WE ARE HOME !

We are home …finally !  We had a bit of a rough journey home, but we made it.  We left Ukraine on Friday morning and arrived at JFK at about 5:30 pm, it was a 10.5 hour flight.  We were greeted by my Mom, Eric, Dema, and also a surprise guest…Gracie !  She was hiding behind a stand in the airport so we could not see her when we came, she waited a few minutes and jumped out to surprise us !!  We started home on to what we thought would be our 5 hour ride home, little did we know, it would be a whole lot longer than that !!!  Off the start, we made a wrong turn and we ended up getting a tour of “The Big Apple.” The girls, ( and Russie ) were all in awe of the city and how big it was.  We got a bite to eat after we got out of the city and headed for home.  We soon realized that we had traveled the wrong direction and were now north of NYC.  When the tom tom rerouted us, they chose to take us on the scenic route I guess.  We got straightened out and were back on the road.  About an hour and 20 minutes from home we got a flat tire !  It was about 2:30am, and it was cold out ! Russie and Eric jumped out to get the spair tire, only to find after about an hour that there was no way to get the spare tire down. It appeared that the secondary lock that held the tire was stuck and would not release.  We had a tow truck tow us to a nearby tire shop, and we waited in the car the rest of the night until it opened the next morning.  They were able to get us a new tire on in about a half an hour, and we were on our way home !  After the 10.5 hour plane ride, then a whole night in the car, it was more than sweet arriving home !

This is in the tow truck, there were 9 of us in this truck...

 Our kids were anxiously awaiting our arrival.  We had a good welcome home breakfast with them.  Our little kids have been so great with the change in our family and are thankful for what they have gained and have not thought about the things they may have lost or may have to share now, I am really proud of them.  The girls are adjusting very well thus far.  They have waited for this day for quite some time.  They told us that they prayed for a mama and a papa for many years.  As the oldest child, Anslee has taken her position in the family with ease and is a great example for all the other kids.  We could not have asked for any better than these girls.  They are both so helpful, loving and unselfish.

We have been so overwhelmed by everyone’s love and support since we have been home as well.  We came home to welcome home signs, presents from our kids, presents for the girls from Ana, Lena and Erik, a clean house, in which my friend Terri, had done for us, my fridge was completely stocked along with Shay’s delicious welcome home cookies and biscotti, fresh flowers, we also had an unexpected visitor who delivered us an incredible basket full of fruit, cheese, crackers, candy and peanuts.  My heart was so full with appreciation for all these kind gestures for our family, we feel so loved ! 

The girls had their first English lesson today with Liliya.  Liliya said they did great and she was very impressed by how much they know already.  They will continue to do their lessons every day for 1.5 hours until they start school .  The girls are going to go to youth group tonight with Lena and Erik tonight, they are very excited about it.  They also start a hip hop dance class tomorrow here in Tyrone.  They had asked if they could dance here in America, so we were able to get them into a class.  We have a busy rest of the week, as we get ready for their, “Welcome Home Open house “ this Sunday, and we also have 2 appointments to visit schools for Anslee as well.  We are happy with how the transition has went thus far and are excited for the days to come !!!

Syvetta, Tanya, Vika Walk, Vika, Luba, Anslee, Curtis & Adam

I wanted to add this picture to this blog as well, this is a group of missionaries that was waiting for us when we arrived to the train station.  They have been a huge part of our girls lives and they were there to send them off.  Russie and I can not say thank you enough to them for coming, it was so special to us and the girls.  They stayed until our train car pulled out and waited outside the window.  This is a very special group of people that are doing God's work with these very special children.  Curtis gave the girls a departing gift and they were so excited by what he had gotten them, and Anslee was in tears when she read the words he wrote for her.  He got them each a stuffed animal and they named them, Curtis and Adam.  Thanks so much again to you guys for doing what you do and for coming to see the girls off, WE LOVE YOU GUYS !!!