Sorry it took so long, but...
YES!!! We are FINALLY HOME!!!
We got home Saturday night on June 16th. It was SO GOOD to be home. I was kissing the ground when we got inside the airport. It took us awhile to complete the blog, because our internet was down due to some changes with our internet provider while we were gone. We finally got up to speed later in the week, and it just kept slipping my mind to do it until now.
We're very proud of the girls. This was a brave thing for them to let go of what they have always known, and allow themselves to be adopted into a new family, in a new country. All things considered, I think they are handling the whole move very well. This past week has been fairly relaxed, with us just all getting used to each other. The big thing that they like to do is cook. Our last week in Kiev, the housesitter (Vika), showed them a few tricks in the kitchen, and that really got them interested. Now they want to cook something every day. No one's complaining, because what they have been making is very good. Pretty good for 1st time cooks!
Last night, the church threw a party for the girls. There was ice cream and cake, and they gave them each a new bible and some money to be buy some clothes. The kids were thrilled. This week we're going to start a regimen of English lessons on the computer, and we are going to try and bring in an English tutor, as well, especially for Sveta, so that we can get her into college as early as possible (hoping for Jan 2008). Layna and Olya are probably going to be a junior and sophomore in high school in the fall.
We are so thankful and blessed with our new family, and we are looking forward to all the new things to come.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
It's like a comedy of errors...
No kidding. Every day it's something.
Today, we DID actually get really good news...we got our tickets!!! We leave Saturday morning for home!! Praise God!
But, when I went down to the airline (for the 3rd time this week, because they won't pick up the phone there), I found out that our credit card is frozen, because there is a fraud alert placed on it, because someone has been racking up fraudulent charges back in the States. Our credit card company caught it right away, but has had it frozen, waiting for us to call. Nice time to find out, when I'm trying to buy tickets to get back home.
But, compared to all of the problems this past two weeks, this is a small problem. Bottom line...we should be coming home Saturday!!
Today, we DID actually get really good news...we got our tickets!!! We leave Saturday morning for home!! Praise God!
But, when I went down to the airline (for the 3rd time this week, because they won't pick up the phone there), I found out that our credit card is frozen, because there is a fraud alert placed on it, because someone has been racking up fraudulent charges back in the States. Our credit card company caught it right away, but has had it frozen, waiting for us to call. Nice time to find out, when I'm trying to buy tickets to get back home.
But, compared to all of the problems this past two weeks, this is a small problem. Bottom line...we should be coming home Saturday!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Good news/Bad news
Good news...we got our visas for the girls, which basically means the paperwork is done with regards to the adoption.
Bad news...we could not confirm flights for all of us tomorrow. The earliest we can fly out is Saturday (2 more days of sitting around). We have 3 confirmed tickets for the girls, and are waiting for two more for Janet and myself. Due to our circumstances, we were bumped up to the top of the waiting list. If two people cancel their flights between now and Saturday, we're on our way home.
You know it just seems like things are against us, kind of like one of those dreams where you feel like you are running as hard as you can, but you are in slow motion. It's just like that. Even today, the (Ukranian) security at the American Embassy was trying to keep us from entering. "But we're AMERICANS!!!" we kept telling them, and they said that they were just too busy inside to be helping us today!
I'm telling you...we are in the Twilight Zone! I called inside, and someone told them to let us in, and then we had to wait a couple of hours for visas that they had called and said were ready to be picked up. More craziness.
As bad is things have been, we are still in a safe place, and with friends, and well taken care of. We have a things to be thankful for...BUT we are SOOOOOO praying for those tickets for Saturday, so we can get home.
Bad news...we could not confirm flights for all of us tomorrow. The earliest we can fly out is Saturday (2 more days of sitting around). We have 3 confirmed tickets for the girls, and are waiting for two more for Janet and myself. Due to our circumstances, we were bumped up to the top of the waiting list. If two people cancel their flights between now and Saturday, we're on our way home.
You know it just seems like things are against us, kind of like one of those dreams where you feel like you are running as hard as you can, but you are in slow motion. It's just like that. Even today, the (Ukranian) security at the American Embassy was trying to keep us from entering. "But we're AMERICANS!!!" we kept telling them, and they said that they were just too busy inside to be helping us today!
I'm telling you...we are in the Twilight Zone! I called inside, and someone told them to let us in, and then we had to wait a couple of hours for visas that they had called and said were ready to be picked up. More craziness.
As bad is things have been, we are still in a safe place, and with friends, and well taken care of. We have a things to be thankful for...BUT we are SOOOOOO praying for those tickets for Saturday, so we can get home.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
WE ARE ON STANDBY :(
Our plans fell through. We were scheduled to leave on June 13th, but there was a problem with the paperwork when we gave it to the Embassy. (There were some records that were given as copies, and the Embassy insisted that they had to be originals. Our facilitator insisted that they were wrong, that they had processed families before us with copies, and not originals, but the Embassy insisted.). So, we had to cancel our flight for the 13th.
Now for the REALLY bad news...
I rescheduled a flight for Thursday, June 14th. The problem is that they would not guarantee a flight for us out of Kiev, and said I was 'automatically' on a waiting list, whether there were seats or not. All our other flights after Kiev are okay and can be confirmed. So, tomorrow, I am supposed to call the airline and ask to confirm our flight. If they confirm the flight, then we are okay for the 14th, just different times than originally scheduled.
If they don't confirm the flight, then we wait until the next day, and try to confirm again...and so on until we get a flight OUTTA HERE! I tried a different approach and asked how far out they would have to schedule us in order to confirm a flight, and because the way the airline works, they could not schedule us UNTIL JULY!!!!!!!
So, here we are, HELD HOSTAGE AGAIN!!!
We've all kind of fallen apart today. We were all ready to leave for tomorrow, and after having such a rough time last week, this news was pretty hard to take, lots of crying, kids were depressed for awhile, etc. But, we finally pulled ourselves together in "family style" and are now back in a positive mindframe. Hopefully, we will get confirmation tomorrow, and all will be well to leave on the 14th.
PLEASE PRAY FOR US!! This will really kill us if we have to keep waiting each day to find out whether we can go home or not.
Now for the REALLY bad news...
I rescheduled a flight for Thursday, June 14th. The problem is that they would not guarantee a flight for us out of Kiev, and said I was 'automatically' on a waiting list, whether there were seats or not. All our other flights after Kiev are okay and can be confirmed. So, tomorrow, I am supposed to call the airline and ask to confirm our flight. If they confirm the flight, then we are okay for the 14th, just different times than originally scheduled.
If they don't confirm the flight, then we wait until the next day, and try to confirm again...and so on until we get a flight OUTTA HERE! I tried a different approach and asked how far out they would have to schedule us in order to confirm a flight, and because the way the airline works, they could not schedule us UNTIL JULY!!!!!!!
So, here we are, HELD HOSTAGE AGAIN!!!
We've all kind of fallen apart today. We were all ready to leave for tomorrow, and after having such a rough time last week, this news was pretty hard to take, lots of crying, kids were depressed for awhile, etc. But, we finally pulled ourselves together in "family style" and are now back in a positive mindframe. Hopefully, we will get confirmation tomorrow, and all will be well to leave on the 14th.
PLEASE PRAY FOR US!! This will really kill us if we have to keep waiting each day to find out whether we can go home or not.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
WE GOT OUR MIRACLE!!
Sorry about the last post. I know...pretty negative and dire. But, that was the situation. But, in one day, and by God's grace, it has all turned around.
Basically, the last thing that we needed before we could leave Berdyansk was to have the girls' passports changed to their new names. Everyone has a general passport, kind of like our driver's license, for ID. Then there is the international passport, like the one we have. That is the one that we need to get visas and fly home. The procedure is to change the general passport (in Berdyansk), then go to the county seat (Zapareezha), and get a new international version, using the general passport as a reference.
On Thursday, we went to the Berdyansk office to do what was supposed to be a routine passport change, and the woman literally said 'she didn't feel like doing it' and would do it on Tuesday!!! We were all stunned. My facilitator didn't know what to think. So, she told me to say something in English that made it look like I was trying to get her sympathy (what I would call 'begging'), and she would just interpret for me, and try to get her to change her mind. It worked, sort of...because she then said she would MAYBE do it Saturday. Maybe?!? Basically, the way our schedule was going, and how long it took to do the Zap. passport, if she didn't do it on Saturday, we were definitely NOT going to make the Wednesday flights. She was being a real pain in the rear!
Friday, Nataliya (our facilitator) said we should take a chance. We went ahead to the Zapareezha office to sympathize with the head person of passports to see if he could help. We were just hoping he would make that evil...er, I mean...Berdyansk office lady...do her job. Instead, he said he would just go ahead and give us the international passports, which is all that we needed anyway!!
