Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Our SDA Appointment!

Everything is going better than expected at this point in time! Praise God! Other than my grumpiness for lack of sleep yesterday that a nap quickly cured, I couldn't be happier with how things are going.


We did however wake up to find out that there is no hot water in Kyiv right now, but John lovingly heated up some hot water and basically helped me with my shower. It was romantic to say the least. He was a real man though, and opted to take his shower cold. I did give him a final rinse with warm water.

Here are our pictures from the SDA appointment. It went better than I could have ever imagined and we were in and out in less than 20 minutes. We also got a pleasant surprise.......... a baby picture of Dennis! And..... his birthday is two days earlier than we thought so he doesn't share with our daughter Anna afterall! The psychologist promised to give it to us once we brought an updated picture of Dennis back. Woooo-hooo!

Me under the official SDA sign right next to the door leading into the building.

The church right next to the SDA.

We got to our appt. 10 minutes early so we waited here outside the gate.

Here we are standing in the stairwell inside the SDA building.

Late tonight we are heading out to the Donetsk (spelling??) region. Ironically we are going by van......not our Ukraine train like our blog name indicates. However John thinks that we will Ukraine Train back to Kyiv after court. We will travel all night and visit Dennis tomorrow in the orphanage!

I think we are on Ukraine time now, after a long walk at 10 o'clock last night. The river strip that our apartment is located next to was full of night life. Quite the place to hang out if you are in your twenties and like to drink, smoke, and make out. John was all for it..... at least the making out part, ha ha.

More posts to come with lots of pictures!

28 comments:

Chelley said...

ok I fess that I have been stalking your blog for the last 6 hours coming back to check if you have updated!!!

WOOOOOOOHHHHOOOO I am so happy to hear that everything is going to plan!!!!!!

And I hope you travel safe to Donetsk and cant pray that all will go to plan!!!!

Rita Andrews said...

Praise God Christine....Im so glad your appt went so well!!! We are anxiously awaiting pics of you with DENIS!!!

Rita

Dave said...

I just got back into town after being gone for two weeks and not being able to check blogs. Can I just say Yaaaaaaaye! What a blessing that God is giving you a smooth journey thus far. I'm so excited for you to get to your son! Praying for you!!!
Gina

Kevin and Pam said...

Soooo exciting! I look forward to pictures of your baby! It is so good to hear things are actually going smoothly.

junglemama said...

Thanks Chelley, I really feel the love. Thank you to all who have left comments. It is very encouarging to read them because even though everything is going great here, I still miss home. I crave conversation with someone who is American and I already miss the food.

I have learned some things here that I will someday share with everyone but can't now.

Christine
P.S. Thank you for your prayers! They work!

Dolores said...

This proves that it's facing adversity is all in the attitude, it's all about winning out with love. Congratulations you two!
Can't wait to know that Dennis is yours at last!
Dolores

Major Mom said...

pictures...must have pictures....and not of you 2 love birds making out:)

Zack, Jenn and William said...

Great news - enjoy your drive. We did the van ride to Donetsk (Mariupol actually) and it was a bumpy ride. Thank goodness for some sleepy meds to help me at least dose :)

Bethany said...

Yay, I wish we could fast forward right now to meeting him! LOL I can't wait to see his baby pic, I bet that will be cherished property. :)

Laurel said...

I second the WOOOOOoooooooHOOOOOooooo!!!!!!
May God fill you with peace and joy as you meet your new little boy tomorrow!
Laurel

Heather said...

Praise God that everything is going so well! We keep praying!

Kevin and Tammy said...

Not sure if I have told you this but Denis definately touched my heart when I saw him on the Reece's sight. He will be such a blessing to your family. Thanks for your comments on our blog.

Amy said...

Yeah Christine and John!
So happy that the referral has worked out!
Little Dennis has no idea how wonderful his day is going to be tomorrow!
Congrats!
Amy

orphans4me said...

Christine,
Great news about your SDA appt going even better than hoped. I love to see the pictures of Kiev. Have fun on your van ride!!
Joy,RR

Connie said...

Such a positive post! May things continue just same!! :-) Give Dennis lots of hugs from all of us.

(...and to my nieces and nephews reading this post and comments back home, lots of love from all of us, and extra hugs to you all too, because I know you must be missing your parents during this exciting time while you wait for your new brother... See you soon!)

Anonymous said...

hi mom and dad, i miss you ald alot and i love you.

Martha said...

Somehow, every time I read about you seeing Dennis and think about his story, I get tears in my eyes. I am incredibly blessed to be a part of your journey. (Where is that box of tissues?)

Anonymous said...

sounds like everything is working out beautifully! that river strip you mentioned sounds fun...haha. you guys look like youre having a good time and seeing quite a bit while youre there. I wish I could talk to you guys...I think mom is getting a phone card so we can call you. give dennis a BIG hug from me and keep the pictures coming sis. I miss you guys =)

Leslie said...

We're suddenly flooded with memories as we look at your pics of Kiev and read about your adjustments and appointment with the SDA. Thanks for allowing us to tag along. We're praying for yoiu!

adopting2fromUkraine said...

How wonderful that your appointment went so well! I wish we had gotten pictures at the SDA. We were so nervous, we totally forgot to take them.

Hope you can get some sleep on your van ride.

June

Shelley said...

Yea! I'm happy to hear that everything went quick and uneventful at your SDA appointment. Enjoy the van ride to Dontesk...I can't believe you're going to miss out on that 12 hour train ride! We're enjoying all the pictures of Kiev!

Salzwedel Family said...

I'm so glad you guys are doing well & that everything has been smooth sailing. God is certainly watching out for you. We're anxiously awaiting pictures of you both & Dennis together as a family!

debi9kids said...

OH! This is so exciting!!!!!

I am just so excited for you!

All of my adoptions came from children who were placed with me from birth as foster children, so i have never experienced the excitement & build-up that you have.
I'm so happy to be along to enjoy this!
:) Debi

adoptedthree said...

Congratulations on your SDA appointment! Donetsk is wonderful! Is he in the Specialized baby house? That is where we adopted Nikolai from in June 2002.

Great pictures.

Courtney said...

To be able to follow this journey with your guys is SO COOL!!!!!I am so glad everything is going so well! I cannot wait to see Denis in your arms!

Ashley said...

I am LOVING all of these updates! I wasn't sure how much you would be able to update once you were there and I am very happy to be able to follow right along. I am so happy the SDA appointment went well and it is precious that you got a baby picture of Dennis. I would love a picture of Grisha when he was a baby. These are things to cherish. I can't wait for you to see him! :)

It is nice that you and John are having a lot of alone time. :) Ya'll seem to be having a lot of fun. Take care and I look forward to reading how your first meeting with Dennis goes.

Annie said...

I'm just smiling. What a lark to live vicariously! You guys obvioulsy have the same kind of adoption outlook Craig and I do! HAVE FUN! I'm SO glad it went smoothly!

Tami said...

YEA!!!! I'm so happy that your appointment went so smoothly! Again, the photos bring back some great memories. I wish I had the courage to take some pics of the SDA like that. I was just too chicken! :)