Daniel Anatoly Karlen

It's official!! We are parents!!!!! Sorry no post yesterday. The internet at the clinic is down and we knew you all would be dying to find out so we stopped at an internet cafe to give you the news.

We felt totally covered in prayer yesterday and court was a breeze. We both stood up and spoke our intentions. We requested to adopt this boy, have his birth certificate updated to list us as his mother and father, and change his name to Daniel Anatoly Karlen. (we are retaining his given name for his middle name) Once all of the petitions and legalese are read in court, then they send us out to deliberate (there were 2 jurors present). They called us back in, and read the decision.......Jason Richard Karlen and Kelly Ann Karlen are now the parents of Daniel Anatoly Karlen. I have to tell you, we both choked up when the judge said it. At that very moment we became parents. WOW!! Praise God for all of His wonderful blessings. We are so humbled to see His hand moving in our lives and feel so blessed to have this little boy.

I turned to Jason and said, 'Well, you're a papa now!' They all understood that, and then there were laughs, hugs, handshakes and congratulations all around. What a day! The whole proceeding was over in about 45 minutes.

I know you are scrolling down and feeling gyped right now. Where are the pictures?? Well, we need to wait until he is ours - just to make sure nothing can go wrong. (I know - worried mama) We will definitely post at the end of the waiting period! (2 weeks) Just trust us when we say - he is a cutie! We are such proud parents.

After court, we went out to celebrate. We tried a new restaurant by the bowling alley. (yes - we are planning to try our hand at bowling later) It was kind of a bar and grille type of place. Jason and I were both in the mood for a burger and fries. They don't really have the same thing as a hamburger here (except at McDonalds) but we got something similar. I don't have my card reader with me, so I will post a photo tomorrow.

Due to court, we missed our morning visit. When we went at 4:00, we had Oksana tell Daniel that we went to see the judge this morning and he said that we are now his mama and papa forever! He said, 'good' and then ran off to the playground. Not quite the excitement that we had. We think he already thought that we were his mama and papa - so what's the big deal? And what's a judge anyway?

Oksana went home to be with her family for the next 2 weeks so we are flying solo. We only had to call her 3 times today for translations. Not too bad! I am speaking more and more Ukrainian - it's kinda scary!

So, what do you think of the new name? His nickname is 'Tolic' so we have been calling him Daniel Tolic, to get him used to it. (and sometimes just Daniel - to see if he will answer) Today I asked him, ' Coch Tibeya Zavoot?' (what's your name?) and he said, Daniel Tolic. We were so proud. (we haven't told him about the Karlen yet - one name change at a time!)

Jason is chomping at the bit for me to tell you what happened today..... When we arrived at the orphanage this morning, he came running - all smiles as usual. He always gives us BIG hugs, which we love. First mama and then papa. We cover him with kisses and he laughs. Today he actually kissed Jason on the cheek first. How about that? What a sweetie! No, mama didn't get a kiss, but I fully expect it tomorrow!!

We are hoping that the internet at the clinic will be back up soon and we can post with regularity and share some more pictures of our adventures. If we are silent for awhile - you will know what's going on.....

THANK YOU for all of your prayers and encouragement. We are having a great time and are so excited about our new son. We can't wait to share him with you all. We love and miss you!

March 8th - Happy Women's Day

Thank you for all of your sweet comments and continued prayers. We feel so blessed to have you all sharing this journey with us!

Yesterday was National Women's Day. I think we've discussed it in previous posts, but it is like Mother's Day to the extreme. All women are celebrated with flowers and candy. Even our driver, Simone, had a flower for both Oksana and me. The greatest part to me was that I received my first refrigerator art from my boy. His class had a party and they made these flowers and he gave it to me when we arrived. He was so excited and I was too. I am sure there are many masterpieces to come, but this was the first and so special.

We continue to visit with our boy twice a day. What a bundle of energy! We kick the ball, slide down the slide, swing, dig in the sand, throw sticks, pick berries and all things boy. We are loving this time to focus on him. Today he was so sweet - we were outside walking around the orphanage and passed another caregiver with a group of children. He ran up to her and (in Ukrainian) told her, 'Look - parents came for me!' Oksana said they told her that he has been waiting a long time for parents to come. We were waiting for him too. All in God's perfect timing!