Praise God, Thank You, Lord!!!
We spent the whole day in Zapareezha processing them, along with tying up some loose ends. Then Nataliya said that we were done, and since she had to drive back to Kiev, too, she could arrange a van to pick us up and take us right away, and she would lead the way! Didn't have to ask us twice!! We called Sveta, and told her to get her sisters packin'...because we were on our way! Sveta got crazy excited. She had been waiting for that message since we got here. We picked them up after normal hours at the orphanage, thankfully the director stayed to see them off. It was very tearful for everyone. About a gillion friends and some employees were there to say goodbye to them, AND US!! It was difficult to say goodbye, to say the least. I was a little thankful that we were in a hurry, so that we did not prolong the goodbye.
Then we ran to the hotel, and spent a few hours packing, and then skee-dadled at just before midnight. We arrived in Kiev, 9 hours later, and are just now settling in (Saturday morning) at my friend, Steve Weber's, house (where we stayed when we first got here). The car ride was awful. The van was new, but you would swear that it didn't have any shocks, and the road was like an old county road that needed to be fixed up...potholes, crazy bumps and dips, everything. Not really any rest, as we had hoped during the night's ride, but, we made it in one piece. Unfortunately, Steve's family is gone now on a summer vacation back to the States, so we are here by ourselves. But, it still feels good to finally be on the direction of home.
Hopefully, we will complete everything and have our visas at the beginning of this week, and then head for home!!
Basically, the last thing that we needed before we could leave Berdyansk was to have the girls' passports changed to their new names. Everyone has a general passport, kind of like our driver's license, for ID. Then there is the international passport, like the one we have. That is the one that we need to get visas and fly home. The procedure is to change the general passport (in Berdyansk), then go to the county seat (Zapareezha), and get a new international version, using the general passport as a reference.
On Thursday, we went to the Berdyansk office to do what was supposed to be a routine passport change, and the woman literally said 'she didn't feel like doing it' and would do it on Tuesday!!! We were all stunned. My facilitator didn't know what to think. So, she told me to say something in English that made it look like I was trying to get her sympathy (what I would call 'begging'), and she would just interpret for me, and try to get her to change her mind. It worked, sort of...because she then said she would MAYBE do it Saturday. Maybe?!? Basically, the way our schedule was going, and how long it took to do the Zap. passport, if she didn't do it on Saturday, we were definitely NOT going to make the Wednesday flights. She was being a real pain in the rear!
Friday, Nataliya (our facilitator) said we should take a chance. We went ahead to the Zapareezha office to sympathize with the head person of passports to see if he could help. We were just hoping he would make that evil...er, I mean...Berdyansk office lady...do her job. Instead, he said he would just go ahead and give us the international passports, which is all that we needed anyway!!
Praise God, Thank You, Lord!!!
We spent the whole day in Zapareezha processing them, along with tying up some loose ends. Then Nataliya said that we were done, and since she had to drive back to Kiev, too, she could arrange a van to pick us up and take us right away, and she would lead the way! Didn't have to ask us twice!! We called Sveta, and told her to get her sisters packin'...because we were on our way! Sveta got crazy excited. She had been waiting for that message since we got here. We picked them up after normal hours at the orphanage, thankfully the director stayed to see them off. It was very tearful for everyone. About a gillion friends and some employees were there to say goodbye to them, AND US!! It was difficult to say goodbye, to say the least. I was a little thankful that we were in a hurry, so that we did not prolong the goodbye.
Then we ran to the hotel, and spent a few hours packing, and then skee-dadled at just before midnight. We arrived in Kiev, 9 hours later, and are just now settling in (Saturday morning) at my friend, Steve Weber's, house (where we stayed when we first got here). The car ride was awful. The van was new, but you would swear that it didn't have any shocks, and the road was like an old county road that needed to be fixed up...potholes, crazy bumps and dips, everything. Not really any rest, as we had hoped during the night's ride, but, we made it in one piece. Unfortunately, Steve's family is gone now on a summer vacation back to the States, so we are here by ourselves. But, it still feels good to finally be on the direction of home.
Hopefully, we will complete everything and have our visas at the beginning of this week, and then head for home!!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
HELD HOSTAGE!!
Sorry, but this will be a short update today, just to get everyone up to speed on our schedule for coming home.
Currently, we are being 'held hostage' here in Ukraine. We have been at the mercy of some very incredulous and insensitive gov't people, who just don't "feel" like doing their jobs and processing our paperwork in a timely fashion. One woman actually said, "I just don't feel like doing it today"!!! What should have taken two days, we are now going on 5 days and counting.
So, where once we had a week buffer and were thinking of coming home early, we are now barely going to make our original schedule, and are in jeopardy of overshooting that.
Please pray for favor for us these next two days. They are key to us getting out of here.
Currently, we are being 'held hostage' here in Ukraine. We have been at the mercy of some very incredulous and insensitive gov't people, who just don't "feel" like doing their jobs and processing our paperwork in a timely fashion. One woman actually said, "I just don't feel like doing it today"!!! What should have taken two days, we are now going on 5 days and counting.
So, where once we had a week buffer and were thinking of coming home early, we are now barely going to make our original schedule, and are in jeopardy of overshooting that.
Please pray for favor for us these next two days. They are key to us getting out of here.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Today...we are Ukranian parents!!!
Today is Monday, June 4th, and our 10 day waiting period is officially over. Legally speaking, the kids are ours, at least here in Ukraine. Now we will begin the work to have them be legally ours in the United States and to get the visas to come home. For now, though, we are Ukranian parents!!!
We lucked out today, as our facilitator figured out a way to save us a 3 hour car trip for doing paperwork that most of the parents have to do. So, we have the day off and are going to do some more shopping for clothes, and a few other odds and ends. 'Mom' is starting to go into packing mode.
Tomorrow, we have to travel by car all day to at least 2 cities to finalize some documents. Then, Wednesday, we make one more 3 hour car ride to another city to finish the paperwork we have to do down here, and then we head to Kiev!! (i.e. we'll be coming home soon after that!!!) :)
We lucked out today, as our facilitator figured out a way to save us a 3 hour car trip for doing paperwork that most of the parents have to do. So, we have the day off and are going to do some more shopping for clothes, and a few other odds and ends. 'Mom' is starting to go into packing mode.
Tomorrow, we have to travel by car all day to at least 2 cities to finalize some documents. Then, Wednesday, we make one more 3 hour car ride to another city to finish the paperwork we have to do down here, and then we head to Kiev!! (i.e. we'll be coming home soon after that!!!) :)
Mar 31st and June 1st
Thursday Mar 31st
We found out today that the court made a mistake when counting our 10 days of our 10-day waiting period. Today was to be the last day of the waiting period. But it turns out that tomorrow is the actual last day (due to a holiday that was forgotten). This would seem like no big deal…what’s one day, right? But, there are only certain days during the week to sign off certain documents, so this will actually push us back at least 3 days. So much for our perfect schedule!! Oh, well…So, today we did some paperwork that we were going to save for another day, hoping to cut off some lead time. With a few miracles, we could still leave for Kiev in the middle of next week. There we spend two days doing medicals and visas, and then we head for home.
Friday June 1st
A Day at the Park…AQUA PARK THAT IS!!
Today was supposed to have been spent on travel between several cities, completing changes to birth certificates (the girls‘ names need to be recorded), and making preparations for visas. But, because of the error in calculating our 10 days, today ended up being a free day. So, we went to a new water park that was just finished a week ago. I had each of the kids invite their best friends, and we invited a couple of other older kids whom we have gotten to know (Valik and Tanya). And since we went on a Friday, it wasn’t crowded at all. The kids could literally go up and down the slides as much as they wanted without
a wait. We also got in a little water soccer. Basically, it was a big oversized slip and slide with goals on each end. No matter how you went about kicking the soccer ball, you were going to go down. Luckily the bottom was well padded, kind of like the moonwalks that kids get in and jump around at the amusement park. So, no one got hurt. The day was nothing but Fun in the Sun.
We stayed there until about mid-afternoon, then we changed clothes and went to the CBN Training Center. This is one of the charities that Janet and I help sponsor. It is there to help kids as they are graduating from the orphanage and give them some extra training in computer and English, and offers some Christian counseling as well as a place to stay, if needed.
(Kids graduate from the orphanage at 16, so they are not necessarily ready for the rea
l world. The statistics show that about 60% of the kids will turn to crime or prostitution to get by.)
