We are currently at the Aeroport Hotel (about 10 minutes from the airport) and we will be leaving at 5:35 AM tomorrow. The middle girls are already dressed and plan on sleeping in their airplane attire, Madeline refuses to wear clothes and we actually caught her in the hotel hallway with absolutely nothing on her body! And, of course, my oldest is watching the last bit of Ukraine television before going to sleep and leaving the country she has known for 15 years.
We had the blessing of seeing Alla the last night of our journey in Ukraine. She has been a part of my girls' lives for the last 4 years and is like family to them. She met us for dinner at our favorite restaurant in Kiev (Arizona's BBQ). Check out the photos below :-). They import their food from the United States and its authentic! Check out the Mississippi flag in the background - how appropriate for this MS Girl! We also greeted another family (our friends) that traveled to Kiev today from New Braunfels to adopt out of our same orphanage. Their appointment is on Thursday and they are adopting three kids that have come on hosting trips to the US. They are excited and we wanted to give them the details on what to expect while in the region. It was good to see them before we left the country. We also got to have dinner with our incredible facilitator and her husband. They have done an AMAZING job on our adoption and we are forever grateful to them for their services. Denis and Vika were also there to say good-bye to us. Molly cried for 30 minutes because she didn't want to leave Vika. They have been such a huge help to us during this trip. They are Aunt Vika and Uncle Denis to my girls!
Stephanie also had a hard time leaving and this was the first time she has actually shown any emotion since we've been in Ukraine. I thought it was odd that she did not cry when we left the orphanage but I wonder if its all beginning to hit her now. Plus, we were leaving Alla tonight and she is like family to my girls. So, the car ride to the hotel was very quiet with the sounds of sniffles coming from three of my four girls. It is bittersweet to leave this place. Three of my girls are from this country and this is a part of their lives that will never be replaced. This is their homeland. This is where their journeys began and it will always hold a special place in their hearts and mine.
We are ready to return home. We got here on October 2nd and we are leaving November 3rd. It was a little longer than expected but it went so incredibly smooth! We are forever grateful to all of you that have prayed us through this journey. We could never do anything without the love, encouragement and support of our family and friends. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Is our journey over? ....who knows. I don't know what the future holds but I know Who holds the future.
Blessings,
The Hills (all 6 of us)!!!
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| My two Cowgirls |
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| My Chocolate Addict |
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| The Whole Gang! |
