IN UKRAINE!!!

POST 1 – PART 1

We are on the plane.  I will save this and will post when we can get online again.

I cannot believe how quickly we have been given the opportunity to travel to bring Vika home.  It blows my mind to be able to think about completing an adoption in 4 months!!!!!!  How I wish Guatemala was like this!  Despite the stress of adoption and country uncertainty I am thankful to Tonya who made this happen.  We will forever be grateful! 

My mother-in-law was upset when we left.  I know it is hard on our family for us to be going to such an unknown place and for an undetermined period of time…but I also know that God called us on this journey and He will complete it.  We will be just fine!  We will be safe, protected and OK!

So far (30 mins in..haha) Thomas is fine! 

I am listening to Mercy Me, ‘Beautiful’.  The lyrics have touched me so much as we travel to bring Vika home.  Here are some of the lyrics:

 “And all you hear is you’re not worth anything

Wondering if you ever could be loved

And if they truly saw your heart they’d see too much

You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful.  You are made for so much more than all of this.  You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, you are treasured, you are sacred, you are HIS!”

AND

You are the one he madly loves enough to die…You’re beautiful; you’re beautiful in His eyes

If I could tell her one thing right now, I would want to tell her how BEAUTIFUL she is…so beautiful that God loves her madly and died for her.  I would then tell her how beautiful we know she is and that I have and would move heaven and earth for her – that I will never stop – that our family will not be complete until she is home with us – and that I will never give up on her and that I will do everything I can for her!!!

I have to say that traveling on Easter has really been a blessing I didn’t expect (thank you friends for reminding me!).  It is a day about LIFE (eternal) AND HOPE. These are the desires we have for sweet Vika – a new life and hope of things she could probably never imagine!  I believe that God chose Vika to be our daughter.  He placed her a long way away (He does have a sense of humor!) but I believe that He has given her another chance to have a family.  Of course, our ultimate prayer is for her heart and her salvation, but one step at a time!

I cannot wait to see you Vika!!!!!!

POST 1 – PART 2

We made it to Kyiv!  We are situated in our apartment where we will be until Wednesday night when we fly to the Zaporizhzhya region where Vika is.  Then we will get to see Vika on Thursday!!  The second we landed n Ukraine that is all Thomas kept asking – “So we get to see Vika now?”  I wish it were that easy!

We landed to a little confusion.  Our ‘escort’ wasn’t at the airport to take us through passport control and customs.  We had a lot of time to make sure that he really wasn’t there because one of our bags also didn’t make…the one with the surprises for the kids and the one with the gifts we are carrying for other families.  HOWEVER…they found the bag but it is in Atlanta and is supposed to arrive here tomorrow afternoon.  Because we had to fill out the lost bag report we became intimately involved with customs – they have to sign off on the missing bag form, etc.  All that to say, they were really very nice and it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Thomas was good for about half of the trip to Amsterdam then he became pretty difficult.  Once we got off of the plane we went to the KLM lounge and he was able to settle down (we had a 5 hour layover).  About 20 minutes before we boarded the flight to Kyiv he fell asleep in the stroller and ended up sleeping through the entire next flight (about 3 hours).  He is fine now!  I know we will all sleep well and he also seems to have adjusted.

Our apartment is in one of the nicest parts of Kyiv.  It is nicer than I was expecting.  Right down the street is Chanel, Steve Madden, Aldo, Crocs store, etc….Also, the city is fascinating to me.  The section we are in is FULL of 20-somethings so there is a lot of activity – hanging out, dancing, etc.  It is the best people watching I have ever seen!  Today is a holiday here, so it was exceptionally busy.  We went to eat at a little restaurant around the corner and then went to the grocery for some fruit and other things.  We decided we will cook in tomorrow night…there is a fabulous farmers-type market on our block and the fruit, vegetables, and meat look amazing (we will skip all of the pickled fish!!!).   

Our SDA appointment is at 10am in the morning.  We have been told to expect to be there about 15 minutes.  After that we will sight see a little and see if Nastya has any recommendations, especially for an active 4 year old. 

We are all well and glad to have the travel here out of the way.  Please continue to pray for safety and good health for all of us.  Also, please pray for Vika this week.  This is a lot for a 14 year old to be handling!  We would also like to ask for prayers for a speedy court date.  That will be given after we all sign the papers Thursday (we hope) and they are processed.  We really need to get back as soon as we can.  We are still praying for all of you working on dossiers and waiting for appointments.

Alison, Jason, and Thomas