We had great timing, because our friend Nataliya Khomyak (a former Ukranian resident) from CBN in Virginia was there, and they were throwing an end-of-the-year pizza party for the kids who had been coming to the Center. The building was built out nicely, and had a dozen computers for the kids to work on. While they were showing pictures on an overhead, we were very proud to see our Sveta in most of the pictures helping with the buildout. We had not known about this, and it turns out that she had
spent quite a bit of time and energy in its development. As I said, we were very proud to find this out. She thinks highly of the center, and let us know that it was really a big contribution to the kids in the community, especially the orphanage. She was proud that her new parents had helped fund it. There is still work being done there, but it was very functional and it was obvious that the kids who use the facility love it. Misha (Nataliya’s cousin) and his wife, Luda, are doing a great job running the place. Our money is well spent there.
This weekend is going to be pretty low key. Will probably do some shopping for things that the kids need for the trip home. Like, we noticed that the sandals that Olya and Layna have been wearing now that it is warmer are quite old and falling apart (as most of their shoes are). So, we were going to get them new ones for the trip home.
We found out today that the court made a mistake when counting our 10 days of our 10-day waiting period. Today was to be the last day of the waiting period. But it turns out that tomorrow is the actual last day (due to a holiday that was forgotten). This would seem like no big deal…what’s one day, right? But, there are only certain days during the week to sign off certain documents, so this will actually push us back at least 3 days. So much for our perfect schedule!! Oh, well…So, today we did some paperwork that we were going to save for another day, hoping to cut off some lead time. With a few miracles, we could still leave for Kiev in the middle of next week. There we spend two days doing medicals and visas, and then we head for home.
Friday June 1st
A Day at the Park…AQUA PARK THAT IS!!
Today was supposed to have been spent on travel between several cities, completing changes to birth certificates (the girls‘ names need to be recorded), and making preparations for visas. But, because of the error in calculating our 10 days, today ended up being a free day. So, we went to a new water park that was just finished a week ago. I had each of the kids invite their best friends, and we invited a couple of other older kids whom we have gotten to know (Valik and Tanya). And since we went on a Friday, it wasn’t crowded at all. The kids could literally go up and down the slides as much as they wanted without
a wait. We also got in a little water soccer. Basically, it was a big oversized slip and slide with goals on each end. No matter how you went about kicking the soccer ball, you were going to go down. Luckily the bottom was well padded, kind of like the moonwalks that kids get in and jump around at the amusement park. So, no one got hurt. The day was nothing but Fun in the Sun.We stayed there until about mid-afternoon, then we changed clothes and went to the CBN Training Center. This is one of the charities that Janet and I help sponsor. It is there to help kids as they are graduating from the orphanage and give them some extra training in computer and English, and offers some Christian counseling as well as a place to stay, if needed.
(Kids graduate from the orphanage at 16, so they are not necessarily ready for the rea
l world. The statistics show that about 60% of the kids will turn to crime or prostitution to get by.)We had great timing, because our friend Nataliya Khomyak (a former Ukranian resident) from CBN in Virginia was there, and they were throwing an end-of-the-year pizza party for the kids who had been coming to the Center. The building was built out nicely, and had a dozen computers for the kids to work on. While they were showing pictures on an overhead, we were very proud to see our Sveta in most of the pictures helping with the buildout. We had not known about this, and it turns out that she had
spent quite a bit of time and energy in its development. As I said, we were very proud to find this out. She thinks highly of the center, and let us know that it was really a big contribution to the kids in the community, especially the orphanage. She was proud that her new parents had helped fund it. There is still work being done there, but it was very functional and it was obvious that the kids who use the facility love it. Misha (Nataliya’s cousin) and his wife, Luda, are doing a great job running the place. Our money is well spent there.This weekend is going to be pretty low key. Will probably do some shopping for things that the kids need for the trip home. Like, we noticed that the sandals that Olya and Layna have been wearing now that it is warmer are quite old and falling apart (as most of their shoes are). So, we were going to get them new ones for the trip home.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Counting down the days!
Wednesday May 30th
Basically, we are just “counting down the days” now. (Yes, Primo, “You were right!”…there, I said it. Now you can say, “I told you so!” ha ha). We have been enjoying the downtime, but we are getting the itch to go home.
Sunday, the kids begged to go to the beach again. Hey Da
d and Uncle Levi…look who likes to fish!!
Monday was a religious holiday here in Ukraine. So, we had the whole day with the kids. But Olya wanted to hang with her friends that day, so we just hung around the school that day. Unfortunately, we had forgotten our camera, because we missed taking some great pictures of a water fight.
The older kids can go down by the seashore, but the younger ones are not allowed to go. So, on a hot day like it was on Monday, they break out 1 liter plastic bottles that they have poked some holes into the cap, and fill with water, and squirt away. At first, we were just sitting around the playground, and we saw a handful of kids, maybe 8 years old, just pouring water over the heads to stay cool. Then Janet got involved by asking one of the kids if she could do it for him, sort of a makeshift shower. The boy loved it. Then another wanted it, and it just sort of snowballed from there turning into a water fight. Janet held her own pretty good, until it was 4 on 1. Then she was getting pretty soaked. So, then I joined in to even it up a bit. Basically, we all got drenched. What fun!!!
Yesterday, we bought some movie tickets for Shrek III as a surprise. But, when we went to pick up the kids, we found out that Olya had ‘forgotten’ that she had finals that day, and she was to take tests that afternoon. (I say ‘forgotten’, because we think she thought she would get out of taking tests, because we were there. But, Galena, the orphanage director, made her
take them anyway.). So, we had one extra ticket to burn, so we invited Layna’s redheaded friend, Tanya. (Some of the folks in Carolina/Virginia might remember her from her visit back in Christmas 2005). Tanya is a sweet girl, and we had hoped we could include her at some time…so yesterday was the day. It was short day, as we only got in the movie and some computer games back at the room, but she LOVED it. She was so thankful to just be included.
Today, we have no plans, but we thought we might buy some cheap squirt guns to give to the little kids. Otherwise, we are just waiting for tomorrow when our facilitator returns from her 10 day break, and we start doing the final paperwork push and make plans for COMING HOME!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAWRENCE!!! (May 28th).
Basically, we are just “counting down the days” now. (Yes, Primo, “You were right!”…there, I said it. Now you can say, “I told you so!” ha ha). We have been enjoying the downtime, but we are getting the itch to go home.
Sunday, the kids begged to go to the beach again. Hey Da
d and Uncle Levi…look who likes to fish!!Monday was a religious holiday here in Ukraine. So, we had the whole day with the kids. But Olya wanted to hang with her friends that day, so we just hung around the school that day. Unfortunately, we had forgotten our camera, because we missed taking some great pictures of a water fight.
The older kids can go down by the seashore, but the younger ones are not allowed to go. So, on a hot day like it was on Monday, they break out 1 liter plastic bottles that they have poked some holes into the cap, and fill with water, and squirt away. At first, we were just sitting around the playground, and we saw a handful of kids, maybe 8 years old, just pouring water over the heads to stay cool. Then Janet got involved by asking one of the kids if she could do it for him, sort of a makeshift shower. The boy loved it. Then another wanted it, and it just sort of snowballed from there turning into a water fight. Janet held her own pretty good, until it was 4 on 1. Then she was getting pretty soaked. So, then I joined in to even it up a bit. Basically, we all got drenched. What fun!!!
Yesterday, we bought some movie tickets for Shrek III as a surprise. But, when we went to pick up the kids, we found out that Olya had ‘forgotten’ that she had finals that day, and she was to take tests that afternoon. (I say ‘forgotten’, because we think she thought she would get out of taking tests, because we were there. But, Galena, the orphanage director, made her
take them anyway.). So, we had one extra ticket to burn, so we invited Layna’s redheaded friend, Tanya. (Some of the folks in Carolina/Virginia might remember her from her visit back in Christmas 2005). Tanya is a sweet girl, and we had hoped we could include her at some time…so yesterday was the day. It was short day, as we only got in the movie and some computer games back at the room, but she LOVED it. She was so thankful to just be included.Today, we have no plans, but we thought we might buy some cheap squirt guns to give to the little kids. Otherwise, we are just waiting for tomorrow when our facilitator returns from her 10 day break, and we start doing the final paperwork push and make plans for COMING HOME!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAWRENCE!!! (May 28th).
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Saturday May 26th
Tuesday was our pinnacle day this week. We had our court date, and technically speaking the kids are ours, pending a 10 day waiting period we are in now to see if anyone will contest/appeal it. Not likely to happen. We sent Nataliya (our facilitator) home to Kiev during the 10 day wait,.JPG)
for some R&R. She was grateful. We’ve basically got the lay of the land now, and can get by without her.
