January 31- Saturday
We decided to stay in today. It is snowing and very cold. Elijah is coughing more and more so we wanted to keep him here and keep him warm. We have him dressed in an undershirt, long johns, pj’s, and a sweater with some warm socks on. Well, Luba’s mother was concerned for his cough so she asked (through much pantomiming and guessing on our part) if she could have her pediatrician friend come listen to him. Ok, we have been dealing with coughing and sicknesses for a LONG time. Sure, he’s sick, but we weren’t overly concerned. He doesn’t have a fever, hasn’t had for 2 days. If we were at home we certainly wouldn’t have taken him to the doctor. But we are staying in her home and she probably isn’t going to rest until she is sure he is ok. So we said “yes.”
Sure enough, when the doctor listened to his lungs she said they were clear. And she prescribed, I think, cough medicine. That is where we could use the help. We brought allergy medicine and fever medicine but no cough medicine. So Keith went out with Luba’s mother to buy some. They came home with 4 different medicines. A cough medicine, a lozenge of some sort, a throat spray and I’m not sure what the last one was. When Kostya gets here we’ll have him translate what they all are for sure so we can have more control over how long we give him each of the medicines. Oh, by the way none of these are “prescription” like we call prescription. All of these could be boughten over the counter. Of course, you can get antibiotics over the counter, so take that for whatever that is worth.
Oh, we called our facilitator to help translate the doctor’s visit and he said that the people at the SDA didn’t say they wouldn’t have our paperwork ready. Ok. What does THAT mean?
We had lunch, gave Elijah medicines and laid down for a nap. We all slept for nearly 3 hours. We are trying to be careful and not get all of us sick. We are keeping up on our vitamin C and trying to not get cold.
After the nap, we made our way to the orphanage. The girls didn’t even seem to notice that we didn’t bring the computer. I have been putting everything we bring for them in Elijah’s backpack to carry it over there. It didn’t take them too long to find the package of mini candy bars that we brought. Surprise!! K let A2 pass them around to everyone in their group. K quickly got out the puzzles and proceeded to put them together. Once she got both of those put together she went in the other room and came back with two more puzzles; a 500 piece and a 1000 piece. She then spent the rest of the time doing the 500 piece one. K and A1 had a bit of a discussion that, we think, was a debate on how to say “Dad” in English. We think that they are being carefully schooled in how to act when we come, taught some more English. Now, instead of Mama and Papa, they call us Muzzer and Fazzer (I like Mama and Papa, better ). We are so very grateful for good caregivers!! We’ve heard horror stories of caregivers scaring the children by saying things like: Americans are here to adopt so they can harvest organs, or so they can have sweat shops. I will forever be grateful for our favorite caregiver the day that the social worker and prosecutor came to get the girls’ ok to be adopted. She talked quite a bit with K, telling her how it would be, helping her not be scared. I’m pretty sure that she had already talked to the other 3 as well. I really believe that our girls couldn’t have had a better situation without actually living in a family situation. I also am pleased with a lot of their behaviors. There are some things that we need to work on and then there is the blending of two families that will also take work, but we have a good head start on a lot of ways.
Anyway, A1 did my hair again and put makeup on me while I played duplos with A2. R got all dressed up again to “go to school” with her coat, hat, someone else’s shoes and Elijah’s backpack.
Toward the end Keith picked up first A1 and A2 and then those two and R and carried them across the room. They had a lot of fun with that. He felt it was good to finally get some physical contact with A2, of course, but even A1. So, while it was kind of rowdy it was good.
After walking home in the freezing cold we were pretty cold. It has been snowing off and on the last two days. While there isn’t much snow on the ground it is pretty icy and VERY cold. We had a warm supper with hot chocolate and going to watch some Star Trek (we brought the first three original seasons with us) and then go to bed early.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
To market, to market, to buy.... a wedding dress?!?!?!
January 30 – Friday
We decided instead of going to see the girls this morning we would brave the open air market and see if we could get a scarf for Elijah. It has gotten VERY cold and he is sick and all. We were hoping to also get some clothes for the girls. So after breakfast (of eggs and ham- something warm) we walked down there. It is very close to us, about a five minute walk. And WOW, it goes on forever. Little booths as far as the eyes can see in both directions and if you go down another “street” same thing. On and on. And they sell just about anything. We saw lots of places for sweaters and pants for all ages and genders, toys, hats, curtains, flowers, underwear, pictures, linens, strollers, boots, bags, shawls, backpacks, even wedding dresses and tuxes. We walked for 45 minutes and finally decided that we weren’t getting anywhere and that we needed a native speaker to help—and Elijah had fallen asleep—so we walked home, discouraged. At least we didn’t get lost, “out” was always up hill.
We made a list of the things we needed to get for the girls; shoes, socks (tights), underwear, undershirts, pants, shirts, (or dresses), coats, hats, scarves, gloves, backpack. Enough to last them a week between when we get them and when we actually get them home. Then we made a plan to ask Julia (the Cox’s translator) to spend a morning with us sometime and help us decide on sizes and buy the clothes.
We had lunch and then laid down with Elijah for a nap. Most of us slept until 3:00. Then we made our way to the orphanage. I took the video camera because we hadn’t brought it out yet and were feeling guilty. I thought it would be nice to have video of them speaking Ukrainian when they were older. Alina had no problem getting up and “performing.” My name iz A1.”“I am iz yallo and green.” K didn’t want to at first but then after some boys were showing off for the camera she got up and danced for us. A2 got videoed putting a puzzle together and I got some of R putting on shoes, coat, hat and Elijah’s backpack and pretending she was going to school. She really is a character. We also took the computer and the girls started out nice on it. Toward the end A2 started doing things just to make people angry and K started not wanting to share. Then there was no time left for A1’s turn and no matter how many times she was promised she could be first next time, didn’t want to give up her turn. So we left on a sour note.
We saw the Cox’s on the way out. Our facilitator was helping them find a lawyer and translator in Kyiv, so they were glad for that. It looks like they will get a second opinion from someone not connected and then go home until after the courts had settled everything. How discouraging! Then we started thinking of all the ways our adoption could go sour. There was someone interested in the girls (Keith thought it was a grandmother, I thought it was just another Ukrainian citizen) that visited them and said she was interested but never came back. Maybe she will cause problems. Ok, we need to just trust that these girls are supposed to be in our family (we have both felt that multiple times) and weather whatever storms come along. Not worry about things until they happen.
We decided instead of going to see the girls this morning we would brave the open air market and see if we could get a scarf for Elijah. It has gotten VERY cold and he is sick and all. We were hoping to also get some clothes for the girls. So after breakfast (of eggs and ham- something warm) we walked down there. It is very close to us, about a five minute walk. And WOW, it goes on forever. Little booths as far as the eyes can see in both directions and if you go down another “street” same thing. On and on. And they sell just about anything. We saw lots of places for sweaters and pants for all ages and genders, toys, hats, curtains, flowers, underwear, pictures, linens, strollers, boots, bags, shawls, backpacks, even wedding dresses and tuxes. We walked for 45 minutes and finally decided that we weren’t getting anywhere and that we needed a native speaker to help—and Elijah had fallen asleep—so we walked home, discouraged. At least we didn’t get lost, “out” was always up hill.
We made a list of the things we needed to get for the girls; shoes, socks (tights), underwear, undershirts, pants, shirts, (or dresses), coats, hats, scarves, gloves, backpack. Enough to last them a week between when we get them and when we actually get them home. Then we made a plan to ask Julia (the Cox’s translator) to spend a morning with us sometime and help us decide on sizes and buy the clothes.
We had lunch and then laid down with Elijah for a nap. Most of us slept until 3:00. Then we made our way to the orphanage. I took the video camera because we hadn’t brought it out yet and were feeling guilty. I thought it would be nice to have video of them speaking Ukrainian when they were older. Alina had no problem getting up and “performing.” My name iz A1.”“I am iz yallo and green.” K didn’t want to at first but then after some boys were showing off for the camera she got up and danced for us. A2 got videoed putting a puzzle together and I got some of R putting on shoes, coat, hat and Elijah’s backpack and pretending she was going to school. She really is a character. We also took the computer and the girls started out nice on it. Toward the end A2 started doing things just to make people angry and K started not wanting to share. Then there was no time left for A1’s turn and no matter how many times she was promised she could be first next time, didn’t want to give up her turn. So we left on a sour note.
We saw the Cox’s on the way out. Our facilitator was helping them find a lawyer and translator in Kyiv, so they were glad for that. It looks like they will get a second opinion from someone not connected and then go home until after the courts had settled everything. How discouraging! Then we started thinking of all the ways our adoption could go sour. There was someone interested in the girls (Keith thought it was a grandmother, I thought it was just another Ukrainian citizen) that visited them and said she was interested but never came back. Maybe she will cause problems. Ok, we need to just trust that these girls are supposed to be in our family (we have both felt that multiple times) and weather whatever storms come along. Not worry about things until they happen.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Grocery day
January 29- Thursday
Breakfast was interesting. We were very low on food so we vowed to go to the grocery store today.
At the orphanage we played with the younger girls. A2, if you can get past the acting out to stand out thing, is really very tenderhearted and patient. And smart, she is one quick cookie! She wrapped the ends of two of the balloons together and was so pleased with herself that she wrapped all of them together. It took her a while to do it, but she did it. Then after going through all that hard work, she very kindly allowed Elijah to play with them with her. She also put the Mermaid puzzle together twice. She really wants to keep that puzzle. We take it home with us each day so it doesn’t get the pieces lost (doesn’t work, by the way, Elijah lost a piece at home ) and she really wants to keep it with her. I was going to donate it to the orphanage right before we left but now I’m not so sure.
R “helped” to put the puzzle together as well, which was counter productive. She would stick any old pieces together- sometimes with a little extra force- and clap very animatedly whenever she did. She would even take pieces that I put together apart so she could get them to fit in her little group. It was very funny to watch.
We played a lot with the legos—actually they are Duplos—the larger ones. It is interesting to me that whenever we have played with them they- all the kids- always build the same thing; buildings. Sometimes big, sometimes little but always solid, straight-walled and with little imaginative play. So, I was surprised today that R was using her square building for a bed for her doll. Maybe we just don’t see half of what goes on. We are only there for 2 hours at a time.
I guess we were there for snack time as the girls each came out with half an apple and A2 brought one out for Elijah. There definitely doesn’t seem to be a shortage of food there. I have been trying to figure out what to buy to donate to our group. I haven’t been able to think of any one thing that they don’t have. They seem to have plenty of paper, coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, stickers, legos, dolls, stuffed animals, fruit, food in general, toys in general and clothing.
While we were there some ladies came in and all the kids went into the kitchen with them. Keith thinks they were doing some sort of review. But all the kids were given a little bag of goodies; lots of candy, an apple, some sweet bread. A2 again made sure that Elijah had one.
For our lunch break, after we sent Luba off to the train station to send the girls’ immunization cards to our facilitator to turn in to the SDA, we then debated on whether to take a bus to go to the larger grocery store or walk to the closer, smaller grocery store. We decided on the latter so we made the 10 minute trek (in mostly mud) to the close one. We were low on diapers and shampoo and a few other essentials so our bill was the most we have ever spent for groceries here; 400 grivna, about $50 USD (diapers were a fourth of that) Hopefully, it all lasts a while.
