Day 2

Nana C, Joshua, and Jacob wave to us as Papa J drives Lamar and I to the airport to go "buy an orphan". We are comfortable knowing we are leaving them in good hands!Lamar decides what to order for his birthday dinner. We ate at an Italian Ukrainian restaurant that was delicious.
We have room in downtown Kiev with a balcony. It costs 800UAH/night. Not bad!
Here is the building where we are "roughing it".

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all I must tell you that we are having a terrible time with our computer and the internet in our room. It runs extemely slow. I won't even tell you how long it took just to download these pictures! I did this while Lamar and I were waiting for Yuri to pick us up for our SDA appointment this morning. I do have lots of pictures to share with you, but I might try and download them on to a Snapfish album and clip it on to our site....tune in....I'll let you know.

Thanks for the comments on our blog. Email is even slower to pull up than our site so sometimes that's the only way we can stay connected to you.

Love to you all and thanks for praying for us today.

God bless,

Kristina and Lamar

Day 1

September 2, 2009
Dear Family and Friends!

Greetings from Ukraine. We made it! We had a very long journey, but we are safe and sound in our room in Kiev.

Yesterday's travels went very smoothly. We didn't lose any luggage, our flights were on time, and Yuri was there to pick us up. He drove us around downtown Kiev and took us to the store so we could buy bottled water (a must!), cheese, turkey, cereal, (supposedly) pastuerized milk, and whole grain bread. Yuri was very surprised by the amount of turkey and cheese we ordered. He said a pound was too much. (Apparently he hasn't broken bread with someone of Lamar's size and appetite). Then, Yuri went on his way and left us to our own devices. We unpacked and ventured out to find a fun place to eat for Lamar's birthday dinner. We found a Ukrainian Italian restaurant that was delicious. We struggled trying to order our food, only knowing minimal Russian. However, our waitress was very patient and tolerant of us. We had amazing pizza, seafood chowder, and salad. Afterwards we walked around the underground mall and found some delicious gelato (European ice cream) for dessert. It was all we could do to keep our heads upright. We knew we had to stay awake as long as possible to get back on track with our sleeping cycle. We returned to our room, showered, tried hooking up our computer (and failed miserably), and flipped through the Ukrainian TV channels. We were asleep by 9 p.m. We were both wide awake by 2 a.m. Fortunately, we got back to sleep and awoke at 7 a.m. We plan on going to a coffee shop to try and send this email out this morning since our internet isn't working right now. Yuri said we should be able to get it fixed today.

Even though we have been here for less than 24 hours, there are remarkable differences between here and USA. First of all, the driving is INSANE. We were warned, but there isn't enough warning in the world for what we saw. Every man is for himself. There are no lanes and if cops aren't around, no traffic rules have to be followed. People drive and park on the sidewalks. Pedestrians beware! There are no walkways so you just have to make a dash for it. We felt like Frogger dodging cars last night during our walk. If we can make it through this, we can make it through anything. Yuri is quite comfortable with this driving style, too. He missed a turn, threw the car in reverse on a main road and just started driving backwards...in the middle of oncoming traffic! Cars honked, but swerved out of our way. I wanted to kiss the ground when we got out of the car.

We have also tremendously enjoyed the people watching. Lamar and I have been to several countries in this world, but we both agree, people watching here has been the most fascinating. Even the older women take pride in what they wear and how they accessorize. In Japan, the ladies did dress very differently than Americans. For the most part, they had an edgy, 80s thing going for them. However, they ALL had the same "different" look. In Ukraine, it appears every woman is going for a special look of her very own. It is VERY interesting and fun to watch. I appreciate their efforts, and their ability to make walking long distances in heels look effortless.
The other difference we have noted is that in Japan, no matter how hard Lamar and I tried, we NEVER blended in. Everyone knew we were foreigners and respected that there was going to be a language barrier. However, here, apparently we look Russian or Ukrainian. People kept approaching us in the marketplace speaking Russian. We felt rude not responding, but we were clueless what to say. I must practice my "dumb foreigner" look a little more. Apparently I am rusty.

Well, Lamar and I are going to go for a walk/run around the area this moring. It's chilly but beautiful.

Our appointment is tomorrow. Please pray for us. We won't be able to leave Kiev like we expected right away. Apparently it takes a day or two to get our 'permission slip' to visit the orphanage. We might be here through the weekend. We will see and keep ya'll updated as soon as we can.

We love you all. Joshua and Jacob, we wish you could be here with us. We do look forward to someday bringing you back to the home of your future brother(s)/sister(s). It really is an amazing country.

God bless you all,
Kristina and Lamar

This is it....

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well it looks like this will be our last posting until Lamar and I start our journey in 72 hours. Lamar finally finished his last shift and is officially off until we return from Ukraine. My mom and dad are on the way up from Florida and they should arrive tomorrow late morning. Sunday we will all go to church and then brunch for Lamar's birthday. Then, we're outta here! Everything is happening at very fast speeds, but we are very alright with this.

