Bike Helmets

We got out our helmets today. Yesterday Ethan rode his bike into a passing car and got pretty banged up. Of course our first day out and we didn't even think to pull out bike helmets. The kids were showing me how they were learning to ride their rip sticks and later we got out the bikes. I had been in the house for 15 minutes and I heard a terrible bang/crashing sound. Ethan rode out of the neighbors drive way and didn't see the car because of the fence on the corner and ran right into the side of the car. Good thing the girl wasn't going very fast, she was watching the kids in our driveway. I felt so bad for her it really shook her up, she even came to check on him today. But it was good he hit her car and not the car hitting him, it would have been a lot worse. His knees are really banged up and pretty sore, he also has scratches up his back and back of his head. So we spent the evening at Primary Children's hospital having him checked out. Everything is fine and he is doing really well today. We were all out on the rip sticks again today, but with our HELMETS!

I don't want to hear any jokes about me being responsible for three more... and if I can do it or not.


He was trying to show me his knees here, but didn't work too well. You can't really tell, but his bike handles and brakes are bent up.




Look at that hair! It's getting long. He's growing it out for the Suzzical Musical he is in next week, but it is driving his dad crazy!

Pictures

There is no order to these pictures.  I just wanted to post pictures of the kids, the orphanage and the town/village.

Our second to last day at the orphanage we walked into town and did some shopping.  This is the view on our way back to the Orphanage.  The village is about 25 minutes from the town of Mykalivkav (Mykali) so it is considered a village of Mykalivakav.

shopping for treats.  We asked the kids if they wanted some fruit and they all wanted crab sticks (frozen).  I think Anastasia ate most of them.

The houses in the village were a brown stucco with blue trim, this was a really nice house.  Very different from the ones going to Kremenchuk which were white stucco and more of a barn shape.
the sign that got our paperwork on a bus to Kyiv at 1:30 am.
Anastasia always got a ride every time we went on a walk.
The family that showed up when we were trying to adopt the kids.  They called the woman their aunt, but she was really a cousin to their mother.  Her husband and brother and two children are in the picture with her and the kids.
pictures of the orphanage.  The building to the right of the church is the dinning hall.  The two dark buildings to the right are the dorms.  Below is the school for the younger kids and the infirmary, where we stayed.

This sign was in the bus window, but it's close to the signs you would see where people would cross, but there wasn't a cross walk.  It was a red sign with two people running.  For some reason it cracked me up.  It is illegal to jay walk, you have to cross at a cross walk.  I drove Natasha and Vladimir crazy because if there weren't cars I would start to cross the street and they were worried I would get caught.  But it was really a pain to walk to the end of a long block (like SLC blocks) to cross and then walk back.
boys fishing at the pond.  They had these 10 foot poles they would fish with.  I think to get over all the reeds to the water.
Tatiana above.  Tatiana and Anastasia below.

Victor and Anastasia at the pond.

going to the pond.

Beehives at the orphanage.  The house behind them is where the director lives.
In front of the Orphanage sign.

Before bed.
Anastasia.  

We Are Home At Last

Just thought I'd post to tell everyone we made it home yesterday, safe and sound.  The past few days were a bit crazy, but we made it.  

Thursday, court went smoothly and the kids were so cute and I think the Judge really liked them.  Natasha had bought them all cokes for lunch before court.  Troy and I tried to talk her out of giving them caffeine before they had to sit in court, but to no avail.  While we were waiting at the court house the kids were running and swinging each other in the waiting room and bumping into things.  So Troy took them outside and found a rock to play soccer with on the side walk.  While they were out there an older man went out to smoke and talked with them a little bit.  When we went into the court room we found out that he was the Judge.  They asked us a bunch of questions and then asked each of the kids if they really wanted to go to America and they all said yes and it was done.  One of the witnesses asked if he could come visit us, since we had an extra room.

photo with the Judge 
before court in front of the court house

Nadia, works with the director at the orphanage, took the kids home and we drove like crazy to Odessa to file paperwork for their birth certificates (so that only one of us will have to go back to pick up the children).  The woman there wanted to know about their father, but the parents were never married so we only had paperwork on the mother.  So after that got worked out we headed back to Micholi/Micholiva to get a bunch of thing notarized.  The woman had old forms so everything had to be redone.  We left her office at 11 pm.  We returned to the orphanage to pick up our bags and say good bye to the kids.  We had to wake them up and they were pretty out of it.  We finally got Natasha to tell them it would be two weeks before we could come back (she had been telling them a couple days!  frustrating).  Hopefully they'll remember and not think we've abandoned them.  

