Music Tames the Savage Beast

This is the day we picked Slava up from the orphanage. From L to R is one of his care-takers, the assistant director of the orphanage, & Irina. Slava & Jordan are surrounded by some of the children in Slava's groupa.

Sierra & Slava creating musical fusion (Sierra's idea).

Today was a long day, but now that we're at the end of it I somehow feel...encouraged. It's probably from all the prayer going up for us I'm sure. Slava was up and down in the early morning hours most likely from the time difference still. But he really didn't get up until 6:30am and we sat in my bed while he contentedly listened to Papa's I-Pod for about 15 minutes. Then we headed to the kitchen where he placed his order, "Kasha (oatmeal), banana, molako (milk)." Just like that, he listed off what he wanted to eat! Then we preceded to try to follow the routine we started yesterday which did seem to help. He can actually sit and pay attention to a task as long as you get him to sit down and help him with it. Of course the day was full of discipline and correction too. Especially after lunch when I was trying to get him to have some quiet time. We battled it out, but he actually settled down and fell asleep. His first nap since the orphanage! As much as I enjoyed the 1 1/2 hour rest, I was concerned that he wouldn't go to bed early. I did however notice that his behavior was a bit better for the remainder of the day. He also made a new discovery - Sierra's piano. She kept him busy for quite a while as she played and he sat next to her fingering the keys too. He loves music and it seems to soothe him. We're still dealing with his naughty word problem, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe he's really not using it as a bad word but a silly word. When he's in the midst of laughing and having fun he starts saying it. We've decided to ignore the word for a few days to see if, when he doesn't get a reaction from us, maybe he'll stop saying it. Curtis, our 18yr old son, commented that he will most likely forget the word when he loses the rest of his Ukrainian language as he learns more English. I hope so. And he did go to bed rather easily. He actually laid down on the kitchen floor around 7:30pm and said, "spot" (sleep). So we turned on the Ipod, turned off the lights and I laid down with him. He rocked a little and in 10 minutes was sound asleep...no battle at all. I stayed there for a while praying for him and enjoying the moment.

I want to thank Jenn, who commented on my last post. I really needed the encouragement and to know we're not alone. I too have pondered how Slava's behavior with us is much like our behavior towards God while we are lost in sin. But Jesus came to set us free and by His blood we are adopted into God's family. We receive new life and learn and grow as we walk in it.

So we appreciate your continued prayers for Slava and for us. Jordan is still having a tough time. He tends to act up, I guess because his life has now changed almost as much as Slava's. I look forward to the day when they can play together. Slava seems to like Jordan and says his name all the time. Tomorrow I'll go out for a couple hours for a much needed hair appointment. Wednesday Jordan must see Dr. Carl and he's actually due to have surgery again the end of December. My parents offered to come and help while I go out for these appointments. They've been such a big help and we really appreciate it. Today my Mom showed up with a big pot of home made chicken soup. (Thanks, Mom). Thursday Jordan also has an appointment with the pediatric dentist and I'm bringing Slava (and Andrii for help) with us so the dentist can have a look at all those rotten baby teeth. Other then these necessary appointments I don't plan on leaving the house if I can help it. Slava really needs consistantcy and time to settle in.

It's sort of shocking to me that I left for Ukraine in October and now people are buying Christmas trees upon my return. I guess I'll have to do most of my Christmas shopping online and I plan to keep the decorating and other activities at a minimum. My daughter Sierra turned 14 last Wednesday, so we're going to have a "small" family party...small for us is still pretty big for most people though! We are just over joyed to be home even with all this craziness. And the kids are thrilled because their Christmas vacation has already started! Bonding with Slava trumps text books!

One Tough Cookie

Four years ago we brought home 3 children from Ukraine. This week we brought home 1 kid who is 10x more difficult than 3! He is very smart and very manipulative for a pint sized 5 year old. Yesterday was a very difficult day for us. I went to bed last night at 8am after spending part of the evening in tears. Slava hits the floor at 6am and goes nonstop until about 7pm. It's like utter chaos and we cannot let him out of our sight for even a second. Every time we correct him he just laughs at us. I've been crying out to God for wisdom, discernment, and HELP. We cannot do this without Him. Somewhere about 3am this morning while I was trying to get Slava back to sleep, the Lord spoke to my heart: Assume your position of authority and Slava will learn love. It was that simple but it has made a difference already. Also I realized that the first 5 years of Slava's life was regimented with no freedom. Everything and every day was structured right down to when he went to the bathroom. Since we took him from the orphanage he has not had any schedule to speak of and more freedom than he's ever known. These 2 things combined have caused a lot of his bad behavior. So this morning we began to establish a routine within reason. One that will work with our family/school schedule. And we began to make sure that we win every single battle...he must submit to our authority. This is a very draining process but one that must be followed through with. We discovered that he does have a reasonable attention span since he can sit to use markers, play dough, and certain things that we worked with him on.

As I said, he's very smart. Today as I was making him lay down for some quiet time he pulled every trick in the book to get out of it. He asked to go to the bathroom, to eat, and pleaded for help from anyone within ear shot. Then my mom walked into the room to see if I needed any help and he sat up, held out his arms, and cried, "Babushka, Babushka!" As if to say "grandma, help me!" He is one smart, tough cookie! But Mama won this battle because he was not permitted to get up until he sat still long enough to satisfy me.

Tonight I was greatly encouraged by a visit from my Pastor's wife (they have 5 kids adopted from Ukraine) and my friend Laura who was a missionary to Ukraine for many years. For some reason I've been very emotional lately which is quite unusual for me. Their visit and encouragement was a great blessing to me as well as the support from my neighbor, friends, and family. It seems as though we need just as much, if not more, prayer now then we did when we were in Ukraine. Also Jordan is having a tough time of it. So much of our time and attention are going toward Slava and his behavior issue, plus Slava isn't at the point where he's fun for Jordan to play with yet. So please keep him in your prayers too.

WE'RE HOME!!!

Our last night in Ukraine was very challenging with Slava. He has not had a nap since we took him from the orphanage, so he's pretty over stimulated and over tired by the evening. We had to go to the US Embassy to pick up his visa and there we met 2 other Christian families picking up their children's visas too. One family had been there 8 weeks and the other just under 4 like us. We were thrilled to walk out of there knowing the only thing left to do was hop on the plane to come home. Our friends, Stepan & Oksana, stopped by around 7pm to say goodbye. They were able to teach us some important Ukrainian phrases to help us with our wild child. And they confirmed what I'd been suspecting about him. We'd noticed he often said this one word, with a devious smile on his face, and we didn't know what it meant. After a while I started suspecting it was a bad word. And I was right! He was so out of control Wednesday night and nothing we tried seemed to help. Stepan & Oksana both spoke to him and he seemed to understand, but nothing we do (time-outs, stern voice, hand swats) works, he just laughs at us.

