It's Good to Be at Home!

We are at home for a week now and it feels SO GOOD! We flew back to Charlotte, NC October 7 and the last part of our journey was a problem. When adopted children come to USA they have to go through a special office at the airport to "enter" officialy. We waited for an hour in the waiting area! The lady-officer wasn't nice at all. We told her that our plane was leaving in 15 minutes but she said it was not her problem. When they finaly asked us to the counter it took less then 5 minutes to go through the papers. We missed our plane to Jackson and next plane was in 5 hours. We were so upset. We knew that a lot of people would meet us at the airport at 6 PM but not at 11 PM. Oh well, at least we are in the states. We went for a little walk outside the airport. It was so warm! The last day in Kiev was very cold and windy, the windchil was 28F. Bob was thinking about his Ukranian winter hat we bought on our first adoption trip in 2008 but left in Mississippi this time. At Jackson airport several friends and family members were waiting for us. It was so special! Big thanks to everybody who came! Julia was very excited. Our Anastasia looked very happy to see us again. The two new sisters finaly met...



The first week with Julia being home passed quickly. She has a good relationship with Anastasia. They hold hands, they play together and ride bicycles together. They even help me in the kitchen together. Julia already started going to school. At first we were going to let her stay at home for a week and get used to this time. But we noteced she dets bored very fast. So we decided to take her to school asap. On Tuesday we went to the Health Department to get the immunization form. Julia needed to get one shot. She started crying she was so scared of that. When we got in the room and a nurse started preparing Julia's arm she started screaming. Everything took about 15 seconds and Julia calmed down right away. So that day she found out that not everything as bad as it looks. On Wednesday she went to school the first day. She came home happy, she liked school and wanted to go there next day. Good start!

On Sunday we took her with us to our Sunday school class and then to the worship service. I think she liked it. She was asking me a lot of questions: why do people sing? why do they raise their arms? why do people kneel up front? and others. She liked one song and asked if Bob could download it on the computer so she could sing it at home. I was very surprised. On Wednesday night we were going to church and the girls were sitting on the back together. Julia said,"Mama, Anastasia and I have birthmarks on exectly the same places!" I said,"It means you were ment to be sisters!" Then she said,"It was God's plan". How about that!!! I don't think I have told her about God's plans for our lives. She figured it out on her own! You are exectly right, my sweet girl! God has a wonderful plan for your life. God snatched you from satan's hands and brought you into our family. We are so exited to see what God has in store for you.

WE ARE GOING HOME!!!!!!!!!

Since the court day, we have had a lot of stuff going on. We've been busy. Before it was waiting, waiting and waiting. Now we are going, going and doing. We went to Julia's school for the last time to say "good bye" to everybody and invite Julia's friends for her going-away party at the orphanage. When we came, all her classmates surounded her and wanted to be invited. It was interesting to see how she enjoyed it: before she was an orphan-girl with no family and now she is the center of attention and she is going away to live with her family in the USA. We had her party with cakes, drinks and a fruit salad. Julia's brother and his wife came to say "good bye" also. We had a good time with everybody. When it was time for us to leave some caretakers had tears in their eyes. In traditions of the orphanage, we bought a plant in a pot and called it "Julia", so, they will have some memory of her. Also Julia wrote a letter to her biological parents telling them that she needs to leave the city so she wouldn't grow up living on the streets or become a drug user. She said, "they love me like their own daughter and I love them too." Her bio parents were telling her she'd have a family of strangers, but she said, "In America I will not have a family of strangers. I will have parents, a sister, grandparents, and aunt and uncle who will love me." "Thank you that you let me go". It was sweet of her to leave a nice message after all the bad things they put her through.

On Thursday night we took a train to Balta in Odessa region. That's where our Anastasia is from. We stayed at the same place we did 2 1/2 years ago and it brought back a lot of memories. We visited Anastasia's orphanage. We saw the director and showed her our family pictures. She looked very happy to see how one of her kids is growing and progressing. She was so touched that started crying. We asked her to say something on the videocamera for Anastasia. She agreed and said a very nice message for her. We also saw Anastasia's teacher and a couple of other people we met two years ago. We tried to find some of her friends but found only one boy.



We didn't stay in Balta too long and on Sunday morning we were in Kiev. Our driver met us at the train station and took us to our apartment. That morning we were invited to go to church. We have a couple of good, christian friends in Kiev (Andrei and Olga Murzin) and that morning Andrei was supposed to preach. He asked us if we could share our adoption experience with his church. We know that his church prayed for us when we had problems and we wanted to meet these people and thank them. It was so nice to be in church and worship God with other christians! We miss it. We spoke after Andrei's preaching. Julia was up front with us. I think she didn't like to be in the spotlight. When we sat down she started crying. I asked her why she was crying. She said she was missing her brother. I don't think it was exactly true. She was taken out of her comfort zone and put into the spotlight in front of a couple of hundred of people. She is counting days before our flight and she is ready to start her new normal family life. At the end of worship we had the Lord'supper with real bread broken into pieces and real wine. It was different but very special! When we were leaving church a lot of people wanted to talk with us and say something encouraging. One lady even told us if we needed a prayer we could tell Andrei and he would tell his church. That was so sweet of her! It was a very special Sunday.



