One year today that we met Rey, Maxim, and Sasha!

Today is our one year anniversary of meeting our children. It seems like Rey, Maxim, and Sasha have been a part of our family forever. They have learned so much and changed so much it amazes us. You would never know that Sasha has ever lived anywhere other than America. They are doing so well at everything that is expected of them. The busy summer I had working on teaching English, getting used to having three more children, figuring out what they would eat and getting them to trust us enough to try new foods, learning ways to communicate until we learned enough of each other’s language, figuring out that toys are to be played with and not put on display, stepping into arguments that I only understood two words of, …  all seems worth every minute of it. At the time I never thought I would survive but now look at all of them. Rey is doing well in school but like any other teenager he can think of one million things he would rather be doing. He is going to school, making friends and getting good grades. He is working on an adjusted curriculum but he is able to do more work every day. Learning to speak and understand English has been easier for all of the children. Reading and comprehension is the hardest. Sash knows her ABC’s and is reading small books. She tested at the 50% range for her first grade class. Maxim is reading at a 3^rd to 4^th grade level. Rey is reading at a 2^nd grade level. He is speaking very well but reading is hard, understanding what he reads is even harder. They now love to play outside, can be trusted to get along most of the time, are eating us out of house and home, have a since of humor, rarely have temper tantrums, and are so full of love and happy it makes your heart explode at times. They are still normal children and with that comes all of the great wonders and joys of motherhood (and fatherhood) that I would never trade for anything.

Update, almost 3 months at home!

It will be three months on June 28, 2011 that our children have been home from the Ukraine! So much has happened in this time that I am not even sure where to start!

From the very beginning the children seemed to fall into place in our family. I am not sure if this is because they had some time to adjust to us a little over the two weeks we waited for their passports and visa plus the time that we spent on the first trip (it was 28 days).

They were a little quiet the first few hours and were not very excited to see the house. We walked them around and showed them things in the house that they had seen in the video we had brought with us of the house, bedrooms, the house and their brothers. At first they did not even want to look in their rooms. I am not sure they understood that they were for them. After a few hours they would sneak to the rooms and run back to us and ask questions or bring us things to see. By night time they were very excited and happy to go to sleep. Maxim and Sasha wanted to sleep together but we said we would spend time with them until they fell asleep. They all did well and continue to have no problems through the night.

We are amazed at how quickly they are learning English. They already knew words when we arrived back home and their vocabulary increases each and every day. It is easier for Sasha than any of the other children. It progresses in amount know from youngest to oldest. School has been the best learning tool for the younger children. They love school and are so proud to show us what they learned each day. Rey does not like school. He has a hard time with all of the talking and not understanding most of what is being said. He says he feels like all day he hears nothing but “bla, bla, bla” and it is very hard to deal with. Rey and Maxim are only in school for three hours a day and classes are simple things like art, gym, and math (the universal language). We hope that this year would just be for socialization and learning of language because of their late start in the year. We have used many programs online, children’s workbooks for kindergarten through first grade, and children’s reading books like Bearinstein Bears. We used Pimseular Russian to English CD’s for the car, their room and Rey even has them on his MP3 player. The best learning tool that all the children like and agree on using is the Rosetta Stone English program for the computer. It really is worth the money.

It is amazing at how many things still stop them in their tracks when they see them. Airplanes, Semi trucks, animals of almost any kind. They say that the animals that they have in the Ukraine are almost gone, they very rarely see any. Women driving buses and trucks get a lot of attention too. We never had any problems with taking them shopping or any other place with large crowds. We read several articles and books that mentioned this as being a big problem; we think it just depends on the child and their past experiences. They are very shy around strangers still. I do not mind, it is a lot better than having no fears and worrying about them staying with us in public.

Doctors appointments went well. The children are all healthy as we were told. The children did very well and even tried to ask questions. We had a translator come with us so they understood what was being said and so the doctor could ask specific questions to the older children. Next week are dental cleanings. This seems to be the one they are scared of. We will see how it goes.