We left our apartment at 3am rejoicing that we were going home. Our flight to Frankfurt was only 2 hours long and Missy & Wayne sat next to Slava (we drew straws and they lost....only joking!) Jordan and I sat a few rows back with a woman who was also returning from an adoption, but her husband was bringing their boys home after the 10 day. During that 2 hours I realized that much of Slava's behavior is very similar to Jordan's 4 years ago. Only Jordan wasn't a swear-bear! Well maybe he was but since he was only 3 no one could understand him! Anyway I felt encouraged because Jordy is now a very loving, kind, and gentle (but still busy) boy. The other revelation I had was regarding what to do with his naughty word issue. And I got this idea that maybe good old fashioned soap in the mouth might help. During our 3 hour layover in Frankfurt he decided to use his naughty word (which he repeats several times while looking at us) and since I didn't have soap with me I used an anti-bacterial wipe. He did not like the taste of this! I had Missy explain to him that every time he said that word Mama was going to clean his mouth with it. I sat next to Slava on the 8+hour flight to Washington DC, but Wayne, Missy, and Jordan were just across the isle from us. This turned out to be a blessing because 2 of our tickets were several rows ahead and not even together. The flight attendant had them sit with us in the very last row because she said whoever had those 2 seats probably would prefer to sit farther up and trade with us. But no one ever came so Missy and Jordan stayed with us! I know people were praying for us because Slava did amazingly well the entire trip. When we first boarded in Germany I handed him the ear-phones and showed him the jack and the outlet and I turned on the music. He spent the entire first hour just plugging them in, taking them out, plugging them in, etc. When the meal was served he ate, took his "sleepy cocktail", went to the bathroom, and fell asleep. Well, sleep came after we went about 10 rounds with the bad word and the anti-bacterial wipe. Don't worry, I only wiped a little on his tongue and it was just enough to make a point. Missy reminded him that every time he said it Mama was going to do it. He then slept for 2 hours, woke up and Papa took a turn sitting by him. All in all he did very well. When we landed he asked me "do doma" which means "home?" I had to explain that we had one more air plane to go. When we landed in DC I was concerned that it would be a mad house and all the flights would be delayed because of Thanksgiving. When we arrived at Immigration (to sign in our little immigrant) there were only about 8 people in line in front of us. We flew through there, customs, rechecked our luggage and found our gate very quickly. And the airport was practically empty! During the trip Slava showed signs of bonding with us which is also an answer to prayer. He wanted me to pick him up and when I did I cradled him like a baby. He said "LaLa" which means "baby". So I made up this little song "Slava-LaLa" and he loved it. I had to keep doing it during our layovers and he's still asking for me to sing it. Our flight to Albany was on time and we even arrived 15 minutes early...so early that our family hadn't even arrived at the airport yet! All in all it was an emotional trip. On the flight to DC when I saw the map on the screen which shows the location of our airplane I started to cry. Wayne thought I was overwhelmed with Slava, but I said, "no, look, we're more closer to the US than we are to Europe." And when we landed in DC I must say there's no greater feeling than landing on American soil...plus we could read all the signs at the airport! Thank you all for praying for our flight home! Your prayers were answered! Slava spent the rest of the evening exploring his new home and we ate our Thanksgiving dinner. We had many visitors who were as excited to see Slava as we were to see them. When I laid Slava down in his bed he pretended to be a dog, probably because he met our family pup, Kashi. It didn't take long and he settled right down, started to rock a little bit, and fell sound asleep. I'd asked Andrii if he'd sleep with him because Mom and Dad were so exhausted and we really needed a good night sleep in our own bed. Slava got up around 2:30am to go to the bathroom and we made sure he knew it was NOT time to get up. He went right back to sleep and slept until 6:30am. We all slept well and it was a good thing because Slava was nonstop all day. We've opted to skip the naps and just put him to bed at 7 or 8pm. After a day of exploring, time-outs, lots of eating, some more "anti-bad word" wiping, lots of Slava-LaLa singing, and a bath which his big sister, Anna, enjoyed giving him, he's finally asleep. He barely made it to 7pm. He discovered Papa's I-Pod and head phones and started walking around listening to some good Christian music. He kept announcing "music-a" and even wanted me to sit next to him while he listened. Then he went over to the couch, laid down, and fell sound asleep listening to Third Day. We carried him off to bed and Andrii offered to bunk with him again tonight. They share the same room, but this way if Slava wakes up Andrii will be right there; At least until he gets acclimated. So now I'm off to spend some time with my big kids before I head to bed myself. Jordan is spending the night next-door at the Anderson's. I think he needed a break from the whole thing. Until Slava settles down, learns some English, and learns how to play, it will be hard on Jordan. Jordan so much wants to play with Slava, but Slava doesn't know how to play. So I guess that's yet another prayer request.

We cannot thank you all enough for all of your prayer support every step of the way. I've got more pictures to post and so much more to share. I will continue to blog our adventures for those of you who would like to continue follow it. Good night, and God bless!

It Is Finished!

We finished the process at the American Embassy by picking up Slava's visa and the other documents that we must present at Immigration upon arriving back in the USA. Now we just watch the minutes go sloooowwwwly by as we wait for 3am to come and Slava picks us up one last to take us to the airport. Our flight leaves at 5:30am for a 2 hour flight to Frankfurt via Lufthansa. Then we fly Lufthansa again to Washington DC. From DC we fly United to Albany where whe should arrive at 6:20pm on Thanksgiving Day. Please pray that all flights are on time and we have a clear path home. And pray especially for Slava to travel well. He certainly is a non-stop ball of energy! He loves music though and can keep a beat. We've been putting him in time-outs and he's learning to count to 10 in English. The only problem is he does not listen to us, the more we say "no" the more he laughs. We called Irina last night to ask her what the Ukrainian words are for "no hit". He hits things with other toys, he hits himself, and he's tried to hit us when we try to put him to bed. Ira says that in the orphanage the staff use a loud stern voice when correcting the children and they know to obey. So we've been using the sternest sounding voice we can, but he laughs at us anyway. To a certain extent I remember Jordan being alot like this, so we hope that Slava will learn fast. He can be so cute at times and he's very smart. We just want to get him home so we can really get down to the business of training him.

So this will be our last post from Ukraine. I might be able to post from Frankfort or DC but I cannot promise. But I will post as soon as I can from home! Oh home, how I miss you! We love you all and can't wait to see you all State-side. Thank you for your prayers!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Oh What A Night!

Slava slept through the night with much tossing and turning. I did not sleep through the night because everytime he moved I made sure I had a firm grip on him. He was wide awake at 6am and so were we! Missy made us kasha (oatmeal) for breakfast which was very good. Big Slava & Irina picked us up at 9:30am to go to the American Embassy while Missy & Jordan remained at the apartment for a much needed rest. It felt good to jump the line at the Embassy since we are Americans and had an appt we went right in. We were in and out in 15 minutes with no problem. We just have to go back tomorrow with our medical conclusion and we can pick up Slava's visa. After this trip to the embassy we took Slava to the American Medical Center (we appeared to be the only Americans there). He had a routine check-up since the orphanage took care of all the blood tests for us. They handed us a sealed envelope with the medical conclusion in it which we must give to the embassy. We were back in the apartment by 1pm. After lunch we tried to put Slava down for a nap (in the car he said he wanted one)! Again it took 2 hours and much restraining and he still did not sleep. He laid still for awhile, but never surrendered to sleep. I opted to accept this as enough and let him get up. Jordan suggested he take a "ko-pot-ee" bath because he smelled like the orphanage. Missy asked Slava if he'd take a bath and he gladly said "da" yes. Presently both boys are playing in the tub under Missy's watchful eye. I wasn't so sure we'd need Missy since we're only adopting one child, but Wayne really felt she'd be helpful. Not that I didn't want her to come, I just thought we'd do fine. But she is worth her weight in gold and has earned her traveling expenses and then some! She communicates well with him and can tell us what he is saying most of the time. And I confess, it takes all 3 of us adults to keep up with this 5 year old!

When he's up he's a very busy boy. He can get out of hand, so we've been using time-outs. I'm not thinking spanking will be a good option with him because when we're trying to get him to sleep he hits himself. This is why we've had to restrain him. I know that often orphanages will give children something to help them sleep for naps during the day and at night. I don't know if that was the case with Slava, but I'm wondering if he's used to having something to help him sleep since he cannot seem to settle down on his own. Like I said when he's up, even though he's busy, he is cute and funny. It's just trying to get him to sleep. I have a little something up my sleeve for tonight. We all really need a good nights sleep since we will be leaving the apartment at 2am on Thursday morning (7pm Wed your time) to head to the airport. We are so thankful to finally be coming home, but we are not looking forward to traveling with this child.

So please continue to pray for us. We really need God's wisdom and grace in dealing with Slava. When he's awake he's very much like Jordan was, full of energy and into everything. But Jordan was 3 and Slava is 5. Jordan didn't present as aggressive. We never had to restrain him to get him to sleep. But it's only the 2nd day. And we are praying for him and asking God to help us. Please continue to pray for him and us too. And pray for our flight home too. We thank you all and love you all very much. Slava is out of the tub and on the loose, so I must go!

VICTORY IN JESUS!!!

We picked up our Slava today. He was very excited to go with us. We got to go upstairs to his groupa and we brought him his new clothes. As he was changing, right there in the hallway, he said that his Mama loves him because she brought him new clothes. We snapped some pictures, left a bunch of goodies for his groupa and headed out the door. We returned to the apartment where he explored every square inch.

I left at 4pm with Irina to try to get the passport. Traffic was very heavy due to many roads closed. Ind Sqr is the scene of this huge protest because the govt just raised taxes. It took us an hour just to get to the passport office, then we waited there for over an hour....but we walked out with Slava's passport! Praise God! Then we enjoyed an hour of traffic back. I returned to the apartment and a very exhausted Missy & Wayne. Slava wore them out. He never had his afternoon nap which is mandatory in the orphanage. Now Missy & Wayne are trying to get him to sleep because after this blog post I must complete several documents for the embassy tomorrow morning.

We go to the US Embassy, then the American Medical Center, then back to the Embassy with the medical documents. On Wed we pick up Slava's visa from the Embassy and that is it, mission accomplished. We will be home on Thursday! For Thanksgiving! This is truly a miracle! Thank you to all of you for praying us through this process and home. From this point on the blog posts will be short and sweet because Slava never sits still. I will make sure once we get settled in at home to continue sharing our story. Please continue to pray for the bonding process. Slava seems to do pretty well with us, but he is still very wild. He does not want to settle down and sleep. We are very thankful to have Missy here because she can translate much of what he is saying and talk to him. He is learning English, we are learning Ukrainian. We love you all and our hearts are fulled with thankfulness for your prayers and for our faithful Lord!