Packing has been fun. We have been watching the weather and it looks like it will chilly and wet while we are there. As most of you know, our dear friends we met in Japan, the Bryant family, also adopted from Ukraine. They came home in May with a beautiful 3 year old son, Max. They have been our inspiration in so many ways. They have paved the roads for and made our preparation so much easier. For example, they told us that we need to pack fitted queen-sized sheets, oatmeal, a head scarf for the temples (which they bought for me while they were there!), and boots, just to name a few. NONE of these things were on my packing list, so you can see what life-savers they are to us. In fact, our facilitator, Yuri, whom acts as our liaison, translator, tour guide, and advisor, was their facilitator. We hired him after the amazing treatments and experience they received from him. It's been a blessing to us to have all this guidance. Lamar and I don't feel so blind now heading out there. {shout out} Thank you, Bryant family! We can only pray we are blessed with such a beautiful child as Max. It gives us so much hope and eases many fears we have. Thank you!

Well, I still have a list of things I must complete so we can relax and enjoy the last couple of days with our boys.

Thank you all for the cards, well-wishes, phone calls, prayers, love, and support. A dear friend said she stocked up on candles to burn while we are away in honor of the adoption. (She's not even Catholic!) How cool is that?

Lotsa love,

Kris

6 more days... but who's counting?

Greetings!

The boys and I returned from Florida yesterday afternoon. We had such an amazing time in Florida visiting our family and friends. The trip went by quickly and it's hard to believe we are already home and getting ready for our turn around to Ukraine. Lamar and I are so excited! We have made a pretty long To-Do list, but it is very manageable. We want to make sure we leave time for fun with the boys because we will be away from them for quite some time. (That's the tough part) Dad and Mom will be here before you know it and then things will be happening very quickly.

Off to the pool with the boys.

God bless everyone.

Kris

It's official! The tickets are bought and Lamar and I are off in 6 days!

Daily, God gives us reminders that He is with us and we are not alone. Thank you, God!

During our time in St. Augustine, we went to Fort Mantanza. We took a boat ride out to the island and had a wonderful morning learning the history, going on nature walks, and finding crabs.

Preparation for Ukraine

My sisters, Jamie-Lyn and Teresa celebrate with us. Teresa takes all of us out for Mexican! Yumm!

The boys take time to enjoy the Florida sunshine. They love to play in the waves! It's nice to have this time to relax and be with family.

Before we left for Florida, the boys and I started preparing their brother(s)/sister(s) room. It's a very tedious job peeling off wallpaper, but so much more fun with their help!

Joshua (above) and Jacob (below) are an integral part of preparing for the newest Douberly(s).

They are just as excited and anxious as we are!

We Have Officially Been Invited....

We celebrate receiving "The Call" with my nieces, Erin and Jade, frozen treats and a Ukrainian hat!

We finally receive the call from Yuri! We've been waiting for this day for a very long time!Dad and Mom make us a special sign in St. Augustine to celebrate receiving "The Call".

This hat, compliments of Jenny Vaughn, has been traveling with us for some time now! It's nice to finally put it on to celebrate our invitation to Ukraine to adopt our newest Douberly/s

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well, today is the day! After over 21 months of waiting (that's more than 2 1/3 pregnancies!), we FINALLY received "The Call". Yuri called us today while we were staying at my parent's house. He told us we have officially received an invitation to come to Ukraine 3 Sept. We are so excited it practically hurts! We will be flying out in 3 weeks on 31 Aug. We will land in Ukraine on 1 Sept in time to go out for a Ukrainian dinner to celebrate Lamar's birthday. Happy Birthday, Lamar!

We have been studying and researching ticket prices for quite some time so we are very comfortable with buying them immediately. Lamar should be purchasing them tomorrow.

As for the boys and I, we will finish out our vacation here in FL enjoying the beach, sun, family and relaxation. We will return just in time to get the boys settled with my parents, finish packing, and hop on the plane.

Again, thank you for all of your prayers. Lamar and I love reading your comments you post on our blog. That means the world to us.

God bless you all and we will keep you updated as we continue on this very exciting journey.

Good night!

Kris

...and waiting...

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well, today we were suppose to receive confirmation of our Aug 31 travel date and Sept 3 appointment date. Unfortunately, it did not come. Yuri turned in the newly required paperwork and they want another week to look it over before setting anything in stone. This was frustrating news for all of us. We were hoping to all go out tonight to celebrate before the boys and I leave for Florida. I keep telling myself, "It's His timing....not mine". However, the thought of waiting yet, ANOTHER week saddens me deeply.

In the mean time, Joshua, Jacob and I look forward to having fun with family and friends in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, FL. We will stay there for two weeks. What a perfect diversion while we wait! God is good.

I'll still let you know when we receive the confirmation. (You might even hear me screaming in celebration from wherever you are!)

Love to all and good night.
Kristina