Another sunny day in munchkinland

I am enjoying my visits with Vanya but I really miss the other boys. I will be counting the hours until I can go and get them. Last night babushka and I went to the Pow wow pizza place with some of the friends we have met here. This time we were 10 people. I'm sure the restaurant now cringes when they see us coming. "Oh no, not the loud crazy American, Israeli, Italian people that want the english menus, Agghhhhh!" It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed being able to talk about our kids and our journey and such. It is amazing who God puts in your path and for what purpose. All of the other adoptive parents we have met are christians and we hope that we have been a good example to teh others around us of what that really means. I really hope that even though there is a language barrier that others will be able to see Christ in us and not just think we are those people with the insincere smiles. We are going to try to find a church a friend of ours recommended to go to tomorrow. That would be great. I really miss knowing I am amoungst other believers. There are some here but you might not be able to readily tell.
We had an interesting situation at our apartment. The woman below us had come up to the door and I opened it but wasn't really sure why since I knew I was not going to understand her. She was saying something aobut the water and Iwasn't sure if she was mad or just upset. We had offered for some frined to do laundry at our place and we had already loaded the washer. Good thing we had Roman wait for us to go to dinner. We went out and had him come talk to the lady and then try to tell us what she said. Evidently all of our toilet and tub water was empying into her bathtub. It was really gross. She had a whole in one her pipes and had asked that we not use the water for a while. She was probably about 70 years old and was crying when she was talking to us. Poor thing. We kept telling her it was OK and we would just wait. When we came back from dinner we checked on her and everything was fine. We thought we were going to be the no bathing, no clothes wearing, no toothbrushing, no toilet using Americans from upstairs. Thank goodness babushka was feeling much better by the evening.
Will keep everyone updates as to our progress. Starting to hunt for the ruby slippers.

Laura and babushka

Day10

(Laura)
Well at the end of the business day today, June 29, there will officially be 3 more Passanita's. We are assuming there will not be any appeals of course. I have looked forward to this for many years and am just thrilled beyond belief what blessings God has bestowed on us. Each of the boys is a unique creation and He has chosen us to raise them. I still can't really believe it. From the very first day I saw them I knew they were perfect for us. Even though I will miss painting fingernails and making pony tails I have always been somewhat of a tomboy so soccer, hotwheels, and climbing trees is just fine by me.
Rob has officially declared that our family is now closed. I told him to never say never but I am agreement with that statement for the moment. There were many kids who we would have brought home with us if we could (Andrey, Sergey, Sasha, etc.) but we also have to be able to have enough time for them as well. Perhaps those who read our blog might have been touched enough to look into some of the ones we have mentioned. Every kid derserves to have parents who love them and can care for them. For many of these kids this is the only life they have known and don't have any hope that anyone will ever come for THEM. It's really quite sad because many of them are very nice kids who just need a chance at a future. Ok I'll get off my soapbox now. Oh, one more thing, if you are interested in helping orphans in Ukraine there is an organization called Heart for Orphans that we are a part of as well as the orphan ministry at our church. Email us offline and we can give you more info.
Vanya is learning new things everyday and the caregivers are starting to have him say bye bye instead of paka when I drop him off. It is sooo cute. It is getting increasingly harder to bring him back each time and he tries to think of anything and everything to get me to stay longer. Maybe if I bring a backpack I can stow him away and keep him. Just kidding. I'll get to keep him forever very soon. We hope to pick the boys up this coming Tuesday for Yuri and Vanya and then Wednesday for Victor. It will be quite interesting to see how they will relate to each other. I'm hoping that Vanya will lead the way and have the other boys take after him in his gentle caring compassionate nature.
Prayers are needed for Babushka as she has contracted Ivans Revenge. Ivan is Montezuma's Ukrainian brother. She feels fine but the bathroom must be close at all times. Hopefully with a little vitamin I (Immodium) she will be better in no time. She is a real trooper and I continue to be thankful for having her here with me. Vanya was very upset when he ran into the shelter calling for her and she wasn't there. The whole furrowed eyebrows and all. Babushka? he said with his hands turned up side down. Then he looked at me and asked why. When I told him she was sick he just sighed. I know he will be happy again when he sees she is better.

And for those who would like for me to define normal from my previous post I thought I would take a minute to do so:
1) Water that is drinkable
2) A shower that you don't have to hold the nozzle of
3) A bank teller that doesn't snarl at you
4) Having a clothes dryer and a washer that holds more than 2 outfits.
5) Knowing where my church is and how to get there
6) Knowing that the grocery store has what I'm looking for and if they don't then there is another one close by that will.
7) Not running out of minutes on the telephone
8) being able to have a Salad that has actual lettuce in it
9) Being able to drive myself where I want to go
10) Being able to call someone after finding their number in a PHONE BOOK

Other than those small things I don't really think there is a normal for the other things in life. There will always be surprises and bumps in the road but we serve a God who is bigger than all those things and will continue to light our path and lead our life in the way He wants us to go. I will look forward to getting back to our church. I have to go to the internet cafe just to listen to some christian music. There was only one time in our whole stay that we heard a christian station on the radio and I believe that was a God thing and was meant just for us at that paticular time. Perhaps He could find Roman's car and pipe in some more of that.