Guess what? Sunday evening the water line on our street broke! We didn't have water for almost two days. It looks like wherever we go - water pipes break. I hope Brandon pipes are better qality then Ukranian. We couldn't just sit at the house without water. It is cold outside but it doesn't stop us from exploring the city. On Monday we visited a world famous monestary that has a nickname as the 2nd Jerusalem. Underneath are catacombs of dead saints from the past. They're encased in wooden caskets with glass tops and sides. Their hands are sometimes sticking out for people to see. You can touch them with your forehead or lips only. Some are stated to provide so-called healing with a touch. We had a young tour guide. She told us about their main saints and kissed all of them. I guess she is super-healthy. At the end I challenged her asking why we need to go through dead monks when there is one mediator with the name of Jesus Christ. She said because they are holy and we are sinners. Then I asked her what the purpose of Jesus dying on the cross. The tour guide answered that we'd have to ask the head priest that question. Bob tried to give her one of Joe's gospel tracts, she looked at it and gave it back. There's all kinds of beliefs out there.



On Tuesday we did Julia's medical exam and filled out a visa application at the American embassy. Today we have to be there for our intervew and we will have Julia's visa!!! Thursday morning we are LEAVING UKRAINE!!!!!!!!!!!! Our final flight from Charlotte, NC arrives to ,October 7 at 6:18 PM, United Airlines 2590. See you soon!!!

And Here She Is!!!

Let us introduce you our new daughter Julia Sophia Brooker!!! She is ours now!!! We had our court today and our facilitator, Oles Sukhetskyy, arranged the immediate execution (NO 10 days waiting period!) which the judge gracously granted us. So, we got our court decree AND the new birth certificat TODAY! We are SO happy and we thank our God for this miracle.



Ok, I will tell you from the beginning. On Monday we got our last paper from SDA but we didn't know if we would have the court on Tuesday because we heard that the judge buried his mother on Monday and nobody knew if he would work. We found out about our court this morning about 1.5 hours before the actual court. The courtroom is on our street so we took a 5 minutes walk. It was kind of funny: Julia called me on the phone and without any beginning she said, "Are you comming?" I said, "Where?" I guess she thought she dialed a wrong number and said, "Oh, I'm sorry" and hung up. We had to wait for a little bit then were asked into the room. There was the judge, the prosecutor, two jurists, the lawyer, and the person from adoption authorities. The judge started reading our papers. I don't understand Ukranian language much so I tried to listen to Oles translating everything for Bob into English. We were asked some questions about us like our names, birthdates and places of work. Then the judge continued reading and started asking me all kinds of questions about us, our extended family, about Anastasia, the school, the reason for adoption and others. I started getting nervous and my mouth was getting dry. He asked Bob maybe a couple of questions, then he asked Julia some questions. She was answering all his questions with strength in her voice and without any doubt. I was so proud of her! Then the director of the orphanage said his part, followed by the lawyer and the person from adoption authorities. The prosecutor didn't have any questions. We were asked to leave the room. We didn't have to wait too long: we were asked back in the room in 1 minute! The judge read their decision and I had tears in my eyes. This girl is our daughter! After he was done he told us "congratulations". Then I saw Julia come up to his desk and said, "Thank you, your honor!" It brought tears to judge's eyes and he hugged her. I think all the women in the room had "wet" eyes that moment.

The rest of the day we spent doing some paperwork and walking around down town. When we were in the taxi Julia told me, "I feel like a new person and it feels good!" Oh yes, you are a new person - a new daughter, sister, grandaughter, neice, a girl with a new life starting from today. She has a new family and is an orphan no more.

Patience - One of the Fruits of the Spirit

We didn't do much and nothing important happened this week. We would get up late, eat brunch, take a nap and go to Flower's school to pick her up from the afterschoolcare. The teacher got used to see us and she even doesn't let Flower go earlier waiting for us (the kids can leave early if they are done with their homework).

On Tuesday about 3PM, the city's main water line broke which cut off water to 3 cities for and estimated 3 - 4 days. We were at the orphanage when we heard about it. On the way home we stoped at a couple of grocery stores and they already didn't have running water. We tried to imagine how people would make it without water for 3-4 days. What about schools, kindergardens, hospitals, the orphanage? When we got home we still had running water. Thank You, God! The water stoped only in the morning. I think it was the most laughing day in the whole adoption trip! It looked just redicilous to us: with all the problems we have had and are having we have to get in the survival mode now. But we have each other, we have our God and we are staying in a house (instead of appartment) with a small yard(we might need it just in case.....)! It was qite a surprise when the water came back that night. I guess the break wasn't as bad as they expected.

This weekend we had Flower with us again. We spent some time in down town and bought some books in Russian for the girls. We walked around and took pictures. Flower is happy to spend time with us and hopes IT will happen this week. She still calls me "Sveta" but she is so ready to call me "mama". We found out she saved my phone number on her cell phone from the time when I called her from the USA and she entered me as "mama". That is so sweet! We pray that this comming week we will have our court and we can take Flower home. We hope it will be this week. We hope this week this girl will be an orphan no more.

Finally Some Good News!

We had a good weekend with Flower. The director let her stay with us even over night! One of the reasons why he did it was that half of the kids at the orphanage are sick. So we picked her up on Saturday morning and did some shopping. She was so sweet that she said "thank you" and gave us hugs and kisses after every thing we bought for her! I wonder how long this will last... The rest of the day we spent at home. We brought her a coloring book with some mazes and challenging games in it. I noticed she doesn't give up right away and doesn't ask for help. She tries to figure things out on her own. Also we noticed she is a picky eater. Well, this will change: I use a system that worked fast with Anastasia. Right now we are on "our honeymoon", all the rules are out of the window. We stayed up late watching movies and tickling.

