May 31, 2004 Midnight Kyiv time.
This is just a short note. We will fill you all in tomorrow, we promise!
We had our meeting at the SDA and looked through 9 referrals and settled on one in the Donetsk region. It is a nine hour drive Southeast, and with the weekend coming up we will leave on Sunday morning, so we can go to the orphanages first thing Monday morning. We updated the map on top of this blog so you can see where Donetsk is.
For those of you that are waiting anxiously for what our referral is for, are you sitting down? Three siblings - two boys (ages 4 and 7) and a girl (5 years old). Most of you are probably saying “OH MY GOD“? We have been saying the same thing for the last day and a half. It’s like the Barth Brady Bunch! We have thought very seriously about it and are praying that GOD is leading us this way. This is why the delay in letting you know, as we weren’t totally sure about this decision. We have been considering this VERY carefully.
Please feel free to post comments on our blog spot. You can comment right below our most recent post! We really enjoy and feel encouraged by your comments. We also continue to ask for your prayers on our journey to find our forever family. Laura will write more tomorrow with more details…
Love,
Ed
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
OUR FIRST DAY IN KYIV
May 29, 2007
Yesterday, after helping us settle into our apaertment, our facilitator took us to Mega Mart (similar to a Sam’s Club) to pick up fresh baked bread, butter, milk, cheese, water and Coca-Cola Light (their version of diet). On the way there, poor Laura tripped & took a fall coming down the last step of the walk up that we are staying in. She is ok, but both knees took a good banging. What a way to start!
The apartment is on the 3rd floor, without an elevator…boy, can we feel how OUT of shape we’re in (especially when carrying up all that heavy luggage & the (2) 6 liter bottles of water along with the other groceries--we thought we were going to die!!! But the apartment is nice, with a queen size bed and a normal toilet (that‘s the most important!). The bathtub/shower is on a raised platform so it makes it “interesting” getting in and out! The owner of this apt. even put a hot water tank in there & we even have a small washing machine in the bathroom (haven’t figured out how to use it yet though). We have a small eat-in kitchen with a microwave, coffee maker, full size refrigerator, & a gas stove. Our facilitator says we are staying in an “upper class” part of town, in the central part of Kyiv-vs. near Independence Square-for those who have “been there & done this” trip before, we are on Gorkiy Street, near the Mega Mart. Tomorrow, after our appointment our facilitator is going to take us around the area more.
Today (Tuesday), we were happily able to sleep in, although we went to bed last night around 12:30 & we woke up around 8AM (I think we were still very keyed up & overtired). So this morning, we watched all the people walking to work from the balcony of our apartment (where we get a little breeze anyway) while we had our coffee & donuts--oh yeah, we bought those too :-) & they were yummy! Later, we made the first trip out on our own to Mega Mart to stock up on more water, buy some paper plates (who does dishes?!) paper towels, napkins, plastic cups ( the glasses & coffee cups supplied are like thimbles!), cheese and Coke Light. Ed also checked out the three aisles of beer all sold in single serve! The locals seem to like to buy a bottle and drink it on the street on the way home. Ed will write more on his beer expedition later, after he buys some or “1” himself!
Tonight, we really became daring and walked a little around our area & took some pictures. Then, we found a pizzeria nearby and had an enjoyable “Four Fromage” (cheese) pizza which was very tasty and cokes without ice for dinner. So, our 1st day in Kyiv was quite relaxing, & now we can strictly concentrate on the reason we are here: To bring home our child(ren) & start our “Forever Family”!
Our facilitator also came over this afternoon, and said that our appointment is scheduled for 10 AM Wed. (3 AM EST). Please say a prayer for us before you go to bed tonight that everything goes smoothly, & that God will guide us to the child(ren) we are meant to adopt. This was a combined blog written by both of us! We’ll let you know how everything goes tomorrow…Until then, God Bless All of You! Love, Laura & Ed
Yesterday, after helping us settle into our apaertment, our facilitator took us to Mega Mart (similar to a Sam’s Club) to pick up fresh baked bread, butter, milk, cheese, water and Coca-Cola Light (their version of diet). On the way there, poor Laura tripped & took a fall coming down the last step of the walk up that we are staying in. She is ok, but both knees took a good banging. What a way to start!