We are looking ahead to our court hearing tomorrow. It is at 10:30am (which is 4:30a in Louisville). We would appreciate your prayers that it will all go smoothly. Our paperwork is in order (our driver met the bus from Kiev at 3:30am this morning to get the last piece) and we are ready to go. We will formally request to adopt this sweet little guy, change his name (to be revealed soon!), and change his birth certificate to have us listed as the parents.

After the hearing and decision, then we have a 10 day waiting period. Due to the 10th day falling on a weekend and they don't issue birth certificates on Monday, it's actually going to be a 2 week waiting period for us. That's OK - more time to play and bond with him! So, 2 weeks after court we will go get his new birth certificate and then we are allowed to pick him up - he's ours!! A new Karlen is born! Then we can finally share pictures with you. Don't worry - we are taking a lot!

Oksana is going home to see her family for our waiting period (which we fully support) and we will be on our own! (with her available by cell phone) We are learning the necessary Ukrainian phrases to get us through while she is gone. You guys would be so impressed. Pretty soon I will be bilingual (not!). So for now we say Dobre Noche and Dzafstra! (spelling doesn't count - that means Good Night and see you tomorrow!)

Fashion show and holy water

We had a BIG day of shopping in the open air market today. The place was packed with folks doing their last minute shopping for Women's Day. We were undaunted, though, and plunged right in with the locals.

We got our little guy a bunch of clothes which he will need once he leaves the orphanage - the place keeps the clothes he's wearing. He now has a coat, shoes, slippers, socks, underwear, pajamas, 4 shirts, a turtleneck, a sweater, and 2 pairs of britches. Thanks Rich and Carol for funding our shopping spree! We also went a little crazy at the toy store/booth and got army men, a big Spider Man, cowboys and Indians, and a "super panzer".

For those wanting sizes, it looks like he's either a size 5 or 6...

When we came back for our afternoon visit, we had a fashion show and our little feller was very excited about trying on all of the new clothes (with the exception of the sweater, that is). He looks pretty darn cute in his new duds. We wish that we could post pictures...

Yesterday our driver asked if we wanted to visit a holy spring near the orphanage. Of course, we're always ready to see new things so off we went. As the history goes, St John the New set foot at this site and the spring erupted from the ground. It has since been considered a holy place and folks come here to be baptized, dip in the water for healing, go through ceremonial baptisms to commemorate Christ's baptism, etc. Here are a few photos. The first is the site of the original spring where we lit a candle (as is customary and expected at Eastern Orthodox holy sites)...

This shows the pool that is currently used for the baptisms - the water is pumped from the cavelike area shown above...

Another recent development is that we now have new roomies of sorts. Paul and Darla are from Minnesota and are here to adopt two siblings - an 8 year old girl and her 5 year old brother. They're staying with us at the Clinic. It's nice to have others to talk to and with whom to compare notes.

Borscht

March 8th is a national holiday in Ukraine - Women's Day! (doesn't that sound like a great idea?) The fun part is, since the 8th falls on a Sunday Monday is the holiday off work and they start having parties on Friday. (the last work day) So they had a celebration at the orphanage Friday for the class to honor the workers. It was in the morning, so we came after the party for our morning visit. They made cards with flowers on them and handed out bunches of pussy willows to the women - it was sweet.



It seemed like they were eating non stop all day Friday. Right after the party (where they had apples and candy) it was lunch time. Then when we came in the afternoon he was having a snack of a cheese biscuit and a big glass of buttermilk. The kids were funny. They ate the cheese off of the biscuits and then started throwing them at each other! Then it was dinner time and the ladies were bringing in the pots of soup for dinner. It was a day of eating and we could really tell the difference in our boy. He was WIRED UP! All that sugar, I guess. He was a bundle of energy and it was a rainy day here so we had to play inside. It was crazy!


Yesterday Oksana was nice enough to teach me how to make borscht. It was so exciting for me. I figured that I need to know how to make some familiar food for this boy when we come home. We had picked up all of the ingredients at the market - beets, carrots, onions, cabbage, tomato paste, beef and potatoes. I wrote the recipe down in great detail so it can be re-created.


