I have heard many people say, "when you adopt older kids, you miss out on their firsts". You do miss some of the firsts....but not all firsts are good! (i.e...the first time they pass gas in public and people think it's you, the first time they say a bad word in public, the first time they _________ on your comforter, etc...)
With the girls, we get other firsts that are pretty cool. This past week I had many firsts with my girls. It was the first time Yana said "I love you" and it felt like she meant it. We got to shop for a dress and accessories for Vita's first real dance...and I had my first time to worry about her being out with friends. I love those firsts! An odd, but cool first was Yana letting me cut her nails. I know she can do it herself, but it's a mom job and she let me do that job....that was huge for me...and her, whether she knows it or not!
Some other firsts with the boys: Jakob was suspended for the first time from school. Levi washed a car for the first time...with a large rock. Noah had his first piano recital.
This week we look forward to more firsts at our house....Yana's first Christmas with us, Vita's first Christmas as a Kellett, the boys' first Christmas to share with big sisters, and the first time the girls leave home to visit somewhere else (going to Dallas with family to see family!), and Zoie's first Christmas at our house...in heaven with new toys to chew on and get yelled at about!
Merry Christmas to all...
12/20/08
12/9/08
Do You Hear What I Hear??????
It's my fault. I should have known better. I have started putting gifts under the tree. Noah is picking up movie and cd cases and sizing them up against the gifts under the tree to see what is what. Yana is shaking and smelling boxes, followed with, "Momma, what is it? I-Pod? Camera? WHAT IS IT???" She doesn't do well with surprises, secrets, or waiting. Noah is just nosy...he has to know EVERYTHING! Vita has been her and done Christmas a few times with us, so she just hangs back and knows that she won't be disappointed on December 25th. Jakob and Levi aren't concerned about WHAT it is...they want to be socialists and are worried about who has how many and we all need the same or it's not fair. Remembering Christmas when I was a child, I was alot like the anxious ones...unwrapping and rewrapping gifts. Nosing around in the closets, under beds (sorry David...I found the box...you need to be more creative to hide stuff from me!!), and every place else I could imagine! I love being on the Mom end of Christmas. The excitement that's building, the smell of Christmas, the Christmas songs, and the reminder of what Christmas is about....not gifts, but THE gift. The big One! I am thankful for family and friends and for the good fortune that God has given to our family. With news every day of people losing their jobs, the economy sucking, and so on....I am grateful for what we have and the awesomeness of my family and God.
Do you hear what I hear??? SSShhhhhh.....listen........
Do you hear what I hear??? SSShhhhhh.....listen........
11/26/08
And then there were 9.....
This is the newest addition to the Kellett clan!! The girls were promised a dog, by their father, in Ukraine. I put it off and put it off by saying: no fence, no dog. The girls NAGGED David to put up a fence....and he finally did. Then the excuse of, "we are going to KC for a weekend....a dog is something that needs to wait until after that". That was a month ago. We have since been in negotiations about the type of dog to get. True to my flakiness, I INSISTED it would NOT be a big dog....yet I was the one who mentioned the St Bernard. (I knew I wouldn't win on the Schnauzer...) I vetoed German Shepard, Lab, Golden, Pug, Chihuahua. So, we have settled on this gorgeous "little" pup and named her Zoie! She is 7.5 weeks old....and by the looks of her paws....she's going to be quite a big girl! Our cat, BC, seems okay with her so far. Our last pet attempt was a cat who lasted less than 24 hours. We realized fast that she could not live on top of the refrigerator...and BC was giving her no other options!
Oh, we also figured it would kill two birds with one stone....David also promised the girls a horse!!
Oh, we also figured it would kill two birds with one stone....David also promised the girls a horse!!
11/11/08
The Curb...
One of the things I never really thought much about is curbing. I guess I just thought you can take the kids out of the orphanage AND the orpahanage out of the kids! But not really. So now, we are trying to curb some institutional behavior.
Sharing: Sharing is good...sharing EVERYTHING is not good.
Every man for himself: Well, it's hard for the girls to conceptualize that when you have a friend over or take a friend somewhere...you are somewhat responsible for entertaining them. Our girls seem to think once you introduce them around....they are on their own. From their history...that makes perfect sense to me. However, it leaves American girls a little confused, hurt, and offended.
Table manners: OK....I will be the first to admit that I am a stickler for table manners. No legs hiked up at the table. Cut your meat...don't stab a pork chop and gnaw at it. Wipe food off your face...preferably with a napkin. Chew with your mouth CLOSED. Don't talk with a cud in your mouth. And now that their English is good...speaking it at the table is a good thing!
Bad habits: gum stuck to the headboard...several pieces. Candy wrappers/sucker sticks on the carpet/beds/where ever. Handwashing underclothes.....enough on that topic.
So....there are the things I would like to kick to the curb! I only thought of big, obvious issues before we adopted this time...language, dating, makeup, driving, allowances, chores, etc....
(this is by no means a criticism of the girls, just an observation and things for p.a.p.s to consider when adopting older kiddos!! I'll take this stuff over potty training and diapers ANY day of the week..well, most days....)
Sharing: Sharing is good...sharing EVERYTHING is not good.
Every man for himself: Well, it's hard for the girls to conceptualize that when you have a friend over or take a friend somewhere...you are somewhat responsible for entertaining them. Our girls seem to think once you introduce them around....they are on their own. From their history...that makes perfect sense to me. However, it leaves American girls a little confused, hurt, and offended.
Table manners: OK....I will be the first to admit that I am a stickler for table manners. No legs hiked up at the table. Cut your meat...don't stab a pork chop and gnaw at it. Wipe food off your face...preferably with a napkin. Chew with your mouth CLOSED. Don't talk with a cud in your mouth. And now that their English is good...speaking it at the table is a good thing!
Bad habits: gum stuck to the headboard...several pieces. Candy wrappers/sucker sticks on the carpet/beds/where ever. Handwashing underclothes.....enough on that topic.
So....there are the things I would like to kick to the curb! I only thought of big, obvious issues before we adopted this time...language, dating, makeup, driving, allowances, chores, etc....
(this is by no means a criticism of the girls, just an observation and things for p.a.p.s to consider when adopting older kiddos!! I'll take this stuff over potty training and diapers ANY day of the week..well, most days....)
11/7/08
Story of the Week...
Well...we had a pretty quiet week...for us, anyway!
Even our low-light for the week is funny. It started with a call from the assistant principal at Jakob's school (at least it wasn't THE principal!). The a.p. had to go to Jakob's classroom and retrieve him, as Jakob wouldn't go on his own to the a.p. office. Seems that Jakob threw his pencil (at the teacher or at the floor..depends on who you ask...) and was refusing to do work. He then disertated (if that's a word) about how he doesn't get enough respect (questioning if Rodney Dangerfield ever traveled to Eastern Ukraine in late 1998) from anyone. Jakob then spent about 45 minutes, disertating, in the a.p's office..about respect and other things that were not positive (no reason to live, no friends, etc). The a.p. had not seen this side of Jakob and was concerned so he called to see if we had seen these behaviors before. Um, yes...for about 5 years now. We have to find the humor, or all else is lost! This fell on the heels of Jakob giving David 10 days to show more respect or he was leaving home. The process was expedited due to the fact that the level of respect is not changing any time soon. I was unaware of the exchange...I thought Jakob was showering for bed! Imagine my surprise when Jakob comes thru with a suitcase wearing boxers, a hoodie, and sandals!! After some time on the porch in 40' weather, Jakob came in and proclaimed, "I've changed my mind, I'm staying, can I have a milkshake?"
I'll leave you to ponder whether Jakob got his milkshake....
Even our low-light for the week is funny. It started with a call from the assistant principal at Jakob's school (at least it wasn't THE principal!). The a.p. had to go to Jakob's classroom and retrieve him, as Jakob wouldn't go on his own to the a.p. office. Seems that Jakob threw his pencil (at the teacher or at the floor..depends on who you ask...) and was refusing to do work. He then disertated (if that's a word) about how he doesn't get enough respect (questioning if Rodney Dangerfield ever traveled to Eastern Ukraine in late 1998) from anyone. Jakob then spent about 45 minutes, disertating, in the a.p's office..about respect and other things that were not positive (no reason to live, no friends, etc). The a.p. had not seen this side of Jakob and was concerned so he called to see if we had seen these behaviors before. Um, yes...for about 5 years now. We have to find the humor, or all else is lost! This fell on the heels of Jakob giving David 10 days to show more respect or he was leaving home. The process was expedited due to the fact that the level of respect is not changing any time soon. I was unaware of the exchange...I thought Jakob was showering for bed! Imagine my surprise when Jakob comes thru with a suitcase wearing boxers, a hoodie, and sandals!! After some time on the porch in 40' weather, Jakob came in and proclaimed, "I've changed my mind, I'm staying, can I have a milkshake?"
I'll leave you to ponder whether Jakob got his milkshake....
10/26/08
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly......
Well, there's a lot to blog, but not sure where to stop and start!
The girls seem to be going through a cycle that I'm sure is common with adoption. The honeymoon phase.....done. Vacation clothes: put away. Tan:gone. Shiny: worn off. Reality: here.
There seems to be an expectation of adoptees that they are issued certain things when they land in America. i-Pod, cell phone, Internet in bedroom, cable in bedroom, the school should look as pristine as the one in High School Musical, music coming from the loud speakers, and Troy dancing down the hall with all of his hot friends in tow. Don't get me wrong, the kids NEED alot when they get here....but there is a blurry line between need/want (I think this is true of all teens....?) I would like to take this time to thank Hollywood for sending out a very skewed idea of what life as a teen is like in most of America. Perhaps if Senator Obama gets elected, he can take these items from the Willis, Pitt, Cruise, and Madonna's children and give to my children...as it would only be fair! I digress......
Vita is struggling making friends....as I think is normal for anyone starting a new high school...the language barrier can only hurt. We are trying to get her involved in stuff and try to be more outgoing...but I'm sure a small town school is not so in to opening their cliques. Her sparkle has faded since the first of the year...but we hope it will come back soon. The struggle is Vita's confidence and expressive English confuse the teachers....they think she is more capable than she lets on, so they have higher expectations than she can meet. And she gets frustrated. Hopes: parent teacher conferences this week....
Yana has made alot of friends...but none she sees/talks to outside of school. Oddly, she thinks she needs a cell phone so she can text them at school. That's a different blog!! Her teachers are more willing to be flexible and understanding of her limitations...so her school year is going quite well! Yana struggles with authority at times and I think she also has a hard time figuring out how to be a part of a family. Families are tough enough...but to not be a part of one, try fit into an existing one, and maintain sanity...we are asking alot of Yana!! Vita had visited us 3 times and pretty much had an idea of what to expect and how things work...I think she has tried to tell Yana....but sometimes you have to learn things on your own!
OH...we have some boys too!!
Levi...our little 4 year old is doing great! He loves preschool and is such a big boy. His Grammy and I already are getting teary eyed over his going to kindergarten next fall....he is the last of the last and we need him. I hope he is sad too!!!
Noah...borders on the perfect child....with exception to his sneakiness and mean streak! He loves to learn and is full of questions! (I never thought I would hope my kid wasn't so smart!!!) He has become bored with 1st grade and his favorite day is the day of the week when he goes to his gifted classroom. We are now advocating for him to skip a grade...no one in the district has ever done this, so we are not hopeful. However, I can be assertive when it comes to my kids!
Jakob....is getting ready to have an interesting week!! We are going to try to do a gluten/casein/soy free diet for a one week trial to see if it helps with his autism. Half of me hopes it doesn't work....so he can eat all the things he loves (chocolate...pop tarts...cereal with REAL milk....ice cream...cheese...yogurt) The other half hopes it does work so he can get off all the meds, do better in school, be happy, feel like he fits in, make friends, and just be able to have the same advantages as other kids.
Last Friday we went to the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for the girls to take their oaths, sign their citizenship papers, and confuse the federal employee. I felt sorry for him....but more sorry for us!! It may have been his first day. He may not be accustomed to English speaking customers. IDK. But we mustered through and only have a few more things to do to wrap up the adoption process!! We will get the girls registered with the Ukrainian Embassy and then get US passports and change their status with social security so they can get jobs!! hahahaha!!!!!
