First family time!

Today was a great day for our new family.  An emotional one for mama and papa.  Today for the first time in over a year ( probably longer)  brother and sister were reunited!  I was holding back my tears in anticipation all the way to Zhenya's internat.  I think I was more nervous and emotional than I have ever been.  My heart hurts for siblings who have been separated and I am so happy that my boy and girl get to be together again! 
Zhenya looked so nervous when we picked him up from the internat.  He looked almost scared.  He knew where we were going....I was getting more nervous wondering how it was going to work out.  However, Zhenya is a sweet sweet boy.  He sat quietly on my lap while Leeza's caregiver dressed her.  Then I introduced them...Zhenya remembered having a sister, but Leeza had no memory of Zhenya.  I told her "Zhenya tvoy brat." (Zhenya is your brother.)  She smiled her nervous smile.  When we went to go outside, Zhenya helped her put her shoes on!!! What a sweet kid!!  My mama heart was happy as tears were streaming down my face.

 Soon we were outside playing on the teeter tooter and the slide and the smiling faces Jeff and I have come to know and love appeared!!  The nervousness was gone!!

When it was time to go back inside,  Leeza was walking with her papa holding her hand.  She called for her brother to hold her hand too.  Precious!

Zhenya is not much taller than his sister.  I think she is tall for 5, but he is also little for 9.

As we said our goodbyes to Leeza for the day, she hugged Zhenya at least 5 times.  I can not tell you how happy I am that she reacted as she did.  We were concerned she would be jealous of the shared attention. However, Zhenya was a great helper with her.  He helped her up and down the stairs.  He held a bag of chips for them to share.  I could go on and on how well we felt this meeting went.  My eyes well with tears as I write this, because I am so happy for brother and sister to be reunited again.  We were told that Leeza has been in this orphanage for a year and 3 months.. but at our SDA appointment they said they have been in an orphanage for 3 years...so we really have no idea how long it has been since they were last together.  I can't wait for more time together!!  Zhenya is a quiet sweet yet reserved boy...he is not affectionate like Leeza, but he is older and that is probably normal.  He does not pull away from our hugs and he will hold my hand when we walk.  Leeza is our cuddle bug....she can sit on our laps and cuddle for hours...especially if her papa is holding her!!  

Many have asked about our return date...I wish I knew!!  This waiting is tough!   This IS what I know...on September 6th, we go to a nearby town to get the children's birth certificates. Then we return to pick up the children FOR GOOD from the orphanage and internat!!  Our Gotcha Day!   This is also Zhenya's 10th birthday.   The next day, we travel to Nicolaev to get their passports.  This can take three days...I am praying for less.  Then I guess by next Friday (Sept 10th) we will go to Kiev.  We have to get visas and medicals done in Kiev...and that takes two days...so best case scenario is leaving Tuesday or Wednesday Sept 14th or 15th unless the passports are quicker than 3 days!  So at the latest we should be home by September 15th. I hope!!  In the meantime, we are hanging out with our kids for the next 6 days!  Tomorrow is the first day of school here and it is a big deal with a ceremony of sorts.  We are hoping to go to Zhenya's internat to witness it and take a video for him to keep to remember his time here.  

I will close now, because I always hate reading long blogs.  This is long enough!!

Keep praying!! We need it!

 

Random thoughts- 3 Days down 7 to Go

Wow...this is much harder than I thought it would be.  I know I am not a particularly patient person anyway...but I just want to get my kids and take them home.  At the very least, I want them with me while we wait.  We are certainly going to be rested up when we finally do get them.....all we did today was sleep.  Of course we went to see our precious girl. We played inside today, because it was raining. I took playdoh with us today and it was a hit!  Though she mixed all the colors together...LOL..typical kid!  No matter...she had a blast. 

A few notes on other random things...we were apart of another orphan rescue...LOL.  Two sweet Russian girls at the hotel found a teeny tiny kitten.  They can't take it back to Russia, because apparently you have to pay for any animals you have...anyway Svetlana, our current landlady, agree to take the pitiful kitten. So we brought it here to the house.  It follows us everywhere.  It is the smallest cat I have ever seen.

A funny thing that happened in court, that I forgot to mention.  After Zhenya came into the room, the judge began to ask him questions about being adopted.  At one point, she asked him if he wanted to go to Italy.  Without missing a beat, he responded "Nyet" (no)  and looked at the judge.  The others in the room quickly reminded the judge that we were Americans.  She laughed and asked him if he wanted to go to America to which he responded "Da" (yes)  My boy is so smart!!  Some kids would have starred at the judge and not answered.  But he knew he didn't want to go to Italy!!  It was very cute.  Can't wait to see him again!!  Camp was over today..but we won't get to see him until Tuesday because tomorrow they are getting settled.  Uugghhhh.....there is that need to be patient again.  "Lord, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.........."  Okay, I feel better now!!! LOL

Svetlana is apparently intent on stuffing us with food.  She is constantly cooking for us and insisting we eat!! We were hoping to lose a few more pounds..but not with how she cooks.  It is tasty and very high carbs!  I planned to do more cooking myself, but she has food cooked before I get the chance.  She won't even let me do dishes!!! LOL  Guess I shouldn't complain since there will be tons to do once I get home. 