Wednesday, we ended up staying at the orphanage, to watch Olya help entertain some kids for their birthday party. The orphanage does a quarterly birthday party, and includes only the kids who had birthdays from the previous 3 months. Olya was one of the singers f
or the entertainment. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures or video, because she had forgotten to tell us the night before. All of the birthday kids got a plate with a piece of fruit, two chocolate covered cookies, a meringue tart, a candy bar and a box of juice. A handful of designated older kids (like Olya), put on a show, and organized a few games for the audience. After the food and show, each child got to come up and pick a door prize from items that were donated to the orphanage. 90% of the items were a small stuffed animal of some sort. Amidst all the fun, Janet said to me, “Remember…none of these kids have parents here to help celebrate their birthday.” That put a knot in my throat, and I couldn’t help but to feel so much compassion for all 
the kids. We wished we could take the ALL home.
Thursday was uneventful. I found a vendor who has American DVD movies that are translated into Russian. So, I bought a handful for the kids to watch in the hotel room. They were thrilled. They liked hanging out in the room, eating snacks and just watching movies. I tried to pick movies that Janet and I have already seen, and already knew the plot, so that we could kind of follow along, too.
Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary. We took the kids down to the boardwalk
and found a man who does hand sketched portraits. So, we had Olya and Sveta sit for portraits, and scheduled to do Layna and Janet tomorrow. This guy was very quirky. He was adamant that not see his work until it was completed. We sat on a bench out in front of him so he could keep an eye on us. If any of us wanted to get up and walk around, he would quickly cover up his work, so we could not see it! Sheesh! But, as you can see, he did some good work. After that, we dropped the kids off, and Janet and I went out to eat and ate some unbelievably decadent cake.
The last few days, Layna has really been trying to connect with us. She is really tender hearted, and is very attentive and aware of others. Sveta is all over the place, as she is perplexed with all of the options that are now presenting her, now that she gets to go to America. She’s gone everywhere from just staying at home for awhile and getting settled, to joining the NASA space program and possible becoming an astronaut! Just kidding, but you get the idea. Olya has been a little down lately. She has a ‘crush’ at school,
and between leaving him and the orphanage, the weight of what is happening is starting to show on her. It is difficult to see her this way. But, we understand, as this is a big change for all of us. Praying that God will keep his hand on us, and see us through this transition in flying colors.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend everybody and…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!!!!!! (May 24th)
Tuesday was our pinnacle day this week. We had our court date, and technically speaking the kids are ours, pending a 10 day waiting period we are in now to see if anyone will contest/appeal it. Not likely to happen. We sent Nataliya (our facilitator) home to Kiev during the 10 day wait,
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for some R&R. She was grateful. We’ve basically got the lay of the land now, and can get by without her.Wednesday, we ended up staying at the orphanage, to watch Olya help entertain some kids for their birthday party. The orphanage does a quarterly birthday party, and includes only the kids who had birthdays from the previous 3 months. Olya was one of the singers f
or the entertainment. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures or video, because she had forgotten to tell us the night before. All of the birthday kids got a plate with a piece of fruit, two chocolate covered cookies, a meringue tart, a candy bar and a box of juice. A handful of designated older kids (like Olya), put on a show, and organized a few games for the audience. After the food and show, each child got to come up and pick a door prize from items that were donated to the orphanage. 90% of the items were a small stuffed animal of some sort. Amidst all the fun, Janet said to me, “Remember…none of these kids have parents here to help celebrate their birthday.” That put a knot in my throat, and I couldn’t help but to feel so much compassion for all 
the kids. We wished we could take the ALL home.Thursday was uneventful. I found a vendor who has American DVD movies that are translated into Russian. So, I bought a handful for the kids to watch in the hotel room. They were thrilled. They liked hanging out in the room, eating snacks and just watching movies. I tried to pick movies that Janet and I have already seen, and already knew the plot, so that we could kind of follow along, too.
Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary. We took the kids down to the boardwalk
and found a man who does hand sketched portraits. So, we had Olya and Sveta sit for portraits, and scheduled to do Layna and Janet tomorrow. This guy was very quirky. He was adamant that not see his work until it was completed. We sat on a bench out in front of him so he could keep an eye on us. If any of us wanted to get up and walk around, he would quickly cover up his work, so we could not see it! Sheesh! But, as you can see, he did some good work. After that, we dropped the kids off, and Janet and I went out to eat and ate some unbelievably decadent cake.The last few days, Layna has really been trying to connect with us. She is really tender hearted, and is very attentive and aware of others. Sveta is all over the place, as she is perplexed with all of the options that are now presenting her, now that she gets to go to America. She’s gone everywhere from just staying at home for awhile and getting settled, to joining the NASA space program and possible becoming an astronaut! Just kidding, but you get the idea. Olya has been a little down lately. She has a ‘crush’ at school,
and between leaving him and the orphanage, the weight of what is happening is starting to show on her. It is difficult to see her this way. But, we understand, as this is a big change for all of us. Praying that God will keep his hand on us, and see us through this transition in flying colors.Happy Memorial Day Weekend everybody and…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!!!!!! (May 24th)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday May 21st
Today we ran downtown to get pictures taken of the girls for their American passports. Afterward, we returned to the internot (orphanage), and gave away a suitcase full of new toys. The kids went nuts. One of the big hits was the kites that we brought. They would get the kite up in the air, and then run with it. If it fell down, whichever kid caught it, got to run with it next. 
We also ran into Valik, a friend of Sveta’s. He is quite the painter. We ended up buying this painting from him.
We found out that we got our approval
Tuesday May 22nd
We had our day in court today, and the judge said, “Congratulations, you can now be a family!” It was an awesome moment that has FINALLY come. We have been on cloud 9 all day, and can hardly feel like it is real. Now we start our 10-day wait, to see if anyone wants to appeal. If not, we go get new birth certificates made with their new names, and then have them authenticated along with some side paperwork which will take a couple of days, and then we‘re off to Kiev to get the visas, and then we‘re heading home! By the way, their new names are:
Svetlana Victoria-Marie Benson
Layna Victoria-Marie Benson
Olya Victoria-Marie Benson
Yes, you don’t have triple vision. They all have the same middle name. We decided to do this for a number of reasons. The first was that the kids wanted a name that reflected their new dad and mom. Also, it is very common in Ukraine, for the daughter’s middle name to be some version of the
father’s first name. All of their middle name(s) were Viktorivna, (their birth father’s name was Victor, too). So, we all thought it was very interesting that their new dad had the same name as their original dad, and their new middle name was similar to what they already had. It’s also common on Janet’s side for the middle names to be from the parents.Sveta did not want the day to end, so she begged to sleep over tonight. So, we ran Layna and Olya back to the orphanage, because they have school tomorrow, and Sveta stayed with us. Oh boy! Janet was talking about the two of them getting up and doing some hair tomorrow morning. I think I’d better find something to do tomorrow morning!
(We took the picture of the billboard on the way to get the pizza and ice cream, because it has 3 newborns, and the billboard says, "We are ready for everything now!")Sunday, May 20, 2007
Mother's Day
Sunday May 20thJanet FINALLY got her long awaited 1st Mother’s Day!!! When the girls found out that Mother’s Day was last week, they asked if we could celebrate this week. So, for Mother’s Day, we went out on the peninsula to the beach today. It was great weather, lots of snacks and fun in the sun. Later, we went back to the hotel, where the girls had a surprise for Mom. First, they made a speech about how they finally had a Mom again, and how much they loved her. Then they presented a cross-stitch that they had come up with in just a couple of days, and they sung a song that they had written for Mom. Sveta
translated it afterward, and it had something to do with a mother and daughter swimming in a rough sea…not really sure, so let’s say it was a rough translation…:). But, Mama still loved her song. Then we broke out with some cake that I had found this morning in the market.It was a great day for Mama. She had a big smile on her face the whole day!!
Tomorrow, we will go get pictures of the girls for the AMERICAN passports, and if we get the reply from the SDA tomorrow as planned, then we will go to court on Tuesday, and start ou
r 10-day wait.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Random Photos
It is Saturday morning, and it appears that our week was succesful regarding the paperwork. So, now we are waiting for an approval from the SDA to appear in court, which is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. So, nothing to do now, but hang out. Tomorrow, the girls want to take us to the pennisula (beach) to celebrate Mother's Day. They did not know about it last week, and feel bad that they missed it, so we're going to do it tomorrow. I gave the camera to the girls off and on this week, here are a few photos.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
May 14 - 16th (incl. Sveta visits mother's grave)
Summary of last 3 Days
Monday May 14th - Paperwork Week
Today was the start of our major push for paperwork in our attempt to get a court date. Basically, we are putting together a petition that needs to be approved by the SDA, to get a court appearance. Natasha got up early and hit the road at 8am by herself. She visited several places that included the orphanage, medical facility, and the judge’s office. She visited the judge to discuss Sveta’s case and how to present it since she is 18 now. Historically there are not many that get adopted after 17, but it is not unheard of. Natasha presented different legal briefs to the judge to acclimate the judge and thankfully the judge was somewhat familiar with this scenario and how to present the case, so between the judge Natasha, they know how to put it together.
