We are home in Manitoba for Christmas now. All is well back in the village- Victor and Maxim were trying to negotiate the purchase of a 2nd calf cow due at the end of December this afternoon when Victor called this morning our time, before we headed into Steinbach for the annual mailing of the passports and visa forms to the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa. Seth and Jonah needed photos for the form so they had to come along- you attach one photo so there is one left for the next year- Garry and I had our done last year - so we can get the photos done and mail it at Shoppers Drug Mart there.
We drove with Victor in our car to Kiev Wednesday night- the warm weather made it foggy, and the front driver's side tire required some fixing from a hole- they had to put air in and bang a dent out of the rim, but it went for about 100 km on it while we were looking for a place to get it fixed. We stopped at the McDonalds about a third of the way to Kiev for coffee for the guys and snacks- I tried one of the new year specials (Santa or Father Frost comes for New Years instead of Christmas in the Soviet Union) - it was a pie filled with apple, cream and raisins. The boys napped on top of each other- the three of us were in the back seat. This is when you really notice how much the boys have grown in the year and half since we came to Ukraine.
We arrived at the airport in Borispol around 1:30 am and our flight was due to leave at 5:35. Our plane was not listed on the departures board but Garry called the call centre- they said no problem and Garry disappeared to take a nap on a bench while the boys rested, drank pop, and watched the luggage with me. Jonah made friends with the airport cat- a black and white one I had seen while waiting in the airport in November- it looks very well-fed. Suddenly around three am I noticed that a cancellation noticed had come up on the board and when I walked over to check it was our flight. I was frantically looking for Garry, trying to phone him- I think he'd turned his phone off- when just as suddenly the line of people in front of the information booth disappeared along with the red word cancelled.
We drove with Victor in our car to Kiev Wednesday night- the warm weather made it foggy, and the front driver's side tire required some fixing from a hole- they had to put air in and bang a dent out of the rim, but it went for about 100 km on it while we were looking for a place to get it fixed. We stopped at the McDonalds about a third of the way to Kiev for coffee for the guys and snacks- I tried one of the new year specials (Santa or Father Frost comes for New Years instead of Christmas in the Soviet Union) - it was a pie filled with apple, cream and raisins. The boys napped on top of each other- the three of us were in the back seat. This is when you really notice how much the boys have grown in the year and half since we came to Ukraine.
We arrived at the airport in Borispol around 1:30 am and our flight was due to leave at 5:35. Our plane was not listed on the departures board but Garry called the call centre- they said no problem and Garry disappeared to take a nap on a bench while the boys rested, drank pop, and watched the luggage with me. Jonah made friends with the airport cat- a black and white one I had seen while waiting in the airport in November- it looks very well-fed. Suddenly around three am I noticed that a cancellation noticed had come up on the board and when I walked over to check it was our flight. I was frantically looking for Garry, trying to phone him- I think he'd turned his phone off- when just as suddenly the line of people in front of the information booth disappeared along with the red word cancelled.
So I was hopeful that we would depart on time- which we did. We went through, checked our baggage and proceeded through security (body scan) and went to wait by the gate, where the boys played cards and enjoyed the birds that flew around, when they weren't sitting in the rafters- I tried to get a photo of one. Every once in a while a sparrow would swoop over the chairs down the building then head back up to chirp with its friends. There was a Santa or Father Frost in the middle of the room- Garry took my picture with it while we were waiting.
We arrived in Frankfurt on time with three hours until our connecting Air Canada flight. There was a huge line to go through another security check towards our gate. No problems until the announcement as it was time to board. Half-hour delay because of the late arrival of the flight crew (it was snowing in Germany- apparently they got up too late to get to the airport on time.)
Then it got worse- we sat on the tarmac about an hour after boarding so landed in Toronto about a half hour before our flight to Minneapolis was taking off. Matthew and Kari had driven 2 cars down to the city so we would drive one back when we arrived at 3:30- They would stay for her family's Christmas celbration. So when I called they were nearly there, driving thorough snow- and my news was that we were flying into Winnipeg, Garry had convinced Air Canada since the next flight to Minneapolis was leaving at 8:30 pm, we should get to go home sooner- it only took about 10 different counters to find someone to do it. We left Toronto at 6 on a full plane(just missed getting tickets for the one at 4 with all the running around), and Noah picked us up at the airport in Winnipeg in Josh's truck. Garry was home in bed befoe we would have landed in Minnesota with 6-7 hours to drive to St Labre. So except for Matt and kari taking two cars to Minneapolis, for nothing......all's well that ends well.
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