We also got fish at the market. Fish is really big here and there are rows and rows of it at the market. We will have to get some pictures for you next time we go. We got some salmon, trout and another type of smoked fish (unkown) and had that raw last night for dinner. It was yummy!! (see pictures below) Oksana also made a beet and carrot salad (cold salad). It was very tasty.....

The Bilgorod Christian Clinic

The weather turned a bit colder here today so we are bundling up! It's still not as cold as Kiev though. We are visiting our little boy twice a day and learning more about each other. Today we really had high expectations. We bought him a little bicycle. It is red and black with training wheels and a cool bell. We really thought it would be a big hit. Well, it started out that way - big excitement! But, when we took it out to actually ride it we were deflated. He is struggling a bit with pushing on the pedals. He may have never had a tricycle or a big wheel. He doesn't seem to know how to work the pedals. We worked on it a bit, but he quickly lost interest and ran off to the slide. Oh well! We got it for ALL of the kids, not just him. So we thought maybe when he sees the others ride he would learn. When his class came out, there was an excited swarm of kids on the bike and no one knows how to ride. It will take some time. We worked on it again in our afternoon visit. He seems to be picking it up. Hopefully it will warm up and we can go back outside for another lesson.

We are continually touched by how sweet he is. He gives us BIG hugs every time we come and when it's time to leave. He has a sweet nature and doesn't stay down long - even when he doesn't get his way. Today when we were leaving, after goodbye hugs - he was headed into his room and ran back out and said (in Ukrainian), 'I will love you!'. Doesn't that just make you melt? What a cutie! We can't wait for the day when he actually gets to leave with us!

We thought we would tell you a little bit about the place we are staying. The Lord has really watched over us through this entire process and provided a great place for us to stay. If we were at a hotel it would be more expensive, we wouldn't have a kitchen or the internet or a washing machine. It's been great.

This is a Christian clinic. I am not really sure what services they provide to the community, but they are busy every day. It is a 3 story building and the 3rd floor was finished off with rooms for visiting missionaries to stay in. The missionaries are here in the summer and in the winter they allow adopting families to stay. We feel right at home here and some of the folks even speak English. When we went to church on Sunday, we saw a lot of familiar faces from around here - it was great! There is a scruffy little dog out front that barks at all of the passing cars. He is protecting us. He no longer barks at us and Simone, he knows we belong here. He is a cute little thing and we bring him scraps from the table.

Here is a picture of the front of the clinic and you can see Jason with the dog:

This is our bedroom

This is the kitchen...

Berry picking

Today was a long paperwork day. We had to meet with the assistant to the Mayor. He interviewed us and then signed some papers. Tonight Oksana will put them on the bus to Kiev. Our facilitator in Kiev will meet the bus in the morning and get the papers and turn them in for us. Whew! This all needs to happen before court on Tuesday.

We spent the morning on the playground, as usual. He always seems to find a new interest to occupy himself with. Today it was pulling all of the berries off of the bushes. We cleaned out all of the bushes surrounding the playground and filled a blue bucket with berries, only to promptly dump them down the slide. Big Fun!!

Here in Ukraine there are many stray cats and dogs. They aren't aggressive (that we have seen), just prowling around everywhere. The funny thing is - our little one hates them! As soon as a cat or dog approaches the playground, he drops whatever he is doing and takes off running at them and yelling in Ukrainian. We can't figure out if this is from him, or if they teach them this at the orphanage so they will stay away from these strays. We take turns chasing after him. He will go far in his pursuit to run them off! We will have to break him of this habit once we get home.

This is the statue outside the mayor's office. He is Shevchenko - a Ukrainian writer and 'the voice of the people'. There were quite a few flowers left there for him.

This is a picture of the restaurant we ate at yesterday. We decided to celebrate getting our petition turned in by eating at a real restaurant, not just a cafeteria. This place actually had menus with English subtitles. We had fun reading through the extensive menu. Of course Kelly had to try the Borscht and also had fish kebobs with rice. It was catfish and salmon and very tasty. Jason had stuffed mushrooms (with cheese and meat) and deep fried perch, with a side of fried potatoes and mushrooms. As you can tell, we are eating well. So far we haven't tried anything we didn't like.

More tomorrow. Thanks for all of your comments. We anxiously check each night to see what you have left. It makes us feel a little closer to home!

