update from Haylee

Hi Everyone! Mommy, Naomi and Jonah arrived safely in Odessa around 10 sometime and got on the overnight train to Kiev (11:30). They arrived safely in Kiev at 7:37 am and the man who drove us to Kiev (Mr. Yuri) picked them up to bring them to the mission house that they are going to sleep in. Please pray for a safe flight at 5:45 am on May 2nd. We will go to the orphanage soon. More updates later!

Haylee

Introducing Sean Paul Adamson

Sean Paul Adamson

Sean is the Scottish variation of John, which means "gift of God" ( and also the name of the little boy with disabilities who inspired us to adopt)

Paul is the name of John's brother :) and of course of a great man of faith in the Bible.

This morning we had court at 9 am. We were the first case. It went very quickly (though the 10 minute wait seemed like forever to us!) They asked us our name, birthdate, where we live and if we support the application. Then John was asked what we were asking and why. I was asked if I wanted to add anything. Haylee was with us too but she didn't have to say anything. There was someone from the orphanage, a representative from the city council and the prosecutor. They basically said Vladiks condition, his history of being left at the maternity house, that noone had sought to adopt or visit him before, and that we would be a good family for him. Then it was done--they will go back in 10 days after the required waiting time. We are so glad that is over :)

So .....its official but theres still a wait and some paperwork to do here and in Kiev at the Embassy. Thank you for your prayers!! Today we go a last time to the orphanage and Jonah, Naomi and I leave for Odessa around 5 pm to take the overnight train to Kiev.

Last day before court

Naomi feeding Sean yogurt (Sean if he could he would say "yum!" :)

After days of searching when the babies came outside, we finally found Ludmila! She is sooo cute! Here's Naomi and Ludmila.

Haylee with Ludmila (Ludmila in a big crib outside)

"Mama and "Papa" with Sean

Today was our last full day at the orphanage. We have court tomorrow morning at 9 am –the day we’ve been waiting for! That is where we seek to get the official approval for adopting Vladik (Sean)…please pray for us. Our translator is coming back tonight to help us tomorrow. I don’t know if we will get to go to the orphanage or not, as Jonah, Naomi and I will head to Odessa by taxi sometime tomorrow to catch the overnight train to Kiev. We’ll arrive in Kiev early Friday morning the 1st, and our flight is not till the next day—early—at 5:45 am! Our hope is to stay again at the house where we stayed when we first arrived in Kiev and for Yuri to take us to the airport. I am not looking forward to the separation from John and Haylee, not being able to communicate with them, and figure out the airport without a translator (she can only take us to passport control) so I would greatly appreciate prayer! We do not have seats together either because the flight was full so I’m praying people will help us on the plane too.

Today was bittersweet…so glad that we will (Lord willing) soon be heading home to see our little ones we miss so much but sad that we’ll be leaving Sean and the rest of the family. We enjoyed our visits with Sean (Vladik) today—it was a warm day so he had a lighter jacket and his bonnet on. Naomi and Jonah enjoyed some last time with him. He loves hair and enjoys messing up Mama’s hair.

It was also bittersweet because we got to finally see Ludmila, the little girl with Down Syndrome we’d sought to adopt with Vladik. We’ve been looking for her and saw a little girl who appeared to have Downs and we asked and they said it was her. They call her Lyuda (“Luda”) She was in a big stroller that held 6 little ones altogether. She is so cute and so sweet. She smiled a beautiful smile when we talked to her. When we explained to the caregivers that we’d tried to adopt her but she was not yet available, and one caregiver asked about our children and even called her son to translate a question she couldn’t figure out how to say in English—“are you coming next year to get Ludmila?”, I told her we did not know, that we had hoped to this time but could not. I am so glad we got to see her before we left though it was hard to know we could not take that precious one home. Her groupa played in a huge wooden playpen outside under a shelter. She could sit but not stand and tried to get around but can’t crawl yet.

We ate one last time at the Potato House. The servers ended up bringing an extra pizza over to our table that John thought he didn't order. You never know what will happen with trying to communicate your order!
After lunch we visited the Life Care Center, the Christian organization here that supports pregnant women. We enjoyed learning about their ministry and hope to spread the word to churches in the US, as churches here rarely will support Christian ministries outside their church. The LCC relies on funds from the US. The whole of their budget is $1000/month, which provides for 2 fulltime workers and space, plus materials.

Haylee is looking forward to keeping up with the blog when we leave and I'll be glad to get the updates from the USA. Please pray for our upcoming travels and for safety and health for John and Haylee who will stay here for the 10 day wait after court to begin the coming home process...possibly another 3 weeks though we pray it will be sooner.

