Day 2 (Tues Feb 8th) - Kiev

First, a few pictures from when we were driving to do our errands.


This is the University in Kiev.  I thought I was turning OFF my flash and instead turned it on so sorry for the lovley light in the middle.



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A playground near the notary office.  The picture above, since I can't seem to get blogger to work with me, is the Golden Gate of Kiev

 

A cool building.  I don't remember what it was though....



This is the Opera and Ballet house.

Luckily, my nerves went away once Natasha was here and we headed to the notary office to give our facilitators power of attorney.  It was quite painless.  Natasha explained the paper and it was very cool to see my name spelled out in Ukrainian. :^)

Husband and Little One going into the notary office

Once that was all finished we headed off to eat close to the apartment.  That was the place I got internet yesterday.  I tried a small salad but didn't like it at all.  The apple crapes were super yummy though.  So were the mashed poataoes.

The cafeteria.  Le Borst (not sure of the spelling)

Once we finished up there we took off to see the Kiev temple.  That was just what I needed.  It was the best taste of home I could have gotten.  I came away feeling like I could do this.  I hope to keep that feeling with me the rest of our trip.

This is my favorite picture

This sign says Kiev Ukraine Temple

This sign says The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

A little closer view




The temple doors

 


Natasha, Little One and me

 From there we went to see the Statue of Motherland.  That was very neat.  I enjoyed it at night, seeing it all lit up.  The view of the city from there was amazing as well.  It would be fun to see it all in the day time.


Some of the carvings in the rocks



Statue of Motherland.  Her sword was cut short because it was higher than the bell tower at Laftra. :^)





This is a statue depicting the crossing of the Dnepro River during the war

Natasha is an amazing tour guide.  While we drove around from one destination to the next she would point out buildings and sights and not only tell us what they were but also historical information.  I wish I could have filmed her so I had all that information.

We have gotten to see the lovely driving here.  It is quite interesting.  Very entertaining.  I really haven't felt unsafe though which is amazing because normally I am gripping my seat for far less!  I attribute it to the Lord.  I honestly feel like a missionary as far as protection goes.  Hopefully that really is the case!

Vacilli's van

Don't you love how they park on the sidewalk?  They also drive on the sidewalk.

Masha was waiting for us when we got back to the apartment.  It was SO good to see her again!  We got to sit in our apartment and visit while Husband and Roger went to finally get sim cards in our phones.  It was cute because she kept saying that she was trying to process the fact that we were really here in Ukraine and not in America.  She brought Little One a puzzle and her cute mom knitted Little One some socks.  So sweet of her!



Husband also went to check on getting a wireless card so that we can have internet whenever we need it.  no such luck though.  It will work here and it will work in Dnepro, but more than likely it won't work in the village we are going to.  We found out we have a cord here in the apartment that should hook us up, but we had trouble getting it to work.  We finally found that it was a problem with our computer and then got that all fixed so now so we at least have internet while we're here.  If we can't have internet working while we're here though, I say we just stay in Dnepro.  We'll see when we get down there though.

I feel lots better knowing Masha will be on the train with us.  I didn't think it would make any difference since she would be waiting for us, but it did. :^)

Little One showing off a key in the apartment.

Day 1 - (Mon Feb 7th) - We Made It!

I've got a whole bunch of stuff written down on my iPod touch as far as what's happened so far.  However, we're sitting at a cafateria with WIFI right now and I don't know how long we have before everyone wants to leave.  I'll do what I can to get things written down, but just know that if I have to go, I'll get more posted later.  I was planning on sending my "note" to my email so I could copy/paste, but I can't get the WIFI to work on it.  Here goes....

Day 1

Packing was a nightmare.  We were doing so until midnight Saturday and then up until the very last minute.  I forgot my curling iron and my shower gel, which I'm not thrilled about.  And I left my house in a mess.  Ah well.  Brandon won't mind and he's going to be the one there first.  If I can last that long, that is! LOL

Dad gave us very nice blessings before we left for the airport.  That was very much appreciated.  Very much.

We ended up checking a fourth bag in order to fit everything that we wanted and the stuff we brought from other people.

After saying goodbye and getting through security we met up with Cook's at the gate.  We'd been so busy getting ready that we skipped lunch and were starving.  We only had time to run to the bathroom before boarding through so lunch ended up being pretzels on the plane.  Once we got to Minneapolis we hit a McDonalds.

