December 11, 2007

Today’s update is one of the hardest I have written through this whole journey. I am 30,000 feet above Iceland and my wife and two youngest children are still in Zap. While it well be good to see my older children and family, a part of me is still back in Ukraine. When I left yesterday I thought it would not be to hard to leave because I was so homesick but I have to admit that after Kevin and Katie both gave me a hug and a kiss my eys did no dry out for about 30 minutes. This was the first voluntary hug I had gotten from Katie since I meet her. I am not sure what happened but she does not like men very much and I know I have a lot of work to do to bond with her. Kevin on the other hand can’t wait to be with me. He has developed an addiction to back massages from me and I am sorry I can’t give him one for a while but this is all a part of the process. For some reason my company want continue to pay me when my vacation runs out so I must return home. I also need to return so Kim’s Mom can get a break from taking care of our dog. She has been a great help and I will never be able to repay her for what she has done. Well enough about me. Today’s upday is as follows.

This morning Kim, Kevin and Katie took about a three hour trip to the Black Sea where they are getting the new birth certificates for Kevin and Katie. The last time I talked with them just before I took off, all was going well and they were waiting on the certificates. At that time they will travel back to Zap to file the certificates and apply for the new passports. While these are the final steeps to getting home it is very hard for me to get excited because I am not there to help. It is not that they can’t take care of it but I would like to help. My wife is the most amazing woman I know and seeing her new lease on life with these kids make me the luckiest man on earth.