French toast anyone?!?!

I was just taking a moment to read a blog of a family who adopted two little boys from Ukraine this past December. After reading up on all of their family adventures ... I realized what a great job she does keeping hers updated (thanks Courtney!) so here goes ... I'm breaking all my rules and writing a little something this morning.



This morning it dawned on me that I don't usually update the blog until ... the kitchen is clean, the laundry is folded, the girls are sleeping, I've answered my e-mails, spent time with Chris (when he is in town) and on and on and on the list goes.



So ... I'm breaking all the rules this morning. The kitchen is a disaster ... but here's why:



This morning the girls helped me make french toast ... their "help" in the kitchen always makes a bigger mess ... but it's also fun (when I have the time to do it). They each get their own bowl ... to which I add 2 eggs, a splash of milk, some sugar, cinnamon and vanilla ... they stir and stir and stir. While they're stirring I warm up the griddle and get the bread ready. This morning I also cut up some fresh strawberries ... which were quite yummy!!



After it was all mixed up ... we put them together in mommy's shallow bowl and I did the dipping and putting on the griddle. Juliya was sure the bread was crying "no griddle ... too hot!!" she said the strawberries were crying when I cut them up too. :o)



The girls helped whip up some butter and sprinkled powdered sugar on their french toast. Then we sat down at the table and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. Oh, I almost forgot the not so cute part of Nataliya "losing it" b/c Juliya set the table and chose the wrong fork for her. She gave her a blue one ... she apparently wanted the purple one ... so she threw herself on the floor, burst into tears ... kicking, screaming ... such tragedy. I sent her to the couch for a time out ... when she was done she came back to the table. Then we enjoyed a yummy breakfast!!



After breakfast the girls played with their BIG puppies ... these are huge puppies their Poppie and Grammie gave them. The dogs are much bigger than the girls ... but they have lots of fun with them. Poppie and Grammie are my second parents ... they live near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina now ... but I met them in the early 90's when Chris and I lived in South Dakota. They are precious and love the girls so very much!!



When I sat down to write this ... the girls were in their play room teaching motions to their kid's church class. :o) Not a song I know ... but something about Jesus - Power - Jesus loves you ... that's a good start! Now they have moved over to the piano room ... someone is "playing" and they are both singing ... "Hallelujah ... amazing ... mountain ... ever ... amazing ... changing ... mountain ... love you ... mountain ... sing ... ever ... love you ... love you ever ... Hallelujah!" On and on it goes ... now Nataliya is going to get a microphone!!! :o) (not that she needs one, since they are singing at the top of their lungs!!) I'm pretty sure they are singing the song "Hallelujah, Your Love Is Amazing" ... I would LOVE for them to grow up and become worship leaders!!!!



Oh and the laundry is not even started ... although I have many nice piles adding to the landscape around here! We all had clean underwear this morning ... so what's the rush!?!?!



Well the little ladies need some attention. They just helped me clean the kitchen (they dry the dishes ... well you know, about 1/4 of each dish!!). Time to go have some more fun or prevent meltdowns ... probably some of both!!

Still No Pictures

Well ... we still don't have any pictures to post ... they are all stuck on the camera at this point. But I thought I'd at least share a cute moment with Nataliya tonight.

During "talk time" (when she's in bed and has a few minutes to "talk" to Mommy before we pray and go to sleep) ... I asked her if there was anyone special she would like to pray for.

So she starts strumming her fingers on her cheek and says "Taliya thinking ...." Then she responds "Minnie!" So I asked her "you'd like to pray for Minnie?" "yep ... Minnie and Mickey too. Mickey no say "gosh" no more on movie." Interpretation: she wants to pray for Mickey and Minnie b/c they apparently say "gosh" on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I've tried telling them I actually think Mickey is saying "garsh" ... but they still don't think he should say that either ... and he needs prayer!!!

So she prayed first and prayed for the whole cast ... Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald Duck (which is what she was calling my brother Don last weekend when we saw him ... too funny!), and she prayed for Donna Duck! I guess she doesn't know Daisy's name ... so she calls her Donna Duck. I was laughing while she was praying ... but it was dark and I was quiet ... so she didn't know!

Those little darlings are sleeping now ... and Mommy needs to do the same ...

Blessings on you and yours!

Sweet Sleepy Thoughts

Yesterday we had a fun filled, long day.

After the girls had their jammies on ... we were having story time. At bedtime we read one Bible story and one other book.

