Better late than never

Hello!
Sorry again for not posting more frequently. Julie and I have been down with nasty head colds while here and have been quite exhausted. Ukraine has been in the news quite a it lately. Let me assure you that we are and have been safe, as Kiev is several hundred miles from the Crimean peninsula. We are scheduled to leave tomorrow morning as planned. I encourage you to follow bbc.com for the up to date coverage of the goings on here.

That said, let me try to get you up to speed.

Thursday March 1

Today we hadtwo major appointments. First, we visited the Medical Center in Kiev for Angela's medical appointment. While there a doctor examined her medical records, reviewed her recent X rays, and a physical examination. Everything seemed well, although Angela is always uneasy in these situations. She gets particularly nervous when I leave the room. Afterward, we went to the American embassy to begin processing her exit paperwork. The matter was a pleasure, and we think her passport may be here Friday, which means we could leave Tuesdayas opposed to Wednesday. We will have one more appointment at the embassy, most likely Monday, where we should beable to pick up her visa to travel to the US.

We were done by around noon, and decided to do our soiveneir shopping for friends and family at the Slaba Market.  In the US we would call it a flea market; its popular with western tourists and the vendors all speak English. We got some great stuff and were able to negotiate on price. While there, we got some new pictures in front of sd. Andrews church, which we also visited on our first trip.

St Andrews

We then went to an excellent Chinese restaurant for lunch. We've gotten accustomed to large quantities for low prices, and this place was no different. Angela ate a large helping of salad, rice, and chicken. 

Not one of my better pictures, but of course Angela is cute.

In the afternoon, Julie and I started to feel a bit I'll so we laid pretty low the rest of the day. There was however a skinny balloon fight. 

These were a great investment. 

I took a couple of shots in the evening of the view from our place to share with you as well:

Part of Kiev skyline

Looking down from our street. This fairly standard.

In closing, I can say we are doing well as a family and enjoying being reunited with Angela. We are gaining a better understanding of what our family dynamic will be like when we get home. Angela has been talking constantly about seeing the kids again. We miss them so much as well, along with the rest of our family. God bless you all and we will see you soon.

Michael and Julie