Our 6th Visit With Slava

Sleeping went better last night and that extra hour was very nice. Slava-driver picked us up at 9am and we headed off to Borpka (Boy-ark-ah). They delivered Slava too us all decked out in snow pants, coat and hat, so out we went to play. It was a cool morning, but he was a bit over-dressed which is typical here. He loved the swing and the slide. Slava is a bit of a wild animal at times. He just throws himself down the slide or off the couch which gives Papa a heart attack each time! I will try to attach video of our playground time, but I am quite an amature with electronics and all my teenagers are at home! We had about an hour visit outside, and then some orphanage workers, along with about 6 children strolled by from another part of the playground. All the children were very inquisitive about us and kept waving to us. They were all under 5 years old. Then one of the workers called Slava over and he went in for lunch...end of visit. But we will go back again tomorrow morning.



We returned to our apartment and then strolled down the main street - Chrishettic or something like that...I've never been good with the name of this street. This main street, 6 lanes wide, is completely closed to car traffic on Sat & Sun. I finally got my husband into that Ukrainian restaurant across from TGI Fridays. It was very good. Then we hit the grocery store for some supplies, and walked back to our apt. I am feeling really exhausted today and wanted to just take a nap, but Jordan is always ready to go so no nap for me. We played Go-Fish several times, and I'm thankful I brought several Match-Box cars too. Last night he got a toy city bus which is making him pretty happy too.



We had church in our kitchen at about the same time everyone back home was in church. We listened to one of Jordan's favorite worship songs "You Never Let Go" and Papa brought the Word, from Genesis of course, and I prayed. Much shorter than our usual service, but honestly here I feel so connected to the Lord the whole time...like we're living out "pray without ceasing" daily. Or maybe it's because when you're surrounded by darkness you cling to the Light. Whatever you call it, we're walking with God moment by moment.



Ira called to say that Slava can bring us to the orphanage again tomorrow morning. She will take the subway/bus to City Hall. Her friend at the SDA said that our Interpol clearances are not in as of today, but tomorrow she will make us a favor and call (whoever runs the clearance) and try to get them to do it asap. So PLEASE KEEP PRAYING for the clearances to come asap and that we can have court by the end of the week. I will update again tomorrow on the status of all these things. We love & miss you all. Please leave us a message on the blog or an email. If you have Skype call us! We love hearing from home.
The internet is very sllllooooowwww tonight. It took forever to upload the video and it didn't work in the end. I'll try again another day.

Saturday, 1 Week Down

I had a better sleep last night, Wayne not so much. And we had no hot water in our apartment this morning...welcome to Ukraine. Slava-driver picked us up at 9am to go to Borpka. The drive was very pleasant because there was much less traffic than on week days. With traffic it takes almost an hour to get there, then we visit for an hour, then an hour back. But it's worth it to see our Slava. The weekend staff at the orphanage is different then the Mon-Fri staff. These people didn't know us and weren't to keen on letting us visit, but Slava-driver called Ira, and she called the Assistant Director who called the orphanage and said it was ok. So we finally got our visit. The Saturday staff didn't get the memo on how to dress Slava, so he came in really dressed as an orphan with gray tights, blue shorts, an old blue sweatshirt, and his pink sandles! He right away asked for a juice box which we presented to him, and he gave us a loud "spaaceeeeeeebah"! He has such good manners. He enjoyed batting a balloon around, throwing the football, and doing puzzles. He is very good with the wooden puzzles. It was a good visit. We will go back tomorrow again.

We returned to Kiev and met Vicki Hoodikoff and her kids Ally (12) & Stephen (9). They've been living on the YWAM property outside of Kiev on the Dnipor River where YWAM will build a University of the Nations. Vicki's husband was flying home from a DTS in Russia so we did not get to visit with him. We spent the afternoon at the YWAM property, enjoyed a great cup of coffee and visit with Vicki, and Jordan enjoyed running around and playing with Stephen. Vicki dropped her kids off at a youth party at her church, which we got a tour of, and then we took her to dinner at a Ukrainian restaurnt. The food was very good and so was the company. We picked her kids back up from church and then Vicki took us back to our apartment. It was a full and busy day for us which was good. We were very blessed to spend this time with the Hoodikoffs, and we will see them in NY in December! I don't think we will see them again here on this visit for they leave for the States next week, but we loved the time we spent with them today.