Last night our Bible story was about Andrew following Jesus and asking if he could see where Jesus lived. So, Jesus said ... come on over to my house!!

After telling the girls the story I asked them each: "what would you want to talk to Jesus about if you were invited to His house for the afternoon?"

Juliya's answer: "Juliya tell Jesus 'wuv ooh Jesus' (translation: love you Jesus!!)

Nataliya's answer: "ask Jesus why Ganpa heaven ..."

Needless to say ... both of their answers deeply touched Mommy's heart. (Nataliya is talking about her Grandpa ... my Daddy ... who passed away just weeks after we adopted the girls ... but they've heard lots about how much Grandpa loved them and how much fun they would have had with him teasing and tickling them!)

I told Juliya ... "you know what Jesus would tell you? Jesus loves Juliya!!!!!" (He loves you too precious friends!!)

So ... those are some sweet moments from yesterday ...

I'm going to try blogging more short and sweet entries. Sorry no pictures ... computer is still broken ... bummer!

Hi Marty!

Hello friends out there. (I wrote this last week ... very late in the evening and apparently didn't post it ... UGH!) Here goes ...

You may wonder ... why "Hi Marty!" ... well, we were recently in South Dakota for a family vacation (and a few meetings for Chris) ... and while there we saw soooooooooooooo many of our precious friends from the 10 years we lived out there.

While there I was visiting with a gal at church who told me checks the blog almost daily to see if I've added anything ... wow, she's faithful. Well, her name is Marty ... so I told her I would think of her and do a much better job of posting stuff.

So ... since I can't post any pictures (my computer crashed and has been sent in to be fixed ... so I can't upload any new pictures) ... I'll give you link to check out.

While in Spearfish, South Dakota ... Chris and I had the awesome privilege of being part of the service at Countryside Community Church ... a church we will always love deeply ... as we had the really awesome opportunity to lead a hand full of people to "plant" that church back in 1993.

Here is a link to Countryside's website http://www.teamcountryside.com/

If you would like to see video of the week we were there ... here's what you do:

click on: Live Video

click on: On Demand (bottom center)

click on: Sunday, June 29, 2008

You can choose either the first or second service ... at the bottom of the video screen you can "drag" it to fast forward. I think Chris' message is great and about 2/3 way through his message he introduces the girls ... which is very sweet.

So ... enjoy that if you'd like to.

Tinker Bell Turns Ten!! Not Really!!

Wow ... it has taken me several weeks to get back here. Tinker Bell is actually still four ... although as her Daddy put it yesterday she seems to be going through a "Terrible Twos" stage! :o) I guess she's just spreading her wings! HA!HA!

A few weekends ago we went to Louisville, Kentucky to cheer Daddy on as he ran the Kentucky Derby Marathon. The girls waited very anxiously to have a chance at running with Daddy ... here they go ...


After the marathon (that's 26.2 miles!) ... we drove back from Kentucky to Marion, Indiana where Chris graduated with his Master's Degree in Ministerial Leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University.

We dropped the girls off with friends (thank you Brad & Heidi) and picked up Chris' parents. We had a great evening with them ... celebrating Chris' accomplishment!



The past few weeks we have been quite busy! wrapping up our first year of preschool with lots of special events. Here is a picture of us at Mommy Night!

Last weekend we went with Daddy to Port Huron, Michigan to a church plant there. Chris and I had the privilege of speaking at the church on Mother's Day morning. We have fun traveling together and I'm always honored when Chris invites me to "share the stage" with him when he's speaking.

Well the little darlings need Mommy's attention now ... until next time ...

Tinker Bell Turns Four!!

Fun, energetic, happy (when she's not hungry or tired) Nataliya turned 4 this week! She also turned into Tinker Bell ... after receiving a darling Tinker Bell dress-up dress from her little friend Olivia (Livie).

We all had fun celebrating Nataliya's special day ... with her choice of fun activities! She chose bowling with Livie and out for pizza with the family ... oh and of course CAKE!!

The last picture is from Easter. Being the practical (and may I add frugal) person I am ... they wore their dresses from the wedding with a sweater added. This picture so captures their personalities. Nataliya with her bunny "hop bunny hop!!!!!" and Juliya holding and loving on her bunny like it is a baby.

Right now they are outside with Daddy ... using his power tools. Too cute! They love Saturday's when Daddy is here (and so do I!!!).

I'm gonna run and get in on the fun ...