We have been having fun with the language.  We learned before we came that "cot" is cat.  Well apparently that is a male cat.  A female cat is something like coshka.  Jeff jokingly asked our Russian friends and our facilitator how we were suppose to know the difference.  Jeff  grabbed the tail of the cat nearby and lifted its tail.  He said, I guess I will go around Ukraine looking at cats like this, so I can call them by the right name."  The Russians roared with laughter and our facilitator now has another "American" story to tell his friends.  I know this is not as funny reading it as it was witnessing...but we all laughed for a long time. 

Our facilitator was translating conversations between us and our Russian friends one evening.  He stopped mid Russian and looks at Jeff and in these exact words said   "Jeff what is the English word for superstition?"   We looked at him...blank stares and replied  " Superstition"   We laughed like crazy again.  Now the Russian probably found it more amusing, because I can tell you that they LOVE their vodka!

One thing we are truly desperately missing from home is church and christian fellowship.  We feel so isolated in that regard.  Other then the two Christians we met a couple weeks ago...we have no one else to fellowship with about God.  We have talked with people about God, but the general concensus is that it is for old people and no need for God on a daily basis.  There are only two very tiny Orthodox churches here...so this seems to be a town that is basically unchurched and in need of Jesus.  We are doing our best to share Christ, but obviously the language barrier causes difficulty there.   We of course are reading the bible and listening to our pastor's sermons online...but we miss our church family.  In a way, this is awesome that we feel this way, because a couple of years ago...we were more lax about our Christian fellowship...now we crave it.  This shows the huge difference God has made in our lives in the last year and a half.  Anyway, please pray for us as we patiently wait on these last few days.  That will be one nice things about getting back to Kiev, there are several Christian churches there. Even if we can't understand the language...God's presence has no language barriers. 

Okay...enough for now!! Do brey No Chee  (Good night)

One down-9 more to go

Today was a big day for us.  We moved out of our "comfy" hotel (comfy by Ukrainian standards)  and into a house with a sweet lady and her adult son.  Svetlana use to teach English, but has not practiced in a number of years.  This is a growing experience for all of us.  Her son, Andrew is very funny and animated when he attempts to talk with us.  Svetlana rattles away in Russian as Jeff and I stare with blank looks and then say "Nip ah nu my u"  ( don't understand).  This afternoon, she promptly led me to the kitchen and took out tomatoes, potatoes, fresh eggs. Then she lit the stove and left after handing me an apron.  I waited...not certain what she was doing.  She never returned.  Jeff had a blast taking pictures of me in the apron....  We figured that was her cue for us to cook something to eat.  So we made a tasty omelet of sorts with the things she set out as well as some cheese we brought. 

Me in the apron with Andrew in the background relighting the stove.

My first Ukrainian cooking experience

Our egg surprise!  Everything here is so fresh.

This house is something out of a movie.  I will post more pictures later, but it is quite lovely.  AND MUCH cheaper than the hotel as well as saving us money on food, because we can cook and there is a gigantic garden in back with so many veggies and fruits.  It is a great find and we are excited to experience a new side of Ukraine.   We think our facilitator thinks we are nuts for moving from the hotel..but we were getting stir crazy with that one room and no ability to cook for ourselves.  On a side note...we still have a regular toilet that we can sit on...as well as a shower.  Now the toilet does not flush well, but we don't mind.  It is not a hole in the ground.  Thank you Jesus for letting us adopt from vacation spot!!  :-)
After finishing dinner, Jeff ask Svetlana what to do with the egg shells and other scraps..because apparently there are no trash cans in Ukraine!!!  She led him to the chicken pen and with big gestures motioned for him to give them to chickens.   
Afterward, we went to see our sweet girl.  She was in great spirits and ran to hug me immediately.  This is nice, because in the past she would go around me and straight to Jeff. Now she is hugging and kissing on both of us.   We practiced the ABC's and writing her name as well as counting to 5.  She now mimics what we says.  Also a huge improvement...she is transforming before our eyes.  It is fantastic!
We left the orphanage and went to the market.  I can not tell you how nice it feels to have a bit of freedom.  I didn't feel rushed to pick out what I wanted, because no one was waiting on us.  ***sigh**** Makes me happy to shop for groceries in peace.  Plus I was excited to have a weeks worth of food for less than one meal at the hotel.  More smiles!!! 
Going to bed soon...one day down...NINE more to go.  Our boy comes back on Sunday.  YAY!!
Thanks for the prayers!

INTRODUCING...............................................

Zhenya Erik Fellers

Is that not the cutest face ever?!?  For me, it was love at first sight!!

Elizaveth (Leeza)  Marie Fellers

Okay..it is a tie for the cutest face ever!!  Here is our papa's girl!! 

We had court and it went beautifully. We were there less than an hour...Zhenya did a fabulous job when he had to talk to the judge.  He entered the room and said an enthusiastic "Good Day".  They asked him a few questions and they made the decision, read the court decree and now we are the proud parents of two!!!
Now for the 10 day waiting period....................they will stay in their orphanage for the next 10 days.  We get them in our care on September 6th which happens to be Zhenya's 10th birthday as well.    Zhenya went back to camp this afternoon.  The entire internat returns on the 29th, but we won't get to see him again till the 31st.  They will be getting internat life organized on the 30th.  We of course still get to visit Leeza everyday.  I am so looking forward to brother and sister reuniting next week!!  Here is a picture outside the courthouse with the directors of both the internat and the orphanage as well as the inspector.  Leeza is too young to come to court so it was just Zhenya with us.