On Sunday we let Flower sleep until she wanted to. She has been teling us that she doesn't sleep in on the weekend and gets up at 8 or 9 AM. Well, she slept until 10:30 AM. I guess at the orphanage it gets too loud in the morning. We went slipper -shopping (we foud out she didn't have any slippers to walk around the house). Then I see Bob quickly trying to stop some people. Usualy my husband doesn't do this for no reason! And he doesn't know anybody here. At first I thought that maybe they tried to steal his wallet. But then I saw they were smiling. It was Flower's brother and his wife! What a surprise! We decided to go to a cafe and have some tea and talk. We had a good time! They asked me a lot of questions about life in America and I think they feel even more comfortable trusting Flower to us now.

Later that afternoon we went to the water circus. We were sitting in the 2nd row watching the show. Then a clown comes out and walks arownd looking for volunteers from the audience and comes straight to Bob ... OMG!!! Bob can't understand anything in Russian! This could be bad... He picks Bob and 3 more then the show starts. I was SO nervous! The clown gives Bob 2 crumpled beer cans with pebbles in them and wants him to do the "La-coo-ca-ra-cha" to the music followed by a swivel of the hips. The crowd liked that! Hey, that's MY HUSBAND! Then the other 3 do their part with other things. Then all of them do it with music playing. The clown comes back to Bob and asks him to do it again. He obviously didn't like what he saw, so he grabs a weapon (filled with air) and takes my hasband to the back, off stage behind the curtains. Then we hear a scream ... and the clown comes back alone ... without Bob ...! He had 4 candles burning, he comes to them and blows out the first one and finished with the sign of the cross (he killed Bob!!!). The people were laughing. It wasn't funny to me. I screamed in Russian, "Where is my husband?" It was too loud...nobody heard me. Flower said, "I'm afraid, I don't like it". I told her it'll be OK. In my brain I was thinking all kinds of stuff: they found out that he is an American and kidnapped him for ransom and we won't have money to finish the adopton or maybe they took all the money he has and killed him!!! I started to pray, "God, you didn't bring us so far to finish everything so bad. Please, plaese, please protect my husband. I need him and we need to adopt Flower". Then one by one the clown does the same with the other 3 people. I got it then: they couldn't kill all 4 people! Finally, they all hold hands coming out and take a bow. I don't remember the last time when I was SO HAPPY to see my husband alive!!! Thank you, God!!!





OK, now about the good news. I called the Russin Interpol on Monday. They said they mailed my clearance! So, it is on the way or maybe it is already in Kiev! It means we are not coming home without Flower! She was happy to hear that, too. She trys to guess when our court hearing will happen and counts the days. Yesterday we visited her for a little bit. When it was time to go we hugged her and told her "bye-bye". She said, "One day we won't say "bye-bye" to each other any more" and smiled. One day it will change. One day this girl will be an orphan no more.

Another Bump in the Road

This whole week we didn't do much: we were getting up late, ate brunch, did some grocery shopping and went to the orphanage or to school to pick up Flower. We were spending our evenings with her at the orphanage or at the park. One evening we were at the orphanage and Flower's mother came. She didn't see us. Flower went to talk to her but she realy didn't want to. It looked like mother started accepting the fact that Flower will be adopted and will leave Ukraine. Next evening she brought Flower her book. We haven't heard from her again.

Another evening we met Flower's older brother and his wife. He is the only descent person in the family who works hard and doesn't drink. He understands that it is better for Flower to be in our family. We talked for about an hour and exchanged our addresses and phone numbers.



We even got to go to a parents-teacher conference. In Ukraine a teacher meets with all the parents at the same time. We stayed a little late and asked her some questions about Flower. The teacher told us only good things and nothing bad. It sounds too good to be true!



This weekend local people celebrate the city's birthday. There are all kinds of stuff going on everywhere. On Friday in the park we were watching the national children's concert-competition. The children were dancing, singing and playing on musical instruments. The youngest were probably 5-6yoyoung adults. up to Some groups were very good. We enjoied watching them very much.





Ok, now about the "BUMP". We thought we would have our court on this comming Monday. No, it's not going to happen. We are missing my Interpol clearance. Without it we can't have the court. We were realy bummed out when we first heard about it. Now we are better: it will happen some day anyway. We love Flower very much and she loves us too. I think we will know some details on Monday. We believe nothing is too big for God. He can move people in Interpol, too. We pray that He will work things out. We can't wait to call Flower "our daughter" (& tell you her real name) and she can't wait to have a forever family. It will happen. It is getting closer to the day when this girl will be an orphan no more.

On Saturday we waited and waited and waited some more for the repair guy to come and fix our fridge and the leaking pipe in the bathroom. We waited for the fridge guy on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - he didn't come. The home owner said, this is the only fridge guy she knows. The pipe started leaking on Wednesday. Finaly, by 3 PM on Saturday everything was fixed and we went to the orphanage. Flower told me she didn't think we would come. We brought with us bags of "Silly Bandz" and Flower gave them to all the kids in the orphanage. We played ping-pong for some time, then we had some tea with a Ukrainian apple pie in the kitchen.