Because we are cheap, we used bags that we had gotten earlier and we only had two. So we were quite a sight (not that we aren’t anyway ). Elijah sitting on Keith’s shoulders (that always gets the most attention), Keith also carrying a bulging bag of food. And me carrying another bulging bag plus a huge bottle of water. We had to keep stopping to give our hands a break. Luckily, our bags didn’t break—we weren’t so sure they wouldn’t. We figured it out and next time we’ll just buy bags and spend the extra pennies… er, kopeks. I can’t imagine shopping for a big family here, even going every day.
We decided it was worth being a little late for the girls to get Elijah a nap after we got back from our fun shopping trip. We had an hour. Of course it took 45 minutes of that hour for him to go to sleep. So, we let him sleep 45 minutes and then woke him up, vowing to get him to bed early. He wasn’t too happy about that.
We decided to take the computer every other day and today was an off day. So we took both puzzles (Mermaid- 60 pieces, and Cinderella-104 pieces), and the bag of hair things to entertain them.
A1 saw the hair things first, but K grabbed them away from her and claimed them for her own. A small war ensued during which they each (the older 3, R didn’t seem very interested) got some pieces, K got the most, she’s strongest and fastest- but A1 got the bag and a few hair pieces and A2 got a few pieces as well. I’m sure that is orphanage behavior, having to fight for something you want, but that is going to be one of the first things we work on when we get home. We are trying not to make that sort of behavior profitable, not so easy to do. So, right now I’m searching strategies to combat that. Anyone have any ideas?
It had been snowing off and on all day, but the small-flaked kind that never really seems to stick. But during the hour and a half we were in the orphanage it managed to get cold enough and dark enough to get a light dusting over most of the ground. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings. It has been bitingly cold today. We vowed to buy Keith some gloves (as well as a belt—he’s losing weight with all this walking) and Elijah a scarf if we ever make it to the market. I just might have to put on the long johns that I brought.
Elijah is getting a little bit of a cough and sounds pretty congested.
Our facilitator will check tomorrow to see if the SDA has our paperwork done. If not then hopefully Monday so we can still have court on Tuesday.
Breakfast was interesting. We were very low on food so we vowed to go to the grocery store today.
At the orphanage we played with the younger girls. A2, if you can get past the acting out to stand out thing, is really very tenderhearted and patient. And smart, she is one quick cookie! She wrapped the ends of two of the balloons together and was so pleased with herself that she wrapped all of them together. It took her a while to do it, but she did it. Then after going through all that hard work, she very kindly allowed Elijah to play with them with her. She also put the Mermaid puzzle together twice. She really wants to keep that puzzle. We take it home with us each day so it doesn’t get the pieces lost (doesn’t work, by the way, Elijah lost a piece at home ) and she really wants to keep it with her. I was going to donate it to the orphanage right before we left but now I’m not so sure.
R “helped” to put the puzzle together as well, which was counter productive. She would stick any old pieces together- sometimes with a little extra force- and clap very animatedly whenever she did. She would even take pieces that I put together apart so she could get them to fit in her little group. It was very funny to watch.
We played a lot with the legos—actually they are Duplos—the larger ones. It is interesting to me that whenever we have played with them they- all the kids- always build the same thing; buildings. Sometimes big, sometimes little but always solid, straight-walled and with little imaginative play. So, I was surprised today that R was using her square building for a bed for her doll. Maybe we just don’t see half of what goes on. We are only there for 2 hours at a time.
I guess we were there for snack time as the girls each came out with half an apple and A2 brought one out for Elijah. There definitely doesn’t seem to be a shortage of food there. I have been trying to figure out what to buy to donate to our group. I haven’t been able to think of any one thing that they don’t have. They seem to have plenty of paper, coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, stickers, legos, dolls, stuffed animals, fruit, food in general, toys in general and clothing.
While we were there some ladies came in and all the kids went into the kitchen with them. Keith thinks they were doing some sort of review. But all the kids were given a little bag of goodies; lots of candy, an apple, some sweet bread. A2 again made sure that Elijah had one.
For our lunch break, after we sent Luba off to the train station to send the girls’ immunization cards to our facilitator to turn in to the SDA, we then debated on whether to take a bus to go to the larger grocery store or walk to the closer, smaller grocery store. We decided on the latter so we made the 10 minute trek (in mostly mud) to the close one. We were low on diapers and shampoo and a few other essentials so our bill was the most we have ever spent for groceries here; 400 grivna, about $50 USD (diapers were a fourth of that) Hopefully, it all lasts a while.
Because we are cheap, we used bags that we had gotten earlier and we only had two. So we were quite a sight (not that we aren’t anyway ). Elijah sitting on Keith’s shoulders (that always gets the most attention), Keith also carrying a bulging bag of food. And me carrying another bulging bag plus a huge bottle of water. We had to keep stopping to give our hands a break. Luckily, our bags didn’t break—we weren’t so sure they wouldn’t. We figured it out and next time we’ll just buy bags and spend the extra pennies… er, kopeks. I can’t imagine shopping for a big family here, even going every day.
We decided it was worth being a little late for the girls to get Elijah a nap after we got back from our fun shopping trip. We had an hour. Of course it took 45 minutes of that hour for him to go to sleep. So, we let him sleep 45 minutes and then woke him up, vowing to get him to bed early. He wasn’t too happy about that.
We decided to take the computer every other day and today was an off day. So we took both puzzles (Mermaid- 60 pieces, and Cinderella-104 pieces), and the bag of hair things to entertain them.
A1 saw the hair things first, but K grabbed them away from her and claimed them for her own. A small war ensued during which they each (the older 3, R didn’t seem very interested) got some pieces, K got the most, she’s strongest and fastest- but A1 got the bag and a few hair pieces and A2 got a few pieces as well. I’m sure that is orphanage behavior, having to fight for something you want, but that is going to be one of the first things we work on when we get home. We are trying not to make that sort of behavior profitable, not so easy to do. So, right now I’m searching strategies to combat that. Anyone have any ideas?
It had been snowing off and on all day, but the small-flaked kind that never really seems to stick. But during the hour and a half we were in the orphanage it managed to get cold enough and dark enough to get a light dusting over most of the ground. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings. It has been bitingly cold today. We vowed to buy Keith some gloves (as well as a belt—he’s losing weight with all this walking) and Elijah a scarf if we ever make it to the market. I just might have to put on the long johns that I brought.
Elijah is getting a little bit of a cough and sounds pretty congested.
Our facilitator will check tomorrow to see if the SDA has our paperwork done. If not then hopefully Monday so we can still have court on Tuesday.
Thanks for the hats and scarves
The children loved the hats and scarves made and donated by the young women in our ward. Our two girls (the older two were at school) were especially pleased to be the first ones to pick. They are VERY useful here. I have watched our girls' group get dressed to go out and play. They get undressed down to their tights and undershirt and then just start piling on the layers. I counted the layers on A when she was getting dressed last time and I counted four full sets of clothes on top of each other. Then top that off with hat, scarf, gloves and boots. And they need it here. It is bitter cold and usually very snowy.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
This one is a book-- begin at your own risk
January 26, Monday
We got up about the time our facilitator returned. We ate breakfast of granola and yogurt while he freshened up. Then we headed to the orphanage. We took the hats and scarves and donation and went straight to the director’s office. The Cox’s told us that they had seen before and after pictures of the orphanage under her direction and it was amazing the difference. I am very grateful for her efforts because thanks to them our girls have been in the best orphanage and had the best situation they could have without actually having a family. As you walk in the front door there are a group of pictures on the wall and they are of when the president of Ukraine came to visit her orphanage because it had improved so much.
I don’t know how much it had improved but I’ve been very impressed about many things there. The physical appearance is very bright and cheery and VERY clean. The caregivers are kind and caring. I have only heard one raise her voice once. The routine is straightforward and all the children know it and follow it (even the cute little two year old). The director seems to know each child AND they know her.
Anyway, at the director’s we offered the hats and scarves and money. She was very grateful. She told us to take the hats and scarves to our group and whatever they don’t use or don’t fit will be passed around to other groups.
She then asked about the girls. We told her that we felt we were building a relationship with each of them in their own way. She asked specifically about K because, she said, K had a really hard time adjusting when they went to California. Wish we had known that. Our facilitator told her that we had been warned about R. And she said that R adapts easily but K doesn’t.
We had forgotten Elijah’s little backpack that we usually take with us so we didn’t have our photo album to show her. Arghhh,
Then we went to see the girls. Of course, the oldest two were in school so we played with the younger ones. The caregiver (our favorite one) said that K told her she didn’t want to go, while all the others said they did. We had our facilitator ask her what she thought we should do to help that. She said we could bring gifts- maybe something for school or sweets- she likes computers, too.
At noon we came back to the apartment to get the photo album- to show the director and the computer with computer games. Luckily, I had thought to bring some for Elijah. One of them was a pre-school one that we used for K. We went back, set up the computer and waited for the older ones to get back from school. While we waited the caregiver offered us lunch. It was delicious! Borsch, bread, meat dumplings, something pickled (reminded me of Japan) and a fruit drink/ soup of some sort that I couldn’t get to because there was soooo much other food. Keith said it was good and sweet. Another testament to how well they have been treated there. I was impressed, they all ate what they could then immediately began to clean up. A2 and another boy went into another room and came back with an apron on and a scarf in their hair and cleaned off the uneaten food onto a plate, stacked the all the dishes and carried them into the other room to be washed. Then each child picked up their placemat and put them in a stack on the window sill. Even the two year old knew the routine and although she was slower than the rest she followed it. Wish I had that kind of discipline at our house!!! We’ll have to work on that to keep the girls’ routine.
When they came they immediately crowded around the computer but then left. I wondered where they had gone. But back to the routine, they had to go in and eat. Then they rushed out and crowded around the computer. Everyone but our girls were quickly and quietly ushered out. A1 and K took turns playing the game until the social worker came. When it was A1’s turn K hovered over her and would sneak her hand in every once in a while. Hmmmmm Sounds a little like Caleb .
Anyway, the social worker came and she, the director and a man took all the girls in the kitchen. While they were there our facilitator said “I don’t think that is fair for them to bring the prosecutor with them to this meeting.” Ok, now we are really worried. About 2 minutes after they go in A2 comes out to play, then A1. Then the prosecutor comes out and says he wants to ask me (Mama) some questions. Let’s see if I can remember them all.
He asked about our family so I showed him my photo album (again with the photo album). I explained about each person and page.
“Why adoption? Why 4 more children?” We have always wanted a big family. We lost 2 babies and pregnancy continues to become more risky so we wanted to adopt. We had heard that Ukraine doesn’t split up sibling groups and we wanted to provide a home for a sibling group. “Do we have finances to take care of 8 children?” Yes we make --- a year. “I don’t know about American money.” A social worker in our state has looked over our finances and found that it was sufficient. “Some people come to adopt one or two kids and get roped into adopting more. Is that the case here?” No, we were shown 4 sibling groups at the SDA and these girls are the ones we chose. “Are we concerned about our children at home? Have we heard that K had TB?” Yes, they told us that in the first meeting and no, we aren’t concerned as it has been treated. “You only have one girl at home, how will you raise 4 more girls?” It will be an adjustment, any big change is. But we have a great support group. “How old is your oldest?” Caleb is 12 and he is a big help at home… they all are. (Looking at the album) “How do your parents feel about you adopting?” They are very supportive as well as our brothers and sisters. (It felt really good to be able to say that, by the way, Thank you all!!!) “They all look so happy.” We have our problems like any family but we get a long. I wish I had said something about our beliefs here, .