Nataliya flying high!

Juliya ... what form!!

Zach and Nataliya ... so sweet!!

The swimming pool gang. Chris looks exhausted! :o)

Pictures from Friday night

1) Elsa & Nataliya ... I think maybe they are texting!

2) Baby Emma ... isn't she adorable!!

3) Juliya putting shoes on baby Emma ... she loves this little baby! She is usually "Emma" whenever she pretends to be a baby herself.

4) The whole gang heading out of the hotel.

Our Three Daughters!

This weekend we had the fun privilege of having our eldest "daughter" Kaysha with us. It is hard to believe ... but she is a senior in college this year ... so she is on the interview circuit. She has an interview in Chicago on Monday morning ... so we were able to work it out and have her here for the weekend! What fun ... the little girls LOVE their Sissy Kaysha!!!

We drove to Chicago on Friday afternoon and spent the evening with some of our dearest, best friends in all the world ... Paul & Chris (and their daughters Elsa & Emma) and Janelle. They all drove down from Madison, Wisconsin to spend the evening together. We had a great time! The Dads took all the little girls (except the baby) swimming ... then we ordered in Chicago-style pizza ... we talked, the kids played ... it was great!

They headed for home around 9:30 pm and we went to get Sissy Kaysha at the airplane port.

On Saturday morning ... more of our dearest/best friends came to visit. Jeff & Janna with their boys Zach & Seth. They are the family that came for Christmas ... and Nataliya has been asking "where's Zach?" almost daily since then!! They also know Kaysha from all of our days in South Dakota ... so it was an all around great visit. Here's a little side note about Nataliya and her Zach! When we were flying to San Diego for our niece's wedding a couple of weeks ago ... we flew through Chicago-Midway airport. Near the end of the flight, the flight attendant said "as we make our final approach into Chicago ..." at which point Nataliya (in her not so quiet voice) screams "CAGO!!! SEE ZACH!!!!! ZACH IN CAGO MAMA!!!" She was sooooooooooooooo excited at the thought of seeing her friend Zach. I had to break it to her that Zach was at school and we wouldn't be seeing him in Chicago!

So, on Saturday morning we met Zach and his family at Krispy Kreme ... the girls were fascinated with the making of the donuts and quite delighted at the free donut they each received! Then we headed back to the hotel and Chris took all of the kids swimming. Which actually translates "Chris went into the pool/jacuzzi and the girls jumped to him ... or he tossed them in the air for 90 plus minutes!" He is a GREAT Daddy!!!

We cleaned up ... went to Ikea for an hour or so then headed for home. Our drive back was mostly uneventful ... I drove and Kaysha rode up front with me. The little girls slept about half of the way and Chris sat in the "back back" working on our taxes!

Today we had a good morning at church then hung around the house as a family this afternoon. Kaysha leaves really early in the morning for Chicago ... so our visit was short and sweet ... but it's ALWAYS good to have our eldest daughter around!!! If the two little ones grow up to be anything close to what Kaysha is ... well that will be sweet!!!

Sadly ... we didn't take any pictures with Sissy Kaysha this time! DUH!! But here is a sweet photo from last year at this time.

Fun, Family and Flu

Well I've been way out of the loop ... but I can't leave my faithful readers hanging for too long ... so I'd better at least pop in here!

We had the privilege of going to California two weeks ago ... where Chris officiated our niece Chelsea's wedding and the girls were (darling) flower girls!

The day after the wedding I got sick with the flu ... and remained sick for about 10 days. Our sweet Juliya also got sick ... so things have been a little slow going around here!

We had a quick visit with our dear friends ... the Earl girls :o) ... who came down to visit. We also went to the beach for at least a little bit each day. Is this not the coolest park ... let's just swing and take in the ocean view at the same time!!! Oh ... I (we) LOVE San Diego!!!

Here are a few pictures to enjoy ...

Enjoy!!

Living in a Barnyard!!

Our little girls have the most amazing imaginative minds!

Today they woke up from their naps being a piggy (Juliya) and a moo moo (Nataliya). They stay in character until they inform me and each other that they are something/someone new. So, depending on the moment ... if I ask "would you like some juice?" they answer "Oink, oink!!" or "Moo, Moo!" or "Arf, Arf!!" I just crack up!

The little pigs have a mud puddle they play in ... that is all of the tan/brown colored pillows off of our couches put in a circle ... if they crawl over the pillows ... they are all muddy. Then they need a gup, gup (their word for a bath). So then they roll around on the blue blanket we have in the family room and they get all clean!!

