April 22nd will be GOTCHA Day for the Hood family! We will celebrate it every year just like another birthday. This will be a special day for our family so, please keep us in your prayers tomorrow for the 1st annual celebration!
For our first day of celebration, we will be traveling to the captial of the region where we will apply for passports. (sounds liek fun huh?!?!) We have received some positive news about the process so keep praying!! We are hoping to travel to Kiev late tomorrow and Wednesday. Once there, we will be in a mad rush (with 4 kids) to get our embassy paperwork done and visas in hand. We can then book a flight and as the children say, "Fly to America!!!"
Our internet at our apartment is down, so the next couple of days will be scarce postings. Once we get to Kiev, we will be able to communicate with all of you again!! Please pray for safe journeys, no car sickness, and LOTS of patience!!
We are on our way to the orphanage, for the last time, to see #1 and #2 perform. They are so excited! We practiced yesterday afternoon and we all had to bow and courtsey. We had a lot of fun. It should be a very special event for us. Performances are usually held when an older child is adopted. We just dropped of our first snack for our children's friends, apples and bananas. Believe it or not, they will love them!
We are in constant prayer about what is coming next. If all goes well, we shoud be home very soon. We have been very hesitant to post pictures and the children's names until the 10 day waiting period is over. As soon as we can, we will be glad to share that with you. They all love their new names and, appropriately, Hood is the word they spelled with no help!
Thank you for the comments and please keep us in your thoughts as we begin the first steps of our journey HOME!!
Love from Mama Hood,
Amanda
Vica
Daniel
Christian
Olivia
All 4 Faces!
Christian and his curls!
Olivia is so grown!
Daniel- He is being still!
Sweet Vica!
Vica Stage 1
Vica Stage 2
Vica Stage 3
Vica Stage 4
Silly Goose!
Daniel and Vica
All Smiles!
This is Vica!!
Olivia in her beach gear
Vica shoveling sand
Christian battling the waves
Papa Juggling Daniel and Vica
Daniel
Daniel's Sand Castle
Christian
Vica's so cool!!
Olivia and Christian
Vica in the pool
Olivia and Vica
Christian playing in the rain
Birthday Power Rangers
Olivia cruising on her bicycle!!
Daniel and Vica playing in the water!!
Christian Bundled Up!
Vica and Her Cheeks
Olivia and Papa Being Cool!
Daniel Waving to Papa
An Amused and Relaxed Christian!
Olivia and Christian in OM and SP Gear!
Victoria Hiding Behind Her Banana
Daniel and the DVD Player
Olivia and Mama's I-Pod- GREAT TOY!!
Flowers for Mama
Mama- The children love the camera!!
Papa-Notice the upward angle!!
St. Andrew's Church
Murals at St. Micheal's
Murals at St. Micheal's
St. Michael's Cathedral
Kiev from St. Micheal's Cathedral
Prince Vladimir and the Glowing Cross at the Dniper River
Prince Vladimir and the Glowing Cross
Memorial to the poeple lost during the famine of the 1930's
Jerry thinking of jumping into the Dniper River!!
Domes of St. Micheal's Cathedral
Amanda at the park behind St. Micheal's Cathedral
Tunnel Statues-Famine of the early 1930's
Lunging Soldiers- Engraved Statues in the Tunnel at the Museum
The Motherland Statue (Similar to our Statue of Liberty)
Soldier Statue at the Museum
Kiev Skyline
Helicopter at the War Museum
St. Sophia's Bell Tower
Statue of the Founding of Kiev
Tree Lined Walk
Ukrainian Flag in Independence Square
Ukrainian Street Art
Yaroslav the Wise at the Golden Gate holding St. Sophia's Cathedral
St. Micheal's Cathedral
Amanda in the SNOW!!
Park in Front of The Golden Gate
Park in Kiev
Kiev University- The "Red" University
National Opera House of Ukraine
Domes of St. Sophia's
Outside of St' Sophia's Cathedral
Roaming the Streets!
Jet Lag!!!
Independence Square
Our favorite WI-FI Spot- Coffee Shop
Jerry's New Ukrainian Clothes!
Amanda's Creative Sewing
27 comments:
Hoods,
You are in our thoughts and prayers for sure! Amanda, I met your mom this past Saturday. It was great to talk with her and hear things "first" hand. All the neighborhood kids are so excited! Oh, and about the car sickness ...rule number one with kids is dont mention it to them that it is a possiblity. Also, if you have them bring gal size ziplocs in the car in case they do hurl you can zip it up and throw away easier!
Good luck with the paperwork and travel plans! Y'all will be in my prayers.
Ruth
It was so awesome to check the blog this morning to find a new post! What a great day tomorrow will be!!! I am so excited for you.This time is going to fly by! I hope you get to video the performance. We would all love to see it! (Maybe we can put it on Jag TV!)It will be something that you two will never forget!) I know you are having a blast, but I am sure that you are so ready to get them all home. Amanda, I wouldn't be surprised if you spent the night outside of the orphanage door to be first to get in to get those babies. :)
From the pictures that you have posted, it looks like your jaws probably hurt from all of the smiling that you have been doing. You both look so fulfilled. I don't expect you to post much after you pick everyone up because I am sure that you will have just a few more important things to do. :) HAVE A GREAT TIME AND ENJOY THE SHOW TODAY!We will be thinking about all of you. I know that the kids are so thrilled to be going home.Bye for now Mommy and Daddy! :)
WOW!! What a fun day tomorrow will be for you guys! Congratulations and safe travels. We'll keep praying for a speedy homecoming.
