Home in Indiana

We arrived home last week, and it took a good four days to catch up--with the time change. The first morning home Zenon and I were up at 3:30am! Each day it moved closer to "normal". I have thoroughly enjoyed being with Elyse, Alex, and Addie. We both missed them so much!!

Here's the update: As to today, all of our paperwork is submitted. What we are waiting for are the International Passports for Ruslan, Yuri, and Alina. These can take up to three weeks to get back. So, at the moment we are planning on returning to pick up the children the weekend of the 25th of July. Two and a half weeks from now! I have communicated with the orphanage director, and she mentioned that Alina asks every day-- when are they coming to get us? She tells them that the paperwork is not all completed yet. It is very strange to know that there are 3 children, living in a foreign country, that are LEGALLY OURS! The only reason they aren't with us, is that they need their passports in order to leave the country. That being said, we are all so anxious to have them here, "Home in Indiana".

I set up a time with Natalya to talk with the children. We were able to talk with them this morning-- we set our alarm for 6am and were talking by 6:05! It was 2pm in Ternopil and they were waiting by Natalya for our phone call. Alina talked first--which didn't surprise either of us. She is very outgoing and LOUD! She is just a very loud girl! She first thing she asked was if Addie was around and could she talk to her. So, we woke Addie up (and Adeline is NOT a morning person), told her her sister was on the phone, and she was out of bed in a flash! They each spoke their own language--and then Alina told Zenon--"tell Addie to talk Ukrainian because I can't understand her". To which Zenon replied that she couldn't, then she said to him "Ok, then I'll talk to you, you translate what I said to her, then she can tell you, and you translate for me" He looked at me and said "OK"-- as if he didn't already know that translation is necessary!

Ruslan and Yuri both asked about Alex. Elyse and Alex each were sleeping over at friends' last night--being summer, they enjoy sleepovers. So, tomorrow we will call Ukraine again, and all the kids will be able to talk to each other. On Monday the Ukrainian Horbs will be off to camp for two weeks. When they return, we HOPEFULLY will be traveling to Ukraine to get them. When the kids asked this morning why we haven't come back yet, I started crying--I wish it would be sooner.

I am working on re-doing Alex's room for the boys. A bunch of Alex's stuff is sitting in the hallway, and then we will begin by painting his room. I am hoping to get it done this next week. We're looking at adding a loft to the Boys' Room and getting dressers for both bedrooms. It's fun and crazy all at once. A bunch of Alex's stuff is sitting in the hallway, and then we will begin by painting his room. Addie has taken out some toys from her room and put them into the playroom. She's getting excited about having a sister to share her room with.

PRAYER REQUEST: Our first trip took two weeks longer than expected and on July 5th the plane fares went up by $500/ticket. We had been planning on taking our kids with us to meet their new siblings and all come home together. Please pray that we will be able to come up with the money to allow this to still happen. Elyse, Alex, and Addie have been looking forward to this trip, and we also view it as a major life experience. We want them to be able to see the country where their grandparents came from. This history/legacy is important to both Zenon and myself. We are hopeful that this trip will work out, but if not, please pray that we won't be too disappointed.