A Long But Very Good Day

Today we went to see our Slava in the morning. Missy was a big help with the language and Slava enjoyed her company as well. We shared the little room with a Ukrainian woman who was taking care of a baby about 2 years old with special needs. I don't know if she was them mother coming to visit or if she was maybe going to adopt. I have seen her in the room previously, but this time we shared it the whole time. Thankfully our Slava was pretty well behaved. He enjoyed the bubbles again, a banana, and looking at the picture book. It went pretty well, but if he starts to get wound up, watch out because he has a hard time stopping once he gets started! Missy taught us a new, very helpful word - "tee-ha" which means "quiet"! We use it a lot with Slava!

After the visit our driver, Slava, took us to the Vinetzia on Rusanifka (the YWAM base). Missy was very happy to connect with many people she knows and Jordan enjoyed playing with Stepan & Oksana's little girl. Oksana and I prepared dinner in the big kitchen along with some other ladies. I was mainly in charge of my chicken dish which seemed to be enjoyed by everyone. We were very blessed to meet several Ukrainian dentists and even one American dentist and his wife. There was also an American couple there who just flew in yesterday (on Missy's flight) who are here to adopt a 14 year old boy they've hosted. They had their 10 year old son with them and Jordan enjoyed his company very much. I also enjoyed speaking with a couple lovely Ukrainian gals who are part of the Word of Life base in Kiev. They asked me if I've heard of Word of Life in Schroon Lake! I had no idea that Word of Life had a base here. They do summer camps, winter camps, etc. They were very nice Christian girls. We returned to our apartment very full, very tired, and very blessed.

While we were out Irina called to say she thinks it best that we pick up our Slava tomorrow! They will pick us up at 9:30am and we will go to the store to by cookies, candy, and bananas for Slava's groupa to have a party. Then we will go to Borpka for the last time and pick up our boy! Now we must Slava-proof our apartment! We are very excited and a little nervous. Please pray that all goes well. That he will trust us and feel comfortable with us and not be scared. Also please pray that we get his passport tomorrow...Tuesday morning at the latest. The timing of this will determine if we will be on that plane on Thursday. Please pray for a mighty move of God, again on our behalf. We so much want to come home to our family, 4 weeks is enough! Thank you all so much. We love & miss you and can't wait to be home with you!

Our Daughter, Missy, Arrived in Kiev!

Today we spent a lot of time in the car! At 9:20am Slava picked us up to go to Borpka. We arrived just as our Slava and his groupa were heading out to play. We walked out with them. All the children are always very excited when they see us and one little girl took Jordan by the hand! We play in a seperate part of the playground to have time with just Slava. He enjoyed the swings again and the bubbles were a big hit too. Slava even wanted Wayne to pick him up so he could swat at the ones floating up high. This is a good sign, it shows he's really beginning to trust us. He even sat on my lap for more than 3.5 seconds! When I started to bounce him on my knee he loved it and didn't want me to stop. At one point I was standing up and he came over and told me to "sid-I" - sit! Then he hopped on my lap for another bounce. I also took the opportunity to pray over him while he was on my lap. Two good visits in a row...we are very thankful!

We left Borpka at 11:30am to head to the airport to pick up Missy! We arrived there at 1pm and waited for about an hour. We were thrilled to see her, especially Jordan. He keeps saying, "I love you, Missy". We finally returned to our apt at 3pm and took Missy to "Soho Pizza" and then she and I walked up to the market for some supplies. She's already a big help in the store since in order to purchase milk, butter, cream, and certain other items you must ask the woman behind the counter for them. I usually stumble through, but Missy knew right what to say...in Russian! Jordan was very blessed because dear friends from home sent him some gifts. A huge THANK YOU to Carrie & Gregg for the Legos and the nerf guns! And to Brandon & Lizzy for the cards and candy. Missy also brought us some Ranch dressing which is a basic staple in our house back home! She brought me some good shampoo & conditioner for my hair, but I think it's beyond help. The water here makes my hair like straw!

Tomorrow we will go visit Slava again and then head to the YWAM base for dinner prep. We settled on a chicken recipe that I have, but it calls for blue cheese. They are having a hard time finding it, so we may have to make due with some other kind of cheese. I just hope the chicken turns out delicious and that the doctors will be blessed by the meal. We are looking forward to this time with Oksana & Stepan.

Please continue to pray for us and especially that we get that passport. We have an appointment at the US Embassy on Tuesday at 10am, but we really need that passport! We will either get Slava on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. So please pray for him too. His whole world is about to change which can be scary for a 5 year old. I keep praying that he will trust us and feel comfortable & safe with us. Thank you all for your continued prayer support. We miss you and can't wait to be home for TG!

A Good Visit With Slava...finally!

Last night Irina called from the bus on her way home from a long day of doing battle for us. She didn't give me all the details, she even said she didn't understand it all, but after the tax office giving her a hard time even though they had all info...finally everything was sent to the passport office. Now the central passport office has everything they need to process Slava's passport! Please pray that we have his passport on Monday! The rest of last night we just hung out in the apartment working on our John Bevere Bible study while Jordan got his fill of the Disney channel.

Today Slava picked us up at 9:20am and we headed off to Borpka. It was raining but we were prepared to play with him outside. They let us play in the little room though, thankfully. Big Slava left us to fly solo again, but it went well. Slava was happy to play with an empty play dough can he'd found and was stuffing little blocks into. Then he bounced on the horse and laughed as Jordan and I kicked the little soccer ball back and forth. When he started to get antsy I pulled out my secret weapon - bubbles!!!! I blew bubbles for a half hour straight and emptied the bottle, but he loved it! I would blow bubbles and he and Jordan would try to catch them. Then he wanted Wayne to pick him up so he could catch them. Wayne siezed this opportunity to pray over him while he held him (our other secret weapon)! Then he set in one chair and Jordan sat in another and he would call out "Jordan" for me to blow bubbles at Jordan, and then "Slava" for me to blow bubbles at him. It was a very good visit and we walked out greatly encouraged. I have one more bottle of bubbles for tomorrow too.

Now we are back in the apartment for the rest of this day. We are still waiting to hear from the Embassy. Please pray that we get an appointment with the US Embassy for Tuesday. We're not sure what will happen for tomorrow. Hopefully we will visit Slava in the morning and then go straight to the airport to pick up Missy, please pray for her safe travel.

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep I was listening to my I-Pod. Anyone who knows me knows that though I have hundreds of songs on it, I really only listen to Misty Edwards (ihop) & Kim Walker (Jesus Culture). But somehow this song popped onto my screen that I'd put on my ipod prob a year ago and forgot all about. I don't even know how it came on the screen, but when I played it I was blown away for I knew God was speaking to me. The song "Spirit of the Sovereign God" is from the Brownsville Revival and is basically Isaiah 61. Here is some of it:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come....

I encourage you to read the whole chapter, it's excellent. Truly the time of the Lord's favor has come!

So please continue to pray for us and the process. We are counting down the days until we are home, it should be less than a week now. But we must have that passport & embassy appointment. We love and miss you all! We can't wait to see you soon. We've been keeping up on news from home and are praying for many of you as we hear of your needs. Please feel free to send us your prayer requests too!

A Day of Rest For Us...

...but not for Irina. She called this morning to say she was very busy running around for us, and she didn't need us with her. Before the passport can be processed the passport office needs to receive certain things from the tax office electronically. Irina took care of it all on her end but she's going back to the tax office to make sure they send it to the passport office. Please pray that it does because we really need that passport on Monday! She also needed Slava as her driver so we will stay put today and not even go to Borpka to see our Slava. I asked her how the trip back in the car was with him. She laughed, but I don't think she was laughing last night. She said the whole time he kept wanting to get out of the car. He doesn't understand and was worried that he was going to have to sleep in the car. He wanted to go back to his bed. He asked to use the bathroom (yeah right, 6 lane highway in bumper to bumper traffic)! She had big Slava pull over and told little Slava...there you go, you must go here if you have to go. Little Slava declined the offer! Then at one point he somehow got the door open, while the car was moving, and gave Ira a heart attack! Somehow he even tore her skirt in the process. Wow! If he can manage all that when they clearly speak his language, what is he going to pull on us when we bring him home? I'm glad he won't be able to open the door on the air plane...I hope! And I'm very glad I packed the children's Benedryl! Night, night Slava...see you in NY!