By 11:00, Natasha had put together quite an impressive stack of paperwork to be put in our petition. Then it needed to be notarized. Our appointment wasn’t until 3:30pm, so we had a little lunch at the hotel (salads and mashed potatoes, although this time the potatoes were an instant mix, yuck!), and then a quick visit to the orphanage, to get some more info on Sveta to take to the notary’s office. This allowed us about an hour to visit with Lena and Olya. Then off to the notary’s office. To get a notary is a big deal over here, not like in the States where you can go basically anywhere and get one. Here, the notary has a formal education, and they act in a similar fashion as maybe a lawyer at the DMV. By that, hopefully, you get the jist of what it was like. The whole time he never acknowledged that Janet and I were even in the room. No ‘hello’ or nod or handshake. Just a get the job done and get out attitude in there. He was in a fancy shiny silver, Italian suit, and designer shirt, tie and shoes. Very stylish and en vogue! He looked very serious and busy, and irritated somewhat that there were ACTUALLY people there in his office wanting him to do some work, or at least that‘s the way he acted. Basically, he typed all the different info that we had accumulated into a computer that would jumble it all together and eventually make official summary documents to be notarized and sent to the SDA. The time there was about a half hour. He printed out the official documents, that we signed and he stamped. Done!…and off we went, back to the orphanage. When we got back, the girls were all sitting there, lined up on a bench in front of the orphanage, big smiles on their faces because we made it back. They took us on a walk outside of the orphanage grounds. We walked for a few minutes, working our way through some apartment complexes, and when we came out on the other side, we were on a lookout point that looks out over the city and the sea. It was beautiful. Sveta explained to me that she likes to get up each morning for a short jog to this spot to start her day. I told her that I like to get up early in the morning for a jog, too, so she asked me to show up tomorrow to jog together. :)
Tuesday May 15th - The girls want Chiropractic!
Got up and ran up to the orphanage to run with Sveta. She made it at 6am sharp. It was a short jog, just 10 or 15 minutes all together, but we stood out at the lookout point for a little while talking. It was a sweet time for us. We ran back to the orphanage, dropped her off, and ran back to the hotel to meet up with Janet for breakfast and some browsing at the market (flea market). Then we met with Natasha for a meal, and then went over to the orphanage. Some paperwork needed to be done there for Sveta. While that was being done, we hung out in the playground with the girls, and watched the older boys and some of the male staff play a heated game of soccer. During the soccer match, Janet noticed that her neck was bothering her. So, I gave her a neck adjustment while she was sitting there, and the girls watched intently. The Ukranians are not that familiar with chiropractic, so we explained it to them as best we could, and also explained that this was the job that Papa did all day. They were a little startled by the movement and the noise, but they were not scared. Immediately after the adjustment, Sveta asked if I would ever treat them. “Of course!”, I said, and all three were very pleased that their new Papa would take care of them. And Papa was happy that they wanted it. I wasn’t
too sure how they would perceive it, and it is not anything easy to translate. After the visit, Janet, Natasha and I left and went down seaside for a meal. The sunset was really nice, so I got a quick ride back up to a lookout point next to the orphanage, and took this picture.
Wednesday May 16th - Visiting the Girls’ Birthplace and mother’s grave sight
Today, we had to retrieve some paperwork from the girls’ birthplace. Sveta had the day off, so she went with us. We drove about an hour outside of Berdyansk to the county seat, and picked up some papers on the girls. There we found out that Sveta was probably born at home (in water, in the tub), and Lena and Olya were born at a hospital nearby. Then we drove about 10 minutes to where their home used to be. As we got closer, Sveta remembered where it was, and even started to give us directions. Can you imagine? That was around 12 years ago, and she was only like…6 years old. Pretty good memory!! The house was an old ‘dacha’ (country house
) out on the countryside. It was made of a concrete substance and was basically rubble. The property had been sold and someone had removed a lot of the material to use somewhere else. Only about 4 feet high of all the walls remained. It was about 20’x30’ and divided into 3 sections. Sveta climbed in and started remembering that 2 of the rooms were for sleeping (5 kids and 2 parents), and 1 kitchen, and storage area. Very rural and very tight quarters. There was also a small storage cellar, about 4’x4’ and 5’ deep along side the dacha. An old woman from next door came over to see what we were doing, and when she found out 
who Sveta was, she reminisced a little. Then she told us that the girls’ mother’s grave was not far from here. So Sveta asked if we could go see it. It was only a 2 minute drive from there. (Out of respect, I won’t post the pictures of the actual grave, but here is what the cemetery looked like. With this picture it is hard to see, but there are picnic tables next to the graves. That is a Ukranian thing, to have a meal (and maybe a shot of vodka), in memory of the loved one.) It was a small cemetery, but it was hard to find the mother’s grave. It turned out to not be marked, and to our surprise, there were two tiny graves right beside her’s. We found out that their mother had twins after Olya, but that they died within 1 year of their birth. A reason for their death wasn’t given. Sveta got very quiet then and wanted Janet to hold her. She became a little tearful, but mostly quiet. Then she asked Papa to hold her. You could only imagine what she must’ve been thinking. Not too long and she asked if we could leave. We came back to Berdyansk, and picked up Lena and her boyfriend (Volva), and went off for some pizza and ice cream (Olya had gone AWOL, visiting with a friend). Then Lena was asking if she could see the photos we took right away. So, after dinner, we ran over to the hotel, and put the pictures on the computer for her to see. She did not remember much of the dacha, and she didn’t have much to say about the cemetery pictures.
Nataliya has told us that our paperwork is going very efficiently. So, for those of you who are praying for us…KEEP IT UP!! If all goes well, we may end up AHEAD of schedule! Right now, our appointment for a court date is May 22nd (Tues).
Today was the start of our major push for paperwork in our attempt to get a court date. Basically, we are putting together a petition that needs to be approved by the SDA, to get a court appearance. Natasha got up early and hit the road at 8am by herself. She visited several places that included the orphanage, medical facility, and the judge’s office. She visited the judge to discuss Sveta’s case and how to present it since she is 18 now. Historically there are not many that get adopted after 17, but it is not unheard of. Natasha presented different legal briefs to the judge to acclimate the judge and thankfully the judge was somewhat familiar with this scenario and how to present the case, so between the judge Natasha, they know how to put it together.
By 11:00, Natasha had put together quite an impressive stack of paperwork to be put in our petition. Then it needed to be notarized. Our appointment wasn’t until 3:30pm, so we had a little lunch at the hotel (salads and mashed potatoes, although this time the potatoes were an instant mix, yuck!), and then a quick visit to the orphanage, to get some more info on Sveta to take to the notary’s office. This allowed us about an hour to visit with Lena and Olya. Then off to the notary’s office. To get a notary is a big deal over here, not like in the States where you can go basically anywhere and get one. Here, the notary has a formal education, and they act in a similar fashion as maybe a lawyer at the DMV. By that, hopefully, you get the jist of what it was like. The whole time he never acknowledged that Janet and I were even in the room. No ‘hello’ or nod or handshake. Just a get the job done and get out attitude in there. He was in a fancy shiny silver, Italian suit, and designer shirt, tie and shoes. Very stylish and en vogue! He looked very serious and busy, and irritated somewhat that there were ACTUALLY people there in his office wanting him to do some work, or at least that‘s the way he acted. Basically, he typed all the different info that we had accumulated into a computer that would jumble it all together and eventually make official summary documents to be notarized and sent to the SDA. The time there was about a half hour. He printed out the official documents, that we signed and he stamped. Done!…and off we went, back to the orphanage. When we got back, the girls were all sitting there, lined up on a bench in front of the orphanage, big smiles on their faces because we made it back. They took us on a walk outside of the orphanage grounds. We walked for a few minutes, working our way through some apartment complexes, and when we came out on the other side, we were on a lookout point that looks out over the city and the sea. It was beautiful. Sveta explained to me that she likes to get up each morning for a short jog to this spot to start her day. I told her that I like to get up early in the morning for a jog, too, so she asked me to show up tomorrow to jog together. :)
Tuesday May 15th - The girls want Chiropractic!