Each child has jobs that must be done each day. They were so used to having something to do every second of their day while in the orphanage they get bored very quickly and will start to argue with each other. They are not very good at playing by themselves. Every toy we buy ends up on a shelf and the watch it to make sure no one takes it. We have to get the toy and play with it to make them want to do what we are doing and then the next time they do not want to play without us. With the passing of time this is getting better.

The children are very eager to try anything. Sasha was angry because we would not let her drive the big farm tractors that we use to plow fields. Papa gave in and she was just as good as the “big boys”. They have swimming down to a science already, riding bikes, and flips on the trampoline. They must have built 20 bird houses out of every scrap piece of wood they could find on the farm the first two weeks they were home. They had to hang each of them up by themselves with no help. We did give a few away as gifts. They planted a garden so “they do not have to go the store everyday”. They want to do whatever we are doing from laundry and dishes to mowing grass and planting flowers. We are very busy just trying to find new things for them to try.

I do not want everyone to think life is perfect, it is a lot of work and there are troubles but we have not found anything to be too much to handle. Most things have to do with cultural differences and lack of communication because of the language barrier. We have also learned that all words do not translate or translate in the same way that we use them. For example we tell Sasha she is silly all the time. When Rey looked silly up in the Russian to English dictionary it met retarded/ unable to be taught. Of course he told Sasha and needless to say the rest of the night was not a good one. Some other examples are pushing in lines at stores, taking things from other children (the biggest/ strongest get things in the orphanage), oldest child get things first, wanting everything in the store because people who adopt are rich. Like I said nothing too hard to deal with. After a few times of saying no they learn fast what you will and will not accept as good behavior.

We are a little tired but very happy. As I look back on all of the work in the past year to get our children home and our children that were at home prepared for their new siblings I would not for even the slightest second change anything. I cannot imagine life without them.

We are home!

Yeahhh! I never thought it would happen, but we are finally home. The flight went well. We actually got there on time. The children were great. They got right up and got dressed and were ready to go. They were a little nervous on the ride to the airport but when we got in line Ray and Maxim got really nervous. Ray grabbed my hand while we were waiting in line to board but they did well. Sasha was ready and excited; she watched everything and did not seem scared at all.

Immigration was the worst. We were very tired and the line was very long. When it was finally our turn it took forever for them to check us in. We thought we were done but they ushered us off to another line. We waited between the two lines close to 2 hours. The children were good but not happy at all. They were so excited to be Americans but they did not think they would have to wait in line so long. By the time we got checked in and OK they were not feeling well and it was a very quiet. Ray dozed off and on the whole trip, Maxim slept through most of it and Sasha sat wide eyed taking it all in.

Cheryl met us at the airport and surprised me with a big (almost a tackle) hug. It was great to see a friendly face.

Mikie met us outside with the dogs so he could introduce them. Sasha was a little nervous but quickly warmed up to them. Maxim and Ray liked playing with them. They seemed to like Bella the best. They did not seem to excited about the house or their rooms but they were not upset either. I think it is  lot for them to take in.

I will write more later and post more pictures from our trip and coming home. We are very tired tonight and will be going to bed soon. Thank you for every one’s support through our adventure. Ray, Maxim and Sasha are definitely the children of our dreams.

Up at 3:00 am to fly out at 6:20 am (kiev time)

Sunshine!!! It is a beautiful day today. It is the first sun we have seen since we have been here in Kiev. It is supposed to be 40 today and warmer tomorrow.

Yesterday we went to the war museum. It was very cold but I think everyone enjoyed being able to see and play on the tanks, airplanes, and cannons. The museum itself was closed but there was still a lot to see. The statues and carvings were amazing. The children did well listening. Sasha was making me nervous in her boots climbing on the tanks, the bottoms are very slippery.

We ended walking to the store two times because there is nothing close enough to be able to buy enough food to make it through the day. The children are getting irritated with not getting what they want but are surviving. I needed to spend a lot more time on my Russian. It is not always east to get the to understand that it was the store that did not have something and not that I just did not buy it for them.