More adventures (from Tuesday)

Eating lunch at the potato house..yummy borscht soup!

Today was another beautiful day and a busy one! We've fallen into a routine here with our 10-12 am and 4-6 pm visit at the orphanage... though somehow we don't seem to have much down time as we thought we would. In between we usually eat lunch at the "Potato House" and sometimes go to the store. Today we went to the outdoor market we'd heard alot about. It was quite amazing...they sell just about everything you can imagine. We saw everything from fresh milk, cheese, eggs, fruit and vegetables to sunglasses, kitchenware, toys, and clothing. Our taxi driver, Egor, was our guide to help us find a few particular things, including some clothing for Vladik and a few things the kids wanted to buy with money their grandparents gave them. We didn't have alot of time because they shut down at 3 pm.

Outdoor Market

Fun with dirt

We had good visits with Vladik (Sean) today--he seems to enjoy our time together and seems happy when we come. Even though it was warm today all the kids had the same jacket and hat! He really enjoyed swinging--by himself and with another little boy, and playing in the dirt--he went to the box and found his shovel and pail and went to town! He knows he gets a snack when we first get him--and he looks to the red bag where we keep it. We were excited when he signed "more" all on his own today without being told each time. He's a smart little boy!

When we left him with the groupa outside after our visit, I peeked back to see what he does in the group setting and he was sitting on his caregivers lap-- they seem to genuinely care about him.

Naomi has been having some difficulty with her asthma and allergies but seems to be responding to some medication we brought in case of trouble. Still, we changed our plan and will be bringing her home with me on Saturday. So, she's trying to play alot with the orphans before she leaves. Yesterday her favorite little one bit her arm--she is okay, but of course that was hard for her to understand. Its really sad the behaviors the kids learn and how they will fight with each other...this little one seems to be left out alot and to get in trouble alot, which is why Naomi has taken her under her wing. She is going to be more careful now.

Wednesday will be our last full day at the orphanage and then Thursday at 9 am is court. An Italian couple adopting here have had their court date moved twice this week so we pray that we are able to have it Thursday so we can make the flight out Saturday morning; otherwise we would be delayed a week because of the holiday coming up here. We appreciate your prayers!

Others on this journey

This morning we got to talk to 2 other families here in the middle of adopting...one couple is from Ohio and are adopting 2 children, the other couple is from Italy and adopting one. It was nice to share our experiences with each other....none of us speak Russian (the Italian family speaks English) so we could relate to what each other are going through here. Because their children do not have disabilities, it has been a much longer adoption process altogether...I think 2 and 3 years, although the American family had to come back because the paperwork was not ready for the sibling of the boy they got a referral for.

We ventured to a new restaurant for lunch and Irina translated for us via our cell phone...that was interesting. We'd hoped to go by the outdoor market but it is closed Mondays so we'll try tomorrow. It is a beautiful day here-- we did not even need a jacket, though we've been trying to keep the children in their jackets at the orphanage since they are very strict about kids being bundled here :)

This afternoon at our visit Vladik was engrossed in playing with dirt in a big tire(like our kids at home play with sand)...scooping to fill a bucket and dumping it. He sat and quietly played for a very long time. A sandbox will be a great thing for him. We tried him in the ergo carrier to get him used to it for traveling home--he did pretty well, though a couple caregivers seemd confused while we had that on.

We've been able to talk to the girls at home but last night we managed to do Skype with video...it was so wonderful to see them...they looked so good, but made us miss them all the more. We appreciate your prayers for our precious ones in the US and for our family here. The dustiness of this area and everything blooming is causing some problems with the girls and John's allergies and we're thankful we stocked up on medicine before coming.

A sunny day!

Haylee reading a book with Vladik (Slava)

April 25, 2009
A post from Naomi:
Today we woke up and ate cereal. Then we got ready to go to the orphanage. When the taxi came we went to the orphanage. We went and got Slava. When we were going down the stairs he smiled at me and made a sound. Outside I got to play with the orphans…they are so cute! There is a little girl that I like. It doesn’t seem like she gets enough attention. She was looking at a caregiver giving attention to another boy with love and she looked like she was crying. I played with her a little bit and she was smiling and laughing. The caregivers seemed to like how I was playing with her. I love them. I wish I could rescue all of them. Jonah bought some balls for them and we were playing with the orphans, throwing them and they would catch them and bring them back. It was fun! I hope you enjoyed my post!
Love,
Naomi

This is me comforting the little girl in Slava's groupa.