So we walked up to the market for water & toilet paper. For some reason toilet paper doesn't go as far here. I think they put much less on a roll. We go thru like 1 roll per day and it's just 3 of us! Then we walked to the "macys" store to purchase Slava's coat. The fleece jacket I brought for him will not be warm enough for when we pick him up. All the other clothes I brought from home appear like they will fit him. We ate our main meal of the day in the food court of the underground mall. We've been eating "toast" for breakfast most mornings. We make it by buttering bread and frying it in a pan since there is not a toaster in the apartment. I found some really good jam to put on it too. Friday we will hopefully visit our Slava and then on Saturday we'll visit him in the morning and then pick Missy up at the airport! After we visit him on Sunday we will go to the YWAM base to help Oksana & Stepan. They are preparing a "thank you" dinner for the doctors who volunteer on the dental truck ministry. Oksana called and asked me if I could help her with ideas for something different to prepare for the meal. There will be about 25 people in all at the dinner. I think she figured since I cook for a crowd at home that I'd know what to do! I'm blessed to be able to help, plus my cooking skills are getting a bit rusty! I emailed home for some recipes I think might work if all ingredients are available here. Oksana will purchase all the food, but I will help her prepare it and then we will all eat together. Most of the dentists are from Ukraine, but there is one American dentist and his wife who will be there too. Many of them speak English, so it should be a fun and interesting day. I look forward to the opportunity to serve and bless these people. Please pray that they will enjoy my cooking!

So that's about it for today. I must say it's kind of nice to not have to spend the day in the car! Please keep praying that everything will be in order at the passport office and that we will have Slava's passport on Monday. Pray too that we get that appointment for Tues at the US Embassy, I'm still waiting to here from them. Keep Missy in your prayers too, she will be flying out Friday morning by herself. And of course, keep praying that we will be home on Thursday! Thank you all for your faithfulness to pray for us. As we've said before, we would not do this without you or our faithful Lord. God bless you all! We love and miss you too. We should be home in 1 week!!!!!!!

Our God is an Awesome God!

Today we visited the Notary to make our application for Slava's passport. After that we went to the central passport office in Kiev. Irina went in alone and then came out to say the girl in there is very nice. Another new law requires that we get some document from the passport office in Borpka since that is where Slava's residence is. However, the office is only technically open on Tuesdays! The girl in the passport ofc in Kiev called ahead to her friend in the office in Borpka and she agreed to let Irina into the office and help us. While we waited the hour we enjoyed a nice lunch in a cafe in town. We had Solonka which is a soup with something that looked like little hot dogs cut up in it. It was very good. And then there was this episode of me, Jordan, and the squatty-potty that had us belly laughing but I'll spare you the details! Back at the passport office Irina got our documents. Then we got to pick up our dear little Slava for a whirlwind ride to the central passport office in Kiev for his passport photo. He actually did pretty well in the car. He was thrilled with all the "machinas" on the road and all the "lampas" (lights) since it was getting dark. It probably was his first ride in a car. We got his picture taken for his passport, but then Ira learned that now the application has to have a photo of him on it. So we quickly found a place to take his picture. We had to get his picture taken for his visa anyway so we got that done too. Then since we were in Kiev and it was 5pm rush hour traffic, Ira & Slava dropped us off at our apt and they made the long drive back to Borpka to return our Slava to the orphanage. By this time he was sitting on Ira's lap instead of Papa's. She and big Slava carry much authority since they speak his language. We prayed for them anyway since it will be a long ride back in traffic with a bouncing little boy. The good news is Irina is hopeful that we will have the passport on Monday (please pray that we do)!

Yesterday while Irina was at the tax office she felt like she should stop at the SDA and check the bulletin board where they post important info regarding adoptions. There she learned that very soon international adoption will cease in Ukraine. They urged all families in the country right now to notify their embassy that they are here and at what stage of the process they are in. Ira says we should be fine since we already have our birth certificate and will have our passport soon. But for other families who are not so far along this could be heart breaking news. Luda, another facilitator on our team, currently has an American family who have been here 8 weeks and they are not as far along as we are. This might not be good news for them. Apparently 8 weeks is the new average in country time according to Irina. So we see how God has been moving on our process in ways we did not even know to pray. If we did not come now, we might not have ever been able to adopt our Slava and our kids would not have their biological brother. And God is very merciful to get us out of here in 4 weeks instead of 8. Thank you, Lord!

We contacted the US Embassy to let them know that we are here and almost finished. We requested an appointment with them for Tuesday 11/23 to do the final step in the process so we can then come home! Please pray that we get Slava's passport on Monday and that we can go to the Embassy on Tuesday. Our return flight is scheduled for 5am on Thursday 11/25 and we'd really like to be on it!

Irina does not want us to pick up our Slava until we have his passport. She says there is a family here now who took their little girl right at the end of the 10 day wait and she got sick and has been in the hospital for 3 days. Orphanage children are very regimented and once you take them they get off their sleeping/eating schedules, and the change in diet and all can make them sick. She does not want this to happen to us, so she says to wait. Of course this did not happen when we took our other 3 kids, but we will wait until Monday as Ira suggests. She has been facilitating adoptions for 10 years and before that she was a school teacher. This year she started taking classes at the University because she may need to find a new job soon since adoptions may be shutting down. At lunch today she shared with me her idea of bringing Ukrainian students to America for 2 weeks in the summer to stay with families and learn the culture, and then bringing American kids to Ukraine to do the same. It reminded me very much of what Dawn does with the Japanese exchange program. Not orphans but teenage students with families building relationships with American kids and families. She's excited to talk more about it with me after our adoption. I even volunteered Melissa to help with the program! Oh how I would love to bring my friend Irina to the States for 2 weeks to take care of her as she has so graciously helped us.

Thank you for faithfully praying for us. And we thank our faithful Lord for answering. We are in awe of how He has moved on our behalf through this whole process. God accomplishes His purposes! ...so please keep praying!

Miraculous News!!!

Shortly after I finished the previous blog post, Irina called with very good news. She just obtained the registration/identification number! We got it in less than 1 day when they said it would take 5! God is good and He is moving on our behalf. After talking it over with Irina, and our travel agent, we decided to book our return flight for 11/25, Thanksgiving Day! .....if that's ok with everyone? I mean, the family will have to leave their pumpkin pie and come pick us up in Albany at 6:30pm. We will fly Missy over on 11/19 anyway; we really want her to come.

So keep praying for us. We still have to obtain that passport and we'll know better about that tomorrow. We don't know exactly when we'll get our Slava from the orphanage yet. Honestly we're a little nervous about it, so you can pray about that too. And pray for Melissa to have safe travels too. We can't wait to see her on Saturday! Keep praying us home for Thanksgiving! And thank you all so much for your prayers. I couldn't imagine doing this without all of you behind us and the Good Lord with us! Make sure you check the post below for previous details!

SLAVA JOSEPH FLACH - It's Official!

And we have the court decree and the birth certificate to prove it!

We left our apt at 8am to go to the Judge at 8:30am. They don't open until 9am, but Irina wanted to be first. She went in while we sat in the car. She called our Judge on the phone and she came out and escorted Ira in even before they were open. She waited there 5 hours yesterday for us, I think she deserves to be first today too! We successfully got our signed court decree and headed off to the birth cert office in Borpka. For some reason even Ira does not understand we had to start there even though Slava was born in Vasylkiv and we had to go there. The woman in Borpka was very nice and Ira got her to fill out more of our paperwork so we'd have less to do in Vasylkiv. Ira does not like Vasylkiv, she says it is like they are their own country and make up their own rules. From here we headed to Vasykiv. While we waited for the birth certificate we enjoyed a nice Ukrainian lunch. Then Ira headed back to the birth cert office to pick up the birth cert. She even ended up entering all the information into the computer for the lady in the office to make it faster. We walked out of there with the new birth certificate with Slava's new name and our names as parents. We chose to keep his name "Slava" (actually his birth name was much longer with slava mixed in). But "Slava" means praise/glory in Ukrainian. We chose Joseph for his middle name because of Joseph in the Bible (he was taken from his homeland but God had a plan for his life) plus there's this missionary to Ukraine that we know who we're quite fond of!

We left Vasylkiv and headed back towards Borpka to go to some other government office to do something about changing Slava's name on his registration number (something like a social security #). As with this whole process it's 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. Apparently with the new computerized system this new step was added. We didn't have to do this step 4 years ago. And with their computers there is a little issue with the fact that his new name won't be understoon by the system??? They said it might take 5 days!!! Ira told them she wants it in 1 or 2 days. So we will see. After that, Ira took the subway to the tax office in Kiev and we headed back to the apartment. This tax office step is new also and it's all because the new passport system is all done electronically so everything has to be changed in order and electronically.

Tomorrow we go to the Notary at 9am to make the application for the passport and whatever else is needed. Our heads are spinning with all these steps in the process and all the days being added. We won't know our return date for sure until Ira goes to the passport office tomorrow and we also have to see about that registration number computer issue. Today we have to reschedule our return flights. Originally we were to return home on the 18th, but that will not happen. Ira thinks it's safe to say that it will only be 10 more days at the most and she's trying to get it done in less. But we just don't know. We've decided to send for Melissa. We know she really wants to come and it will bring us great joy to see her and have her here with us. Plus we can use all the extra hands once we take Slava out of the orphanage! We're not sure what day we will actually get him, prob by the end of the week I assume?