We fly out at 6:20 am on Monday (12:30 am Monday morning for you). We have to be ready and out on the street at 3:45 am. Sounds like fun hugh? We have to carry suitcases and make 3 children ready to move down 4 flights of stairs when we all should be sleeping. Should we make bets on how we do? We are so ready to be home. We miss everything about being home. We should arrive in Detroit at 1:10 pm. We have to go through immigration and they have to review all of the children’s paperwork before we can enter the US. No one knows how long it will take but we sure hope we have everything we need. Cheryl is picking us up at the airport in Shawn’s truck. After that we are on our way home!

3 more days!

Hi Cheryl- no the children have never flown. I think the only time the younger two had even been in a car was when they were taken to the orphanage. Maxim was carsick the first ride but does better every time. They did very good on the train and all are excited about flying but we will see when we make our first transfer if we can get them on the next plane (ha, ha).

Today we stayed in the apartment until 2:00. It has been raining and snowing off and on all day. The kids were getting very rambunctious so we took them for a walk. We thought we would try to find the souvenir row. Nothing is as ever as easy as it seems. We walked way out of our way to find landmarks from the last time we were here. It was worth it but a very long walk. It is a whole street of nothing but things for sale. Most of the vendors spoke English so it was very nice. A lot of items were hand made and very impressive quality. They had beautiful nesting dolls, jewelry boxes, chessboards with detail I have never seen before, pewter/lead figurines and much more. We needed more money! (and space) The kids wondered down the street looking at everything. We tried to get them to pick something special but Sasha wanted jewelry and hair ties, Maxim couldn’t decide what he wanted. Ray was the only one who understood and he shopped for the best price on the items he wanted. They each have such a different personality. The walk home was much shorter now that we knew the way.

The rest of the evening we spent home mostly playing cards and just spending time together. We are out of food again and have to go to the market first thing in the morning; it is only about 3 miles. No big deal right? We are ready to be home, this trip has been quite an experience.

All I can say is that I no longer question if God is watching each of us every day because if it was not for Him there would be no way we could ever of accomplished what we did in the time we had. Thank You!!

Crazy 2 days

“FIFTEEN hours on a train, very little food, kids with tons of energy, not much time for visas, almost out of money, pray harder, and call in the angles. As I am praying for more resources my brother Lynn calls. It is like he is reading my mind from 5,000 miles away. After I talked to him I felt much better.” Shawn  

Wednesday morning we finished packing and cleaning the apartment. Sasha and Shawn are working buddies now. She even went with him to walk and take out the garbage. The children waited and waited and waited. We played rummy with Pavel to pass the time while Sasha and Maxim played games on the telephones. George met us at 3:00 so we had time to pick up the children’s passports and make it to the train station on time for our train. The children and I waited in the car with Victor and Shawn and George went in to sign for the passports. When he got back to the car he had a very serious face, we all thought it did not go well. When we asked if it went OK Shawn says “no problemo” and Victor asked if there really was a problem. Sometimes the language barrier can really be funny. Everyone had to take turns looking at the passports and then we were on our way. We arrived at the train station with plenty of time to get situated before the train was on it’s way. The children were very excited, giving high fives and running from room to room. Maxim and Sasha were out of control exploring everything, climbing on and off the beds, running and comparing on room to the other, finding light switches… they looked like some kind of leapfrog/ high wire/ trapeze act. They were having a blast!  OK, so it got old really quick. We were ready for them to go to bed by 7:00. We finally got them to settle down and lay in the beds about 9:00 and soon after they were asleep. The train ride was much cooler this time and we all got some sleep. Ray was dozing on and off soon after we left the station. We all woke up feeling pretty good, but not quite ready for the day. When Shawn woke up and looked up at Maxim, Maxim told him to go back to bed.

We walked to find our bus to take us to the hospital for the children’s physical. We waited for quite a while especially since we did not get dinner (just junk food) and no time for breakfast. The kids waited their turn without any complaints. The visit went well. They were measure for height and weight and given a quick physical. Everyone passed and got compliments on how well behaved and how good they looked. The doctor was very impressed. She said God was looking out for us. Poor Ray and Maxim had to get a shot but they did very well.  We had about ½ before the van came to pick us up so we hurried to the café’ for something to eat. We felt much better after lunch, it was very good.