I think our adoption days are over for awhile. Five is overwhelming...for me. David is not a type A person like me.....I hope to mellow soon or at least reach a level of insanity where it doesn't matter any more!!
The girls seem to be going through a cycle that I'm sure is common with adoption. The honeymoon phase.....done. Vacation clothes: put away. Tan:gone. Shiny: worn off. Reality: here.
There seems to be an expectation of adoptees that they are issued certain things when they land in America. i-Pod, cell phone, Internet in bedroom, cable in bedroom, the school should look as pristine as the one in High School Musical, music coming from the loud speakers, and Troy dancing down the hall with all of his hot friends in tow. Don't get me wrong, the kids NEED alot when they get here....but there is a blurry line between need/want (I think this is true of all teens....?) I would like to take this time to thank Hollywood for sending out a very skewed idea of what life as a teen is like in most of America. Perhaps if Senator Obama gets elected, he can take these items from the Willis, Pitt, Cruise, and Madonna's children and give to my children...as it would only be fair! I digress......
Vita is struggling making friends....as I think is normal for anyone starting a new high school...the language barrier can only hurt. We are trying to get her involved in stuff and try to be more outgoing...but I'm sure a small town school is not so in to opening their cliques. Her sparkle has faded since the first of the year...but we hope it will come back soon. The struggle is Vita's confidence and expressive English confuse the teachers....they think she is more capable than she lets on, so they have higher expectations than she can meet. And she gets frustrated. Hopes: parent teacher conferences this week....
Yana has made alot of friends...but none she sees/talks to outside of school. Oddly, she thinks she needs a cell phone so she can text them at school. That's a different blog!! Her teachers are more willing to be flexible and understanding of her limitations...so her school year is going quite well! Yana struggles with authority at times and I think she also has a hard time figuring out how to be a part of a family. Families are tough enough...but to not be a part of one, try fit into an existing one, and maintain sanity...we are asking alot of Yana!! Vita had visited us 3 times and pretty much had an idea of what to expect and how things work...I think she has tried to tell Yana....but sometimes you have to learn things on your own!
OH...we have some boys too!!
Levi...our little 4 year old is doing great! He loves preschool and is such a big boy. His Grammy and I already are getting teary eyed over his going to kindergarten next fall....he is the last of the last and we need him. I hope he is sad too!!!
Noah...borders on the perfect child....with exception to his sneakiness and mean streak! He loves to learn and is full of questions! (I never thought I would hope my kid wasn't so smart!!!) He has become bored with 1st grade and his favorite day is the day of the week when he goes to his gifted classroom. We are now advocating for him to skip a grade...no one in the district has ever done this, so we are not hopeful. However, I can be assertive when it comes to my kids!
Jakob....is getting ready to have an interesting week!! We are going to try to do a gluten/casein/soy free diet for a one week trial to see if it helps with his autism. Half of me hopes it doesn't work....so he can eat all the things he loves (chocolate...pop tarts...cereal with REAL milk....ice cream...cheese...yogurt) The other half hopes it does work so he can get off all the meds, do better in school, be happy, feel like he fits in, make friends, and just be able to have the same advantages as other kids.
Last Friday we went to the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for the girls to take their oaths, sign their citizenship papers, and confuse the federal employee. I felt sorry for him....but more sorry for us!! It may have been his first day. He may not be accustomed to English speaking customers. IDK. But we mustered through and only have a few more things to do to wrap up the adoption process!! We will get the girls registered with the Ukrainian Embassy and then get US passports and change their status with social security so they can get jobs!! hahahaha!!!!!
I think our adoption days are over for awhile. Five is overwhelming...for me. David is not a type A person like me.....I hope to mellow soon or at least reach a level of insanity where it doesn't matter any more!!
9/24/08
Been a crazy long time!!
WOW!! It's almost October!!
All kids are doing good in school...the girls are learning English with great speed and impress us all the time! Not all of it is good stuff...but that will make them well-rounded!
Yana and Vita have spent quite a bit of time at the dentist's office. Jennifer has been a little more lucky on then end of things!! All the girls are excited about their first Halloween! I would have never thought about that....but boy are they stoked!
The girls are getting extra reading in school....which I think will help immensely! Yana just recently added a reading component to her class schedule. It took much pushing on my part to get her OUT of US History and into something she can understand, learn from, and succeed at. Sometimes it's hard for authority types to think outside the box and use common sense over policy and procedure!! Especially in a small, rural district where non English speakers are few and far between.....and more so that the English is the primary language in the home! We love to challenge our school district, help then broaden their horizons, and take advantage all the tax dollars we have invested!
Vita had an incident with a closed minded person.....he said to her and her Japanese friend, "go back where you came from bitches!" Her idea to respond was punch him in the face....and she didn't care about 3 days off from school! We talked about diversity and discussed the meaning of the words "redneck" and "fear of something new". I think she gets it and dismissed him. I also told her she can tell him, " if you think I'm a bitch, you should meet my mom". I think she faced enough stuff in UA that she understands that some people are just that way and we can't all like/be liked by everyone.
This Friday is homecoming and Vita is excited! Not sure if she will go to the dance since her friends are not going, but she will enjoy the game and atmosphere!
Yana has been catching on at home a little better with regard to respect, rules, and cute doesn't cut it. She has lost privileges and learned the hard way that we mean business...and David and I are on the same team....always. Our team is also known as the winning team, the best team, the only team, and always having the home team advantage!
Life here is interesting...and fun...and exciting! We recently had David gone for 3 weeks. He had to do his duty after the hurricanes hit LA/TX. They gave him a chance to stay on for 60 days or 6 months more. Where as we would have enjoyed getting a pool with the money....it's better to have my sanity and no loss of life. I also don't think the 'Farm would pay for his divorce attorney!!
Will try to do better at blogging....in all my free time!!
All kids are doing good in school...the girls are learning English with great speed and impress us all the time! Not all of it is good stuff...but that will make them well-rounded!
Yana and Vita have spent quite a bit of time at the dentist's office. Jennifer has been a little more lucky on then end of things!! All the girls are excited about their first Halloween! I would have never thought about that....but boy are they stoked!
The girls are getting extra reading in school....which I think will help immensely! Yana just recently added a reading component to her class schedule. It took much pushing on my part to get her OUT of US History and into something she can understand, learn from, and succeed at. Sometimes it's hard for authority types to think outside the box and use common sense over policy and procedure!! Especially in a small, rural district where non English speakers are few and far between.....and more so that the English is the primary language in the home! We love to challenge our school district, help then broaden their horizons, and take advantage all the tax dollars we have invested!
Vita had an incident with a closed minded person.....he said to her and her Japanese friend, "go back where you came from bitches!" Her idea to respond was punch him in the face....and she didn't care about 3 days off from school! We talked about diversity and discussed the meaning of the words "redneck" and "fear of something new". I think she gets it and dismissed him. I also told her she can tell him, " if you think I'm a bitch, you should meet my mom". I think she faced enough stuff in UA that she understands that some people are just that way and we can't all like/be liked by everyone.
This Friday is homecoming and Vita is excited! Not sure if she will go to the dance since her friends are not going, but she will enjoy the game and atmosphere!
Yana has been catching on at home a little better with regard to respect, rules, and cute doesn't cut it. She has lost privileges and learned the hard way that we mean business...and David and I are on the same team....always. Our team is also known as the winning team, the best team, the only team, and always having the home team advantage!
Life here is interesting...and fun...and exciting! We recently had David gone for 3 weeks. He had to do his duty after the hurricanes hit LA/TX. They gave him a chance to stay on for 60 days or 6 months more. Where as we would have enjoyed getting a pool with the money....it's better to have my sanity and no loss of life. I also don't think the 'Farm would pay for his divorce attorney!!
Will try to do better at blogging....in all my free time!!
8/21/08
School has Started!!
Well... the first day of school went well...I didn't have to physically take anyone in, no one followed me out, and no one cried. Yana didn't eat lunch...I guess her "buddy" failed her on that. So when she got home: Momma, I hungry!! Three pork chops, pasta, and veggies later....she was happy...other than the part where I made her drink milk not coke. She tried school lunch today...and referred to it as "foo". Vita tried bbq rib sandwich...and she foo-ed it as well! Maybe carrying lunch is good!
They also went back to school today willingly!! Vita had words with a boy on the bus....I think he won't be mouthing her any more! The district has little experience with ESL...so it's an opportunity for them to learn and me to teach them....hahahaha!!!
The boys are doing great with school and happy to be back in the swing of things...they are in portable classrooms and both of their teachers are pregnant....should make for an interesting year!!
Levi starts school monday...and he's stoked! We went to open house tonite and he cried when we had to leave.
This time of year is draining on me...the paperwork, getting everyone organized, and getting our new schedule figured out. But I love every minute of it from the time I drag myself out of bed to the time I collapse from exhaustion at night......
They also went back to school today willingly!! Vita had words with a boy on the bus....I think he won't be mouthing her any more! The district has little experience with ESL...so it's an opportunity for them to learn and me to teach them....hahahaha!!!
The boys are doing great with school and happy to be back in the swing of things...they are in portable classrooms and both of their teachers are pregnant....should make for an interesting year!!
Levi starts school monday...and he's stoked! We went to open house tonite and he cried when we had to leave.
This time of year is draining on me...the paperwork, getting everyone organized, and getting our new schedule figured out. But I love every minute of it from the time I drag myself out of bed to the time I collapse from exhaustion at night......
8/17/08
Time Flies!
The kids are all getting ready to start school this week...and boy am I excited!!!!
The boys are ready...no complaints. Vita....go with the flow. Yana....scared, defiant, but will be fine. I think the girls will be surprised at how many people WANT to help them and will take an interest in them. Just in case...I'll be close by on the first day and our friend Oksana has offered to go with Yana on her second day. Jennifer is also ready to go to school...she is a little anxious, but knows that it will be fine once she starts. Anxiety is a horrible thing and no amount of talking will convince the girls that it really is going to be ok...and they will not die from school!!
It amazes me at how Yana has just made herself at home. I think Vita having been here and being so comfortable has helped. I am pleasantly surprised at how well things are going!!
More later.....after the first day of school!!
The boys are ready...no complaints. Vita....go with the flow. Yana....scared, defiant, but will be fine. I think the girls will be surprised at how many people WANT to help them and will take an interest in them. Just in case...I'll be close by on the first day and our friend Oksana has offered to go with Yana on her second day. Jennifer is also ready to go to school...she is a little anxious, but knows that it will be fine once she starts. Anxiety is a horrible thing and no amount of talking will convince the girls that it really is going to be ok...and they will not die from school!!
It amazes me at how Yana has just made herself at home. I think Vita having been here and being so comfortable has helped. I am pleasantly surprised at how well things are going!!
More later.....after the first day of school!!
8/9/08
Wild first week!!
Well...our welcome home dinner was interupted by me, Jakob, and PopPop going to the urgent care for Jakob to get stitches. I think I took it worse than Jakob...no tears were shed and he complained little about the pain..mostly about having to be still!
The girls have shopped...and shopped....and shopped. Vita and Yana got their cartilage pierced. All girls got their haircut....they asked for a cut they found in a book...but then told her to not cut their bangs or take off any length! The hairdresser did a great job and the girls complaints were shortlived.
Yana has been insistant that she is in the 9th grade....until we went to the high school and she saw how BIG it is. Then she was near tears telling us how she wants to be in 8th grade! We think 8th grade will be best for her...so she figured it out on her own! Vita and Jennifer were put off by the chipping paint on the lockers at the high school....I think they were expecting to see the school from High School Musical and Troy walking down the hall dancing and singing to the music being pumped out thru the stereo system installed in the school! Vita said she wants to go to a different high school. Our response: not an option. This is your high school. We told her that the more people there are, the more friends you will have. They will be fine after a week when the shock wears off. Just visiting the schools helped tremendously.
Monday Jennifer is going to New Jersey to stay with her former host family. She seems super excited and very anxious to be going. She has Ukrainian friends out there who have been adopted and will hopefully have a good time.
Today we are all going to White Water and taking Vita's bffl Jessica. Should be a good time....they girls will need tons of sunscreen on their faces...they got a little pink yesterday!
So long from our busy home!!!!