This is our plane from Amsterdam to Kiev

I was nervous getting on that next plane since I knew not only was I going to be in the air around 8 hours but that I wouldn't be on American soil again for a few weeks.  Silly I know, but still.  The flight went really well though.  It was a much nicer plane than I'd ever been on and it wasn't very full.  Little One and I were on the side and usband had the middle row next to us all to himself.  I couldn't wait for dinner to be over so I could sleep.  It took awhile but I finally did.  Not well, mind you, but I got a little rest.  Little One slept fairly weel, but Husband  didn't much at all.  Poor guy.

My first real view of Eurpoe (minus nighttime and clouds.)

We had some interesting guys sitting close by us.  Their were 9 of them in their group all together, but only 4 were by us.  They were from Norway and had actually been on the flight from home as well.  They'd been there skiing.  They were teasing the flight attendant most of the way and were fairly drunk once I finally went to sleep  They were very nice to us, but I was glad I couldn't understand them when they weren't speaking English. LOL

It was kinda cool when we got to Amsterdam.  It was just weirdknowing I was so far away from home.  We got in fairly early so we had some time to kill.  Our gate wasn't exactly close but we weren't in a hurry so it was okay.  We ended up camping out at Sabarro's for an hour or so before we had to go to the gate.

Little One and I in the back of the van with all our luggage

At the gate we passed through security again and then had to show our passports again as well.  The KLM airline was quite nice.  We got much better snacks (a little sandwich and then a cookie) and I loved hearing everything in two languages.  Surprisingly, it was in Dutch and English.  Since we were headed to Kiev, I would have thought Ukrainian or Russian, but hey.

This is just a hint of how the luggage was amazingly fit into the van

When we got off the plane it was to the outside.  We went down some stairs and there was a bus waiting to take us to the terminal.  Everyone filed in like cattle and we stood in a passport checking line that took quite awhile to get through. I must admit I was quite excited to watch my passport get stamped.

After that line we went to pick up our luggage.  We were very pleased to find that all our sitcases as well as Cook's luggage arrived without inident.  There was another X-ray machine to put your luggage though, but they were only picking a few people to actually do that.  We walked by and didn't have to worry about it.  Once out of there it wasn't long before our facilitator and driver picked us up.  Amazingly, we fit all of us and our many bags in the van.

I'm not sure how buying these appliances will make you super human, but hey

On our way to our apartment we stopped at a store to exchange some of our money for Ukranian money as well as pick up some milk, bread, water and such.  Nan, Little One and I stayed in the van while Lena (our facilitator) and the guys went in.  They said it was much like a Walmart in there.  The funny thing was that Nan was feeling like we were in the middle of a drug heist because our van was the old, yucky, Scooby Doo van that had curtians covering everything.  Vacilli (our driver) got out and left us in there while he paced around.  I know you have to have been there, but it was funny!

We got caught in traffic on the way so Little One and I took a bit of a cat nap.  I was very pleasantly surprised to look out window as we pulled into the parking lot and see Natasha.  It was so good to see a friendly face!

Talking together in Cook's apartment

Once inside we decided which family would have which apartments and then sat down to get formally introduced to our facilitators as Cook's had also met us at the apartments.  We also talked a lot about details such as what would be happening in the next few days.

Soon after, we went to dinner where Natasha helped us order something.  Oleg stopped by to say hi and that was nice to see him again.  After dinner we split up for the night and got all ready for bed.  We've got fun sight-seeing plans for tomorrow.





My yummy eggs/cheese and veggies



Excitement has finally taken over nerves so that is nice.  I figured that once I was finally underway I would settle down and I'm glad that is finally happening.  I've gotten quite a desire to learn languages though.  I hope that means I will be in a position to use some of them!

Little One eating her mashed potatoes

Whew!  I got it all done!  I just commented to Husband that it's too bad the excitement didn't last because the nerves have sure come back.  I was very ready to come home this morning.  Not a "What am I doing here?" kind of thing, because I know what I'm doing here, but more of a "Can't I go home yet?"  Being tired doesn't help that at all and I didn't sleep well last night.  Hopefully I get used to things fairly quickly.  Natasha did just talk to Masha and she is on a train right now on her way to Kiev so we will see her briefly this afternoon, but then more tomorrow.  Maybe that will help. :^)

I just tried to upload some pictures but I can't for some reason and I don't have time to check into why it's not going.  Be on the lookout for pictures soon!

*Update*

Here are the pictures but I don't have time to figure out how to get them to wrap with the words nicely.  Nor do I have time to redo them all to one side or something like that.  At least there are pictures!  Hopefully I can get today's pictures up tomorrow.