Got up and ran up to the orphanage to run with Sveta. She made it at 6am sharp. It was a short jog, just 10 or 15 minutes all together, but we stood out at the lookout point for a little while talking. It was a sweet time for us. We ran back to the orphanage, dropped her off, and ran back to the hotel to meet up with Janet for breakfast and some browsing at the market (flea market). Then we met with Natasha for a meal, and then went over to the orphanage. Some paperwork needed to be done there for Sveta. While that was being done, we hung out in the playground with the girls, and watched the older boys and some of the male staff play a heated game of soccer. During the soccer match, Janet noticed that her neck was bothering her. So, I gave her a neck adjustment while she was sitting there, and the girls watched intently. The Ukranians are not that familiar with chiropractic, so we explained it to them as best we could, and also explained that this was the job that Papa did all day. They were a little startled by the movement and the noise, but they were not scared. Immediately after the adjustment, Sveta asked if I would ever treat them. “Of course!”, I said, and all three were very pleased that their new Papa would take care of them. And Papa was happy that they wanted it. I wasn’t
too sure how they would perceive it, and it is not anything easy to translate. After the visit, Janet, Natasha and I left and went down seaside for a meal. The sunset was really nice, so I got a quick ride back up to a lookout point next to the orphanage, and took this picture.Wednesday May 16th - Visiting the Girls’ Birthplace and mother’s grave sight
Today, we had to retrieve some paperwork from the girls’ birthplace. Sveta had the day off, so she went with us. We drove about an hour outside of Berdyansk to the county seat, and picked up some papers on the girls. There we found out that Sveta was probably born at home (in water, in the tub), and Lena and Olya were born at a hospital nearby. Then we drove about 10 minutes to where their home used to be. As we got closer, Sveta remembered where it was, and even started to give us directions. Can you imagine? That was around 12 years ago, and she was only like…6 years old. Pretty good memory!! The house was an old ‘dacha’ (country house
) out on the countryside. It was made of a concrete substance and was basically rubble. The property had been sold and someone had removed a lot of the material to use somewhere else. Only about 4 feet high of all the walls remained. It was about 20’x30’ and divided into 3 sections. Sveta climbed in and started remembering that 2 of the rooms were for sleeping (5 kids and 2 parents), and 1 kitchen, and storage area. Very rural and very tight quarters. There was also a small storage cellar, about 4’x4’ and 5’ deep along side the dacha. An old woman from next door came over to see what we were doing, and when she found out 
who Sveta was, she reminisced a little. Then she told us that the girls’ mother’s grave was not far from here. So Sveta asked if we could go see it. It was only a 2 minute drive from there. (Out of respect, I won’t post the pictures of the actual grave, but here is what the cemetery looked like. With this picture it is hard to see, but there are picnic tables next to the graves. That is a Ukranian thing, to have a meal (and maybe a shot of vodka), in memory of the loved one.) It was a small cemetery, but it was hard to find the mother’s grave. It turned out to not be marked, and to our surprise, there were two tiny graves right beside her’s. We found out that their mother had twins after Olya, but that they died within 1 year of their birth. A reason for their death wasn’t given. Sveta got very quiet then and wanted Janet to hold her. She became a little tearful, but mostly quiet. Then she asked Papa to hold her. You could only imagine what she must’ve been thinking. Not too long and she asked if we could leave. We came back to Berdyansk, and picked up Lena and her boyfriend (Volva), and went off for some pizza and ice cream (Olya had gone AWOL, visiting with a friend). Then Lena was asking if she could see the photos we took right away. So, after dinner, we ran over to the hotel, and put the pictures on the computer for her to see. She did not remember much of the dacha, and she didn’t have much to say about the cemetery pictures.Nataliya has told us that our paperwork is going very efficiently. So, for those of you who are praying for us…KEEP IT UP!! If all goes well, we may end up AHEAD of schedule! Right now, our appointment for a court date is May 22nd (Tues).
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Weekend with the kids
Saturday May 12th
I’ve noticed that the sun comes up earlier here. We must be right on the time zone line, because I am awake at 5 am every morning, and it is a pretty full sunlight, like you would get at 7 or even 8 am. I love it. I wish it was like this all the time.
We picked up the girls at 2:30 again and took them to the zoo. It is a small zoo between the hotel and the orphanage. It was small like a petting zoo, but had some bigger animals. The first animal was a lion cub. It really liked Janet. She started talking to it, and it would follow her and it would get up on it’s hind legs and stretch out on the cage in front of her.
The girls really liked the raccoons, monkeys and camels, because you could feed them pretzels by hand. The girls liked teasing them a bit, by letting them grab the pretzel and then pulling them back. Some other animals were a Russian bear, tiger, full grown lions, emus, peacocks, swans, camels, black panther, cheetah.
After the zoo, we went to the market for some dried fish!!! We have been told that this is considered a real treat to Ukranians, and it is quite the spectacle to watch. People go down to the sea every day for bullhead. They soak ‘em in a brine and then hang them outside on a string to dry. Well, we got to the market and I saw these nasty little dried up fish on a st
ring and I couldn’t imagine MY girls wanting those. But, they grinned and were somewhat thrilled that we got some. So, off to our hotel room we went, and they didn’t even flinch. It was like a dried fish eating contest. First thing…they ripped the heads off!!! Then they started ripping the fish skin off with their teeth to get to the meat. They ate the meat, and then they tore open the fish to remove the guts and then eat the caviar (eggs). It was quite the sight! I will not look at my girls the same way ever again. As you can see, they convinced Janet to give it a try, too. Eeesh!
Oh, and by the way, we survived the water outage. It turned out to not be that big of a deal. The water was down for like a half an hour. The hot water came back on fine, and then the cold water, although the cold water was brown all day. We can at least take showers now, and flush the toilet okay. Will have to wait until Monday before we can use the cold water for anything like washing clothes or veggies/fruit.
Sunday May 13th
Since it’s Sunday, we got the kids for a longer period of time today. But first, I had to pick up a couple of jogging suits for wearing around. All the men wear them, and I stick out like sore thumb. Usually they are black (of course), but I thought the girls would get a kick out of me being in this Ukranian sweat suit (has the Ukranian colors, and says Ukraine on the back). I was a big hit today with the locals. Even the front desk woman of the hotel, who has been sort of gruff with us since we got here, perked up when she saw me and said, “Nice suit!“
I’ve noticed that the sun comes up earlier here. We must be right on the time zone line, because I am awake at 5 am every morning, and it is a pretty full sunlight, like you would get at 7 or even 8 am. I love it. I wish it was like this all the time.
We picked up the girls at 2:30 again and took them to the zoo. It is a small zoo between the hotel and the orphanage. It was small like a petting zoo, but had some bigger animals. The first animal was a lion cub. It really liked Janet. She started talking to it, and it would follow her and it would get up on it’s hind legs and stretch out on the cage in front of her.
The girls really liked the raccoons, monkeys and camels, because you could feed them pretzels by hand. The girls liked teasing them a bit, by letting them grab the pretzel and then pulling them back. Some other animals were a Russian bear, tiger, full grown lions, emus, peacocks, swans, camels, black panther, cheetah.
After the zoo, we went to the market for some dried fish!!! We have been told that this is considered a real treat to Ukranians, and it is quite the spectacle to watch. People go down to the sea every day for bullhead. They soak ‘em in a brine and then hang them outside on a string to dry. Well, we got to the market and I saw these nasty little dried up fish on a st
ring and I couldn’t imagine MY girls wanting those. But, they grinned and were somewhat thrilled that we got some. So, off to our hotel room we went, and they didn’t even flinch. It was like a dried fish eating contest. First thing…they ripped the heads off!!! Then they started ripping the fish skin off with their teeth to get to the meat. They ate the meat, and then they tore open the fish to remove the guts and then eat the caviar (eggs). It was quite the sight! I will not look at my girls the same way ever again. As you can see, they convinced Janet to give it a try, too. Eeesh!Oh, and by the way, we survived the water outage. It turned out to not be that big of a deal. The water was down for like a half an hour. The hot water came back on fine, and then the cold water, although the cold water was brown all day. We can at least take showers now, and flush the toilet okay. Will have to wait until Monday before we can use the cold water for anything like washing clothes or veggies/fruit.
