Nikolaev Ukraine Day Eleven: Heart to Heart

James is at the keyboard today.

This morning we received a call from our facilitator that our regular driver, Viktor, was sick and running a temperature. Viktor has been great to us and we were sad to hear that he was not feeling well. Thankfully, another couple that is out here for adoption had shared the contact information for their driving service. Natasha was able to get us a driver and we were able to get out for a nice visit with K and B this morning.

Today, we showed K and B some pictures of what our home looks like from the inside. Yesterday, when we had a video chat with our sons back in the USA, we asked them to take some pictures around the house and e-mail them to us. They did a great job! K and B were able to take a virtual tour of our home and they really seemed to enjoy it. After I explained the pictures to them, K took some extra time to look through the pictures again while B enjoyed playing some games on the phone.

Mary took an opportunity today during our visit to take some photos of the summer camp where we have been visiting the children for the last couple of weeks.

 

This is the dormitory where K and B live at summer camp.

 

 

This is the yard where we play soccer.

Today, we also had a heart to heart with K and B. Their relative has really been leaning on B to convince him not to get adopted but remain in the orphanage/boarding school. So, we sat down with them to explain why we came over to adopt children and helped them understand what their decision means as far as their relationship with us is concerned. This is certainly not easy for them but we hope that they see how much we want them to be happy and that we would love to have them in our family. We pray that the Lord will guide these children during this time. Our conversation was tender and, in some very real ways, we saw the children opening up to us even more. It was good to have a heart to heart with them.

Too soon, the time had come for us to go. Before we left, K brought out a picture she had drawn for me and B sewed a heart into a piece on paper with thread that he gave to us. These children are so awesome! We love them!

 

"To Papa from K"

 

B's heart.

 

 

After driving back to Nikolaev, we did some shopping and then relaxed a little in the apartment. As we were walking back to the apartment, Mary noticed this garden that used painted tires as planters and borders. She wanted to capture the local creativity that we are enjoying during this experience. 

 

 

This evening, we enjoyed dinner with some other couples that are here in Nikolaev for adoption. We decided to eat at the "Stargorod" restaurant that we have enjoyed for the last few nights. Previously, the restaurant had provided an ideal spot to enjoy dinner overlooking the river in a peaceful atmosphere. Tonight, however, there was a wedding at the restaurant. The groom appeared to be a rock musician and the music was very loud. As we were deciding to leave, the restaurant staff invited us to enjoy a private dining room away from the noise and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and shared experiences. It was very nice to learn and share the journeys that we are on.

 

 



To end on a light note, Mary certainly knows how to bring smiles to our faces as she courageously embraces learning as much Russian as she can. Before traveling to Ukraine, Mary learned to say "I love you" in Russian. Yesterday, as we were walking through the summer camp, she heard some of the older children yelling at each other. She turned to me and asked, "did they just say 'I love you?'" They had actually yelled "I will kill you" but to those familiar with Russian verb conjugation it is understandable how the sounds can be somewhat familiar. We had a good laugh together and enjoyed another fun moment on this incredible journey.

Nikolaev Ukraine Day Ten

Mary is posting today.

We woke up this morning and packed up all of stuff and moved to a new apartment. It is near our old apartment building and we only have to climb five flights of stairs now! It is really nice. It kind of feels like I am staying at my Catholic Grandmother's house, if I had one. It has two separate bedrooms (with doors!), a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, and most importantly a washing machine! We moved to this new apartment so our facilitator can move in with us. We were having to pay for her hotel room so hopefully this option will help us save money. With all of the delays, etc. every penny or kopyeka counts! The reason why it feels like I am living in a Catholic Grandmother's house is in our living room there is a giant tapestry of the Last Supper. All of the rooms have Cherub pictures and crosses and we have all sorts of religious and non religious knick knacks everywhere. All of the furniture is nice, but kind of "Grandma style", for the US anyways. Here are a few pictures for you!

 

Our Hallway to the Front Door

Our Lovely Kitchen!

 



Our Fabulous Living Room!

 

 

Another Angle of our Living Room that includes some of the many knick knacks!

 

The Last Supper Tapestry in the Living Room.

Our New Bedroom.

 

Natasha's Bedroom, yes that is a pull out couch bed.

 

 

We are very thankful for our new home and we will be comfortable here.