Jonah playing ball with the orphans

A good afternoon & evening yesterday

Yesterday afternoon we had a fun visit with Vladik inside. It had rained more in the day so the ground was very wet--when we went to to him, the caregiver brought out his jacket and hat, and we tried to communicate we wanted to stay inside, resorting to pointing at the word in the pocket dictionary. The caregivers don't speak English so we don't really know where to take him but we just stayed with him outside the groupa room and played. Vladik was very funny...he enjoyed putting Haylee and Naomi's pretty handkerchiefs (they brought to be able to go into a cathedral here) around him (he will enjoy dress up at home). He was very curious about a retractable tape measure I gave him, and when we gave him a little flashlight he was fascinated by the light on the ground and then put it to his mouth and "sang" like it was a microphone...then he would put it to Haylee's mouth to sing. Jonah enjoyed giving him some crackers.

We're so glad 3 of our children can be with us....and can form relationships with Vladik too.

Hopefully that will make his transition home easier. The girls are really enjoying it here and don't seem homesick....but Mommy is very homesick for her little girls at home. We've been able to talk to them each day (once we got the phone figured out) and its been wonderful to hear their sweet chipper voices...they sound so good, and Nana says they are doing very well. Elsie is sleeping through the night (since about day3) and not having problems with being left....I praise God for giving her grace, and for the great care she and Annabelle are receiving from my parents. They are having alot of fun. It is a great comfort!

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with our new friends Snezhana and Sasha and their girls Dasha and Sasha. We were served a chicken and potato dish, a vinegrette (like a potato salad with beets, carrots, peas, pickles and oil), green tomatoes,and compote (apricot juice)...it was all delicious. It was neat to hear more about life in the Ukraine and about their christian experience and ministry there to help pregnant women. It is interesting and sad how pregnancy is very discouraged here due to the cost of medical care (compared to their wages), how its viewed as a sickness, and abnormalities are quickly identified and lead to abortions. Their ministry seeks to counsel, support, and educate pregnant women, teach abstinence in schools, and share what it means to be a christian, as over here, people would say they are a christian because they are from an orthodox christian nation,but not know anything about a relationship with Jesus Christ. We feel blessed to know them.

A rainy day

Vladik drinking juice outside (1 of his favorites)!



Vladik drinking juice in "Papa's" arms.

Us with Vladik (Mommy taking the picture)

April 24, 2009

This morning it was raining a little and we expected that we’d get an indoor visit, but when we knocked on the door to Vladik’s groupa they were getting all the kids ready in jackets and bonnets. We found Vladik in a crib which we thought was for the disabled girl who is usually in a stroller, so we're not sure if he actually sleeps there or if he was just put in there.

Outside, Vladik got dirty (from the wet ground) and so did we (holding him). He tends to throw himself down when he doesn't want to do something and he trips often too. He is a strong little guy. We're praying for patience, love and wisdom in how to train him.

Vladik found a box and got in to it--one of his favorite things to do! He seems to really enjoy songs so we sang him Jesus loves me and Old Mac Donald which made him quiet down, smile and sing a little. He must be known for liking music here as several of the caregivers (even one in another groupa) try to get him to sing some kind of song that says "La la la."
One neat thing was that he started signing "more" after working on it...food is a great motivation...and he says Mama :)

We met an american couple from Iowa who came today to begin visiting the 2 children they are adopting...they were very nice and we look forward to talking more with them.

The restaurant we've been going to was closed :( so we made eggs (kind of different here) and buckwheat...a staple here, and cleaned up a little. Tonight the family who owns the flat we're staying in has invited us to dinner....we're looking forward to visiting with them, learning about their ministry and having a home-cooked Ukrainian meal!

A Day on our own

Today was our first day on our own, as Irina our facilitator left yesterday afternoon to return paperwork to Kiev. I think we did pretty well...and it was actually a more relaxed day since we weren't trying to hurry to get things done while she was here.

It has been beautiful here, so for our visits today we got to spend them outside with Vladik (Slava). My little ones at home will not understand why we're calling him Vladik--to us he's been Slava but thats what they call him...it will eventually change to Sean Paul anyway.
We enjoyed our visits today walking around the grounds and playing on the outdoor equipment. Slava loved the swing and the slide. He liked to climb into these bars (shaped like an upside down funnel) and sit in there. WE have to watch him closely as he likes to play in the dirt--which is okay until he puts it all over himself. His caregiver fussed over him yesterday when we brought him back a bit dirty. Vladik loved juice and seemd to have not used a sippy cup before but he got the hang of it, and he loves his snacks. They're particular about what you bring here so we have to check with Irina first...so far its been things like Ukrainian "cheese" yogurt (thicker than regular yogurt), something like cheerios, certain brand of juice, crackers, puffs. I don't think we'll have any trouble with eating for him, though he does have some rash on his face so I wonder if he reacts to foods he eats at meals.