Sunday May 13th
Since it’s Sunday, we got the kids for a longer period of time today. But first, I had to pick up a couple of jogging suits for wearing around. All the men wear them, and I stick out like sore thumb. Usually they are black (of course), but I thought the girls would get a kick out of me being in this Ukranian sweat suit (has the Ukranian colors, and says Ukraine on the back). I was a big hit today with the locals. Even the front desk woman of the hotel, who has been sort of gruff with us since we got here, perked up when she saw me and said, “Nice suit!“
We picked the girls up at 11am (instead of 2:30 like usual) and decided to go to the movies since we had more time today. The movie wasn’t until 3:30pm so we went down to the boardwalk, by the sea. First we just sat down by the water and chatted and watched people fish. Then we hit an arcade. (Watch out Celine! Olya was jammin’ on the Dance Revolution!) Then we rented a 6 man bicycle and went up and down the boardwalk for about 20 minutes before we got tired and grabbed a bite to eat. Then it was off to the 
movies. We had a couple of choices but I picked Shooter, with Mark Wahlberg. It was going to be in Russian with no subtitles, so I figured it would be easier to follow if it was just a bunch of action. The theater was nice, very comparable to what we have in the US.
It was another fun day, but tomorrow we get busy. We will be up and at’em to do paperwork at 8am and will go all day. Some more of the same on Tuesday. Basically, we are putting together another portfolio to get an approval for our court hearing. If all goes well, we’ll get that done this week, and maybe get a court date the
following week. Sounds like we will not get to see the girls for a couple of days. If we do, it’ll be just a quick ‘hi and bye’.
movies. We had a couple of choices but I picked Shooter, with Mark Wahlberg. It was going to be in Russian with no subtitles, so I figured it would be easier to follow if it was just a bunch of action. The theater was nice, very comparable to what we have in the US.It was another fun day, but tomorrow we get busy. We will be up and at’em to do paperwork at 8am and will go all day. Some more of the same on Tuesday. Basically, we are putting together another portfolio to get an approval for our court hearing. If all goes well, we’ll get that done this week, and maybe get a court date the
following week. Sounds like we will not get to see the girls for a couple of days. If we do, it’ll be just a quick ‘hi and bye’.Friday, May 11, 2007
Sveta Speaks!!
Friday May 11th
Today was a relaxed day. Natasha (Nataliya) finally met up with us again, after being in Kiev all this time since she dropped us off at our hotel. We had a brief meeting at noon, and she let us know some of the things that were coming up. This is basically going to be a free weekend, and we would get to see the girls as much as we want. On Monday, Natasha needs to go to the hospital to get the medical records for the girls for our petition to the court, and offered that we could come. It’s possible that this is where Sveta has been doing her ‘practice’ as she calls it (intership as a CNA), so we might go and let Sveta give us a tour of where she works. Sveta seems to like that she and her new parents are both in the health profession.
We picked up the girls at the orphanage around 2pm, and headed to the market place to buy a few things. While we were there, (and generally anywhere), the girls like to take us by the hand, or hug or hold us when we are standing around. They really enjoy the contact. Also, while we were together today, Sveta really surprised us and showed off her ‘hidden’ English skills. Basically, she could carry on a conversation without the translator. She must’ve been shy to use her English earlier, but must‘ve become more confident the more she heard and understood. She is very good, and I am very proud of what she has been able to accomplish. Basically she got her English skills from being in America (a year and a half ago!) and by going to a once-a-week class at the school. Wow! I am very impressed. This is great, because this should help ease the girls’ stress of coming to America knowing that they can converse, at least through Sveta for now. But, you can tell that Lena and Olya are eager to speak on their own, especially Olya. You can just see her chompin’ at the bit to say something, but has to always go through Sveta. I think she will really attack the English lessons.
After the market place, we went out for some pizza. Yes, PIZZA!!!! I was leery, thinking ‘how good could it be here in Ukraine‘?!? But, it was very good. So, much for the diet! Then we shopped a bit more at a ‘kind of’ mall. It basically was 3 floors of nooks or kiosks. Mostly clothes. The top floor was furniture, lighting…things for the house. Interesting, but nothing we would buy. The girls are looking forward to the American music, but we did buy some music CD’s in Russian for them to take back. They were really good about it. They were all excited that we were getting them something, but they were also conscientious about the money aspect. They kept asking if how much they were getting was okay, and feeling a little guilty about the purchase. It was very sweet, and I kept reassuring them that it was okay. (CD’s were like $4 a piece!!, So, we got bunch.)
We then took the girls back to the orphanage, and then we went back to the hotel room for some snacks and a movie. While we were watching the movie, Natasha called and said there was going to be an emergency city ordinance tomorrow, and there would be no water usage., as they were trying to repair a pipe leak or something. So, we quick took a couple of showers, and then filled the tub with water so we could flush the toilet tomorrow. Hopefully, the city will have it all fixed in a day. Otherwise, we are just going to hang out with the girls this weekend, so probably no more blogging until Monday.
By the way, I’m getting the ‘Chiropractic Jitters’ and starting to miss ‘crackin’ some necks’. Might have to throw down a few Ukranians on the sidewalk, and give them a fixin’!!!
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELI!!! Sorry we're missing the party. Looking forward to seeing you when we get back!!
Have a great weekend!!!
Today was a relaxed day. Natasha (Nataliya) finally met up with us again, after being in Kiev all this time since she dropped us off at our hotel. We had a brief meeting at noon, and she let us know some of the things that were coming up. This is basically going to be a free weekend, and we would get to see the girls as much as we want. On Monday, Natasha needs to go to the hospital to get the medical records for the girls for our petition to the court, and offered that we could come. It’s possible that this is where Sveta has been doing her ‘practice’ as she calls it (intership as a CNA), so we might go and let Sveta give us a tour of where she works. Sveta seems to like that she and her new parents are both in the health profession.
We picked up the girls at the orphanage around 2pm, and headed to the market place to buy a few things. While we were there, (and generally anywhere), the girls like to take us by the hand, or hug or hold us when we are standing around. They really enjoy the contact. Also, while we were together today, Sveta really surprised us and showed off her ‘hidden’ English skills. Basically, she could carry on a conversation without the translator. She must’ve been shy to use her English earlier, but must‘ve become more confident the more she heard and understood. She is very good, and I am very proud of what she has been able to accomplish. Basically she got her English skills from being in America (a year and a half ago!) and by going to a once-a-week class at the school. Wow! I am very impressed. This is great, because this should help ease the girls’ stress of coming to America knowing that they can converse, at least through Sveta for now. But, you can tell that Lena and Olya are eager to speak on their own, especially Olya. You can just see her chompin’ at the bit to say something, but has to always go through Sveta. I think she will really attack the English lessons.
After the market place, we went out for some pizza. Yes, PIZZA!!!! I was leery, thinking ‘how good could it be here in Ukraine‘?!? But, it was very good. So, much for the diet! Then we shopped a bit more at a ‘kind of’ mall. It basically was 3 floors of nooks or kiosks. Mostly clothes. The top floor was furniture, lighting…things for the house. Interesting, but nothing we would buy. The girls are looking forward to the American music, but we did buy some music CD’s in Russian for them to take back. They were really good about it. They were all excited that we were getting them something, but they were also conscientious about the money aspect. They kept asking if how much they were getting was okay, and feeling a little guilty about the purchase. It was very sweet, and I kept reassuring them that it was okay. (CD’s were like $4 a piece!!, So, we got bunch.)We then took the girls back to the orphanage, and then we went back to the hotel room for some snacks and a movie. While we were watching the movie, Natasha called and said there was going to be an emergency city ordinance tomorrow, and there would be no water usage., as they were trying to repair a pipe leak or something. So, we quick took a couple of showers, and then filled the tub with water so we could flush the toilet tomorrow. Hopefully, the city will have it all fixed in a day. Otherwise, we are just going to hang out with the girls this weekend, so probably no more blogging until Monday.
By the way, I’m getting the ‘Chiropractic Jitters’ and starting to miss ‘crackin’ some necks’. Might have to throw down a few Ukranians on the sidewalk, and give them a fixin’!!!
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELI!!! Sorry we're missing the party. Looking forward to seeing you when we get back!!
Have a great weekend!!!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Passed Inspection
Today is Friday the 11th. We are waiting for our facilitator, Natasha, to come to Berdyansk from Kiev. She has been finalizing a few things for us there before she comes to see us today. Yesterday, another facilitator, Victor, filled in for Natasha, and took us to the orphanage to meet the girls while being viewed by the director of the orphanage (Galena), and the inspector of the state. First, they asked if we were still interested in all of the girls, and then the inspector and her assistant debated as to whether it was okay or not for us to adopt Sveta (since she was 18). They decided it was okay, and then wondered how to do it, as she was now outside the jurisdiction of the SDA. They figured out that we would just bypass the usual SDA formalities and just present her along with the other two girls at court time. Then the orphanage's doctor came in and did a quick review of the girls' last medical exam back in April. Everything checked out okay. Although, they wanted to let me know that Olya has a slight scoliosis. They started to try to explain to me what it was, and I explained that I knew what it meant. They didn't understand that I was chiropractor, and they didn't believe that I would actually know what that was, so they insisted on explaining to me what scoliosis was. Ha, ha...what a hoot. Later, I explained to Victor what I do, and he just laughed and laughed.