Since waking up from their naps ... about 40 minutes ago ... they have been pigs, cows, dogs (Lola and Spirit ... two dogs we know), Mommy, Kasie, John and DD (our friend Danielle). I'm sure I'll encounter 10-12 more characters before bedtime! It sure keeps things interesting and entertaining!!

As I write ... they are watching a Raffi concert ... recorded in the 70's. This is the fourth time we've watched it today ... and we were gone from home from 8:45 am - 3:00 pm. But they are so cute ... b/c they are up standing in front of the TV ... doing everything the kids on the video do ... singing along ... quoting Raffi ... and dancing with their dogs all at the same time.

They just put their puppies on their leashes (you know, the purple and pink ones Daddy brought home from his last trip) and took them "out" to go potty!!! :o) DD (Juliya) ran back to tell me her puppy is sniffing! :o) And John (Nataliya) is excited she put the leash on and took it off without any help. Oh ... now she is Mommy and talking on her cell phone!

At Christmas time ... the girls were given kitty outfits from their big sissy Kaysha. Here they are dressed up as kitty cats! Kaysha included a note with the gifts "someone has to teach them how cute a kitty cat can be!!" ... she knows me all to well ... that my children would never be exposed to cats unless someone else did it!!!

As you can see ... they keep me on my toes ... and it really is no wonder I'm so tired at night that I hardly ever write on this blog!

So ... it's time to head out to the barn and feed all my animals!!

SISTERS!!!

These are a few of my favorite pictures from the past few months. Several years ago I bought this really cute wooden snowman as a Chrismas decoration. This year the girls were exactly as tall as our little snowman guy! My plan is to take a picture of them next to this wooden snowman every year ... it will be so fun to see how they grow!

I tried really hard to get a "nice" picture in front of the Christmas tree ... but this one of them yelling something at the top of their lungs will just have to do!! It certainly captures them! :o)









All of the pictures I post show such happy moments. Well, as you can imagine ... not all of our moments are happy. These crying pictures are actually really cute!

Nataliya was exhausted and ready for bed ... I'm not even sure what she was crying about ... but it truly was cute ... and then to just lay her head on her sisters lap ... soooooo sweet! Juliya is a very nurturing big sister (when she wants to be!).

Family Fun

1. Mommy and Juliya
2. Nataliya and Daddy
3. Funny faces with Mommy
4. Welcome Home Daddy! (picking Daddy up at the airplane port!)

Fun Little Sisters!!

Well ... here I am trying to post some pictures ... and I have no idea why they are sideways and/or upside down!! :o) I guess to make the viewing more interesting!!
Enjoy!
1. Girls on the steps ... just being cute!
2. Girls trying on their dresses for cousin Chelsea's wedding.
3. Natalie Joy waiting for Daddy pick her up and do another flip!!
4. Sweet Juliya in her piggy jammies (you can't really see those) with her piggy puppet!

Who Knew!?!?!

This weekend Daddy was gone to Minnesota. When he left he told the girls he would bring them home a present ... but they needed to be good girls for Mommy in order to get it.

Well before he even left the house with his bags ... Juliya was putting in her gift request ... a collar and leash ... for her puppy. She doesn't have a puppy mind you ... several imaginary ones that she snaps her fingers at and tells them "come Lola, come!!" (she gets the name Lola from a friend who has a dog by that name.) She also has this teeny tiny dog that lives in a bug catcher cage ... way too small for a collar & leash. But she was truly jumping up and down soooooooo excited at the thought of getting a collar and leash. I did make sure to tell her she wouldn't be using the collar and leash on her sister ... who often pretends to be a dog!! :o)

So, Chris called me when he got down to the airport in Indy ... and he was actually a bit early for his flight ... so he decided to use the time to run down to K-Mart (or is it BIG K now) and find the presents! And there they were ... in the "small pet needs" aisle ... one purple, one pink ... perfect! Later that day the girls told me they wanted a pink and purple one ... little did they know Daddy already had them in his possession.

Tonight when Daddy came home the girls received their gifts ... and immediately we put them on some stuffed animal puppies they have. They drug them all around the house ... snapping their fingers at them telling them to "come!" and/or "go!" ... even taking them "outside" to go potty!

I will say I am liking these animal choices! The girls are content with all of their imaginary and stuffed animals ... and I'm hoping it stays that way for a long time!! :o)

Honestly ... They Get Cuter Everyday!!!