So please keep praying for us. It is possible that we could be home on Thanksgiving, for with God all things are possible. Please pray that this registration # issue will only take a day or 2 to resolve and that the passport will take less than 5 days. And then that's it...we're outa here! Well we'll still have to go to the medical clinic and the US Embassy, but that only takes a day or 2 all together.

We did not go to see our Slava today because of all the paperwork. Hopefully we will see him tomorrow, but there will still be alot of paperwork to do then too. So we'll see. We love & miss you all. Thank you for the prayers, we could feel them being answered today.

A Trying Day

We were up and ready at 8am when Irina called to say she'd decided to go straight to the court and see the judge. So we waited. We waited until 2pm when she finally called to say that the Main Judge (not the one who did our hearing but the one whose signature we need) reminded her of the Law which specifies that if the 10th day of the 10 Day Wait lands on a Sunday, then you must wait another day. Like that Sunday didn't even count! Ira knew this law but tried to get it for us a day early which didn't work. We are allowed to have it on Tuesday, so we go tomorrow with Ira to get it. To pass the time waiting to hear from her we walked to TGI Friday's to eat our 1 main meal for the day. It was very good. On the way back we did some grocery shopping at the bigger market for some things we needed that the smaller market near our apartment doesn't have. Everything here is in miniture size compared to home. I can't wait to go to BJ's and stock up on everything in mega-size!

Slava picked us up at 3pm to head to Borpka for our evening visit with our Slava. No one seemed to be around when we got there so Big Slava went looking for the staff. They sent us upstairs to a room where Slava and his groupa must have been doing some class or something. As they all came out the women oggled Jordan and the little children wanted Slava's Mama & Papa. We followed them back downstairs and the whole time all these little 3 and 4 year olds kept chattering about us. We knew because we kept hearing them say "mama" and "papa". Big Slava left us alone in the little room with our rambunctious boy. At first I thought this was good, we've got to learn to fly solo sooner or later. The visit started off well enough. This time I brought a small orange instead of a banana. But as soon as I gave him some, he spit it out, handed it back and said, "kaka." I guess that's a universal word! Ok, no more oranges. He wanted me to pick him up so he could play with the light switch. I was happy to be able to pick him up, but when I put him down he grabbed my hair with both fists and proceeded to pull...hard! The more I tried to loosen his grip and sternly say, "no", "Neyet" the more he laughed. When I finally got loose, I grabbed his little hands and slapped them (not hard but enough to make a point). He laughed some more. I backed off and let Papa take over. Shortly after that he came up behind me, while I was sitting on the floor playing with Jordan, and he pulled my hair again! This time I picked him up and made him sit on my lap which lasted a whole 5 seconds. Jordan and I started rolling a ball back and forth trying to set an example of proper play. After a bit, Slava did sit down and join us. These visits can be so difficult. I feel like he's testing us because I'm sure he cannot get away with pulling the hair of the staff ladies. And when big Slava is with us, if our Slava starts acting up, he corrects him and he obeys. So I think he's testing us and trying to figure us out. We really don't know how much he understands of what's happening. Maybe the aggression is partly because of that too. We just can't wait to get him home on our turf and really begin parenting him. He needs so much love, compassion, and training. At these orphanage visits we have no real control. I feel like I reacted the wrong way maybe by slapping his hands. Now I'm even worried he'll say something to the workers and I'll be in big trouble. Oh how we want that court decree and birth certificate so we can get out of Dodge...er Kiev. We left the orphanage very discouraged, tired, and so very ready to be done with this whole process.

So we ask for more prayer yet again. We really need God's grace to do this, we are at the end of ourselves. We know that God knows our needs (here and home) and though it appears that nothing got accomplished today, we are trusting that our God is moving on our behalf. Please pray that Tuesday will be a successful paperwork day: that we will have favor with the Judge, birth cert office in Vasilkyv, and the passport office. We are trying to not grow weary while doing good, but we can't do that in our own strenth either.

This morning a song we sing in church was running through my mind even though I couldn't remember all the words. I could hear Bruce's voice, the name of the Lord is like a strong tower, the righteous run in and are.......we go out in victory......if someone knows all the words maybe you could email them to me. Thank you.

Beautiful Sunday

Today is a beautiful sunny day in Ukraine. We didn't even need our coats because it was so warm. We had a very nice visit on the playground with Slava this morning. While there I met a family from Virginia also adopting a boy from Slava's orphanage. They are also adopting a boy from another orphange, so these 2 boys will make 7 children for them. My heart feels for this family because they have been here 8 weeks. It sounds like they are having some difficulties similiar to what we went through in Vasylkiv 4 years ago. We will be praying for them. Our visit with Slava was good. We brought a small soccer ball which we actually purchased as a gift for someone (sorry Ezra it will be a bit used). Slava belly laughed every time Papa & Jordan kicked the ball to each other. We were trying to keep Slava low key because when the lady brought him to us she had many insturctions for us (which we couldn't understand) but big Slava translated the best he could. Basically she told us not to let him run around...yeah right!

After the visit we met Irina at the Zoo. Jordan had a great time looking at the animals and riding on some rides. We were disappointed that her son could not meet us, he had some math competition that he was in. The zoo had lots of animals to see, but Ira told us a sad story about it. She said last year several animals, including the elephant, died because someone put poison in their food. She said since the zoo is located right in the city some people would prefer the valuable land be used for something else. Very sad.

We took a taxi back to our apartment. Our taxi driver looked only about 18, but he did a good job. We are very tired from a good busy day and we're settled in for the rest of the day. I questioned Ira as much as possible about the rest of the process. She will pick us up on Monday at 8am so we can go to the Notary to make the application for Slava's passport. Then at 10am we meet the Judge to pick up our court decree (please pray this happens). I asked Ira if we would be home for Thanksgiving on the 25th, she said she will try. She will know better after she speaks to the man in charge of the passport office. She says some things are not possible, but already the impossible has happened for us. I told her that with God all things are possible! She agreed! God has blessed us with a very good team working for us here. We would not want to do this without them.

So please keep praying for us. Specifically that we will get our court decree on Monday, that we will get the birth certificate and other documents asap (like on Tuesday), and for a miracle that the passport would not take 5 days, and that we will be home for Thanksgiving!!!

Thank you & we love you all!

Saturday Swingers!

It finally uploaded this picture for me! Be sure to read the blog post below this one for Saturdays details! We love you all!

Two Days Left to the 10 Day Wait!

I love watching the count-down dwindle down. It seems like time stands still here. We are anxious for it to be Monday so we can begin the marathon week of finishing up the process. Today we went to see Slava in the morning. It was another sunny mild day here, very unusual foro this time of year...but we love it. It makes play-ground time much more enjoyable. Slava was his usual rambunctious self. He loves the swing and slide, but then wants to bang on things with whatever "tools" he can find. We gave him the toy plastic hammer, but this time he broke it beyond repair! We keep taking things away from him when he gets too rough. Sometimes his behaviour is very discouraging, but then I remember what Jordan was like at this point. He was a toy thrower too. In fact, I remember him dumping out a bucket of about a billion legos that Laura sent over to our apartment for Andrii. After Missy & Joc picked them up for the 2nd time we sent that bucket right back to Laura! Then Jordan had this obsession with tipping over this table that was in the "living room" of our apartment. It was about the size of a card table but very heavy. We kept telling him "no"! Finally on the night before we were to fly home he managed to tip that table right over (while I was on the phone home) and smashed his big toe to smithereens! Missy, Joc, and the other 2 kids were at Laura's apartment, so it was just me and Jordan. He screamed so loud and long that I thought for sure the secret police would come take me away and I'd never get home! We couldn't even put his shoe on the next day for the flight home. Now Jordan is a loving, sweet boy. Yes he's a little loud and very busy, but pretty well behaved compared to how he started off. So there is hope for Mr. Slava! Jordan & Big Slava delivered him back upstairs to his groupa at 11:30am. Jordan managed to go where we are not allowed in the orphanage (except that day I chased Slava up there). I wonder if he remembers the place? He doesn't say much.

After we returned to Kiev we walked up to "Souvenier St." for something to do. I enjoy looking at all the stuff, Jordan wants to buy everything he sees, but it pushes Wayne right over the edge. So now we are snug in our apartment at 4pm ready to call this day done. We can't wait to get up in the morning so we can say that it's the last day of the 10 day wait. We will visit Slava again in the morning, and hopefully do something fun with Irina and her family.

We are praying that Monday & Tuesday will be days of great accomplishments in finishing up this process. Please keep praying for us. I hope it's safe to say that we should only be here 1 more week at the most. We really want to be home with our family for Thanksgiving. We love & miss you all so very much. Thank you for your prayers. We would not want to be here without them. Our God is faithful! We would not even attempt this without Him!