He then told me that the album looked very professional and asked if I had made it. Yes, I made it. Thank you, that makes me feel good. That is very nice of you to say.
I’m sure he asked me other questions but I can’t think of them right now. He then said “thank you” and got up to leave. Just before he walked out the door he turned around and said “I probably won’t see you again, other than in court, so take good care of the girls.”
Success, I guess. I guess that means that K said yes? I felt like we were trying to bribe her with the computer. But the more I think about it the more I think it was a good thing. Without the opportunity to really spend time with her (ie. In a home situation) we wouldn’t be able to build a good relationship. And because we use computers a lot at home it gave her a taste of our life. Maybe I’m trying to justify it. But as we were leaving she gave me a really long hug, much longer than she had ever previously. So maybe in her mind she had made the decision to come and it was more than just the computer.
So, we went back to the apartment to wait for a half an hour, while the director wrote up whatever paperwork she was to do. We had bread, cheese, and water (the kids at the orphanage eat better than we do. ) and went back to pick up the papers. Then another taxi to the social worker’s office. Elijah fell asleep while we were waiting in the hall. Then we walked down the street to find a place to buy a modem. YEAH!!! Connection to the internet!! To family!!! But no such luck. We found a place, even chose a modem, but their computer wasn’t working so we need to go back tomorrow. There has to be SOME purpose for us not being able to hook up for so long, but what could it be?
We were getting pretty low on grivna, so we stopped in at a bank. The exchange rate is 8.1 grivna to a dollar. We haven’t exchanged money since that first day when we exchanged with Vanya. That was $200, that we exchanged with him and it has been a week. We exchanged more than that this time, anticipating buying a modem and paying court fees. Anyway, since we were in that area we went to the big grocery store. In addition to the groceries, we bought some goodies to take to the girls, cookies, chocolates, hairbrush set with hair things, a couple puzzles and some balloons. Elijah slept this whole time and when we got back to the apartment we took his temperature. 100.4 So we gave him some medicine and made plans for tomorrow without him or myself. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing.
We got up about the time our facilitator returned. We ate breakfast of granola and yogurt while he freshened up. Then we headed to the orphanage. We took the hats and scarves and donation and went straight to the director’s office. The Cox’s told us that they had seen before and after pictures of the orphanage under her direction and it was amazing the difference. I am very grateful for her efforts because thanks to them our girls have been in the best orphanage and had the best situation they could have without actually having a family. As you walk in the front door there are a group of pictures on the wall and they are of when the president of Ukraine came to visit her orphanage because it had improved so much.
I don’t know how much it had improved but I’ve been very impressed about many things there. The physical appearance is very bright and cheery and VERY clean. The caregivers are kind and caring. I have only heard one raise her voice once. The routine is straightforward and all the children know it and follow it (even the cute little two year old). The director seems to know each child AND they know her.
Anyway, at the director’s we offered the hats and scarves and money. She was very grateful. She told us to take the hats and scarves to our group and whatever they don’t use or don’t fit will be passed around to other groups.
She then asked about the girls. We told her that we felt we were building a relationship with each of them in their own way. She asked specifically about K because, she said, K had a really hard time adjusting when they went to California. Wish we had known that. Our facilitator told her that we had been warned about R. And she said that R adapts easily but K doesn’t.
We had forgotten Elijah’s little backpack that we usually take with us so we didn’t have our photo album to show her. Arghhh,
Then we went to see the girls. Of course, the oldest two were in school so we played with the younger ones. The caregiver (our favorite one) said that K told her she didn’t want to go, while all the others said they did. We had our facilitator ask her what she thought we should do to help that. She said we could bring gifts- maybe something for school or sweets- she likes computers, too.
At noon we came back to the apartment to get the photo album- to show the director and the computer with computer games. Luckily, I had thought to bring some for Elijah. One of them was a pre-school one that we used for K. We went back, set up the computer and waited for the older ones to get back from school. While we waited the caregiver offered us lunch. It was delicious! Borsch, bread, meat dumplings, something pickled (reminded me of Japan) and a fruit drink/ soup of some sort that I couldn’t get to because there was soooo much other food. Keith said it was good and sweet. Another testament to how well they have been treated there. I was impressed, they all ate what they could then immediately began to clean up. A2 and another boy went into another room and came back with an apron on and a scarf in their hair and cleaned off the uneaten food onto a plate, stacked the all the dishes and carried them into the other room to be washed. Then each child picked up their placemat and put them in a stack on the window sill. Even the two year old knew the routine and although she was slower than the rest she followed it. Wish I had that kind of discipline at our house!!! We’ll have to work on that to keep the girls’ routine.
When they came they immediately crowded around the computer but then left. I wondered where they had gone. But back to the routine, they had to go in and eat. Then they rushed out and crowded around the computer. Everyone but our girls were quickly and quietly ushered out. A1 and K took turns playing the game until the social worker came. When it was A1’s turn K hovered over her and would sneak her hand in every once in a while. Hmmmmm Sounds a little like Caleb .
Anyway, the social worker came and she, the director and a man took all the girls in the kitchen. While they were there our facilitator said “I don’t think that is fair for them to bring the prosecutor with them to this meeting.” Ok, now we are really worried. About 2 minutes after they go in A2 comes out to play, then A1. Then the prosecutor comes out and says he wants to ask me (Mama) some questions. Let’s see if I can remember them all.
He asked about our family so I showed him my photo album (again with the photo album). I explained about each person and page.
“Why adoption? Why 4 more children?” We have always wanted a big family. We lost 2 babies and pregnancy continues to become more risky so we wanted to adopt. We had heard that Ukraine doesn’t split up sibling groups and we wanted to provide a home for a sibling group. “Do we have finances to take care of 8 children?” Yes we make --- a year. “I don’t know about American money.” A social worker in our state has looked over our finances and found that it was sufficient. “Some people come to adopt one or two kids and get roped into adopting more. Is that the case here?” No, we were shown 4 sibling groups at the SDA and these girls are the ones we chose. “Are we concerned about our children at home? Have we heard that K had TB?” Yes, they told us that in the first meeting and no, we aren’t concerned as it has been treated. “You only have one girl at home, how will you raise 4 more girls?” It will be an adjustment, any big change is. But we have a great support group. “How old is your oldest?” Caleb is 12 and he is a big help at home… they all are. (Looking at the album) “How do your parents feel about you adopting?” They are very supportive as well as our brothers and sisters. (It felt really good to be able to say that, by the way, Thank you all!!!) “They all look so happy.” We have our problems like any family but we get a long. I wish I had said something about our beliefs here, .
He then told me that the album looked very professional and asked if I had made it. Yes, I made it. Thank you, that makes me feel good. That is very nice of you to say.
I’m sure he asked me other questions but I can’t think of them right now. He then said “thank you” and got up to leave. Just before he walked out the door he turned around and said “I probably won’t see you again, other than in court, so take good care of the girls.”
Success, I guess. I guess that means that K said yes? I felt like we were trying to bribe her with the computer. But the more I think about it the more I think it was a good thing. Without the opportunity to really spend time with her (ie. In a home situation) we wouldn’t be able to build a good relationship. And because we use computers a lot at home it gave her a taste of our life. Maybe I’m trying to justify it. But as we were leaving she gave me a really long hug, much longer than she had ever previously. So maybe in her mind she had made the decision to come and it was more than just the computer.
So, we went back to the apartment to wait for a half an hour, while the director wrote up whatever paperwork she was to do. We had bread, cheese, and water (the kids at the orphanage eat better than we do. ) and went back to pick up the papers. Then another taxi to the social worker’s office. Elijah fell asleep while we were waiting in the hall. Then we walked down the street to find a place to buy a modem. YEAH!!! Connection to the internet!! To family!!! But no such luck. We found a place, even chose a modem, but their computer wasn’t working so we need to go back tomorrow. There has to be SOME purpose for us not being able to hook up for so long, but what could it be?
We were getting pretty low on grivna, so we stopped in at a bank. The exchange rate is 8.1 grivna to a dollar. We haven’t exchanged money since that first day when we exchanged with Vanya. That was $200, that we exchanged with him and it has been a week. We exchanged more than that this time, anticipating buying a modem and paying court fees. Anyway, since we were in that area we went to the big grocery store. In addition to the groceries, we bought some goodies to take to the girls, cookies, chocolates, hairbrush set with hair things, a couple puzzles and some balloons. Elijah slept this whole time and when we got back to the apartment we took his temperature. 100.4 So we gave him some medicine and made plans for tomorrow without him or myself. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing.
Sunday in the Park with George (our computer)
January 25- Sunday
We woke up, bathed, and got into our Sunday clothes. We could only visit the girls for an hour in the morning to allow for the bus ride and a little bit of give time (in case we got lost, or to find the place), to find the church. It was a pretty good visit. Even A2 joined in without too much rowdiness.
We then walked up to the main road and got on the bus which was pretty crowded. We could take bus # 50 (the one we took), #20 or #23. Once Keith sees a map he can get us pretty much anywhere. The ride cost us 1.5 grivna a piece. Three grivna is about 40 cents, much cheaper than the 12 grivna it would cost to take a taxi. When we got to our bus stop the driver didn’t see us stand up. So, we rode to the next one. Then we walked to the stadium. It was a little bit of a walk and I was carrying Elijah, who had fallen asleep on the bus. I was so hot by the time we got there. The whole time we have been here I haven’t had any problem with the cold. In fact, many times the opposite is the problem.
The branch was VERY small. There were 21 people there and 8 of them were missionaries and branch president and 3 of them were us. The branch president is an elder missionary couple. They have been here for 3 months and are learning the language. One of the younger missionaries translated for him and conducted. One missionary played the piano, another led the music, two missionaries passed the sacrament, and three of the missionaries gave talks. When missionaries weren’t doing something they would move around to either Keith and I, the branch president or his wife and translate. The one who translated for us did a great job!! He translated both Russian and Ukrainian. What a great opportunity to develop leadership skills for those missionaries!! They are the up-and-coming leaders.
It was really nice to go to church, feel the spirit and take the sacrament. The church is true wherever you go, and you always have an instant support group.
After church we stayed and talked the missionaries and branch president. The branch president’s wife invited us to dinner. We had to politely refuse because we had already promised to go with the Cox’s. The church was really close to the café that has wireless that the Cox’s told us about so we had taken our computer. We feel really bad because no family but the kids know about the girls. So even though we were running late to see the girls we felt it was important to try to connect up. We sat in the park for about ½ trying to hook up but were getting all kinds of errors. So we left and went back to see the girls.
This visit to see the girls was a little strange. We only had about an hour, as we were late. All the kids were getting ready to go outside so we sat and watched them. Our girls didn’t go. R wasn’t happy about something and stood next to the wall pouting. She is a little character! But she was cute! After about 10 minutes of standing there pouting she inched her way over to Keith leaned on him and then gradually gave him a hug. A1 did my hair again, in quite a few different ways. Keith told me I’m not allowed to cut my hair, until after the girls are attached. A2 brought toys out for Elijah. She loves Elijah and watches him closely to see if he needs help with something. Problem is, she is not very gentle with him and is quite forceful when she wants him to do something. He pushes her away whenever she comes near. As we were leaving Elijah did give R a hug, then A1, and then K (A2 wasn’t around) and that seemed to please them. Then R and A1 walked us out to the door. I get the impression that is quite an honor for them, to be able to do that.
