A Song in My Heart, Feathers in My Hair

We had the most amazing experience last night. There are truly no words to describe what we saw and how we felt as we stood in historic Saint Sophia's square and watched the open-air performance of a circus troupe from Marseille, France.

The experience is beyond description--we will never be able to fully capture with words or pictures, the sights, sounds and emotion of the night when acrobats dressed like angels emerged from the cathedral and flew across the square on high wires. What you see in the picture below are feathers, not snow. They were gorgeous, and people reached up, smiling and laughing, trying to catch them as they fell.

I had to choke back tears as we stood in that square, tucked in among thousands of Ukrainian nationals, trying to take a mental snapshot of this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime night. The people here are proud, and they should be. This is a beautiful and vibrant country. There are many intersecting layers to the past, present and future of Ukraine. There is a very rich history with both tough and uplifting aspects.

This is the life our little girl comes from. It is a life that--unfortunately, for some reasons--is not in her future, but is part of her nonetheless. And now it is part of us. We will take her home with a great respect and appreciation for both her country and ours. We would never have had these moments, these deep and incredibly meaningful moments, if it were not for her and this journey.

We are so happy that so many of you are taking it along with us. We are all enriched through it...