Hi again!

Well, we leave in about a week from now. I'm in a tizzy just trying to get everything together I'm slowly packing my bag and my bedroom looks tornadoish. I've worked my wordrobe out to three outfits based off of a black and white mix and match design plus a black skirt for when we go to SDA meetings or to court. I also have silk underwear, cuddleduds, plus snow esentials. I bought the cutest hat to coordinate with my coat, so I hope to be stylin' occasionally.

We will probably have plenty of downtime in Kiev, so I got creative with some of the items I'm taking with us for the family. First of all, I'm bringing the kids homework, so they won't fall too far behind at school. I still have to make the xerox copies of their text books, but I plan on doing that tomorrow. Secondly, I'm bringing craft/fun activities that we often don't make the time to learn at home. I brought some knitting so I can help teach Claire how to knit. I also brought a book that teaches oragami and another teaching how to make really cool paper airplanes. These are all easy to pack and fun to learn. I just hope that the kids take me up on my fun ideas. Oh, I also bought dog balls which are excellent at teaching kids how to juggle! I am encouraging Colin to find music that he knows, so he can play it for the orphans when we get to the orphanage.

Colin Claire and I just finished devouring the "Twilight" series of books. So I was looking for some good books to read. My sister recommend "Enders Game" a sci fi series that she couldn't put down. I picked up the first two at the book store. I am also looking for recommendations for an easy family bible study we could do there as well. Something fun but simple.

We have bought many presents to give to people there. Uraine is a present culture and you are expected to give presents at different transactions so my mother and I have shopped a lot. Our Ukraine adoption agency, Orphan's Hope, told us that Ukrainians love to get peanut butter as a gift! They have a hard time getting it there so a peanut butter sandwich is looked on as a caviar sandwich! We'll be happy to oblige.

Dearest friends and family,

Thank you for looking in on our spiritual journey. We are all excited about expanding our family and "rescuing" an orphan from a potential hard life and giving them a loving family and home. I'd like to add my comments as to why we are adopting. I firmly believe the Holy Spirit has lead me to this decision. Did I say "firmly"? Actually I mean to say I believe, even if somewhat shakily but I do believe He gave me my desire to expand our family.

In a Bible study, a few years ago, we read "be fruitful and multiply" which was the command God gave to mankind. And although this child will not be my natural born child, he/she will multiply our family and we will teach him or her about our Lord Jesus Christ and how to walk by faith. This is another way to multiply our physical and spiritual family.

I had thought on and off about adopting over the past couple of years, but it was about a year and a half ago when I was at the ocean, that my desire to adopt really took hold of me. I took a walk early in the morning and just thought of how my own children were growing and becoming adults right before my eyes. I envisioned them coming home on holidays and eating with us at our dining table, and then I realized that there was room at the table! Having a larger family will bring Nick and I more joy. You see, you can always trust God. If He tells you to be fruitful and multiply, it's for your own good.

I'll write more soon. God bless!

Travel Plans

Everything continues to inch along. Except our trip, of course. It is approaching at high speed.

We finally got our plane tickets. The kids decided to stay with us the entire time. I think they were excited at the prospect of missing a month of school. But we will keep them busy. Bwa-ha-ha!

We will be leaving for Kyiv on 12/14. With a dinner-time departure, we will make it to Ukraine at about 4:30pm the next day. So we'll probably get to our room (flat?) around 7pm. Definitely a long day. But we are flying Lufthansa, which is definitely my favorite trans-atlantic carrier. No dice on an upgrade though :-(

So over the next 12 days, we will work on getting packed, getting gifts, etc.

And of course, we have to fit in Christmas concerts, Christmas cards, school, etc.

But that's the fun of it. And, in Ukraine, we get to celebrate Christmas twice! Gotta love that.

By the way, for anyone learning Russian, I recommend Pimsleur. It's expensive, but very good. I just started doing the reading lessons. I have been listening to the audio. But the reading lessons add a new dimension. It definitely is helping my pronunciation and understanding.

The other thing is that the cyrillic alphabet is so different. After all, you might recognize a word on hearing, but completely miss it in print.

For instance, would you know that PECTOPAH means "restaurant"? When you pronounce it ("ristorahn"), it is obvious. But not so much in print. Should help with shopping and restaurants as well.

Gotta go decorate for Christmas here. Can't have the place bare before we leave.