 This is when things started going crazy. We were a little late getting to the US Embassy. No big deal, the guards asked us why we were here and we told them we were Americans and were adopting. They let us in the front of the line to go through security and right in for our appointment. When we got in the Embassy at the adoption department they took our documents and started looking through them. After dividing them out per child she informed us that we did not have enough copies of some of our documents. We told her that was all that we had. Then she wondered when we are leaving for home. We told her Monday. That is when the big problems started. It seems that they are closed on Friday and that we need to have all papers in today and even then we were not sure it could be done. She did not think that it was possible; there was not enough time. We do not have the money to reschedule tickets so we left and asked George for help. We had to be back by 2:00 and it was already 12:30. We had to find out if George had more copies, get them notarized, rent an apartment, find it, drop of luggage, fill out about an inch of paperwork and get back to the US Embassy before 2:30. Just in case you are wondering… we were late. George had no copies, he thought he had made enough. It took forever to get the paperwork completed, Shawn was praying for a miracle because we just spent the last of our money on the visas and we had no idea how to pay for plane tickets if we did not get the visas or pay for the apartment or feed our hungry crew. It was about 2:15 and we were just about to go crazy and give up when the phone rang. This call helped us calm down and refocus. As Shawn prayed for help his brother called. Shawn was pacing the floor wondering who he could call to help us when the phone rang in his hand. Lynn (Shawn’s brother) called to see if we needed help. As Shawn said earlier it was like he was reading Shawn’s mind. We called a taxi to help things move faster but it got stuck in traffic, then lost on the way there. We walked into the Embassy at 2:45 and was again greeted with a warm welcome at the gate, not inside. The lady at the counter was not happy we were late and said she was not sure she could help. She accepted copies of originals because there were two other true copies and made me copies for the immigration at the airport and told us to wait to see if someone will see us. They did and all went well. We got the visas and off we went. It was a very crazy, emotional day. The US Embassy got what normally takes 3 days done for us in 1.

We celebrated by eating a big meal in a nice restaurant, buying ice cream bars and eating them all before bed. After all of the worry, it ended up being a very good day. The next step is home. See everyone in 4 days!

One step closer to home.

I have found out that it is very hard to enjoy a movie when you do not understand what anyone is saying. We took the children to see Rango. It was really cute. Maxim and Ray seemed to really like it but Sasha was tired and did not seem to care about watching it. It was a nice walk to the theater. The kids like getting out and walking especially when it is nice weather. It is about ½ an hour walk to the theater.

George stayed after the movie to talk about what is going to happen in the next few days. He tried to find out if the children’s passports were done but could not get any one on the phone. He is going to walk to the office in the morning and see of he can get some information. If not they told us they would be done by 4:00. Our train leaves at 4:20. It is going to be very close. He arranged for our apartment in Kiev and talked to Konstatine (Larissa’s partner) about our appointment in the American Embassy for immigration for the children. Konstatine sent us an e-mail for conformation of the appointment request.

We are starting to see the children’s personality show through more day by day. We are very lucky. They really are great. Shawn was trying to vacuum the floor today and Maxim and Sasha were arguing over who gets to help. We had to make them take turns. Sasha is a little mommy. She folds blankets and sheets and puts them away and is always picking up after everyone. Tonight she helped us make dinner and do the dishes. When she heard Shawn in the kitchen picking up later on she pointed to the kitchen and wanted to go in and take over the work. Ray is getting bored and will pick on the others to pass the time. We will play with him or give him some work to do to learn English to try to distract him. Maxim bounces between wanting to be one of the “big boys” and a young child. He likes to be on his own and watch what everyone is doing.

George told them that we would be leaving tomorrow and they all started packing up their things. Every suitcase, picture and toy was picked up and packed in less than an hour. They are really ready to go home.