Things are moving right along

We had a big day today! We filed the petition at the court for the adoption. Our court date is set for Tuesday, March 10th. (my mom's birthday!) There are many papers to be collected before the hearing can happen, but we are on our way! The petition includes the new name we selected for him. We will share it with you soon! (Hint - it's a hero and prophet of the Bible)

Due to our time at the courthouse this morning, we were late arriving at the orphanage for our visit. The class was outside playing and when they came around the bend and spotted us - he took off running to us, straight into my arms. Yeah - I melted! He saw our driver with us and asked (in Ukrainian), "Is it time? Are we going?" It can't be soon enough for us either!

He met with the psychologist today. He won't go to court with us, so she interviews him and provides a summary for the judge. She asked if he wants us for his momma and poppa - he said Da!! (YES!) I have a photo album of family pictures. He went right to my bag and pulled it out to show her. He flipped to the page with all of the grandparents' pictures and told her, "They love me." What a sweetie!

This is our driver, Simone. He takes good care of us. We call him 'Uncle Ron'. He has the same big personality and reminds us of our friend.
More later......we love and miss you!

Chicken Soup

While we were at the market, our facilitator said that we should get a fresh chicken and we would make soup. That sounded like a great idea! We had been eating out far too much and were happy to stay home and cook. We had no idea exactly how 'fresh' the chicken would really be. No, we didn't have to pluck feathers (just a few) but check it out.....

I would have had no idea what to do with this, but Oksana knew! She chopped the head off (we saved it to feed to the dog here at the clinic) and sliced it open. She cut out the kidneys, heart, stomach, eggs and other various assorted parts. It was really a good cooking lesson for me! Then we put it in a pot with water and boiled for 1.5 hours. Then she added salt, potatoes, onions, and some noodles and boiled longer. What turned out was an EXCELLENT dinner.....

It was really delicious and we ate on this 2 nights for dinner. We also had sliced cucumbers (from the market) and a bowl of shredded carrots that had been marinated with garlic and we don't know what else that we bought from a Korean lady at the market. She told us tonight that chicken prepared in this manner is a traditional dish served after a funeral. We loved it! I am not sure where I could get a fresh chicken at home, but I am hoping to be able to replicate funeral chicken. Yummy!!

Of course, the highlights of our days are the visits with our little one. We are allowed to see him twice a day. We can't tell you too much about him until the process is final, but we can brag a little and tell you how smart he is! He is doing a great job repeating English words, working on sticker books, coloring, and tonight he put together a 35 piece puzzle! We were impressed! Of course we also spend a lot of time outside - swinging, kicking a ball, digging in the sand. He is all boy! Jason is pleased to see how much he LOVES cars! His first request was for a red truck and we were happy to oblige. He has already run the wheels completely off!! He doesn't realize all of the car racing that is in his future! He is so sweet. We got our first real hugs yesterday and they were precious! [Everyone is asking about sizes.....that's a tough one! The sizes here are totally different. We will tell you once we have an idea!]

The paperwork is moving forward. The petition for adoption will get filed tomorrow and we are hopeful to have a court date soon! We are enjoying this time to focus on him and really get to play, play, play together. We so appreciate your prayers. You have no idea how much paperwork still has to be completed for this adoption. Please pray that everything will go smoothly! We will keep you posted!!! We miss and love you all!

The Market

Today we went to church. The clinic where we are staying is run by a local church so we visited there, which is in a separate building from the clinic. I will try to get a picture later. We really enjoyed the service. Even though the language is different, we are all worshipping the same great God. We even recognized a few of the hymns and sang along in English.


After church, we went to the open air market and wandered around. It was great fun seeing all of the booths and the many different items for sale. Everything from clothes, shoes, books, personal care items, tools, and food - fish, chickens, vegetables, cheeses, milk, etc. We had fun taking it all in. Unfortunately there weren't as many prepared-food vendors as we anticipated so our choices were sparse. We bought "meat" pies from one of the vendors for lunch. It was kind of like a very oily funnel cake with indescribable meat and onions. We saw the orphanage inspector immediately after this photo was taken and she was amazed at how "brave" we were - her words, not ours.

Jason did try the dried squid today and said it was actually VERY tasty - not at all salty and a bit sweet. It was definitely better than the dried fish mentioned in yesterday's post.

