The Host Child - Marina

We hosted Marina for a Christmas trip in 2006 from the Ukraine. That was quite an experience, there had been a blizzard in our part of the world and Denver Airport was closed so we had to drive to Omaha for me to catch the airplane to NYC to meet Marina. So I leave Omaha late due to the weather to Atlanta where I missed the flight due to the late take off in Omaha so I spend the night in Atlanta, contact Dan Roberts of Kids to Adopt adoption agency who had organized the host trip to let him know and arrangements are made for just in case I don't make it to NYC before everyone else takes off. Well I do make it and Marina and I hang out in the JFK airport in NYC for 6 hours until our return flight to Nebraska where Jerry and the other kids are waiting for. We arrive really late at night and Jerry decides rather than get a motel room for the night he will drive all night to get home. So once Marina reached Alliance she was exhausted as we all were but she had, had experience the jet lag from Ukraine, to NYC to Omaha to Alliance where it took her a couple days to rest up before she started to get to know everyone. Marina spent 3 weeks over the holiday with our family and we fell in love with her and decided to go forward with the adoption. After Marina returned to the Ukraine Jerry and I moved quickly to get all the paperwork in before her 16th birthday January 24th. It all worked out and in December 2007 Marina officially became Marina Grace Gibbons and came home to join the ranks of being the oldest daughter in a large family. Marina has had a rather difficult time adjusting to rules, the concept of family and not being the only child. She is currently working on her GED and preparing for her wedding Dec. 30, 2009 to Lyman Aguallo. She is doing great on her education and we are very proud of her.