Day 41

The traffic to the airport wasn't too bad and we were on time for boarding. Getting through security and customs wasn't that hard. When needed, we showed passports and the court decree. I think they made a copy of it because we had to wait a bit at the desk. And since directions are also in English, it wasn't hard at all to find our gate.

The girls were excited to finally get on a plane that would take them to America. During the flight they were hard to maintain but at some point we slept (some), had two meals, snacks, played, and went "pee-sit" and "ka-keet" often. The first flight was about 9 1/2 hours. We had a 6 hour layover in JFK. It took 1 hour to get through JFK security and customs. Forms, forms, forms..., but since we didn't purchase much, it wasn't a big deal. The Embassy had given us two sealed packets that can only be open by the American customs officer. There was some other paperwork that they did and soon the girls will get there green-card, followed by official citizenship. After waiting for 5 hours (including lunch and coffee), we boarded the much smaller plane to Charlotte. We tried to get some sleep but not much. Eventually we found ourselves being driven home by "Papa's pa-dru-ga" Ronnie. Thank God he was there because I was too tired to drive home safely.

Being surrounded by English actually took some getting use to. I have to say that Ukrainian coffee is much better than ours - StarBucks just can't compare. I find myself speaking Russian words to people but they are so use to foreign languages that they don't even notice. Being home feels like a dream and I was very happy that when I awoke this morning, I found it wasn't.

The girls are excited to be home. This morning, they have explored their room, the other rooms, and now it is time for some real home-cooking. Nick is at the computer, Noah is now at the Wii, Sarah is upstairs, and Kaitlyn is waiting for Jennifer to finish setting up so we can eat. We are rested some but I'd imagine that some naps are in order. The key thing to remember about the girls room is that they both saw pictures of it while in the orphanage. When they first saw it, they were ecstatic. It was a dream come true for them. They are in their home, their room, with their toys, their clothes, and with their family. Ah! Time for breakfast!