Second Trip

We made it to Kiev for our second and final trip!  This trip should be rather short, compared to the last.  We are hoping to return home mid-week next week.

I neglected to post during our short trip back home.  It was great to see our boys again and to be in our comfortable home with comfortable surroundings.  It has amazed me how much I take for granted.  We all need to be thankful for the country we live in and all the "stuff" that we have.

We arrived in Kyiv Monday afternoon and have been in a whirlwind since!  We now have Zhenya’s new birth certificate and have his new passport in progress (expedited passport takes 3 business days).  This doesn’t sound like enough to take up a day and a half, but I promise you it is!

This whole adoption process has been filled with emotions that I haven’t even touched on in our blog.  But today was extra emotional.  We met Zhenya’s birth mother, sister / husband and two nieces.  We also celebrated with all the kids and caretakers from the orphanage by having a going away party.  It was such a fun time, but also sad knowing Z may never see his friends again.  Several of the younger children helped in the celebration by singing.  Zhenya even finished off the evening with a song!  He is quite the entertainer!  And of course, there was food. :-)  A huge thanks to Becky for completely handling the food for us.  (We ran out of time due to other appointments and she jumped right in and took care of it.) 

Today also marks Day 1 of our official lives together with Z.  We signed paperwork to release him from the orphanage and to be in our care forever!  He is sound asleep in our apartment tonight and our hearts and nerves are finally calm.

So you want to know the highlight of my day?  After coming home to our apartment tonight…I was in the kitchen and Z walked down the hall yelling “Mom”!  I turned to see what was going on and he gave me a big hug!

Thanks again to all who have prayed with us and for us!  More to come later…

Mandy