The girls have shopped...and shopped....and shopped. Vita and Yana got their cartilage pierced. All girls got their haircut....they asked for a cut they found in a book...but then told her to not cut their bangs or take off any length! The hairdresser did a great job and the girls complaints were shortlived.
Yana has been insistant that she is in the 9th grade....until we went to the high school and she saw how BIG it is. Then she was near tears telling us how she wants to be in 8th grade! We think 8th grade will be best for her...so she figured it out on her own! Vita and Jennifer were put off by the chipping paint on the lockers at the high school....I think they were expecting to see the school from High School Musical and Troy walking down the hall dancing and singing to the music being pumped out thru the stereo system installed in the school! Vita said she wants to go to a different high school. Our response: not an option. This is your high school. We told her that the more people there are, the more friends you will have. They will be fine after a week when the shock wears off. Just visiting the schools helped tremendously.
Monday Jennifer is going to New Jersey to stay with her former host family. She seems super excited and very anxious to be going. She has Ukrainian friends out there who have been adopted and will hopefully have a good time.
Today we are all going to White Water and taking Vita's bffl Jessica. Should be a good time....they girls will need tons of sunscreen on their faces...they got a little pink yesterday!
So long from our busy home!!!!
8/3/08
They are HOME!!
Everyone is home....safe and sound and tucked in bed.
So a funny story....Lucas Grabeel (Ryan from High School Musical) is from Springfield...and he came in on a flight right after the girls. No one was willing to go talk to him....but I took our 6 yr old over to him. We were going to get a picture....but he thought the crowd of 50+ was for HIM!!! I didn't realize that at first....but he said, "can we do the picture outside after I get my bags? I see there's a crowd gathering"
I wonder if he's still standing outside waiting at the airport....
Good times ahead...hope to keep blogging in all my free time!
So a funny story....Lucas Grabeel (Ryan from High School Musical) is from Springfield...and he came in on a flight right after the girls. No one was willing to go talk to him....but I took our 6 yr old over to him. We were going to get a picture....but he thought the crowd of 50+ was for HIM!!! I didn't realize that at first....but he said, "can we do the picture outside after I get my bags? I see there's a crowd gathering"
I wonder if he's still standing outside waiting at the airport....
Good times ahead...hope to keep blogging in all my free time!
I know they got on a plane in London....
Oddly, I could call any time when David was in Ukraine/London...but now that he's (hopefully) in Chicago....I can't call him!!
This has been such a long roller coaster ride of an ordeal....that it almost seems unreal that it's FINALLY going to be over (the adoption, that is....and life as we knew it!!!)
I think we are ready...or as ready as we can be!!
Will blog once everyone is safe and sound at home!
This has been such a long roller coaster ride of an ordeal....that it almost seems unreal that it's FINALLY going to be over (the adoption, that is....and life as we knew it!!!)
I think we are ready...or as ready as we can be!!
Will blog once everyone is safe and sound at home!
8/1/08
Life is FINALLY Good!!
Plan A: Embassy appointment, p/u visas at 3, leave tomorrow for london, leave london sunday to come home
Plan B: The visas were ready in THIRTY MINUTES!!! Get flights out of Ukraine today for London, get home saturday night.
Plan C: no seats on Saturday to Chicago from London. Stay two nights in London and have some fun!!
Plan D: Girls can't stay in London more than 24 hours without a visa. So slow down and see Plan A.
The things my husband does while I'm asleep!!!
The people at the embassy are superheros in my eyes.
I hope Monique and co. have the same good luck! If you are on British Airways tomorrow....look for a frazzled balding/grayish haired guy with three teenage daughters!!!
Plan B: The visas were ready in THIRTY MINUTES!!! Get flights out of Ukraine today for London, get home saturday night.
Plan C: no seats on Saturday to Chicago from London. Stay two nights in London and have some fun!!
Plan D: Girls can't stay in London more than 24 hours without a visa. So slow down and see Plan A.
The things my husband does while I'm asleep!!!
The people at the embassy are superheros in my eyes.
I hope Monique and co. have the same good luck! If you are on British Airways tomorrow....look for a frazzled balding/grayish haired guy with three teenage daughters!!!
7/31/08
Baby Steps....
Today was a great day! Physicals were completed, fingerprints done, and an appointment for 10am friday at our embassy! The embassy said there should be no problem getting the visas by 3pm. The way our luck runs....there will be a bomb threat and the embassy will close down until monday!
Sunday night....Aug 3....8pm....Springfield Airport.....Welcome HOME!!!
Sunday night....Aug 3....8pm....Springfield Airport.....Welcome HOME!!!
7/30/08
Waking Up From A Nightmare!
So my morning started with a phone call to David that was 30 secs long and consisted of: we are chasing papers, might not make it home this weekend, call me in two hours. My thoughts: here we go again/still...
Then on my way to work I saw someone having a worse day than me (vegetarians....please skip this paragraph) They process a lot of turkeys where we live. Well, there was a little mishap this morning at a busy intersection during drive time that involved a truck load of turkeys. I am thinking someone lost their job today for not securing the turkey cages...resulting in two huge mounds of dead turkeys on the side of the road. And there still more turkeys in cages that appeared to be lifeless from my rubbernecking point of view. It was sad...yet I laughed at the sight of feathers and turkeys all over the place. By the time I came home six hours later, they had cleaned up the turkey piles...but left a mess of feathers. Good thing, as it was in the mid 90's today.
After fretting and making phone calls and waiting for my two hours to be up before I could call David...I was FINALLY able to get a call thru. My AMAZING husband and BEAUTIFUL daughters are leaving Odessa and heading for Kyiv!! As I type this, they are sleeping and will wake up in a few hours to go get physicals!!! And friday to get visas!!! And saturday....first leg of coming home!!! And Sunday they will cross the pond and FINALLY be home!!
Since all of our kids have dentist appointments scheduled next week...there may be a few wishing to be back in Ukraine!!
Thanks to all of you for supporting us, following our journey (which isn't over until we lay eyes on them!!), and for prayers.
I will give updates as the trip wraps up...hopefull all positive and turkey free!
Then on my way to work I saw someone having a worse day than me (vegetarians....please skip this paragraph) They process a lot of turkeys where we live. Well, there was a little mishap this morning at a busy intersection during drive time that involved a truck load of turkeys. I am thinking someone lost their job today for not securing the turkey cages...resulting in two huge mounds of dead turkeys on the side of the road. And there still more turkeys in cages that appeared to be lifeless from my rubbernecking point of view. It was sad...yet I laughed at the sight of feathers and turkeys all over the place. By the time I came home six hours later, they had cleaned up the turkey piles...but left a mess of feathers. Good thing, as it was in the mid 90's today.
After fretting and making phone calls and waiting for my two hours to be up before I could call David...I was FINALLY able to get a call thru. My AMAZING husband and BEAUTIFUL daughters are leaving Odessa and heading for Kyiv!! As I type this, they are sleeping and will wake up in a few hours to go get physicals!!! And friday to get visas!!! And saturday....first leg of coming home!!! And Sunday they will cross the pond and FINALLY be home!!
Since all of our kids have dentist appointments scheduled next week...there may be a few wishing to be back in Ukraine!!
Thanks to all of you for supporting us, following our journey (which isn't over until we lay eyes on them!!), and for prayers.
I will give updates as the trip wraps up...hopefull all positive and turkey free!
7/29/08
It's Been Awhile!!
WOW!! I just saw that it has been awhile since we blogged!
So here's the skinny......
They got almost done today...tomorrow will be the passport hopefully and home sunday night. I'm sad about that...but happy.
David thinks it's a comical tragedy in Ukraine.....and it is in a way. They keep changing the rules from day to day with lists of things they need done. They went by Jen's apartment/room today....David refers to it as a fixer upper complex. It seems to be an efficiency unit with a common bathroom to share. Maybe it can be sold to pay for college!
So....here we are. They accomplished some stuff today, but didn't get Jen officially signed out. Of course, that office doesn't see the public on tuesdays! You have to laugh...knowing it didn't matter what day they were there...the office wouldn't see the public on that day! They stalked around the building for awhile to see if they could find someone willing to talk with them as there were people there working, but had no luck.
We will all be glad to wake up from this nightmare. The girls have all gotten "closure" and are anxious to come home...so that has been a blessing of the length of the trip. Hopefully that will help with their transition.
At this rate, I hope the kids make it home for the first day of school!!
The later date will work out best to allow David's parents to be here for the homecoming.
Thanks again for prayers and support. They layed David's grandfather to rest yesterday and he is finally where he has wanted to be for the past four years...with his wife.
So here's the skinny......
They got almost done today...tomorrow will be the passport hopefully and home sunday night. I'm sad about that...but happy.
David thinks it's a comical tragedy in Ukraine.....and it is in a way. They keep changing the rules from day to day with lists of things they need done. They went by Jen's apartment/room today....David refers to it as a fixer upper complex. It seems to be an efficiency unit with a common bathroom to share. Maybe it can be sold to pay for college!
So....here we are. They accomplished some stuff today, but didn't get Jen officially signed out. Of course, that office doesn't see the public on tuesdays! You have to laugh...knowing it didn't matter what day they were there...the office wouldn't see the public on that day! They stalked around the building for awhile to see if they could find someone willing to talk with them as there were people there working, but had no luck.
We will all be glad to wake up from this nightmare. The girls have all gotten "closure" and are anxious to come home...so that has been a blessing of the length of the trip. Hopefully that will help with their transition.
At this rate, I hope the kids make it home for the first day of school!!
The later date will work out best to allow David's parents to be here for the homecoming.
Thanks again for prayers and support. They layed David's grandfather to rest yesterday and he is finally where he has wanted to be for the past four years...with his wife.
7/25/08
A Little Blog from David
Not much going on…
After a day of much activity Wednesday, we are currently in a holding pattern. We did get news today that we have a meeting with the apartment people Monday morning. Our translator is optimistic that we will be able to get things resolved Monday and finish up our paperwork so we can head to Kiev.****
Yesterday Yana and Jennifer went out with some friends to the park for the afternoon. Yesterday evening Vita, Yana, Yana’s sister and I went downtown for Pizza. We had a good time and the food was good. We did have one funny story about the meal. I paid the bill and was expecting some change. We waited for about 10 minutes and the waiter never came back. Vita then said Yana, her sister and Vita all said Thank you, so he probably assumed I did not need change. You would think he would wait for my thank you since I was the one paying the bill. It was not much more than I would have given him anyway so we did not make a big deal out of it.****
Today was much of the same. Yana and Jennifer went to Jennifer’s aunt’s house to pack up some of her things to take home with us. She apparently has been storing a lot of her items there. They came back with 3 bags of clothes and a big box of misc. She told me that she was giving most of the clothes to her best friend, Luda.****
Tonight we all went to the mall for dinner and then grocery shopping.****
Tomorrow we plan to get together with our friends from Frontier Horizons. We are not exactly sure what we are going to do. We plan on meeting them at 1:00 and decide what to do from there. It appears it will either be a trip to the Aqua Park or the Amusement park.****
On a sad note, my parents and sister left today for Pennsylvania to lay my Grandfather to rest. He was 91 years old and had a long and eventful life. He personally has been ready to leave this earth ever since his wife died in 2004, but God choose to keep him here a little longer. We are all thankful for the time we, especially my kids, got to spend with him during the last few years of his life. It is hard to say good bye, but we have comfort that he is in a better place.****
Thank you all for your prayers of support during this adventure. With any luck we will be heading home next week.
(with any GOOD luck!)
