The family hosted Sergei and 14-year-old Irena for their final two days in Utah, telling them at the airport that they intended to adopt them. Through a translator, Koch said she did her best to make sure the children understood her commitment to them.

"We are not going anywhere, nothing's going to happen to us," she said. "And I said to them, 'God brought us together, and he'll make sure that we come and pick you up.' "

With three children already at home from a previous marriage, Koch and her husband immediately began the lengthy adoption process. She hopes to be in Ukraine picking up the children in four months, although realistically she knows it could be anywhere between six and nine months from now.

In the meantime, Koch spent Friday afternoon putting together a care package for the children, now home in Sumy, Ukraine.

"I'm getting a letter off to them right away so they know that this was not a dream, it's really going to happen," she said.

The Save a Child Foundation has plans to bring a second group of children to Utah next year in late spring or early summer, perhaps with the group staying for up to a month.

The foundation also intends to assist the Ukrainian government on domestic matters, Vern Garrett said. Save a Child has identified four real estate sites, furnished by the government, on which the foundation will build large family homes that will house 10 to 15 children each. The government will hire couples to live at the homes and serve as "surrogate parents" to the children, Garrett said.

"They will try to give them as close to family life as they can," he said.

Save a Child has also hired a Ukrainian law student who will assist government-run orphanages in updating children's paperwork.

Faulty paperwork is often a barrier to adoption for the children, Garrett said, with many of the adoptable children being listed otherwise.

For more information on the Save a Child Foundation, visit www.saveachild.cc.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com