Since we were escorted out the door we went back to the apartment, we were going to go see the Cox’s. Just as we walked into the apartment and were taking off our shoes and coats Luba said that Julia- the Cox’s translator- called. So we start putting all our stuff back on. Luba offered to let us leave Elijah here with her. We figured it would be good for her (and Elijah too, for that matter), so we left him. We went to Naomi café with the Cox’s and their translator. I felt guilty for going there on Sunday, but felt bad enough not getting information out to people at home. The Cox’s translator had translated the menu into English and matched up the page numbers for them, so all they had to do was point at the Ukrainian menu. What a great service for when she isn’t there. She apparently goes with them everywhere, how nice! While we have gotten along pretty well without anyone there are times it would be really nice to understand or be able to speak through someone.
Anyway, I ordered a breakfast sandwich (which was VERY delicious) and Keith ordered some noodles with veal and spinach. He said it was good but had a lot of grease. I excused myself and brought out the laptop. It was so nice to be able to get stuff sent and not find any bad news from family, to know that everything was ok at home. We did get some bad news, though. A good friend of mine had her husband kill himself a couple days ago. Apparently he has been having problems for some time. She is pregnant with their 9th baby. That just makes me sick for her!
Anyway, I sent emails out and answered what I needed to while still trying to be a part of the conversation with the Cox’s. They are from California. This is their 2nd adoption- their daughter was adopted in California and is 11 years old. They have their dossier in to China where the wait is up to 5 years. They heard about this hosting program and signed up. Their son, Sergei, was the last one so they were paired with him. After hosting him for 6 weeks they decided to pursue adopting him. I think I told some of their story before. They are really nice people!! They even offered to pay for dinner, which was extremely nice for them! They find out tomorrow if this appeal that was filed is valid and how the judge will take it. We are praying for them.
Our facilitator, comes back tomorrow and will try to be there when the social worker talks to the girls (I don’t know, but I doubt we will be allowed to be there). I’m nervous for that. I’m sure A1 won’t say no. I’m pretty sure that K and R won’t. But I don’t really know about A2. The older two get to say if they want to or not. The other two probably get a say but ultimately it is the social worker who decides that. So what happens if 3 say yes and 1 doesn’t? Ahhhhh, I gotta stop thinking about this or I’m going to go crazy.
We woke up, bathed, and got into our Sunday clothes. We could only visit the girls for an hour in the morning to allow for the bus ride and a little bit of give time (in case we got lost, or to find the place), to find the church. It was a pretty good visit. Even A2 joined in without too much rowdiness.
We then walked up to the main road and got on the bus which was pretty crowded. We could take bus # 50 (the one we took), #20 or #23. Once Keith sees a map he can get us pretty much anywhere. The ride cost us 1.5 grivna a piece. Three grivna is about 40 cents, much cheaper than the 12 grivna it would cost to take a taxi. When we got to our bus stop the driver didn’t see us stand up. So, we rode to the next one. Then we walked to the stadium. It was a little bit of a walk and I was carrying Elijah, who had fallen asleep on the bus. I was so hot by the time we got there. The whole time we have been here I haven’t had any problem with the cold. In fact, many times the opposite is the problem.
The branch was VERY small. There were 21 people there and 8 of them were missionaries and branch president and 3 of them were us. The branch president is an elder missionary couple. They have been here for 3 months and are learning the language. One of the younger missionaries translated for him and conducted. One missionary played the piano, another led the music, two missionaries passed the sacrament, and three of the missionaries gave talks. When missionaries weren’t doing something they would move around to either Keith and I, the branch president or his wife and translate. The one who translated for us did a great job!! He translated both Russian and Ukrainian. What a great opportunity to develop leadership skills for those missionaries!! They are the up-and-coming leaders.
It was really nice to go to church, feel the spirit and take the sacrament. The church is true wherever you go, and you always have an instant support group.
After church we stayed and talked the missionaries and branch president. The branch president’s wife invited us to dinner. We had to politely refuse because we had already promised to go with the Cox’s. The church was really close to the café that has wireless that the Cox’s told us about so we had taken our computer. We feel really bad because no family but the kids know about the girls. So even though we were running late to see the girls we felt it was important to try to connect up. We sat in the park for about ½ trying to hook up but were getting all kinds of errors. So we left and went back to see the girls.
This visit to see the girls was a little strange. We only had about an hour, as we were late. All the kids were getting ready to go outside so we sat and watched them. Our girls didn’t go. R wasn’t happy about something and stood next to the wall pouting. She is a little character! But she was cute! After about 10 minutes of standing there pouting she inched her way over to Keith leaned on him and then gradually gave him a hug. A1 did my hair again, in quite a few different ways. Keith told me I’m not allowed to cut my hair, until after the girls are attached. A2 brought toys out for Elijah. She loves Elijah and watches him closely to see if he needs help with something. Problem is, she is not very gentle with him and is quite forceful when she wants him to do something. He pushes her away whenever she comes near. As we were leaving Elijah did give R a hug, then A1, and then K (A2 wasn’t around) and that seemed to please them. Then R and A1 walked us out to the door. I get the impression that is quite an honor for them, to be able to do that.
Since we were escorted out the door we went back to the apartment, we were going to go see the Cox’s. Just as we walked into the apartment and were taking off our shoes and coats Luba said that Julia- the Cox’s translator- called. So we start putting all our stuff back on. Luba offered to let us leave Elijah here with her. We figured it would be good for her (and Elijah too, for that matter), so we left him. We went to Naomi café with the Cox’s and their translator. I felt guilty for going there on Sunday, but felt bad enough not getting information out to people at home. The Cox’s translator had translated the menu into English and matched up the page numbers for them, so all they had to do was point at the Ukrainian menu. What a great service for when she isn’t there. She apparently goes with them everywhere, how nice! While we have gotten along pretty well without anyone there are times it would be really nice to understand or be able to speak through someone.
Anyway, I ordered a breakfast sandwich (which was VERY delicious) and Keith ordered some noodles with veal and spinach. He said it was good but had a lot of grease. I excused myself and brought out the laptop. It was so nice to be able to get stuff sent and not find any bad news from family, to know that everything was ok at home. We did get some bad news, though. A good friend of mine had her husband kill himself a couple days ago. Apparently he has been having problems for some time. She is pregnant with their 9th baby. That just makes me sick for her!
Anyway, I sent emails out and answered what I needed to while still trying to be a part of the conversation with the Cox’s. They are from California. This is their 2nd adoption- their daughter was adopted in California and is 11 years old. They have their dossier in to China where the wait is up to 5 years. They heard about this hosting program and signed up. Their son, Sergei, was the last one so they were paired with him. After hosting him for 6 weeks they decided to pursue adopting him. I think I told some of their story before. They are really nice people!! They even offered to pay for dinner, which was extremely nice for them! They find out tomorrow if this appeal that was filed is valid and how the judge will take it. We are praying for them.
Our facilitator, comes back tomorrow and will try to be there when the social worker talks to the girls (I don’t know, but I doubt we will be allowed to be there). I’m nervous for that. I’m sure A1 won’t say no. I’m pretty sure that K and R won’t. But I don’t really know about A2. The older two get to say if they want to or not. The other two probably get a say but ultimately it is the social worker who decides that. So what happens if 3 say yes and 1 doesn’t? Ahhhhh, I gotta stop thinking about this or I’m going to go crazy.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
January 24- Saturday
January 24, Saturday
We are settling into a routine. Wake up, eat, visit orphanage, eat, take a nap, visit orphanage, eat, crash in bed, wake up at 4:00 am, type on computer, fall asleep again, wake up, eat, visit orphanage ect. It is becoming good for Elijah because up until now we haven’t had a routine of which to speak. I think it is good for the girls too.
Between orphanage visits Luba showed us where the grocery store is. We were getting low and only had some milk left. So we picked up lots of dumplings (in several unknown varieties), 2 big jugs of water, some butter and sour cream for the dumplings, a large (at least for here) loaf of bread, a couple bricks of cheese, some granola, more milk, and some, ok lots of yogurt. Can you tell I felt a little conspicuous. I think people go to the market everyday and get what they need for the next. Therefore they only have a small sack of food. Speaking of sacks, you have to pay to get sacks. So every time we go to the store we get one sack. Pretty soon we won’t have to buy any.
Tonight was a pretty wild visit with the girls. I was glad to leave so that (hopefully) they calmed down for the workers
Two days ago, we met a family who has been here since December- through all the holiday season/ closures. They are adopting a boy that they hosted. They told us that our two oldest went with the same group to be hosted. So we wanted to get their email address and phone number. Today, we found out that they have hit a snag. Their ten day wait period was up yesterday and on the 11th day they were supposed to be able to pick up the paperwork and head to Kyiv. Igor (whoever that is) called and left a message and said that some papers were filed. So they can’t get a hold of anyone to get any information about it. They are very frustrated and could use some prayers and company. We’ll be glad to give them both.
We found out what the girls’ favorite colors are. I will use that information to help buy clothes with. Now if I could just figure out sizes. But maybe I’m jumping the gun. They still haven’t formally said that they wanted to be adopted.
We are settling into a routine. Wake up, eat, visit orphanage, eat, take a nap, visit orphanage, eat, crash in bed, wake up at 4:00 am, type on computer, fall asleep again, wake up, eat, visit orphanage ect. It is becoming good for Elijah because up until now we haven’t had a routine of which to speak. I think it is good for the girls too.
Between orphanage visits Luba showed us where the grocery store is. We were getting low and only had some milk left. So we picked up lots of dumplings (in several unknown varieties), 2 big jugs of water, some butter and sour cream for the dumplings, a large (at least for here) loaf of bread, a couple bricks of cheese, some granola, more milk, and some, ok lots of yogurt. Can you tell I felt a little conspicuous. I think people go to the market everyday and get what they need for the next. Therefore they only have a small sack of food. Speaking of sacks, you have to pay to get sacks. So every time we go to the store we get one sack. Pretty soon we won’t have to buy any.
Tonight was a pretty wild visit with the girls. I was glad to leave so that (hopefully) they calmed down for the workers
Two days ago, we met a family who has been here since December- through all the holiday season/ closures. They are adopting a boy that they hosted. They told us that our two oldest went with the same group to be hosted. So we wanted to get their email address and phone number. Today, we found out that they have hit a snag. Their ten day wait period was up yesterday and on the 11th day they were supposed to be able to pick up the paperwork and head to Kyiv. Igor (whoever that is) called and left a message and said that some papers were filed. So they can’t get a hold of anyone to get any information about it. They are very frustrated and could use some prayers and company. We’ll be glad to give them both.
We found out what the girls’ favorite colors are. I will use that information to help buy clothes with. Now if I could just figure out sizes. But maybe I’m jumping the gun. They still haven’t formally said that they wanted to be adopted.
January 23- Friday
January 23- Friday
We woke up at about 4:00 this morning. We wanted to call the kids at home and tell them about the girls before we tell everyone else, but we couldn’t get through. So, I called Mary and asked her to get a hold of them and have them call us. It was interesting to see their reactions.
After the phone call, I spent three hours trying to catch up on this journal. Keith fell asleep again and Elijah should have.
When it came time to go visit the girls we quickly ate some bread and cheese and ran out the door. The two younger ones both ran up to us and gave us a hug. The other two girls were in school. We played with those two and their friends. A spent the whole time taking pictures with our camera. I brought it with that intention but she wouldn’t do anything else and would only let R use it a couple of times. We got tons of pictures, though about half of them were good enough to keep. Some of their friends, a couple of the caretakers. Our facilitator came in near the end and told us that he was able to talk the judge into setting a court date even though he didn’t have all the paperwork, yet. That court date is February 3, but of course it is contingent on whether he gets all the paperwork in. That is about 10 days from now, then another 10 days for the waiting period, another 3 or 4 for the embassy paperwork and we will have been her for 30 days. That’s not too bad.
