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!!!
7/31/08
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
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