LeAnne Duke Howard
Amanda and Jerry,
You will not beleive how many people in our town and church in Fairhope have all of you in their prayers. We wish you a speedy process and we know what a wonderful day tomorrow is for all 6 of you.
God bless
Colinne and Jack
Tomorrow is your big day - how exciting! Praying that the car rides go smoothly... don't you just love the way they "pave" the roads over there :) We dosed our guy up with a little benadryl just to be on the safe side, and it seemed to do the trick for cars ad planes.
Also praying that birth certificates, passports, and visas are obtained quickly and easily. I know how stressful those last few days can be with one kiddo! May God give you patience (and good, solid rest tonight!), and may He also give you pleasant people to work with at the medical center, embassy, airports, airplanes, etc.
It is amazing to see your wonderful support group ready to love your new additions. I will be praying for you and all and can't wait to meet your children.
kelly d.
I know the ceremony will be touching, those children have one more night then mama and papa is final. I didn't know we had put the names out; I've still been using #1, #2 etc.
You are blessed with a lot of great friends that love you so much.
The rest of Operation Hood Homecoming has to remain secret.
Hey guys! Love the update! Can't wait for you to return home. I also cannot wait to hear about your travels with 4 kids. You are going to have some great stories/memories for years to come. I cannot wait to their rooms. I feel terrible that I have not been able to help your mom. She has handled that whole project single handedly. Lee and I are on standby for anything you may need. Just let us know. Hurry home so I can play with the kids before I get big!!!! I am getting bigger by the day. haha. Love ya'll, Kea
yay!! i'm so excited for yall. amanda, your mom sounds like she's in HOG HEAVEN preparing for the kids! i wish us girls could be there to help her! we will continue to keep you in our prayers for speedy paperwork, patience and safe travels with your babies this week! love yall! em
Congrats on GOTCHA DAY! Hope all goes smoothly! I'm sure it will be a day you never forget! TO "HONEY" please call me if I can do ANYTHING to help you! Would love to see you and catch up! LOVE YA, D
P.S. its under CAFFEE in the book
Tomorrow is the big day!!! We are so excited here! I have loved the countdown and have checked it every day. We are praying for a speedy paperwork process, travel mercies and good translators!
I totally agree about not mentioning car sickness and just have plenty of activities, games, conversation- I'm sure you will!
Honey- e-mail me, pretty please: hdunham@knology.net.
I can't wait to hear about the ceremony. That sounds so neat and special. I do hope you get to video it, too.
Much love and many prayers,
Hill
Wow; it is finally here! Enjoy your day!
Gotcha Days in our family are two of the most joyous days of the year, and not just because they invariably involves ice cream.
We are praying for smooth sailing (or flying) for the remainder of the adventure.
Enjoy the time you have remaining in Ukraine, and know that you have a remarkable number of people anxiously awaiting the Hood Homecoming.
Congratulations! What a wonderful feeling to know they are forever yours!
I know I have already commented on this post, but I just had to be the first to say, "HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!!!!!!!" I am so excited! I had a hard time sleeping last night thinking about the big day and I can only imagine how you both are feeling! I know yesterday's performance was wonderful. We all can't wait until you get home. Have a great day! Michelle
Congratulations!!!!!
"Gotcha Day" continues to be VERY special to our family (going on year six now), even though our girls are now well into the teen years, they love it!
Blessings! (Delighted mama of Olga and Nina: adopted 09/02)
Hope everything goes well today!! =)
Daniel & Magen
Good luck today!!!! You guys are going to be great! I really wish I could be a fly on the wall though. haha. Thanks for the comments on the house, we have a long WAY to go but it is getting there. Tell Jerry the skating rink table is in the living room which is a work in prgress. we are ordering more furniture for that room this weekend. You wouldn't believe it but the table doesn't look that BIG in this house, I guess the high ceilings help. And let him know he is going ot miss that table when he comes here and we can all play board games on it! haha. Hope you are having fun! You guys are going to be great and to think about what you are doing for these kids is amazing. Lee and I went to a cookout last night and everyone here was asking about you guys and saying what an amazing thing you and Jerry are doing. I loved how they all say "If anyone can do it, it's Amanda!" haha. Safe travels! Email or blog when you can. Love ya'll! Kea
Hey, The counter has stopped!!!!! I know your already gone and doing stuff, but it was cool just watching it and knowing it is done.
I pray that there is safe travel,smooth paper work and always lots of fun fun fun.
Love to all,
Sharon
Outstanding Mama and Papa. I like the clock counting time since leaving orphanage. I am so excited about the Blessing you all have received. Because trust me, the children have been blessed just like you both have. Jerry, before you say it; yes, you do deserve this.
I'm praying for speedy process so you all can get home.
I love you and will try to catch when you come available on Skype.
Steven
YEA!!! The time has come! How exciting for you guys!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!! :)
CONGRATS!!!
We really do want to see pictures, know names, and ages. Congrats!
Have a wonderful, safe trip home.
So many are praying for your family of SIX!
Amanda, I just joined your journey! I'm so excited to read about all of this. We will be praying for you, and can't wait to see pics of your new family soon! Love, Holly (Wilder) Moore
Congratulations on Hood's Houseful!
We are so excited for you all and can't wait to meet your cute kids.
Godspeed on your paperwork and travel back to Bham!
Hey Amanda-I stumbled across your blog & began to read about your journey!! Congrats!! I know that yall are so happy! God is good!
Shea Justice Ford-Selma (But now Opelika! :-))
Good gracious! Well, Congratulations!I heard the news from the AGD grapevine and had to check out your blog. I can't even begin to imagine how happy you are right now. You are doing an amazing thing. I will be praying for your safe and happy travels!
Love,
Kelli Griffin
Post a Comment