Today we CELEBRATE the one year anniversary of officially adding Irina to our family!
Today marks the day we became a family of six. This photo was taken in the court room one year ago today.
We sat in this court room for over two hours and never took off our jackets. It was chilly!
We decided to celebrate the day with an authentic Ukrainian dinner and dessert.
I began prepping the food on Thursday. It took me over three hours to make vareniki with potatoes and cheese.
I had no idea the recipe would make 104 vareniki!! (I froze about 3/4 of them.)
I served them with sour cream and "zazharka" (which is a bacon/onion topping).
We ate in the dining room and decorated the table with our Matroyshka's.
The kids were GIDDY with excitement...a little impatient to begin our feast and celebrating.
Ethan wore his Ukrainian shirt. I also served steamed broccoli (not a Ukrainian recipe!) and Chicken Kotleti. Darin and the kids ate kotleti quite often while we were in Ukraine. It is a meat patty made with ground chicken, bread crumbs, milk, sour cream, egg, onion, salt and pepper.
For dessert I served an 8-layer honey cake called Medovik. This is the kind of cake we bought for Irina to share with her classmates at her going away celebration. This was another labor intensive endeavor. When I cook, I make a terrible mess. There was flour every where. I should have taken a picture. For two nights in a row, Darin graciously offered to clean up my mess when I finished all my cooking at almost 11pm. Thank you Darin!
I bought the ingredients and fully intended to make borscht and buckwheat. I simply ran out of energy.
Not to worry though. Everyone was very satisfied and happy with what I prepared.
Are these the same kids? Below was at Irina's orphanage... getting ready to say goodbye.
We finished out the day watching a slide show from our two weeks in Ukraine.
It has been a bumpy ride. There have been highs and lows, but I can proclaim boldly that the Lord has been with us every step of the way. We are exercising our faith muscles and so thankful for God's love and mercy as we walk down this path together as a family of six.
I thought of you SO often today. I love how you celebrated and the labors of love for your daughter and forever-changed family. Wow! I am sure it's a day full of mixed emotions. ALL the kids look older! Prayers for your next year together.
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