Home Sweet Home

At the American Embassy in Kiev, there was a quote on the wall that went something like - you never know how much you love your home until you are away. Well that was definitely the case with us - it is so great to be home.

The last day and a half home with all 8 Marbles has gone really well, actually. Almost too smooth! Today we walked down and got the boys haircuts. Yesterday they were treated to new sneakers, and a bag full of clothes from my parents.

Our friends have lovingly lavished us with clothes for the children. What awesome friends we are blessed with.

I will try to write more at a later time, but right now the kids are resting, and I have dinner preparation on my schedule.

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Love, The Marbles - all 8 of us!

Live from Amsterdam!

Greetings from Schiphol airport in Amsterdam! We flew yesterday afternoon from Kiev into Amsterdam, arriving right around 6 PM. It is now 9:30 AM the following morning - we have spent the in-between hours enjoying this wonderful airport.

For those of you traveling soon to Ukraine, and facing an overnight in Amsterdam - have no worries! The airport hotel was booked (and very expensive) - we weren't really planning on using it anyways. There is a child's room on the first floor, next to a baby room that is full of high chairs and cribs. The child's room has play equipment and Nintendo games. After enjoying some time there, and meeting another adoptive family from Russia, we had some dinner and then wandered around the airport. The kids love the moving sidewalks, escalators and elevators, so those things along keep them quite happy. In addition, we found a gate area that was empty of people, and so the kids could burn off a little energy playing around.

NWA/KLM had a service desk that provided blankets and there are lounge chairs on the second floor where you can fairly comfortably stretch out and sleep. My only complaint was that the lights were still pretty bright, but we all were able to get a decent night's sleep. This morning, John and I enjoyed free, hot showers (remember to bring towels and soap - we didn't know to do that!). We bought the kids some beads and K'Nex and so they are happily waiting for our flight. We have found several kids' play areas - one of the 2 McDonalds has a playland, and there is yet another climbing structure/slide for kids on the second floor. Even though we have been here over 14 hours, it hasn't been bad at all!

The kids all did pretty well on the flight. I was afraid that Vanya would be scared - but he wasn't. We had some "discussions" with Sasha about keeping his seatbelt on, and because he was being stubborn, he didn't get any icecream that the crew members gave the kids (leftovers from the first class passengers!). The crew was really wonderful with the kids and actually very excited to hear about our adoption. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention the wonderful food we got on the plane! I would fly KLM anywhere, anytime!

Well, I bought a 15-minute time card for the internet, and it is flashing that I have two minutes left. So, goodbye for now. Next time I log on, we will be home!!!

See you in Lewiston!