We got to interact more with the groupa while we visited outside today. They are so cute and it breaks our hearts that so many children do not have "mamas" and "papas" (as they call here). They look at us and smile. Naomi our daughter wants one day to have an orphanage or adopt lots of children. She was in heaven today as she played with the groupa and they followed her all around....until they got a little rough with each other and picked up pieces of tree bark, so they took them for a walk..they listen well to their caregivers and line up holding hands with a buddy. They all have the same red bonnets on like Slava. We were able to get a picture of the whole groupa. It is obvious that the caregivers care alot for Vladik and he will run to them and hug them too... which makes us so glad that he has grown up with love, despite lacking a family and home of his own.

We also saw other groupas outside...one group were in 2 big strollers (holding about 6 children) and one we thought looked about 2 years-old...all walking except for one in a stroller. She did not look like Ludmila but seemed to have some kind of disability. We haven't seen her yet but we hope to atleast see her.

I think we are making some progress with bonding with Vladik. It hasn't been as easy as we'd thought... and the different language is a challenge. We've been learning Russian words for "no touch","be careful","sit","good boy" and "I love you" It was neat to see him recognize and seem happy to see us today and he gave us sweet hugs goodbye today.

We had a bit of difficulty communicating with the orphanage lawyer regarding paperwork Irina needed us to take somewhere from her, but we were able to call our Ukrainian friends who rent us the apartment and they helped us when we couldn't get hold of Irina. We went to the potato house and ordered on our own today (John did pretty well--except he didn't know how to say burrito so he got pizza) and went to the store too. Our driver surprized us by driving by some sights on the way home for free, so we got to see the Danube River (across the river is Romania).

By the way, I appreciate your prayers for our safety here... we actually feel safe in this area, except when we are in the taxi! They drive very fast and do not leave much room for error...if there is room to pass, they do, and if there is not room to pass, they do anyway it seems to me. There also are no seatbelts, so I try not to look and pray alot on the trips.

I'm going to try to add more pictures in to this and older posts--we have lots of pictures but it takes a long time to upload them.

A Full Day

April 23, 2009

This morning we went back to the computer store to get memory put on the modem we have borrowed here (thanks to the Dickinsons for leaving it with Jamie J) so this evening we were finally able to post on our blog since we’ve been here! So scroll down if you want to hear about whats happened the other days. We’re so thankful that now we can communicate to all of you about our daily adventures.

We then went to the orphanage for our morning visit form 9-11 am. Our interpreter dropped us off so we struggled a little bit communicating but they got Slava for us when we showed up at the doctor’s room where we met him yesterday. He actually is called “Vladik” here—I know Slava is also a nickname for his full name, Vladikslav, so maybe he was called Slava when younger, I don’t know but we have always called him Slava so its hard to remember to call him Vladik J They let us play alone with him in the music/play room, which was nice to have some privacy. He immediately went to the piano and wanted to play on it….he loves it, infact, it was a bit difficult to get him to do anything else for a while! (We found out later that they don’t want him to play on it, as “music is music, noise is noise” but we know he will enjoy it once he gets home)

He also was preoccupied with going behind the curtain where supplies were kept so we got a lot of practice in saying “nyett” (no). The kids enjoyed helping to feed him a snack (he is a very good eater…and a healthy, stocky little guy), building with big foam blocks, and blowing bubbles—which he loved. He also loved taking his shoes off.
Once after I had wiped his face and got a new one, he walked over to Haylee and washed her face and hair with it…then Naomi’s and then Jonah’s …it was very funny. I wish I could figure out how to load the video clip on here. We also requested to see him eat, so they let just John and I go in to see…they were eating soup seated around 3 small tables. He ate all by himself. The caregivers got him to say “Mama!” twice J

After our visit we went to get lunch with Irina our translator and tried some more Ukrainian food…pancakes with chicken and cheese inside, their version of burritos and banana juice! We had some errands to do before Irina would leave later this afternoon…the grocery store, the eye store (to get Saline…which they didn’t really have here), the courthouse. We came to our apartment and I hoped to get a nap but we ended up having only a short time before we needed to head back for our 4-6 pm afternoon visit. When we picked him up we got to see Slava’s bedroom…maybe 13 little toddler beds all lined up head to head, as well as the room he plays in.

It was beautiful outside today, and we got to play with Vladik outside. We enjoyed the fresh air and walking around with him…he goes very fast with no fear. He really enjoyed playing in the sand (until he decided to put it all over him, which I didn’t think the orphanage caregivers would appreciate so we got him out). While outside, we got to see some other children playing with their groupas…they would smile and wave at us and it just broke our heart to see so many kids without families. One little girl in particular in Slava’s groupa has severe disabilities and seems to stay in a stroller a lot….she did not go outside with the others, which made us sad. We got to interact with her briefly…she would smile at us when we asked her things. We hope to find out about her and others who may be able to be adopted to pass on to Reeces Rainbow.