TGIF & Only 3 Days To Go...

Well 3 days left until the 10 day wait is completed. Actually since here the day is almost over we can start saying 2 days left. We're getting there. Today we hung out in the apt until about noon,then we walked up our street to this little market we found. While in there I discovered it's a bit bigger then we thought. Now we can get just about everything we need right up the street. The bigger store we had been going to is all the way up (or down) Kryshettik, and it's a pretty long walk for Jordan. We met Ira around noon and she walked to the bank with us since we were desperate for funds again. She had waited in the courthouse all morning but the Judge is very busy. She went back after taking us to the bank and was finally able to proof-read our court decree. She's not sure if we can pick it up on Mon or Tues? The 10 days will be up on Sunday, but she said sometimes you have to wait one more day? That would make it 11 days not 10. As far as I'm concerned we should be able to get it on Monday! She also got someone in Vasylkiv to open up the birth certificate office but they need to know what day we will be there. We should be able to go Mon or Tues depending on when we get the decree. There is some other paperwork that needs to be done too, but the whole thing makes my head swim. One encouraging thing she said was that since we need to pay for more days for our apartment we should only pay for 5 days instead of 10.
Slava picked us up at 3pm and we headed off to Borpka again. I think we've visited with Slava more than we visited with our other kids. It was a good visit overall. He loved the toy tools again but got rammy with them and we put them away which he did not like. Wayne made paper airplanes but he wasn't very interested in them. He liked the happy meal toy until he threw it and we took that away too. He enjoyed a clementine and half a banana and a juice box. At least he knows we will feed him! At 5:30pm we had our hugs & kisses and said "paka". At this point we do not know what day we will be picking him up. We will see him Sat & Sun in the morning.
Tonight I'm making Verenicky for dinner. Wayne found a motorcycle race on tv, it's a European race but it works for him! Tomorrow after our visit with Slava, if the weather is still nice, we will walk to souvenier street again for something to do. Sunday we may go to the circus or the zoo with Irina and her 14 year old son, Alexander. We told her we'd like to meet him plus it would be good for Jordan since he's missing his big brothers so much.

Please keep praying for us. God is showing us some things and speaking to us through the Scriptures which I will elaborate on later. Right now we're waiting for and believing God is moving to bring us all home soon! Sorry there are no pictures for this post, I'll try to do better tomorrow! We love & miss you all so much! Come on folks, pray us home! :)

Today We Rested & Visited Slava

Today we enjoyed a quiet morning relaxing in our apartment. Wayne got his courage up and walked alone down to McDs for egg mcmuffins. I'm pleased to report that he returned safely and in one piece! We did some reading, school with Jordan, and several rounds of hide-and-go-seek!

Slava picked us up at 3pm to head to Borpka. We had a very good visit with our Slava. He enjoyed the toy hammer we brought and he learned that if you bang too hard with it, it breaks into pieces. But big brother Jordan came to the rescue and snapped it back together! Every few minutes it would fall apart and Slava would call for Jordan to put it back together. It was very cute to see them interacting. We had bananas and sok which he seems to really like. I also brought a big picture book from home and he actually sat long enough to look at the pictures. He pointed and jabbered away in Ukrainian as he looked. Then we brought out some stickers and he had a great time with those. I don't think he's ever seen stickers before because he really didn't know what to do with them. So we resorted to sticking them all over Papa! My last weapon was another one of those happy meal toys that barked. He really likes this and took it with him when the visit was over. The took him back at 5:30pm; we had our hugs and said "paka" and the visit was over. During the visit one staff woman came in and gave Jordan a big hug. After she left Jordan said, "I don't know why that lady keeps coming in here and doing that." He takes it all very well. I explained that maybe she took care of him when he was little and she remembers him.

We returned to our apartment and tried out a Potato House restaurant across the street. We just had baked potatoes which were pretty good. Now we're in for the night. While we were gone the tv people came and now we have a bunch of channels, more than we have at home even! Ira called to say she will visit our Judge tomorrow to proof-read our court decree. She likes to make sure there are no errors in it when we pick it up on Monday. We will also make an application for Slava's passport, but the processing if it cannot occur until we have the new birth certificate next week. Tomorrow looks like it could be a busy day, so we're thankful that we had a quiet day today.

Some random thoughts: Slava is left handed like Jordan & Anna. We pass a cement plant on our way into Borpka. McDs french fries taste better here than they do home. We see car accidents everyday (mostly fender-benders), Jordan knows about 10 Russian words now, I don't get car sick in Ukraine, and that's all I can think of for now.

Thank you for following our blog and especially for the prayers. Tomorrow we will make the decision on whether or not Wayne returns on the 18th. So please keep praying that the paperwork next week will all come together and all the obstacles will be rolled away. We love & miss you all!

Our First Home-Cooked Meal in 3 Weeks!

Jordan & Lena

Slava "hammering"

Thank you all for praying for us, today was a much better day. The weather was a balmy 60 degrees and the sun was shining! We had a very enjoyable visit with Slava outside on the playground. He didn't find anything to throw, but he did find a little plastic rake which he proceeded to use as a hammer on everything he could find to pound on. The visit was good and we had fun. We returned to Kiev, had lunch, and walked down Kryshettik to the 5 floor "macys" so Jordan can look at the toys. He did swindle us into buying him a little battery powered red light to use with his toy cars, and I found a toy tool set complete with hammer for only 50 greevnah ($6.25). Slava is going to have a wonderful time tomorrow! We rested back at the apartment and then walked back down Kryshettik to meet Step-han from YWAM. He took us back to his apartment via the Metro (subway) which totally thrilled Jordan. For some reason Wayne didn't have the same reaction to the Metro as Jordan did...go figure! LOL. Step-han's wife, Oksana, prepared dinner for us. Our first home-cooked meal in 3 weeks! It was delicious: brown rice, chicken in tomato sauce, fresh veggies with ranch dip, pickles, and apple cake for dessert! Jordan was very happy because they have a 4 year old daugher, Lena. They had a wonderful time playing together. Wayne & I had a wonderful time talking & sharing with Step-han & Oksana. They want to have us over again before we leave and they want to meet Slava. They are a wonderful Christian family and we are very thankful for their hospitality. God is good. Step-han drove us all the way back to the apartment since the traffic at 10pm was much lighter! We are very tired, but very happy. Tomorrow we will rest in the morning and then leave to visit Slava at 3pm.

Ira says on Friday we can make application for Slava's passport, but we can do nothing else until we have the court decree which we can pick up on Monday. We were a bit discouraged to learn that the notary office where we need to make copies of the decree is not open on Mondays. And the birth certificate office in Vasylkiv is only open on Thurs & Fri, but Ira is trying to find someone in Vasylkiv to open up on Tuesday or Wed for us. I feel like, here we go again with all the obstacles blocking the way home. Please, please, pray that all the obstacles will be removed and we will have a clear, express lane out of here. Our hearts long to be home with our family. We miss you all so very much.

Iron Mama & Wild Child

Jordan is not the "wild child" (this time)!

We had an exhausting day! We walked down to McDonalds for breakfast to make Wayne happy. Then we had to return because Ira called and the tv guy was coming. We are desperate for tv at this point. Slava picked us up at noon to take us to the WWII museum which is located under the Mother Russia statue which we fondly refer to as Iron Mama. From there we hit the grocery store and tons of traffic, then off to visit our Slava. Big Slava did not stay with us for this visit because he said he had to go to the passport office (???? we are praying this has to do with Slava's passport????). At first we thought it would be a good thing to be alone with him again, but the boy was non-stop. Every toy we tried to play with he just threw (so we promptly took it away) or he used as a hammer to pretend he was hammering the wall. This got us in trouble with an orphanage worker who came in and told us to be quiet because they were trying to get the babies to sleep - at least I think that's what she said :) Then Slava discovered the sink and wanted to wash his hands for like 15 minutes. These visits are more difficult than they are enjoyable, it's sad to say. We have no control as parents yet and feel like we're being watched by the staff. We cannot discipline, other than saying "no" or "sit" and removing toys. When Big Slava is with us at least he can speak the same language and little Slava obeys. And I forgot the juice boxes in the car and the whole visit he kept asking for "Sok" which means juice. He even ransacked my backpack because he didn't believe my "no Sok" story. That will be the last time Mama forgets the sok! And to top it all off, Jordan was acting up. I think he's vying for our attention while we're trying to interact with Slava. The whole thing is very draining. We can't wait to just get him home where we are in charge and there's a million things for him to discover.