I can't wait to get all of the paperwork done done and be able to show some pictures of the all the boys together. That will be a great day! I wish papa were going to be here to see those very first looks they will have when they all meet each other and are together. I'll try to capture it on the camera so everyone can share in that moment but it might come and go rather quickly so I'll do my best to be on my toes. Stay tuned. It should be Wednesday of next week.

We all miss you Papa! Vanya sends his kisses and I know the other boys are looking forward to hanging off your arms and flying up in the air. Vanya is showing you he was Big Boy today after climbing on the big kids bars all by himself. Mama was of course ready to catch him if he fell but thankfully he didn't.

Thhhaaats all for now Folks. Keep those prayers and comments coming. They really lift my spirits and make my day to know everyone is thinking about us and praying for us.

Laura

Waiting day 9

(Laura)

Picking Vanya up has made for a great morning for me. Even though the beds are hard and the shower is difficult, my cloths are cruchy, and my fingernails are breaking, once I see that smile on my little boy when I arrive to get him, all those little inconveniences just drift away. He is simply amazing and I'm sure I will learn as much from him as he will from me. He played so nicely with the other kids in the group of friends we have met. One couple has a 21 month old boy, one has an almost 3 year old boy, one has a 2 1/2 old girl and one has a 14 month old boy. Vanya was so good at rolling the ball gently for the younger ones and sharing his toys with them. He didn't grab or hit or any of the other things we have seen so prevalently at the other boys orphanages. It really shows how well he has been taught and cared for thus far. I was very impressed.

He looks up in the sky everytime he hears an airplane and says Papa? He does miss his papa and kisses his picture everytime we get it out. He is learning to do the stacking cups and figuring out how to make them all fit right. He is pretty smart so far. At least I think so. No bias or anything!

Our driver, Roman, has been great and even though his music is less than desireable he is very pleasant and helpful. I think Rob must have paid him or something to take good care of us because he even pushed the shopping cart for us at the grocery store and told us which kind of detergent smelled the best. I think that is unusual for a taxi driver so we feel very blessed. Igor is off to the beach with a friend girl and will be back on Sunday so that we can pick up the court decree on Monday and start the paperchase. We will miss the people we have met here but I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed. Even if we end up with extra little people in it with us I won't mind a bit. I think I might join in on the boys nap time whne we get back. I'm looking forward to getting back on a regular "predictable" schedule and being able to count on things occuring the way we anticipate without the last minute fire drills and changes of plans. If course I realize there will be those things along the way but am glad it isn't a way of life at home.

Tired but very happy mama :)

Big hug from Vanya

Well we are now back to the schedule in Zapporezhzhia (still don't know the correct spelling). We will see Vanya twice a day (10-12 and 4-6) for the next few days as they have sent Yuri to camp. This morning when I went to get him his face just lit up and he got up out of his chair and ran over and gave me a big hug and said Mama! It made me just melt. I think he may have thought I had left him since we had been gone for a few days but he was as happy as a clam once I got there. This is my little love bug. What a difference it makes when they have had people love them and care for them like he has. His caregivers are great and the orphanage really does a great job of making sure the kids have what they need (including being held and talked to and played with and given medicine when they are sick) I wish the other 2 had gotten the same kind of attention. Yuri has only been in the orphanage for a couple of years so not sure what kind, if any, attention he got from his birthparents but the caregivers at his are not quite as attentive. They do have a few who are really good though and are usually the only ones who play with the kids or do something other than sit on a bench outside. Surprise surprise, they are also believers. What an awesome God we serve. You can definitely tell the difference. I knew before I even asked them what the answer to that question was.

Victor is the one who is going to need alot of extra attention and affection. I really don't think he has had much. He is much rougher with his things and with people but is compassionate when someone gets hurt or wants to share something with him. The little girl we had been including in our play time had an accident in her pants and was so afraid to go inside and we couldn't figure out why. Igor told us that she was afraid to tell them what had happened and when the caregiver came to get her to clean her up she was yelling "Don't beat me!" Since we were standing there we could hear the caregiver saying "no one ever beats you, Sasha." Hhmmmmm. Poor thing.

We had lunch today with friends of ours from GA that work with Young Life. They are adopting a little girl in the same orphanage as Vanya. It has been great to have made some new friends during this process. The Lord must have known we would all need each other to talk to and pray for and with through this process. Thank you Lord! We will be getting together with our group here for dinner in the next day or two. Sorry Rob, you'll have to miss this one. I know how it pains you to have to go home instead of being here and ordering pizza from NayBay (Pow Wow) with some kind of mystery meat on it. You'll just have to get over it. I'm sorry to have to tell you that. Everyone says hi to you though.
That's it for now. Babushka wants to go get some wine and cheese now so better acquiess to her request. She has been great and even though she ends up stitting by hersekf some times when I'm off chasing the kids she has been a great help.
I appreciate all the comments and will hopefully get a chance to respond to some of you personally.