Tomorrow we are on our own as Irina had to travel to Kiev tonight to take paperwork stuff there. We were able to get a court date for next Thursday at 9 am!! The next day is the beginning of the Ukrainian holiday when things shut down for a week so we are so thankful we got it before hand, so I (Traci) can get home to Annabelle and Elsie. Because the US Embassy will be closed the next day, we are also thankful that our caseworker Victoria had us get some forms (you usually must have the leaving parent sign at the Embassy before leaving) notarized in the US, which they will honor at the Embassy, so it looks good for us to go home. We’ve decided to let Naomi stay here with John and Haylee, so I’ll be returning with Jonah on May 2nd after court.

SDA appointment and the orphanage

April 22, 2009

A lot has happened in the last 2 days…we’ve been very busy and still have lacked internet access. Tuesday, April 21 we had our SDA appointment at 11:00 in the morning…the lady meeting with us and our translator Irina were very nice, however we did find out some sad news that the little girl we’d hoped to adopt along with Slava was not available for adoption yet and probably would not be for about a year (though we’d been told before she was able to be adopted). We were very sad—devastated in some ways after opening our hearts to her (especially our children who thought of her as a sister already), but we were happy to know Slava was able to be adopted. We took comfort in knowing God is Sovereign and that we’d been praying for His will concerning her, which is clear is not for us to adopt her right now. We also prayed that perhaps it would work out for her to stay with her own mother. We had to wait until 5 pm that night to pick up our referral so we spent the day with our driver Taras, who graciously took us to get lunch and see some places in Kiev. We went to a cafeteria style restaurant and got to try some Ukrainian dishes like Borsht soup (beets, cabbage and other), a breaded chicken with cheese inside, some little crepes with cheese and fruit inside and others…it was very good and we got quite a bit to feed our crew of 5 for about $20 US. We were thankful that Taras could speak English and interpret for us. We also went inside a beautiful Russian Orthodox church, went to buy our son a jacket (forgot at home), went to a a park, got a coffee and a few souvineers for the kids. We had a bit of stress because we thought we were expected to pay 600 dollars for being driven around for the day-- when he meant 600 grivnas (Ukrainian money) which is much much less! We all had a good laugh and were glad we realized the misunderstanding. It was a beautiful day…chilly, needing a winter coat, but sunny and clear. At 5 we got our referral and found out from our facilitator that we had to be at the orphanage by 9 am in the morning if we had any hope of getting things done for an early court date before the Ukrainian holiday next Friday…..
So, after that it was a whirlwind, as we had to go back to the house we were staying at, pack our things in 40 minutes and start on an 8-9 hour drive in a bus to Izmail. Thankfully Yuri our driver was fine with driving during the night. We made due with snacks and tried to sleep on the long ride with blankets and pillows…the kids were troopers. We arrived around 6 am and after waiting a bit, we were able to head to our apartment, and our hosts graciously met us early there and the couple who had been staying there graciously let us bring our stuff in as they were packing to leave. They are from America, here for some missionary work and were so kind in showing us around, leaving some food for us, and even offering to watch our children while we went to appointments (of course, we declined as our children were so anxious to see Slava!) The couple we’re renting from is also a Christian family who run a life center, or crisis pregnancy center, here and have been very kind, bringing over extra mattresses and offering to help us anytime. We have been so encouraged and amazed by how God has provided for us and put Christians in our path to look after us, which is a great comfort when you are in a foreign country and can not understand the language.
Today we spent the day being driven around in a taxi to get permission to visit the orphanage, , to the courthouse, to breakfast and to the orphanage. We met with the assistant director (director was not there) who informed of Slava’s information and then they brought him in! WOW! He is precious and quite the little character. He actually is a good size for his age (3) and was decked out in a snow hat (which he enjoyed putting on), overalls and pink shoes! We weren’t expecting his hair to be buzzed off or him to have green dots all over his face, which they said was an antiseptic for bug bites.
There were about 6 or 7 workers there talking to him at once, along with our family, so I think he was a bit overwhelmed and it wasn’t as intimate as we’d have liked but we know we will have time to get to know him. He did not sit still very long and really enjoyed some cookies one of the workers gave him. He reminded me of our 2 year-old how he liked putting on his hat and opening and closing the door. After visiting a while they took him back out and we had to meet with the legal representative there who copied our passports and told us about his history there. We were pretty impressed with the cleanliness and friendliness of the workers we met there. They seemed genuinely happy to see pictures of Alina and Mattea with their families and hear of how they were doing. And yes, it did smell like home cooking…and I found out they eat 5 meals a day!
Then we waited an hour for our translator to finish some details and went to get some lunch. We would not get to go again until tomorrow because we needed to get several things accomplished before our translator would leave—possible the next day. We did enjoy lunch (at the Potato House we’d heard about from the Dickinsons) and found some wheat-free food for our daughter Haylee. Then it was off on more errands…court house again, computer store to try to get the modem we’re borrowing to work, notary, and I can’t remember what else. We were pretty tired…2 of the kids and my husband and I fell asleep in the taxi at different times…I don’t know how Irina our translator does this kind of pace for a living. Our children wanted so much to see Slava again but we’d have to wait—its wonderful to see their love for him.
Tomorrow we go back to the computer store to get our modem set up so hopefully we can start putting our entries on the blog—we’re sorry it has taken so long! We hope to visit Slava twice tomorrow. Tonight we look forward to sleep!