After a day of much activity Wednesday, we are currently in a holding pattern. We did get news today that we have a meeting with the apartment people Monday morning. Our translator is optimistic that we will be able to get things resolved Monday and finish up our paperwork so we can head to Kiev.****
Yesterday Yana and Jennifer went out with some friends to the park for the afternoon. Yesterday evening Vita, Yana, Yana’s sister and I went downtown for Pizza. We had a good time and the food was good. We did have one funny story about the meal. I paid the bill and was expecting some change. We waited for about 10 minutes and the waiter never came back. Vita then said Yana, her sister and Vita all said Thank you, so he probably assumed I did not need change. You would think he would wait for my thank you since I was the one paying the bill. It was not much more than I would have given him anyway so we did not make a big deal out of it.****
Today was much of the same. Yana and Jennifer went to Jennifer’s aunt’s house to pack up some of her things to take home with us. She apparently has been storing a lot of her items there. They came back with 3 bags of clothes and a big box of misc. She told me that she was giving most of the clothes to her best friend, Luda.****
Tonight we all went to the mall for dinner and then grocery shopping.****
Tomorrow we plan to get together with our friends from Frontier Horizons. We are not exactly sure what we are going to do. We plan on meeting them at 1:00 and decide what to do from there. It appears it will either be a trip to the Aqua Park or the Amusement park.****
On a sad note, my parents and sister left today for Pennsylvania to lay my Grandfather to rest. He was 91 years old and had a long and eventful life. He personally has been ready to leave this earth ever since his wife died in 2004, but God choose to keep him here a little longer. We are all thankful for the time we, especially my kids, got to spend with him during the last few years of his life. It is hard to say good bye, but we have comfort that he is in a better place.****
Thank you all for your prayers of support during this adventure. With any luck we will be heading home next week.
(with any GOOD luck!)
7/23/08
Two down, one to go!
Well, as of today, we have passports in the works for Vita and Yana! Still dealing with getting Jennifer's apartment issue resolved. The lady who said she would have Jen's stuff ready Monday (as in two days ago Monday) is now all but calling the police (she already called security). So.....here we are! I guess there are FIVE people who need to sign off on the paperwork and this lady is the only one left. Seems there is a lot of chaos and bad feelings in this office due to a scandal a few years ago. Something about using vacant orphan apartments for extramarital adventures..... Sounds like some Realtors in our country...talk about staging a home!
Our translator came in today and kicked butt...and now there are no butts available until next Tuesday, so she can go home to see her family...which helps her stress level.
So for now, the welcome home party is on hold...and I could use a good party! The good part of a delayed return is that hopefully David's family will be back from Pennsylvania to meet the girls when they get off the plane. And that makes it worth a few more days in Ukraine because David's family deserves that day too!
Again, we appreciate all the prayers and notes of support. Also, thanks for all of the kind words regarding the death of David's grandfather.
Our translator came in today and kicked butt...and now there are no butts available until next Tuesday, so she can go home to see her family...which helps her stress level.
So for now, the welcome home party is on hold...and I could use a good party! The good part of a delayed return is that hopefully David's family will be back from Pennsylvania to meet the girls when they get off the plane. And that makes it worth a few more days in Ukraine because David's family deserves that day too!
Again, we appreciate all the prayers and notes of support. Also, thanks for all of the kind words regarding the death of David's grandfather.
7/22/08
Progress?
Not sure if progress was made in Odessa today. I'm hoping so. I think David is done asking because the process is so complex and fluid that the answer won't mean anything, so why ask.
On a sad note, David's grandfather passed away this afternoon to add stress to our already stressful state. Please keep David and all of our family in your prayers as we face the days ahead.
I don't know about anyone else...but I sure could use some good news at this point.
On a sad note, David's grandfather passed away this afternoon to add stress to our already stressful state. Please keep David and all of our family in your prayers as we face the days ahead.
I don't know about anyone else...but I sure could use some good news at this point.
7/21/08
Frustration
No good news. Won't report bad news....now.
Sent David job openings at embassy as he might want to get a job to pass the time while nothing gets done.
End of our rope...coming soon to a blog near you....
Sent David job openings at embassy as he might want to get a job to pass the time while nothing gets done.
End of our rope...coming soon to a blog near you....
7/20/08
Hopefully the last sunday blog from Ukraine....
It has been a while since I entered a blog so I will take a few minutes now and do it.***
It is currently Sunday here in Odessa. We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Yesterday the girls went to camp to say goodbye to one of their friends. She is going to another city for the next 10 days and they wanted to get her a present for her birthday and say goodbye since I certainly hope we are not here in 10 days.***
I spent the day by myself so I decided to venture out on my own instead of staying in the apartment all day. I have been downtown numerous times and think I have some of the bus lines figured out. I was successful in getting down there and getting back home without much problem. Since I am not exactly sure where busses go I ended up walking about 4 miles more than I needed, but I guess that is not a bad thing. While I was downtown there was a band playing in the main square. There were lots of people and I sat and watched for an hour or so. After that I stopped at the local Irish Pub as it is one place I am sure I can always here English speaking people. I was correct as there were 3 or 4 tables full of them. After that I headed back to the apartment where the girls had already made it home.****
Today was much of the same. Jennifer went with her boyfriend to see her boyfriend's Grandmother. She apparently had not seen her before. Yana and I went to the grocery story again to stock up on essential snack food. Vita hung around the apartment in her PJ’s. This afternoon Yana and Jennifer went with her boyfriend for a walk and Vita and I went downtown to take in the Opera that we have been talking about. We were unable to do so last Wednesday since we had a late day of paperwork.****
When we got downtown we went to the Opera house and discovered they are not open again until August 7th. We were pretty bummed out as it was something we were looking forward too. Again, I certain hope I am not around when they open again. Vita was a good sport and said maybe next time we are in Odessa. Yes, maybe next time…. *****
After that we went to the park where there always seems to be a band playing. I sat there and listened while Vita had her Picture drawn. The artist did a very good job. Vita was pleased.***
This square is pretty amazing. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people around listening and watching. There were about 5-6 couples dancing to the music and they even played a little Scott Joplin. After this we ate and Mario’s Pizza and purchased some writing items for Vita. We made it home around 9 this evening.****
A little bit about this week. As Angie has posted, our Translator had to go back home so we are without her. Jennifer’s Aunt is going to help with the papers this week. If all goes well, we should have the referrals to get the girls out of their residence tomorrow, get their actual release on Tuesday and get passports Wednesday. We hope to be heading for Kiev on Wednesday night. In Kiev we hope to get medical stuff done and visa by Friday. If all goes well, we might be heading home Saturday. There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.***
Thanks for all the prayers that you have been sending out way. I was talking with Vita today at dinner and she is ready to come home. I think the other girls are ready too.****
(the rest of us in MO are ready for them to come home too!!)
It is currently Sunday here in Odessa. We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Yesterday the girls went to camp to say goodbye to one of their friends. She is going to another city for the next 10 days and they wanted to get her a present for her birthday and say goodbye since I certainly hope we are not here in 10 days.***
I spent the day by myself so I decided to venture out on my own instead of staying in the apartment all day. I have been downtown numerous times and think I have some of the bus lines figured out. I was successful in getting down there and getting back home without much problem. Since I am not exactly sure where busses go I ended up walking about 4 miles more than I needed, but I guess that is not a bad thing. While I was downtown there was a band playing in the main square. There were lots of people and I sat and watched for an hour or so. After that I stopped at the local Irish Pub as it is one place I am sure I can always here English speaking people. I was correct as there were 3 or 4 tables full of them. After that I headed back to the apartment where the girls had already made it home.****
Today was much of the same. Jennifer went with her boyfriend to see her boyfriend's Grandmother. She apparently had not seen her before. Yana and I went to the grocery story again to stock up on essential snack food. Vita hung around the apartment in her PJ’s. This afternoon Yana and Jennifer went with her boyfriend for a walk and Vita and I went downtown to take in the Opera that we have been talking about. We were unable to do so last Wednesday since we had a late day of paperwork.****
When we got downtown we went to the Opera house and discovered they are not open again until August 7th. We were pretty bummed out as it was something we were looking forward too. Again, I certain hope I am not around when they open again. Vita was a good sport and said maybe next time we are in Odessa. Yes, maybe next time…. *****
After that we went to the park where there always seems to be a band playing. I sat there and listened while Vita had her Picture drawn. The artist did a very good job. Vita was pleased.***
This square is pretty amazing. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people around listening and watching. There were about 5-6 couples dancing to the music and they even played a little Scott Joplin. After this we ate and Mario’s Pizza and purchased some writing items for Vita. We made it home around 9 this evening.****
A little bit about this week. As Angie has posted, our Translator had to go back home so we are without her. Jennifer’s Aunt is going to help with the papers this week. If all goes well, we should have the referrals to get the girls out of their residence tomorrow, get their actual release on Tuesday and get passports Wednesday. We hope to be heading for Kiev on Wednesday night. In Kiev we hope to get medical stuff done and visa by Friday. If all goes well, we might be heading home Saturday. There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.***
Thanks for all the prayers that you have been sending out way. I was talking with Vita today at dinner and she is ready to come home. I think the other girls are ready too.****
(the rest of us in MO are ready for them to come home too!!)
7/19/08
In All Fairness....
OK...so I have been giving much earned credit to the Ukrainian government here of late. Now, I must give some time to the US government.
On the day David left for Ukraine for the second trip, I received our official I171H from the Dept of Homeland Security/US Citizenship and Immigration Services approving us for the adoption of three children. We had already rec'd a phone call while in Ukraine. THEN today....I get a letter from DHS/USCIS informing me that cannot address our inquiry requesting to increase the number of children approved for adoption until they receive additional documentation from us.
How's that for efficiency??
Edit:
What if David is requesting a number greater than three and he's now been found out???? OMG
On the day David left for Ukraine for the second trip, I received our official I171H from the Dept of Homeland Security/US Citizenship and Immigration Services approving us for the adoption of three children. We had already rec'd a phone call while in Ukraine. THEN today....I get a letter from DHS/USCIS informing me that cannot address our inquiry requesting to increase the number of children approved for adoption until they receive additional documentation from us.
How's that for efficiency??
Edit:
What if David is requesting a number greater than three and he's now been found out???? OMG
David's (edited) email..
Internet is still not working at the apartment. Not sure if it is a computer issue or provider issue. Had the girls bring me to the Internet cafe down the road. Will try to get here every day if I can't get ours working. The girls are off to the camp.
Vita's friend Ira is leaving tomorrow for 10 days so this will be the last chance for her to see her. Her birthday is tomorrow as well so they wanted to get her something.
I feel pretty good with where we are at on paperwork. We will see once Monday gets here and Oksana takes over.
Nice day here today, but since I am on my own I am not sure what to do. I may try to venture downtown and hang out this afternoon. I think I can find my way down there (and hopefully back to the apartment). I can probably find some English speaking people down there.
The girls are on a crazy eating schedule. They get up at 10, eat lunch, at 3-4 and then eat dinner at 9-10. Everything seems to run late here. Their current schedule should help them adjust to Missouri time.
Jennifer seems to be the cook in the group. She said she enjoys it. She made a good meal yesterday of fried potatoes, crab and corn salad, and tomato and cucumber salad. The Crab and corn salad was excellent. We had left overs last night. They love those little crab sticks. They eat them like candy. I think that is half of my food expense. They would love Hemingway's, but I think we might be a little embarrassed by how much they would eat. Maybe we could sit at a separate table...
Things are sounding good from a Missouri perspective...we are ready for the other half of our family to come home and enjoy what's left of summer before school starts.
Vita's friend Ira is leaving tomorrow for 10 days so this will be the last chance for her to see her. Her birthday is tomorrow as well so they wanted to get her something.
I feel pretty good with where we are at on paperwork. We will see once Monday gets here and Oksana takes over.
Nice day here today, but since I am on my own I am not sure what to do. I may try to venture downtown and hang out this afternoon. I think I can find my way down there (and hopefully back to the apartment). I can probably find some English speaking people down there.
The girls are on a crazy eating schedule. They get up at 10, eat lunch, at 3-4 and then eat dinner at 9-10. Everything seems to run late here. Their current schedule should help them adjust to Missouri time.
Jennifer seems to be the cook in the group. She said she enjoys it. She made a good meal yesterday of fried potatoes, crab and corn salad, and tomato and cucumber salad. The Crab and corn salad was excellent. We had left overs last night. They love those little crab sticks. They eat them like candy. I think that is half of my food expense. They would love Hemingway's, but I think we might be a little embarrassed by how much they would eat. Maybe we could sit at a separate table...
Things are sounding good from a Missouri perspective...we are ready for the other half of our family to come home and enjoy what's left of summer before school starts.
7/18/08
Freaky Friday
Things are looking better after today. Our translator will be gone next week...and Oksana (Jennifer's aunt) will take care of David (for a fee) with Vita as translator (hope Vita doesn't charge David!!). Nice.