This picture is for our sis-in-law, Jennifer. She would love to go boot shopping here. The selection is amazing!! Especially in Kiev, most of the women in Ukraine wear knee-high leather boots. It's quite the fashion statement. Jason keeps trying to convince me to get a pair, but it hasn't worked yet. Today at the market he tried to talk me into getting a hat to match his. I tried them all on and settled on a mink hat, but then promptly talked myself out of it. Maybe later......

We missed our visiting time at the orphanage this morning to attend church. We are anxious to get over there this afternoon and visit with that boy some more. Hopefully he didn't forget about us. It's amazing how quickly you bond. It's hard to believe we have only known him 3 days. It seems like a lot longer!

Weird food o' the day

Dried seafood is very, very popular in southern Ukraine. You can buy it in pouches much like beef jerkey in the States. When I saw the selection today, I couldn't pass up on the dried fish and dried squid (pictured above). I also thought of my brother, Jon, when I saw the dried whole anchovies which my facilitator, Oksana, said is too salty. I tried the dried fish when I got back to my room. The smell is pretty overpowering and it turned Kelly off immediately. I, on the other hand, dove right in. You peel the skin off the fish and don't eat the tail fin; otherwise all else is fair game. The fish tasted pretty much as expected from the smell and it is also fairly salty. While I'd still rather have my Jack Link's Peppered Jerkey, the fish wasn't a horrible substitute. The major drawback, though, is that Kelly won't kiss me until after I brush my teeth now.

Tomorrow I'll tear into the squid which Oksana said is superior to the fish. We'll see.

I must admit that I LOVE grocery shopping here. First off, the prices are less than half what they are in the States. Secondly, you constantly run across unusual foods. Thirdly, it's interesting to see how American exports are packaged and marketed here. I've spent more time in the grocery store the last two days than probably the last two years beforehand and loved every minute of it.

We're talking about heading to the open air market tomorrow after church. Oksana said there will be a lot of street vendors selling food. I feel like Andrew Zimmerman all of a sudden.

LAP Electrical VRT idea

I apologize to those folks who aren't on my electrical team at Ford, but I couldn't pass this up...

We've seen many vehicles in Ukraine with these straps hanging down. Apparently Russian-made cars are not grounded properly and these straps serve the purpose. There have been several instances of folks talking on cellphones and having an electrostatic discharge explode the phone resulting in fatalities. These straps prevent that from occurring. Perhaps we should suggest this for our next vehicle as optional equipment.

Feeling like royalty

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather today (it was in the 40s and sunny) and do a little siteseeing in between visits with our little guy. One of the main attractions in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky is the medieval fortress on the bay. From our guide book, we knew that it was built from the 12th to the 15th centuries, but we had no idea how expansive it was. It is over 500 yards wide by 250 yards deep - and that's not including the ruins of the old town outside its walls. We were also struck by how complete the fortress is - the exterior walls are in good shape, the moat appears to be near its original depth, and the interior walls (to include the keep) are still intact. You are completely free to roam as you want - there are "danger" signs posted but nothing else to inhibit your exploring. We climbed onto the ramparts (about 40 feet high from the inner grounds and explored several of the fortifications. Kelly even tried her hand at the crossbow while we were there.

Potato chips

Yes people, those are crab flavored potato chips!! Today we went to a big new grocery store (kind of like Wal Mart). They had many aisles of choices and since we have a kitchen where we are staying, we picked up some food. Tonight for dinner was salami and cheese sandwiches and these chips. They taste exactly the way they sound. We also picked up some toys and snacks for our little guy. We got a coloring book with stickers and were so proud to see him match up all of the stickers to the right spots. He is a smart one!

First meeting

OK - I know everyone is dying of suspense. Here is what you wanted to hear about......

We left Kiev at 3:00am. Whoa! We were so tired. Drove and drove to get here. Then got lost, cracked out the GPS and finally found our way. We went straight to the inspector's office. She provides the local paperwork needed to visit the orphanage. Then she loaded up into the van with us and went to the orphanage to meet him. Yes - we had been riding in the van all day, no sleep, and now we are finally going to meet this little boy. The moment we've been waiting for.....

