WOW! Much has happened since we have arrived in Ukraine and this is the first time we have had internet access! We are now at some missionary friend's house we met the first day in Kharkiv. Our flight went well. After a two hour wait to get through customs, we gathered our luggage and went out into the Kiev terminal. A thirty something guy with a shaved head introduced himself as Yuri, our escort. He wisked us and our luggage into his little car (Skota). Yuri took us to our flat. It was spacious and modern. We were exhausted from the long flight.

After a good nights sleep, Yuri picked us up for our appointment with the State Dept. Of Adoption, SDA. Yuris introduced us to Sergei . Sergei works with Orphan's Hope and he would be our translator. He explained how things would work during the appointment and told us a little about who they were going to be showing us. He really encouraged us to be open to the possiblity of adopting 3 children. He speaks very good english. When we got into the appointment room, 2 ladies talked with Sergei in Ukrainian and we just smiled. They showed us 5 sets of siblings. The first profile was of 2 boys 8 & 9 and were just adorable. We learned a bit about them and all agreed that we liked them. We proceeded to see the rest of the profiles, 2 of which had 3 children. It was time to narrow it down and Sergei and the ladies left the room for us to have a discussion. Everyone agreed that the boys were our favorite and we had a connection with them. Also, we prayed quickly before they came in for our final decision. So they called the orpahanage to find out more about the kids, but no one answered. So we left the appointment and felt so excited about our newest kids/brothers!

Now we had to wait for the referral to go to the orphanage city to see the kids. Late the next day we were at the flat and Yuri came pounding on the door and said "pack up its time to go!!!"
Yuri planned for us to go in a Lincoln Navigator with a driver, Nicolai. The city closest to the orphanage city is Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine of 2 million and 20 miles from the Russian border. We left Kiev at 8pm and didn't get here in Kharkiv till 4am. Our flat is small but close to the city square.

Nicolai picked us up at 9am and we were seriously lacking sleep, but he took us to this great cafe with yummy espresso. Sitting there in a daze we noticed 3 ladies were speaking english and they noticed us and proceeded to tell us they were missionaries and they would love to help us while we are here! They gave us their numbers and we were off to see the boys!!

This whole trip the Lord has been so evident to us, just taking care of us, answering every prayer we have uttered. Just like now I am blogging from the missionaries house (flat) we worshiped with them at had the Lord's supper. There are 3 families that have arrived together in Ukraine for mission work, the last year they have been learning Russian (they only speak Russian here) and then they will start to plant churches. It was such a blessing to hear God's word preached and fellowship with the saints!!

For one year we have been praying that the kids we adopted would be in a small orphanage where they would be getting good care, and prayed for their caretakers. God is soooo good the boys come from a small little town where everyone rides bikes and the orpahange is very nice and clean, you could eat off the floor!! There are only 63 kids at this place with beautiful grounds. The staff was so friendly and showed us all around. The doctor filled us in on their health. All of the ladies said they love these boys and they just need a stable home. When we finally got to meet the boys it was emotional, for me especially. They showed us how they are learning english by counting to ten and saying a few other words. It was a precious time and we had to go to finish more paperwork.

While we are here in Kharkiv we have a local lady, Tatiana who is our translator helping us. Tomorrow (Monday August 17) we will start the official paperwork for the adoption and will be able to see them twice a day. Sergei will be here tomorrow to help us with all the documents.

So our prayer request is for the boys to feel a connection to us and have a desire to be in our family!!

Thank you everyone for all your prayers!!!!!!!! The Carlson's have felt the Lord caring for us during this amazing adventure! We love Ukraine!!

I'll be able to post now and will update tomorrow.

Blessings,

Lana