Good News

We finally have a court date! January 9th at 11 a.m. We are very excited that things seem to be moving forward! Continue to pray for the US paperwork. It needs to be in the hands of Bruce's parents by Dec 29th so that all the appropriate seals and certifications can be placed on them so that they can be brought to us by Kathy D and Nancy S when they come on Jan 1.

The not so good news in this is how long we will have to be here. There is a 10 day waiting period during which we must stay in the area. That makes it Jan. 19th. IF we can get the appropriate paperwork that day (which is very doubtful) we can head back to Kiev to be at the US embassy on Monday, Jan 22. More likely we will have to pick up the paperwork here on Monday the 22nd and then head to Kiev. We will have 1 or 2 days of tying up paperwork in Kiev and then will fly home. We will pass along a definate date when we know one, but we will probably arrive back home sometime around the 26th.

The other difficulty is that Bruce is supposed to be back at work on the 22nd. We are exploring options in that area.

We are enjoying our second day in a row of bright cold days. It may not seem like much, but the sun is very comforting! The kids continue to do well. Evenings with Gideon are more difficult, he seems pretty out of sorts and spends a lot of time crying and sitting on Mama's lap being rocked. We're not sure why this is, we are just doing our best to comfort him as he will allow us. We haven't seen N today, we are a little concerned by this, but we are sure there is a good reason. I guess teenagers are just designed to make their parents worry :-)

We have learned that pretty much the whole country shuts down from Jan 1-7. We are going to have to change rooms at the hotel because our whole floor has been rented out by a single party. They have pretty much reserved the hotel and resturant from the 30-2 or so. We will be living in the midst of the party it seems. We are hoping that the shower in our new room will not leak. I miss my nice long showers!!!!

Bruce misses the bed that is long enough for him to actually stretch all the way out. He has learned to cope but it has messed with our sleeping patterns just a bit. We are grateful that our mattress is very thick, at least 4 or 5 inches. That is a true luxury.

Will S, I hope Boar's head is coming along well. I got up today thinking about you and the set building. Man are you in for a ride, but you have great help and it will go well! Did all the dinners sell out?

Some of you have mentioned sending us snail mail. We are trying to find an address you can send to and will post it when we have it. We would love getting mail! But please don't send anything that would be difficult to pack and bring back with us. (Tea cakes would be much appreciated though :-)

Well I guess we will sign off for now. We love you all and miss you. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even though it is a small light!!!

Diehls and Stewarts, maybe we will meet up again in Kiev as y'all are heading out and we are meeting Kathy D.

Peace,
BLN&G