I talked to the girls earlier while David was gone and they said everything was good except they needed money for a movie. I asked David if he left any money at the apartment that they could grab to go get a movie and he said he can't leave money in the apartment because they will spend it. Yup..they are teenage girls!
I changed flights for 7/26....getting them home the 27th...but I wouldn't make plans based on that! When I called British Airways, they said they didn't have the girls in the system as ticketed....I can't even imagine David's response if he had gone to the airport this saturday to check in and was told that the girls weren't booked. ugh. So that is taken care of at least! That could have very well saved someone's life!!
Barring any problems monday (hoping against hope here!!) they will be able to finish up tues/wed in Odessa and head back to civilization in Kyiv to wrap things up and FINALLY head home!!!
Some day....a long time from now...we will look back on this and laugh...or at least giggle...maybe just sigh with relief......
I talked to the girls earlier while David was gone and they said everything was good except they needed money for a movie. I asked David if he left any money at the apartment that they could grab to go get a movie and he said he can't leave money in the apartment because they will spend it. Yup..they are teenage girls!
I changed flights for 7/26....getting them home the 27th...but I wouldn't make plans based on that! When I called British Airways, they said they didn't have the girls in the system as ticketed....I can't even imagine David's response if he had gone to the airport this saturday to check in and was told that the girls weren't booked. ugh. So that is taken care of at least! That could have very well saved someone's life!!
Barring any problems monday (hoping against hope here!!) they will be able to finish up tues/wed in Odessa and head back to civilization in Kyiv to wrap things up and FINALLY head home!!!
Some day....a long time from now...we will look back on this and laugh...or at least giggle...maybe just sigh with relief......
7/17/08
It's More Fun to Blog When Things are Good
OK...so our translator has plans next week, that don't include working on our adoption. However, she found someone to help....for $1000. Hmmm....didn't we already pay for someone to help us with our adoption?? Wasn't aware that it included paid vacations.
Still working on getting the apartment situations taken care of....that is our brick wall keeping us from getting the passports. I think that we need to get the apartments taken care of to get the girls signed out to get the passports to get the physicals to get the visas to get them the hell out of Ukraine. David, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on the chain of events leading up to the homecoming. A miracle would get them home next weekend.....I'm just hoping they are home to start school August 20th. On the bright side, things seem more promising than what another family is going through with property issues there now.
Good news....David has physical and legal custody of our girls. Unfortunately, he may need to become an expat and get Ukrainian citizenship so he can live there with the girls since they can't seem to escape, lol!! Vita's stuff is actually all cleared up and could be home in a few business days. But...David needs her to be his translator!
Is that a light at the end of the tunnel??? Oh, it's just a train.......
Still working on getting the apartment situations taken care of....that is our brick wall keeping us from getting the passports. I think that we need to get the apartments taken care of to get the girls signed out to get the passports to get the physicals to get the visas to get them the hell out of Ukraine. David, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on the chain of events leading up to the homecoming. A miracle would get them home next weekend.....I'm just hoping they are home to start school August 20th. On the bright side, things seem more promising than what another family is going through with property issues there now.
Good news....David has physical and legal custody of our girls. Unfortunately, he may need to become an expat and get Ukrainian citizenship so he can live there with the girls since they can't seem to escape, lol!! Vita's stuff is actually all cleared up and could be home in a few business days. But...David needs her to be his translator!
Is that a light at the end of the tunnel??? Oh, it's just a train.......
7/16/08
Helpless.....
Things in Ukraine are complicated, not exactly good, and can't end soon enough. Many people need a lot of prayers, grace, patience, kindness, and a hug. "Hugs not hundreds" is my suggestion for a new slogan for Ukraine...to replace the current slogan, "We'll take all your cash from all of your orifices!"
I want to be there with David and the girls....but then again, I'm glad I'm not. Holding my tongue and patience are not even in the top 50 of my attributes...and I'm sure I don't want to see the inside of a Ukrainian prison.
Praying in Battlefield......
I want to be there with David and the girls....but then again, I'm glad I'm not. Holding my tongue and patience are not even in the top 50 of my attributes...and I'm sure I don't want to see the inside of a Ukrainian prison.
Praying in Battlefield......
7/15/08
Finally Some Work Getting Done!!!!
I can sum up today in one word….Busy.***
Our translator, Lena got into Odessa this morning about 7:30. We started our day at the first birth certificate office at 9. This was a good sign as they normally do not open until 10. This was the office that messed up everything last Friday so I think they were trying to make up for it. And we did not have to negotiate for anything. We were finished the first birth certificate by 10 am and were off to the second one. We arrived there by 9:30 and gave them our papers. They did not do the birth certificate on the spot, but after negotiating, they said we could pick it up in the afternoon. While we were in the same area, we went by the passport office to discuss getting the passports for the three girls. When I say we discussed, that means I wait outside while Lena talks with the officials. We think we will be able to get the passports in one day once we finish all the other paperwork. This is great news as it can sometimes take a week in this region to get passports.***
From the passport office we went to the third birth certificate office. We were able to negotiate with them to have the last birth certificate at 2 pm. Everything is going very well at this time. After that office we went to both inspectors’ offices and one of the orphanages to drop off the court decree and pick up some other documents. It appears this region requires some paper work to be completed by the orphanage to release the girls to my custody. This was the first snag of the day. Since one of the directors was not available, this will have to wait until Wednesday morning. This means no girls tonight. I made Lena call the girls as I all but promised they would be coming to the apartment. Needless to say this was not taken well.***
From there we had to go back to two of the birth certificate offices. We finally had all three new birth certificates in our possession. This is where our second snag of the day came in. It appears that someone has to sign the girls out of their official residence. In most communist and now former communist countries you are required to register your residence. Yana and Jennifer are registered, but Vita is not. So, we have to get Vita registered so that someone can sign her out……if you understand that you are smarter than me. We went to that office and picked up the paperwork to start that process.***
We then went to the Regional office to have the birth certificates legalized. I asked Lena what this was about and it is basically getting a stamp saying that the person that signed the document is able to do so. Then we have to get another stamp to say that the person that did the first stamp was able to do so. Seems a little redundant, but for every stamp there are multiple jobs and a price.****
By the time we made it to the Regional office it was 5 pm and we had not eaten anything. Now I know how my Dad feels when he is working with me and I do not stop for lunch. We had juice and a muffin at the office to hold us over.****
We called the girls to see if they wanted to eat dinner with us and of course they did. We picked them up at 6:30 and ate at the mall close to the Camp. We had a good dinner and then did a little shopping. These girls go through shoes like you would not believe.****
We took the girls back to camp and made it into the apartment close to 11 this evening.****
It was a very productive day for us. The two snags that we hit should not take long to correct with a little negotiating.***
Tomorrow we will get the orphanage approvals and should have the girls for good by lunch time. Tomorrow night Vita and I are going to the Opera. The other girls have already been to the Odessa Opera house, which is quite famous, and they are not interested in going. No reason to push the issue if they would not enjoy it. Vita and I are very much looking forward to it.****
Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. They are very much appreciated.
Our translator, Lena got into Odessa this morning about 7:30. We started our day at the first birth certificate office at 9. This was a good sign as they normally do not open until 10. This was the office that messed up everything last Friday so I think they were trying to make up for it. And we did not have to negotiate for anything. We were finished the first birth certificate by 10 am and were off to the second one. We arrived there by 9:30 and gave them our papers. They did not do the birth certificate on the spot, but after negotiating, they said we could pick it up in the afternoon. While we were in the same area, we went by the passport office to discuss getting the passports for the three girls. When I say we discussed, that means I wait outside while Lena talks with the officials. We think we will be able to get the passports in one day once we finish all the other paperwork. This is great news as it can sometimes take a week in this region to get passports.***
From the passport office we went to the third birth certificate office. We were able to negotiate with them to have the last birth certificate at 2 pm. Everything is going very well at this time. After that office we went to both inspectors’ offices and one of the orphanages to drop off the court decree and pick up some other documents. It appears this region requires some paper work to be completed by the orphanage to release the girls to my custody. This was the first snag of the day. Since one of the directors was not available, this will have to wait until Wednesday morning. This means no girls tonight. I made Lena call the girls as I all but promised they would be coming to the apartment. Needless to say this was not taken well.***
From there we had to go back to two of the birth certificate offices. We finally had all three new birth certificates in our possession. This is where our second snag of the day came in. It appears that someone has to sign the girls out of their official residence. In most communist and now former communist countries you are required to register your residence. Yana and Jennifer are registered, but Vita is not. So, we have to get Vita registered so that someone can sign her out……if you understand that you are smarter than me. We went to that office and picked up the paperwork to start that process.***
We then went to the Regional office to have the birth certificates legalized. I asked Lena what this was about and it is basically getting a stamp saying that the person that signed the document is able to do so. Then we have to get another stamp to say that the person that did the first stamp was able to do so. Seems a little redundant, but for every stamp there are multiple jobs and a price.****
By the time we made it to the Regional office it was 5 pm and we had not eaten anything. Now I know how my Dad feels when he is working with me and I do not stop for lunch. We had juice and a muffin at the office to hold us over.****
We called the girls to see if they wanted to eat dinner with us and of course they did. We picked them up at 6:30 and ate at the mall close to the Camp. We had a good dinner and then did a little shopping. These girls go through shoes like you would not believe.****
We took the girls back to camp and made it into the apartment close to 11 this evening.****
It was a very productive day for us. The two snags that we hit should not take long to correct with a little negotiating.***
Tomorrow we will get the orphanage approvals and should have the girls for good by lunch time. Tomorrow night Vita and I are going to the Opera. The other girls have already been to the Odessa Opera house, which is quite famous, and they are not interested in going. No reason to push the issue if they would not enjoy it. Vita and I are very much looking forward to it.****
Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. They are very much appreciated.
7/14/08
Monday in Odessa
I will try to do today’s blog a little different since the format of yesterday blog did not work out too well. I did not intend the blog to be one paragraph. (Angie's fault....cut/paste glommed it together....I was too lazy to fix)
I am currently sitting in a dark apartment. The electricity has gone off twice over the past hour. Not sure why. We did not have this problem when we were here last month. I am thankful for that as the boys would have freaked out. They are working in the apartment so I hope that is the cause and I am hopeful it will not last too long.
Today was pretty uneventful. The girls wanted me to pick them up at 11. I got there at 11 and Vita and Yana had decided to go the sea. They got to the camp around noon and we headed off to the movies. We took the three girls and some friends. Jennifer’s boyfriend whose name I am pretty sure is Lusha came with us, a friend of Jennifer's, Nastia and a friend of Vita's. We saw the new Will Smith movie, Hancock. Even in Russian I was not too impressed. Vita filled me in on some of the important parts of the movie so it made a little more sense after we left. I doubt I will spend money on a ticket when we get home. Popcorn was even average this time. But, I think the kids enjoyed the time with their friends.
After the movie they kept asking me what are we going to do next and I told them it was up to them. We ended up doing bumper cars and eating at McDonalds again. After that there really was not much time to do anything and I could tell my girls were tired still from the water park so I took them back to the camp and I headed back to the apartment.
On the bus ride to the camp I was explaining to Jennifer what the schedule might look like this week and I told her that if things go well over the next couple days we might be leaving for Kiev on Thursday night. She seemed a little surprised by this and when she told Lusha I could tell he was upset. I think they finally understand that in a few days they will be parting ways. It is my understanding that they have been "dating" for 4 years so I am sure this will hard for them. Please pray for them as we prepare to leave.
We have a lot of paperwork to do this week and other people to see before we leave. We have to go to Jennifer’s Aunt and Uncle's house to get some of her clothes, Yana’s grandmother and sister want to see us again, Vita wants to take me to another lady that is like a babushka to her, cookie party for the groups that the girls are in and the Opera on Wednesday night. Seems like a lot to get done in a short amount of time.
It is hard to believe that I have been here for a week already. It seems like we have accomplished nothing in that time. I am thankful that I came last week. If I had come any later, the judge would have been on vacation until August and we most likely would have not been able to get the process taken care of until after he returned due to the multiple mistakes in the court decree.
Throughout this process Angie and I have felt the presence of God. We appreciate everyone’s prayers and thoughts. Keep them coming until we touchdown in Springfield.