On Sunday we left for the orphanage about 10 AM. We took our video camera and told Flower to be a tour guide. Bob was taking movies. The caretakers let us take Flower with us for the whole day. About 10 minutes after we left we got a call from the orphanage: Flower's mother came to visit her. Coincidence? We've had all kinds of problems, but because of God we're still here progressing along. We give God all our praises, all our thanks, and all the credit for everything that has happened and everything that will happen. She was told that Flower left with friends. She got mad and went to the park near the orphanage to look for us. We were at the Farmer's Market that time. The rest of the day we spent in the house. When we told Flower about her mother she said she didn't want to see her mother, she didn't want go back and asked if she could stay with us one night. We HAD to take her back to the orphanage - we can't break the rules - she's nor ours yet.



Flower surprises us sometimes with her thinking and understanding of the world around her. She doesn't know hardly any table manners, but she understands the situation with her parents and doesn't paint it in pink colors like a lot of kids do. She likes to play with toys just like any child, but she told us that we are gettiing closer every day we spend together. In some ways she is very mature for her 10 yo. She doesn't live only in the moment, she askes about life in the USA and about Anastasia's experience. She is ready to start a new life. It is getting closer to the day when this girl will be an orphan no more.

One More Big Step-Success! Thank You, God!

On Wednesday we decided to go to downtown to look around. We stopped at the restaurant for lunch. For about $13 we got two very unusual but good salads, two very good fish entrees with very good fried potatoes. Then we got a call from Oles: we had to go to Odessa to fix our problem with some more paperwork. We went to the train station and got tickets for that night. Then we went home, packed our bag and went to the orphanage.



We were asked to help one girl with her English homework. That was tough even for me and Bob! Another girl (she is new at the orphanage) kept staring at me. When I looked at her, she smiled. Then she asked me to help with her English homework too. Poor girl! She is 14 yo and she doesn't know one word in English! I encouraged her and tried to help. I saw hunger in her eyes for normal attention. She listened to me very carefuly. Her lips quivered. When the homework was done she said "thank you" and with a big smile gave me a kiss on the cheek. I didn't expect that, it touched my heart. I hugged her back. During that time Bob was helping Flower with her homework. Then several little kids started jumping all over us. It was fun, but one little girl sat on my lap and asked me if I could become her Mommy. I had to swallow my tears. How can I tell a 6 yo angel that I can't be her Mommy right in her face? I started asking her questions leading our conversation in a different direction. After having dinner with all the kids, we went to the train station.

We got to Odessa about 6:30AM on Thursday. Oles met us there and said that there is one couple from the USA and they got lost. We thought he was joking about us. But no, he wasn't joking. We met the couple from Florida who were adopting a 2 yo girl with down sindrome. Their facillitator was late. All 5 of us went to McDonald's for breakfast. Guess what? We had to pay for ketchup! This couple's facilitator showed up and they left. We had a couple of hours before the office opened and we went for a morning walk. It was chilly and windy. Oles showed us downtown and we saw the Black Sea. When we were done with all the paperwork we went back to the train station and got tickets to go back.



On Friday we had our important meeting with the adoption authorities. When we were on the way to the administration building, we saw how the local police tried to stop and arrest some criminals right in front of us. It was wild! When we got to the adminisration, Flower wrote the petition that she wanted to be adopted by us. Then we sat down in front of the whole group of people. They asked me and Flower some questions. It took no more than 10 minutes. They all said "Yes"! We had to stay around because we had to sign some more papers later. So, we walked around downtown and took some pictures. Then we went to a restaurant and got 3 very good business lunches (soup, entree with a salad, bread and a fruit drink) and two desserts for $13. The paperwork was taking longer then expected then we finally went back to the orphanage. We got on Skype and talked with our Anastasia for the first time since we left. It was so nice to see and talk to her! We miss her SO much! After that we had to go back to the administration building. Then we had to walk around downtown some more. Later we took Flower to the orphanage and had dinner with everybody.

I have to say we've had a great initial contact with Flower. She loves to hug and loves to be touched. She still calls me "Sveta", but she calls Bob "Daddy" (maybe because "Bob" sounds more strange for her). Flower loves to laugh and she has a beautiful smile. I don't think she's able to have a bad picture taken of her. She seems to understand what is going on around her and she is looking forward to the day when we leave Ukraine. It is getting closer to the day when this girl will be an orphan no more.

Nothing exciting going on

On Monday I didn't feel any better and decided to go find a doctor. We found a big clinic about 5 minutes away from us. I got a FREE doctor's visit! The doctor even offered to look at Bob but he said he felt fine. I have a virus infection that can lead to pneumonia. The doctor gave me a list with 4 different medicines and it took us 4 drugstores to buy all of them. The rest of the day we spent at home. Well, not exactly: we had to go to buy food at the store that is 30 seconds away from our house. We didn't go to see Flower because I didn't want to make anybody sick. I called her and we talked for a few minutes.

Tuesday was like Monday. The only exciting thing was using the Ukranian washing machine. I feel almost normal today. Bob is going crazy sitting around the house with me all day long. Our facilitator was busy working on our problems. We hope we will hear some good news tomorrow and can continue the process. It is getting closer to the day when this girl will be an orphan no more.

PS - Here's a pic of me in the first apt I wrote about yesterday and us in the orphanage cafeteria that Flower took.