Finally on internet -- recap of first days in Kiev

We finally are able to post on our blog-- so sorry for the delay but we didn't have internet access. We will add in pictures soon....

Monday, April 20, 2009

A post from Haylee:
We made it safely to Kyiv today. We were very tired as we slept only 2 hrs. on the plane (over night). We got into Copenhagen at 2 in the morning (US time). And then, there was a 2 hr. layover. We then got a flight at 4 a clock our time for Kyiv, Ukraine We met Anatoly and he brought us to our driver (Yuri). Yuri drove to the mission house and dropped off the luggage,us kids and Mommy while Yuri and Daddy drove to the market to get some food. We took a nap meanwhile..We got bread, fruit, fish, eggs, cereal, and juice.
Tomorrow is our appointment date, so please pray for us as we take another step forward to bring these children home!! We will post more updates on the blog as soon as possible.

Thank you! We look forward to seeing Slava and Ludmila in a couple days. ( :
Haylee Adamson

A Post from Traci:
We are so happy to finally be here after an exhausting couple of days. At Dulles we were concerned we’d miss our flight, because we were told to go to two different places (on opposite sides of airport) to check-in our luggage, and then there was a long security check line. Thankfully, though, we made it. It was very difficult saying goodbye to Elsie and Annabelle, but they did better than I expected and even kept waving and saying “Goodbye!” many times.
Our 8 hour flight to Copenhagen went well. We left at 5:15 pm. Thankfully they were able to get us some seats together (we didn’t have it previously since our tickets were gotten just a couple weeks prior when we found out our appointment date)…I sat with the girls and John with our son. The enjoyed watching a movie, listening to music and reading, while I tried to rest after not much sleep the last few days. The kids enjoyed getting juice and dinner and a treat, as well as just being on the airplane. We ate dinner around 7 pm and then at 12:00 in the morning (US time) they served breakfast! We did manage to get a couple of hours of sleep but needless to say, we were all very tired when we got to Copenhagen.
We had just gotten better with security checks (had our liquid bags ready, knew what to take out and off) but in Copenhagen our money belts set off the buzzer so I had to go in a room and show her it and how much we had for the adoption. The 2 ladies seemed not sure what to do and of course spoke Danish primarily so it was rather stressful…but after showing our adoption paperwork they said we could go on. So that is one more reason to bring a copy of your dossier with you!
Our flight there was quick and less English friendly as most of the crew did not seem to speak much English and no drinks etc. Once we arrived we went through Passport Control—we just had to fill out a form (including name and address for person receiving us—which we put our facilitator) and show our passports. We were approached by 2 young men about getting our luggage, but we didn’t feel comfortable with it (not sure if they worked there or not) so we said no thank you and did it ourselves. WE thought there would be more to customs but that was it. We went through the door and more men approached us I think asking if we need help to get a taxi (do we stand out here or what?) but thankfully our facilitator Anatoly walked up and said our name so we followed him. He does not speak much English so it was a bit uncomfortable as there was not much communication but he brought us to the van where Yuri and Sveta waited for us to drive us to where we’ll be staying.
The Dickinson family told us of an American missionary here (Jamie) who helped them and of Yuri who they hired to drive them, who is a Christian and trustworthy. We inquired the week before we left about if it was possible for him to drive us to the orphanage and Jamie replied right away that she was going out of country but had met with Yuri and that he could pick us up at the airport, bring us to the guest house we could rent, arrange transportation to our appointments and we could hire him to drive us to Izmail. We’re so thankful to Jamie for arranging this and for Chris Malone helping us by contacting her for us, and Meghan for sharing about htem. So, even though we could not communicate much, we know we are with people that others know and trust. In the van ride, Jamie called on a cell phone and talked to us about what was going on and translated to Yuri and Sveta, trying to work out a way we could call home; we were not able to get our Ukrainian cell phone to work yet or access internet, but thankfully, Jamie called my parents for us and left the house number here, so late Monday night my mom called from the US and we made contact. Praise God! It was a great comfort—in the midst of a different language and culture and no way to call home—for Jamie to call check up on and help us and then to hear the voices of those we love. We’re hoping to get the phone and internet working soon (that is why this post is late) and look forward to having our translator tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the big day we’ve been waiting for---our SDA appointment when we will Lord willing receive our referrals.

