Day 7 of 10

We have internet! We are in Lviv as of an hour ago. It is a lovely city. We can't wait to share the rich history and experience of western Ukraine over the last few days. We will be out tonight and can blog more soon - just wanted to touch base and say we are OK and doing well. Ann got 112 of 256 pages graded so far!  We have learned so much about Karina's culture and nationality! It is a wonderful opportunity to be here and we are quite blessed. Liliya, Igor, Liliya, Andre, and even little Nafania have been do dear and good to us these last few days. We will post more when we have a chance. We are missing Little Chix. We hope all is well with everyone.

Day 4 of 10

No worries - just have not had internet for a few days. Will blog more when have time - long story.

WE'RE HAVING GREAT FUN! The Carpathians are wonderful and the western part of the country where we are now - the "original Ukraine-Ukraine" is marvelous. So different from the east.

We are just having an amazing time with our friend Liliya in the Carpathians! We will be offline for a few more days.

In summary, we did not have WiFi on the train this time. First Class differs apparently, per train - and the story of how we found this WiFi connection to blog now is a fun story in itself! Not much time available but enough to say "all is well - very well"!

This part of Ukraine is nothing like the east where we spent the pre-adoption days. This is AMAZING!! We are having a blast! The people, the landscape, the mountains, the snow!, the architecture and rich, rich history and diversity are ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! All is well - having a great time and we send love to all. And, we have a dog to pet where we are staying - Nafania! He's a sweetie!

Day 1 of 10

This is the first day of our 10 day waiting period. A quiet day all in all. The rain and winds were rough this morning. They turned the umbrella inside out! It was very cold and yucky outside, as we ventured out to get snacks for the Children's Home.We are staying here till tomorrow morning, and so we were able to see Karina for a couple of hours this afternoon. We showed her the videos from the performance yesterday and her friends gathered around, and some teachers too, all excited to watch! They all enjoyed the iphone videos so very much! Chatter, chatter, laugh, laugh, chatter!!! We couldn't help but simply smile big! It was great fun! Mama played connect4 with her and Papa played matching on the computer.We were also able to start some admin work of getting passports in place this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning, we are leaving on a 25 hour train ride across the country to Lviv, arriving mid-day Sunday. We will stay there until next weekend. We are looking forward to our vacation! Actually, it is our honeymoon - as we never took one and next month is year 23! We will post as we have time and connections. We will spend most of our time with our friend who's family lives there. We have lots of work that we can do on the train and we purchased a few groceries for food after dinner tonight, so are in good shape for the trip. We will finish up the Tudors tonight (haven't watched in a few days) - then pack, and Bon Yoyage!

Angel Party!

We were invited to a performance at the Children's Home this afternoon and it was unbelievably wonderful! We were so proud of our daughter! We understand now what it feels like to watch your child in a performance! Oh my gosh! Smiles abounded everywhere, ours included! Papa video taped most of the lovely singing and dancing. The kids are quite talented. We included some pictures here. Each child shared well-wishes for Karina and she beamed from head to toe! It was a time of celebration and joy for her and us! We met another family from America and all celebrated the day with dinner, champagne, and the most delicious dessert! (Cottage Cheese Pancakes!) We miss Karina already. She could not share a meal with us today. We can see her tomorrow in the afternoon then not again until the 18th. She was tired at the end of the today, but so very happy, as are we! We need to hug her good night - I hope she feels her hugs through her soul: our Angel! We'll try not to brag too much, but it is our first day as parents and it is simply awesome to see your child enjoying life and having so much fun! What a feeling!

Happy Angel Day, Karina! Today is Your Day!

Today is also a holiday in Ukraine http://for-ua.org/ukraine/2011/04/07/093714.html?amp -- the Orthodox celebration of the annunciation.

According to the website above: "Today, Orthodox world celebrate one of the twelve major feasts – the Annunciation of the Theotokos. The first information about the Blagoveŝenii belong to 560, when Emperor Iustinian indicated the date of the Annunciation, 25 March (7 April calendar). Catholics celebrate the Annunciation on March 25. The Annunciation is the day when the Blessed Virgin Mary was the Archangel Gabriel, who said good news about the future birth of a son who would become the Savior of the world. According to legend, the Angel was holding a white lily is a symbol of purity and virginity, which depicts the Annunciation icons at all, according to UNIAN. Blessed are the only events – Apostle Luke the Evangelist. In the Gospel he says that in the 6th month after the conception of St. John the Baptist St. Gabriel Elisavetoj was sent by God to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth with news about the forthcoming birth of the Savior of the world: Angel into her, said: "rejoice, Fertile! Lord is with thee; Blessed art Thou among women, according to Church tradition, while Virgin Mary was the Archangel Gabriel, she read the book of Isaiah, namely the word Messiah's birth. "I am ready to become subservient to the latter, which would be given a Messiah," thought she was in that day had released birds at will. This tradition symbolizes the liberation of the soul from sin and sanctity of thoughts in such a light holiday. Annunciation believed spring holiday and welfare in nature. Many people are happy to take: this day you cannot perform any homework. Not even "bird nest on this day" Viet-told Ukrainians. It is believed that at the Annunciation and Pascha in hell not to torment sinners."

