One Year Ago Today - July 4/5, 2010

(This begins a series of posts about Jonathan's "Gotcha Week", which I never blogged about as it was happening. I chose not to carry over a computer since it was going to be such a short trip, so I didn't blog as I went.)

Gotcha Week Planned Schedule:

July 4 and 5 - Travel to Donetsk
July 6 - Take bus to Kramatorsk, GOTCHA DAY, obtain one-day passport and overnight train to Kyiv
July 7 - Arrive in Kyiv, have first consulate appointment
July 8 - Second consulate appointment and obtain VISA!
July 9 - Fly HOME!

By the Lord's grace, this is exactly how it worked out. :-)

On July 4th, 2010, I left our little local airport to begin my journey to bring our 7th child home. Pat and the kids dropped me off at the airport "on the way" to the parade. I was a little teary as he pulled away as I stood there with my carry-on suitcase and backpack (I determined to pack light and I did!).  The Lord gave me His peace and strengthened me. If this had been my first trip to Ukraine, it would have been very different I'm sure. My first 2 flights were uneventful.  The Lord blessed me with an aisle seat on the long flight as I was seated right between 2 siblings, so I switched with one of them. Yay!

I was very fortunate to fly directly from Munich, Germany, into Donetsk instead of Kyiv. I LOVE the Munich airport!!! It's so quiet, clean and small compared to the huge, confusing, maze-like airport in Frankfurt. The flight from Munich to Donetsk was delayed over an hour. The plane was late due to a storm in Rome. I have to say, going through customs in Donetsk was a little scary. I saw a few people sent to the side for some reason. Not too many people come into Donetsk to adopt, but it worked out fine. The baggage claim was hilarious. Go around a corner back outside and pull your suitcase off of a trailer. Love it! :-) In Munich, I started talking to a man from the States traveling to the south of Donetsk, so it was nice to stand in the customs line with someone who spoke English.

A driver was still waiting for me at the airport and took me to a very nice little hotel that Vanya had arranged with a friend of a friend. I felt very safe there. These photos below are actually the next morning. The friendly cat looks just like our "Tiger" at home, so I had to snap a few photos.

Well, just in case you felt bad for the kids having their mother gone on a holiday, don't worry about it! The wonderful Gibson family sat the parade with them, and then invited Pat and the kids over for a swim party AND a birthday party to celebrate Anna and Jake's birthday. Here a few of the many photos Auntie Crackers took for me. :-) I'm SOO very grateful for the love they have shown us over the past 2+ years.


Elijah's first Independence Day! Freedom on so many levels!

Elijah looks SO young! All of the kids have changed so much in the past year. 

Once Elijah learned he didn't have to throw the candy back at the people throwing it to him LOL, he did great picking it up and filling his hat.

Looks like the kids are really missing their mommy, doesn't it???

This would be Carter's Daddy!

 Ashley was so sweet to spend time with the girls and braid their hair.

Sarah and her BFF Rachel

What sweet innocence....

The birthday buds!

My wonderful parents came for the week while I was gone so Pat could go to work. They had a nice party for Anna on her real birth-day. :-) I was so grateful for the sacrifice of their time to help us bring both of the boys home.

I do know that Anna missed me on this day. In 2010, Pat and Sarah were in Ukraine on a mission trip. She was very glad this year that all of us were home together.

Tomorrow - GOTCHA DAY!