We just got a call from Ira telling us that in Ukraine they set the clocks back tonight 1 hour! That means an extra hour of sleep....if one can sleep. Tomorrow we will visit Slava in the morning, and then come back to the apartment for a restful afternoon. The weather was beautiful today, so hopefully it will be good tomorrow too and we will take Jordan to the playground.

Please remember to pray for our Interpol clearances to come thru on Monday and for us to get a court day on Thursday or Friday.

We love & miss you all. I'm hearing about all the delicious meals being delivered to our house, thank you all so much for providing for our kids at home. I'm thinking about when I come home maybe not telling anyone I'm home so the meals keep coming! :) We appreciate everyone who is pitching in, including our kids. This is really a team effort! And we thank our Lord for His bountiful provision both here in UA and at home. Good night for now!

Things Are Moving Along on Day 5

Brothers Pretending to Spot (sleep)

Papa helps Slava with his juice box!

We're still not sleeping well at night, but at least Jordan is. Thankfully we didn't have to rush anywhere this morning. We got up and wandered down to McDs for breakfast which wasn't bad, but still not like in the States. A couple sat next to us and started up a conversation, she's Ukrainian, he's Canadian, but they live in Pennsylvania - go figure. The have a ministry called "Love Cradle" and they help orphans, so it was nice to have a chat with English-speaking fellow believers! Ira met us outside our apartment so we could sign more documents. We headed back up the hill to the playground so Jordan could burn off some energy. Apartment living is not for him. Slava picked us up at 3:30pm to take us to Borpka. Ira was with him, but she didn't stay with us, she had to go to see the Inspector again.

Our visit with Slava was the best yet. We brought him a juice box & cookies. He absolutely loved the juice box. Slava-driver could only translate a little bit for us because his English is limited, but one thing he did translate was this: Our little Slava said something like, "I want to live in this room, you love me." We don't visit him in the big playroom. They now have a special small room for visits and that is where we must stay. Slava talks a mile a minute and even uses his hands. I wish I knew Ukrainian so I could catch everything he is saying. You may notice that he's always in the same clothes. I think it's because they are clothes we had sent him and they put them on him for our visits. Our visit only lasted an hour, but we will go back tomorrow. We have permission to visit on Sat & Sun which I didn't think was allowed. He kissed us all good-bye again, but Jordan isn't too thrilled about receiving kisses from Slava yet!

Ira says the process is going good. We have favor with the Inspector & the Orphanage Director. Please pray that we will have favor with the Judge also. On Monday Ira will go to SDA to check on the Interpol clearances. PLEASE PRAY that they are completed. PLEASE PRAY that we will get a court date for late next week. If that happens we should be able to come home on Nov 18th as scheduled. We just have to wait out the 10 days after court and Ira says they do count Sat/Sun so that is good.

I made verenicky for dinner which is like pierogies. They were very good. It's strange cooking for only 3 people! We miss home and everyone there. We love you very much and can't wait to come home with our little guy. So please keep praying! God is moving!

Answered Prayer & Another Prayer Request!

We got very good news from Irina today. The Inspector prepared the Conclusion today, all in one day, which Irina says she's never had done this fast before. Tomorrow she will deliver all documents to the SDA and we should have approval early next week. I believe she will also see our Judge tomorrow.

PRAYER REQUEST: The main thing we will wait for is our Interpol Clearance. We did not have to do this with our previous adoption. It is a new rule. When we sent our dossier we had to include copies of our passport and a signed document giving them (SDA?) permission to run this background check. We do not know when they started it or even if they started it yet. I'm not sure if the Judge will see us unless it is complete. Please pray that the clearances will be completed very soon. Ira says the process is going very fast so far, so please let's keep praying it will continue to do so.

Tomorrow we can visit Slava from 4pm-6pm since Ira will be busy with documents in the morning. Today we also had to have more $$$ wired. Prices to process adoptions in Kiev are more expensive here than any where else in the country. So a big "THANK YOU" to Kim at Wayne's office for making that happen! We look at it as investing in the Kingdom of God and know we are storing up our treasures in heaven.