 

 

After the move, we drove out to the Summer Camp to visit the kids. B was waiting for us at the gate again. When we got out of the car he took us over to where he had been waiting and showed us this:

 



 

Yes! Those are snails! B collected them while he was waiting for us. Yes, he is all boy! He was very proud to show them to us. After that he walked us into camp and he sat us down to wait for K. While we were waiting for K, B found one of his friends, which is an older, pretty teenage girl. He asked us for our camera and took a picture of her. He then went inside and grabbed the teddy bear we gave him on the first day we met him and put it in his bag. He then said he would be back in a minute and he took her off a little ways and gave her the bear. It was kind of adorable! When K showed up she looked really sad and tired. I asked James to ask her if she was okay and she said that she was sick. She has a sore throat and a cough. She said she had been to the doctor at the camp and they had given her some medicine. We all went over to the benches we often sit at and started our visit. We talked to K a little bit more about how she was feeling and we decided to have James take her back to the doctor at the camp so that he could talk to him. I hung back and stayed with B while James and K left. James was able to purchase better medicine for K and on the way back they were able to chat and K felt comfortable enough to ask about getting some farewell gifts for her friends. B found his friend again and James was able to get a good picture of B and his friend. I think it is starting to hit the kids that they will be leaving. After that we were able to get in some football (soccer) and some more card games. As always our visit felt very short. After we got back into Nikolaev, we received a call that the medicine was helping K and she was starting to stabilize, which is good! It is hard to know what to do in a foreign country when your kiddo is sick. I don't recognize any of the products here.

Later this evening, James and I hunted down some the items the kids requested: lip gloss, chapstick, shampoo, soap, etc. It was an interesting process. It isn't like you can just go to Target or Walmart to find these things. Everything is in separate shops and in foreign packaging etc. so it is really hard to tell what the product is or does. For instance it took James and I over a week to find nail clippers! After that James and I had a nice dinner where we were able to chat about the crazy process we are going through then we walked home and Skyped with the kids. I was also able to Skype with my sister! It was awesome.

Nikolaev Ukraine Day Nine: Waterpark Fun

So, taking turns every other day at writing the post seems to be working our pretty well for us. That means James is at the keyboard today.

Today was a lot of fun. We learned yesterday that all of the children out at summer camp from the orphanage/boarding school would be going to a waterpark today. So, not wanting to miss an opportunity to meet with K and B, we decided to go to the waterpark also. We bought some swimsuits yesterday and grabbed some sunscreen this morning before heading out to the waterpark.

We shared a ride to the waterpark with one of our new friends that we met here in Ukraine who is also out here with his wife for an adoption. They just had court on Tuesday and are waiting out their ten days before they return home with their new children. We are very excited for them. One of their new children is in the same orphanage/boarding school with K and B so he joined us in going to play with the kids at the waterpark.

We had about two hours total with the children and it went by in a blur. Many of the slides at the park required tubes and most of the tubes were two-person. So, Mary and I had a ton of fun going on slides with K and B! One of the slides was named "Glory to Ukraine" and was painted in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag. The slide was similar to a very tall half pipe and K loved it. That girl has no fear! Mary went on it with her and I went with B. We all survived and had a lot of fun.

After the waterpark, K and B went with their group to see a dolphin show and we returned to Nikolaev. This afternoon we relaxed a little and then had some time to Skype with our children back home. It has been a real blessing to be able to talk with them each day. We really miss them and look forward to when we will all be together again.

This evening we tried a restaurant called "Stargorod" here in Nikolaev. It was recommended by our driver, Victor. The restaurant was right on the riverfront and we had a table with a great view. Mary enjoyed some honey chicken and I enjoyed chicken shashlik (kebab). It was fantastic. Our facilitator Natasha joined us so we could discuss how things are progressing. Natasha has been working very hard for us since our meeting with the Director of the orphanage/boarding school. We may be able to get things moving a little quicker but we will have to see. We really appreciate all the work that Natasha puts in for us!

The evening was beautiful and we enjoyed the walk between our apartment and the restaurant. We are looking forward to another visit with K and B tomorrow and we are continuing to enjoy this journey together.

Nikolaev Ukraine Day Eight: Meeting with the Director of the Orphanage

Mary is posting today.

Our visit with the Director of the Orphanage did not go as smoothly as we would have liked. Our adoption process has been on hold for a bit because he has been on vacation and he needs to sign some documents that he will not let his deputies sign. We were grateful to get a meeting with him on his first day back. We talked with him for about 15 minutes or so. He was not supportive of the adoption and appears to be doing what he can to delay the process.  The meeting ended with him suggesting we come back in eight days when the kids return from Summer Camp so he can hear them say yes for himself. Then he will sign the documents for us. That was pretty disappointing. Our facilitator is trying to see what we can do to speed up the process.

