This Crazy House

Life is a flurry of activity right now. I am amazed that we leave for Ukraine in less than 2 weeks! So far I've managed to do the bulk grocery shopping and arranged for 4 meals weekly to be brought in for the family while we're away. I am so thankful for the family and friends who are so generous and good to us. I just completed a letter giving my parents and grown son permission to make medical decisions for the kids while we're gone. This reminded me that I need to set up traveler's insurance for the trip, so now I must add an item to my "To Do" list. I did purchase a new camera so we can capture those first precious moments with Slava :) and my cell phone has been updated to work internationally. I've even managed to pack some items into our suitcases. I still need to get a European power adopter (since I can't find the one we used previously) & some blank tapes for our video camera. Jordan has an appointment with Dr. Carl on Friday. It's been 4 months since his last surgery and he'll need another one soon. It will have to be put off until we return from UA, but I'm wondering if the doc will want to change Jordan's cast. It's been on since June and it's a bit gross and maybe even a little small. We'll see on Friday if they take it off and put another one on until the surgery or if they leave it off and he just wears a brace until then. I'm not sure what would be best; I'll just leave it up to Dr. Carl. Birthday party planning is also in the works. Anna turns 11 on the 22nd (the day we fly out) so we're celebrating her birthday on the 18th which is also Wayne's birthday. It will nice to spend time with family before we leave.

And we also adopted a kitten. This was not on my list of things to do, but it showed up crying on our doorstep late Wednesday night and the kids welcomed it in. We've contacted every neighbor in our zip code and no one's claiming it is theirs. It's little, all black, very friendly, male, and litter box trained. The kids started calling it "Wayne" (guess they miss their big brother), but we've since changed it to "Gus". Daddy says they can keep it...shockingly...and so it's official. If only international adoption were that easy.

Life has been so busy that sometimes I almost forget we are going to get Slava. But the days are going by so fast and we're getting so excited. Please keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you posted.