So, we came home and cooked the potato dumplings that our facilitator had left us. Very delicious!! We must get some more, and try to figure out different flavors, too. We also had some cheese and bread, our staples.
Then we laid down with Elijah to take a nap. When we woke up it was 10 minutes to 4:00. That isn’t good for jetlag, we either must not take naps or set the alarm for an hour. So we left for the orphanage. This time everyone was there. Half way through the caregivers took the other kids outside and the two younger ones went with them. That was really nice because it gave us some one-on-one time with the two older ones.
After this visit I’m not too concerned about the two older girls not saying that they want to be adopted. Monday is that big day.
We walked around the building and back toward the apartment. We decided to walk down and see if we could find and grocery stores to buy food as we are getting low. We walked down the main road by here in the direction that L told us they were. We did find a couple mini ones (think shaved ice shack size) but didn’t want to go much farther in the dark and went back to the apartment.
We ate granola bars and the last of the bread and cheese and drank hot chocolate. L came in to practice her English and we talked about where the grocery store was. She will take us there after we get back from our morning orphanage run tomorrow. She will also show us the big market where she says we can buy clothes for the girls. We will also ask her to show us the closest internet café, too, as that situation is getting critical , we need to get information out to people.
Anyway, I’m writing a book and we haven’t even been here a week.
We woke up at about 4:00 this morning. We wanted to call the kids at home and tell them about the girls before we tell everyone else, but we couldn’t get through. So, I called Mary and asked her to get a hold of them and have them call us. It was interesting to see their reactions.
After the phone call, I spent three hours trying to catch up on this journal. Keith fell asleep again and Elijah should have.
When it came time to go visit the girls we quickly ate some bread and cheese and ran out the door. The two younger ones both ran up to us and gave us a hug. The other two girls were in school. We played with those two and their friends. A spent the whole time taking pictures with our camera. I brought it with that intention but she wouldn’t do anything else and would only let R use it a couple of times. We got tons of pictures, though about half of them were good enough to keep. Some of their friends, a couple of the caretakers. Our facilitator came in near the end and told us that he was able to talk the judge into setting a court date even though he didn’t have all the paperwork, yet. That court date is February 3, but of course it is contingent on whether he gets all the paperwork in. That is about 10 days from now, then another 10 days for the waiting period, another 3 or 4 for the embassy paperwork and we will have been her for 30 days. That’s not too bad.
So, we came home and cooked the potato dumplings that our facilitator had left us. Very delicious!! We must get some more, and try to figure out different flavors, too. We also had some cheese and bread, our staples.
Then we laid down with Elijah to take a nap. When we woke up it was 10 minutes to 4:00. That isn’t good for jetlag, we either must not take naps or set the alarm for an hour. So we left for the orphanage. This time everyone was there. Half way through the caregivers took the other kids outside and the two younger ones went with them. That was really nice because it gave us some one-on-one time with the two older ones.
After this visit I’m not too concerned about the two older girls not saying that they want to be adopted. Monday is that big day.
We walked around the building and back toward the apartment. We decided to walk down and see if we could find and grocery stores to buy food as we are getting low. We walked down the main road by here in the direction that L told us they were. We did find a couple mini ones (think shaved ice shack size) but didn’t want to go much farther in the dark and went back to the apartment.
We ate granola bars and the last of the bread and cheese and drank hot chocolate. L came in to practice her English and we talked about where the grocery store was. She will take us there after we get back from our morning orphanage run tomorrow. She will also show us the big market where she says we can buy clothes for the girls. We will also ask her to show us the closest internet café, too, as that situation is getting critical , we need to get information out to people.
Anyway, I’m writing a book and we haven’t even been here a week.
January 22- thursday
January 22 Thursday
Eeek, what a full day!
We started at 5:00 am to catch the train to Khemlinetsky to meet the girls. I had only slept about 2 hours anticipating that first meeting and what I should do. We grabbed breakfast at the train station McDonalds and it was MUCH better that US McD’s. The train was very spacious and clean and the trip was 4 ½ hours long. Elijah got VERY tired at the end but we couldn’t get him to sleep. Not a good combination when we had a million people to meet with and a million places to go. We stashed our suitcases at a place in the train station.
Our facilitator then took us to the local social worker. While we were waiting to be invited in to meet with the social worker Our facilitator told us that one of the workers said “they want 4 and already have one?!?!?!” We thought we were in for a grilling. People kept giving Elijah little toys to play with as he was pretty cranky and not sitting still. She asked us why we wanted to adopt—Keith told her about Gideon and Talita and that we wanted a big family and to provide for a sibling group. She asked us what religion we were…. We told her Christian. She then said she didn’t have any other questions and praised us for wanting to adopt these girls. I was pretty surprised it wasn’t the 3rd degeree.
Then another social worker accompanied us to the orphanage. They put us in some sort of “auditorium” room with little chairs and then big chairs all lined up. It was all very clean and bright. After that we were ushered into the orphanage director’s office. Again, the interview. Why do you want to adopt? Why Ukraine?
One lady told us about each of the girls. Then the orphanage doctor came in and told us what she knew. They all are pretty much healthy. Then they asked if we wanted them to bring in the girls. Yes, of course.
The three younger came in and were pretty shy. They were prompted to say their names. Our facilitator kind of took over and asked a bunch of questions. He had me get out the camera and he helped Alina and Anastasia take pictures and got one of each child and showed it to them. Chock one up for him! I was trying to figure out how quickly I could to do that without offending. He helped us step through the photo album I had put together. They all look very healthy not thin and frail like other pictures I’ve seen and they seem well attached to their caregivers.
After the book was done, the girls had to go as it was nap time. One of the workers asked the girls to show us their rooms. Their rooms were very clean, and each had a TV. and had toys. After saying goodbye to the girls we went back to the director’s office. We showed the acting director (the director was out on sick leave and would be back Monday) and the other worker the photo album and one of them said something about all our current kids being blonde and the girls being dark haired. We told them that we didn’t care about that. And yes, we have decided and are ready to adopt these girls.
Leaving the orphanage while waiting for the cab, Our facilitator told us we had 20 minutes to come up with the names we wanted. Wow, no pressure. We had our list (but of course it wasn’t with us) but we wanted to wait until we met the girls to name them. We also wanted to get some input from Kristina, but our facilitator advised against that, anyway. So we madly tried to put names together in the cab ride and in the waiting room of the notary. In the end we decided to keep the girls’ names as their first names and give them middle names (not a practice in Ukraine). So we write the names down for the notary--- we can come back after 5:00 to pick up the paperwork. She’ll give us a call when they are ready.
Then back to the social worker’s office- she is surprised to see us so quickly. I guess we really are an oddity. Then we got a cab to the train station to get our luggage and then to the apartment we are staying in. One of the orphanage teachers offered some rooms in her house-- she’s had other adoptive parents stay before. It is only about a 5 minute walk from the orphanage and about that to a grocery store and open air market. We need to share kitchen and bathroom but would have our own room. We had another offer of someone farther away where we could have all our own space but finally chose this place. Her ulterior motive is that she wants to practice her English. I can handle that. She is very nice, accommodating of us and Elijah and very helpful. And she’s only charging 40 USD a night. Good deal for us!! Her mother helps at the orphanage, too, she works in the laundry.
It was 5 minutes to 4:00 (one of the visiting hours at the orphanage is 4:00-6:00, the other is 10:00- 12:00) when we got things a little bit settled here so we headed out to the orphanage. When we walked in the door to the room with the kids in it two of our girls grabbed my hands and took me to another room and showed me their lego buildings and I played for a while. I kept getting “Hallo” from all the other children. We played for a while with our girls, Elijah’s trains, the beach ball I brought from home. I was really glad we went, we almost didn’t because we were expecting a phone call from the notary and didn’t want to be there 5 minutes and have to leave. But it ended up being quite a while. So, it was good.
Then another cab ride back to the notary. I was so sleepy and tired I had a hard time paying attention when our facilitator read the forms to us but I did check spelling of the girls’ names. I think the forms were some sort of petition to get new birth certificates with our names on and with their new names or something like that. I wasn’t very smart and left our passports back at the apartment. But the nice lady helped us with out them. I’m sure Heavenly Father had a hand in that because I was soooo tired I could have cried.
Then we walked to find a grocery store (the McD’s is all we had had all day and it was about 7:00 at night—I’m surprised Elijah didn’t tell us about that one—but then he has jetlag for food, not sleep). We bought milk, cheese, bread, yogurt, some lip balm for Elijah’s poor lips, and most importantly water.
We came back to the apartment and ate some yogurt, cheese and bread then I and Elijah crashed on the bed while Keith stayed up talking to our facilitator.
Next step in the paperwork is involved but the most important is to get the two older girls to say they want to be adopted, petition for a court hearing and get paperwork to the SDA. I’m glad our facilitator is taking care of all that!!
Eeek, what a full day!
We started at 5:00 am to catch the train to Khemlinetsky to meet the girls. I had only slept about 2 hours anticipating that first meeting and what I should do. We grabbed breakfast at the train station McDonalds and it was MUCH better that US McD’s. The train was very spacious and clean and the trip was 4 ½ hours long. Elijah got VERY tired at the end but we couldn’t get him to sleep. Not a good combination when we had a million people to meet with and a million places to go. We stashed our suitcases at a place in the train station.
Our facilitator then took us to the local social worker. While we were waiting to be invited in to meet with the social worker Our facilitator told us that one of the workers said “they want 4 and already have one?!?!?!” We thought we were in for a grilling. People kept giving Elijah little toys to play with as he was pretty cranky and not sitting still. She asked us why we wanted to adopt—Keith told her about Gideon and Talita and that we wanted a big family and to provide for a sibling group. She asked us what religion we were…. We told her Christian. She then said she didn’t have any other questions and praised us for wanting to adopt these girls. I was pretty surprised it wasn’t the 3rd degeree.
Then another social worker accompanied us to the orphanage. They put us in some sort of “auditorium” room with little chairs and then big chairs all lined up. It was all very clean and bright. After that we were ushered into the orphanage director’s office. Again, the interview. Why do you want to adopt? Why Ukraine?
One lady told us about each of the girls. Then the orphanage doctor came in and told us what she knew. They all are pretty much healthy. Then they asked if we wanted them to bring in the girls. Yes, of course.
The three younger came in and were pretty shy. They were prompted to say their names. Our facilitator kind of took over and asked a bunch of questions. He had me get out the camera and he helped Alina and Anastasia take pictures and got one of each child and showed it to them. Chock one up for him! I was trying to figure out how quickly I could to do that without offending. He helped us step through the photo album I had put together. They all look very healthy not thin and frail like other pictures I’ve seen and they seem well attached to their caregivers.
After the book was done, the girls had to go as it was nap time. One of the workers asked the girls to show us their rooms. Their rooms were very clean, and each had a TV. and had toys. After saying goodbye to the girls we went back to the director’s office. We showed the acting director (the director was out on sick leave and would be back Monday) and the other worker the photo album and one of them said something about all our current kids being blonde and the girls being dark haired. We told them that we didn’t care about that. And yes, we have decided and are ready to adopt these girls.