So we headed for Kyiv at midnight to get to the airport at 5 am.  We were almost to the airport when my mom texted saying that the first leg of our flight at 7 am had been cancelled!  So we got to the airport and found out that representatives are only in their windows two hours before flights depart.  So no one was going to be at the Polish Air window until noon.  We talked with another airline (we thought was one of their partners) and they found us a flight to NY at 1 pm.  They couldn't book it for us unless we got someone to sign off on it at Polish Airlines.  We called their number and were told their Kyiv office would open at 9 am.  So we went back to Vladimir's car and slept until 8:30.  Poor Vladimir had been driving for the past 24 hours and was looking beat.  

We talked to Jane at 9 about our situation and she sent us to a different ticket counter in the airport that would have to sign off on this change.  The guy was not happy because the other airline was their competitor and didn't want us flying on their airline.  So after an hour of searching and finding there were no other flights that could get us to the US on Friday he finally gave in and signed off on the change.  Which turned out to be a much better flight for us.  The flight ended up being delayed for an hour and a half, but we boarded and made it to NYC.  It was a long flight (10 hours) and only some of the movie screens were working, so we read most of the time. There had been a storm that day in NY and a lot of flights were cancelled or delayed, except for our connection.  It was on time and just leaving as we were at the ticket counter.  So we stayed at Days Inn by JFK and ordered a ton of Chinese food.  It tasted so good.  We had a hot shower with water pressure and a king size bed.  It was like heaven.  We got up and headed back to JFK at 5 am because we were going to have to try to catch a flight on standby to SLC.  We got on the 8:30 flight and 4 1/2 hours later were in glorious Salt Lake.  It looked so beautiful and smelled so good.  My dad picked us up and we went home and just hugged our kids for an hour.  It was wonderful.  

Troy is ready now to go back and pick up the kids... I think it'll take me a few more days of being home before I can think about heading back.  Not because of the kids, they really are great and will be a good fit with our family.  I'm just a little spoiled and want to have my bathroom for a few more days.

Court today

We have our fingers crossed that we will actually get to go to court today. Vladimir ran our documents back to K on Monday and submitted them to the SDA. Tuesday the SDA told us that the inspector had dated some of the papers incorrectly. Surprise, Surprise. So Natasha got things fixed, but the person at the orphanage with the stamp was in Odessa. So about 7 pm we got the correct stamp and marked the papers. So, now to get the papers to Kiev by the next morning. Troy and Natasha got a ride from a villager at 1 am to the highway to try and catch the bus going from Odessa to Kiev that should pass Micolivkav at 1:30 am. Natasha made a sign that said Kiev on it and they stood on the highway with their sign to flag down a bus! Troy and I were skeptical that the papers would make it to Kiev. But miracle of miracles a bus came to a screeching stop and picked up the documents. The driver of the car thought they were getting on the bus and started to leave. Second miracle, he looked back and waited for them. Third miracle, the papers actually made it to Kiev and Vladimir picked them up at 6 am Tuesday morning. The SDA finished our paperwork late in the afternoon and Vladimir arrived last night.

The judge said if we are at court a 1 pm he may be able to see us. I feel like we are living in some crazy movie, lets hope it is one with a happy ending not one where everyone gets killed off one by one. So after court papers are signed we have to go back to Odessa to the village the kids are from and sign some papers, hopefully we'll make it before the offices close. Then back to Kiev to catch a flight at 7 am Friday morning. Maybe miracle number four....

The kids

We still haven't figured out a way to post pictures, sorry everyone. So we've been asked for a little more info on the kids and then I'll update the latest on our status in the A process.