We are so excited!!!  Thanks for all the prayers!  Now we need prayer to make it two more weeks here...we are ready to bring our babies home!!

Day 19

Wow..I can't believe we have been here 19 days.  In someway, it has gone quickly and in other ways it has gone very slowly.  We are having a great experience and as others have pointed out in our blog comments, it is a much better experience than other people have had while here.  I am just going to take the blessing from God and not try to reason it out!!   Jeff and I worked very very hard in the months preceding our trip and I am happy to take this gift from our Lord of a nice place to wait for our adoption to be completed.

Our facilitator told us we will get to see Z today!!  I am so excited...not sure exactly what time.  He is suppose be here in town after 6 pm.  We may only get a few minutes with him, but I don't care.  I can't wait to see his cute smile!!  I am also very eager to see brother and sister reunited.  As I mentioned Z remembers his sister, but L does not remember him at all.  It was also be interesting to see how L responds to sharing our attention.  She has had us all to herself whenever we visit.  We usually take her outside to play with us and she doesn't even have to share us very long with her group.  When we are with her group, she can get a bit possessive at times.  However, that is a wild bunch so they don't pay any attention.  I hope she will be happy to be with her brother and not mind sharing our attention.  From what I can tell from our visits, L is going to be our sassy one!!  Of course we haven't spent much time with Z, but he is a very quiet mannered child.  Guess we will find out soon!

During a process such as this, it is important for us as the parents of adopted children to learn about our children's birth country.  In years to come, they may have questions or want to know more.  So this morning we went on a little sightseeing to a small ancient Greek colony near the town we are staying.  We weren't able to understand what the tour guide was saying , but our English speaking friend Natalie did her best to translate for us.  There were stone houses and churches that are only the base now.  We went into what I am guessing were tombs.  In one building they had head stones, roof "tiles" in which the maker carved his name.  There were a set of stones that containing writing.  Natalie said that when a law was agreed upon they wrote it in the stone.  It made us think of the scripture in Hebrews chapter 8.
 ¹⁰This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
      after that time, declares the Lord.
   I will put my laws in their minds
      and write them on their hearts.
   I will be their God,
      and they will be my people.
 ¹¹No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
      or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
   because they will all know me,
      from the least of them to the greatest. 


During our trip today, we met a very sweet teenager, Bogdan, from Western Ukraine who spoke beautiful English.  He apologized and told us that his English was primitive.  In all reality, he spoke better English than anyone we have met here other than the fellow from Uganda.    Bogdan began studying English in his first year of school and has completed his 9th year.  He is a very smart young man.  His father is a doctor and his mother a psychologist.  His mother was there and she smiled proudly as her son spoke English with almost no accent! 

Ukraine is a truly beautiful country.  We pray we can bring Z and L here again when they get older so they can love their country of birth.

This is at the entrance of the town we visited today.  It is called Olivia. 

 View of the Black Sea

 Tombstones

 Not certain what this is, but we thought the writing looked Egyptian.  See the pyramid with the eye at the bottom right.

These were 3 homes at one point.

This is a catacomb of sorts.  We went inside.

 This is our friend Natalie with the black hat.  She is making a wish on the altar from the churches that use to be here.   The guide said the people use to bring their animal sacrifices to this altar.

 Jeff digging for a treasure.  We found a piece of a handle to a jar, perhaps...

Ukrainian Holiday

As I mentioned in a previous blog, we are very blessed that Ukraine had only one holiday while we are here.  This is a blessing because all government offices close.  Today is the Ukrainian Independence Day.  Therefore the Ukrainians have been on holiday since Sunday.  Jeff wanted me to share a bit of history...so here goes via Wikipedia.  On August 24, 1991 the Ukrainian parliament adopted the Act of Independence in which the parliament declared Ukraine as an independent democratic state.  The Act was adopted in the aftermath of the August 19th coup attempt when conservative Communist leaders of the Soviet Union tried to restore central Communist party control over the USSR. In response, the parliament of the Ukrainian SSR in a special Sunday session overwhelmingly approved the Act of Declaration.
The holiday affected our adoption by adding on a couple of days.  We can't go to court until Thursday...if there had been no holiday we would have gone to court today.  However, I am extremely grateful there are no other holidays to delay things.

Anyway..now that Jeff is happy is the mini history lesson.....we celebrated the Independence day with some of our new friends (Ukrainian and Russian) and our facilitator by going on a boat to an island that is located at the split between the Black Sea and the Dnieper River. We stayed for about 3 hours and walked the island. It was kinda cool to stand in the water where the two meet. 