Leaving the orphanage while waiting for the cab, Our facilitator told us we had 20 minutes to come up with the names we wanted. Wow, no pressure. We had our list (but of course it wasn’t with us) but we wanted to wait until we met the girls to name them. We also wanted to get some input from Kristina, but our facilitator advised against that, anyway. So we madly tried to put names together in the cab ride and in the waiting room of the notary. In the end we decided to keep the girls’ names as their first names and give them middle names (not a practice in Ukraine). So we write the names down for the notary--- we can come back after 5:00 to pick up the paperwork. She’ll give us a call when they are ready.
Then back to the social worker’s office- she is surprised to see us so quickly. I guess we really are an oddity. Then we got a cab to the train station to get our luggage and then to the apartment we are staying in. One of the orphanage teachers offered some rooms in her house-- she’s had other adoptive parents stay before. It is only about a 5 minute walk from the orphanage and about that to a grocery store and open air market. We need to share kitchen and bathroom but would have our own room. We had another offer of someone farther away where we could have all our own space but finally chose this place. Her ulterior motive is that she wants to practice her English. I can handle that. She is very nice, accommodating of us and Elijah and very helpful. And she’s only charging 40 USD a night. Good deal for us!! Her mother helps at the orphanage, too, she works in the laundry.
It was 5 minutes to 4:00 (one of the visiting hours at the orphanage is 4:00-6:00, the other is 10:00- 12:00) when we got things a little bit settled here so we headed out to the orphanage. When we walked in the door to the room with the kids in it two of our girls grabbed my hands and took me to another room and showed me their lego buildings and I played for a while. I kept getting “Hallo” from all the other children. We played for a while with our girls, Elijah’s trains, the beach ball I brought from home. I was really glad we went, we almost didn’t because we were expecting a phone call from the notary and didn’t want to be there 5 minutes and have to leave. But it ended up being quite a while. So, it was good.
Then another cab ride back to the notary. I was so sleepy and tired I had a hard time paying attention when our facilitator read the forms to us but I did check spelling of the girls’ names. I think the forms were some sort of petition to get new birth certificates with our names on and with their new names or something like that. I wasn’t very smart and left our passports back at the apartment. But the nice lady helped us with out them. I’m sure Heavenly Father had a hand in that because I was soooo tired I could have cried.
Then we walked to find a grocery store (the McD’s is all we had had all day and it was about 7:00 at night—I’m surprised Elijah didn’t tell us about that one—but then he has jetlag for food, not sleep). We bought milk, cheese, bread, yogurt, some lip balm for Elijah’s poor lips, and most importantly water.
We came back to the apartment and ate some yogurt, cheese and bread then I and Elijah crashed on the bed while Keith stayed up talking to our facilitator.
Next step in the paperwork is involved but the most important is to get the two older girls to say they want to be adopted, petition for a court hearing and get paperwork to the SDA. I’m glad our facilitator is taking care of all that!!
January 21- Wednesday
January 21 Wednesday
Wow, what an eventful day.
We started the day with breakfast with the Epperlys, The translator, and Our facilitator. Same buffet place and we had some sort of wonton-type thing with cabbage inside, covered with steamed onions and a dollop of sour cream. It was very delicious. Elijah ate some sort of turnover. Then we bade the Epperly’s off to their appointment. They are looking for a son between two and four. We prayed for them. They came back saying they chose a child to go see. He was the first one that was shown to them, and four years old. He’s got blonde hair. They learned that they would also be able to get the paperwork from the SDA to be able to go today. They were having a hard time getting a train ticket, though. So, we sat around a little waiting for our appointment. We had packed all of our stuff up while the Epperlys were at their appointment just in case. After it was time to go we walked up the hill to the SDA. It is very non-descript for a place that can change your fate forever. We were about 10 minutes early so we waited outside for them to open from lunch break. After being called inside, we sat down on the couch and got Elijah settled with his trains. She asked about our family and about the children we wanted to adopt. Then she proceeded to show us files. She first showed us three sibling groups of three each all healthy. We weren’t going to go after the one with a 13 year old girl—we were only approved for up to 12 years old. We didn’t want to look further into the one with an 11 year old boy as we think Caleb would have a hard time with that one. That left the one with 3 girls but didn’t get much inspiration off that one. While we were looking and debating, the lady left for a few minutes and came back with a sibling group of four girls. The oldest was 8, the youngest 4 (the right ages). They had parental rights terminated in October 2007 (not really very long in the orphanage, barely long enough even to be available for international adoption). The mother was very young--- 16 when she had the first girl (good news for fetal alcohol syndrome).
The lady jokingly said that if we didn’t choose them she wouldn’t speak to our facilitator the next time he came in--- they were all young AND girls. For some reason they got it into their head that we ONLY wanted girls. It didn’t matter because it was very clear to us that these girls were the ones that we were going to visit. Both Keith and I felt it. In their pictures they were shaved bald (probably lice control) but probably had dark hair and dark eyes… very beautiful. We didn’t even take our whole hour. We were told they probably wouldn’t get our paperwork done that night to be able to go, but to check anyway.
At 5:00 the translator went off to try to find tickets for Sharon and Jason and the rest of us went back to the SDA to see if paperwork was ready. We stood there in a very crowded hallway for quite a while. I held a sleeping Elijah. I think my back is going to have a hard time with this trip. We were pretty surprised when our facilitator said our paperwork was ready in addition to Sharon and Jason’s. Our facilitator made copies then we went out to eat at the same place. Keith and I had some sort of meat ball with something in it, a salad and a pastry of some sort. Elijah had a muffin. Delicious as always and we spent about 60 grivna- about $8. After we got back we learned that the translator had gotten us train tickets to go out in the morning at 6:30. The same driver would again give us a ride to the train station.
Wow, what an eventful day.
We started the day with breakfast with the Epperlys, The translator, and Our facilitator. Same buffet place and we had some sort of wonton-type thing with cabbage inside, covered with steamed onions and a dollop of sour cream. It was very delicious. Elijah ate some sort of turnover. Then we bade the Epperly’s off to their appointment. They are looking for a son between two and four. We prayed for them. They came back saying they chose a child to go see. He was the first one that was shown to them, and four years old. He’s got blonde hair. They learned that they would also be able to get the paperwork from the SDA to be able to go today. They were having a hard time getting a train ticket, though. So, we sat around a little waiting for our appointment. We had packed all of our stuff up while the Epperlys were at their appointment just in case. After it was time to go we walked up the hill to the SDA. It is very non-descript for a place that can change your fate forever. We were about 10 minutes early so we waited outside for them to open from lunch break. After being called inside, we sat down on the couch and got Elijah settled with his trains. She asked about our family and about the children we wanted to adopt. Then she proceeded to show us files. She first showed us three sibling groups of three each all healthy. We weren’t going to go after the one with a 13 year old girl—we were only approved for up to 12 years old. We didn’t want to look further into the one with an 11 year old boy as we think Caleb would have a hard time with that one. That left the one with 3 girls but didn’t get much inspiration off that one. While we were looking and debating, the lady left for a few minutes and came back with a sibling group of four girls. The oldest was 8, the youngest 4 (the right ages). They had parental rights terminated in October 2007 (not really very long in the orphanage, barely long enough even to be available for international adoption). The mother was very young--- 16 when she had the first girl (good news for fetal alcohol syndrome).
The lady jokingly said that if we didn’t choose them she wouldn’t speak to our facilitator the next time he came in--- they were all young AND girls. For some reason they got it into their head that we ONLY wanted girls. It didn’t matter because it was very clear to us that these girls were the ones that we were going to visit. Both Keith and I felt it. In their pictures they were shaved bald (probably lice control) but probably had dark hair and dark eyes… very beautiful. We didn’t even take our whole hour. We were told they probably wouldn’t get our paperwork done that night to be able to go, but to check anyway.
At 5:00 the translator went off to try to find tickets for Sharon and Jason and the rest of us went back to the SDA to see if paperwork was ready. We stood there in a very crowded hallway for quite a while. I held a sleeping Elijah. I think my back is going to have a hard time with this trip. We were pretty surprised when our facilitator said our paperwork was ready in addition to Sharon and Jason’s. Our facilitator made copies then we went out to eat at the same place. Keith and I had some sort of meat ball with something in it, a salad and a pastry of some sort. Elijah had a muffin. Delicious as always and we spent about 60 grivna- about $8. After we got back we learned that the translator had gotten us train tickets to go out in the morning at 6:30. The same driver would again give us a ride to the train station.
January 20th-- tuesday- take two
You are going to get lots of updates all at once. We have only been able to find a place to get internet.
January 20 Tuesday—take two
The translator knocked on our door at about 8:30 to give us the keys to the apartment that he forgot to give us the night before. We were up (and had been since 4:30) and had already eaten some of our muesli or we would have gone with he and the Epperly’s for breakfast. But we did go meet the Epperly’s in their apartment on the floor above us. Jason and Sharon are from North Carolina have three girls roughly about the ages of our older three. So I’m guessing that they are going for a boy. We found out from our facilitator that it is very unusual for him to have two families here at the same time. He says 12 families a year is a good year. Anyway, we spent the morning ironing our SDA clothes, sorting through money to be able to pay our facilitator, and getting our stuff organized. Our facilitator came about 11:30 and took us out to see some sights. He took us up the hill past St Michaels and other buildings along the route, by way of a couple parks for Elijah to play in. Didn’t see the SDA but we know where it is generally. Then he took us for lunch to a buffet type place where we spent 35 grivna (about $4 USD) for Keith and I to eat (Elijah had fallen asleep). We had borscht (cabbage soup) and a salad (Keith had tomato, beets, carrot vinaigrette salad and chicken pineapple salad for me. To drink we had fruit compote. All of it was delicious!
Then on our way back to the apartment we bought—well our facilitator bought-- and we paid for cards for the cell phone minutes and internet minutes. Phones work pretty well (our phone, Our facilitator’s sim card) but internet is slow because it is dial-up. We must figure out something else so Keith will be able to work… but not till after the SDA appointment and possibly in our new place. Then we went back to the same place to eat—this time potatoes and vegetables, Elijah didn’t care for it so he had a granola bar after we came back.
We did pretty well tonight. It is 10:00 and we are just going to bed. I did sleep for about ½ hour when I put Elijah to bed at 8:30. But I think we can sleep through the night. Tomorrow we will eat breakfast with the Epperly’s before their appointment and then wander around and take more pictures and possibly some video. So many fun things to see.
The buildings are so colorful. Most everyone wears black or dark colors. All the ladies wear long coats with big hats, many of them furs or with fur-lined hats. And I didn’t see many ladies who DIDN’T have boots on, and a high percentage of them high spiky heels. And everyone is dressed very classily, didn’t see anyone in jeans and T-shirt or wrinkled clothes.
January 20 Tuesday—take two
The translator knocked on our door at about 8:30 to give us the keys to the apartment that he forgot to give us the night before. We were up (and had been since 4:30) and had already eaten some of our muesli or we would have gone with he and the Epperly’s for breakfast. But we did go meet the Epperly’s in their apartment on the floor above us. Jason and Sharon are from North Carolina have three girls roughly about the ages of our older three. So I’m guessing that they are going for a boy. We found out from our facilitator that it is very unusual for him to have two families here at the same time. He says 12 families a year is a good year. Anyway, we spent the morning ironing our SDA clothes, sorting through money to be able to pay our facilitator, and getting our stuff organized. Our facilitator came about 11:30 and took us out to see some sights. He took us up the hill past St Michaels and other buildings along the route, by way of a couple parks for Elijah to play in. Didn’t see the SDA but we know where it is generally. Then he took us for lunch to a buffet type place where we spent 35 grivna (about $4 USD) for Keith and I to eat (Elijah had fallen asleep). We had borscht (cabbage soup) and a salad (Keith had tomato, beets, carrot vinaigrette salad and chicken pineapple salad for me. To drink we had fruit compote. All of it was delicious!