(We love and miss you David and girls!!!-Angie and the boys)
I am currently sitting in a dark apartment. The electricity has gone off twice over the past hour. Not sure why. We did not have this problem when we were here last month. I am thankful for that as the boys would have freaked out. They are working in the apartment so I hope that is the cause and I am hopeful it will not last too long.
Today was pretty uneventful. The girls wanted me to pick them up at 11. I got there at 11 and Vita and Yana had decided to go the sea. They got to the camp around noon and we headed off to the movies. We took the three girls and some friends. Jennifer’s boyfriend whose name I am pretty sure is Lusha came with us, a friend of Jennifer's, Nastia and a friend of Vita's. We saw the new Will Smith movie, Hancock. Even in Russian I was not too impressed. Vita filled me in on some of the important parts of the movie so it made a little more sense after we left. I doubt I will spend money on a ticket when we get home. Popcorn was even average this time. But, I think the kids enjoyed the time with their friends.
After the movie they kept asking me what are we going to do next and I told them it was up to them. We ended up doing bumper cars and eating at McDonalds again. After that there really was not much time to do anything and I could tell my girls were tired still from the water park so I took them back to the camp and I headed back to the apartment.
On the bus ride to the camp I was explaining to Jennifer what the schedule might look like this week and I told her that if things go well over the next couple days we might be leaving for Kiev on Thursday night. She seemed a little surprised by this and when she told Lusha I could tell he was upset. I think they finally understand that in a few days they will be parting ways. It is my understanding that they have been "dating" for 4 years so I am sure this will hard for them. Please pray for them as we prepare to leave.
We have a lot of paperwork to do this week and other people to see before we leave. We have to go to Jennifer’s Aunt and Uncle's house to get some of her clothes, Yana’s grandmother and sister want to see us again, Vita wants to take me to another lady that is like a babushka to her, cookie party for the groups that the girls are in and the Opera on Wednesday night. Seems like a lot to get done in a short amount of time.
It is hard to believe that I have been here for a week already. It seems like we have accomplished nothing in that time. I am thankful that I came last week. If I had come any later, the judge would have been on vacation until August and we most likely would have not been able to get the process taken care of until after he returned due to the multiple mistakes in the court decree.
Throughout this process Angie and I have felt the presence of God. We appreciate everyone’s prayers and thoughts. Keep them coming until we touchdown in Springfield.
(We love and miss you David and girls!!!-Angie and the boys)
7/13/08
Second Hand Blog...
Well, it was another Ukrainian day here. As Angie posted in the last blog, I took 10 people to the water park today. We took Vita's friend Ira,Jennifer's friend Luda, Yana's friend Oksana, a brother and sister that a friend of ours knows, Alena and Maret, and one of the teachers at the summer camp,Marina. We also took Jennifer's boyfriend, but I cannot remember his name. I know that is pretty bad that a dad does not remember his daughter's boyfriend's name. Maybe I am in denial that I have a 15 yr old daughter that is dating. It all started out needing to get money exchanged. I know I should not have done this on a Sunday, especially knowing the amount that I was going to need. But I did , and we had to go to 6 different places to get the money. Some of those first places were open, but they refused to accept my $100 bills. They said they were too old. For future travelers I can not stress how important it is to have crisp, new looking, US dollars when you come. (seems as thought Mrs. Kellett mentioned this to Mr. Kellett in the past, but Mr. Kellett poo-pooed Mrs. Kellett......) I think the other thing that scared them away was the amount, so after the first denial we at least got smart and only did $100 at a time. We got to the place where the bus was suppose to pick people up, but there was no bus. We called the number on the brochure and we found out that the bus only picks up at 9 am. We were there at 10:30. Since we had 11 people it was not an easy taxi ride to the park since it is an hour away. So the girls started flagging down cars. (appears he is letting our daughters hitchhike!!) The first several would not take us since it was so far away. We finally found one that would take us for 150 grevna, about 30 US. So five people piled into that car and took off. The rest of us waited and finally found another car to take us. He wanted 200 grevna, but I was more interested in getting there than arguing about the price so we agreed. I think he was surprised that all six of us got into his little car. I was fortunate to ride in the front. We finally all made it to the water park about 11:30. We thought the price dropped at noon, but it actually did not go down until 2:00. So I paid full price to get us all in. This is not your typical Ukrainian attraction. This is very western, with very western prices. Total to get in was $30 each and they did not take credit/debit cards. By this time all the money that I had exchanged was gone so I needed some more. Fortunately one of the workers agreed to exchange some money for me after giving us the normal run around about my money being too old. I can not say enough about this water park. We were there for about 6 hours and the kids (and me) had a great time. There are 10 large water slides, a huge swimming pool and a giant kids area. I wish I would have known about this when the rest of the family was here. The three boys would have loved it. We had a good lunch at the park, fried chicken and french fries. We have a lot of pictures, but those will have to wait until I get home as the laptop is running too slow to upload anything. The park closes at 6 and this is when the bus leaves to go back to the drop off site. We needed our tickets to show that we were actually there all day,or you could not ride the bus home. Vita made it very clear to me that I needed to keep track of my ticket. Guess who lost her ticket....Vita!! She was scared that they were going to kick her off the bus, but fortunately they are not really organized on the bus when they check tickets. They came up one side first and then the other. This gave Ira enough time to pass her ticket to Vita so she could ride home with us. I told her it would have been a long walk. The bus ride was long and hot, just like all of them in Ukraine. We finally made it back to the drop off site at 7:15. Dinner at camp is at 7 so I treated the kids to McDonalds. It was the most I have ever spent at McDonalds in my life. I don't know how to get a McDonald's franchise, but if you are looking you need to consider a foreign country. The prices are higher than the US. They do not have a dollar menu and the lines are long anytime you go. They have to be the most profitable resturants McDonalds has operating. I finally sent them back to camp at 9 and made it into the apartment at 9:30 with about 3 dollars in my pocket. All in all it was a great day. I can't count the times they each told me thank you. I just wish that I had more money so I could have taken more of the kids with us. Maybe next time. Tomorrow appears to be a pretty low key day. The girls want to see a movie. The new Will Smith movie. I have read that it is not very good, but since it is in Russian it shouldn't matter to me. At least thepopcorn is good.
7/12/08
Saturday
Well, the good news is David didn't have any adoption issues today...I'm sure only because there was not attempts made to get anything done. He and Vita ran errands after some fun stuff at camp. There was a missionary there who was doing stuff with the kids...David enjoyed that and I think the kids did too!
The Ukrainism for the day: David and Vita went to the opera house to get tickets for wednesday for the two of them. Well, they pre sell tickets for every day BUT wednesday. Why? Because that's the day they wanted tickets!! lol. Poor David...I'm sure if they wanted to go tuesday there would be no presales for that day either!!
Tomorrow he's taking the girls to a water park. Well, it was him and the girls...then Yana asked if her best friend, Oksana, could go. Then Vita asked if her best friend, Ira, could go. Then Jennifer asked if her best friend, Luda could go....and her boyfriend. Then the camp director said the extra kids could only go if a camp counselor goes. And there are a few other kids that Carol added on for David!! lol!!! He doesn't care...he seems happy to be going and taking a crowd with him. I'm sure this crowd will be easier to handle than the birth certificate and court people!
New number for David if you want to call him: 011-380-507-22-8267
Thanks for the prayers....keep 'em coming!
The Ukrainism for the day: David and Vita went to the opera house to get tickets for wednesday for the two of them. Well, they pre sell tickets for every day BUT wednesday. Why? Because that's the day they wanted tickets!! lol. Poor David...I'm sure if they wanted to go tuesday there would be no presales for that day either!!
Tomorrow he's taking the girls to a water park. Well, it was him and the girls...then Yana asked if her best friend, Oksana, could go. Then Vita asked if her best friend, Ira, could go. Then Jennifer asked if her best friend, Luda could go....and her boyfriend. Then the camp director said the extra kids could only go if a camp counselor goes. And there are a few other kids that Carol added on for David!! lol!!! He doesn't care...he seems happy to be going and taking a crowd with him. I'm sure this crowd will be easier to handle than the birth certificate and court people!
New number for David if you want to call him: 011-380-507-22-8267
Thanks for the prayers....keep 'em coming!
7/11/08
The Other Side of Hell....formerly known as Odessa, Ukraine
So, the first thing discovered was that someone was lazy and wrote a letter saying there is NO father of record for one of the girls....David got to the birth cert office today and they said there IS a father of record....making our court decree wrong....AGAIN!!! Back at the court (term used loosely) they granted a THIRD decree...not for free. Still better than the judge's initial plan...whole new court date....in August when he comes back from vacation...and I'm sure I would need to be there as well. Do I need to say that no birth certificates were acquired today??? All of these thing are GREAT news compared to this: the girls had to go back to camp until the birth certificates are issued...TUESDAY!! He has three unhappy girls and translator going home for the weekend. It is at this point in time that I am ECSTATIC to be home with three wild boys full of energy and car to drive to Wal Mart and food I like to eat and a phone that works in my house (The phone in the apartment doesn't work now, either)
Here are some ramblings from David: Couple of funny things that I have learned. Three teenaged girls eat more than three boys under 10 and they rarely leave anything on their plates. They cooked lunch for me today. Jennifer cooked and Vita and Yana cleaned up. She cooked eggs. Good thing we have plenty of shower space. Of course they do not use the same shampoo, or conditioner, or body wash. The shower looked like a store. It is quiet in the apartment. I am not a big talker, but I have come to appreciate the noise of children, both big and small. It will be a long weekend. I will have to look through the movies to see if there are any good ones. (He also mentioned that he remembers why we took to vodka on our first trip...it makes the nights go faster!)
Pray for David....the girls....our frustrated translator....and anyone who screws things up in Ukraine from here on out that has to feel the wrath of Vita....
Here are some ramblings from David: Couple of funny things that I have learned. Three teenaged girls eat more than three boys under 10 and they rarely leave anything on their plates. They cooked lunch for me today. Jennifer cooked and Vita and Yana cleaned up. She cooked eggs. Good thing we have plenty of shower space. Of course they do not use the same shampoo, or conditioner, or body wash. The shower looked like a store. It is quiet in the apartment. I am not a big talker, but I have come to appreciate the noise of children, both big and small. It will be a long weekend. I will have to look through the movies to see if there are any good ones. (He also mentioned that he remembers why we took to vodka on our first trip...it makes the nights go faster!)
Pray for David....the girls....our frustrated translator....and anyone who screws things up in Ukraine from here on out that has to feel the wrath of Vita....
7/10/08
The craziness that is Ukraine....
Well....David was picked up at the airport, which was a surprise. The hotel we where we had a room reserved didn't work out..he got there and they said they were booked and had no reservation for him. The said they don't do online reservations...yet their website has the application to do so. yup. So he found another hotel....where he sat today waiting for our translator to show up, as she was late and he had no phone to call her. So...they went to camp to get the girls and discovered that the court decree was drawn up wrong....listing me as the adoptive parent and him as the consenting spouse of the adoptive parent. There was a couple who used the same court the monday before our adoption and they had that situation since the man is legally too old to adopt the kids. I guess they forgot to change their fill in the blank adoption decree. Vita made it clear that staying another night at camp was not an option...she said they would look stupid if they had to stay another night....she's so funny! Once the decree was corrected, they went for groceries and to get settled in the apartment.
Tomorrow ( as in right now for David!) is going to be rushing to THREE different birth certificate offices to get the girls docs. AND the offices are only open from 9-1. AND they are closed monday. If the birth certs are not done friday, it will add several days to the trip since nothing else can be done until the new birth certificates are issued. (insert prayer) The girls have decided they want to sleep in and not go do adoption stuff. I wish I had that option when I was there!!! lol Should be easier to rush around with just 2 people. I think the girls want to go to camp to visit their friends too. Funny how they couldn't wait to get out of there, but are going back tomorrow!! Jennifer has a list of things she wants to do in Odessa before they have to leave for Kyiv. Both Jennifer and Yana will need to go to family's apartments and get personal belongings and hopefully some family photos to keep.
David attempted to blog....but the text was in cyrillic. So we will do second hand blogging! I will try to limit my artistic liberties.
Good news is I now have a car (read: bus!) that is large enough to haul the Kellett Bunch around the Ozarks! I'm sure the boys will have it broken (in) when the sisters three arrive!