We are sunburnt and exhausted.....but of course we went to see our little girl.  She said her first English words while we were playing with her on the teeter tooter.  She said UP  DOWN...of course she was copying us. BUT this is the first time she made any attempt to copy our English words.  She chatters away in Russian..but never before copied any of our English.  We were very proud! I am sure she will be chattering away in English before long!!
Z should be back tomorrow.  I can't wait!! It is surprising to me that I miss a child I just met. But I really miss him.  I can't wait to see his sweet face again!!  Once he is back, we think he is staying here in town instead of going back to camp.  School starts next week anyway..so there is no reason for him to go back for a day or two. 
      On that front...we would like to ask our friends and family to pray for our court process.  Z has to tell the judge verbally that he wants to be adopted.  Since he hasn't spent time with us in over a week, we are a bit anxious about it. Trusting God..but anxious.   Please pray that nothing hinders his heart in agreeing.   In some cases, caretakers have told children all kinds of crazy stories about Americans and the children have gotten to court and said No...even though they previously agreed.    Z's director assures us that he is happy to be going to America..but  we still covet any prayers sent our way.  I don't want him to have any fear of us..even though the whole process will be scary for both our children.  I want him to feel our love as well as God's love and peace.  Please pray for favor with the judge, jury and prosecutor and continued favor with the directors and inspector.  We are almost there!!!!  I can't wait for them to be ours officially!! 


Here are a couple pictures from the island trip! 
This is us on the boat to the island..our facilitator and other Russian and Ukrainian friends in the background.

There are seashells EVERYWHERE on the beach.  At home, I can never find shells on the beach, because they are so populated.  Apparently Ukrainians don't collect shells!! We found some great shells.

This is me standing where the Black Sea and the Dnieper River meet.  

The Things I Appreciate Here In Ukraine!

1.  Getting to meet and play with my children.

2. The fabulous food!

3. The beautiful view outside my room.

4. Meeting new people
5. Seeing life from a different view ( we have so much in America)
6. Plenty of rest
7. Having our facilitator here to translate/interpret
8. Having a nice place to sleep.

9. Air conditioning!!!
10. The beauty of the country around us!

Things I Take for Granted at home

1.  Independence  ( wish I had learned the language)

2.  The ability to read a menu and order my own food at a restruarant.
3.   Having more than two rooms of living space.
4. Telling time quickly..everything here is in military time.  I have to do math whenever I look at the clock!!
5.  Having more than 5 outfits!
6.  Having a kitchen and cooking my own food.
7. Talking with someone other than my husband!  (Good thing we like each other)
8. My family and my pets  ( I miss them)
9. My job ( I know it sounds crazy, but I need to be productive!!)
10. My bed  ( the bed in my room is too hard! I wake up with a backache daily)

The Black Sea - Food, Fun and Fellowship

We’re settling into a routine- bed by Midnight, up around 8am.. breakfast 9a, leave to go to the orphanage by 10am, there for a hour or so to visit our daughter ,then off to lunch, do some grocery shopping and back to hotel around 1pm, relax for a few hours then walk to the beach, which I’m calling the “The Black Sea Ministry” as it is amazing how many Christians we have met in just a few days.

A few days ago I prayed that we would have the opportunity to meet more English speaking people and also share our faith or encourage Christians that are here- The village is an isolated city in the Ukraine of 15,000 there is a Ukrainian Marine and Coast Guard base here and it seems to have a growing vacation business here for summer months- there are some Greek ruins and other things of interest to see were learning about.  In winter I get the feeling this  is a very drab isolated place.

  Since Monday we have met Stephen a Christian man from Uganda- he was a ray of sunshine, you just felt the Holy Spirit on him when you talk with him, he is a gospel and reggae singer that lives in Kiev.  Yaro- a very sweet college girl that enjoys church and listens to Christian Music-the odds of that in the Ukraine are a million to one as there is very little Christian radio here.  Yaro invited us to her Grandmothers house to enjoy the national dish of Ukraine “Varenyki” or dumplings that can be  filled with cheese, meat, and potato.  She made some with cheese and others with potatoes, which were so delicious and a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, peppers tossed in sunflower oil. Sunflowers are everywhere here and they sell the oil along the roads and along with  honey.    We also had a great time with her big Labrador retriever “Rowton” and participated in a international badmiton match of  US vs Ukraine… lets say Ukraine won, as I was sweating and running around trying to hit the birdie and Yaro was just smiling and not breaking a sweat.  

 The next day, we met another English speaking Ukraine woman.  She teaches theater and I think acrobatics.  She spoke with us because she wanted to practice her English.  She and her boyfriend are on holiday here at the beach.  They are a very nice couple.  We spent time chatting with them last night as the sunset on the Black Sea.  It was very beautiful and we were lamenting that we did not have our camera.  We invited them to eat with us this weekend when we are cooking BBQ again. We have truly enjoyed having new people to talk with for the last few days.  This is something we are savoring, because after our court date on August 26th we will be here without our facilitator and our English speaking friends will have gone home from their holiday.  We will have no one to talk to except each other!! 
Thank you for the continued prayers!

A Papa’s perspective

For me,(Jeff) I would read blogs and want to know the thoughts of what people were going thru during the adoption process- the feelings, not so much the chronological happenings of going and doing on this journey- which are all important, so I want to share my heart and thoughts.

Can a child you can’t even talk too with a different language, captivate a man that has never really been around children ?  YES!   I wasn’t sure of how I would react as I haven’t known what it’s like to have a child put their love and trust in me, but I do now! 