The apartment is on the 3rd floor, without an elevator…boy, can we feel how OUT of shape we’re in (especially when carrying up all that heavy luggage & the (2) 6 liter bottles of water along with the other groceries--we thought we were going to die!!! But the apartment is nice, with a queen size bed and a normal toilet (that‘s the most important!). The bathtub/shower is on a raised platform so it makes it “interesting” getting in and out! The owner of this apt. even put a hot water tank in there & we even have a small washing machine in the bathroom (haven’t figured out how to use it yet though). We have a small eat-in kitchen with a microwave, coffee maker, full size refrigerator, & a gas stove. Our facilitator says we are staying in an “upper class” part of town, in the central part of Kyiv-vs. near Independence Square-for those who have “been there & done this” trip before, we are on Gorkiy Street, near the Mega Mart. Tomorrow, after our appointment our facilitator is going to take us around the area more.
Today (Tuesday), we were happily able to sleep in, although we went to bed last night around 12:30 & we woke up around 8AM (I think we were still very keyed up & overtired). So this morning, we watched all the people walking to work from the balcony of our apartment (where we get a little breeze anyway) while we had our coffee & donuts--oh yeah, we bought those too :-) & they were yummy! Later, we made the first trip out on our own to Mega Mart to stock up on more water, buy some paper plates (who does dishes?!) paper towels, napkins, plastic cups ( the glasses & coffee cups supplied are like thimbles!), cheese and Coke Light. Ed also checked out the three aisles of beer all sold in single serve! The locals seem to like to buy a bottle and drink it on the street on the way home. Ed will write more on his beer expedition later, after he buys some or “1” himself!
Tonight, we really became daring and walked a little around our area & took some pictures. Then, we found a pizzeria nearby and had an enjoyable “Four Fromage” (cheese) pizza which was very tasty and cokes without ice for dinner. So, our 1st day in Kyiv was quite relaxing, & now we can strictly concentrate on the reason we are here: To bring home our child(ren) & start our “Forever Family”!
Our facilitator also came over this afternoon, and said that our appointment is scheduled for 10 AM Wed. (3 AM EST). Please say a prayer for us before you go to bed tonight that everything goes smoothly, & that God will guide us to the child(ren) we are meant to adopt. This was a combined blog written by both of us! We’ll let you know how everything goes tomorrow…Until then, God Bless All of You! Love, Laura & Ed
Monday, May 28, 2007
Happy Memorial Day
May 27, 2005 8:43 pm
UP UP & AWAY…Somewhere over the Eastern Atlantic
After lot’s of hugs & kisses & saying a heartfelt goodbye to Mom & Dad who took us to the airport, we had a very pleasant 11 AM flight on Continental. Instead of the usual peanuts & a soft drink, we were served a “lightfare” meal of a Turkey breast sandwich on a little round roll, a mini bag of baby carrots, skittles for dessert & a soft drink. The weather was good for flying-clear & just a couple bumpity-bumps on the way up North.
We arrived in Newark, NJ at 1:35 pm to a warm 88-90 degrees. Are you sure we left Florida?!
One of Laura’s best friends came over to Newark from Long Island NY to send us off on our long awaited journey. What a pleasant and wonderful surprise! We were taking off on British Airways at 6:30 pm so we got a good chance to visit with her for a couple of hours & it really did help to take some of the nerves away after a hectic week of getting ready & packing!
As tired as we were, we were so excited that after over two years, we were finally on our way to get our forever children. We did manage to catch a few winks on the cross Atlantic trip though--Ed had a lot of winks, Laura who can't sleep sitting up very well, didn't catch quite as many! ;-)
Arrived in London at 6:45 AM to typical "London Fog" weather: rain & 45 degrees F Brrr coming from FL! The fog was so thick the plane kept circling London & was delayed in landing-when we finally did touch down, the runway was slick & our plane skidded a little-which is always good for a few gasps-or was that all us?? Thank God, the pilot straightened it out-but that was a little scary! Even though we were tired of carrying our jackets everywhere else today, we put them on right away there!