They Say, "Nothing Good Ever Came Easy"

We got to Kirovograd at midnight and went to the apartment. It was the worst apartment I've ever seen: it had two very small rooms, kitchen was about 4 square yards, little shower and little bathroom. Everything was dirty- big boxes were covering the windows (there wasn't any daylight inside) - To get water we had to plug in the motor that was very noisy. We decided to look for another place the next day. So we went to the administration building where we met our Flower in person. She is a beautiful girl inside and out. She is smart, caring, nice, polite, thoughtful, loves to smile and laugh. At the orphanage she showed us every room. Then we went to the park near the orphanage. It is a nice park with flowers, walkways, places to eat and a lot of different rides. We had a good time! It was lunch time and we decided to get something to eat. The waitress looked very mad especially when we took our time to order our food. When we finally made our order, our facilitator called us and said that we need to go look at another place to stay right NOW. I thought the waitress would kill us with her eyes she was SO mad. The other place was a house, nice house but it didn't have power (the city is changing the lightpoles). We didn't have any other options. That night we spent with candles.

On Friday morning we got a call from the orphanage: Flower's father wanted to meet us right away. He is a 47 y.o. smelly man in the old worn out suit. He was drinking some herbal medicine that had alcohol in it. He said it was for his heart. He showed us some pictures and told us a lot of stories from his past. Flower was sitting between me and Bob. When he started getting drunk he started saying some curse words. I hugged Flower closer and, I guess, my face changed. Someone said, "It's OK. She heard it a lot of times". Tears came to my eyes. I wanted to cover her ears so she would never hear it again. A child shouldn't hear these words especially from her parent. Later we met some other children who live in the orphanage. They were very polite. The little ones were saying "hello" over and over again to hear "hello" from us. We still didn't have power at the house and spent another evening with candles.

On Saturday morning we decided to take a cold shower. Bob was the first. When he was done with his shower the light came on! Hurray! I had a nice hot shower and it felt great! We went to the orphanage. It takes us about 25 minutes to walk there. Since we came to Ukraine we walk a lot. I have lost a couple inches on my waist and I'm glad I have a belt. When we got to the orphanage we met all the kids. We took some pictures and ate lunch with everybody. Then we went to the park. It was a nice warm day. We had some ice cream and Flower rode several rides. Later at the orphanage we talked with our friends from the States on Skype. It was great to see and talk to somebody from home. However, that evening I started feeling sick: my throat was scratchy and my nose was getting runny. By nighttime I was a comlete mess. I had a cup of hot tea and went to bed. Today I woke up at 1 PM feeling a little better. We didn't go to the orphanage however because I didn't want to get anybody sick. We went to get some medicine and some food. We have power at the house but our fridge doesn't work so we can buy food only for one day at a time. The rest of the day we were at the house.

We heard that the Ukranian goverment encourages it's citizens to adopt. This is a good thing, but there are still so many people that don't understand adoption. The owner of the house we stay in asked me what we were doing here. I told her. She asked me what age the child is. I told her 10 yo. She said, "Oh, it is difficult to take and raise such an OLD child. Think about it". I told her that children of any age want to be loved and we alredy adopted a 10 yo and don't regret it a bit. She didn't understand me at all. We were asked by our friend in Kiev to give a testimony about our adoptions at their church. I hope we will be able to do it on the way back and I hope it will change some local people's view on adoption.

We hope next week will bring some good news. The best news will be agreement from the Ukrainian authorities on Friday in granting us a court date for the following week. It is getting closer to the day when this girl will be an orphan no more.

It is Happening!

We had our appointment today at 9AM. It was great. The lady at SDA showd us Flower's pictures and told us some facts about her. Everything took no more than 10 minutes. Our facilitator told us before the appointment that we will be able to get the permission (to go to see Flower) only tomorrow. Guess what? The lady told us we can get it today!!! It means we will see our Flower tomorrow, we will do our paperwork tomorrow and the local adoption department will look at our case on Friday (they meet only on Fridays!). The fact that we got our permission today is a miracle and the answer to our prayers. We know that our friends in the US got up at night and prayed for us. We love you, guys!

So, we are packing and leaving in an hour to go to the train station. It is getting closer to the day when this girl will be an orphan no more!

AND HERE WE ARE!

Yes, we made it to Ukraine! We are in the appartment right now and didn't loose any luggage on the way. I can say everything feels surreal becase at noon on Sunday we didn't think we would be here. Our trip started with a BIG bump when they checked our passport at the airport. Now they use kiosks for that. Well, when Bob's passport was checked it said on the screen "no visa required". When my passport was checked it said "visa required". We were in shock!!!I am a citizen of Russia and traveled to Ukraine two years ago without any problems. The guy checked it again but it still was saying "visa required". I felt weak in my knees and sick to my stomach. First, we told our friends who were in the church. Then we contacted Betty who helped us with our dossier who then called our facilitator in Ukraine. Than we called our travel agent. It was Sunday! Everything was closed! I couldn't get a visa in one hour! Our agent, Anita drove to her office trying to find a way. She suggested that Bob would go alone and I would fly to Washington, DC to get a visa. We asked our facilitator if that would work. NO, I would be too late for our first appointment on Wednesday and Bob can't go there alone. We had to cancel our tickets and reschedule our appointment. I already was thinking, "We will have to go to work tomorrow and wait some more. Flower will be SO dissapointed (she already knows that we are comming)!!!" All that time I was praying, "This seems to be absolutely impossible for us, God! PLEASE, help us, we need a miracle!" Then somebody thought of the idea that maybe I could fly to Russia and get my visa there quickly. We went to the counter and asked the guy if he could change my flight. He said it will take time. Then we got a message from Anita saing that NO VISA REQUIRED FOR ME! Right after that our facilitator called and said the same and USA shouldn't hold me in the country if I want to go! At that point I told the guy that I demand that they let me fly and if I have any problems in Ukraine it will be my problem. The guy said he can't let me go. I wanted te see their superviser but he was busy. I was ready to make a scene. Anita was on the way to the airport with a printout of the webpage with info about visa. Then I begged the guy to check my passport again. He did. On the screen, right under my name it said "visa required" but two paragraphs down it said "visa required except for citizens of the Russian Federation". That's ME!!! I stomped my foot on the ground and started crying: I was so stressed out and happy at the same time! Bob thought that I would "blow a gasket". Well, we missed our flight to Texas but there was another one in an hour so we didn't miss our flight to London. This mistake almost gave several people a heart attack. We want to thank our travel agent Anita, our helper Betty, our facilitator in Ukraine Oles and our friends that were praying for us at that moment. We thank you for trying to help us with everything you could. We felt your support and prayers. And we want to praise God that He opened my eyes at the right moment and that there was another flight available.