The adoption process for me started 6 or more years ago working with foster children at an event, I remember thinking what wonderful kids these were, that they just needed a chance.  Adoption, Foster Care, Orphans are labels with very broad strokes given to children- but when you realize they have a need to be loved, they each have a name, they like to play ball, enjoy coloring and their favorite crayon color is red, they love ice cream and most of all want a Mama and Papa to love them the label turns into reality.  Labels desensitize us to not have compassion- Orphan what comes to mind?  a faceless child somewhere in the world or in the US- but when I say a “Beautiful 5 year old that loves to hide a blue ball and laughs and laughs, yet in the past has been neglected and malnourished”  It strikes something different inside you- I know it did me.  I will admit I cried after being at the orphanage the first few days, seeing how the kids are like family to each other and  realizing how we are so insulated to the world- we complain about so much in the US- but honestly do we really have problems?  Sure our car breaks down, or taxes go up, but we have been blessed in the US - we are  a sphere of influence around the world, yet we are probably more self centered and  isolated within our self than any other country.  But I also know the good of  my fellow American’s to give and to help us on our journey. 

Some might think that the process of adoption in the Ukraine or any foreign country that you don’t even get to see a picture or information on a child, would be very scary to travel thousands of miles and not know the children your going to adopt.   I can only speak for our Family, that when you embark on the adoption journey, each step in the adoption process is in act of building faith to trust God, that the resources and energy will be there when you need it.  When you do finally arrive to adopt,  the ability to trust God and ask him to lead you to the right children is something your faith has grown to accept as the final act in the journey. Was there a bright light that directed us to a particular file we were shown?  Did a voice from heaven say this is the right children? No, (I was hoping!)  but part of the faith walk is being led each step not by your emotions or intellect - no matter how much your wanting to make a logical decision, this is a heart decision, to trust in God to lead you to that child.  For months I have been led to read Proverbs- 1 chapter each day, so when we landed in Ukraine, I started reading and read this the second day we were here and trust in this when we did make the decision of what children to visit:

Proverbs 2: 6 For the LORD gives wisdom,and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is  blameless,  8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.

I once heard Steven Curtis Chapman’s wife Mary Beth, describe the fear of if she could love an adopted child as much as her own children?  She explained how It was answered the moment the baby was put in her arms. 

I can say the first time our soon to be daughter wanted me too hold her and clung to my neck so tightly that something in my heart was birthed, that I would protect her and if I had to die for her.

I pray that many would not let the labels of adoption, orphan, foster care, scare you away if your being called on this journey also. Pray and ask God what he would have you to do, nothing is too small to help make a difference in a life of a child.   

Kiddos

Another day visiting L...it went great. We were playing ball with her and Jeff acted silly and hid the ball in his shirt behind his back. L laughed so hard, it was so great to hear her sweet laugh. Just listening to it, made me cry. Anyway, she had a grand old time playing with her papa. Then she took the ball and hid it behind her back...she walked up and down the sidewalk with her arms outstretched saying something...we assume it was " Where is the ball?" Then she would produce it for us and just laugh. It was so fun. When it was time for us to leave, she kept pulling us back to her groupa. She did not want us to go. This is the first time, she has had that response in our leaving. Normally she just runs off to play with the others. It was heartwarming to know she wants to be with us. Finally her teacher told her we would be back after sleeping. Then she waved her hand at us and said something. Her teacher signaled sleeping. So her waving us off was as if she was saying " Ok go now and sleep" It was so funny. Her personality is really coming out now. We just love her.
I am posting a  picture of L's  groupa. I am not saying who is who..so you will just have to speculate!! They are a cute bunch of kids and in the pictures they are all sitting on Jeff!! It is so hot here that they are all in their undies. We have only seen them fully clothed once..that was yesterday because they were going for their medicals. Anyway, it is a cute picture.

Small God Moments

Today, we went to visit L again at her orphanage. Z is still at camp...I can't wait for him to come back so we can see him everyday too. L was once again very loving and cuddly with her papa. I took a ball and we tossed it around. She did well with catching and throwing so this is encouraging as well. We also took a whiteboard with dry erase markers and let her draw. I wrote her name is in English and Jeff helped her trace it. We have a little ways to go with writing letters. Kids here don't start school until 6, so I am not sure how much instruction on anything academic she has had. This causes me a bit of concern for when we get home. At age 5 almost 6, she needs to go to kindergarten. She is definitely going to have some catching up to do. She is showing great signs of problem solving and following directions, so I am happy about that!

We went to the notary today and had document notarized for SDA and the district office (i think) then we went to see the inspector and sign another set of papers requesting a court hearing. We have to put the children's official names on these documents. Z's middle name is going to be Erik and L middle name is going to be Marie. Z----- Erik Fellers and -L------- Marie Fellers. I will share the names as soon as I can! L actual name is longer, but we are using the shortened verison her caregivers call her for everyday.

We have really missed Christian fellowship since we have been here. Jeff prayed a couple days ago about meeting a fellow believer. Today when we were out walking to the beach area, we met a man from Uganda who is a Christian. He said hello to us as we were walking by and we stopped and spoke with him. We were estatic to find someone who speaks English as well as a fellow believer!! It was every encouraging to us.

While we were at the beach, we met a Ukrainian college student. She heard us speaking English and began to talk with us. She has invited us to eat at her home tomorrow. She wants to cook something for us that I can not pronounce. She said it is a Ukrainian national dish? It started with a V sound. I repeated it after her, but have no idea how to spell it or what it might be! She was very excited to talk with us and to have us come over. She is calling me tomorrow to arrange the time. It will be nice to eat a home cooked meal.

