A little more info....

Now that I have time to sit in front of the computer for a minute or two, I will fill everyone in a little more.

As I mentioned earlier...we are leaving out Saturday night. We are traveling from Memphis to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Kiev (Ukraine). Our flight leaves at 7 pm Saturday night, so we hope to catch some sleep during the long flight. We should arrive in Ukraine about 9:30am Sunday morning (US time) which will be around 4:30pm Sunday afternoon Ukrainian time. What a difference. At this time our return flight is scheduled for Halloween. We may have to move this by a few days one way or another, depending on how the paperwork goes during our stay.
We knew that we would be traveling sometime during the fall based on what Kathy had told us about our "turn in" date of August 30. We still had to wait for Ukraine to run Interpol background checks on us and so forth....so we were certain it would be on into October before we knew a travel date. Kathy called us last Tuesday (September 15) and told us that we had to leave on the 26th! We didn't have much time to schedule flights and make other arrangements! It's a good thing we were virtually prepared because we wouldn't have had time otherwise. We have already prepared a nursery and things and home while we were waiting. We have also been making lists of things to do when the time came so that it would be easier. We knew that when we "got the call" we would be so frantic that we may forget something important.

For you couples preparing to go..this was a lifesaver! Do it a little at a time and add to it as you think of things. It leaves you pretty well covered. Your brain will be going a million places once you know your date. You won't have time to think of all the little things. Trust me. The only thing running through my mind at this point is "oh my goodness....it just a few days I could very well see the faces of my children!" It's mind blowing!

Anyway, for those of you worried about our stay...don't. Easier said than done, I know. But from the moment we land in Ukraine we will have a translator by our side and she won't leave us until the day we fly home. We have been assured that she is VERY trustworthy. She has been working with couples like us for years and has been described to us as indispensable. We are thrilled to have her stay with us! She will help us do things like order food in restaurants, go to the market, etc. So, don't worry at all!
We'll let you know more when we know more. Keep us in you prayers!