Tonight I made macaroni & cheese for dinner. It was very good, Jordan ate 2 bowls! We skyped with family and now we'll head off to bed. Make sure you scroll down to the previous post for another update and pics from today! We love and miss you all.

God Is Moving!

Check out Jordan's Soviet Era hat! Wayne

took off the symbol when we got back to the apt.

Jordan at the playground. Check out the Christian fish symbol.

I did not see this symbol until I uploaded the pics onto the computer.

God is with us!

Not a good sleep, but a good day. We prayed all day long that God would open doors & make a way for Irina in Vasylkiv. She just met us downstairs needing our signature (& more $). As best as we understand she met with our Judge and he works also in Vasylkiv. It seems that he knows what to do and it won't take as long to do it??? Irina was hurrying off to the Inspector who had all our documents prepared and signed in one day! Ira says she's never had it done so fast before! Tomorrow she will submit all our docs to the SDA. When they are finished with them (about a week) we can then apply for our court date. She will call us tonight with all the details, but we are seeing this as answer to prayer! So thank you all for praying. And thank you, Lord, for moving mountains!

While Ira was running around we walked around town. We walked up the hill from our apartment and discovered a very nice playground! Jordan was thrilled. God is good. We walked on to "souvenier street" and did a little shopping. We then walked back to McDonalds, Wayne's favorite place to eat. We had lunch for 86 greevnahs which turns out to be $10 in US dollars. Eating McDs is cheaper here than home! We also discovered that they serve breakfast until 10am...they did not even have breakfast there 4 years ago. I have to work hard to keep Wayne out of McDs and into other restaurants. There's a Ukrainian restaurant that I was in about 6 years ago and I'm trying to get him to go there. Tonight I will cook dinner in our apt. I have discovered that I've been speaking broken English with a Ukrainian accent! I guess I've been talking with Ira too much!

Please keep praying for us and for the process to go quickly. Once we know our court date we know it will be 10 days from then that we can take Slava out of the orphanage. Then all we need to do is get his passport, process out at the US Embassy and we can come home! It is going much faster than it did 4 years ago. Thank you for your prayers. Keep praying. We love & miss you all.

Today Was A Busy Day

Slava Playing in a Cabinet

Slava & Ira picked us up at 7:45am. First we went to the Notary, not like a notary at home so much, but an office building full of notaries where they process documents etc. We waited in the hall while Ira typed up our Application to adopt Slava. After it was printed out and made official we signed it and headed off to the Inspector. Ira says the Inspector is a very nice new girl who is very helpful. We waited in the car and Ira came out and says "I love this Inspector" she allowed Ira to go to Borpka and get Slava's documents from the orphanage director without interviewing us. Ira tells her I am a good Mama and we adopted 3, this is a sibling and we have big family at home, and we need to save time in process. The Inspector said ok. So we headed to Borpka to pick up Slava's docs, but the director was running late. Since we had to wait an hour we got to visit Slava which we had not planned on doing. Slava was his usual busy self. We got him to say "Jordan". He still wanted to plug the tv cord into the outlet which is way up high in the wall. Ira told him it didn't work, but he told her that since the lights worked then the tv worked too. Smart boy! He also said something when he first entered the room. Ira translated it and said he said, "Ah, my Mama came to visit me!" He is a chatter box with very clear speech, if you understand Ukrainian! He spent a lot of time playing in a cabinet, opening and closing the doors and sitting inside of it. He uses his imagination very well.

When we finished there we headed back to the Inspector's office. Ira went in only. When she came out she decided she didn't need us, but she would head to City Hall and then the SDA. There is that issue with the documents. All of the kids' birth certificates use the Mama's married last name, but there is one document which uses her maiden name. We must have a document that proves she's the same person. Maybe a divorce decree or something? Ira is trying to find out how to handle it. The Inspector and the Orphanage Director do not know what to do. The orphange is busy, so they gave Ira power-of-attorney to go to Vasylkiv (where children were all born) to obtain documents and figure it out. I believe the Lord is giving us favor here with a good Inspector and the orphanage giving her POA. But we still must pray that the problem is solved because until it is we cannot submit these documents to the SDA. Once they are submitted to SDA then in about a week we can get them back and apply for our court date. After court date we must wait out the 10 days and then we can take slava home!

