Adoption Update

This morning we went to Frankfort to complete the final steps on our paperwork. This is it - the dossier that goes to the Ukranian government!! We finished all of the stamps, authentication and certifications and we're ready to submit it. The great news is that a lady from our church is leaving for the Ukraine on Sunday, so she is going to take our dossier with her and deliver it in person. We are finally done with all of the paperwork. Whew! It's been a long time since we started down this road, and it's finally done. Now we just sit back and pray. The Lord has already picked out our child(ren) and we know that He will send us to the Ukraine to pick them up at exactly the right time. We covet your prayers during this time. Please lift us up during these months of sweet anticipation and preparation. When, you ask? Well, we're not sure but we are hoping that we will be traveling in March or April of 2009. It will be here before we know it!

I see the light!

The power came on last night. It's funny how you take conveniences for granted when they're always around. All-in-all, the power loss was only a nuisance but I must say it made me quite happy to be back in the light last night. Yippee!

Things are slowly getting back to normal in our neighborhood. The large limbs were removed from our neighbor's yard across the street yesterday and surprisingly their wrought-iron fence survived intact; they only lost a sidewalk lamp. The house next to them has the original ***working*** gas lamp and it was missing by a downed tree by less than 3 feet. The most-damaged house I've seen in our neighborhood is about 10 doors down. These really nice folks spent 8 years renovating their home which was completed last year. The third and second floor roof lines were totally clobbered by a massive downed tree and there's significant damage.

The main thing, though, is that all of our friends and family are physically alright.

Day 3 - still no power

I threw away everything in the refrigerator this morning. They are saying it will take 10 - 14 days to restore power to the entire area. Hopefully we are on the short end of that window! We still have hot water - thank goodness! We were reading the Bible by oil lamp last night and when the oil ran out it was time for bed. I am starting to feel like a pioneer. I will be getting out my spinning wheel soon!

Ike blows through town

We had a great Saturday - walking to raise money for JDRF research. But then on Sunday, the remains of Hurricane Ike blew into Louisville. With wind gusts up to 85 MPH, it really gives me an appreciation for what those Hurricane victims go through. Our experience wasn't anything like they had in Texas, but WOW - the damage is widespread. Downed trees and power lines everywhere - there are 250,000 people without power. We are very fortunate that our big tree came down earlier this year. We didn't have much that could go. Some of our neighbors had huge trees fall on their homes. Our power is still out. They are saying it could take 2 weeks for them to get everyone back on! We are so thankful that our 100 year old homestead held strong and our families are safe and sound. We needed to clean out the refrigerator anyway! (This picture is from around town)

Racin' in Richmond!

This past weekend Kelly and Jason went to Richmond for the NASCAR Cup race and to visit our dear friend Judi Bentley. Jason worked for her husband, Bob, in the army for several years but, unfortunately, he was out of the country on business. Regardless it was great to have some time off from work and to get away for a while.

The races were rescheduled from Saturday night due to the effects of Hurricane Hannah. As a result, we went to the Richmond Holocaust Museum that evening. It was quite a bit different from the museum in DC, but still quite moving. The Richmond museum is told from the perspective of a child who survived the holocaust. Interestingly, we actually met the gentleman whose story is told at the conclusion of our tour. Afterwards we had dinner at the Tobacco Company restaurant which is a converted Victorian warehouse and was quite impressive.

The race went off on Sunday afternoon. As always at Richmond International Raceway, the competition was fierce and exciting. Mark Martin, Jason's favorite driver, pulled out a very respectable 5th place finish even though his team had several significant pit road miscues.

Needless to say, it was great weekend and we really enjoyed seeing Judi. Hopefully Bob will be around for our next visit.