Today Irina told us that we need to visit the orphanage everyday during the 10 day wait. Apparently families are supposed to visit 2x per day. It's fine if we only go once per day, but we can't skip a day. When we visit is recorded in a book. The purpose of the 10 day wait is so if anyone wants to appeal the adoption they can do so during the 10 days. We're not concerned about family members appealing, but Irina said that there were people "interested" in adopting Slava. So we must do everything that we are supposed to do so we don't have any issues.



Tomorrow we will visit Slava in the morning, so we will all be on the playground weather permitting. Ha, no toys to throw out there! LOL. Then we are to meet some YWAMers, Stephan & Oksana and take the metro to their place for a visit. They are friends of our friends and graciously offered to spend some time with us. Stephan runs the Dental Truck for YWAM and visited our home church not too long ago. It will be nice to spend some time with fellow believers as well. That should get us through the half-way point of the 10 day wait!



Please continue praying. Pray for our visits with Slava to improve, for Jordan's behavior, for the rest of the 10 days to fly by and that no one will try to appeal the adoption, and for a very fast process at the end...we need that passport asap!



We are thankful for all of you supporting us and praying for us. We are thankful too for good health, good weather (near 60 today), good apartment with a washer & internet, good travel, and a good team helping us here.



We love you all and miss you soooo much.

3 Days Into the 10 Day Wait

Today we had a slow moving morning, then we took Jordan up to the playground. He likes it, but there were only small children there today since all the kids his age are in school. We walked down to the underground mall and had pizza for lunch and some pretty good potato pancakes. Slava-driver picked us up at 3pm to take us to see our Slava. Along the way we had to stop off and drop some documents off to our Judge. We had a pretty good visit with our Slava in the small room. He really interacted well with us today. Now we have him saying "good" and when he really gets into it he yells "goody goody"! He likes Slava-driver too. He stays with us often which helps with communication. Our Slava calls him "DA-dah" which means nice man/uncle. I just hope little Slava doesn't think that Mama, Papa, and Da-dah are adopting him! Then Jordan hopped on Papa's back to ride horsey style. Slava loved this and hopped on too! It was very cute. Little Slava's time clock kicked in just before 6pm because he started pointing at the door and intently telling Slava-driver something. So we had our hugs & kisses and said Pa-Ka (bye bye) for now. We returned to our apartment about 7pm to have tea and relax until bed.

Tomorrow Slava-driver might take us to see Iron Mama (huge statue of liberty type monument of mother russia) and the WWII museum. Wayne hasn't been there, but I visited it about 6 years ago. It will be something interesting to do with Jordan to help pass another day.

We're waiting on making a decision about Wayne returning home early. His business is really busy and they just bid on a big job. If they get it then he will have to return home, but if they don't then he will stay the duration. We should know by week's end. Wayne & Slava have a great connection and it would be best for Slava if Papa were here when we change his world forever. Jordan will remain either way because that will be best for Slava too we believe. It's much less scary when there is another little kid in the picture with you. I remember how Jordan cried when we were dropped off at our apartment the day I picked him up from his orphanage. Suddenly it was just him and this strange lady trying to drag him into a strange building. I had to carry him in and we both cried the whole way. But when we walked into our apt and there was Andrii & Anna, he calmed right down and was fine after that. And they had never met each other before that moment. If Wayne must return home, then our daughter Melissa will fly over to help me.

Please keep us in your prayers. Things are going well really, but we feel the need to be home with our other kids, work, and all those responsibilities awaiting us. We love & miss everyone. Please leave a comment, email us, or fb. We love hearing from you!

Quiet Sunday

We went to the orphanage this morning and played outside with Slava. The weather was pretty nice, so it was enjoyable. Slava enjoys the slide and the swings. He especially likes the big slide where Papa catches him at the bottom. We just have to make sure he doesn't jump off the top! He likes to copy whatever Jordan is doing, so we're trying to keep Jordan low-key...ha ha. Slava found a little green plastic toy he proceeded to use like a hammer. He pounded on everything! I think he will be pleased with our toys at home because we have an abundance of toy tools! He also found a piece of rope and a piece of wire that he pretended he was hooking up to something and working. He has a really good imagination for an institutionalized child. He says "Papa", "Mama" and "Jordan" very well now. Today he was counting in Ukrainian as he climbed each step up the slide. He was also singing a counting song while he was swinging on the swings. He's a very smart boy! We will go back tomorrow afternoon for another visit.

After our visit we returned to the apartment. We had Slava-driver come up and look at our tv. We thought maybe we were doing something wrong because now we don't get any channels. Irina sent over the movie Cars for Jordan, but after about an hour the movie wouldn't play in my laptop because it kept skipping. Bummer. We had him do some school instead, but that was not a big hit either. I wish I'd thought to pack movies :(

We are still praying about Wayne returning and Missy coming over. We're wondering if we should send Jordan home with Wayne. But I'm wondering if that will go over very well with Slava. He's used to seeing the 3 of us together (he interacts alot with Papa) and if I pick him up and it's just me he might not be too happy to go with me. We're asking the Lord for wisdom and His will. I like trips where you know when you arrive and depart. This not knowing when you can return home business is not fun at all! I guess this is where trusting God comes in, right?

As I type this everyone back home is in church. Hopefully the kids will Skype us afterward. Here it is almost bedtime. That means when we wake up there will only be 7 days left to the 10 day wait...but who's counting? I AM! Please keep us in prayer. We love & miss you all!

Saturday in Kiev

Today we sort of took a day off from the adoption process. On the weekends we can go to the orphanage only in the morning, and since we just went last night we decided we'd take it easy today. So we headed out to walk around the city and see some sights. There was something like a parade going on on the main street, Krishetyc (I'm getting better with the name). It reminded me of Veteran's Day because there were soldiers, old army jeeps, a drum corps, a marching band, etc. It was something to see anyway. We also purchased a coat for Jordan because the fleece we brought for him may not be warm enough for the rest of the trip. I'll have to get a coat for Slava too because we only brought a fleece for him, and the women at the orphanage will have a heart attack if we only put that on him when we take him! We went to TGI Friday's for lunch and then grabbed some groceries. I have a great time walking around the city, but Wayne has a nervous breakdown! City boy he's not. Give us 38 Fares Rd. any day!

We are still praying and considering if Wayne will return home early. Our daughter, Missy, can get the time off of work but our friend, Joc, cannot. We're also considering having Jordan return with Wayne...maybe. Jordan is doing great, but it's a bit boring for him. It gets dark here at 4pm, so from about 3pm on we're in the apartment unless Slava has us out at the orphanage, then we get to stay out until almost 7pm, wow! Wayne & I are content to just rest & read, but Jordan needs to be entertained. He's got toy cars, school work, and we've played a million games of go fish. He even takes a bath just for something to do! He's going thru "kid withdrawl" he misses his siblings & friends. Now the tv is not working at all, so we don't even get Russian cartoons. Ira is looking into it. And I failed to pack movies to watch on the laptop :( We asked Irina to suggest some things we can do with him since we don't know what there is out there. She is looking at getting us tickets to the circus for maybe tomorrow. The next 8 days (of the 10 day wait) can be a little slow since the only thing we really need to do is visit Slava at the orphanage. This we love doing, but it can get monotonous for Jordan. After the 10 Day things will pick up again as far as the running around goes. I pray it will be a fast down hill trip home!

So please keep us in your prayers. Pray for Jordan, for our decisions regarding who stays and who comes, for the next 8 days to go super-fast, and that the final part of the process will go miraculously fast as well, we need that passport in record time, and oh God - please get us home for Thanksgiving!

We love & miss you all!

Love,

Wayne, Sandra & Jordan

TGIF, What's The Difference, All The Days Are A Blurr

After a grueling day yesterday it was very nice to have a slow, quiet morning. Then the power was out in our building and we got to walk down 6 flights of stairs. We took Jordan to the playground. He is really getting antsy in the apartment. After lunch we walked back up 6 flights which is good exercise for us (I can feel the burn by the 3rd floor!). Thankfully the power was back on even if the elevator isn't. We met Irina in the lobby to sign some documents. She said that someone would be coming to clean the apartment today which is inlcuded in the price! WOW. We also inquired about the TV. We hadn't bothered to even turn it on for several days, but then one day out of desperation we turned it on and found cartoons (in Russian but we were thrilled for Jordan). The next night we turned it on and stumbled upon the Disney Channel in English. We don't even get this channel at home (by choice), but again desperate times call for desperate measures, so Hannah Montana bring it on! But alas, that was the last day we had ANY working channels. So Ira is working on that too.