We returned to our apt and then walked to a pizza place across from TGI Fridays. Then we found a nice new grocery store nearby and did some grocery shopping. Wayne tries to rush me thru because he prefers to be in the apt, but one of my favorite things to do here is mosey around the grocery store. I guess when you are a professional grocery shopper this type of thing is a thrill! Tomorrow we might have the day off, so if we do we will walk to "souvenier street", I talked Wayne into it!

So please pray for the documents to be in order, and pray for a fast process! We did sleep slightly better last night, so thank you for your prayers there. We love you all and miss you very much. A big THANK YOU to all of you at home helping out with the kids there. We cannot do this without all of you prayer warriors and you helpers!

We Got Our Referral!

Slava-driver picked us up at 3:40pm to take us to SDA. Ira was held up with Inspector, so Slava went in with us. We used the side-door again, along with everyone else. I guess we're not that special after all! We waited more than 30 minutes with other couples and their facilitators. There appeared to be at least one other American couple adopting. One couple spoke Italian or Spanish and they liked Jordan. The lady gave him candy! Some things never change no matter what country you're in! Finally the lady arrived and we stepped up to the desk. We showed our passports, signed on the dotted line, and she handed over our Referral (which was actually a 1 inch think stack of documents). I assume maybe it's our whole dossier along with the Referral. We returned to our apt. Ira called to say they will pick us up at 7:45am because she got a special before hours appt with the Inspector for us. I'm not sure what all this includes, but it is the start of the process. Certain things must be filed before we can get a court date. Hopefully we'll know soon when that date is. Please pray that all documents and processing goes smoothly. Pray for favor with all officials that we must deal with: Inspector, Judge, notarys, etc. Pray for an immediate court date. the sooner the court date, the sooner the 10 day wait, the sooner we are home! Pray before you go to bed tonight because with the time difference we will be in the midst of it all while you are sleeping. While you're at it maybe you could pray that Wayne & I are able to sleep thru the night. We're still not adjusted to the time change, yuck!

Jordan is doing great. Hopefully he'll hold up well with all the paperwork run around tomorrow. It's alot of time waiting, driving, waiting, waiting, etc.

Thank you for your prayers. We would not attempt this mission without you all holding us up. We can literally feel the prayers and the favor of God. What we cannot accomplish in the natural, Jesus can accomplish in the super-natural. for with Him all things are possible!

We love & miss all of you.
Love,
Sandra (and Wayne & Jordan)

Our 2nd Visit with Slava

Wayne nor I slept well last night again, but thankfully Jordan is sleeping straight thru. At least I got to fb chat with Missy, Curtis & CC at 7pm your time (2am Kiev time)! Our driver, Slava, picked us up at 9:30am and took us to see our Slava. Jordan likes to chat our driver's ear off not realizing that he doesn't know much English! Our visit today was in a smaller room which was nice because it kept Slava closer to us. It had a bouncing horse which he spent a lot of time on. Again he devoured a banana and some cookies we brought him. He used his manners each time we gave him something always saying, pspaceebah - thank you. His speech is very clear. Our driver came in with us and he talked with Slava a lot. One thing Slava likes to do is throw toys and hit toys...very much like Jordan was in the orphanage. He did however, sit long enough to stack some blocks, knock them over, and stack again. He has good coordination and fine motor skills. He presents very smart. There was a tv in the room and he kept wanting to plug it in. He also discovered the antenna and kept wanting to play with that. His out fit was a crack up. He had on these blue over-alls with an orange fleece shirt, orange socks, and pink sandles. Jordan kept telling him that he had girl's shoes on! We told Jordan not to talk about it because they were prob his when he was there! The visit was over at noon and we headed back to Kiev. Wayne asked our driver to take us to McDonalds and we treated him to lunch. Afterward we learned that neither he nor his wife, Ira, like McDs! We'll have to go to a Ukrainian restaurant next time! In the States we don't care for McDs either, but in Ukraine it tastes very good. We're back at the apt for a while, then Slava & Ira will pick us up to go up to the SDA at 4pm to get our Referral. We need this document in order to proceed with adoption process.