This is a picture of the house we're staying in --outside of Kiev. It is nice and roomy as we're the only ones there right now. A bit chilly at night but we have plenty of blankets.

Finally getting ready to leave

Friday we flew out of Denver....after a slight delay. We were thankful that we got out before the expected snow storm hit the area. We arrived in Maryland a day late and got to Nana and Grandaddys late that night. So Saturday was a marathon of last minute packing and errands and we soon head to the airport for a 5:45 pm flight out of Dulles. We didn't have as much time to relax and get the little ones acclumated as we'd hoped. Please pray for them. We know they are in wonderful loving hands. I can't believe its finally time to go! We'll try to update over in the Ukraine once we have internet access....we're due to arrive in Kiev at 1235 pm April 20th (Monday) They are 8 hours ahead in the Ukraine of Mountain time so that would be so 4:35 am Mountain time, 6:35 am Eastern standard time (hope I got that right) :)

An unexpected delay

from Thursday, April 16th


Today we left for Maryland to my parents house. We flew out at 11:45 am. I haven’t flown in over 6 years (since Jonah was a baby) and it has really changed. Getting through security was quite an experience with 5 children and lots of bags….I think 5 of them they had to search through. My 7 year-old son had put some interesting things in his bag that they questioned…like the device from a musical card he had ripped out of the card (that didn’t go over very well) and my husband had to be searched too. We definitely were motivated to lighten our load when we head to the Ukraine.
Our flight to Denver went well, aside from not being able to sit all together but it worked out okay. However, as we were rushing to the next flight (as they were behind schedule) somehow our 4 year-old tripped in front of me, I tripped over her and fell, with our 2 year-old in the ergo carrier. As soon as I was helped up, she threw up 3 times all over her and me, and looked like she might fall asleep. We were concerned she might have a head injury so we called a paramedic and she looked at Elsie and Annabelle. She said she could call an ambulance but thought she seemed to be acting pretty normal and we could just keep an eye on her (as that is what they'd do at the ER). We'd missed our flight, so we stayed at a hotel and got dinner. By an hour later, they were both their energetic, happy selves and showed no other symptoms from then on...praise God! He was surely looking after our little ones. We were given a free meal at the airport and were so thankful to go to bed that night in a comfortable bed.

Thanks for joining us in our journey

Here we come, Slava!

Well, I just made the blog private so if you're reading this, I just wanted to say thankyou for following our adoption blog and joining us in this great adventure.

We greatly value your support and prayers. We will be traveling to the Ukraine (the other side of the world!) and will have to be separated from our youngest children for 2 weeks or more, which will be very hard--I can't imagine it really and pray for God to help us through it.

First our whole family will travel Thursday the 16th to my parents in Maryland to get our 2 yearold and 4 yearold settled there. Then on Sunday the 19th John and I will travel over with our 3 oldeset children to arrive on the 20th, our SDA appt is the 21st (when we get the referral to go to the orphanage). We'll visit the orphanage each day and then after court (when we receive official approval for the adoption) ,I will travel home with Naomi and Jonah to see the little ones and wait for the rest to return once medical exam, birthcertificate and passport is obtained. It will be a long couple months. We are very excited that our time is nearly here.....though we have much preparing to do!

While we are gone we plan to update our blog as often as we can and share pictures --hopefully we can figure out internet over there! So check regularly and leave us lots of comments--we've heard that it helps so much. I also plan to have a separate family blog for our little ones where we can post special messages to them and my parents can post about what they are doing back and forth....we'll see how that goes :) We really enjoyed following the blogs of other families before us and learned alot about what to expect.
Thanks again and enjoy our journey.

Pray for these precious orphans

When we first learned of Reeces Rainbow and visited their website (reecesrainbow.com) we were so touched by the plight of these special orphans and a bit overwhelmed by how great the need, how many orphans there are. It was a hard decision to choose which child, once we knew we were going to adopt....I remember thinking, how do you ever choose? Thankfully, God showed us. Still there are several that we especially care about and pray for to find family.

Here are 2 of these precious children. They are 4 or almost 4. They will be transferred to an institution very soon.

