I spoke with Griselda this morning. They finished their visa applications at the US Embassy and the medicals today. Tomorrow at 2 pm they pick up the visas and then they are done. Hurray!!! Unfortunately they have to wait until Sunday to fly home because there are no seats on Saturday. Griselda said it was sad to leave Sumy because of the relationships she had made and because she got to know Vlad's Grandma and a couple other relatives. The Grandma gave them some snacks and things for them to munch on during their flight home. Jenya, the orphan boy who is 15 who we got to know previously was so kind while Griselda was there with Griselda and Vald and Dima. She said it was awfully hard to say good-bye to him because she felt a strong connection with him. Unfortunately he is not eligible for adoption until February 19, 2011 or else we would have adopted him too since we had permission to adopt 3 kids. But because of the eligibility problem it could not work on this trip. Jenya really wants to be adopted and he hopes very much someone will come back and get him. He turns 16 in August so there will only be a short window of a few months of eligibility for him. Jenya wished Vlad and Dima well and good luck. It was a heart breaker for Griselda. She is enjoying the time with the boys however. Dima had a little money from the orphanage and he is already wanting to buy a computer with it, but it is not near enough so he has to face the hard realities of life that not everything is cheap and you cannot always have what you want when you want it. Griselda and the boys are all excited about being able to finish up the adoption and they cannot wait to come home.

They will be arriving at 7:52 pm Sunday night on United Flight #6469 for those of you who would like to join us in welcoming them home.

Griselda and I would like to say Thank You to you all for all of your love, support, prayers, and kindnesses during our adoption journey. It has not been easy as so many of you know from your own experiences, but we could not have done it without all of your prayers and support.