Summer Fades

As summer fades and August draws to a close we are gearing up to celebrate Jordan's 10th birthday!  It amazes me that the little "lala" that we brought home from Ukraine 7 years ago is now 10!  

Slava Taking Out the Trash!

 Don't worry, there is no mower blade on this ancient tractor. The boys just love riding around on it, and they even figured out how to hook a trailer up to it!

Surfer Dude Jordan

 As the summer days wind down our pool water has cooled off.  The pool was barely getting used until Wayne turned on the water heater.  Finally a few hot days last week got the kids back into the water.  We'll be closing it soon since school is starting up next week.  Ssshhhhh....don't tell Anna!

Slava & Daddy Chillaxing!

 We spent another weekend up at our camp in the Adirondacks.  It's really cooled off up there!  The days were sunny and warm but the lake water was cold.  Andrii flew around on the jet ski and the rest of us lounged around on the pontoon boat.  It was a nice relaxing weekend.

Mommy & Jordan

Happy 10th Birthday, Jordan!

Jordan seemed to have taken over this blog post!  Probably because today is his special day.  We'll be celebrating with a big family party tonight.  Jordan is sitting on his birthday present.  Of course now Slava wants one!  We keep telling him he has to wait until he turns 10 too.  Since he'll only be turning 8 this October we figure it's a safe promise.  Except he keeps saying he will be turning 10 in 2 weeks. I guess I'll have to start teaching him days/weeks/months/years when school starts up again!

Blessings Abound

So many blessings to be thankful for today!  First of all I'd like to announce that I'm expecting------  to be a Grandmother that is!  Wayne Jr. & Kerri are pregnant with their first child due in early February! Our family is grateful and blessed!  And this past week Anna (and my dad) were baptized!  Add in another weekend trip to camp and the fair and we are feeling extremely blessed!

Pastor Bart, Anna, and Pastor Stan

 Anna's testimony brought tears to many eyes, especially when she said she was grateful that Mom & Dad came to Ukraine to adopt her so she could know God!

Gram & Slava playing horse-shoes!

 We are thankful that our kids have both sets of grandparents to pour into their lives.  Did I mention I am so excited to join the Grand Parent Club?!

Officer Jordan

 The kids enjoyed going to the fair last night.  Between the rides, games, and food, I think Jordan's favorite part was the Local Heroes building which was filled with police cars and fire trucks.  He got to question a few policemen too.  He really wants to be a policeman when he grows up.

Captain Slava

 Last weekend we spent up at our camp in the Adirondacks.  We learned that "Adirondack" is an Indian word for "bark eater" - interesting.  This time we took a boat cruise that ventured up the Fulton Chain of Lakes.  Slava got a turn at piloting the boat.  Wayne & I drooled over all the beautiful camps and breathtaking scenery along the lakes.

Anna on the look-out!

We often enjoy walking around the little town of Old Forge.  This summer we stumbled upon this new playground the little boys (and big girls) can't resist romping around.

In other news:  our Justice For Orphans' radio show "Orphans No More" officially launched with it's first show on August 9th.  The show airs every Friday at 1:30pm on The New Light WDCD 96.7.  If you can't get the station, you can stream it via the web:
http://www.streamingthe.net/WDCD-The-New-Light-96.7-FM-Albany-New-York/p/29575

Eventually the recorded shows will be available in pod-cast form on our JFO website:
http://justicefororphansny.org/

If you check it out, let us know what you think!

August is winding down and were looking forward to celebrating Jordan's birthday, Labor Day up at our camp, and the beginning of the new school year.  Where did summer go????

Blessed Chaos

Our summer so far has been a time of blessed chaos!  I can't believe it's August already.  That means homeschooling, at least in the formal since with text books and all, will begin again soon.  I've been cleaning and organizing our school room here and there so it's coming along.  But let's not go there too soon.  I still want to savor the summer!

Anna on horseback!

 Like so many girls her age, Anna is a horse lover.  She recently started weekly lessons at a horse farm close by.  Her dream is to have her own horse...like right now.

Happy Campers!

 We spent another weekend at our camp in the Adirondacks.  This lovely couple is enjoying their morning coffee by the lake.

Pirate Slava

 Slava recently saw the eye specialist again.  Now that he is able to read, he can take the more thorough eye examination which includes letters.  The more thorough exam revealed how poor the vision in his left eye really is. So now we have to patch 4 hours each day. That's not going over so well.  I started him off at 1 hour and will add an hour here and there.  The whole idea is to strengthen the sight in the left eye by forcing it to work while the right eye is patched.  We'll see.

Bubble Blowing on the Boat

 Sierra enjoyed making big bubbles using the wind generated by the boat.  The bubbles traveled pretty far and took a long time to pop on the water.

Andrii Wakeboarding

 This is a great shot of Andrii just before he crashed - on purpose.  He's so athletic and can do jumps and spins too.

Watermelon Twins

 We go through a lot of watermelon in the summer.  My kids love it.  And these two, Slava and Anna, eat most of it!

Lego Maniacs!  

 Funny how reorganizing the school room and putting 5 trillion Legos into new plastic bins that will fit under the little boys' beds can reignite one's passion for playing!  Curtis is my original Lego maniac.  He got Lego sets every Christmas Eve from his grandmother and would build them late into the night.  He passed that legacy on to Andrii, and now Jordan is able to follow the directions and assemble sets too.  I'm always so blessed when I see Curtis playing with the little boys.

Me recording our Orphans No More radio show.

 The Lord is opening so many doors for Justice For Orphans using radio.  Our weekly show will begin airing on Friday, August 9 at 1:30pm on The New Light WDCD 96.7fm.  If you don't pick up the station on the radio you can stream it live from the internet.  Eventually the shows will be in MP3 form on the JFO website.

Partnering With The Sound of Life!

Wayne, me, Tom Michaels Zahradnik, Mary, and Aaron.

We are so thrilled to announce our family and ministry partnerships with The Sound of Life radio network.  The Flach family businesses have underwritten the Albany transmitter project.  By October 1st the Sound of Life Albany station will be loud and clear throughout the Capital District on 94.9fm!  And to go along with that, Justice For Orphans will be heard daily on the air in 1 minute feature segments each week.  We are also kicking off a November campaign on SOL to celebrate Orphan Sunday and National Adoption Awareness Month.  Sound of Life can also be streamed over the internet.

Check out more about our ministry at:  http://justicefororphansny.org/

God is good!