Everything is on schedule as far as I know. I believe we are still on target for our court date to be August 26th. We couldn't have it the 24th or 25th because of Ukrainian Independence Day. Thank the Lord that is the ONLY holiday occuring during our time here. Ukrainians don't work on holidays especially in the official offices.
We are enjoying Ukraine and its beautiful country and people...however there are many things from home we miss. Especially our friends and family.
Please continue to pray for God's guidance!


We went

Daddy's girl

Today, we went to see L again. We quickly discovered that she is going to be a daddy's girl! She completely preferred for Jeff to hold her over me. This made me very happy. I will love the thought of her being a daddy's girl. It was soo adorable seeing her lay her head on his shoulder and hug him. She smiled so big when he was holding her. She came to me for a little bit, but very soon wanted her papa. Jeff is completely and totally smitten. Guess who the softy is going to be?

Another day by the Sea!

Today we got to visit L again. We had not seen her in two days as we were working out the details with Z. If he had not agreed to be adopted,we didn't want to keep visiting L and getting her hopes up for a mama and a papa. But since Z wants to be adopted, we were eager to get back to see L. She remembered us which is a good sign considering some concerns we have for her. I brought her a doll which she LOVED! She sat on my lap for awhile and then sat in Jeff's lap and cuddled. I wish I could post the pictures...it is precious beyond words. She looked like she was in paradise cuddling with her papa. I gave her a picture of Jeff and me to keep. She just stared at it and kept saying mama and papa. We had to leave after an hour, because they have a schedule and we don't want to disrupt it too much! The other kiddos are great too. Fabulous munchkins running around like monkeys. So sweet...we love them all. Too bad and I can't afford 30 kids...LOL It is a small orphanage so most of them are not available for adoption...too bad..if you could see them...they would be snatched up and adopted in a heartbeat!!

Jeff and A are excited to cook some meat on an open flame tonight. Jeff is eager to show A how we do in America and A is just as eager to show Jeff how they do here in Ukraine. They are amusing to watch. So tonight we are having grilled meat...it isn't really BBQ as our BBQ family can tell you... when it is grilled with direct heat...that is grilling. BBQ is indirect heat and smoke. Anyway..enough bbq talk.

For those of you not in the Ukraine adoption "know", we have TONS of down time. Today for instance, we got up, Jeff went to the market to buy food. He came back and we waited for A to come get us to take us to see L. We saw her for about an hour. Then came back to the hotel. Now we are just hanging out. We can't see Z today, because he is back at camp. So that is it for today...tomorrow we will go see L again and then back to the room. I didn't bring a lot to read and I am so thankful to have internet access. I say all this to say...I bought a swim suit today...so if I come back with a tan...don't think I was on vacation. I just have nothing to do in between visits with L and Z...so I may as well take advantage of the beach front property! Seriously though, I would rather be doing something productive. The lack of independence is VERY tough for me. We are away from everything in town due lack of lodging available. So we have to have a driver to go anywhere... and no one here speaks English except A and a girl in the market. In Kiev, it was great because we could walk anywhere we needed to go by ourselves and didn't need A for ordering food or seeing sights. Not quite the same here at all...I bought my swimsuit at this adorable market. Kinda like a flea market...I could have stayed for a couple of hours. But I am stuck here with men.......need I say more.
Anyway...nothing more to report. Please pray that we get our court date right away...right now it is hoped to have it by August 26th.
Love you all!

One Step closer!

Z wrote the letter he has to write agreeing to be adopted by us today. He has to go with the inspector to write it, because I guess she has to witness it for the judge. Not sure how that part works exactly... Anyway, he smiled at us before he left to go back to camp and gave us each a hug. He seemed happy and we were relieved. Due to his age, he is allowed the opportunity to say he doesn't want to be adopted. While I don't think that happens often, it does from time to time. We would have been heartbroken had that been the case. L does not have to write anything, because she is so young. I am not sure if the judge will ask her anything either. She can talk, but I haven't heard her say a whole lot. She does respond to questions though and knows her colors, so we have a good start. Apparently those things were not the case a year ago. Anyway, we are one step closer to getting them forever!! We go see L tomorrow. Z is going back to camp for a week and then he will return. We will see them both everyday once he returns. In the meantime we will see L each day.
To answer some questions, we know very little about parent history other than both parents are deceased. We may find out a bit more from their paperwork. Oh..one more thing that made me personally VERY happy... Z is lefthanded....just like me!! I took a dry erase board and markers when we were visiting him and he wrote with his left hand. At first I thought he was mimicking me, but A asked him if that was how he always wrote and he said Yes!! Yay!!! ( You have to be a lefty to fully appreciate my excitement! LOL)
Anyway,Please continue to pray for favor and speedy appointments and paperwork!
Love you all! We miss you!

