Privet iz Kieva!

For all of my non-Russian speaking friends and family that means Hello from Kyiv!
We arrived safely and fairly easily yesterday afternoon around 1:30pm Kyiv time (we are seven hours ahead of US eastern time).  Our three flights were not too difficult.  The longest leg was from Pennsylvania to Frankfurt and lasted 6 and half hours but total flying time was about 11 1/2 hours.

By the way, for those of you who know me well, 30 minutes in the car is about all I can stand but amazingly enough I made it through and didn't even get grumpy with Ty one time :)

Here is a picture as we were coming into Ukraine.  It is of a river called, Dnieper and is the largest river in all of Ukraine.  It flows out to the Black Sea.

We are in an apartment in downtown, Kyiv.  Kyiv is a city with great character.  Some of the buildings and churches were built in the 10th century and then some were built during the Soviet era and then of course some were built in more modern times.  There are about 4 million people here and the traffic definitely reflects that.  Here is the view from our window early this morning before things got busy.

Our apartment is clean and neat and we have wireless internet.  WooHoo!  The last time we were in Ukraine for our first adoption we had to go to an internet cafe to be able to get emails, blog etc.  So the wireless is very much appreciated.
For all you technical junkies out there, here is a pic right outside our apartment door of what I can only assume makes it possible for us to have wireless :)

Here is our room.  Incidentally, I have a similar picture from our first adoption over 5 years ago... me standing in our apartment with a white shirt and jeans on... never imagined back then that I would be taking another shot like that again!

This visit to Ukraine already feels very different from our first time.  When we adopted Nicholas, Ty and I felt very isolated and much like aliens in a foreign land.
This time God has sent us some angels... who speak English!
I was first introduced to Leigh and Greg many months ago from some good friends Michelle and David Kirk.  In fact it was Leigh who sent the Kirk family the first pictures of the girls that caused us to start praying about God's will for us and them.
I could tell early on that Leigh and Greg have huge hearts for orphans and for the families adopting them.  They were so helpful in getting us ready to come here via email correspondence and FB.  But since we have been here their thoughtfulness and kindness has been immeasurable... when we arrived they had a box of food and pots and pans etc. waiting for us to take to our apartment.  They then took off time from work to take us to a grocery store first thing this morning.  In addition, Greg walked to our apartment in the snowy, rainy weather to take us around the city blocks so we could know where some good restaurants and small stores are in case we need anything.  Finally he helped us to set up our Ukraine phone.
When you are in a foreign land these gestures are priceless.
Leigh and Greg are true examples of "living on mission" right where God has put you!  When I asked Leigh what her favorite part of Ukraine is she said that it was "Father's House".  Their passion for these kids shows in their daily actions.  Ty and I thank the Lord for them!

Hey did any of you Floridians catch the part about the snowy, rainy weather?  Yup!  We are getting to experience some snow in December... it's been a long time since that has happened.  Here is Ty, without a hat, in the wet snow.

One final note, please pray that our SDA appt. would not be cancelled tomorrow.  There is some paperwork that did not get where it needed to be, so there is a chance that our appt. for our referral will get postponed.  In a process that is already too long we are hoping for no delays.

Blessings,
Michelle and Ty