So we are ready to roll......bring it on Mr. Kellett!!!
Tomorrow ( as in right now for David!) is going to be rushing to THREE different birth certificate offices to get the girls docs. AND the offices are only open from 9-1. AND they are closed monday. If the birth certs are not done friday, it will add several days to the trip since nothing else can be done until the new birth certificates are issued. (insert prayer) The girls have decided they want to sleep in and not go do adoption stuff. I wish I had that option when I was there!!! lol Should be easier to rush around with just 2 people. I think the girls want to go to camp to visit their friends too. Funny how they couldn't wait to get out of there, but are going back tomorrow!! Jennifer has a list of things she wants to do in Odessa before they have to leave for Kyiv. Both Jennifer and Yana will need to go to family's apartments and get personal belongings and hopefully some family photos to keep.
David attempted to blog....but the text was in cyrillic. So we will do second hand blogging! I will try to limit my artistic liberties.
Good news is I now have a car (read: bus!) that is large enough to haul the Kellett Bunch around the Ozarks! I'm sure the boys will have it broken (in) when the sisters three arrive!
So we are ready to roll......bring it on Mr. Kellett!!!
7/9/08
WOOHOO!!
David made it to Ukraine...hopefully as far as Odessa by now! We have heard many stories of quickfire second trips that give us hope. Our only stumbling block will be setting Jennifer's real estate issues.
We can't wait to get the girls home and to the doctor and dentist...I'm sure they will be THRILLED to know of our a few of our first outtings!! Of course there will be shopping too!!
Luckily all summer stuff is on clearance so we can get stuff to start the school year in mass quantities!! We will also have a welcome home party at the airport...at church...at home and anywhere else we feel like it. Our girls have waited patiently for a family. I can't imagine the feelings of being happy to see friends get adopted, but sad that they were not. My heart breaks for all the kids that we saw at camp who looked at us visiting the girls and all the fun stuff that goes with the process. If there are pap's reading this...please consider the older kids. This is their last chance. We passed a prison one day while going downtown and Vita commented that alot of her friends are now there. The boys tend to go from one institution to another...at the orphanage/internat they are referred to as inmates. The girls futures are not as bright as the boys, unfortunately.
God has been so crazy good to us with this adoption....it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop some days! The excessive cost involved is far outweighed by the little miracles we have experienced along the way!
We can't wait to get the girls home and to the doctor and dentist...I'm sure they will be THRILLED to know of our a few of our first outtings!! Of course there will be shopping too!!
Luckily all summer stuff is on clearance so we can get stuff to start the school year in mass quantities!! We will also have a welcome home party at the airport...at church...at home and anywhere else we feel like it. Our girls have waited patiently for a family. I can't imagine the feelings of being happy to see friends get adopted, but sad that they were not. My heart breaks for all the kids that we saw at camp who looked at us visiting the girls and all the fun stuff that goes with the process. If there are pap's reading this...please consider the older kids. This is their last chance. We passed a prison one day while going downtown and Vita commented that alot of her friends are now there. The boys tend to go from one institution to another...at the orphanage/internat they are referred to as inmates. The girls futures are not as bright as the boys, unfortunately.
God has been so crazy good to us with this adoption....it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop some days! The excessive cost involved is far outweighed by the little miracles we have experienced along the way!
7/8/08
The Beginning of the End
Today David left for Ukraine...and we already miss him! Noah and Levi are excited though because they can sleep in our bed! We have some preparing still to do to get ready for the girls...assuming you can ever be ready to have three teenage girls in your house!! We will have plenty to do, I'm sure!
We were pleasantly surprised to learn that one way flights from Kyiv to Odessa are only about $60. Wish we would have known that before.....it would have been cheaper and faster than a taxi when we were there! Live and learn.....but then again, with Ukraine the cost could have been $300 one way then....lol
More as we know it!
We were pleasantly surprised to learn that one way flights from Kyiv to Odessa are only about $60. Wish we would have known that before.....it would have been cheaper and faster than a taxi when we were there! Live and learn.....but then again, with Ukraine the cost could have been $300 one way then....lol
More as we know it!
7/5/08
Counting down...again!!
Well, David leaves July 8 to head back to Odessa...he still isn't over the jet lag from round one!! I talk to the girls almost every day.....and every day I hear, "Mom. When is Dad coming to get us??" I'm sure it's hard for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel of something that is so dream like!
We hope, of course, that David's trip is a short one...but we know it could be up to three weeks depending on how the property issues pan out. I will blog second hand while he's there. It may be a short blog as David isn't one to get chatty!! lol
6/29/08
Saturday/Sunday
We lost internet at the apartment and gave our phone to the girls, so we have been cavepeople for a day!!
We spent the day shopping for things for the girls, a few things for their friends, eating (of course!), and we went to the movies! I watched Wanted with the girls....and it was good. I listened to my mp3 player and followed the story line quite well. Vita filled in the blanks when needed....she's an awesome translator!! David saw the Hulk with the boys.
Thankfully no one cried when we said goodbye....it's easy knowing we will see them again soon.
We went by Mercedes van to Kyiv today...0nly about 5 hours with one stop. Now we have time to kill at the airport....and cheap internet cafe! The airport is a ZOO....chaos and lack of efficiency, which seems to be a trend in UA.
Will likely post some pics once we get home and updates as the adoption process winds down. Maybe I can get David to blog on his trip.......
We spent the day shopping for things for the girls, a few things for their friends, eating (of course!), and we went to the movies! I watched Wanted with the girls....and it was good. I listened to my mp3 player and followed the story line quite well. Vita filled in the blanks when needed....she's an awesome translator!! David saw the Hulk with the boys.
Thankfully no one cried when we said goodbye....it's easy knowing we will see them again soon.
We went by Mercedes van to Kyiv today...0nly about 5 hours with one stop. Now we have time to kill at the airport....and cheap internet cafe! The airport is a ZOO....chaos and lack of efficiency, which seems to be a trend in UA.
Will likely post some pics once we get home and updates as the adoption process winds down. Maybe I can get David to blog on his trip.......
6/27/08
COURT DAY!!!
WE GOT OUR GIRLS!!!!!!
After a morning of getting everyone clean and dressed...and keeping them clean and dressed, we were off to court. Our taxi didn't come, so we got on the hot bus and were all sweaty when we got there! We waited in the hallway for about one hour before we were seen....not unlike the U.S.!! This gave us a chance to talk with the prosecutor and others involved (directors, inspectors, social workers) Once in the court room, and I do mean room, we went thru the formalities of everyone stating name, producing passports, etc.. We had to tell the "court" what we were petitioning for: adoption, name changes, and birthdate change (which we had to justify) We answered a few questions about our jobs, home, income, etc.. The girls were asked if they consented and if we had been in contact. The judge asked if the boys were in favor of.....as the boys had all picked a sister's lap to sit on! After we plead our case and were asked a question by the prosecutor, the judge and two "jurists" (I think just people from the public to sit on either side of the judge and help decide cases?) excuse themselves after our closing arguments (all quite comical, to me). After a 10 minute recess, we are all called back into court for the decision. He grants the adoptions, but not the 10 day waiting period...which was expected, but it doesn't hurt to ask. We were told we could appeal that part of the decision....but I'm sure that would take more than the 10 days~
We left court and had lunch before hanging out at the apartment for some down time. Galya had to go back to camp and clean as today was her assigned day. The rest of us headed downtown to meet Ira Azerlyan who has been a tutor to Vita and Galya in the past for English. We had never met her, but have communicated on Facebook and email! She is a sweety!!! Ira's English is so good, she could be mistaken for an American with a regional accent! We celebrated at Mike O'Neill's Irish Pub! I think it was the best meal we have had since getting here and we wish we had discovered it sooner!! After dinner it was the habitual ice cream and some shopping for necessities for the girls. We got them back to camp, late as always!
We are so sad that tomorrow is our last day with our new daughters before we have to leave them. But we know that this is the light at the end of the tunnel and in a few weeks, our kids will all be home, where they belong, for good....not just a visit.
Thursday
Today was a lot of fun for everyone! Well, David spent two hours at the tax office after our translator told him what to do and left....that part wasn't fun. But after that....fun!!! We had lunch with the girls and then commenced to shoe shopping at Provost Bazaar. Highly inefficient way to shop...but, it works! If it were our method in the U.S., I would not be much of a shopper! Vita and Galya eventually found shoes and Yana found a pair of shorts she liked. With our mission complete....it was off to the beach!! WOOHOO!!! The boys really liked it...the water was COLD, and I did not get in other than my feet! The girls are all like fish from living by the Black Sea their entire lives. I felt quite overdressed for the occasion in a black one piece. One piece was acceptable for women....as long as it was the bottom piece!! Tops optional here, and there were some two pieces that women wore that it was hard to see the bottom piece for two reasons: it was a thong or the "muffin top" on the women hid their bathing suit bottoms!! It was fun and I am glad we saw the beach. We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the sea.....overpriced, poor food, poor quality, good company and good view! From there we visited Galya's aunt and uncle where the kids gorged on sweets. We were also entertained by Galya's uncle, Yuri, with some magic as he is a professional magician. The kids all loved it and created quite a memory for all of us.
Tomorrow is the big day!!
6/25/08
Wednesday
Today was what I call a blogable day! We got the girls for lunch and then went so see Kung Fu Panda at the “cinema”. Here are all the GREAT things about seeing a movie in Ukraine:
The price! You have seat assignments and the cost varies on age, time of show, and seat chosen. For 8 of us, the tickets totaled $25
Snack prices! For unlimited snacks for all of us….a whopping $15!!!!
There is a bar in the theater
You can bring in your own snacks
There is Baskin Robbins in the theater
The drawback: dubbed in Russian!!!
From there we went to the “bazaar” to look for shoes for the girls for court. Yana, who insisted she didn’t need/want any, is the only one who found a pair acceptable. Tomorrow, we have more shoe shopping to do!
Moving from bazaar to “BIZARRE”. The McDonald’s we stopped at for drinks/ice cream and play place was a plethora of characters tonight! There were about 8 Hare Krishna’s out front playing a drum, dancing, and singing. Appeared they found a good deal on melon colored fabric as it was the color of choice for most. They did their thing for at least one hour….even had mics and speakers! As they were doing their street evangelism there was an old drunk street lady dancing around within their group…she was not a part of the group as indicated by her lack of melon colored toga. She then felt compelled to drag one of the many stray dogs by its’ front paws into the mix. She had the dog up on its’ back legs and she danced with the dog for a few songs until the dog grew weary and she wore out from leading. Eventually, the HK’s called it a night and packed up their gear. As they waited for the marshuka (bus) to take them to their assumed commune, they attempted to hand out propaganda. Of course David was a target and he was happy to tell them he doesn’t understand. David was also handed a Jehovah’s Witness Watch Tower pamphlet a few days ago while we were out walking…it was in English, I think. He must have looked foreign and spiritually lost that day. Shows the insight that the JW’s have! They only got a 50%!! Lol
On a sad sighting…there are stories on the internet with photos of street kids in Ukraine who are drug addicted, dirty, begging, and empty. There were three of them in front of Mc Donald’s tonight begging. I couldn’t help but wonder if they had been in orphanages and were then turned out onto the streets when they turned 16 or 17 with no family, education, or means to support themselves. Then I see our amazing girls and have so much hope for their futures…and feel bad for not being able to help more kids who live lives that are unimaginable to most Americans. It’s not designer drugs like are in America, it’s household chemicals and other caustic things that these kids inject just to escape from the horror that is their life. It’s easy to see why so many people do anything they can to get out of Ukraine or self medicate to escape reality.
On the adoption front…Lena was out doing adoption stuff today and we have a little bit of work to do tomorrow to prepare for our court date on Friday. We are still cautiously optimistic for a waiving of the 10 days…but expecting it to not happen. Lena will leave Friday night from Odessa to go home for awhile until she can come back to Odessa and work on paperwork to prepare for David’s return.
I think we are all very homesick and weary…just ready to be home and get our girls home as well. Jakob’s head looks great…all things considered. He is still running/jumping/spinning all over Odessa…it’ll be a miracle if he doesn’t come home even more battered. Levi is scraped up from his falls on the sidewalk…and where Jakob pushed him down the stairs. Noah is running a fever and didn’t eat much today, so he’s down a bit too. I’m afraid when the judge sees how beat up the boys look, he won’t allow us to adopt the girls!!