I'm not sure when I last wrote ... so I thought I'd better drop in ... for those loyal readers who check our blog!!

Last weekend the girls and I enjoyed a visit with Auntie Icki (that's Vicki to the rest of the world). She came from Florida for a long weekend and we all had a great time!! Oh, we also froze our butts off!

One cute thing is that Vicki recently colored her hair ... much darker than it has ever been. When she arrived last week ... it was late in the evening ... so the girls didn't see her until the next morning. After Juliya went to wake her up ... she (Juliya) came downstairs and found a framed photo of Auntie Icki (with her formerly highlighted blonde hair) and brought it back up stairs. Then she started telling us "dis Icki!! dis Icki!" ... she was trying to say she wanted "this Icki ... with blonde hair!" But eventually she forgot about Icki's hair color and just enjoyed having her here!

Nataliya's funny line for this week happened yesterday. Let me set it up. Nataliya really likes Mommy to carry her ... it is her preferred mode of transportation! :o) So, I have said to her on many occasions "what ... are your legs broken?" So yesterday I was carrying her from the van into the library when about half way through the parking lot she says "Taliya legs broken!" (in her cute little voice) and I laughed sooooooooooooo hard! It just cracked me up that she pulled it out of the blue!

Tonight we had a house full of people from the church planter's assessment center. It was so fun to have a houseful ... it took Chris and I both back to some of our favorite days of pastoring ... that of having lots of people in our home ... connecting ... enjoying themselves, etc. The girls were gone with friends for about half of the evening ... then came home and delighted everyone with their presence. We were so proud of how they handled having a house full of strangers when they came home. Warming up sweetly to those who spoke to them ... playing ... being themselves ... saying goodbye, etc. What little darlings they are!!!

Well, this Mommy is going to bed!!

I'm Flattered!!

Here are some pictures of our latest crazy game with Daddy. Jump down the stairs ... from the landing ... into Daddy's arms (he is standing at the bottom)! They love it!! It certainly shows the trust they have in their Daddy to catch them!! Nataliya with her piggies ... waiting in the van for her teacher to come get her for school ... and the girls talking on their cell phones! BTW, Nataliya picked out her own clothes ... she was into stripes that day!! Yes, the phones are real ... but they (obviously) don't have cell service ... but don't tell them! :o)

If "imitation is the highest form of flattery" ... then I'm very flattered. Our sweet Juliya is forever imitating much of what I do (for good and for bad!!). When I'm cooking ... she's cooking, when I'm typing on my computer ... she's typing on hers, when I'm folding laundry ... she's folding laundry, when I'm talking ... she's talking. Sometimes I find it so hard to carry on a real conversation ... b/c she echoes just about everything I say (with a phone up to her ear or making hand gestures as I do)! Yes ... this keeps me careful about what is coming out of my mouth (including my tone of voice!). I really just chalk it up to her developing her language skills!

The girls LOVE to pretend. They pretend to be lots of other people ... or piggies or puppies or ... well you just never know!! Juliya will often decide in her head who she wants to "be" ... but she can't remember their name. So, she begins patting her chest and looking at me with a big question mark ... as if to say "what's my name?" So I begin guessing ... starting with the people we have most recently been with! I'm getting pretty good at this guessing thing!! :o)

This week the girls have a special treat to look forward to. Their Auntie Icki (Vicki) is coming from Florida for a 5 day visit. We will have a wonderful time with her ... I can hardly wait!!! I'll tell you all about it next weekend.

A First

Yesterday I took the girls to meet a friend who wanted to keep them overnight. They were excited to go ... as our friend is a TON of fun ... so they always love to be with her. She actually lives close ... but she was taking the girls to see her family. Nataliya was saying "Mommy no go. Mommy stay" as we approached the drop off spot ... but once she saw our friend she was excited to go with her.

So ... Chris and I had about 30 hours without our darlings. It was quiet. It was relaxing. It was refreshing. Oh, and did I mention it was quiet?!?! We went to dinner, did a little shopping, watched football (of course ... it's the playoffs ... I can't miss any games now!!).