We had a great visit with the kids today. B was waiting at the gate when we got there. He gave us a big hug (he likes to smell me every time I hug him, it is so cute!) We asked K and B more questions about themselves and had fun hearing their responses. It has been great getting to know them better. We played more games too. Tomorrow they are going to a water park and they want us to come along. Neither one of us brought swimming suits, so James and I went shopping after our visit. I was a little concerned trying to find a swimming suit in Ukraine, but it was a much easier process than I thought because they really don't have a big selection of one piece suits. I did find one that I am happy with. James found one in less than 3 minutes, so much easier for boys. We are looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.

Nikolaev Ukraine Day Seven

James is back at the keyboard this evening.

Before describing our day today, I wanted to address a couple of questions that were asked in comments on our blog posts. The first question is what do we have left to do? Well, this is a rather complicated process. As I understand it, we are now gathering documents. Tomorrow, we meet with the Director of the orphanage where K and B are during the school year. After that meeting, we should be able to gather the final documents to submit to the government agency in Kiev. That agency then processes the documents. We are told that can take up to ten days. After document processing, we can request a court date for the official decision by the judge. We have no idea how long that will take. After the court is completed, we have a mandatory ten day wait period before the decision is final. After the wait period ends, K and B are our children by Ukrainian law. We then have to get passports, visas, and medical paperwork done before we can return home. So, there is still a long road ahead.

The second question is how long do we have left to stay? After reading the previous answer, it should be understandable when the answer to this question is that we simply do not know and will not have any good idea until we have a court date. We are praying for the process to go as quickly as possible but will be patient with whatever happens.

So, on to today's events. We got started this morning a little later and did some shopping before heading out to see K and B. One of the items that K asked for was shoes. Mary just about went crazy in the shoe store. I can tell that she is super excited about having a daughter! Too much fun. We also bought a few other clothing items and some apples as a treat. Our facilitator, Natasha, returned from Kiev this morning so we stopped by to pick her up and then it was then off to the summer camp.

K was waiting for us by the gates when we arrived and came right up to give us big hugs! We walked with her back to their dormitory where we met B and got more big hugs. B's hands were very dirty because he had been picking and shelling walnuts. It was very interesting to see how that process puts some dark brown stains on your hands.

Something rather interesting about the apples. It turns out that today is one of the Orthodox holidays. The tradition that they have on this particular holiday is that the priest blesses apples that are then eaten. We did not know about the tradition but it was fun to learn about it. A priest came to the camp to preach a sermon about Christ and then bless the children and baskets of apples that they were holding with Holy Water. It was very interesting to see that part of the culture here and see some of the traditions. K and B shared their blessed apples with us after the ceremony and we settled in to chat and play some games. We played UNO and Speed with Mary usually winning and the rest of us winning by turn when Mary was not playing. It was just a really nice visit and we fell that our connection with K and B really grew today. It was sad to leave but we are looking forward to another visit tomorrow.

This evening we enjoyed two experiences in Nikolaev. First, we went to the church here in Nikolaev to help the missionaries with some English language lessons and Gospel discussions. We had a really nice group and Mary really enjoyed an experience where she understood what was being said instead of having to wait for translation. Mary's courage in this journey is simply amazing!

Our second experience was with a great couple from Florida that are adopting three children. We met them at the summer camp a couple of days ago and had an opportunity to go to dinner with them tonight. They had their court date yesterday and it went very well. They should be able to return home to Florida with their kids in a couple of weeks. We are very excited and happy for them. It was great to chat and share experiences.

So, that wraps up the events of today. We are very grateful for all of the prayers and support from friends and family. Thank you!

Nikolaev Ukraine Day Six

Mary is posting today.

We had a great day today with the kids at the Summer Camp. It was chilly again today so I was glad that I remembered a sweater. When we got there the supervisor of the children sent K out with two blankets to lay on the metal benches so they wouldn't be so cold to sit on. We have not been invited to visit inside any of the buildings at the camp so we spend all of our time outdoors. K taught James and I a new card game called "Fool" in English. I played several games, but I still don't quite understand the rules. It was fun none the less and I was grateful for K trying to teach me. B was asked to go inside and do something for the supervisor so he was in and out for a bit. After the game "Fool" I taught K how to play speed. She picked up on it rather quickly and beat me a couple of times. James and I took turns playing K and she seemed to really like it. B came back and James started a game of UNO with him and a couple of the other boys that were hanging out with us. During the game B was asked to go inside again. We saw him at his window and a boy told James to go over to see B. B had climbed up on the window sill to ask James how to use a phone when the supervisor caught him hanging out the window (It was on the first floor...). I guess B was supposed to be doing something for the supervisor and James thought he might have got B in trouble by talking to him so he talked to the supervisor to explain what happened. While we were waiting for B, James started playing UNO with some of the other boys outside. B came out and looked upset. We thought he might have been mad that James was playing with the other boys so I came over and put my arm around him and tried to ask him what was wrong. He was crying a little bit and went over to K and we soon found out that his relative had called and talked to him while he was inside and it had upset him. We were able to calm him down, but it was sad to see that. After that we had a really great day. We found out that K wants to be a designer when she grows up. She showed us a notebook with her designs for clothes and also some interior design. It was really fun to see. B wants to be a professional football (soccer) player. He also went inside and brought out several drawings that he has made. They were really good! He is quite the artist. It has been fun learning more about them. We shared with them some of our family stories too. We brought some snacks with us and it was awesome to see how thoughtful the kids were to share with their friends nearby.