Cabin Fever

We stayed inside most of the day today. It was very windy and we thought it would be a good day to just enjoy each other. Shawn and Ray did walk down to the store to get eggs and a few other things. I am glad we found something with protein that they all will eat. It was a very quiet day most of the time. We worked on the English alphabet. Maxim and Sasha worked on coloring sheets, they were very proud and we hung them up around their beds. Pavel and I worked on writing the alphabet and reading flash cards. He wrote both alphabets and compared the two; matching letters and sounds of each. He is picking up on words quicker than the younger children!

George stopped in with good news. Our passports will be ready tomorrow and we should be on time for our flight home. Victor (our host) got us train tickets for Wednesday to Kiev. We got two sleeper cars with 4 beds each to fit us all. It will also be nice to separate if Maxim gets carsick. He has been doing better with each trip he takes but we are still nervous. It is a 10-hour ride and once you are on your way there is not turning back.

We had another wrestling match tonight. I think Ray was rather surprised that I joined in and actually was able to hold my own. The look on his face was worth a million dollars. Sasha was not happy about it so it was very short lived.

The children are starting to get in a routine and know what we think is acceptable as far as what they can eat and bedtimes. Things are getting better everyday. We cannot believe how great they are.

I am getting very homesick and cannot wait to be home. 6 days and counting.

A Day at the Circus

Hi Cheryl, the ladies in the picture are Maxim and Sasha’s groupa leaders (teacher/ Mama).

We got to sleep in today! The children slept in until 8:00. We all needed it. Today is circus day. George came about 11:00 to walk with us to the circus. Sasha wanted toys the venders were selling and Maxim wanted us to find juice. It is a very long walk and it was very nice here today. We were all hot and ready for a rest and juice. The circus is inside and it was very crowded. I am always worried about getting separated from the children. We had to check our coats before we could go in, push in through the lines and then out again. The circus was really good. The building was a big dome room almost like a circus tent. We all set around a center stage. The children seemed to really enjoy it. There was a strong man, dancers, clowns, rope/ high wire acts, trapeze (sort of), baby bear, snakes, dog tricks, baby alligators and more. They even had a harness rigged up so the children could be raised to the height of the trapeze platform. They had choreographed water with lights, pyrotechnics and a fog machine. It was really great. Sasha saw children in front of us with popcorn and wanted some. Shawn and I had just asked if the children had ever had popcorn, I guess that answered our question. During the intermission we got everyone popcorn. There were so many things for sale Sasha could not stand it. Balloons (her favorite), pictures with the dogs, She has a hard time hearing no but did very well, not so much pouting today. On the way out we got her a humming bird that lights up, the boys did not want anything.

It was a beautiful walk home. I am really enjoying the nice weather. We had eggs and sausage for lunch. George stayed for a while so we had him go through a list of things with Sash to see if there was anything she likes to eat. It was a very long list. No eggs, no meat, no cereal, no cheese, no yogurt…. We were just about to give up when George asked about an omelet. It worked! So we made an omelet out of eggs with meat and cheese and she ate about half. Go figure, we are just glad to see here eat. They have been so much better about what they eat and understanding that snacks are for snacks not dinner. They did not ask for any chocolate or their chocolate cereal at all today.

Ray and Shawn worked on learning more words today. They went through more flash cards. Ray really wants to learn. He worked on some word searches in the afternoon and his alphabet with Sasha and I latter in the evening. His is picking up on more things every day. All of the children are surprising us with words that they know.

There was a huge wrestling match in the living room today, it was just like WWE. Ray wanted to wrestle so the match was on but Sasha felt that she needed to help Ray so she would sneak in and tickle Shawn or poke him. That would give Ray the chance to wiggle out of the hold. After all the noise Maxim had to see what was happening so he joined in. He felt safer with a little distance between him and the big boys. Ray would not give up until Shawn was pinned. They both were ready for a nap when they were done. It was very fun to watch.