Andrey P

Contact Andrea directly for more information
He has $3295 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

Ruslana

She also has a grant (I think over $5,000)

All of the children have write-ups with information about what is known about the child's medical diagnosis, functional level, and the adoption requirements for the country they are in. IF you go to the website listed above, click on the waiting children link to see all of them!

A reminder of why were are doing what we're doing

Adopting a child with Down Syndrome ....from across the world...at tremendous financial cost, time and effort...while already having a full house....

many people we come into contact don't understand why.

And, at times, in moments of trial I wonder too....until I remember the reasons God put this on our hearts, and led us in this journey.

I've been meaning to post the following but am just getting to it. Back in February, 2 of the orphans at Reeces Rainbow passed away. These precious and healthy girls had been sent to an institution because they had already reached the age of 4 ....it is typical there for disabled children to be transfered to an institution, where they may not be able to be adopted and have the hope of a family, love, a home, an education, therapy to reach their potential, or to know the love of God. We've heard some places are better than others, but the conditions are generally much worse than the orphanages, and they may not survive long. A flu passed through there, and they did not survive.

The poem below was written by another adoptive mom of special needs children, who has seen an institution first hand-thanks Meredith for sharing it with us all, and reminding us of our blessings and their needs, and why special needs adoption is close to God's heart.

While we were... in memory

"While we were eating... ... they were hungry
While we were playing... ... they were restrained
While we were tucking our kids into bed... ... they were alone
While we turned up the heat... ... they laid in the icy cold
While we wrapped our children in blanket sleepers... ... they laid in their own excrement
While we sang songs and listened to music... ... they listened to the screams and cries of those around them
While we rocked our babies... ... they silently rocked themselves
While we hugged our kids... ... they scratched at their own faces and pulled their own hair for stimulation
While we cried over scraped knees... ... they moaned in their loneliness
While we brushed our daughters' beautiful hair... ... they had their heads shaven to stave off the lice
While we fought off the flu with love and nourishment... ... they got the flu and went Home.
No longer suffering... but so many more still are.

In memory of those that have never felt the love of a family, but have passed away alone. "

Margarita




Katarina

Going private soon...

We should be leaving for Traci's folks house on May 16th and then flying over to Eastern Europe on the 19th! We're still working on the specifics of the tickets but that is the general plan, so we have a little over a week to get organized! I would appreciate your prayers for our family.

We will probably make our blog "private" (meaning only invited people can follow it) sometime soon, before we go. That way we can share photos and more information about our adoption. So if you would like to keep following our blog while we are in country, please let us know by our personal email or on the reeces rainbow group.

I'm trying to strategize how to pack--everyone recommends we pack as light as possible, and take only a few outfits to re-wear over there. Now, my husband knows I am the queen of overpacking, so this should be a good challenge for me. Another family getting ready to travel --with 2 boys even--are taking everything as carry-ons! I'm impressed and wondering if we could at least put our personal stuff in carryon size bags with an extra duffle bag of orphanage donations to check.

In the country we're adopting from, both parents must go for the first trip until you have court, then there is a wait time of a week and a half, and then you can start getting their birth certificate and passports, etc. We were going to make 2 trips but recently decided for my husband to stay there while I return home...this saved us a good amout of money and will spare him from making 2 long flights with time change. So, the lighter our luggage the better since I won't have his physical strength with me :)

Our children are getting very excited to travel "on an airplane!!" They have been packing even though I'm not ready to pack them :) All will fly to Nana and Grandaddys, and then we will take our 3 older children with us, after much prayer and talking it over....it is such a huge decision! We are glad they will get this experience and know they will be a tremendous help to us.

We got our date!! The countdown begins....

After a week and a half of being on pins and needles and hoping each phone call is our caseworker :) we got a call today telling us our appointment date is April 21st!!

So, the countdown begins....2 weeks until we'll need to board an airplane to take the kids to their grandparents. We are excited and a bit in shock--like its not really happening, is it? :)

We have a lot to do-- first I need to go update my to do list, I guess!

Please pray for us to have wisdom as we make arrangments, plan, pack while doing the regular every day things as well, and also to have God's peace that surpasses understanding in the midst of it all.

Yesterday, for April Fools Day, my dear husband called from work, telling me that our caseworker called him and said our appt. date was April 8th...like a week away! I was REALLY in shock but excited also to finally hear something...until he laughed and said, "what day is today?" April Fools! (Yes, I forgave him) So, compared to April 8th, April 21st doesn't sound THAT quick,
though I know it will go fast. Better get busy....

Thanks to everyone who have been praying for us. My daughter Haylee has been earnestly praying to hear of our date so she had a big smile today!