Home!

There was a bit of an issue with a friendly neighborhood custom's agent, which caused Paula and Chris to miss their flight from New York to Atlanta. They did get another flight out of Laguardia, but would have to spend the night in Atlanta. I decided to go and get them so that they could sleep in their own beds.

We will be at Jim and Nick's on hwy. 280 at 4:00 this afternoon. Even though this is short notice, we would love to see anyone who wants to drop by. If not, we will all have some great bbq!

Finally!

Praise God, Paula and Chris are confirmed for a flight into Birmingham from Atlanta on Thursday night.  They should get in at 10:30.  Thanks for journeying down the road with us.

Blessings,

The Underwoods

One More Step

Paula got the passport yesterday and the physical done today. We are so grateful that there is just one more step- the Visa, which she should have tomorrow at 2:00.

Right now, they are set to leave on Thursday about noon. Please pray that Paula (using a skymiles ticket) can get the final connection from Atlanta to Birmingham. Chris is confirmed all the way home. He is so excited about seeing everyone at the airport. He asked Paula if I could drive to the Atlanta airport and take them to the Birmingham airport if she was unable to get a seat. The flight should be in Birmingham at 10:30 pm.

Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers. Once we are all back together, the fun really starts!

Waiting...Still Waiting

Thanks to all of you for you many prayers and posts. Last week was long, and Friday was just awful. It was simply one of those days when everything went wrong. I have to laugh now about the medical exam we tried to get done. The normal doctors that our facilitators use where away at a conference (these doctors are ok with bending the rules a little). So George talked to the other doctor and he refused to do the exam without the passport- this is the legal procedure. The US Embassy requires this exam, and it can only be done at this one office run by foreigners. What are the chances- I get stuck with the one honest person in Ukraine!! (Not really- I am sure there at least 4 more- ha!ha!)

Chris and I got home around 8:30 Friday night, and I was exhausted in every way. To be so close and get delayed again. I cried, and Chris kept saying, "it's ok, Mom." My breakdown only lasted a couple of minutes, and then Chris started talking. Literally for hours. He told me so many things he remembers about growing up. His grandfather, a girl in the hospital who introduced him to pineapple, his first grade teacher, his roomate Yuri that he's known since he was 7, and all the Bible stories that he knows. I was in amazement. So I finally said "spot" (sleep) at midnight. What a precious memory!

Yesterday we had a blizzard here. We did as little as possible. We went to the grocery store, got pizza for lunch, and planned to go to a movie. Katia and Lena ended up taking Chris to the movie without me. They wanted to see an alien movie, which I normally would never let my children see. But I was desperate for a little "alone time". I started reading the Grisham novel Mark and Jenn Smith brought me (they arrived on Thursday to adopt 5 kids). It was a much needed break. It is exhausting being the only parent to a new child- 24/7. It's a lot like having a newborn, except he can say "no" and doesn't sleep 18-20 hours a day! The highlight of my day was when he said for the first time ever- "Mom, you help me please?" This may seem trivial if you've never adopted an older child, but it is huge. This means he is really beginning to trust and admit that he needs help- difficult for such an independent boy.

Please continue praying. I certainly feel all your prayers. I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all.

Love,
Paula

We Need a Passport, Gotta Have a Passport

Ok. We had the picture made on Wednesday and were told that the passport would be to us on Friday evening. As of Saturday, the truck still has not arrived with it. The truck (yes, there is only one) has not run since Thursday and there are hundreds of people waiting on passports. The factory, one hour away, verified that our passport was done. Nobody seems to know why the truck has not made it back to the office. My only guess is that the truck drove into a wormhole and is now headed up U. S. Interstate 75 in the year 2063.

The Embassy gets MLK Day off on Monday. Provided the truck makes it back through the space-time continuum, we should have the passport on Monday evening and get the Visa on Tuesday. Delta has set the expectation that Paula will fly home Thursday. For the love of all that is good, we hope so.

Thanks for all of your prayers!!

Long Days

The last 2 days have truly been a waiting game. Thanks to all of you for your prayers. God has granted us favor an I am closer to coming home- and coming back! Let me explain...Wednesday, I took Chris to the passport office to have his digital photo made. Simple enough, I thought. George had already met with the official Tuesday afternoon and paid the expediting fees. We came at 2:00 pm, met the official, and got in line. There were only 2 people in front of me, so I felt pretty good. At 4:30, that feeling had completely left me! At 5:30, Chris was at the end of his rope. It took 4 hours, but by 6:00 we were told that we would have a passport on Friday evening.

On Thursday, George and I were off to the SDA at 11:15 am. Katia, thankfully, agreed to watch Chris because he could not go with me. I told Katia I would be finished by 1:00 pm-HA! At 5:30, I was in the last of 3 lines for the day. Despite the frustration, I was given both the original dossier we had submitted (for you-know-who), which would have been null and void in February. Miraculously, another number printed for us while I was in line for our dossier to be resubmitted in March. I could only do this in Ukraine! A new law was passed in January that prevents updates. So this is possible only because of our delay. Without this new number, we probably could not have submitted until the summer (over 1200 families have requested a number for 2008). God is good.

Important Things

Paula has the photo for Chris' passport. She was told that the passport should be ready Friday night. IF it is, and IF the Visa can be obtained on Monday, then she should be able to leave on Tuesday.

Paula has one more visit to the SDA (central adoption office in Kiev) on Thursday. I am not sure what SDA means, but I interpret it as "Shake Down Americans."We are still interested in adopting a certain girl from an orphanage to the south of Kiev. Paula's visit will determine if we can keep the registration number that we have been given for her dossier, or start all over. The explanation is complicated. We are told that she should come available in the spring. God willing, we will be able to go get her with our current registration number at that time.

Hopefully, we are almost all home!