Our facilitator met us at the airport in Kiev and took us to our appartment. Later he picked us up and we took a walk aroud. Kiev has some beautiful buildings!

Today, on Monday we tried to find out if Bob could get a visa to go to Russia to visit my family. No, it will take two weeks and he will have to give them his passport which is not possible right now. We walked around some more and it started raining. Today we will have some pelmeni (Ukranian dumplings)for dinner.

We have our appointment at the SDA (Dept. of Adoption in Ukraine) tomorrow at 9 AM. Everything should be fine. After, we will try to get together with our friends here in Kiev.

Flower will start school tomorrow. I think she is "not in the mood" to start school because she knows we are comming for her. It is getting closer to the date when this girl will be orphan no more.

We are almost there

The last two weeks has been crazy. Now the time is flying too fast and I don't have enough time to finish everything before our trip. We are leaving on Sunday, August 29 and I haven't even started packing our suitcases yet.
We still talk to Flower on Skype every day. Couple weeks ago on the weekend Anastasia talked with her for two hours and they got along great! A few days ago we got two beds for them and some other furniture. Anastasia's favorite color is blue, Flower's - green. We got blue-green reversible blankets and blue and green bedsheets. Anastasia loved it! She said they will have parties in their bedroom when we are asleep. Flower liked that idea! I just pray that they will become good for each other and grow together becoming close loving sisters.
Flower still doesn't know that we are coming next week. We are not supposed to tell her. She is getting impatient: all she talks about is the day when we come to get her. I feel she is getting more comfortable with us. I don't think she will have any problems to give and receive love. She told us when we come she will hug us so hard and never let us go. She writes a lot of messages on Skype like "I love you", "I love all of you", 'I very love you". She is hungry for being a part of the family, for being loved and hugged by Mommy and Daddy! One time I asked her what day it was. She told me the date. I said, "No. Do you know what happens today?" She said no. I said, "Today is one day closer to the date when we come to get you. Tomorrow will be one more day closer to that date." Well, right now it is very close to the date when we see her in person for the first time and give her a BIG hug. It is closer to the date when she will have a family she can love. And it is closer to the date when this girl will be orphan no more.
We want to thank those who donated for our adoption! We are almost there financially and trust God that He will take care of the rest.

We are going to Ukraine!

It was two weeks on August 11 since our dossier was submitted. We were patient and decided not to bother anybody in Ukraine with questions about our appointment. On Saturday, August 14 we talked on Skype with our facilitator in Ukraine. I just asked if maybe, only MAYBE he had any news for us. He said he sent an email to us the day before. When we read it I started to scream and howl: we have our appointment! Well, it is not completely ready but on Monday we are supposed to know the date! We think it will be the last days of August or the first week of September. It was wonderful news! We can't tell Flower about it for some reasons so we will be a big surprise when we show up at her orphanage. She wants so bad for us to come and get her now and be a part of our family! We can see it in her eyes. Later we talked with her on Skype for a little but then we had to go paint the girls bedroom. Anastasia asked if she could talk to Flower. Well, they talked for TWO HOURS! It was after midnight in Ukraine when Flower decided to go to bed. I think they will be good sisters to each other.
Today in Sunday school, our friend asked the class to pray for us and the rest of finances for our adoption to come. God moved peoples hearts and today we got $1,205!!!!!!! GOD IS SO GOOD! We are so humbled! Last week the same friend (who just adopted two girls themselves) gave me a check. She is so kind! A few more people gave us money for our adoption which we are so grateful for. It gets us closer to our goal and we are trusting the Lord to provide the rest of the funds.

Great news

Today, July 28, our dossier was submitted! I remember the first time it took about two months to get an appointment and it took another two months until the day we traveled. I think this time everything will happen a lot faster. I feel a little panic: so many things to do in such a short period of time. Firs of all we need to take care of our daughter. She will stay most of the time with our friends that have two Ukranian daughters, also. Bob's parents and aunt will take her sometimes. We have to do some paperwork at school. Then we have a dog that needs to go somewhere. Oh, the big thing: the girl's bedroom isn't ready. We moved to this house last September. The room for the girls needs to be painted. Anastasia was sleeping in the guest room on the queen size bed. But before we can paint the bedroom we need to take all the stuff out (we used it like a storage). Every weekend I tell myself,"I will do it today", but there is always something else comes up. I just HAVE to do it this weekend!
I call Flower every other day. She is ready to come home with us! Every time we talk she says she misses me. When I tell her something about our life she says, "I will do this, also", "I will be there one day, too," "I will help you, also". She already sees herself living here. Sometimes I imagine how we will meet the first time. I will have a big smile ( Flower just learned these words ) and give her a big hug. Oh, I can't wait! But I know, one day you will be here, Flower!