Please pray that all goes smoothly with the paperwork. I'll know more by the end of the week how things are going. Pray too that Slava will bond with us. He and Jordan are not playing together yet. Jordan is off his game, a little tired maybe. And there still is the language barrier. I'm sure this will improve once we have Slava in our apartment. Pray to for Wayne & I to adjust to the time change and sleep better.

We love & miss you all. And maybe you could leave us a comment/message below! We love hearing from home!

More pics of Slava with his big brother!

This is not a good pic of either boy, but it's hard to get them both to sit still!

They're not really playing together yet, but that will come in time.
Be sure to scroll down to the next post for the whole story!

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE!

AND WE ARE REJOICING AND VERY GLAD!!!

Ira & Slava (driver) picked us up at 8:30am and drove us to SDA appt. We were the first ones there, but we didn't enter through the front door. We went to a side door and a woman saw Ira and called us right up the stairs. She sat us down and Ira stayed with us (this is not usually permitted). She talked with Ira and then thru Ira asked us why we want to adopt this boy. Well, duh...he's our son, we want a complete set of siblings....no I didn't say it, but I was thinking it. I answered that he is a sibling to our other 3. She and Ira chatted a bit more and we were back in the car in less than 15 minutes. Jordan kept asking if we could go see Slava, but I kept shushing him. Which is a good thing because Ira told us after that all the women at the SDA know English they just act like they don't. She told us everything is ok because the woman we met with is her friend. I guess it pays to have friends in the right places. Ira also had called the orphanage director on Sunday and got permission for us to see Slava today. Typically you must wait a day or 2 for your referral from the SDA, but we got special treatment again! Less then an hour later we arrived in Borpka. Jordan was so excited. He hopped out of the car saying that he remembered me picking him up at this place. Inside we were greeted by about 7 women who were thrilled to see "Sergiy"! They kept babbling on about him and smiling, he actually became a little shy. We headed upstairs to that all familiar play room where we first met Jordan. It seemed so strange being there again. then the door opened and in bounced Slava! He is smaller than Jordan, but just as busy. He ran from thing to thing to play. He recognized Ira and gave her a big hug. The staff had been telling him we were coming and he kept asking when. He has blue-gray crossed eyes and his hair is lighter than Jordans. he is very smart and talks very well. He ran by a mirror and stopped and smiled and said, "Slava!" Ira showed him the picture album we brought of the whole family. Everytime he saw a picture of Jordan he'd point and say "Slava". He devoured 2 bananas and 2 cookies. He's very polite and has manners too. When I handed him a cookie he took a bite and said "dobray" which means good! These first visits are a little odd because of the language difference, but he did hug me good-bye when he left for lunch. We may get to go back tomorrow or Wed for sure. Jordan did well with it and is already assuming the role of big brother. We returned to the apt and walked a long hike to TGI Fridays to celebrate. No we're snuggled in the apt waiting to Skype home. We love and miss you all. Keep praying. We are walking in a miracle. There are not many adoptions going on for foreigners anymore. The govt is giving money to families with children so less children are placed in orphanages. Plus more Ukrainian families are adopting. I believe these things are good for the Ukrainian people. But unless you want to adopt older kids or children with health issues this is not the country for you. Ira says as soon a word gets out that a healthy young child is in the orphanage they get snapped up right away. She said they had to "do war" every day and week for Slava and us because others wanted him and we are foreigners. I say if God is for us who can be against us? One small hurdle ahead is in the paperwork. The bio mother had a different last name when she had Slava, so some of the documents have one last name and some another. We will need to make a trip to Vasylkiv to get some documents. Please pray that all works out.

more Independence Square

See the post below for the details. It's a bit chilly here. I think I'll be purchasing a scarf tomorrow! We love & miss everyone. I'll post again tomorrow after our SDA appointment! Please keep us in prayer! Blessings to you all!

Independence Square

We venture out to McDonalds and walked around Ind. Sq. a bit. It being Sunday they close the main street to cars and you can walk up and down right in the road. Many people are out. It was chilly so we bought Jordan a hat and gloves then headed back to apt with coffee from Mc D's. The workers there all wear jeans with the M logo stitched on the back pocket.

