Part 2: Blog Update

We've passed three days now, and we can't stop thinking about "the kid". I guess separation anxiety may have started....

Today we continue to reflect on an amazing journey and opportunity that took place yesterday.

We connected with an English speaking tour guide/chauffeur here in Lviv who my family in Selkirk referred us to. He was an amazing guy who took us to a small village called Dovhyi-Voinyliv which is a mere 100 kms outside of Lviv. However, it took almost four hours of driving due to the terrible state of the roads. My uncle warned us of the roads, but we've had previous experience with them on our travels to and from Izmail- A trip I will have to do two more times! Below are some photos of the poor infrastructure (I will do my best to refrain from complaining about the road conditions in Winnipeg when I get home:).

We arrived at the village around noon and began to walk the road. The first sights to hit us were families walking home from Church, people walking their cows, yelling at their turkeys in the front yard, and washing the milk pail at the well. We stopped at the well to ask if anyone knew of a family we believe to be connected to our family tree. It turns out we were practically standing in front of their house.

Outside we met Bogdan, who was a very sweet man with hardened hands proven of his labour of metal, carpentry and now masonry. We were excited to learn this as both my Grandpa and father spent a good deal of their careers in metal works. We explained who we were, and we were soon introduced to his wife who (as they say) "officially" welcomed us in to their home. It would not take long to come face to face with a Ukrainian tradition of treating guests to a healthy display of drinks and food and conversation.

We stayed for lunch and had a great time! We had homemade turkey noodle soup. The turkey's were raised and smoked in their back yard, and the flour was ground in their back yard summer kitchen for Nadia's homemade noodles. The grapes were picked straight off the tree, and the dessert of "Roshen" chocolate and Nadia's homemade cheesecake (it's not the same as American cheesecake) were amazing. The house was very quaint and lovely. Country living is very different here than in Canada. Country living here is very simple. Our new found family had to dig wells (one is soft water and one is hard water). They have electricity, but no plumbing. Their toilet is little more than an outhouse with a hole in the ground. They have a small "farm" where they raise cows that provide them with fresh milk (we had a glass of fresh whole milk as well), turkeys, chickens, a pig, and they even make their own honey!

I was very humbled by the hospitality and it made me a little homesick, as they have done what my Ukrainian family does when guests come over. Offer them a seat, roll out a table with enough food to feed the entire village, and of course, out comes the homemade wine and vodka. I have now come to understand my own family traditions in a new light. It is exciting to think that I can perhaps work to help this heritage live on in the life of our new son.

So back to our son. We feel it is now appropriate to name him and picture him on this blog. The court date is done. The ten day waiting period is likely to pass without too much of a challenge. All that is left is to reach October 7th when we will finally be able to declare sole custody of our son. So, we would like to introduce to those of you reading this blog Sasha Gregory Courtney. He is a wonderful kid. Smart, handsome, and talented. And above all we get to call him our son.

We are about to reach the final leg of Dave's journey home. We have soaked up our time in Lviv, immersed ourselves in my families  heritage, and in two days I will be seeing Dave off to the airport so that he can prepare our home for the new arrival. We are thrilled, nervous, exited and scared. And yes we are both exhausted. But we trust that in time we will sit back and wonder at how this incredible opportunity has changed us for the better. Now, if I could borrow a toast from my good old Ukrainian relatives: Here's to getting excited for today and anticipating tomorrow, to good health, good food, family and friends. Cheers.