Before bed tonight we snuggled up in bed and watched movies on the computer. The children have a hard time sitting still but really enjoy the time together. Maxim lay against Shawn and barley moved for the whole movie (that never happens). Sasha and Ray would stay with us and then go and lay in their beds and then would come back to use. Bedtime was easy tonight. Everyone just got in bed and said good night with hugs and kisses for us. I am so glad; it is hard to leave them alone when they are upset/ wired.

"one out of 3 ain't bad"

Today has been a pretty quiet day. We hung out at home spending time together in the morning. After lunch we went to the market. We are trying to get the children to pick out things they like and ask to put them in the cart. It is not going very well. All they do is shake their heads and make funny faces. Maxim only wants chocolate and Sasha wants sunflower seeds, other than that we are on our own. Ray will try anything but Maxim and Sasha are not very excited about anything. Maxim will eat something George calls baby meat sometimes, but yogurt, tangerines, and cocoa puff looking cereal is about all they want to eat. They will refuse to eat if they do not get what they want. They have very strong wills. They get mad at us a lot.

After lunch we went for a walk to try to buy Sasha boots. We were about 4 sizes too big with the boots we brought her. At least we tried. We found the first store with children’s boots and Sasha refused to even try on one pair. She wanted sandals and we told her it was too cold. The Lady in the store kept trying to help her decide but Sasha would have no part of it. We went to 2 other stores before we found a pair she would try on. She wanted boots that looked like an adult’s with heals and such. After all of the shopping for girls shoes and his help asking directions we thought we would get Maxim a toy (it also helps pass the time). Most of the walk home all Sasha did was complain and pout about the fact that she did not get a toy and Maxim did. On the last trip we said that we were thinking they might be a little spoiled but we did not have a clue. I will ask again… how can children for a country that is poor; have grown up in an orphanage that has very little turn out to be sooo spoiled?? They will go in the other room, into the bathroom, to their bed, and pout and pout and pout. It is almost too cute, we usually end up laughing and that just makes it worse. They get really mad when we laugh. They are starting to drive Ray crazy, he is always trying to get them to behave. We have been getting him to just let them pout and ignore them; they will be OK when they are ready.

Bedtime was a little hard tonight. Maxim and Sasha did not want to go to bed. They tried to run around and hide. Ray went to be and smiled and then made a “aren’t you glad I am good” look. After we turned out the lights Sasha was crying a lot so I sat with her until she calmed down. I think they are finally asleep.

I think we may have bitten off a little more that we can chew. Really, they are great kids. We just need to figure out something to do to pass the time. We are all getting cabin fever and we end up picking on each other.

Simferopol day 4

I guess we have a schedule now wheather we like it or not. Maxim and Sasha wake up at 6:30 and they play for awhile, eat and then it depends on what we have planed on for the day. If the kids don't wake Ray up we have to so he has time to get ready before we go. Today George came about 10:00 so we could take the children to a puppet theater. We decided that the circus would be over too late (10:00) pm for walking home in the dark. It was a very long walk but the children did great. Ray seems like he has been here before but he must just have a good sense of direction. When we arrived at the theater todays show was over. It starts at 10:00 on week days and 11:00 on weekends. We decided to see if the circus had any shows earlier in the day. Sunday they have a show at 12:00 so we bought tickets. It is inside building so it should be good rain or shine. On the way to the circus we walked by a movie theater so we thought it would give us something to do. George and the boys decided to watch a movie about the destruction of LA (I forgot the name).
We hope to be in Kiev late on Wendnesday. Our passports are supposed to be done and then we will catch the train (we hope). All we have to do them is get 3 doctor appointments and our visit to the US Embasy for visas on Thursday, have them completed on Friday and then we are done and on our way home on Monday. The train ride is about 10 hours and Maxim get car sick and the heat is about 90* so it will be a long day. We are hoping to be able to catch up on sleep on Saturday and Sunday because the flights home will make for another long day.
The kids are a blast, they are always talking back and fourth about everything. Maxim always trys to involve Sasha in everything he does, Ray is playing with her a lot. She has them wrapped around her little finger (Papa is next). Ray helps alot and is learning the most English but they all are doing well. We have picked up a few words ourselves.
I have pictures to download so I will write more tomorrow... enjoy!
Love and miss you all.