Preparations

We are getting close.  And I still have SO much to do!  I really do have quite a bit planned as far as what we're taking and so on, but I feel like there is still a lot not done.  Yesterday I finally finished getting movies and such all ready to put on a portable hard drive.  We sure won't be lacking things to watch!  I wonder how long the battery runs on the laptop we're taking. :^)

Saturday we had a very nice visit with Yulya, our cute interpreter.  She is so much fun!  Husband, as usual, didn't want to be in the picture so I just have one with Yulya, me and Little One.  We've got plans to get together again when we get back.  If she weren't in the middle of school, I would stuff her in my suitcase and bring her with us!

Sunday night we had a wonderful meeting with our SAC "family."  A lot was talked about as far as things to do/expect while we're in Ukraine.  It was very helpful to talk to people that have been there/done that.  It was also great to see our friends that we're going through this with.  A few are submitting their papers as soon as we get over there so they should be traveling before we come home.  I hope it goes well and we get to see them over there!

We got word the other day that we get to have Masha as our interpreter while we're over there!  We are all VERY excited to see her again!  Our facilitator also speaks English, so that will be very nice as well.  We think we've found a train to ride to get down close to the village and from there, we're not quite sure what to do.  There is still no place for us to stay once we leave Kiev either, but we'll tackle that problem once we get there.  It's possible we'll stay in the large city and travel, or we might end up staying with a worker from the orphanage or something.

I've heard that bringing a photo book with you to your SDA appointment is a good thing so I've got pictures uploading now to try and get that done.  I've also got some pictures to print out for Ira's book.

The weather here is trying to prepare me the best it can, because it is FREEZING!  Man...

I just hope that we've got everything we need for while we're over there.  We ordered a few things from Amazon for the trip and they'll be arriving today and tomorrow.  I know we can pick up things if we need them, but I also know there are some things that we can't just do that with.  I also think I'm coming down with a cold.  Lovely.  I'm trying to take care of it, but I sure hope it's pretty much gone by Sunday!  Can you feel the stress emanating from your screen?

Next to the Last Phone Call

Ah!  I can't believe we're leaving in a week!  Holy cow!!!  I am super excited and super nervous all at once.  I'm not looking forward to being gone so long.  I've spent a good part of this week trying to get movies ripped and into iTunes.  I've also been trying to go through the house, room by room, and make a packing list.  That way I can put a circle with a 1, 2 or 3 by each thing so I know what's in what suitcase when it's time to pack.  Best laid plans, right?  We'll see how this next week goes.

As far as the phone call this morning, Ira was very talkative.  Yulya has changed her questions as well and now makes sure Ira needs to tell her something more than, "yes" "no" or "nes nyoo." LOL  It was really nice to hear her be chatty.

The quarantine has been lifted so they all went back to school this week.  She's not taking the dance classes anymore and I'm not really clear on why.  She still loves to dance but I guess she didn't want to do the class?  I would love to get both her and Little One in dance classes when we get back.  I'd love to do one myself!

Little One wanted to know if she liked her necklace we'd given her.  She said she does.  That was encouraging to me because I think she'd have told us that yes she likes it, but she doesn't want to come to America if she wasn't at least thinking about it as an option.  I don't want to get my hopes up, but it was still encouraging.

As usual, Little Ira was trying to take over the conversation.  I'm glad she's feeling better though.  Our Ira hadn't been on more than a minute or so before Little Ira was wanting to talk to us.  Yulya (she is so awesome) told her that we were going to talk to her first and THEN we could talk to Little Ira.  LOL  Yulya did say it was still difficult to talk with her because Little Ira was always in the background saying things like, "Give me the phone!" "Ask them ____." and so on.

When we did finally talk with Little Ira she asked the same question as the last few weeks.  "Will you come take me to America?"  Yulya tried to tell her the same answer of we don't know what will happen when we get over there, but she insisted Yulya ask us anyway.  We told her the same thing, but how sad!  I just hope and pray we can find a family that will bring her back.

All in all, it was a very nice conversation though.  We will call again next week and then hopefully see them all soon!  We get to go down to meet Yulya here in a couple of hours and I'm very excited about that.  We told her we want to throw her in our luggage and bring her with us. :^)

Miscellaneous and Another Phone Call

First off, we just got off the phone with Ira again.  She loved the package and was very excited about the stuff.  She especially mentioned the sweater my parents sent her and said she's pretty now. LOL  Yulya (as I've now learned how she spells her name) asked her to tell her what she got and she said the sweater and things for her hair and such.  No mention of the "Big Sister" necklace or the letter though.  We talked with Yulya before we called Ira and told her what all we'd said in our letter to her.  We talked for a bit after Ira hung up and she was somewhat surprised that she hadn't mentioned the letter at all.  Her impression was that when she wasn't wanting to come to America she told us that.  At least twice in the phone call, if I remember right.  She wasn't afraid to tell us that or anything.  Yulya was encouraged that even with what was said in our letter Ira didn't say anything about still not wanting to come.  Ah, the unknown.