Looking forward to the hotel in London as a primer for our own beds on Monday night!!!
The price! You have seat assignments and the cost varies on age, time of show, and seat chosen. For 8 of us, the tickets totaled $25
Snack prices! For unlimited snacks for all of us….a whopping $15!!!!
There is a bar in the theater
You can bring in your own snacks
There is Baskin Robbins in the theater
The drawback: dubbed in Russian!!!
From there we went to the “bazaar” to look for shoes for the girls for court. Yana, who insisted she didn’t need/want any, is the only one who found a pair acceptable. Tomorrow, we have more shoe shopping to do!
Moving from bazaar to “BIZARRE”. The McDonald’s we stopped at for drinks/ice cream and play place was a plethora of characters tonight! There were about 8 Hare Krishna’s out front playing a drum, dancing, and singing. Appeared they found a good deal on melon colored fabric as it was the color of choice for most. They did their thing for at least one hour….even had mics and speakers! As they were doing their street evangelism there was an old drunk street lady dancing around within their group…she was not a part of the group as indicated by her lack of melon colored toga. She then felt compelled to drag one of the many stray dogs by its’ front paws into the mix. She had the dog up on its’ back legs and she danced with the dog for a few songs until the dog grew weary and she wore out from leading. Eventually, the HK’s called it a night and packed up their gear. As they waited for the marshuka (bus) to take them to their assumed commune, they attempted to hand out propaganda. Of course David was a target and he was happy to tell them he doesn’t understand. David was also handed a Jehovah’s Witness Watch Tower pamphlet a few days ago while we were out walking…it was in English, I think. He must have looked foreign and spiritually lost that day. Shows the insight that the JW’s have! They only got a 50%!! Lol
On a sad sighting…there are stories on the internet with photos of street kids in Ukraine who are drug addicted, dirty, begging, and empty. There were three of them in front of Mc Donald’s tonight begging. I couldn’t help but wonder if they had been in orphanages and were then turned out onto the streets when they turned 16 or 17 with no family, education, or means to support themselves. Then I see our amazing girls and have so much hope for their futures…and feel bad for not being able to help more kids who live lives that are unimaginable to most Americans. It’s not designer drugs like are in America, it’s household chemicals and other caustic things that these kids inject just to escape from the horror that is their life. It’s easy to see why so many people do anything they can to get out of Ukraine or self medicate to escape reality.
On the adoption front…Lena was out doing adoption stuff today and we have a little bit of work to do tomorrow to prepare for our court date on Friday. We are still cautiously optimistic for a waiving of the 10 days…but expecting it to not happen. Lena will leave Friday night from Odessa to go home for awhile until she can come back to Odessa and work on paperwork to prepare for David’s return.
I think we are all very homesick and weary…just ready to be home and get our girls home as well. Jakob’s head looks great…all things considered. He is still running/jumping/spinning all over Odessa…it’ll be a miracle if he doesn’t come home even more battered. Levi is scraped up from his falls on the sidewalk…and where Jakob pushed him down the stairs. Noah is running a fever and didn’t eat much today, so he’s down a bit too. I’m afraid when the judge sees how beat up the boys look, he won’t allow us to adopt the girls!!
Looking forward to the hotel in London as a primer for our own beds on Monday night!!!
6/24/08
No News is Good News!
We didn't do much today....went and did the applications for the girls' birth certificates then came back to the apartment. I think all 9 of us were tired from all the running and heat, so we took a down day. Lena went to the beach by herself and I'm sure she had a blast! The girls just hung out at the sea and rested. I'm sure tomorrow will be a different tale! Galya is checking with her soon to be sisters to see what they would like to do... and will call us back...maybe!
I think I need to go change my pants....someone just set of fireworks so close to our apartment that we couldn't see the entire explosion out our window. Still not accustomed to it even though it happens every night...not sure what they are celebrating!
I think I need to go change my pants....someone just set of fireworks so close to our apartment that we couldn't see the entire explosion out our window. Still not accustomed to it even though it happens every night...not sure what they are celebrating!
6/23/08
Our last monday here
Today was a fun day!! Vita and Yana started off not speaking, but they were both willing to go with us! We met Lena at the mall and had lunch, then went downtown to do some souvenir shopping….it took Yana and Galya little bit to open up and be willing to let us buy them stuff. Once they got started….holy Lord!! Vita, on the other hand, was happy to buy for herself, Oksana, Sasha, Jessica, Justin, Grammy, PopPop, and anyone else she could remember! We met Galya’s aunt Oksana and uncle Yuri for dinner tonight. Very nice couple…not what I expected. Then Gary and Pat met us for their dinner. The kids ate for two dinners worth…Yana can put away the groceries! Grammy: double the mashed potatoes!!
Some adoption stuff was done today…I wrote a letter to explain why we wanted one court date for two oblasts. We have some stuff to do tomorrow…..not sure what. We just do whatever Lena tells us to do! We are doing all we can do to keep up with six kids!
After shopping a bit, Vita and Yana made up…Vita bought her some earrings and a manicure kit. David and I are going to do some adjusting to the whole rollercoaster of girl emotions! And when you say, “what’s wrong?”. The answer is, “I’m ok” Even though you know it’s not ok…
We are looking forward to coming home…the sooner the better!
6/22/08
Sunday?
Today we got to see another side of teenage sisters! We got to camp to pick up the girls and Yana was a bit surly. We weren’t sure who she was mad at and hoped it wasn’t us. She said she was tired and needed to do laundry, so she didn’t want to go today. We offered to do her laundry for her tonight, but she insisted on not going. On the bus, Vita explained that she had asked Yana if she could borrow a pony tail holder. Yana said, “no, I’m using it for a bracelet.” Vita, responding as a Kellett, “oh, why thank you.” (add sarcasm…) So, to spite herself, Yana stayed at camp. We took the girls to the mall to eat at the food court….good prices and variety. Lena met us there as well after going to the inspector’s office…yes, the inspector met her on Sunday!! We got our money’s worth with that fee!! There were some little pony type rides in the food court and the boys wanted to ride…so we caved since they had a good lunch. When we were done a woman by the name of Luda came over and asked if she could buy the boys some sweets. I said sure and thank you, thinking it was going to be a little candy from the Mr. Bulky type store in the food court. Instead, it was 7 full sized desserts that she took Vita over to the restaurant to buy! We were floored, amused, grateful, and a little confused! Jakob was the most grateful as he had at least two of the desserts! Much better than yesterday on the marshuka (bus) when a drunk man sat in front of Levi, Galya, and Vita and said: English bad, Russia good. Then he got pissed at Levi and yelled: bad boy!! Bad boy!! This made Yana get defensive so she went and sat in front of the man, then beside him…she had quite a scowl on her face!! Another drunk interlude on the bus….there were two drinking buddies standing (swerving!) in the isle next to David. One fella was so drunk he couldn’t even see the hand rail to grab on and kept just reaching until he lucked out. We were both shocked that he didn’t pass out!! Then his partner in crime lost his balance and nearly ended up in my lap. That’s what riding the bus later in the day will get you!! Another bus experience: David was coming home with Noah and Levi from taking the girls back to camp and a long haired guy started chatting with David about the Paul McCartney concert in Kyiv that was simulcast to the big cities in Ukraine the other night. He was trying to tell David the names of the songs and when he couldn’t think of the name, he would sing it for him….and poorly. From my understanding, the entire bus was amused. I digress….
After lunch we went to an amusement park, Ukrainian style! $5 per ride was the average…a little steep if you ask me!! But the girls had fun and so did the boys. The girls rode the throw up rides….and Vita did throw up after the last one. Galya wanted to, but couldn’t. From there, Lena dropped us by the apartment and took our documents to the train station and David took the girls back to camp.
Not sure what tomorrow has in store for us! Depends on the weather and adoption stuff…we have still have to get David registered for his tax # so the girls can retrieve their pensions and go ahead and start the paperwork for birth certificates!
We are cautiously optimistic that our 10 days will be waived….all three of the girls have medical diagnoses (nothing of concern or reality based) and we will argue that we would need to get them home to get settled, learn some of the language, and get evaluated before school starts for the ESL program. This is the new judge who is doing his first adoption Monday….so we can see it going either way. As much as we paid to expedite our court date, I would think it would be a breeze! The embassy said they would honor it…so we are asking for more miracles, as if we haven’t received enough already!!
More tomorrow!!
6/21/08
Another day....more fun
We got the girls from camp today around lunch time and went to McDonald's. Then we went shopping...David has made it clear that I will be taking the girls shopping. They had a great time buying clothes for court and bathing suits. After that we took the bus downtown. We ended up walking in the pouring down rain....the kids all enjoyed that! It was a fun family memory. It was great to have Galya with us for the day. This is the first day we have gotten to take her out and have fun. And they are not afraid to ask for stuff!!! Shoes, go to the movies, go to the amusement park, go to the zoo!
Oh, yeah! I forgot about the adoption stuff! Lena did some stuff today...not sure what. I've grown weary of that side of the trip...I have a lot of faith and trust and know that she will take good care of us. She wants to get home as bad as we do!
We have nixed the idea of going to Kharkiv....the train or car ride would be to grueling on everyone at this point and Jakob could care less. He just wants to have fun. Speaking of Jakob...his head looks good! I hope they don't pull my nursing license when I get home and take him to the doctor....
We are also hoping to have our 10 days waived...but the judge is new. His first adoption hearing is monday with Gary and Pat Fry....we'll see how their day goes and gauge our speculation on that! If our 10 days are waived, I will come home with the boys. Should be, um......interesting. We have a night in London on our way home...at least I speak the language there!
Our boys are still the best! They have made this trip go so much faster!
More tomorrow!!
Friday's Dealings
What fun filled day we had today!!! The Yana and Vita went with us for the day and Galya is still with her family. We met the girls at the Battery Park … named for the now defunct military eqpt that is there on display. The boys like climbing all over the stuff, especially Jakob! From there we went to a Ukrainian version of a mall…it has all different types of departments and services from food to hardware to bank and flowers! We had a good lunch…everyone liked their lunch but David, so he ate the leftover pizza and some of my yummy potatoes! We got an outfit for Yana to wear to court next Friday. While she was trying on clothes Jakob was melting down in toys. He ended up falling on a shelf and cutting his head open about ¾ of an inch. The bleeding didn’t want to stop, so we took him to the hospital where they wanted to call an ambulance and transfer him to the children’s hospital…and be seen by a NEUROSURGEON!!!! He needed stitches…not an MRI or neurosurgery!! People: this is socialized medicine!! So as an alternative, we went to the pharmacy, spent $5 and went home and I shaved a spot on his head, cleaned, and bandaged it. He’s tough and didn’t make a sound. He should thank God I couldn’t get my hands on a suture kit!! What an experience that was! So, after the major head trauma, we went to the dolphinarium. I think that’s a made up word, but the place was cool nonetheless. It was a dolphin and seal show in a little pavilion down by the Black Sea. It was quite impressive with loud techno music and a few American rock songs thrown in for good measure. Well worth the $10 a person.
Our most awesome translator ran around town all day getting our paperwork in order. She has worked so hard on our adoptions… and is meeting our timeline with all the madness and demands thrown in her path. Our applications and other docs will be on the train to Kyiv Sunday night and registered at the center for adoptions Monday. We will have court Friday and head to Kyiv either Saturday or Sunday and fly home Sunday!! Our translator thinks David should return 20 days after our court date for the girls. That being around July 16 and hopefully home on the weekend! Party date: July 26th !!!
We can’t believe how fast time is flying by on this trip. I’m sure time will crawl during the waiting period when we can’t see the girls and they are stuck at the summer camp. I will need that time to rest up for the shopping we have ahead of us. The girls have such few personal belongings they will travel with just a backpack. When Vita’s grandmother sold her apartment, all of Vita’s things were left there and likely thrown out. We will leave our phone for Vita so we can call her and Galya has a phone already.
We only have a few more things to do related to the adoption: David needs a tax number so he can get the girls’ pension for them and we will do some paperwork to get birth certificates, etc..
Keep us in your prayers…it’s not over until the 10 day waiting period has passed after court!!
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