Update after a week at home.

Mary is posting today.


We arrived home on Thursday evening to three smiling boys after over 30 hours of travel: two train rides and three flights. It was so great to see them! We have loved spending time with them this past week! Jet lag and trying to keep up with the kids in Ukraine and at home has made our sleep schedule a little crazy this week, but we are managing okay.


We were finally able to arrange a Skype session with the kids in Ukraine at 2am Sunday morning our time, and 9am Ukraine time. We were thankful to talk with them again! Towards the end of our session we explained to their caretaker what time it was for us in America and she quickly agreed to let us Skype again the same day at 1:00pm our time (8pm Ukraine time) so our boys could talk with the kids in Ukraine too. It was nice to have a chance for all the kids to "meet" each other.


Monday was my birthday. I was so thankful to be home to celebrate with my family. My mom is still in Virginia with us, so it was great to have her here. James went back to work on Monday too. Unfortunately, Monday also brought some bad news. M decided he was not ready to be adopted. It was hard to hear, but I understand and respect his decision. He was told that he had until early next week to change his mind. He still wanted to talk to us on Skype until then so we have chatted a few more times since then. So far his decision has stayed the same.


James and I will wait until next week for M's time to change his decision to expire, but we have spent this week looking into options of how to proceed from here if his decision stays the same. It honestly has been a tough week of ups and downs. We have been working closely with our Adoption Agency Consultant and our facilitators and caretakers of the children in Ukraine. There have been many emails, phone calls, and Skype sessions during all hours of the night and day this week. Even though we are not in Ukraine we have been kept very busy at home.


We are so thankful for all the support we continue to receive from friends and family. Your thoughts and prayers have strengthened us and humbled us. We will try to update again when we have more news.