entry before we leave.

Our flight leaves close to noon and we will arrive in Ukraine in the middle of the night our time here. It will be early there and we will be on with our day and not much sleep! I'm sure we will take a nap as soon as possible once we reach our apartment!!

Last Full Day in The States

Today we are packing the last of everything we can think of and finishing up some projects around the house that need to be done before we leave. We have to make sure the food is topped off for all our animals and the chicken coop is cleaned and ready for another month. By the way, if anyone wants farm fresh eggs, let my mom know and she can have them ready for you. Save your egg cartons though, we always need more.

We finished getting Marina's room ready last night and we think it looks just great! (I would post a picture of it, but I'm afraid Marina will see it on the computer before we get back and it's supposed to be a surprise.) Now the little girls want their room redecorated as well.

Today around 4pm we'll be taking the girls to our good friends Ben and Jenn, where they will remain for a week. They are looking forward to helping Jenn with Gabe (their new baby) and playing with Luke! I hope Luke likes to play "puppy" because this is what they do most every day when they aren't doing something with me. Hopefully time will pass quickly for them over the next month while they are lost in their little worlds of imaginary play :)

Countdown

Hi there!
Well, we are now counting down the hours till we leave.
Most things are packed, Marina's room is ready - almost, and the girls are doing alright with everything. Jordan has no concerns and is just excited that she will be going trick-or-treating towards the end of the time apart from us. Hannah is a bit more anxious about things, but seems to be handling everything alright. She keeps reminding herself that when we get back, it will all be over and things will return to normal. Please be praying for our safety and health while we are gone, as well as favor in the courts. We will be posting pictures and blogging as often as possible, so check in often.