Finishing in Kiev and Welcome to America

January 30-February 2:
We had one of the longest and most stressful days of our life on Wednesday, January 30. Misha and I spent all morning and early afternoon traveling to and waiting in Zaporozhe for the boy’s passports. When they finally were given to us, we had to rush to the bus station and travel to Tokmak. We thought that it would be impossible for us to get Zhenya’s remaining paperwork done and get to Melitopol before our train left the station. What we thought to be impossible was not impossible to God! Miraculously, we were able to make it to the station about ten minutes before the train arrived at the station. It was such a relief for all four of us to be able to board the train and find our cabin! We finally were able to breathe a sigh of relief as we waved goodbye to Don, Misha, Inna and Dima.

Everything went well in Kiev with medicals and the Embassy with the help of Valery and Karen. Around lunchtime on Friday, we were able to obtain the boys’ Visas! We went to bed early in preparation for our early morning flight. The taxi to the airport and the trip home went without a hitch. It was fun to see the boys on the plane and they seemed to enjoy the view from the plane and glancing out the windows from time to time. We had no problem with immigration in Cincinnati and were even blessed that we were able to get on an earlier flight than we expected. We knew the time change in flight might affect some of the people wanting to be at the airport to welcome the boys. Still, we were overjoyed to see the family members who were able to make it the Birmingham airport early Saturday evening.

Ginger, Dima, Ella, Brooke, Baylee, Sabrina, (a neighbor), and cousins Samantha and Rebecca were all waiting with big smiles as we descended the escalator at the airport. We were so happy to see their faces and get hugs from everyone. We did the introductions, took a few photos and were on our way. We went straight back to our house, since the kids had an ice cream cake that said, "Welcome to America" written on it waiting for the boys, and Marmee and Papa, (Grandparents) would be meeting us there, as well as more cousins, David, Sarah, Chris and his wife, Ashley, Aunt Cyndy, and Uncle Vic. We all had a wonderful time eating ice cream cake and sitting around the kitchen table together, playing pool, listening to Ginger and Rebecca play the guitar and sing, and taking photos with the boys. It was a great welcome and it was a relief to be home after a very long, eventful process and trip.

The next day was Sunday, so after some much needed sleep, we all got up and went to church. This service was the boys' first time to ever attend church, so it was very special for us. They seemed to enjoy the music, but of course, we realized they couldn't understand the message. We were touched so many church members made a special effort to come up to the boys after the service and introduce themselves and welcome them. After church, we headed to Habaneros, a brightly decorated, festive Mexican restaurant in Hoover, to celebrate the boys' arrival. We had a very long table to seat our family of 10, plus some of Aunt Cyndy's family, 7 people, plus one of Dima's good friends from work. We all had a good time laughing and talking and watching the boys experience their first Mexican meal. They were happy enough, but didn't seem to care for the Spanish soup Dima ordered for them. They tried to be courteous and eat as much as they could. Dima loves it and asked them "En ravitza??" "Do you like it?" He wanted to say, "Why don't you like it?" because this is Dima's favorite soup and he was surprised that they didn't love it. It was their first experience with sliced avocado, so they weren't too sure about that bright, green stuff in their soup!

After lunch, the boys went with Dima and his friend to the park to play soccer. Then later that night, we were supposed to all go to Karen and Alan Thompson's (another adoptive family) house to watch the Super Bowl. However, Tammy fell asleep and we had to admit we were all pretty tired. Cousins, Rebecca, Sarah, and David came over and watched the Super Bowl, played pool, ping pong and ate pizza with Curtis and the kids, while Tammy still did not ever wake up from her sleep. As soon as the Super Bowl was over, Tammy woke up and asked if we were still going to the Thompsons. We all laughed and told her the game was over.
The next day, Dima went with us to take the boys to tour our local Y, and get their membership photo passes, and then we went for their sports Medicals. This took a long time because the doctor's office was full. The boys were scheduled to practice soccer, so after the doctor, Curtis and Dima had to rush with them to Hibbett’s Sporting Goods to get some soccer gear. It was nice for them to get to play soccer after not playing for months in Ukraine due to the cold weather. The next day we had appointment to register the boys at Pelham high school. They also took a tour of the school, met some other Russian speaking students, the Principal, two ESL teachers, and coaches. That night, Ginger and Samantha came by and along with Ella, and took the boys to our largest mall, The Galleria, to get some shirts and jeans. The boys were very anxious to start school, so we were glad that they were able to start the next day. We were surprised we didn't even have to wake them up that morning, and actually heard them stirring around and taking their showers by 5:30 am! They were excited to be going to an American school. They were ready and standing outside at the end of our driveway with Brooke and Ella, waiting for the bus by 6:40 am. The bus arrives @ 6:45 and within minutes; the four kids were on their way.

We've been in a routine since then of school, soccer practice, supper, and then either going to the park for soccer, or to the Y to play basketball, swim, get in the Jacuzzi, or visiting the fitness, work out stations. These boys are very ACTIVE and energetic. They aren't used to being still. Whew! We have to break way from them at times and let Dima take over, just to have some rest. They are in high gear all the time. It's good of course, because it challenges us to be more active, but other times, we're pooped.

We knew Curtis would have to return to Ukraine soon to get Viktor and he would be gone for about a week. So, we tried to get in some fun activities with the boys. We've had a couple of ice skating times, a trip to the Birmingham Zoo, playing games at the bowling alley, and driving up to the top of Bluff Park to see the view and eat hamburgers and hotdogs. We also got to meet some other kids who have been adopted from Ukraine at a birthday party for Alexa Thompson. Ella was actually the only one invited as it was a Girls only party, but the boys went with us to take Ella to Alexa's house and to meet the Thompson family. It was quite a sight watching the boys as pretty girls who spoke Russian kept arriving and getting out of their cars, one after the other. From the smiles on the boys' faces, we knew they must be thinking Birmingham was OK! :)

One very neat thing that happened while at the Thompson's was meeting Christina, a friend of both Vitya and Sasha's from Ukraine. Christina was adopted from Zaporozhe, the same region as Vitya and Sasha, and knew the boys from summer camp. She was so excited to see Sasha and we could tell he was equally happy and amazed to find her here in Birmingham. It was a nice surprise for both of them.
We have all enjoyed the first few weeks with the boys. It has been busy and eventful and everyone is trying to adjust. We're sure that after Viktor arrives, it will be even better to have everyone together.