Our dossier is on the way to Ukraine

I mailed the dossier on Monday, July 19. The last time I checked it left France. I feel peace in my heart: I'm not nervous or stressed out any more. It is all in God's hands and we can't do anything else about our paperwork. I called our Flower on her cell phone a couple of times. She is at camp right now. She is a talkative girl and she told me about everything that has happened there. They go to the river every day and have fun playing different competitive games. In the evening they go to a discotheque. I asked her if she went last night and she said, "No, I studied English!" What a child! When she talks I can "hear" her smile. She told me that she couldn't wait for us to come and get her. Next week we are invited to a party of families that have adopted or would like to adopt from Ukraine. I told Flower about it. I said that I will think about her at the party and it is too bad she is not here. She answered, "It's OK. One day I will be there." So far so good. We are just praying that our dossier doesn't have any mistakes and we have all the necessary money when it is time to go.

The Countdown Begins!

We couldn't send our dossier to Ukraine because we didn't have a specific child in mind and we didn't feel comfortable to go to the SDA (Department of Adoption in Ukraine) and pick any child they offer. We looked and looked. We asked some people and we waited. Well, we met our future daughter!!! We found her!!! We can't say her name right now, so we will call her 'Flower'. Flower is 10 y o. She seems nice, smart, balanced and pretty. We talked through Skype every morning this week and it was a wonderful experience. It was so great to see how her heart was opening towards us. By the end of the week she asked us when we were coming for her. She said she couldn't wait to see us and call me "mama". It melted my heart. I told her if we could we would get on the plane right now. I asked her if she wanted to be adopted and be a part of our family. And she said "yes"! I was so excited this week! I had a smile on my face all day long after talking with her. Anastasia and I made a bracelet from beads for her and Flower drew a picture for us, but we haven't seen it because she said we will have to come to Ukarine to see it ... smart too. She already knows the English alphabet and some words and she can write and read a little in English. She typed "I love you" and "I miss you" in English on Skype message. I cant' wait to hug her!!! We are going to send our dossier to Ukraine Monday or Tuesday. Then we will wait for our appointment date.
Well, everything looks good but in reality it is not. We are having some financial problems. We have the money for our adoption but there are some unexpected expenses and we are short of $6,000. We are still continuing the process and believe that God will provide somehow. In the meantime we are going to start packing our suitcases. We hope to go to Ukraine at the end of August or the beginning of September. It is a time of the year when it starts getting cool. So we will need some warm clothes. When we went to Ukraine the first time I made a list of necessary things to take with us. I think I threw it away. Too bad... I have to make another list. Oh, I love to do all this because it takes us closer to the date when we go to Ukraine to get our daughter! There will be one less orphan in the world. One child at a time... Yes!

Update

Okay, I am NOT a writer. It's been about a month since my last post. I am more of a reader. I LOVE to read... whatever. But I never loved to write. I will never write a book, unless my life depends on it. I guess I will have to write the blog to keep our family and friends posted, especially since I already started this and I don't like to give up.
We have our dossier ready. We have our official approval. We are approved to adopt 2 girls from 9 to 13 y o. But we still don't know if we are going to adopt one or two girls. We are praying about it very hard because we need to make a decision now.
Since my last post we had two families from our church adopting children from Ukraine. One family adopted a 9 yo (already 10 yo) and a 12 yo girls-sisters. Another family adopted a 14 yo girl. Now we have 6 kids adopted from Ukraines in our church! It is so exiting! The same children that were burdens for somebody in Ukraine, are blessings for families now. I wish there were more families wiling to adopt. All those kids want to have a mommy and a daddy. When we were in Ukraine the first time we could freely walk in the orphanage and interact with children. And we spent some time playing with children in Anastasia's room. A lot of girls hugged me and called me "mama". I was in shock. My hair on the back of my head was moving. And my thought was, "How can I leave them here?" I still remember their eyes looking at me with THE question: "Will you take me?" Some of them had living parents and could go home during the school breaks sometime. It is heartbreaking. We told Anastasia: whatever happens in life, we will ALWAYS love her and NEVER leave her. And we are going to keep our word!

Happy Birthday to us!

Today, May 25, is our family's birthday. 8 years ago we told "yes" to each other and became "one". I remember it like it was yesterday. We didn't have a big wedding because I didn't have any family here, only a few new friends I had met. I couldn't help financially and Bob had to buy both our rings. Of course I saved a lot of money by making my own wedding dress, we only spent about $30 on the fabric and the beads. I made it on Bob's old sewing machine and had to wash it in the washing machine the night before our wedding because the sewing machine was leaking oil. I don't remember being nervous or super excited. Maybe because i didn't believe it was happening, it was too good to be true. I thought somebody would slap me in the face and I would wake up in my apartment in Russia. I still sometimes can't believe I have such a wonderful husband - Bob. Today I gave him a card and it says "The Lord knew what He was doing when He put our hearts together..." Bob was always So good to me! He talks to me and he helps me, he encourages me and lifts me up, he teaches me English (still!!!) and how to deal with American people. We are SO different and SO the same! I thank God for every day I have with Bob. And I thank Bob for being the best husband for me and the great father for our daughter. And I thank him for being with me on this adoption journey.
We are waiting on our approval from USCIS. As soon as we get it, our dossier is going to Ukraine.