Tatiana is the oldest of the three. She is 12 and will turn 13 in November... sorry mom don't have the exact dates on me, you'll have to wait till I get home. She has blondish hair and brown eyes and is quick to smile. She comes up to my shoulder or so. All the kids here seem pretty short. I think it's the lack of fruit and milk in their diets. They do get a lot to eat, but it is mostly soups and cracked wheat, potatoes or mashed peas with a sauce over the top. Tatiana is very interested in drawing and does draw people quite well. She really likes horses and princesses also. She enjoys reading a lot also. Both she and Victor will sit and read books/magazines they have found in our room. She likes to tell stories and will talk to us about anything even when we have no idea what she is talking about. She knows lots of bible stories, those are the ones we can sort of figure out.


Victor is very confident and likes electronics. He has figured out everything we brought with us and even showed Troy how to watch a slide show of his pictures on his camera with music. We had no idea his camera could do that. He has taken us on walks around the pond and forest and showed us where the boys like to build fires and bake potatoes in tin cans. He is quick to help and has started to use more English around us. He is 11 years old, birthday in March (if I remember right) and he's a head shorter than Tatiana, but taller than most of his friends so we aren't sure where he'll fit in with boys at home. He has blond hair and blue eyes. He is pretty excited to come to America with us and be in our family.



Anastasia is 8 in a couple weeks (April 2001)? She is in first grade, but she is tiny. I bet Ethan is a head taller than her. But she will do and try anything she sees anyone else do. She is so determined not to be left out or left behind. She's quite the fireball and she likes to purposefully break things and make a mess to get Tatiana's goat. Then she just laughs her crazy, happy laugh. She is kind of a boss around here. We haven't totally figured it out, but most kids old and young will do pretty much whatever she wants them to do for her. Pretty funny. Don't know that that will fly in the states. She had dark dark hair and brown eyes. Her teacher cut her hair yesterday (a really choppy job) and Tatiana was pretty ticked off with how it looked. We told her it would grow out and we'd cut it straight.



Yesterday we piled into Vladimir's car with the kids and drove to Odessa to see the sea shore. Natasha was so worried that one of the kids would throw up so she kept pulling out a plastic bag and asking them every two minutes if anyone needed to use it. It was stressing me out and I was the one who almost needed to use it. But we arrived safe and sound and walked through a park and down to an aquarium where they have dolphin shows. One had already started and so we got tickets to the next one and went to lunch. Troy wanted to take them to McDonalds but we couldn't find one right off so we stopped and had pizza, which they have never had before. Boy they are in for some surprises with American food. The pizza was good, very different with sour cream for the sauce. They all seemed to like it and Anastasia had her first soda pop, Fanta. We walked around and got some things to do with the kids in our room. Tatiana picked out a Disney princess book, Victor a remote control car and Anastasia picked out a cell phone like Natashas. I picked out some clay and coloring books for when those items loose there apeal or batteries.



We went to the dolphin show and the kids couldn't figure out how we were going to see dolphins in a building. Once we finally got in and they saw the dolphins in the pool they got pretty excited. They did a good job with the show, it was about 30 minutes long and everything was set to music. The kids were in awe most of the time and they have had to show the videos we took to all of their friends.



So today we returned to the inspectors office to try and get the head man to sign all of our paperwork. Third times a charm and we actually caught him trying to leave the building. He was really nice to us, but had about 30 minutes of questions. When we left the secretary said he liked us because we were only there for 30 minutes, usually it's about 3 hours! We figured we lucked out because it's some city holiday and everyone was getting off work in the afternoon. So Vladimir is zooming to K to submit our papers and get our court request drawn up and return before 3 pm Wednesday when we are scheduled to see the judge. Keep your fingers crossed for him. We bought tickets to fly home Friday, so I can spend spring break with my kids! I miss you guys tons! Happy Birthday to Ethan : ) Love you buddy.

Sorry this didnt post yesterday the power went out. We are set for court at 3 pm on Wednesday so I hope it goes smoothly. Then we'll head to K to submit papers to the Embassy. Then we will head home Friday to wait out the 10 day waiting period. Then we were planning on one of us coming back, but Natasha thinks we both have to be here to pick up the kids in this region! I wish there was a standard format for the entire country. We'll have to see. She also said it will probably take us a good week or more to get passports and paper work done when we pick up the kids...

