Last Post in YKPAIHA (Ukraine)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - Our last full day in Ukraine and we're on our way home tomorrow morning!!

Today we hung around our apartment for the morning then found a local store and bought some meat and cheese. We gulped it down and went outside where Natalie had a couple taxis waiting for us to go to the Embassy. The Embassy was full of people waiting to get in and it was really nice as U.S. citizens to walk to the front of the line.

Before going in, an Embassy worker walked up to us and asked if we were the Utah group adopting. He was a young man that grew up in Utah, served a mission in St. Petersburg a few years ago and was doing a 3 month internship. Also, the gentleman that helped us, Dave Allen, was LDS from Josephville, AZ. One of his first questions was, "Are you blue or red?" When I answered red, he said that he wouldn't be able to complete our paperwork for another month! I think I'm the only Utah fan in our group of families although several graduated from the U. What's wrong with people's allegiance these days anyway????

Afterward we walked around Kiev, bought some souvenirs for the girls and had dinner in the underground mall. Walking home tonight we saw Kiev at night for the first time and it was very beautiful. It reminds me of other European cities with the old buildings, a lot of history, modern stores but not nearly the crowds as you find in Paris, Munich, etc.

It's also fun to see how car crazy the boys are. They kept taking pictures of cars they thought were cool. Most were Japanese "rice burners" that had silly paint jobs. They also think Hummers are cool. Sasha told me later that when he's 16, he's sure that's what I'm going to buy him. I think their expectations of America and being part of our family is going to be disappointing in some ways...

We were also running low on Greevnias so Arri and the boys succumbed to a little begging in front of McDonald's. They didn't get too much...

Overall, a great trip. We're getting out under 4 weeks and have met a lot of great people like Vladimir, Natalie, Tanya, Natasha, the branch members in Sumy. And of course, we had GREAT roommates in Brent and Lucinda Milne. It's hard to live with people for 3.5 weeks and they've been so easy and helpful to be with.

For those of you who want to come to the airport, our final leg is from JFK to SLC, Delta flight 97 arriving at 8:11pm on Thursday. The Hatch's will also be on our flight.