We are at home!!! We arrived late Thursday night. I have been sick. It took over 25 hours from the time I woke up to the time we arrived at home. I only slept 2 hour in that time. At least one of the 5 kids was awake and I was keeping a watch on them. The flight from JFK to ATL: I told the flight attendants they were not allowed coke or coffee. I explained that they had gotten plenty on the last flight. The attendents had a meeting and all agreed to keep them caffene free. I had requested we be together (at least in two's). The next to the last row was open and we all had seats together. There were 3 seats behind us. The ladies, on that row, said the bathroom smell was too bad and asked to move. They moved. I moved to their seats and slept a few hours.
The next flight some of the kids were asleep before we took off. The attendent had already checked to see if trays were up. Vlad put his back down and went to sleep. I decided it was her job to put it up and not mine and I let him sleep.
We were all tired. I thought they would sleep late. They were up at 7:30. I felt so bad that I stayed on the sofa most the day. Rachel and Heather cooked dinner. I was not better Saturday.
Sunday morning, finally feeling decent. Still stuffy and yucky but better.
Heather started cooking pancakes and Rachel helped. Heather had been so excited to find strawberries in the fridge. She wanted to cook pancakes yesterday but we did not have all the ingredients. I am so glad she enjoys cooking. What a blessing to have them make breakfast.
Rachel had informed me her phone was missing. Nobody took it, it just disappeared?
We went to Grace Chapel for church. Yulya called, while we were driving there. She had not planned to go to church there but came and translated for the kids. We were all glad to see her. I was glad to hear God's Word. It came to a point that I would read it out loud in Ukraine to hear the Word. Sometimes just reading it is not enough.
After church our friend translated some things for us to the children. One being please return the phone. After I listened to their reasoning on why none of them had it and various other possibilities....I let them know all that could have been possible if someone had not answered the phone this morning. Silence.
A few of my girls were craving the local Mexican restaurant. We headed there for lunch. They did not like the idea of eating hot dogs. We introduced our friendly, usual waiter to the kids.
My younger brother invited us over and cooked dinner for mom, my older brother and our families. The kids played on the street awhile. They rode bikes, scooters and skate boards. All had a good time.
After we arrived home...Rachel took her shower. She rapidly got out when she heard someone in her room. The phone was back. It was under the bed....but it was back.
Our cats run and hide. They are afraid of our "new" children. They have good reason to be afraid. One minute they will try to pet them and the next minute they are chasing them like wild dogs. This is not just my cats. This happens with birds, cats, dogs, any animal that dares to get close to them. The wildness in these children reminds me of wild animals, willing to chase anything. Hopefully love will tame them.
Reality check: internet has not been working. God's timing is perfect. If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. So when my attitude is adjusted I'll say more about our adoption. Till then be patient with me, I've been resting in my Heavenly Father's arms as He allowed us to come home in His timing.
I will say I had emails to send out to many prayer groups and friends. They asked for you to pray we would get to come home Thursday. I tried to send them out Tuesday. No email. By Thursday I was apologizing to God. If He wanted me to stay longer....His timing was perfect. I should have asked to pray for God's timing. In the sandy Ukraine (my desert), I was alone. It was just my prayers to God. Just God and me. Nobody in the US knew all that was going on. We were told we could not do it in a day. It was done in a day.
Tuesday afternoon we picked up the passports at the bus station. Wednesday moring: US Embassy, papers signed, medicals done, shots and xrays given, back to Embassy for fingerprints (both older kids - Troy Vlad's birthday), lunch and back to the Embassy to see if fingerprints were done at 2. After 3 we had the visas.
At the 2 meeting we met 2 families that had also adopted. I stared at one of the girls. I asked the mom where she adopted from....Zhy. I looked at the girl again, I had assumed she was American. I told the parents I thought we had met her. The mom looked at the daughter, the daughter looked at Rachel and called her by name. Wow. What perfect timing. The mom knew my name. She had met Tanya and Leeza and they wanted her to tell Mama Hollie hello. (In their mind if you live in the US you would see me...well they did see me!) We exchanged infor and I invited this Tanya to come visit us.
Then to call about tickets. Then to get student ID cards. Delta office to pay for tickets. And a birthday dinner for Troy Vlad roasting hot dogs at Masha's parents home.
The second couple we met at the Embassy was on the plane to the US with us. We spent hours talking and working with their newly adopted daughter. We used my girls to babysit some so that we could have adult conversation. God's timing.
Thanks to all the praying moms out there. Thanks to the moms that read their Bibles and lead their children closer to God. Thanks to the moms that have helped us through this journey.
