Over the Rainbow-The deVitry's in Ukraine

Greetings!  Here we go!  We are finally on our way to Ukraine! Our appointment with National Adoption Center in Kiev is on Tuesday, February 21!   We leave from JFK on Friday  (2/17) evening.  We will go to Syracuse and spend Thursday night at the Genesee Grande Hotel  (very ritzy) and board a Greyhound at 6:00 AM.   This was the best possible solution to get us to JFK, as there were no flights from Syr. to JFK that day, and Amtrak allows only one bag per passenger.  So we will get to see some of Manhattan by bus!  Our plane (Aerosvit Airlines VV 0132) arrives in Kiev Saturday 2/18 at 11:10 AM their time.  Kiev is 7 hours ahead of us.  We will be met by Alex, our VIP escort, to walk us through customs and outside of customs we will be met by our translator Alla.  She and our driver will take us to the apartment we will stay in while in Kiev where we will meet with our Power of Attorney , Valentina.  We will have a couple of days to settle in before our appointment, and maybe meet with another couple there and see some sights, take some pictures. I will post some pics during our trip provided I have luck gaining access to this blog and  uploading pics from the camera :-)

As most of you know, it has taken us two years to finally get to this day.  It is a long road to international adoption, but this is where we have been led, and we must follow our hearts.  There is a lot of paperwork involved  and then there is the waiting for the approval and subsequent invitation.  As with most any newly independent country, there are always struggles, and in our case revolution, within the government system.  These obstacles have caused us delay.  We should have been over there and back last summer.  But we re-did the expired paperwork and pushed on.  We are starting to see some major light at the end of the tunnel, and we're waiting for the day we will be OUT of the tunnel and see nothing but a bright and sunny future ahead of us.  The day we finally have our children or child, whichever the case may be.  (We are hoping for two siblings, but will love one child just as well!).

So please continue praying for us and that we have a successful adoption journey.  I believe in the power of prayer and the power of positive thinking so think positive!

We love you all.  Please write to us when you can.

Ciao Bella,

Wanda

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