2011-04-07 09:37:14

We're Parents!

2.5 hours of court and a few tears and several hugs and we are parents! Yeah!!! There were 12 adults in court (10 were women), plus Little Chix = 13 people. We are all very happy!! Thanks to all who worked so very hard to make today happen! There were many wonderful people in court who worked long, long hours (and many outside of court too), to make today happen. We are grateful to them all. Little Chix has a family and we have a family! Yippie!!!! Yippie!!! Our family day is April 7th. 4 + 7 = 11 and it is the year 2011!

Court was very thorough. Now for the 10 day waiting period, which will end the 18th.

We bought ballet tickets to Swan Lake here where we are now, for the evening of the 18th - our first day as a threesome! That will be a blast for Little Chix! She has never seen a ballet before! And, EVERYONE knows she LOVES dance!

Soon, we will travel to Lviv - more on that later.

We hope the embassy doesn't close down based on US government budget stalls. We will wait to change our flight home when we know more. Paperwork due to new regulations here, and other issues will prevent us from flying back on the 24th - Easter - but we are not sure what day to schedule yet. More as we know more.

Blessing for Tomorrow

At 9AM in the morning, we will be in court. May the people in the room feel and show compassion toward Karina and her situation. May the words shared be of help to Karina and not stressful to her. May her stomach not have butterflies and her nervousness fade quickly, if it even exists. May we answer the questions asked of us thoughtfully, succinctly and with the love and conviction that we feel and know to be true. May all present see through any barriers or stereotypes that may exist and witness a glimpse at love and the opportunity to create a loving family forever where one did not exist before with a child. May the feelings of people present be calm, caring and respectful to all who have worked so hard to make tomorrow a reality, and to bless the results of the meeting with positive desires for new growth in exciting and transformative ways, especially for dear Karina. May Karina remember tomorrow as a day that changed her life, and may she always remember, joyfully and respectfully, the wonderful people in Ukraine who made it all possible - from those who loved enough to let others care for her to those who volunteer their time and energy on behalf of children who need them. There are many good people in the world and many will be present in the same room together tomorrow. It should be a joyful day that memories are made of!

Kids' Schedule

Our attorney was able to get the kids' schedule for us so that we can mind to it as best possible when we get to America. We know Little Chix follows this schedule and she will soon be 13, so it is safe to say it is a pre-teen/tween schedule to say the least.

Here is the daily meal schedule:
7:20 oatmeal/kashi/buckwheat porrage, egg, cheese, bread, butter, tea or coffee
10:10 juice or fresh fruit
13:30 (1:30PM) supper: soup or borshch with meat, vegetables, pasta, meat, bread, dried fruit with sugar (compote)
16:00 (4PM) snack - cottage cheese crepes, milk, biscuit/cookie
19:00 (7PM) dinner: meat, vegetables, bread, dried fruit
20:30 (8:30PM) soft milk/yogurt (kefir = digestion aide)

Here is the daily activities schedule:
6:45-7 get up and go to the bathroom
7-7:10 morning gym/stretch
7:15-7:30 breakfast
7:30-7:40 get ready for school
7:40-12:00 school
12:00-13:30 (1:30PM) come back from school
13:30-14:00 (1:30-2:00PM) super
14:00-15:00 (2-3PM) relax/read/movie/nap
15:00-16:00 (3-4PM) do homework with teacher's help
16:00-16:30 (4-4:30PM) snack
16:30-18:00 (4:30-6PM) do same homework as before without the teacher's help
18:00-19:00 (6-7PM) work outside/outdoors
19:00-19:30 (7-7:30PM) dinner
19:30-20:30 (7:30-8:30PM) play
20:30-21:00 (8:30-9PM) brush teeth and get ready for bed
21:00-6:45 (9PM-6:45AM - 9.75 hours) sleep