Then they brought in the girls. Another happy reunion, although it was only Lena and Olya. Since Sveta did not fall within the SDA jurisdiction, they did not need her at this meeting. We sat down and the inspector asked the girls if they were happy with us, and if they wanted to be adopted and go to the United States. They both said "yes", and then the inspector made them put it in writing. That was a proud moment for Janet and me. It's one thing to hear them say that they want to be adopted, but it's another to see them have to put it in writing in front of an official.
That finished the meeting, so then we went for a brief tour of the orphanage. First, we saw a display room for the art made by the kids. Then we saw the infirmary and dining area/kitchen. They also showed us a couple of rooms where the young children were studying and also where they slept. Thankfully, as it was kind of emotional for Janet and me, we did not stand there long, and they took us outside to the playground. The inspector and her assistant said goodbye and left by taxi. What was funny, was
that they made me pay the taxi cab driver for their travel. That's the gov't for ya! As soon as they left, the director said we could hang outside with the kids for awhile. I joked with Olya that we should play some soccer, her favorite sport. Big mistake! She ran off immediately and came back with a soccer ball and a BIG SMILE on her face :). So, we hit the soccer field. Some other kids saw us, and joined us, and then it was a full out game. Got another workout today, besides the jog I had early this morning.Janet and Lena stood on the side and watched. Some younger girls came over to Janet and showed off their hula hoop skills. Somehow, Janet convinced me to come over and 
give it a try, too. They all got a big laugh off that.
Then Lena ran off and said she would be back in a minute. Shortly, she returned with a boy about her age named Volva, and she explained that this was her 'friend who was a boy'...not to be mistaken with a 'boyfriend'. (Mmm-hmm, I'll bet, ha ha). He was very nice and respectful, and kind of shy. I convinced him to come out and play soccer with us.
That was a fun day and now with the inspector's approval, we can now actually start our paperwork. As soon as Natasha gets here in Berdyansk, we will start. Otherwise, it's possible
It was another fun day, but tomorrow we get busy. We will be up and at’em to do paperwork at 8am and will go all day. Some more of the same on Tuesday. Basically, we are putting together another portfolio to get an approval for our court hearing. If all goes well, we’ll get that done this week, and maybe get a court date the following week. Sounds like we will not get to see the girls for a couple of days. If we do, it’ll be just a quick a ‘hi and bye’.we will visit some more with the kids this weekend, and we plan on hitting the market (kind of a flea market next to the hotel) this weekend, and just do a little walking and sightseeing.
Then they brought in the girls. Another happy reunion, although it was only Lena and Olya. Since Sveta did not fall within the SDA jurisdiction, they did not need her at this meeting. We sat down and the inspector asked the girls if they were happy with us, and if they wanted to be adopted and go to the United States. They both said "yes", and then the inspector made them put it in writing. That was a proud moment for Janet and me. It's one thing to hear them say that they want to be adopted, but it's another to see them have to put it in writing in front of an official.That finished the meeting, so then we went for a brief tour of the orphanage. First, we saw a display room for the art made by the kids. Then we saw the infirmary and dining area/kitchen. They also showed us a couple of rooms where the young children were studying and also where they slept. Thankfully, as it was kind of emotional for Janet and me, we did not stand there long, and they took us outside to the playground. The inspector and her assistant said goodbye and left by taxi. What was funny, was
that they made me pay the taxi cab driver for their travel. That's the gov't for ya! As soon as they left, the director said we could hang outside with the kids for awhile. I joked with Olya that we should play some soccer, her favorite sport. Big mistake! She ran off immediately and came back with a soccer ball and a BIG SMILE on her face :). So, we hit the soccer field. Some other kids saw us, and joined us, and then it was a full out game. Got another workout today, besides the jog I had early this morning.Janet and Lena stood on the side and watched. Some younger girls came over to Janet and showed off their hula hoop skills. Somehow, Janet convinced me to come over and 
give it a try, too. They all got a big laugh off that.Then Lena ran off and said she would be back in a minute. Shortly, she returned with a boy about her age named Volva, and she explained that this was her 'friend who was a boy'...not to be mistaken with a 'boyfriend'. (Mmm-hmm, I'll bet, ha ha). He was very nice and respectful, and kind of shy. I convinced him to come out and play soccer with us.
That was a fun day and now with the inspector's approval, we can now actually start our paperwork. As soon as Natasha gets here in Berdyansk, we will start. Otherwise, it's possible
It was another fun day, but tomorrow we get busy. We will be up and at’em to do paperwork at 8am and will go all day. Some more of the same on Tuesday. Basically, we are putting together another portfolio to get an approval for our court hearing. If all goes well, we’ll get that done this week, and maybe get a court date the following week. Sounds like we will not get to see the girls for a couple of days. If we do, it’ll be just a quick a ‘hi and bye’.we will visit some more with the kids this weekend, and we plan on hitting the market (kind of a flea market next to the hotel) this weekend, and just do a little walking and sightseeing.Wednesday, May 9, 2007
VICTORY DAY!!!!
Today is Victory Day in Ukraine. The Ukranians celebrate the defeat over the Germans (WWII), much in the same way as we celebrate 4th of July...parades, fireworks, and some memorials. But for us it was a VICTORY because we got to see the girls for the first time since Christmas of 2005!
Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to the SDA in Kiev (the gov't authority over adoptions), and we were interviewed and told we would get our referral to see the girls. The interview was easy and it only took 15 minutes. For those of you who are getting ready to come over, it was a piece of cake, not an interrogation at all (although, they knew who we were wanting to adopt before we got there, and did not have to go through the different catalogs). They were very kind and encouraging. So, we got our referral and after our meeting we ran to the travel agent to get a plane ticket to Mariupl, a town just 1 hour drive from Berdyansk. If we caught a plane Tuesday night, then we could be in Berdyansk by the end of the day, see the girls on Wednesday, and start our paperwork on Thursday. Otherwise, because of the holiday, if we didn't leave until Wednesday or Thursday, we would have had to wait until Monday to start our paperwork. Needless to say, we got the tickets, and we saved 4 days of our trip. That was a blessing. The trip went well. The plane was 'vintage', and the road to Berdyansk was well...'vintage', too! But, we made it by 11pm, and got settled into a room that was well...'vintage'. Ha, ha...you get the idea. We got a good night's sleep, and looked forward to today...Victory Day!
We went to the orphanage around 11am and it was a gorgeous sunny day. When we arrived, the first one to see us was Sveta (the oldest, 18). She came running and crying and hugging us. And she started yelling something, and then along came Lena. She was more shy about it, but was obviously happy and hugging us, too. Then they took us by the hand and we went around the corner to the playground, and then Olya saw us and came running. She did not hide her enthusiasm, as she basically knocked me over, and then got up quickly to run over and hug Janet!!! I guess she's ready to be adopted and come to America!! It was a happy time. We visited briefly at the orphanage, then we took them to lunch at our hotel, and then hung out at the room, and talked for hours. They were obviously interested in what their new lives would bring. We had an interpreter, but we were surprised to find that Sveta can read and understand a lot of English. She says that she has not been studying much and picked up a lot when she was in America, and has since just sort of self taught herself. That's good news, as it might be easier to teach the girls English than we had first thought.
Tomorrow, we visit the orphanage with the director of the orphanage and a social worker/inspector type person, who will watch us interact with the girls, and maybe ask some questions, and then give the go ahead to start the paperwork process. Hopefully, we will get the approval without any hitches and get the ball rolling immediately.
A number of Ukranians have mentioned that they think it is a good omen that my name is Victor and that we first saw the girls (on this trip) on 'Victor'y Day. We pray that they are right. At least for now, it has been a great start.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
We're Here!!
Just a quick note to let everyone know that WE MADE IT!! And ALL OUR LUGGAGE, TOO!! ha ha. We are here in Ukraine now, and staying with our friends, the Webers, in Kiev. We are here until Tuesday, when we have our meeting with the officials, and then we are planning on going to the orphanage in Berdyansk either Tuesday or Wednesday. Sorry, I don't have any pictures here yet, because I had to borrow a computer to just send out this quick note. I will be online once we get to Berdyansk, and will be able to do a better update with pix.
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