At the orphanage, first the physician comes in and tells about him. He was off having lunch. We wait some more and then finally the caregiver walks in with him. She is holding his hand and blocking my view. I am craning around - so eager for my first glimpse. And there he is - a smiling little boy, very tall. He smiles really big and says, 'My name is ____, I am 4 years old and I have a song for you.' (name removed for privacy) and then he starts to sing. Of course, all of this is in Ukrainian, so we have no idea what he's saying. But what a cutie with a big personality! We brought him a juice box and he warmed right up to us.

We visited for a little bit and then had to leave. We came back later in the day, after his nap, and played some more. Then today, 2 more visits. He is a very verbal child - inquisitive and ACTIVE! We are going to be hopping. He is already repeating words in English when prompted. And - he is trying to teach us Ukrainian. We aren't very good students! He counts in Ukrainian and we count back in English. He will pick it up quickly, I know.

He is well taken care of. There are quite a few care givers and they all seem concerned about his well being. He is eating well and they have a playroom full of toys as well as outside play grounds. We will continue to visit him twice a day and move forward with paperwork. We feel certain that this is the little boy that God picked out for us and we can't wait to bring him home to meet you all. We appreciate your comments and prayers. We love and miss you all!

Quick update

We made it to the town (thanks to the GPS). We met the little boy - so cute! We are so tired. I will post more later. We are staying at a nice Christian facility which is used in the summer for traveling missionaries. We feel right at home. I know you want more info. Too tired.....will post tomorrow......

Pictures

Visiting the Lavra in Kiev - a huge Eastern Orthodox complex of churches. We went through the caves in the lower Lavra and saw the deceased monks from centuries past. What an experience!

Our first Kiev geocache! Doesn't Galya look like she's having fun?

Jason and his muskrat hat. Doesn't he look just like a local??

A change in plans.....

Thank you for all of your comments! We love to get a word from home. Keep them coming!!

It turns out the little boy outside Kiev was not available. So, we have accepted another referral for a 4 year old little boy. He is in an orphanage in Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky, a town southwest of Odessa. This is in Southern Ukraine, about 6 hours south of Kiev. We are happy to go south and find some warmer weather. It is on the coast of the Black Sea.

We are waiting in Kiev for some paperwork and then will be heading down there at 3:00AM tomorrow. We are leaving early in the hope that we can get to town, get the necessary local paperwork done and get to meet this little guy tomorrow. We are so excited to finally meet him!

After all of that excitement yesterday, we spent the evening at the Ukrainian National Ballet. The performance was Don Quixote and we were very impressed. The dancers were excellent! We had a good time with Galya and kept her out late!

Food update - we finally ate some local Ukraine food. They have cafeteria style restaurants that are great because we can see all of the food and pick out what looks good. Lunch for Kelly consisted of Borscht (with a dollop of sour cream - yummy!) and a plate of cabbage and valenky (which are like peirogies). Jason had fish baked in paprika and buttery mashed potatoes. Dinner took us to another cafeteria (right near the ballet). Kelly had cabbage rolls and potato cakes and Jason had Chicken Kiev (yes, they call it that here) and vegetables. We are enjoying trying new things, so far everything is yummy and cholesterol free :) . We had some wonderful baklava for dessert.

You can tell we are eating good and enjoying our time here, just hanging out waiting to meet the little one. More news tomorrow, hopefully good!! Thank you for your continued prayers. We feel the hand of God moving in this adoption and we are following His lead.

And the good news is.......

We had our appointment! Thank you so much for all of your prayers. We really felt covered in prayer and did not have a lot of anxiety going into the appointment. We knew that all is in God's hands. We have accepted a referral for a 5 year old little boy. He is 2 hours outside of Kiev - so we don't have to travel too far. I know you want more info, but that is all we have right now. Please continue to pray that when we meet this little guy that all will go well. We are so excited!!!

On a side note - before the appointment, we were visiting the souvenier stands out on the street. Jason got a big fluffy fur cap - muskrat! He looks so cool. We will try to post a photo later. We are having fun. It's cooooold! Jason only brought a ball cap, so he needed something to keep his head warm. It is colder than we expected. It was 7 yesterday - and just a little warmer today.

Our facilitator, Galya, has been great! She has enjoyed learning about geocaching and we are having fun wandering around the city with her. She has a good sense of humor. She never heard anyone say 'Holy Cow!' before. Now that we are conscious of it - we say it a lot more than we realized. We all crack up laughing every time!