Simferopol day 3

Today has been a long day! The children get up at 6:30 so not only are my days and nights mixed up because of the time change but just about the time I feel like I fall asleep they wake up. They wake up, make their beds and wait for us to wake up, of cource we hear them and are up as soon as we can get dressed. George was here at 9:00 to try to get us an appointment for passports for the children. We were not able to so we went for a long walk in the park. The park has woundering sidewalks, river and some small amusment type games and rides. Ray and Maxim played a game but Sasha was scared. They all road a train and we took a buggy ride ride (poor horse). Most of the rides were shut down. They were just starting to get them running for spring. The children walked the whole time, even Sasha, and never complained. On the way the way home we stopped at the market for food... again. After lunch we went to get the photos done for the passports and ended up waiting for over an hour in the car because when George went in to talk they were not ready for us yet. Everything went well and finally we are one step closer to getting everyone home. Pictures are done, passports filed and now we wait for them so we can go to Kiev for Visas. Victor went to the bakery while we were in for passports he bought freash bread and filled the whole car with its wonderful smell. We were all starving in just a few minuets. The children (we helped) at the whole loaf on the way home! We cannot get them full no matter what we feed them.
George says that there is a circus in town and maybe we will try to go tomorrow. I hope it is nice, I worry about the animals.
The children are great. They are picking up on words already. Sasha like to copy what we say and make a game of picking on us. We are trying to learn some russian but it is not going well. Ray is trying to help us pronounce words but it is more funny than anything, it is impossible! Shawn and the children pass the time with rubber band fights. I am so glad that he is so mature for his age (ha ha). Things are going great. I love that we are here and no one has to go to work, it is a great time to bond and learn about each other.
We miss you all and can't wait to be home.

We have the kids!

On Tuesday we drove to "Leena" to pick up the childrens birth certificates. It was very exciting to finally have everything happening. After this we went to the orphanage and meet the director. She wished us well and good luck and many blessings on all of us. We left a donation for the children left behind, signed paperwork that we agree to take the children, that we received the children, and a promise to keep the children in contact with their older brother. We took in clothes for the children to change into, said good bye to groupa leaders, and were on our way out to Simferopol. The children said good bye to their brother at the car. A few friends came to say good bye. It was one of the hardest parts of the adoption. We all loaded into a oversized Mercedes Benz minivan and off we went. The children did very well. It was a little sad for awhile but everyone was excited to see the sites and things soon cheered up. Sasha was very excited to see what was going on, Pavel was too but he soon fell to sleep. Poor Maxim was car sick and he was miserable. He never threw up but he was not feeling well, very green and very sweaty. He fell asleep eventually and seemed to be comfortable.
When we arrived in Simferopol we went to immigration and things did not go well. They said that all of our paperwork was not complete and we needed to fix it before we are able to file. We had to find a notery and do more paperwork. Immigration only sees visitors on Tuesdays and they closed in a hour before they closed. If we cannot get this we will have to wait until tuesday to file. This is not good news. George said maybe we can file on thursday if we can get support from friends, so far that is not working out. Geoge is having a very hard time with the fact that this is happening. He is working very hard to get things fixed.
Victor (our host) invited us to his home for a celebration drink and dinner. His wife is a great cook and their vodka is very strong. We are renting our apartment from Victor and he was also our driver. The apartment is very nice and has great water pressure and a washing machine. It has been great having a nice home to get to know our children in.
They are doing very good. We let them stay up late because it was a very busy day for them. We enjoyed watching them unpack their suitcases and folding up everything we got them. They acted like it was christmas. We are a little worried about our gracery bill... they never stop eating! They went to bed without any problems. They wanted to help make their beds, they are very independant. Maxim and Sasha were up at 6:30 am and ready to go. They have a lot of energy. Pavel was trying to sleep in but it was hard due to the noise. All children made beds without being asked, what a change from home.
Ray found the Pimsleur Russian Language programs on my phone and is doing great (and seems to be having fun) with them. He really is trying hard and doing very good. He is a huge help with the children too. He is a very good boy, we are very lucky.
Around our is very busy because there is a college nearby. It is not much fun or very easy to walk around or shop. We will be happy to be on our way to Kiev.
We cannot find our camera cord and hope to find one tomorrow so we can post some pictures. We are all doing great and cannot wait to get home.