Second Meeting

We met the brother, Z on Friday. He had to be brought from camp to meet us. He was so precious when he walked into a room filled with 5 adults. He sat quietly in the chair and listen to all that was going on around him. He remembers that he has a younger sister. We are not sure if L knows she has a brother. We got to spend a good amount of time with Z and we think he is a great kid. When our facilitator A. asked if we think we can love him, I told her I fell in love with him the minute he walked into the room. I have a little book that gives Russian/Ukrainian phrase in English phonics and Z wanted to look at it. He knows his numbers through 10 in English already! We played a game I bought on for my Nintendo DS and before long he had it mastered on his own. The director said he gets good grades in his schooling. He has finished 3 years, so I will most likely put him in 4th grade. Z loves to swim, loves car and basically is all boy. We are going to see his sister, L this evening when it is cooler. Our facilitator A, went to the notary yesterday to get documents filled out to adopt Z and L. Then the papers have to go back to Kiev. Then we can get a court date. Please pray for a quick court date. After the court date, if everyone is in agreement to the adoption, we have the 10 day waiting period. Then we have to get the final documents and finally we can come home. Please pray for a favor with the courts and everyone we have to go through to get these children. Jeff and I both feel really great about them! There were some concerns prior to meeting L about some developmental issues. However, after meeting her, it is nothing we feel that our love, constant care and health care cannot help improve. We were told when we started the process that a child who has been institutionalized would be behind two more years…this is the case the L. Z is physically small but I don’t think he is as far behind his age as L. No worries!! Helping kids learn is what I do !! We think she is precious and could never reject a child because they weren’t perfect!! To us, she is perfect. They are both so adorable. I can’t post pictures yet, but I will as soon as I can!! In the meantime, we will visit L every day until Z comes back from camp, then we will visit both L and Z daily. We are staying in a hotel by the sea. In American dollars it is actually very inexpensive. There are two bad things, one is no kitchen to cook so we have to either eat in the restaurant every day or eat cold foods and fruits. A spoke with the hotel manager and she is going to let us cook on the bbq pit they have near our room. I will post more later…I always hate to read blogs that are really long for one post! Please continue to pray. We have a long way to go!!

First meeting 8/12/10

Right now, we have no internet connection, so I am write and will copy and paste into the blog as soon as I can. We meet L today. She is actually 5 years old. She will be 6 in November. She is very sweet and Jeff and I liked her right away. It was a struggle to keep from crying when they first brought her into the room. There were several adults and this one little girl coming in and everyone is staring at her. I was nervous and I only have 5 adults staring at me!!! We went back again in the afternoon to visit her. She was with her groupa. They were all running around like crazy. She seemed happy to see us. I brought bubbles and we blew them for a little bit. Then she asked me to hold her. I held her for quite awhile then passed her to Jeff to hold. She definitely needs to adjust to having a male caring for her needs. She is very easy with me, but not as much with Jeff. This is understandable considering all her caregivers are women. We meet her brother tomorrow. As a 10 year old, he can say he doesn’t want to be adopted. If that is the case, we won’t be able to adopt L either since they are siblings. We will have to go back to Kiev and try again if this happens. I am praying that it all goes well and he wants to be adopted. It was heartbreaking seeing all of those beautiful children in the orphanage longing for attention.  If we were not holding L then they were in our laps and all over us.  We brought them juice and bananas. They were so excited! When we left L hugged me so tight, I almost started to cry. This orphanage houses the younger children and the other orphanage (internot) where her brother lives houses the older children. The inspector did not know L had a brother which is a good things. If she knows the children then usually that means they have gotten in trouble. Clearly, he has not gotten in any trouble. The inspector is the Ukrainian verison of a social worker.  She was very friending and encouraging. She kept smiling at us when she could tell we were nervous. Anyway, we will know more after meeting the boy!!

On our way to the Region

We are leaving shortly to go to the region to meet the 6 year old girl.  Her brother is at camp, so we won't meet him just yet.  After meeting the girl, they will send for her brother or we may go to the camp. Not sure.

We were unable to get train tickets, because the region we are going to has a resort area nearby.  This is vacation season and many people are taking the train to that area.  So we have to rent a car....this is much more expensive....I am praying things go well with the children or we have to spend more money to come back and get another appointment. Then travel to another region...more money.  This is how it goes.  Please pray for God's guidance and confirmation.  If these are the children we are suppose to adopt, we all (Jeff, myself and the children) need to feel peace about it.  We are excited about getting to go to the orphanage and meet them as well as give gifts we brought to the other children.  We will update more once we have get settled and HOPEFULLY have internet access.
Thank you all for your prayers!

Children

I can't say a lot yet, but we have accepted a referral for two children boy age 10 and a girl age 6.  We will travel to the region possibly by train tomorrow night to meet the girl.  She is at the orphanage, her brother is at camp. Please pray for God's continued guidance.  We and the children will have to make a decision about proceeding.  If by some chance, we don't adopt these children we have to come back to Kiev and get another appointment. 
The appointment went very well.  I was surprised about how easy it actually was....I worried for nothing..AS USUAL!!
Will share more when we can!!
Appreciate the continued prayers!

First full day in Kiev!

We have had an uneventful day today.  We slept until about 10am.  A, our facilitator, was shocked we didn't sleep until 3.  He came to our apartment about three to go get us set up with internet though our apartment does have it as well.  Then we went to eat at a Ukrainian restraurant very near our room.  We had our first Ukrainian borchsh.  It was surprising good considering I dislike half the ingredients!!  The bread is amazing.  If we do lose any weight while we are here it will be due to all the walking.  Everything seems to be uphill!!  Well, half of everything! LOL
Later, Jeff and I plan to walk down to the McDonalds that we found last night.  Not because we missed it but it is always interesting to see something that is everyday in the US in a new place.  Wondering if they serve the same things...........frappe?? I miss those already!!