More later......

We made it!!

Pryvet and Hello from Ukraine! The flight was long, but no problems getting here. We have had a BIG day. We've already been geocaching a little bit around Kiev, rode the subway, saw St. Michael's church, visited Babi Yar (site of WWII Jewish massacre), and even ate McDonalds. We figured we had to keep moving this first day or we would fall asleep on our feet! It's coming up on 8p and we can't keep our eyes open any longer. We are excited for our appointment tomorrow and appreciate your continued prayers.

The adventure begins.....

House Sitter

We had dinner tonight at the Mayan Cafe (excellent, by the way!) with Jake - our friend that will be staying at our house full time while we are gone. We are so thankful to leave everything in his capable hands. What a good friend!

Thanks to all of you who have supported us throughout this entire process. Your prayers, interest and excitement in our lives and this adoption have meant so much to us. We are so thankful for all of you and feel so blessed to have such an amazing group of family and friends.

Are we ready? Well, not yet - but we will be soon! We had the carpets cleaned in the kid's room today. All of the final pieces are coming together. We are so sure that this is God's plan for our lives and we can't wait to see how He will bring it all together. We are stressed about pulling everything together for the trip, but not in the least about the adoption. We can be calm and confident knowing that this is His plan.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Valentine Painting Party!

One week until we leave and I finally agreed to paint the room. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!!! AAAaaahhhh!! But, we got it done. It's a boring neutral, but we can spiff it up later. So many last minute things to do. Where did the month go?? Thanks Dad and Peggy! What would we have done without you?

Sock Monkeys!

A friend of ours from the Geocaching community made these sock monkeys for the kid(s). (or one for the kid and one for Jason!) Aren't they the cutest? Our geocaching name is 'CaptainPunkin' so that's why they have the pumpkin hats. How cute! Thanks Laurie!!

We met with the Baby Lady at church today to go over the details of the trip. I feel so much better after speaking with her. I know it is in God's hands, but talking it all through just made me feel better. She went through all of the things we should and shouldn't take, what to expect when we get there, etc. We are so excited!!!!

Winter Wonderland

We had 4 inches of snow yesterday, followed by rain and ice last night, topped off with more snow today. It is really beautiful (from inside my warm house!). We still have our power too! All of Jason's family is without power, so we are counting our blessings.

For those of you looking for an adoption update, I don't have much to tell. We have decided to fly over on Delta so our flight schedule will be Louisville to Cincinnati to JFK to Kiev. Other than getting that booked, we are doing plaster work in the kid's room, buying long underwear for the trip, and other miscellaneous items. I don't know that it's really sunk in yet. After a year of waiting we are finally going! It just doesn't seem real! Ask me again the week before we go!

We have lined up a house sitter for while we are gone. We have someone that is able to stay here full time, so that is a blessing. I will post again when I have something fun to share.......

Travel Date

PRAISE THE LORD!! We got the email this morning - our travel date is February 22nd. Woo Hoo!!!!! I have already been in touch with the travel agent. I don't have any details yet, but we are so excited.

Check out the new Weather widgets I posted on the sidebar. We can track the weather in Kiev. Just keep in mind that they are 7 hours ahead of Louisville time.

And now for our prayer list:
- Oh Lord, great revealer of secrets, give us wisdom. Guide us right to the child(ren) you have set aside for us.
- He knows who they are....even now, begin to soften the hearts of the SDA official from whom we will get our referral, the orphanage director, and the judge we will work with.
- Prepare us to be good parents, the right parents, exactly who these little ones need!

James 1:5
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

We are claiming that verse. We lack it. We need it. Lord, please give it to us liberally!!

All I want for Christmas

I saw this posted on another blog and it really touched me. I pray for our kids every day. I can't wait to meet him, her, them??

From Steven Curtis Chapman's "All I Really Want For Christmas"

All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

All I want for Christmas is someone who'll be here
To sing me happy birthday for the next 100 years
And It's okay if they're not perfect or even if they're a little broken
That's alright, 'Cause so am I

`Cause all I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
Tell me I'll never be alone, someone whose love will never end
Of all that I could ask for, well, there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family