After our visit with the kids we went back to our apartment. We moved from a hotel into this apartment two days ago. It is a really nice place inside, but it was strange driving up to it on the first day. It looked pretty run down from the outside. There is a big metal door that locks automatically from the inside when it is closed. Just outside that door before you walk up some steps there was a dead bird to the side of the walkway. I meant to take a picture of it today, but someone or something cleaned it up before I could. I thought at the time I first saw the apartment that this can't be good. After going through the big metal door we climb about eight sets of stairways. Our apartment has a really nice heavy door with two locks. Once inside, the apartment is really nice. The bedding is a little different, but we have hot water and air conditioning! Even better we have a washing machine! No more washing our clothes in the tub! We still have to hang our clothes to dry, but I'll take it! Here are a few pictures of the inside:

 

Our bathroom. The tile has a really cool design with beading in between the blue and white tiles.

 

The second bedroom with an awesome stuffed animal dog.

 

Master Bed with tiger towels.

Our rockin' bottle opener in the kitchen.

 

 

It has been a great apartment! Before we got to the apartment the first day we went grocery shopping because we now have a kitchen. We hadn't seen the apartment yet so we assumed that it had a fridge and freezer. So we carried all of our luggage and our groceries up eight flights of stairs and I couldn't see a refrigerator. I thought all of the food we just bought was going to spoil! Looking around a bit more we found it on the balcony outside of the apartment. So to get our food we have to go out there and then bring it into the kitchen to use it. Kind of different, but we sure are grateful for the apartment!

 

 

Tonight we made plans to have dinner with a Canadian couple and an American woman we met at the camp that are also adopting. The Canadian couple has been here a very long time trying to complete an adoption! They finally found their kids and had to change a bunch of paperwork and overcome other obstacles to get to the point they are now and their court date is next week! The American woman is just finishing her 10 day wait period for her son and her husband went home to work after their court date, so she will be leaving for the final process of the adoption in Kiev. She should be complete by next week and going home! It was great to get together with these couples and hear their stories and the advice they had to offer. There are some really amazing people out here!



Nikolaev Ukraine Day Five

James is back at the keyboard for today's post.

Today was a good day. It rained this morning which cooled everything down significantly. A huge difference from the last couple of days. It was especially nice since I burned the back of my neck to a crisp playing in the Black Sea yesterday.

This morning we slept in a little. After the stress of yesterday, it was a much needed opportunity to recharge our batteries. We went to church in the late morning and enjoyed hearing testimonies from two young ladies that are leaving on missions tomorrow. It was nice to feel at home among the saints here in Nikolaev. We look forward to spending more time with the branch here over the next couple of weeks.

After church, we changed clothes and then headed out to visit K and B. This was our first visit without our facilitator Natasha present. Natasha returned to Kiev last night to be with her family during her birthday today. So, when we arrived and met up with K and B, we called Natasha on the phone and sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Russian. We then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together. We decided to tell K and B the story of how Mary and I met. They seemed to enjoy it and B even acted out parts of the story as I told it. K started to teach Mary the Russian alphabet and also took a turn with the camera. She really enjoyed taking pictures of the nature that was right around us.

 

 

 

K also enjoyed taking a picture of Mary.

 

 

B also took a turn at the camera and took this shot of us sitting on a bench in front of their cafeteria.

 

B and James also played soccer with some of the other boys. They are all really good (or, more likely, I am just really bad) and I think some of the older teen boys were having a lot of fun showing off their skills at my expense. Actually, these kids are really good. The team from their boarding school won a European youth championship last year. B kept me on his team even though we lost far more than the last time we played. Oh well, maybe I can get them on a basketball court during one of these visits...

 

We finished the visit by describing to K and B what Sundays are usually like at home for us. Hopefully, it will help them get an idea of what to expect with this big change in their lives. Today's visit was really nice and we enjoyed getting to know K and B a little more without awkward situations. Looking forward to another visit with them again tomorrow.

 



 

A couple of days ago, K made this purse ("soomka" in Russian) for Mary.

 K has some mad skills!