We are very thankful for internet in our apartment. :)

WE'RE IN KIEV!!!

I'm amazed at the fact that I'm typing this from my apartment in Kiev. We were picked up at the airport by Irina & her husband Slava. What a joy to see them. Ira is the gal who worked with us last time. She really went to bat for us with that mayor guy. And her husband slava is a great guy who was our driver the whole time back then too. Ira and I went grocery shopping on the way to our apartment. We have a nice apartment near Independence Square. We all fell asleep around 7pm only towake up at 11pm and remember jet lag. Jordan woke up at 1am wanting to eat so he and I had cereal. He woke up at 8am and had cereal again. Then we all fell back to sleep until noon. I won't let anyone sleep now til tonight. Ira will meet us Monday morning at 8:15am so we can walk to our apartment at the SDA. Traffic here seems worse than it was last time, so walking will be easier. Please keep the appointment in prayer. It's at 9am Kiev time. If it goes smoothly we might even be able to go see Slava right afterward. Jordan keeps saying he misses the kids at home. He was an excellent traveler and made friends every where we went. Including the security check point at the Frankfort airport. Rest asssured his stuffed dog (art art) does not contain any explosives!

We are now about to head out to walk around Ind. Sq. and get Jordy some good old fashioned McDonalds. I'll try to upload pics next time. I couldn't figure out the interent in the apt on Saturday, but now today it seems to work. This is my 2nd attempt to blog because in the middle of it my computer did this wierd update thing and I lost everything....ah the joys of Ukraine!

We miss and love you all. Keep us in prayer!
Love,
Sandra, Wayne & Jordan

We're in Frankfort, Germany!

We left Albany on a VERY SMALL plane which to me was equivalant to a roller-coaster! Thankfully the flight was only 40 minutes, I prayed the whole way that I wouldn't get sick. We only had about a 3 hour lay-over in Boston where we boarded our Luftthansa flight for Frankfort. We were seated next to a very nice woman who was leading a tour of 35 people to the Holy Land. She just got back 2 weeks ago from a tour of Ireland, and she showed me pictures of that trip. I saw sheep on those rolling green hills. Very beautiful. Of course she loved Jordan and told him she'd think of him when she visited the Jordan River. He loved that. Our flight was about 6 hours long...long enough, thank you. Now we're in the airport here in Germany. We'll depart from here in about an hour for a 3 hour flight on Lufthansa right into Kiev! I am in awe of the fact that this is really happening. Jordan has been excellent. He's so excited. He slept for a good while on the flight and is holding up very well. Wayne & I are doing well too, but starting to feel tired. I can't wait to get to our apartment in Kiev so we can lay down and take a good long nap. Hmmmm, I'm looking out our gate and it appears that we will take a shuttle bus to our airplane?!? OOkkkayyyy.

So keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you updated. We're missing everyone at home already! Love & hugs to all of you.

We Leave Tomorrow!

I am amazed that the time has finally come. We leave for Ukraine in less than 24 hours!!! This morning Jordan woke up and said, "One more day!" :) Jordan's suitcase & carry-on are all packed. Wayne's suitcase is 99% ready & his carry-on is all set. My suitcase is just about done too, along with my carry-on. We just have last minute things to throw in there. They still need to be weighed because there's a 50 lb. limit! We don't have to be at the airport in Albany until around 11am, so we'll have time in the morning for those last items. And most importantly some last precious moments with the kids before we're off. I still have to make sure we have all the pieces and parts to our electronics: laptop, I-touch, my cell phone, Ukraine cell phone, digital camera, video camera, Jordy's DS, Wayne's shaver, and the all important power adapter. At least I don't use a hair-dryer!

Tonight's dinner will be my home-made pizza. The kids have Karate, but other than that we're all just going to be here together. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight!

Please keep us in prayer!

3 Days To Go!

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY, ANNA!

Last night we had a birthday party for Anna. Technically her birthday is Friday, but that's the day we fly out so we celebrated Monday night which was Wayne's birthday too! We had a soup supper with Anna's favorite - borsht! I made 2 other kinds of soup too cuz not everyone else will it purple soup!

