Day 3 1/2

We had our appointment today at the State Department and everything went very well. The building was very nice and clean, and our appointment was right on time. Our translator was young and we went back to an office to meet with a psychologist/social worker. They showed us profiles of five children, oldest to youngest, and early on we both noticed one boy that touched our hearts. Although, it was not quite that easy as we looked over all of the profiles for quite awhile. We then asked to see younger children and they provided another five to six children and their pictures – all of which had some medical condition that would require some special care. It was very difficult to make a decision, when you know that all of the children are in need of a loving family. I think that it was the hardest decision I have EVER had to make. We are confident that the orphanages are doing everything that they can to provide for the children, but it seems that there are so many children in need of love. At the end of the hour meeting we were both so drained emotionally. It was hard to make a decision like that and then to sit and think of what we had just done….we have 4 beautiful children and is this what is right? Can you believe that after 3 years of knowing we were going to adopt that AFTER we made the decision of the child we start to question it? After a good cry (thanks for the call Linda) we both realized that this is EXACTLY what we wanted and how important it is for us to do. Jeanie you caught me at a weak moment…..I’ll talk next time J Our family unit is so strong (thanks Oma for reminding us of that!) and now at 7 pm we are so excited and feel so blessed to be traveling tomorrow. Wow, you can not even imagine how drained we are. If all goes well and we accept the little boy and he accepts us we will be bringing him home to add to our family.

After our appointment we went to lunch with our facilitators to discuss the next phase. The orphanage is in Donetsk about 500 miles to the southeast of Kiev. So tomorrow night (Tues) we will be boarding a train for a 12 hour trip to Donetsk. It should be fun!!
Once we arrive in Donetsk, our new facilitator, Svetlana, will arrange an apartment for us and make all of the arrangements for our visit to the orphanage. We should be able to visit our child by noon on Wednesday.

We just talked to Ricia, talk about a good sound…..Southern speak!

We miss you all and are so thankful for all your calls throughout the day today, just knowing you are praying and thinking of us makes this all easier. Knowing that the girls and Litton are happy and cared for is wonderful.

Until tomorrow…….