The Thanksgiving...

I am so tired I probably should not be utilizing a keyboard right now...but the kids and Tully are asleep and it is 10 30 EST. The kids have been asleep since just after 2 this afternoon. Marina also slept for 14 hours yesterday, right through her nap as well. We are toast...it is not just the flight, it is the months and months of accumulated emotions finally breathed out. To be honest I feel two dimensional and incapable of big word combinations. But I really wanted to post some photos of our last 24 hours in Kiev, the capital of a country we came to love dearly. We are thankful beyond measure to have been a part of this event. Not only has Marina been a complete lottery winning, the entire journey was nothing but amazingly graced with goodness. Tomorrow we celebrate our thankfulness and it is not lost on me that of all the days we could have come home, we were chosen to arrive during the week slotted for giving thanks....Marina has cried twice since we left the orphanage. Once because she was in the car and on the way to the train and I think she was scared. Today she cried because I would not let her play outside barefooted. I am thankful for these days. Life is short, the days can be long. We make mistakes and say mean things. We are human. But opening the door, for Marina, to have a life that is vastly different from the one chosen for her statistically, we are humbled to be her family. We feel special...she is beautiful. She makes us beautiful because she is free and we have a first row seat to watch her blossom. The photos are of the view from our window in Kiev the last day. The night time shot is of a statue that stands for the liberation of Ukraine from Russia and the fall of the USSR. To me it symbolizes the thankfulness Marina feels as well. She saw the play ground out the back window this morning that Make a wish donated to us several years ago and nearly went into orbit with glee. I remember how much that playground hurt us that it was not built in time...then it became therapy to overcome pain, now it is the symbol of joy, tying all my children together. Time heals, but nothing heals better than chasing sorrow from your heart and replacing it with being thankful that we can do more than we understand about ourselves. To see Marina happy, reminds me that Cay is free too, and even more happy where she is. There are sacrifices with that level of accomplishment...we are sorrowful that Cay is not here. Marina's parents are devastated that she cannot be there. Best is not always the easy route. But better is what it is, simply better. Sometimes it can only be better for one person, even though many are involved. God is funny like that. He cares individually more than collectively and does not use the bell curve system.

I still want to post the things I love and will miss about Ukraine, but it is time to concede defeat for the day, and go to bed. And that post deserves a blog all by itself. The newspaper came today to photograph our family for a story on our journey. Evan could not have acted worse if he had been given the mission by God to be awful. I assume that the photographer was morbidly impressed that Evan did not like anyone, never mind his new sister. Now that the nap has stretched into the night by 9 hours and rolling, I understand better that tired is debilitating. I am interested to see how the photos turn out. I am glad for photo shop...anyhow it is due out sometime next week and I will post the link when the story appears.

And the thing about being thankful comes back to you....Thanks for you. Thanksgiving is all about realizing what you have, and we are grateful beyond measure, for you.