Today my precious daughter-in-law came by to learn the home-schooling ropes. She will be helping the kids while we're away. I obtained travel insurance too. An email came from our facilitator saying that we do not have to worry about old bills vs new bills. The new style money is fine! At least that's one less thing to worry about. I still have more packing to do, but with a 50 lb per suitcase limit I'd better be done soon! We're only bringing 1 suitcase each, so I'm trying to pack smart...ha ha.
There are so many more details to tend to in order for our home to run smoothly while we're away. Wayne just reminded me that election day occurs while we're away, so he wants me to look into absentee ballots...it's not a presidential year, do I have to add that to my list, Honey? I'll look into it though.

I can't wait until I'm seated on the airplane so I can just sit and do nothing for a few hours!

Happy 5th Birthday Slava!

Today is Slava's 5th birthday! And in 6 days we will be in Ukraine! We won't actually get to see him until the 25th or the 26th, but he will be getting a family for his birthday! God is so good!

This is one of the most recent pics we have of Slava!

Yesterday Jordan had his appt with Dr. Carl. All was good; He's grown another 1/2" since his last appointment. He will see the doctor again in early December and will be scheduled for surgery for the end of the month. This surgery could be another lengthening one or it could be more involved. The coupling thingy is almost extended as far as it can go. When Dr. Carl goes in he'll determine whether there's enough room to lengthen it one more time or if the coupling needs to be replaced or it may even be time to replace these rods for longer ones. I guess we'll just cross this bridge when we come to it. Right now bringing Slava home is the mission at hand.

Yesterday I also went to Walmart and the grocery store...hopefully for the last time before our trip. I picked up the power adapter and some tapes for the video camera too. Last night Wayne & I did a little packing, mostly his stuff. Today we have a wedding to attend for a lovely couple from our church. Both Wayne Jr. & Curtis are groom's men and many of our friends will be there. I'm looking forward to having a wonderful evening out with my hubby! Missy & Sierra will hold down the fort. Jordan is hoping to have a "sleepover" in Missy's room. Last night Missy treated Anna to a special time with painting her nails, watching a movie, staying up late, and sleeping in her room. Now Jordan wants to do it too....minus the nail painting...I hope.

This time next week we will be in Kiev! Please keep praying for us and for Slava too!

8 Days Until We Leave!!!!

I'm swimming in an ocean of activity, but I'm getting somewhere! This is Slava's very own fleece blanket; I just finished making it. Every family member has one. My blankie travels with me everywhere. It's been to Ukraine once and it's coming with me again! A couple years back I made another one for Slava and sent it with a missions team going to Kiev. It did finally make it to his orphanage, but there are no guarantees he ever actually got it. Plus it becomes community property at the orphanage, so he wouldn't be able to take it home if he does have it.

Other than making the blanket, I've been trying to get all the bills paid so things don't end up late while I'm away. The bank is also trying to gather old style $100 bills because, according to our facilitator, the exchangers in UA don't like the new style bills. They're not used to seeing them. The old bills are not that easy to come by, especially the amount of them we need to bring :) I'm not going to sweat it though. Kiev is the capital city, I'm sure they've seen the new US currency by now! I've been getting the kids' school all in order, and next week my daughter-in-law will come over so we can go over what she needs to know. Welcome to homeschooling, Kerri! I'm very thankful she'll be working with the kids while we're away. Tomorrow is Jordan's appt with Dr. Carl. And we leave in 8 days!!!!!

This Crazy House

Life is a flurry of activity right now. I am amazed that we leave for Ukraine in less than 2 weeks! So far I've managed to do the bulk grocery shopping and arranged for 4 meals weekly to be brought in for the family while we're away. I am so thankful for the family and friends who are so generous and good to us. I just completed a letter giving my parents and grown son permission to make medical decisions for the kids while we're gone. This reminded me that I need to set up traveler's insurance for the trip, so now I must add an item to my "To Do" list. I did purchase a new camera so we can capture those first precious moments with Slava :) and my cell phone has been updated to work internationally. I've even managed to pack some items into our suitcases. I still need to get a European power adopter (since I can't find the one we used previously) & some blank tapes for our video camera. Jordan has an appointment with Dr. Carl on Friday. It's been 4 months since his last surgery and he'll need another one soon. It will have to be put off until we return from UA, but I'm wondering if the doc will want to change Jordan's cast. It's been on since June and it's a bit gross and maybe even a little small. We'll see on Friday if they take it off and put another one on until the surgery or if they leave it off and he just wears a brace until then. I'm not sure what would be best; I'll just leave it up to Dr. Carl. Birthday party planning is also in the works. Anna turns 11 on the 22nd (the day we fly out) so we're celebrating her birthday on the 18th which is also Wayne's birthday. It will nice to spend time with family before we leave.

