Light at the End of the Tunnel, Home Stretch, Final Lap.....

Quote of the Day: Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
--Unknown

Day 30!! May 20th
Well yesterday was our big shiskabob picnic at the lake! Vova and his family(wife Elona and son Dima) invited us and provided more than enough food and drinks. We were unable to post because we went to Antoshka at 9 to see Lance then left at 10 for the picnic. We arrived back at the apartment tired and with a little bit of sun at 8:15 which gave us 45 minutes to take showers before the hot water was turned off. The weather was awesome and Vova and Elona proved to be great hosts. We built a campfire, cooked the delicious shiskabobs, played a little futbol, walked barefoot in the sand, and helped ourselves to the clear cool lake. Unfortunately we didn't bring our swimsuits to Ukraine(what were we thinking...wink) so Karen was unable to get fully submerged...until we threw her in...just kidding. Vova said the lake hasn't been there very long. They started digging there, for the sand, and tapped into a spring, hence the clear water. They are continuing to dig so the lake is getting bigger and bigger. The lake is outlined by a forest (mostly pines) which really provided a nice setting. On the way out before sunset, we had a short delay as a car had become stuck in the sand. From there on it was smooth sailing.

Now.... Onto our final days!!

I can't believe we are already here. Karen and I treated our infamous "10 Days" like the beginning of the trip. You just get going, get into it, don't watch the clock, and boom your there before you know it. It really seems like a short time since our court date last Thursday, 11 days ago. I mean tomorrow is our last night here in Kramatorshk!! Tomorrow Lance Ivan will officially be ours for the rest of his life! I need to sit down...yikes...I'm already sitting down.
The schedule from here on out:
Monday, go pick up our court decree(processed last week) which states that Lance Ivan is ours. We will say our final goodbyes and pack.
Tuesday Alex, Olga, Karen, Lance,me, Vladimir, and Vladimir(Vova) leave for Donetsk in two cars with all our luggage. We leave straight from the orphanage after picking Lance up which will be the beginning of him being solely our responsibility! Once in Donetsk we will be going to several offices, picking up documents, and doing a lot of waiting in the car. We will board an overnight train to Kiev from there with Alex and Olga.
Wednesday, immediately off the train Alex will take our luggage to the apartment and the rest of us will begin our work obtaining more documents.
Thursday, our appointments continue hopefully ending by 3:30 p.m. Our last stop will be the good ole' US Embassy.
Friday, departure time from Kiev at 6:45 a.m. with an ultimate arrival at XNA in Fayetteville at 4:33 p.m. on Friday!! 18 hour trip with pretty much no layover time to catch our breath. Don't be surprised if we pass out at XNA. Then life, in the U.S., as we know it will never be the same....AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! That is the plan and we hope that all of you will be praying for a smooth ride back home.
Tommorrow is our last gauranteed day of internet access. We'll have a "possible" final post tomorrow and as much as we want to keep everyone up-to-date it may not be possible in Kiev. We will try.

Enjoy the pictures and hope you're having a great Sunday!!

Karen and JM 4:15 p.m.


These are some pics from our little shiskabob picnic at the lake Saturday.

This is our little setup on the bank. Snacks all day.


I wanted to get a shot of the clear water. Not too bad huh? Can you believe some people come to adopt during the cold season and miss out on this?! Ha.


Vova's Family, Dima, and Elona


Vova had just put the stakes on and pouring a little "vino" for an extra taste.

One of our last days without Little Lance!

This is a car that got stuck in the sand on our way out. Vova is going to the rescue! I know what you're thinking. Me too. ;)




This was Friday. We officially said our goodbyes and gave our last gifts to Ivan's room. Saying this now I wish I would have taken a picture of the caregivers with our gifts. Dang it. This is the Director of the Antoshka orphanage,Antolly. We were able to give our thanks and visit together one last time.

Alex and Lance Ivan outside that morning at the orphanage.


A nice family shot, eh!

I found out a couple of days ago this a fun activity for Little Lance. I help him do pull-ups. He does more of the pulling up than you would think. He can hang freely for about ten seconds also! The Ukrainian mamas and babushkas didn't think this was very funny.

These are a couple of kids(Sergei and Igor) and caregivers from room 4....plus Alex again. Ha. Olga's mom is on the right.