Adoption Anniversary

Six years ago on January 6th I boarded an airplane in Kiev, Ukraine finally bringing our kids home.  After 6 weeks in-country, after spending the entire calendar month of December, after putting our biological kids on an airplane home 4 weeks earlier, after spending Christmas in Kiev, after kissing my husband good-bye as he flew home on 12/26, after ringing in the New Year Ukraine-style, after our adoption became official on December 30th, after bringing 3 siblings together for the first time - finally, finally we boarded Delta flight 89 in Kiev - AND WE CAME HOME!!!  But that was neither the beginning nor the end of the adventure!  

Andrii (then 9) & Anna (then 7)

 This picture was taken on Friday, December 1, 2006 - the day we first met them.  On the car ride to meet them we were told that they had been hosted by a Chicago family in 8/05 & 8/06.  We asked why that family didn't adopt them.  We were told that Andrii did not want to be adopted by that family.  We began to worry:  If, after spending 2 summers in Chicago and living the American dream, and then saying "no" - why, why would he say "yes" to us, another American couple who he meets for the very first time.  Andrii was old enough to  have a say and we began to worry that he would say"no"!  But, miraculously, after a very short visit with us, he said "YES!"  It would be almost 6 years before we knew his reasoning.

Jordan (age 3) with Mama in the background.

 We didn't have as many visits with Jordan in his orphanage in Boyrpka.  The bigger kids' orphanage was located a bit farther away in Vasiylkiv and proved to be a much more difficult process.  It required that we travel there more often.  Plus Jordan at one point was hospitalized for a bad cold. We visited him in the hospital once - that was an experience I will never forget.  Praise God for American hospitals!  Because the 10 day wait ended on the weekend, and because that weekend was a holiday we, by the grace of God, were permitted to pick Andrii & Anna up from their orphanage on Thursday, Dec. 28th.  They joined me in the apartment with Missy and my friend Jocelyn who flew over to help us home.  I left the kids in their charge on Friday morning and went to the orphanage in Boyrpka to pick up Jordan.  It was then and there that I discovered the 4th sibling, Slava.  He was 14 months old, and though he'd been in the orphanage since birth, his documents were not in or so he was not yet available for adoption.  I got a glimpse of him as we left not knowing what the future would hold.  When our driver dropped Jordan and I off at our apartment I took his hand to go inside.  He started to cry and squatted down not wanting to go in the strange building with me.  I picked him up and carried him up the few flights of stairs to our apartment.  He cried, and I cried knowing that he was afraid - a strange lady who spoke a strange language was carrying him into a strange building.  Our apartment door opened and a very excited Andrii & Anna welcomed their biological baby brother "home" - meeting him for the very first time ever!  Jordan's tears immediately stopped!   From that point on he just seemed to go with the flow.  These are memories that I will treasure forever.  And as for why Andrii said "no" to the Chicago family.  We learned the answer to that question a few months ago when he shared his testimony at church.  Andrii explained that he knows the love of God because we adopted him and all his siblings.  Apparently the other family did want to adopt Andrii & Anna, but they did not want to adopt Jordan (whose Ukrainian name was Serhiy - Sergay).  Jordan had crossed eyes and a very twisted spine from scoliosis.  The family had hosted the older 2 kids and had not met Jordan but had learned about his health issues and didn't want to take that on.  So, Andrii said "no" because he only wanted to be adopted if all his siblings could be together....he did not even know about Slava at that time.  When we went to the orphanage to meet them, Andrii was told that we wanted to adopt all 3 kids together - so he said "yes" to us!  This is a miracle!  For Andrii to have the opportunity to be adopted with his sister when they were 9 & 7 is a rare opportunity.  For him to turn that down would appear to be wasting a once in a life time chance.  But I believe the Lord honored Andrii's selfless act of love.  He sacrificed what might have been his only opportunity at a family and a future for the sake of others - his brother and sister.  So the Lord sent another family - this time a family who would adopt this whole sibling group.  We were honored with the privilege of being that family!  And 4 years after bringing home Andrii, Anna & Jordan, we were blessed again to bring home Slava and unite all 4 biological siblings.  God is faithful.   A father to the fatherless...is God in His holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families...Psalm 68:5-6.

Fast-forward to today:

Anna (right) and her friend Mary (left).

 It's hard to believe that Andrii is almost 16 and Anna is 13!  When we brought them home they were 9 and 7 - the exact same ages that Jordan and Slava are now!

Andrii plowing the driveway with the 4-wheeler.

Our dog Kashi loves to chase anything that moves!

 Jordan's back today, after growing rods were installed a few years ago.  And he's undergone bi-annual surgeries to lengthen the rods.  The last one was in July; the next one is on Monday 1/7/13!

 This picture posted out of sequence for some reason???

Curtis & Slava

                                           Curtis got in the snowy shananigans the other day.

It blesses my heart when he goes out to play with the little kids.

Jordan before his cast came off.

 Jordan is such a trooper.  He wears a fiberglass cast for 6 months between surgeries.  A couple weeks before surgery it comes off so the skin has an opportunity to heal from any irritations.  Once the incision heals a new cast will go on.  Jordan never complains about the casts.  The point of the cast is to protect the rods so he can still be a rambunctious little boy.

Slava not cooperating for the camera!

Keeping Slava busy with structured activities keeps things running smoothly, for the most part.  Wayne took all the big kids snowboarding a couple weeks ago which left me home alone with Slava.  We played 8 rounds of Candyland!

If you made it to this point in the post, I thank you for staying with me!  If you're a regular reader, and haven't done so already, please sign up to be a follower at the right of the screen.  It is an encouragement to me to know people actually take the time to follow.  Blessings to you and yours!