Reflection

So, I am sitting here in my apartment alone (Sean is asleep in the other room). I am thinking about meeting Mr. Andrey. There is no way to prepare for this meeting. He will have no idea that his life just changed, but I will know that our lives will never be the same. I feel like time is moving so slow here....I am just ready to go get him and actually see him with my own eyes. He has waited so long and he deserves to be chosen. I want him to know that we chose him, we love him and we will take care of his every need for the rest of our lives and we will make sure that he is taken care of for the rest of his life. I cannot wait to see all three of little guys with DS playing together. Andrey won't know what hit him....

To recap the last couple of days...

The flight from Knoxville to Chicago was uneventful. Left on time. Arrived on time. Then we get to Chicago. We met up with the Hogeland's and everything seemed fine. We boarded our plane on time, then we.just.sat.there. Three hours later, the captain announces "the part of engine three that was broken has been replaced. We have tested it a little bit and it SHOULD work." I felt my heart beat a little faster. For those of you that know me, you know that I HATE flying. It is funny that I have flown across the ocean many times because I really, really, really, dislike it a lot! We finally start to go and I thought I will not be able to rest the whole flight. Well, I took some dramimine (not the non-drowsy kind) and I literally slept the entire flight. I even slept through the meals. I felt like I had been hit by a truck~But anyway, because of our delay in Chicago, we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany. So....we sat in Germany for a couple of hours. It was actually kind of cool. There was a lady who was escorting 15 orphans that had been hosted in the United States back to Ukraine. I really, really wanted to snatch a couple of them up, even some of the girls (I don't do girls....don't ask). So, we finally board the plane and it is like the oldest plane that is still operational today. It even had ashtrays. Then a fight almost happened on board over seating. Welcome to Ukraine!!! So we landed, got off the plane, walked straight in to the baggage claim, picked up our suitcases, walked toward customs, ushered through and walked through the door and there was a man with a big sign that said "Carmichael & Hogeland's". Praise the Lord! I was convinced no one would be there because of the delay. Nico was there to pick us up and we promptly went and exchanged money and bought minutes for our cell phones and we were out the door in less than 15 minutes after landing. We then headed to the grocery store, bought a few items and then landed in our apartment 30 hours after leaving home.....and I passed out for the next 10 hours!

Day 2-we went sight seeing around the city. Ate at a Ukrainian buffet (which I was a little afraid of), but it was fabulous! We both ate A LOT for $9...highly recommend it (right across the street from TGIFs). We met up with the Hogeland's and walked for most of the day. We saw the main park and the river and walked up 300-400 steps up the side of a hill. I possibly pulled a muscle in my leg and it let me know that it was not having all of the forced exercise. Three ibuprofen later, we made it back to our aparmtent and chilled out. We had ham and cheese sandwiches (at least it is ham to me), potatoe chips and popcorn for supper!

SDA appointment. Three RR families were at the SDA at the same time. We then got to meet our facilitator, Yulia. We met for like 3 seconds and then she said "Carmichael, you are first...let's go." No problem. Let's do it! We walk in, sit on the same couch, introduce ourselves to our SDA worker...she then starts the interview...."May I see your passports?"....."How did you find out about Andrey?"..........and then it was over. She called the orphanage and made sure he was still there and available. I held my breath the entire time she was on the phone. Then she smiled and said "Sign here to accept the referral". No biggie!

We will go to pick up our referral today and then board the overnight train to go to his region and meet Andrey tomorrow. I will do better updating, but jet lag has really kicked my butt this time!