And we also adopted a kitten. This was not on my list of things to do, but it showed up crying on our doorstep late Wednesday night and the kids welcomed it in. We've contacted every neighbor in our zip code and no one's claiming it is theirs. It's little, all black, very friendly, male, and litter box trained. The kids started calling it "Wayne" (guess they miss their big brother), but we've since changed it to "Gus". Daddy says they can keep it...shockingly...and so it's official. If only international adoption were that easy.

Life has been so busy that sometimes I almost forget we are going to get Slava. But the days are going by so fast and we're getting so excited. Please keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you posted.

Planning & Packing

Life right now is a flurry of lists, schedules, planning, packing, shopping, and anything else that pops into my brain. I've got lists for what to put in each suitcase, each carry-on bag, what to get at this store and that, and so on. I've laid out an Oct/Nov calendar for the kids who will be home and everyone who will be pitching in. We've got meals lined up, schedules planned out, appointments rearranged, and by this weekend the cabinets & freezer will be well stocked. I'm so thankful for the family that will be stepping up to the plate while we're gone. My parents, Wayne's parents, Wayne Jr. & Kerri, Missy & Curtis, my bro-in-law & sis-in-law, neighbors, etc. will all be on rotating schedules for being home with the kids, bringing in meals, carting kids to appointments, etc. Funny how it takes 10+ people to fill my little shoes for a month! Actually many of these people help me on a regular basis anyway! AND I AM THANKFUL FOR EACH ONE OF THEM.

We are counting the days until we leave (on the 22nd) and have our appointment (on the 25th). There is a chance that we will be able to actually see Slava on the 25th too. His orphanage is just outside of Kiev, and since we have a 9am appointment we might be able to squeeze in a visit. When we adopted Jordan from the same orphanage, we could only visit him Mon-Fri 10am-noon.

I asked our facilitator if it would be possible for us to have accommodations with internet access. I haven't been looking forward to dragging Jordan into those internet cafes. Last time we were there (and we were a spectacle since we had 4 kids with us ages 10-17), we attracted a little too much attention to ourselves. One fella started off friendly offering to be a translator for us. We politely refused because we already had one (though not for down times like internet cafe visits). Then he started asking for money for his sick mother's operation. We tried parting company, but he followed us around Kiev. We kept ducking into stores, but he'd be outside when we came back out. We didn't want to go back to our apartment until he was gone. We ended up going into a "coffee shop" and having cocoa and resting for a bit. Finally he was gone and we never saw him again, but it was a little scary. And Jordan is very social, so keeping him quiet anywhere will be a challenge! Our people have promised us internet in our apartment. It will be so nice to be able to update this blog, email, skype, and facebook all from the comfort of our apartment. Thank You, Lord!

My head is swimming with all the things that need to be tended to. I will update as often as I can until we leave. Life is pretty crazy. Wednesday nights are in full swing with Fife & Drum practice for 3 kids, flagging for 1, and Missionettes & Royal Ranges for most (including me since I'm teaching a precious group of 7 kindergarten girls)! Thankfully His strength is made perfect in my weakness. I cannot do this without Him. Nor would I want to even try.

We Booked Our Flight To Ukraine!

I feel like I've just taken a huge step forward. Our flights are now booked! We leave from Albany on 10/22! We will fly from Alb to Boston to Frankfort arriving in Kiev on 10/23. That gives us one good day to rest and then off to our appointment on the morning of 25th!

Counting the days until our long awaited meeting: 24 days until we are with Slava!

Please keep us in your prayers as we plan for travel. And keep Slava in your prayers too since his life will be changed forever :)