Anyway...they were, big surprise, watching TV.  At first they'd been watching Robin Hood and then they switched to wrestling.  "Do you LIKE wrestling?"  "Nes Niyou"  (I don't know.) LOL  They are still under this "Health Protection" thing so no school and such.  Little Ira is now in the hospital.  Poor girl.  It must have happened later in the week because she'd told Ira to tell us thank you for the things in the package.  One of the other girls got on (we have no idea if it was one of the other kids that had come to America or if it was one of the other kids) to tell us thank you as well.  Yulya actually suggested we call Ellie to see what is going to happen if they're still under this health protection when we get over there.  She said it's VERY complicated to get things done what that is in place.  Even paperwork and such.  That might be a lovely wrench thrown into things.  Hopefully it will be lifted before we get there and everything will be fine.

Our conversation was a little shorter today than the past couple of weeks.  Not having Little Ira there did that, in part, but she also said she needed to go take a shower.  We told her we missed her and loved her and I did hear her say, "Love you!" in English.  Yulya had said Ira was excited to hear us talking in Russian. LOL  We just need to learn more....

In other news, I picked up a bunch of stuff from Wendy yesterday.  I had a very nice conversation with her too.  Thank goodness for such wonderful people!

I've also been reading "The Connected Child" that Andreas suggested.  It's been quite interesting.  The adventure of it all....

Oh yeah.  And my arm hurts because I got a vaccination yesterday.  Nothing weird.  Just time to update my tetanus and such.  Ow though.

Package Update

We just found out today that our package was delivered to the kids on the 18th. Finally! They told us on Saturday they still hadn't gotten it so we called the shipping company Monday. The package had gotten delayed in Germany due to weather. They had tried, unsuccessfully, to deliver it Saturday. We gave them the phone number to the orphanage and when Husband called to check again today he was told they'd delivered it on Tuesday.

We are quite interested in hearing what they thought as well as what our Ira thought about the big long letter. I wrote it before she'd said she didn't want to come back so there is even a name in there I thought she might like to change hers to. I wonder how that went over. LOL

Next Phone Call

This last week was filled with all kinds of stuff.  When we're "doing school" I all of a sudden transform into a work-at-home mom.  No longer do I have the whole day to do what I'd like to do.  It's something I wouldn't trade for all the free time in the world.  I love the bond that I have with my daughter because of it and look forward to what will happen when Ira (hopefully) joins our family as well.

Husband started a new job this last Monday.  I enjoyed getting back into our routine and having the time with Little One.  Her birthday was this last Friday as well.  She was SO excited and had such a nice evening.  Because of Husband's new job though, we couldn't call Ira on Little One's birthday like we'd wanted to.  Instead, we called on Saturday.  Mom and Dad came over for the call as well, which was very nice.

Our conversation went well and much like the last couple we've had.  She did seem excited to hear from us again, though not quite as much as before perhaps.  The first thing she did was to congratulate Little One on her birthday. :^)  We'd told her last week that we'd call around that time and it was sweet of her to remember.  We told her what all we did for her birthday.

She told us she'd been in the hospital this last week.  One of the other girls we know was there now due to a bad cough so we think it was probably the same with her.  She said they'd shut down the school because of whatever is going around over there.  We asked if they were able to play outside and the answer was no, for the same reason.  What??  Keeping the kids cooped up all together like that is going to HELP stop the sickness?  We need to get her out of there.

As usual, Little Ira wanted to talk as well.  Her first question was the same as last week.  Will you come get me?  At least we had an answer for her ready this time, but still.  She was happy Grandma and Grandpa were there to talk and must have thought we'd gone to there house.  She wanted to talk with Justin, Nathan and Lexi (my friend's family is living with my parents at the time.) LOL  She told us she loves us so much. *sigh*  She had to run and take a shower and wanted us to wait for her to get back.  We told her that we'd probably be gone by the then, but we'd call again next week.  We got to talk for a minute to our Ira again, but by then none of us had much to say.

We're down to 3 weeks until we leave now.  That seems so much shorter than the 4 weeks it was before. LOL  It looks like we'll be having a meeting with other hosting families again before we take off though.  That will be VERY nice.  I'm already excited to see everyone again.