We were to depart at 9:40 AM London time, so after following the crowd all over the airport, we took a bus to terminal 1, where Security decided we should be taken aside & patted down. It only took 40 minutes to locate the terminal building but they wouldn't announce the gate for Kyiv 'til 40 minutes before the flight and then we had to sprint to the other end to get to that gate to find that our plane was boarding and had long lines because the Girl's Scottish Soccer team was playing Ukraine in Kyiv. This plane was packed! Anyway, we took off at 10AM because of heavy runway traffic. This flight was fine, & we landed in Kyiv at 3:15! We were met by Alex, our VIP representative who we literally ran after to get us through customs, bypassing tons of long lines-it was worth it to us to use this service! Then, we were met at the sliding glass doors by our Facilitator & driver, & they took us to our apartment! It is Thundering badly now, it was very hot & humid here today(this apartment is very nice, but no air conditioning) so we'll write again tomorrow after some rest! ***Thank you all for the wonderful calls & good wishes, we're so pleased to be included in your prayers, please keep them coming, we need every one of them! Love, Ed & Laura :-)
UP UP & AWAY…Somewhere over the Eastern Atlantic
After lot’s of hugs & kisses & saying a heartfelt goodbye to Mom & Dad who took us to the airport, we had a very pleasant 11 AM flight on Continental. Instead of the usual peanuts & a soft drink, we were served a “lightfare” meal of a Turkey breast sandwich on a little round roll, a mini bag of baby carrots, skittles for dessert & a soft drink. The weather was good for flying-clear & just a couple bumpity-bumps on the way up North.
We arrived in Newark, NJ at 1:35 pm to a warm 88-90 degrees. Are you sure we left Florida?!
One of Laura’s best friends came over to Newark from Long Island NY to send us off on our long awaited journey. What a pleasant and wonderful surprise! We were taking off on British Airways at 6:30 pm so we got a good chance to visit with her for a couple of hours & it really did help to take some of the nerves away after a hectic week of getting ready & packing!
As tired as we were, we were so excited that after over two years, we were finally on our way to get our forever children. We did manage to catch a few winks on the cross Atlantic trip though--Ed had a lot of winks, Laura who can't sleep sitting up very well, didn't catch quite as many! ;-)
Arrived in London at 6:45 AM to typical "London Fog" weather: rain & 45 degrees F Brrr coming from FL! The fog was so thick the plane kept circling London & was delayed in landing-when we finally did touch down, the runway was slick & our plane skidded a little-which is always good for a few gasps-or was that all us?? Thank God, the pilot straightened it out-but that was a little scary! Even though we were tired of carrying our jackets everywhere else today, we put them on right away there!
We were to depart at 9:40 AM London time, so after following the crowd all over the airport, we took a bus to terminal 1, where Security decided we should be taken aside & patted down. It only took 40 minutes to locate the terminal building but they wouldn't announce the gate for Kyiv 'til 40 minutes before the flight and then we had to sprint to the other end to get to that gate to find that our plane was boarding and had long lines because the Girl's Scottish Soccer team was playing Ukraine in Kyiv. This plane was packed! Anyway, we took off at 10AM because of heavy runway traffic. This flight was fine, & we landed in Kyiv at 3:15! We were met by Alex, our VIP representative who we literally ran after to get us through customs, bypassing tons of long lines-it was worth it to us to use this service! Then, we were met at the sliding glass doors by our Facilitator & driver, & they took us to our apartment! It is Thundering badly now, it was very hot & humid here today(this apartment is very nice, but no air conditioning) so we'll write again tomorrow after some rest! ***Thank you all for the wonderful calls & good wishes, we're so pleased to be included in your prayers, please keep them coming, we need every one of them! Love, Ed & Laura :-)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
HELLO & HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
This is our first entry, so please be patient with us as we are just learning how to "blog"! We are hopefully celebrating Mother's Day for the last time without any children (however, we do have a dog & 2 cats who we love dearly, & they really are our "babies", & we are their "Mommy & Daddy"!). As you can see at the "counter" in the margin, we've been in the process of adoption for over 2 years...it has been a long ride with many ups & downs, but right now, we are on the "upswing"--finally preparing for our trip to Ukraine in 2 weeks!
We will do our best to communicate regularly during our journey, & if we figure out how to post pictures, we will share with you some of the sights we see in Ukraine. By the way, as a little tid-bit, did you know that Ukrainians are insulted when Ukraine is called "The Ukraine"? That is because they are very proud of their independence from the Soviet Union & are no longer a "region" of Russia previously referred to as "The Ukraine", but they are their own country, which is properly referred to as "Ukraine". OK, enough history, we will write again soon! Laura & Ed
We will do our best to communicate regularly during our journey, & if we figure out how to post pictures, we will share with you some of the sights we see in Ukraine. By the way, as a little tid-bit, did you know that Ukrainians are insulted when Ukraine is called "The Ukraine"? That is because they are very proud of their independence from the Soviet Union & are no longer a "region" of Russia previously referred to as "The Ukraine", but they are their own country, which is properly referred to as "Ukraine". OK, enough history, we will write again soon! Laura & Ed
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