We went to the market and bought fruit.  The peach I ate for breakfast was amazing.  I rarely eat those at home.  The tomatoes look fabulous but I haven't tried one yet.

We have walked quite a bit already, but that seems to be the best mode of transportation.  Hope I lose a few pounds!! I am thinking I should have trained at home especially being out in this heat.  They are having unusually hot weather.  They need rain badly! A. said that it is suppose to be cooler next week.  We can hope!  It was blazing hot at home and I was looking forward to cooler weather.  I packed only one pair of shorts.  However, in looking at how the girl dress here....I should have brought more skirts.  My skirts wouldn't be nearly as short as seems to be acceptable around here.  We have seen some scandalously short skirts and see through clothing!  Even on fluffy girls like me!! 

Anyway, all is well here.  To the SDA tomorrow....I am trying not to be nervous as A suggested.  He said there is nothing to worry about at all.  Guess worry accomplishes nothing anyway..it is all in God's hands! He has our children all picked out!

We are in Kiev!

Well, we made it to Kiev!  The flight was long and exhausting. I attempted to sleep, but there were a couple very loud talking Canadians sitting two seats in front of us.  I slept for an hour when they disappeared to another part of the airplane.  The flight was uneventful with the exception of the loud talking Canadians.  Jeff blamed loud Americans at first, then we heard them say they were from Canada.  

Our facilitator met us at the airport.  It was much smaller than I anticipated it would be.  We were out of the airport in record time. We drove to our apartment and left our stuff.  Then we walked through this open air market.  They had meat just laying out in the heat.  It was interesting.  The fruits and veggies are beautiful.  I will post pictures as soon as I can.  Next we went across the street to TGI Fridays and had an appetizer and chatted with our facilitator about what to expect at our SDA appointment.  Our facilitator, A, is very personable and we like him a lot.  He set us up with a cell phone and a 3 G Modem.  If anyone would like to call us, just send me an email and I will give you the number.    When we went back to our apartment, we slept for about 5 hours.  Now we are sitting in this cute Restorante eating pizza rolls and lasagne.  They have free Wi Fi for customers!  They also speak English. I have been surprised about how many people who can speak English in this places.  I wish I knew the language.  I hate being one of those people who can't speak the language in the country they are in, however I do know a few phrases.  At the least, we are polite because we can say please and thank you.   

We are still completely exhausted and should sleep well tonight.  Tomorrow is a down day for us and we may sight see alittle bit. Then on Tuesday, we have our appointment to pick our children.  Please continue to pray for God's guidance and wisdom when we are at the appointment.  We are 8 hours ahead and our appointment is at 10 am on Tuesday...so that is about 2 am in Tennessee.  If you feel the urge to pray for us in the middle of the night, then please do!!!! LOL
We will post more later!

Prayers!

Tonight was our last night in our small group before we leave.  We were so blessed by our small group family praying for our adoption.  They are just as excited for us as we are!!  It makes me feel so blessed to know that I have people at home praying for us while we are embarking on this life changing trip. 

We are also soooo incredibly thankful for donations we have received over the last few days and weeks from precious friends.  We can never express how blessed we feel that others are willing to donate to our adoption.  Thank you so much for this blessing!

In God We Trust

A couple days ago, we had a change in something in our adoption process that affects us once we are in Ukraine.  It isn't anything that is a big deal..just not what we were expecting.  At first, I was alittle anxious about it, but we prayed.  I kept hearing in my Spirit, "It's in God we Trust, not man"  I was comforted by this, because regardless of any circumstances: GOD IS IN CONTROL.  We have complete and total peace about the situation now.  We have prayed from the beginning for God to lead every aspect of our adoption.  Just because something is not exactly like we thought it would be does not mean that God is not still leading.  Things in our own minds don't always look like we think they should.  So far almost nothing about our adoption has been the way I thought it was going to be.  In my mind, we wouldn't travel until October or November.  In God's Plan, we are leaving in 4 days!  I believe that HE has everything in His hands and in His control.  No matter what happens while we are in Ukraine, I am going to pray that I remember that He has His hands on our lives and the lives of the children He has for us. 

We leave in 6 days!!!!

I can't believe it, we leave in 6 days!  I am almost completely packed.  I know I am forgetting something that I should be taking, but not sure what it could be.  They still haven't found a sub to take my place with my students at school. However, I have FABULOUS educational assistants and I know my students will be in their very capable hands.  The first day of school is tomorrow, so I am happy I get to meet my students before I leave on Saturday. 

I think we have decided that Jeff is going to stay the whole time, unless something delays our returns later than September 11th.  I am relieved about this, because I did not like the idea of being alone for so long. I know God is always with me, but this is a new experience for me.  Outside of going to Mexico on a mission trip, I have never been out of the United States.  I am excited about the upcoming adventure, but I was nervous about being there alone.  We are continuing to pray for God's guidance on our trip as well as His leading in choosing the children he has for us.  So excited and nervous, but ready to go!!