Today we are just hanging around. It is raining and the kids are in school so not much to do for the moment. Till tomorrow.

Saturday at the Orphanage

My turn to provide an update. We finally got our court date (more or less) pinned down to this coming Wednesday or Thursday. So we are likely to come home next weekend, though are trying to sort out with airlines.

We had another meeting with the relatives yesterday and even gained a bit of respect for them. We started off being very frank and said we would not fight for the children if they had an intention of supporting them as family. They backpeddled a bit on that one and said they now believed the children would be better off in America, and wanted only to be sure that we were good people. Their main question for us was to confirm that we were not organ peddlers. I think they realized after a bit how silly that question was. They also asked us a couple times if we were "believers" to which we nodded fiercely. It ended up a friendly meeting and they signed documents saying they would not oppose our adoption. We took a lot of pictures and exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. So it was nice. One would think this would have grease the skids, but the local administration is still a bit nervous about everything. However, things are looking quite a bit clearer.

Things remain kind of fun at the orphanage. Mealtimes are the best at the cafeteria. Usually some mixture of potatos, cracked wheat, sausages, shredded cabbage and tea. We drank a lot of hot water for the first several meals until our facilitators found us some chamomile tea in town, and now we drink that, loaded up with sugar. Although I look forward to the lunchtime drink which is some kind of fruit drink made from boiling dried fruit and letting it cool. The kids file in in their groups and eat rapidly. TThe two orphanage dogs roam around the cafeteria hoping to pick up scraps. The whole thing seldom lasts longer than 15 or 20 minutes.

The kids are doing great. They love the digital camera and we let them take pictures. They take about 200 a day. We will have some deleting to do. Victor in particular takes great care in snapping photos of inanimate objects, like light sockets, eyeing them up for a good minute sometimes before finally pulling the trigger. Anastasia is a rascal, and we will have our work cut out for us. I'm getting my exercise on the soccer field. I am really bad at soccer. Though I am holding my own at ping pong. Carlin is learning elaborate forms of patty-cake.

Thursday

We have access to some of the computers the have at the school, but we cannot upload our pictures or hook up Troy's laptop to their computers.

We really like the children, but we are dead by 9 pm. It is their spring break and we are staying at the orphanage and so we have to entertain 24/7 and it wears us out. But it is good. So we came up on Tuesday to see the kids and the first thing they tell us is that some cousin and her mother came and wanted to take them for spring break. They said they didn't even know who they were. Just our luck. So we couldn't do any paperwork or anything on Tuesday because they were coming back on Wednesday to meet with us and the kids. We kept asking what would happen to the kids after spring break, if they were going to live with them and they said no. They tried to tell the kids that we wanted them for their organs. This has been the strangest month in our entire lives.

When the director asked them if they wanted to go with their relatives for spring break, Victor immediately stood and said, "I don't even know them, why would I want to go with them? No." Tatiana just hid her head and said she didn't know and didn't like have to answer these questions. Nastia, Anastasia, wanted to go as she was curled up on the cousins lap eating candy. So after a day of ups and downs the kids said they wanted to go to America and signed the paperwork. Troy, Natasha and I had gone for a walk to give them some time with the director. I think we all needed a little space. Although the weather was beautiful Tuesday and we walked around the pond and around the orphanage, yesterday was cold and rainy so we were jumping over puddles. And last night once again it snowed. So we ate dinner with the kids and then they readied the shower for us. It was a small square room with the shower head in the middle of the ceiling. At least we had hot, hot water. It sure felt good. So Troy and I got to spend some alone time in the shower. The kids didn't understand why Natasha and Vladimir weren't showering with us!! Pretty funny. They all line up in their underwear and the woman over their building runs them threw and scrubs them down and kicks them out in a long procession. Glad we didn't have to join them.

So today the paperwork is together and Vladimir and Natasha are finally off to visit with the judge to see when we can get a court date. After Vladimir gets back from Kyiv with the properly signed papers saying we can have a court date here. It is an insane process. Hopefully all will go well and we can come home next week/weekend. Then one of us will head back after the 10 day waiting period to pick them up and bring them home. We'll have to post pictures when we get home.