Happy Mother's Day

This was my third year celebrate Mother's Day as a mother. We had a good day. Anastasia made a card for me. She wrote "Dear Mom, you were always there for me when I am in trouble or sick. I love you so much!!!" That was so sweet! I love her very much! She makes my Mother's Days and all the days between them! Four years ago I didn't even want to go to church on that day because I wasn't a mother and I didn't have my mom any more ( she died from cancer in October 2004 ) and this holiday was giving me pain and tears. I still miss my mom very much. I would love to tell her about my daughter and ask her advise. I want to ask her about my childhood and i want to tell her how proud I am of my child. I just want to tell her that I love her... But I can't. I even don't know where her soul is right now. She was a Muslim and she wanted to die as a Muslim. When I came to the States I met Jesus here. I gave my life to Him and I got Him as my Lord, Savior, Heavenly Father, Friend... And I witnessed to my mother and shared Jesus with her. She didn't change her mind. Every time I think about it, my heart aches. I can only hope she thought about Jesus before she died. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me". You can look at His words under any angle but the meaning is plain and simple: only through Jesus you can come to the Father. Jesus is not a fairy-tale story. He is not one of the many ways. He is not dead. He is real and He is alive. I've seen His miracles in my life. And my daughter is His gift. Thank you, Jesus, for this precious child that makes my Mother's Day into HAPPY Mother's Day!

Our homestudy is done

We are done with our homestudy and now working on our dossier. This second adoption takes less time then the first one. I think we are more organized now and we know how important it is to finish everything fast after you start it. The first time we had to do our medical forms twice. Now we DON'T want to do it because our medical bill is twice as much! And we would like to travel some time in the summer: Anastasia will be off from school and our new daughter will start this year in American school. Anastasia is very excited about her new sister. She has been asking about adopting a baby-sister for her for the last year. When we told her about it, she started screaming and jumping around. And of course, she had a million questions: what is her name? is she from Balta? how old is she? will they live in the same room? will she go to the same school? will they wear the same clothes??????? A lot of those questions were answered,"we don't know" because we are going for an unknown girl 9-10 yo. But we trust that God will show us our child in His time - just like it happened with Anastasia. We found out about her one week before our travel to Ukraine and she fits in our family perfectly. She has come a long way and now she is almost like a normal American girl. I wonder if she will be happy having a sister after living with her for a year! Ha-ha!

How it all began

The idea of adoption came to me (Svetlana) when I was a little girl living in Russia. I heard that there were children in orphanages and nobody loved them. I asked my parents if we could adopt a little brother for me (I have an older sister). My parents didn't want to adopt any children; life in Russia was hard. My mom said, "when you grow up, you can adopt if you want to". Later when I was in high school we had one day a week to try some jobs to see if we wanted to choose that career for life. One year I chose to be a nurse. We were offered to work at the baby house. When I saw all the children there, my tears stuck in my throat. Some babies were pretty healthy, some babies were sick, some had very serious disabilities. No, I couldn't work there. I would cry every day. That day I decided: when I grow up and if I have a good marriage I will adopt a child.
In 2002 I came to the USA and married The man of my life, Bob. We decided to wait for children. Then one day my sister in Russia became a widow with three sons and pregnant with #4. She wanted to get an abortion but I talked her out of it. I said that we can adopt her child and raise him as our own. I started to learn about adoption from Russia. When the baby was born my sister decided to keep him. But I was already "pregnant" with this idea. I couldn't just stop. We decided to adopt a baby from my hometown Volgograd in Russia. It would take A LOT of money. Bob suggested to pray that God would show us the right direction. So I did. The very next day one of my coworkers told me about an American missionary from Ukraine who visited her Sunday scohool about a month ago and talked about older orphans in Ukraine. In my head I was thinking "I want to adopt a baby from Russia and I will let somebody else to adopt older children from Ukraine". That evening I was working at home at my sewing machine (I am a seamstress) and I got a bad headache that grew in 5 seconds. It was God hitting me on the head. "Hey, I gave you the answer and you ignore it!" I got it then! The process of adoption from Ukraine was a little easier, faster and much cheaper. So, in February 2008 we brought our 10 y.o. daughter Anastasia from Balta, Ukraine. Our trip took exactly one month. We all got sick with a cold, Anastasia and I had an ear infection. Have you ever flown with an ear infection? I did! Bob and I visited my family in Russia during 10 day waiting period. On the way back to Ukraine I thought I was dying. I had a VERY bad pain in my ears and head. I thought my head was going to blow up right there in the airplane. So, we all went to the doctor and got all kinds of prescriptions. Three times a day I had to give out pills, put nose drops or ear drops or all together to everybody. I was very tired! And I was VERY happy to come back home. I was thinking " NEVER AGAIN! Never again I will go to Ukraine to adopt!" Guess what? Never say "never"! We are doing it again! We are in the middle of our paperwork. We want to adopt another girl (or two), a little sister for Anastasia. We are praying that God would bring us to our new daughter, that He would provide all the necessary funds for adoption, that we don't have any big road blocks in our process. God, help us!