We have landed!

We got in without any troubles. Everything went well and we are safe and sound. Got to see the children and they were very happy to see us. We will write more and send pictures soon. We pick the children up from the orphanage tomorrow and are off to Simferopol and hopefully closer to internet service. We will give an update then.

Time to go and bring our children home!

We are on our way to getting everything packed and and ready to go. We have a long trip trip ahead of us. 22 hours by plane and car. It makes for a very long day. Our tickets got changed so all of the long layovers are gone. So far things are going well. Our plane takes off at 10:00 pm and we will try to post on the way if we have the time on our layovers to check in and update our travel. Uncle Mel will be bringing us to the airport and seeing us off again.

We got as much as we could done around the house. Most of the construction is done, just a few touch ups left. We have cleaned as much as we can. Mikie is watching his brother and taking care of the house so he will have to finish all of the touch ups.

This is so exciting we miss seeing the children and cannot wait to get them home. It has been a very long wait. We get to talk to them on Saturday morning to let them know we are on our way. They always ask first thing when we are coming to get them, finally we can say today.

23 hours to take off!

T minus 13 Days, 10 hours, 26 mins and counting!

We got to talk to the children today and we asked them if they were ready to come home? We asked about flying, train rides and long car rides and they just said they are very excited to be able to see us again. Shawn told them Christmas is in 12 days!

We have our tickets, have spent a lot of time shopping for clothes and items for their rooms and getting the house moved around so everyone has their own rooms. Everything is looking good except for the new bathroom, it is coming along and we hope it will be working if not done by the time we leave for the Ukraine.

We are getting so excited to finally have them home....
(we have a lot of stuff to do, gotta go)

Got our travel date!

We were notified today that we will be able to travel to pick up Ray (Pavel), Maxim and Sasha. Larissa said to plan on being in the Ukraine on March 14, 2011. We have our tickets and plan on leaving on March 12, 2011.

Its' time to start following us again because today we start another countdown. This time we are counting down the days until we get to bring our children home!

Russia's local government requested an amendment to the court decision.  George (facilitator in Kiev) has done it, judge requested  at least several days for this amendment to become "in power" (sort of a short after-court waiting period), which will be done next week, then we will send it to Russia.  I hope this will be Russia's final request and if so - the new birth certificate will be ready in Russia in 2 weeks, by the time it gets to Kerch - about one more week.  So we should probably be ready to travel towards the end of February, IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER ISSUES WITH RUSSIA!

We have been able to talk with the children the past couple of Sundays. Larissa (our adoption facilitator) does a three way call and translates for us. It is great to hear their voices again. The first question they always ask is, " when are you going to come and get me?" Ray (Pavel) says he is ready to come home now. It has been a long wait for all of us.

We are keeping busy working on the house. There is always something to do. We hope to get the new bathroom working before the 3 new additions to the family arrive. 6 people and 2 bathrooms may get a little interesting at times. We have been shopping and trying to get enough things for them to make their rooms look lived in without buying too much. We want them to be able to pick out what they like.

We are waiting for the call...

Still waiting...

Larissa sent us some new news:

 " I spoke with Konstantin about your case. He said that things are moving along. They have found an attorney in Russia who is working on your case. There is only one paper to finalize and then the birth certificate will be allowed to issue."
Hopefully we will be traveling soon. Originally we were told the beginning to the middle of February so we are still on track.

We are working on the remodel of the basement. The two bedrooms are done mostly, some trim work and closet doors. The beds are set up and curtains hung. The family room is at about the same place. A couple of more weeks should put us completed with all rooms including repainting the 2 bedrooms upstairs and putting up new beds.

Thanks to everyone who have donated items for the children.