Slava-driver picked us up around 3pm to take us to Borpka. We much prefer visiting in the afternoon because then we spend time with Slava in the little room which means he must interact more with us. On the playground he just runs around. Slava-driver left us there to deliver some documents to the Judge, so we had no translater which actually I think is good because it forces us all to communicate. We brought a toy from Jordan's Happy Meal which looks like a robot spider but barks? Slava spent alot of time just listening to this toy. Children in orphanages are on a strict schedule. Just before 6pm Slava began telling us something and acting like he must leave the room. He tries to escape all the time, but this time seemed different and I started wondering if he needed to use the bathroom. I took him by the hand and went out the door with him, but he bolted down the hall. I followed, waiting to get yelled out, but he kept going - down the hall, through the lobby, up the stairs. I ran to keep up. At the top of the stairs he flew down the hall with me hot on his heals. We skidded to a stop at the end of the hall where all the children in his Groupa were sitting on their potties. The staff all smiled at me and didn't yell. I explained via hand montions that he ran all the way. Apparently Slava's little time clock knew exactly what he needed to be doing at that moment! Paca/bye bye. End of visit.

We headed back to our very clean apartment. I heated up our left-over Dominoes pizza and Skyped home. We are very thankful that day 1 of the 10 day wait is done, 9 more to go! We are prayerfully considering having Wayne return home. Work seems very busy and he's needed there too. We are hoping that Melissa (our Russian speaking daughter) and a friend can travel over together to take his place. We will see what happens. Please keep us in your prayers: Jordan is getting lonely for kids to play with so please pray for him, pray that Slava bonds with and attaches to us, and that the process at the end of the 10 days will go very fast. We'd love to be home for Thanksgiving!

We love & miss you all!

WE HAD COURT!!!

We truly experienced a miracle. Just 9 days after our SDA appointment we had Court! It was very different than our previous experience, but we'll take it! Typically it can take a month or more for a court appointment. And we had ours on a Thursday, and adoption cases are only heard on Mon, Wed, & Fri. It was done in the Judge's office, not even in the court room! God is truly moving on our behalf! THANK YOU ALL FOR PRAYING and THANK YOU, LORD, FOR ANSWERING!!!

Now we wait the 10 days, but we will probably not pick Slava up immediately afterward because there is much paperwork to be processed after the 10 days. After the 10 days we pick up our Court decree and with this document we can preceed to obtain Slava's new birth certificate, do something which would be the equivalent of changing his social securtiy number, and then finally we can apply for his passport. The passport process is much different than last time too because now it's all done electronically and takes about 5 days (not what we wanted to hear)! Once we have his passport then we take him to the American Medical Center for a physical and then finally to the American Embassy which we just learned takes 2 days instead of 1 and the fees have gone up. It seems that no matter what phase of Ukrainian adoption we are in it is always a roller coaster ride. It does not seem likely that we will be able to fly home on the 18th with all this added stuff to do after the 10 days. It will most likely be the next week which is Thanksgiving week, and we're not too thrilled with flying the friendly skies at that time. But since we all really want to come home, we will do whatever it takes to get there!

We are rejoicing over our miracle. This huge obastacle has been moved and now we're beginning the 10 day wait phase, and then the down hill decent toward home. Please keep praying that all these things will get accomplished in a timely manner. We are enjoying walking in this miracle and we pray that God will continue to extend His hand of favor over us.

Tonight we meet Kelly & Vicki Hoodikoff and their children for dinner. I guess a new Dominoes Pizza just opened and that is where they're taking us! Jordan is looking forward to visiting with Stephen. He is really missing his siblings & friends. Anyone who knows him knows he's a people person, so this is a little challenging for him. He has however, made great friends with our driver, Slava. And I think Jordan is our passport to a quicker process. People just look at him and decide to help us. :) Hey, that works for me! We love & miss you all very much. And we appreciate all the prayers. We can not do this without you. So please keep praying us home!

Can We Ask For A Miracle?

As I've been reading through the book of John, this was my reading for this morning:

Jesus said, "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!"

We are walking according to God's will, or at least we try to. I know that bringing Slava home is His will. So what we are asking is according to God's will. And we are asking in Jesus' holy, precious, powerful name! After I shared this Scripture with Wayne, we prayed for the Interpol clearances to come and for a court date asap. Shortly after that Irina called to say our clearances are completed and she was going to pick them up! Well, there's the first half of the miracle. Now we will trust God for the rest of it. Please keep praying. God hears our prayers, He's listening and answering!

Another Day, Another Visit

Slava raking leaves.

Slava with Spectacles!

Today Irina & Slava picked us up around 9:30am to go to Borpka. Irina went in to see Orphanage Director and we found Slava outside with his Groupa. This time he was wearing glasses! Cute as a bug. Though Im sure they are not his alone and won't be coming with us, the glasses are very cute on him anyway. Not to worry, we will take him to the same eye specialist who performed Jordan's surgery. Slava was less interested today in the food we brought and more interested in running from thing to thing. There were workers all around the playground raking leaves. He managed to coax a broom from one of the women and started raking leaves with it! He reminds us of Jordan - always wanting to "work". We only visited about an hour and then he had to go back in with his group.


We returned to our apartment, had lunch in the underground mall food court, and walked up Chrishettic to a 5 floor mall. Not a big mall like at home, but a 5 story building. The 2nd floor had children's clothes and toys! This made Jordan happy and gave us something to do outside of the apartment. Although Wayne is not much on shopping, Jordan and I enjoyed just strolling and looking. We got Slava a small toy dump truck for 50 greevnah ($6 us dollars) and Jordan got a truck with a crane for 80gr ($10). We're running out of activities to occupy him in the apt. We're wondering what it will be like when we add Slava to the mix.


Irina says she needs us in the morning to go to the SDA. So we won't visit Slava in the morning, maybe in the afternoon, we'll have to see. Please pray that our Interpol clearances will be in on Wednesday & for us to be able to have court asap. Ira says that there are a lot of documents involved in our case because we adopted the other 3 kids previously. She even needs to get a copy of our court decree from the adoption 4 years ago. For some reason she actually kept a copy from way back then, but she's asked the court in Vasylkiv to send another one so she will always have one on file. Documents, paperwork, appointments, fees, it's all a big blurr to us. We are trusting the Lord to work out all the details according to His perfect will and in His perfect timing. Please keep us in your prayers. We love & miss you all. We will update again tomorrow.

The Latest Prayer Request

We just spoke with Irina. The Interpol clearances are not in yet, but she believes they could be in on Wednesday morning. We should have our Conclusion from the SDA on Friday morning also, and with that we can officially see the Judge. Ira talks with the Judge everyday it seems, and she will talk with her on Friday once we have our Conclusion from SDA. Ira does not want to guess or promise but says she will ask the Judge on Friday if we can have our court hearing on Monday. She does not know if this will happen because many people must get invitations to this court hearing: Orphanage Director, Inspector, etc. But she will ask.

This isn't exactly what we wanted to hear. We'd like to have court this very minute so we can start clicking off the 10 days! But the peace of God has set in. He has reminded my heart that we will not remain here one moment longer than His will allows. And we know His will is perfect and so is His timing. He knows our heart's desire to take Slava and return home to our family asap. We have surrendered ourselves to His perfect will. As I've been reading the book of John, the Lord has been showing me that all throughout people were looking for answers in the natural. How to feed 5,000 people? How to be made well? Ho to drink living water? etc. etc. But Jesus didn't accomplish these things in the natural. We must look beyond our natural ability and the way things appear and what someone tells us. We must look to Him, our Lord who accomplishes the impossible for His glory. Have I mentioned that the name Slava means "glory, praise"?

So please keep praying & believing that nothing is impossible with God. May the peace of our Lord be yours tonight as well.

Our 7th Visit With Slava!

Today traffic was very heavy leaving Kiev. We arrived at the orphanage to find Slava outside with his groupa (the group of children he is always with). As we approached them we wondered how he would respond when he saw us. Then his whole group, about 7 children ages 3-5yrs, spotted us. They got all excited and started waving to us. Then they ran up to us. These little girls surrounded Jordan and tried hugging him! I knelt down and they all ran to me for hugs, it was so precious. They were all chattering something, but I could only understand the word "mama". Then Slava jumped in and hugged me too, as if to say, "hey guys, this is MY mama!" I don't really know what he was saying but it seemed like it. We took him to a different part of the play area and spent about an hour with him. It was quite cold. He enjoyed the banana, cookie, and juice box we brought for him. Wayne told me maybe I shouldn't feed him so much. But my theory is - the way to a man's heart is thru his stomach! Papa laughed, Slava ate. Then we went inside for the rest of the visit.

We returned to the apartment and then walked down to the underground mall. We ate pizza in a very nice pizza restaurant down there. We eat only one big meal daily and then just have toast or something light in the apt at night. We strolled around the underground mall to give Jordan something to do. But there were really no stores that interested him. At least we didn't find a toy store! We returned to the apt and I found Russian cartoons on the tv. At least it's something.

We are waiting to hear from Irina on the status of our process. I will update as soon as I know something new. So please keep praying for us. We miss you all very much. Please keep sending those comments too. We love hearing from you!