Now for today ... my amazing husband really pulled out all of the punches. He took my place at church. I direct and teach our children's ministry ... but he did it all. I stayed home, slept in, drank coffee, stayed in my jammies, drank more coffee ... b/c it was hot and yummy and no one was interrupting me ... read my Bible, journaled, prayed ... ahhhh it was wonderful. Wow! What a husband I have. Oh wait ... he did more ... yesterday while I was out (delivering the girls and working on some church stuff) ... he took ALL of our Christmas decorations down (tree included), packed it all up, stored it all back in the basement and cleaned the house. I know ... I have an awesome husband! I'm very grateful ... and blessed!!

The little ones are home now. It was wonderful to wrap my arms around them again. I think one night away was just the right amount for all of us (at this point in life).

Tomorrow we are back in the swing of things ... dance, gymnastics and school on Tuesday.

I'm headed to bed (I've had such a rough day!!). Not really ... but I do want to be prepared for tomorrow!!

Already a New Year!!

Ok ... so life got a little busy with Christmas! :o) Blogging was way on the back burner!!

We had a wonderful "first" Christmas with the girls (we had been home for 10 days last year). We had good friends spend Christmas with us and we made lots of great memories. Their boys, Zach and Seth just adore the girls ... so there were many sweet moments!

We first met our friends Jeff & Janna when they were in college at Black Hills State University and they attended our church. Chris was privileged to perform their marriage ceremony and to dedicate both of their babies. We all lived in Madison, WI at the same time and planted a church there. Now they live in the Chicago area now ... so they made the wintry trek over here to spend Christmas with us.

We also had a great time with Grampy and Bushka (Chris' parents) ... as they live just over the highway from us! Needless to say ... it was fun for everyone to have little ones around for Christmas!! They prepared a wonderful Christmas dinner for all of us

On Christmas Eve we had a houseful of friends for our traditional Christmas Eve Mexican dinner. This year we added a pinata for all the kids ... it was lots of fun!!

The girls are terrified of Santa. I've heard them say dozens of times "no like Santa ... like Snowman better!" So we didn't have Santa visit the house ... that would have freaked them out!!!

Happy New Year!

Pictures are on a separate post.

Coming to America!

December 13th is the day we left Ukraine ... with our two precious daughters ... and headed for home!!!
The flights were really not that bad. Ok, maybe there were a few moments! :o) Like the last 1/2 hour of our flight into Amsterdam ... ... plug your ears people ... she isn't going to quit screaming ... until she gets out of this seatbelt!!! Or the meltdown we (ok, she) had on the Amsterdam to Chicago flight ... but that too came to an end.
What I remember more ... is that I was the proud Mommy of two adorable girls. I was prepared for them to cry all the way ... so the few eruptions we had ... were really brief in comparison to the amount of time we spent in the air (or sitting at the gate!).
The girls had faced SO MUCH change in the previous 5 days ... I couldn't even imagine how they were processing it.
God gave us an amazing gift on our flight from Amsterdam to Chicago ... his name is Chuck. He sat next to Juliya and was sooooooooooooooooooo sweet to her ... it still brings tears to my eyes thinking of it! Chuck is a very successful business man from Chicago. He could have buried his head in a paper or his work ... but he chose to befriend a little girl and her family ... and we will always be forever grateful for his friendliness during that flight!!
Nataliya took to cleaning the airplane with baby wipes ... who knew that could be such fun!!
After arriving in Chicago we were met at the airport by Chris' parents and two of my brothers (Don & Jon). It was wonderful to see loved ones again. Juliya ran right up to her new Bushka ... which of course we all found amazing ... and precious!!
We stayed that night at a hotel in Chicago. The girls had the chance to meet some of their "extended" family. Paul & Chris and Elsa Bickett, Jeff & Janna and Zach & Seth Mudlin, and Auntie Janelle. It was a sweet time to all be together. Even though we were totally exhausted and hadn't slept in about 28 hours!
Here are some pictures of the journey!
1) Daddy, Juliya and Mr. Chuck!!!


2) Nataliya cleaning the seats on the KLM 747 ... we could have kept her busy doing this for a very long time!!!
3) Uncle Jon (from San Diego, CA), Uncle Don (from Madison, WI), Mommy (their sister) and the girls.

4. Nataliya and Zach Mudlin ... have a blast together!!!
Our first day ended in America with the girls falling asleep right in the middle of all the commotion ... while everyone was still there! They were tired! Unfortunately, Juliya was awake at 2:00 am ... and NOT too happy about where she was or what was going on. It was loud and ugly for about 2 hours. :o) But that too passed ... and I would have been screaming and crying if I were her too ... just ask my mom ... :o)