I pray you all had a very merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior! We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve day. Thanks to Grandma for taking the children shopping so they could buy each other gifts, our children had presents under the tree. I ran out of time so I did not wrap a single gift for our children but simply put their small and practical gifts in their Christmas stockings. I included a valentine in their stockings as a promise for a continuation of Christmas. That seemed to please our children and it will give me the time to get gifts ready for all 5 children! Grandma made a delicious Christmas dinner and spoiled our children once again with gifts at her house. Even though it was a simple Christmas, our children had a blast. They had the most fun distributing the gifts they got for each other. They learned again that it is truly better to give than receive!

I was so thankful to get to go to Christmas Eve service with my family and enjoy the day together. At the Christmas Eve service Mekenzie had many tears and we spent some snuggle time in the hall at church. Our entire family has made great sacrifices during this long adoption process and I could not be more proud of my children! I wonder at times if I would have been so loving and understanding when I was young.

I started my trip back to Ukraine at 11:30 a.m. on December 25 driving to the airport.
At the airport I waited in line to check my bags and when it was my turn, the man I went to informed me that he was not currently checking passengers for Lufthansa, only Aero Mexico. The sign said Lufthansa but he said I needed to go to another line. I moved my two large suitcases to the end of another line to wait again. Both large checked suitcases were stuffed with items for children at the orphanage, clothes for our girl, and Christmas gifts for orphans who have aged out. Each suitcase weighed almost 50 pounds each. It was a challenge to not go over in weight this time. Once it was my turn again to check in there were issues with the credit card machine. I was asked to wait to the side while the machine rebooted so I could pay for my second checked bag. I waited while two other groups of passengers were checked in and then was told that they would waive the extra baggage fee since the credit card machine was still not working. Praise the Lord for providing! It was worth all the waiting! I am just praying that bag made it to the plane because when I walked away they had still not tagged it and it was just sitting there. He assured me he would take care of it.

Security went faster than ever, with only one person ahead of me at bridge security. No problems so off to the gate I went with time to spare. I even had time to FaceTime quickly to ask a question and see my family one more time before leaving the country.

The flight from Colorado to Munich, Germany was completely full and more turbulent than I would have liked. (I am thankful the snow stopped back home and did not cause any delays.) I was in the middle row in a middle seat so I did not have much room to stretch out or sleep. I am extremely tired since I only got 4.5 hours of sleep Christmas Eve. I do not think my body fully got adjusted to our time zone so hopefully it will be less of an adjustment jumping ahead 9 hours. As I sit and type this in the airport in Munich, Germany it seems strange that back home everyone is sleeping and here it is 8 hours ahead. I was flying for 10 hours but time wise it was 18 hours. I was dreading another security check because when we had a layover in Frankfurt, Germany on our 1st trip, security was very thorough. This time I got off the plane and walked straight to the gate, no passport checks and no security. I will board the plane soon, leaving just before noon. The next flight is 2.25 hours and one more hour ahead so I will get to Kiev, Ukraine about 3:00 p.m. which is about the time my boys will be waking up for the day back home.

I am praying that customs will go smoothly in Ukraine and that I will have time to rest, relax, and take a shower before getting on the overnight train. The Christian translator, whom God put in our paths when we truly needed him, will be picking me up at the airport and will take me to his home until it is time to go to the train station. I am looking forward to getting to know his wife and 18 month old son more this trip. He has kindly offered to have us stay with him when we go back to Ukraine while we wait for passport and visa.

Tomorrow at this time our daughter will be with me, never to live in an orphanage again! I am so excited to hold her in my arms and not let go! Pray all will go well as we gather documents: court decree, new birth certificate, and start the process for her new passport.

Please thank the Lord with me for His safety thus far, His provision, and His love and care for me and my family, including our girl. Pray for continued safety, for Jason and the children as they adjust to me being gone, and for God's perfect timing to get everything done and bring our daughter home quickly to her forever family. Rejoice in the greatness of our God!