A day in Kiev

Hello and good evening. It's 9pm here right now. This will tell you the time difference we have. We are 8 hours ahead of you all in the states. We all slept really well last night. I slept 12 hours straight. I could have slept longer but we had places to go. The hospitality is amazing. Jamie (American missionary) has been so patient and helpful to each of us. Yuri and his wife were so kind to allow us to stay here. Yuri has been our driver and so accommodating. We feel at home here. It's nice to know there are other believers to be with and help us along. After breakfast we headed to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. We met our facilitator (Anatoly) and our translator (Irina) for a day of sightseeing and dinner. Two other RR family joined us. The Hollis's and the Powell's. It was a real treat to be in good company. Everyone has been so kind to our children. We couldn't be happier that they were able to come with us. They are soaking in the sights and people too. Taylor fits right in with her tall, black, high-healed leather boots. We saw many churches, a museum and lots of old buildings. It's a very historic city. We walked by the KJB offices and Parliament, were the Prime minister works. It would be like our state capital. The streets are paved with brick. The cars drive by quickly with no directional lines and the people on the streets walk as though they are in a hurry. Irina took us ALL over the city. Look at this and look at that. She was great! Wayne had a hard time keeping up with his recent knee surgery bothering him. Because Irina is Ukrainian we walked everywhere and walked there quickly. Not a complaint just a comparison. Wayne said I should have titled this blog: Hot Soda and Cold Food. The Light Coca Cola that I drank came from a cooler but it was far from cool. We ate at the Ukrainian Kitchen for our evening meal. The people were dressed beautifully, the ladies in their dresses and aprons with bonnets. The food was good. It would have been better if it had been warm. I did;t feel like it would be appropriate to ask for the microwave. :) They did not allow pictures during the dinner line. I will try again another time. When we went to the grocery store yesterday I took a picture and out came the security officer asking me to stop. There is security everywhere we go.
We were able to find the SDA office that we will be attending tomorrow for our appointment. Our appointment is at 2pm. Please pray for this time. It is a very important meeting where they will give us the referral for Timur. We have been approved to adopt 2 children. We would like to accept the referral for a little 4 year old girl who is in the same orphanage as Timur. They will ask us questions about why we want to adopt children with special needs. Pray we will speak with confidence and clearly. It's hard not to be nervous. God has already gone before us and that's what we are holding on to. We are asking for the referrals the same day. If all goes well we will leave Kiev at 5am Wednesday morning and meet Timur by Noon. I can hardly wait. That's why we are here! We took the Metro (subway) out of the city all by ourselves. It was different to say the least. No one smiles. We left the city at the work days end so there were many business people on the metro with us. We only knew to get off at the last stop and go up to the street where Jamie would meet us and take us to Yiur's car. We did it! We are definatley on an adventure and way out of my comfort zone. This is good for me. It's good for the kids becasue they have experienced so much in just a short amount of time. I'm sure there is more to come. I'l keep you posted! Thak You for the sweet comments. They are our lifeline to each of you. Keep 'em coming! Wayne is working on a video of our time so far. Keep watching, it should be loaded soon.
Blessings,
Meghan