A Year Ago Today, Part 2

A year ago today was our first day in Kiev. We left Dulles Airport on March 26th and flew through Frankfurt, Germany. Ken says he doesn't really remember that flight at all. If it wasn't for the pictures I took, I'd probably forget a lot about it, too. I remember that my thoughts were consumed with becoming parents and I was determined to make it a successful trip to Ukraine. Our 1st day in Kiev was spent site-seeing at Independence Square and Myhailivskyj Cathedral, which is in this set of pictures. The 28th was our appointment date at the NAC. We didn't get much sleep the night before the appointment. Talk about anxiety! I had been getting stress-related heartburn constantly for weeks up until we left for Ukraine so I had a HUGE Costco-sized supply of heartburn medicine for the trip.

Photos are of memories from a year ago yesterday and today. There are two from the cathedral, one of the flight info during our layover in Germany, one of the address of our apartment in Kiev that we rented, and one of Ken and I on the tram in Kiev.

1 Year Ago, Part 1

It was a year ago on March 25th that Ken and I left for Ukraine. The days before the flight are such a blur right now; it seems like life before Lira and Timmy was a decade ago, when it's only been 11 months. I've been spending time reflecting on the past year, especially when we first met the kids and our visits with them. I get teary-eyed from time to time so the next month is going to bring a lot of tearful reminiscing as the anniversary of major events of the adoption go by. (But as Lira and I like to say, they are "happy tears!"

Here are some pics taken about 1 year ago. There's a couple of our bed covered with things to bring with us to Ukraine. And other pictures are from exactly 1 year ago; my last day at work for that academic year. I became very close with my co-teachers, students and their parents and they all threw me a party/ shower. It was SOOOO sweet.