Weekend - Pictures

Well it was eventful this weekend since it is still Indepence Day celebration and many demonstations as well. See attached photos and explanation of sites.

I will number the pictures down the left side and then continue on the right side.

Picture 1) A picture of Kiev from the river boat we took down the Dnipro River.

Picture 5) Andy in the park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Kiev.

Picture 6) Andy and Olga in Independence Square by statue of Horse. I tried to get Andy up on the horse Evaleen/Charlene for a great shot and Andy would not oblige (afraid the police would arrest him). Holy oh me oh my I have never seen so many Police (Militia) in one day in my entire life i.e., anticipated demonstrations.
Picture 3)St. Michael's. The grounds are loverly and the church is stunning at night with the glimmer off the gold domes.

Picture 2) Bela I am assuming you might be the only one to recognize what party the red and blue flags belong to. Having witnessed demonstrations of both parties one very pro East/Putin and the other pro West let's you know that there is a free speech.

Picture 4) Ola and me in Independence Square by the same horse that Andy would not ride.

I hope everyone had a loverly weekend back in the states and will have many stories to share with us when we get back home.

Much love,

A & A

Pictur es - Kiev

Picture:

1) is the gate way to our Apartment,

2) is across the street from the apartment,

3) where the gal is coming out is our apartment building, and

4) is a statute in Independence Square.

Loading pictures is so simple it is just a push of a button. Soon to be showing pictures of new family members along with other members of the existing family.

Photos Amsterdam

Amsterdam is really charming and enjoyable. Maybe someday when we tour Europe we will visit again for more than a day.

Photos - Cousin Marc Amsterdam

Mom & Leo,

Thought you would enjoy seeing Marc and his girlfriend Celine. I cannot believe how Marc is the spitting image of Gloria.

Love,

A & A

Independence Day - Kiev 2007

To all,

The day started out with a Bang. At the stroke of midnight fireworks were set-off right next to where we are staying in honor of Independence Day.

They block off the major roads around Independence Square (where we are staying) during this Holiday period. There were lot's and lot's of people out today and some great people watching. I will say in general the people here are far more fashion conscious than Americans and they do wear some of the most impractical and darling footwear.

We were on our own today and where able to navigate grocery shopping in 4 different stores and were successful everywhere with a combination of Russian and some English. We have stocked the fridge since our friend will be here tomorrow. As much as I have itchy feet and would love to be on the move I bow down to Mr. Practical and will do what is easiest as it seems unlikely that with a Ukranian citizen we can cross over into any of the bordering countries.

Please know that we are so grateful for all the help received from back home in the states till this point regarding various technological, communication and other needs that we have had.

We are looking forward to seeing Olga and actually walking around all the sights. Based on experience I will take tons of pictures since I do not think that we plan on being back on this side of the world for a long while.

As we seem to have a lot of time on our hands we should be able to figure out how to upload pictures in the next couple of days.

Much love,
Audrey & Andy

Our meeting at the SDA today

To all,

For one who really does not get to nervous I am happy today is over. The appointment went well we have a referral for a little girl and are going to Pryluky which is about 20 kilometers from Kiev in the Chermihiv region see link to map attached. We will go to the region on Monday evening as Thursday and Friday are Holidays here.

Our friend Olga from Lughansk will be joining us in Kiev tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to arrange to go to Budapest for a long weekend.

We will provide more details about the child once we have visited her in the region.

As a point of referrance we are staying in the heart of Kiev right next to Independence square.

http://lemko.org/atlas/atlas.html

Another Rainy Day - Kiev

I think we are following or being followed by the rain. We are now in the apartment in Kiev and we are having a thunder and lighting storm. The weather reminds me of when I was a little girl and the New York summer's seemed to be hot and miserable and then it would rain and would be delightful. I am happy that the umbrella ended up on the list and came with us since we have had more occassion to use it here than in a normal year in CA.

We are truly stunned at how much Kiev has changed. All we saw were designer shops for as far as the eye can see. We also had the opportunity to expierence how expensive things have gotten. While out we went to get fruit (fukta) and paid more than $8 for what I think was a pound of grapes.

We got our technical difficulty with the phone resolved by buying another one (we love supporting their economy).

Lauran, Mom and Grandma Sharon I am completly hooked on Suduko. I will have to get my fill while in Ukraine because I can see that the addictive side of me is coming out and I am still on the simple ones. The goal is to finish the book I have with me so that I do not need to carry it back to the states.

Yesterday when we finally arrived in Kiev after various delays (KLM seems disorganized in Amsterdam and Kiev) the translator and driver were amazed at how lightly we packed. However, the backpacks get heavy even if under 40lbs.

Well by technical side kick is kicking me off the computer becaause of the thunder.

Later.
Love,
Audrey and Andy

To all,

We are now in Kiev. The weather is stunning and it is truly summer with all the people out. We of course cannot seem to access our cellphone (who is surprised) and would love some help from the states on this.

We are currently in the apartment with internet access and it feels like we are in the Ritz compared to the expierence that we had last time. We are directly in downtown Kiev and the section we are in is reminiscent of Rodeo Drive. Our Landmark to get back to the apartment is that we are just across the street from the Luis Vaton store.

Our translator is a very young fellow and we will take in some sights or something tomorrow since without a phone or local currency there is not much for us to do on our own.

We will update when there is news.

Love,
Audrey & Andy

To all,

Jackson got off on his plane to Babuka's (AKA Grandma) safe and sound. It was tough for Mom to see the little guy without us for the first time. Thankfully Jackson is easily distracted and the anticipation of seeing his newest Pokemon video made him quite happy to be going to Babuka's plus the anticipation of seeing all the family up North, going to Art School for three weeks and the rest of the Summer Adventures planned.

We made it to Amsterdam this afternoon. It has been raining the entire time, however, we were able to successfully maneauver the train, tram and the short walk to the hotel. Andy, however, did not fair so well on the plane, those long legs are clearly a drag when flying and he is trying to work out the crammed feeling.

KLM was not the most organized and when we were waiting for our luggage Andy was convinced that our luggage went somewhere without us (you have to know that I would have non-of that non-sense talk). So, when the luggage arrived (surprise) Andy had to admit already that I was right and that all would work out fine.

I have ventured out on my own (not something I usually would do) obviously found an internet cafe and was able to navigate the internet in Dutch since there is no English on google here (thankfully the buttons are all in the same places).

We are hoping to be able to hook up with my first cousin at some point this evening and enjoy a pleasant dinner.

This thought is for Peggy and any other shoe fanatics. In your honor Peggy I have already bought one pair of shoes and spotted a hot pair of boots for serious consideration.

We will be taking our flight to Kiev tomorrow afternoon and our appointment regarding the adoption is on June 27th.

Enjoy,
Audrey & Andy

We are excited, nervous and delighted to be getting closer to going over on our second adoption adventure to Ukraine. We are leaving on June 23rd and will arrive in Kiev on June25th. Our appointment at the Adoption office "SDA" in Kiev is on June 27th. Once we have our appointment we should have more details to share regarding the child(ren) that we will be adopting. Once we get into the adoption process we should have more clarity as to the possible timing and return leg of the adventure (all subject to change).

We are hopeful that we will be updating our blog frequently and posting pictures etc. Anything would be more frequent than the last time we tried using the blog when we adopted Jackson.

For now our focus is getting yet more legal paperwork in order before we leave and wrapping up items at work that can be addressed over the next several weeks.

We will not be updating this again until we have touched ground on another continent. Stay tune.

Audrey, Andy & Jackson