Then on our way back to the apartment we bought—well our facilitator bought-- and we paid for cards for the cell phone minutes and internet minutes. Phones work pretty well (our phone, Our facilitator’s sim card) but internet is slow because it is dial-up. We must figure out something else so Keith will be able to work… but not till after the SDA appointment and possibly in our new place. Then we went back to the same place to eat—this time potatoes and vegetables, Elijah didn’t care for it so he had a granola bar after we came back.
We did pretty well tonight. It is 10:00 and we are just going to bed. I did sleep for about ½ hour when I put Elijah to bed at 8:30. But I think we can sleep through the night. Tomorrow we will eat breakfast with the Epperly’s before their appointment and then wander around and take more pictures and possibly some video. So many fun things to see.
The buildings are so colorful. Most everyone wears black or dark colors. All the ladies wear long coats with big hats, many of them furs or with fur-lined hats. And I didn’t see many ladies who DIDN’T have boots on, and a high percentage of them high spiky heels. And everyone is dressed very classily, didn’t see anyone in jeans and T-shirt or wrinkled clothes.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
January 20th-- tuesday-- I think
January 20th- Tuesday
Well, we made it Kyiv and got internet hooked up. The trip was long but pretty uneventful. Security in Seattle was a circus. We had to take our coats and shoes off, take out the laptop, DVD player, case of DVD’s and a Ziploc of hot chocolate packets so they could inspect them. Sometime during all that time one of the suitcases tipped over on Elijah and the telescoping handle caught him right on the bridge of the nose and the eye. I was sure he had broken his nose but he just has a little bruise on his nose and eye. Luckily there weren’t many people flying at that time so it was a circus but not frantic.
We were there early, planning time for getting lost on the bus there, so we ate breakfast of fish and chips at Ivars in the airport—delicious.
We flew KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/ Northwest on the first leg of the journey and we flew in style. Each seat had its own little TV on which you could watch your choice of about 30 movies, play some arcade type games, listen to music, look through some interactive maps (see where we were, how fast we were going, headwind and all that stuff), shop at the duty free shop or send emails. It even had a little card swiper in the handset for sending emails and shopping. I and Keith watched 3 movies and Elijah watched parts of three movies, played with his “choo choo rains,” walked around the cabin, read books and ate cookies. He had a little mini-meltdown when it was naptime the first time but slept for 3 hours and another 1.5 hours the second time.
The fed us soooooo much food and so many times that it felt like we just ate the whole time. It was all pretty good food, too.
We flew 5010 miles and were in the air for 9 ½ hours.
The second leg of our journey began with a repeat in miniature of the security circus. Elijah was so tired and everything was so new, he didn’t want to go through the metal detector so I went through first intending on encouraging him through, but I set the alarm off (still don’t know what did it) and had to be frisked. He had so many people trying to encourage him to go through that Keith had to practically push him through setting off the alarm with his watch. He then cowered in the corner until they were done with me. I thought they were going frisk him too but they didn’t even give him a second glance except to ooo and ahhh over him. Poor Keith had to deal with all the luggage while this was happening.
Anyway, we boarded the Ukrainian National Airlines airplane which was considerably smaller. On this flight everything was said in first, Ukrainian and then English. I told Keith that I almost had better chance of understanding the Ukrainian than the English-- she talked so fast and had a very strong accent. We got a meal and a snack on this flight too, but it was only 2 ½ hours. Most of which I spent trying to keep my eyes open, Elijah slept and I think Keith worried about what to do for customs.
After the plane landed on a snowy runway, we went down the stairs to the tarmac and boarded a VERY crowded bus to the terminal. I had to hold onto Keith to keep from falling over every time the bus stopped or turned. Some nice airport worker looked at our forms and told us what to fix and then sent us to the front of the line, cutting all these business men, I’m sure because we had Elijah. So it wouldn’t have really been that useful to pay for the VIP service as Elijah did away with our line-standing. Then we spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what to declare on the customs form. Keith didn’t know whether to declare our cameras (2 video cameras and 2 still cameras—one set ours and one set that we purchased and brought over for Our facilitator) or our folder of DVDs we brought to watch. So he asked one nice gentleman—who, luckily spoke some English—and we got some funny looks. “You want to declare something?!?!?!?!” “You only have to declare if you have over 10,000 Euros (or equivalent in other currency, about 14,000 USD) per person. And you don’t have to declare any equipment unless it is professional.” So he sent us down the green line- nothing to declare. We were a day earlier than usual for our facilitator so he had arranged for a driver and translator to pick us up and take us to the apartment. The driver picked us up some bread, milk, cheese, bottled water, yogurt and cereal (mueseli). The translator, was very friendly and talkative. From the airport to the apartment (maybe a ½- ¾ of an hour) we covered the topics of Keith’s work, politics in America, politics in Ukraine, computers, photography—he’s an amateur photographer, the state of orphanages and the new foster care system, the presence of mind PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) need to be able to adopt successfully from Ukraine. We talked about how you need to be open to those children God has placed in your path and not such stuck on your own concepts. During this time he told a simple, yet profound story that I’m going to repeat. He was in a district of his town far away from his home visiting a girlfriend. He had stayed kind of late and knew he had to hurry to catch the last bus or pay the fees for a taxi. As he approached the bus stop a bus pulled up. He began running and prayed that it would it would wait for him, prayed pretty hard. When he got there the bus was still there and he discovered that it was the wrong bus. The moral is: be careful what you pray for, you may get it. He said he imagined God up there laughing at him learning that lesson.
So we drive to the apartment and I am wishing we could take our time and explore. You step into history when you arrive in Kyiv, you can just feel it. Everything is old, and charming. Our apartment is very close to Independence Square and the SDA (short for SDARPC—I think that is the acronym-- State Department for Adoptions and something about sports and children). At one end of the Square is St Sophia’s Cathedral and the other is St Michaels Cathedral. I think I read somewhere that St Sophia’s was built in the 1200’s. Hopefully we will find out more about all that and be able to take pictures today, when it gets to be a reasonable hour.
Our apartment (“not fancy but modest” according to the translator) is the 4th or 5th floor of a building (I kind of lost track climbing the stairs with a sleeping Elijah—they just seemed to go on forever LOL). The driver took our luggage in the microscopic elevator. Like Japan, a lot of the buildings in this area are very tall and skinny.
The apartment is old, spacious and perfect—complete with a very nice looking landlady. It has wood parquet (squeaky) floors. Very tall cove ceilings. Clothes washing machine like those they have in Japan that tie your clothes in knots. It have this cool towel rack or clothes drying rack that is piped to the hot water so it is heated. The windows are tall and covered by a sheer curtain and then heavier curtains. There is even a cute little balcony from which you can see Independence Square.
Last night after The translator and The driver left we unpacked our SDA clothes (funny how they are SDA clothes and not Sunday clothes), ate some bread and cheese, tried to watch something on TV (it was all in Ukrainian or Russian), and decided to go to sleep – it was 5:30 pm local time. We spent the whole night being awake every 2-3 hours. Finally about 12:00 Elijah wanted to go outside for a walk, so we gave everyone some bread and cheese and then went back to bed. We then all slept until 4:30 and decided to get up. Hopefully we will do better tonight.
Today, when Our facilitator gets here, we are expecting to be shown some sights (Independence Square, SDA and others). Hopefully, we will also be able to meet the Epperly’s, another family that is here using Our facilitator as a facilitator. They flew in yesterday after we did and have their appointment same day we do only at 11:00 (ours is at 2:00). I found them searching blogs for what information I could glean. They seem to be a very nice couple.
Well, we made it Kyiv and got internet hooked up. The trip was long but pretty uneventful. Security in Seattle was a circus. We had to take our coats and shoes off, take out the laptop, DVD player, case of DVD’s and a Ziploc of hot chocolate packets so they could inspect them. Sometime during all that time one of the suitcases tipped over on Elijah and the telescoping handle caught him right on the bridge of the nose and the eye. I was sure he had broken his nose but he just has a little bruise on his nose and eye. Luckily there weren’t many people flying at that time so it was a circus but not frantic.
We were there early, planning time for getting lost on the bus there, so we ate breakfast of fish and chips at Ivars in the airport—delicious.
We flew KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/ Northwest on the first leg of the journey and we flew in style. Each seat had its own little TV on which you could watch your choice of about 30 movies, play some arcade type games, listen to music, look through some interactive maps (see where we were, how fast we were going, headwind and all that stuff), shop at the duty free shop or send emails. It even had a little card swiper in the handset for sending emails and shopping. I and Keith watched 3 movies and Elijah watched parts of three movies, played with his “choo choo rains,” walked around the cabin, read books and ate cookies. He had a little mini-meltdown when it was naptime the first time but slept for 3 hours and another 1.5 hours the second time.
The fed us soooooo much food and so many times that it felt like we just ate the whole time. It was all pretty good food, too.
We flew 5010 miles and were in the air for 9 ½ hours.
The second leg of our journey began with a repeat in miniature of the security circus. Elijah was so tired and everything was so new, he didn’t want to go through the metal detector so I went through first intending on encouraging him through, but I set the alarm off (still don’t know what did it) and had to be frisked. He had so many people trying to encourage him to go through that Keith had to practically push him through setting off the alarm with his watch. He then cowered in the corner until they were done with me. I thought they were going frisk him too but they didn’t even give him a second glance except to ooo and ahhh over him. Poor Keith had to deal with all the luggage while this was happening.
Anyway, we boarded the Ukrainian National Airlines airplane which was considerably smaller. On this flight everything was said in first, Ukrainian and then English. I told Keith that I almost had better chance of understanding the Ukrainian than the English-- she talked so fast and had a very strong accent. We got a meal and a snack on this flight too, but it was only 2 ½ hours. Most of which I spent trying to keep my eyes open, Elijah slept and I think Keith worried about what to do for customs.
After the plane landed on a snowy runway, we went down the stairs to the tarmac and boarded a VERY crowded bus to the terminal. I had to hold onto Keith to keep from falling over every time the bus stopped or turned. Some nice airport worker looked at our forms and told us what to fix and then sent us to the front of the line, cutting all these business men, I’m sure because we had Elijah. So it wouldn’t have really been that useful to pay for the VIP service as Elijah did away with our line-standing. Then we spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what to declare on the customs form. Keith didn’t know whether to declare our cameras (2 video cameras and 2 still cameras—one set ours and one set that we purchased and brought over for Our facilitator) or our folder of DVDs we brought to watch. So he asked one nice gentleman—who, luckily spoke some English—and we got some funny looks. “You want to declare something?!?!?!?!” “You only have to declare if you have over 10,000 Euros (or equivalent in other currency, about 14,000 USD) per person. And you don’t have to declare any equipment unless it is professional.” So he sent us down the green line- nothing to declare. We were a day earlier than usual for our facilitator so he had arranged for a driver and translator to pick us up and take us to the apartment. The driver picked us up some bread, milk, cheese, bottled water, yogurt and cereal (mueseli). The translator, was very friendly and talkative. From the airport to the apartment (maybe a ½- ¾ of an hour) we covered the topics of Keith’s work, politics in America, politics in Ukraine, computers, photography—he’s an amateur photographer, the state of orphanages and the new foster care system, the presence of mind PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) need to be able to adopt successfully from Ukraine. We talked about how you need to be open to those children God has placed in your path and not such stuck on your own concepts. During this time he told a simple, yet profound story that I’m going to repeat. He was in a district of his town far away from his home visiting a girlfriend. He had stayed kind of late and knew he had to hurry to catch the last bus or pay the fees for a taxi. As he approached the bus stop a bus pulled up. He began running and prayed that it would it would wait for him, prayed pretty hard. When he got there the bus was still there and he discovered that it was the wrong bus. The moral is: be careful what you pray for, you may get it. He said he imagined God up there laughing at him learning that lesson.
So we drive to the apartment and I am wishing we could take our time and explore. You step into history when you arrive in Kyiv, you can just feel it. Everything is old, and charming. Our apartment is very close to Independence Square and the SDA (short for SDARPC—I think that is the acronym-- State Department for Adoptions and something about sports and children). At one end of the Square is St Sophia’s Cathedral and the other is St Michaels Cathedral. I think I read somewhere that St Sophia’s was built in the 1200’s. Hopefully we will find out more about all that and be able to take pictures today, when it gets to be a reasonable hour.
Our apartment (“not fancy but modest” according to the translator) is the 4th or 5th floor of a building (I kind of lost track climbing the stairs with a sleeping Elijah—they just seemed to go on forever LOL). The driver took our luggage in the microscopic elevator. Like Japan, a lot of the buildings in this area are very tall and skinny.
The apartment is old, spacious and perfect—complete with a very nice looking landlady. It has wood parquet (squeaky) floors. Very tall cove ceilings. Clothes washing machine like those they have in Japan that tie your clothes in knots. It have this cool towel rack or clothes drying rack that is piped to the hot water so it is heated. The windows are tall and covered by a sheer curtain and then heavier curtains. There is even a cute little balcony from which you can see Independence Square.
Last night after The translator and The driver left we unpacked our SDA clothes (funny how they are SDA clothes and not Sunday clothes), ate some bread and cheese, tried to watch something on TV (it was all in Ukrainian or Russian), and decided to go to sleep – it was 5:30 pm local time. We spent the whole night being awake every 2-3 hours. Finally about 12:00 Elijah wanted to go outside for a walk, so we gave everyone some bread and cheese and then went back to bed. We then all slept until 4:30 and decided to get up. Hopefully we will do better tonight.
Today, when Our facilitator gets here, we are expecting to be shown some sights (Independence Square, SDA and others). Hopefully, we will also be able to meet the Epperly’s, another family that is here using Our facilitator as a facilitator. They flew in yesterday after we did and have their appointment same day we do only at 11:00 (ours is at 2:00). I found them searching blogs for what information I could glean. They seem to be a very nice couple.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Probably my last post from this side of the world
Well, tomorrow we board the plane and fade away into the sky.
Are we ready?!?!? Well, no not really but we are close. After going to every branch of our bank within a 50 mile radius we think we might have enough crisp bills to be able to eat and live to the end of our trip. Next time, (har), we order the bills a month in advance and get new bills and go to the bank twice (once to order, once to pick up). And not be trying to refinance a house before we go. For the most part (other than the first branch) people were VERY helpful--- and always asked TONS of questions. Can't tell you HOW MANY times we told our story. Mostly I'm happy to do that but yesterday I was just tired and it became tedious. :)
We are mostly packed, trying to fit the last little things in and not pop zippers. LOL We've trimmed the clothes down to next to nothing (and nice "SDA and court clothes") Got most of the electronic things and "entertainment." Now if we can just get a couple trains ("choo choo rains") and books in for Elijah.
The house could use a good once-over and that is what we need to do today. That and make a list of email addresses and phone numbers to take with us.
So, until we cross the pond....
Are we ready?!?!? Well, no not really but we are close. After going to every branch of our bank within a 50 mile radius we think we might have enough crisp bills to be able to eat and live to the end of our trip. Next time, (har), we order the bills a month in advance and get new bills and go to the bank twice (once to order, once to pick up). And not be trying to refinance a house before we go. For the most part (other than the first branch) people were VERY helpful--- and always asked TONS of questions. Can't tell you HOW MANY times we told our story. Mostly I'm happy to do that but yesterday I was just tired and it became tedious. :)
We are mostly packed, trying to fit the last little things in and not pop zippers. LOL We've trimmed the clothes down to next to nothing (and nice "SDA and court clothes") Got most of the electronic things and "entertainment." Now if we can just get a couple trains ("choo choo rains") and books in for Elijah.
The house could use a good once-over and that is what we need to do today. That and make a list of email addresses and phone numbers to take with us.
So, until we cross the pond....
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Money, money, money by the pound
It has been an ordeal getting the cash out to take with us. Ok, granted, it IS a LARGE sum. But really. The bills have to be unmarked (no, i'm not a terrorist... or a kidnapper) with no folds and preferrably as new as possible or banks in Ukraine won't accept it for trade. So we try to move money from our stock account to our checking account (different institutions) and find out that our account has been closed due to inactivity. What!?!?! I guess that is a good thing... meaning I haven't spent lots of money for a while. So, I have to open a new account... then they won't let us get money out because it is a new account (come on!! I've been banking there for 8 or more years) and they can't prove where the money came from. Ahhhhhhhh!!! So tomorrow we have to go back to a bigger branch and see if THEY let me take it out. Then comes the fun of sorting the bills and trading the old for new. And then here is me with LOTS of cash walking around feeling like I need a gun to protect myself. Ok, thanks, just had to get that off my chest. LOL!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Can you say AHHHHHHH!!!!!
I just looked at my blog and read that we only have 12 days until our appointment. Is it time to panic yet!?!?!?!?!?!
LOL I feel better now so I'm getting some stuff done but I'm afraid our spare bedroom won't be ready for little bodies to sleep in until after we come home. But hey, clothes are all washed, things are all gathered (not packed yet, though), treats all bought, as well as staples for those who are staying home,lists are made up and Dalmatian ears and tails are all made for the kids and their play (that we miss :( Thank goodness for friends with video cameras) Now I need to collect email addresses, phone numbers, web addresses and our list of names :)
LOL I feel better now so I'm getting some stuff done but I'm afraid our spare bedroom won't be ready for little bodies to sleep in until after we come home. But hey, clothes are all washed, things are all gathered (not packed yet, though), treats all bought, as well as staples for those who are staying home,lists are made up and Dalmatian ears and tails are all made for the kids and their play (that we miss :( Thank goodness for friends with video cameras) Now I need to collect email addresses, phone numbers, web addresses and our list of names :)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I'm leaving on a jet plane...
I guess it is official. We have airline tickets. We fly out on January 18th at 12:30 pm and arrive (through the Netherlands) January 19 at 1:30 pm. That is Ukrainian time. My head isn't clear enough (nor my lungs) to figure out how long a flight that is, but I'm guessing about 17 hours.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Update
I guess if I keep a blog I should update it once in a while. Now that we have made it through the holidays (that sounds like we made it through a tooth extraction, we had a wonderful Holiday with an extra snowed-in week and I don't want it to end tomorrow... but whatever happens life trudges on). We have been trying to figure out airplane tickets and whether or not to take Elijah with us. We prayerfully decided that we will take him with us and have both had that confirmed. But the airline tickets are another matter. We decided not to use the "friends and family" perks that a friend was going to share with us (thank you Jeff and Stephanie) because you have to fly standby and that doesn't seem to be the best with Elijah and getting there on time and the adopted children getting home. But there are a million other options (none so cheap :( ). Do we fly non-stop from JFK? Do we take any amount of layovers in other countries (Germany, Poland, England, Paris-- the list is practically endless)? Do we use the VIP service that is supposed to get you through customs quickly? Hopefully we will decide and get tickets purchased tomorrow.
We have our little pile of Christmas gifts and other things that we collected to take with. But we need to start planning in earnest on the packing. Now that we have a toddler to pack and carry for we will really have to be picky! Clothes are no big deal you can always wash them (and lay them on the radiator to dry- they tell us) so as long as we have 3-4 days worth of outer and a weeks of inner we should be good. But exactly how many books, DVD's and toys do you take for our entertainment? Oh, the decisions. Then there is our medicine box... not even going to go there right now. LOL
I'm nearly done with the two small scrapbooks about our family that we are taking. We have heard that they are useful in so many areas, from the SDA appointment to the court hearing. But mostly they are good for the adopted children to get to know you before they are thrown into a life they don't know. Our wonderful facilitator has been an immense help with the translations for these.
Let see, what else? The children we are leaving behind will be in good hands with the Messegees. They have graciously agreed to live here and take care of everything. Everyone is excited about that one.
We asked Bishop Coppin, I should say President Coppin as he is our stake president now, to give us each a blessing. He VERY readily accepted and performed with great love. He is definately a man of God!! And a very good friend. He told me that Heavenly Father was pleased with our decision. He blessed me with health through the whole trip (a big concern, right now) and the ability to recognise the sweet Spirit's help and absense. He blessed that our current children would continue to be as excited as they are to adopt and that they would know that we love them. He also blessed me that we would have success. He blessed Keith with that direction with of the Spirit to be the leader and head of our family. That he would continue to have the ability to recognise the help of the Spirit and the lack thereof. That none of his previous health issues would arise while in Ukraine. Wow, can a person fail surrounded by family and friends like this?!?!?!?!
Anyway, that was kind of long but I think that you are all updated. I'll try to explain a little about the process in the next couple of posts, for those of you who are just hearing about this.
We have our little pile of Christmas gifts and other things that we collected to take with. But we need to start planning in earnest on the packing. Now that we have a toddler to pack and carry for we will really have to be picky! Clothes are no big deal you can always wash them (and lay them on the radiator to dry- they tell us) so as long as we have 3-4 days worth of outer and a weeks of inner we should be good. But exactly how many books, DVD's and toys do you take for our entertainment? Oh, the decisions. Then there is our medicine box... not even going to go there right now. LOL
I'm nearly done with the two small scrapbooks about our family that we are taking. We have heard that they are useful in so many areas, from the SDA appointment to the court hearing. But mostly they are good for the adopted children to get to know you before they are thrown into a life they don't know. Our wonderful facilitator has been an immense help with the translations for these.
Let see, what else? The children we are leaving behind will be in good hands with the Messegees. They have graciously agreed to live here and take care of everything. Everyone is excited about that one.
We asked Bishop Coppin, I should say President Coppin as he is our stake president now, to give us each a blessing. He VERY readily accepted and performed with great love. He is definately a man of God!! And a very good friend. He told me that Heavenly Father was pleased with our decision. He blessed me with health through the whole trip (a big concern, right now) and the ability to recognise the sweet Spirit's help and absense. He blessed that our current children would continue to be as excited as they are to adopt and that they would know that we love them. He also blessed me that we would have success. He blessed Keith with that direction with of the Spirit to be the leader and head of our family. That he would continue to have the ability to recognise the help of the Spirit and the lack thereof. That none of his previous health issues would arise while in Ukraine. Wow, can a person fail surrounded by family and friends like this?!?!?!?!
Anyway, that was kind of long but I think that you are all updated. I'll try to explain a little about the process in the next couple of posts, for those of you who are just hearing about this.
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