Laura and Babushka

Back to Zapporezhzhia

(Laura)
Miss you honey! Hope all is well on the home front. Perhaps you could ask the goodyear people for some old tires and bury them in the backyard and paint them for the kids enjoyment. I little touch of Ukraine right there in Williamsburg. Let's skip the broken glass, empty cigarette and beer containers though. I think the neighbors might complain. Still trying to get a picture of the diaperhead. Don't think you are getting off that easy. I have my ways! Moo Ha Ha (as Travis would say)

Glad we didn't stay in Tokmak longer. It was very unsettling and exhausting. Not sure why though because we didn't do much walking but it was still exhausting all the same. Great to see Victor a little more. He is a very happy little boy but isn't quite sure about this not being able to understand mama thing. He really enjoyed Igor's company and wanted to go everywhere he went and do whatever he was doing. We also spent time with the little girl, Sasha (Victor calls her sashka) who always comes up to me when we get there too. She was quite a handful and can turn on the tears at a moments notice when she doesn't get her way. I'm glad Victor isn't like that although he does get a pretty sad face and gets very quiet when corrected. Similar to Yuri but Victor is a little more ornery. He likes to mimick me and say Daaaaaa when I say nyet. Shortly after that is when the sad face enters the picture. Then mama gets off her broom and we move on to something else. The older kids went to camp so it was nice just having the younger ones. They had asked us to play by ourselves and it was so hard to hollar at the kids to go away. They don't take a hint and we didn't want to get in trouble with the teachers but today I finally had to say "oh well" because I just couldn't do that to them anymore. We had a much more plaesant day even with the looks we got from the teachers. It was easier to ignore them than it was to ignore the kids.
We asked some of the teachers about some things with regard to Victor and they all said they thought he was the best one in the group (I'm sure they say that about each one though) and that he was a very handsome little boy. I have to agree with both of those comments. He also doesn't like fish, is a picky eater, and eats less when he is in a bad mood. I'm sure the other two boys won't mind finishing his portions if he doesn't eat them. That could work to our advantage. Hmmmm. Just kidding. Have to add a little humor here and there to stay sane. He is 1 meter tall and weighs 26 kilos which I think means he is about 3 ft tall and weighs 37 pounds. Anyone can correct me if they want. It was just my best guestimate. His best friend is named Deema and they said they do everything together including sometimes sleeping in the same bed. I got to meet Deema and get a picture of the two of them together. I'm sure Victor will want to see that when we get home. He is very loving and seems to take to men very easily. Our cab driver was kept quite busy today playing ball and showing him his machina (car). I also found out that Victor loves to play hide and seek. I finally found something he likes to do with mama. Basketball and other ball playing he prefers to do with other people but mama holds the key to the hide and seek and also (unfortunately) potty time. He got a real big kick out of watering one of the bushes and almost turned right toward me to tell me! Thank goodness he was about done.
We took alot of pictures today as that will be the last time we will see him before we come to pick him up next week. He loves the machina so I don't think we will have a problem getting him to get in the car to leave. Everyone needs to pray hard that there are no birds present at the train station or the airport because all 3 are quite enthralled with chasing the birds no matter what the cost. I could just see babushka doing the OJ run through the airport to keep Vanya from going out on the runway. That, I would get video for. I think I will strap Victor into the stroller and Vanya will be on my hip so it will just be Yuri I'll have really watch out for and he is usually pretty good when I call his name. I'm still upset they sent him to camp. We were getting along so well and were really starting to understand each other even if we didn't know the exact words. I'm sure it will be fine though.
For the next several days we will have 2 visits a day with Vanya so that should be nice. I have missed him the past few days. He just makes my morning with his hugs. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Victor also but in a different way. Victor is much more independent and not as affectionate but his smile and long eyelashes are just as effective.
Our friends from Israel left today and I was so bummed I didn't get to say goodbye. They finished their process up in record time. So they are Argentinian Israeli's who adopted an oriental baby from Ukraine. What a hoot! They joked about it alot also so I don't think they will mind my putting it on here too. Our Italian friends and the other 2 American couples are still here and we will see them tomorrow morning.
We are in a new apartment now that is less comfortable but closer to everything (except McDonalds :( ) It cracked me up though that in the whole apartment there was no sink! No sink in the kitchen OR bathroom. I guess we will brush teeth, wash dishes, and shower all in the tub. I forsee plastic utensils and plates in my future. No AC but we have a clothes drying apparatice on our balcony.
Our 10 days will be up on Friday but we can't get the papers until Monday. The birth certificate offices are not open on Mondays so we have to wait until Tuesday to run around get everything, including one or more of the boys. Hopefully we will finish everything up and be on our way to Kyiv but we played it safe and will be taking the wednesday night train since the embassy won't be open anyway due to the 4th of July holiday. Then Thursday it's off to the embassy and medical and then home on Saturday. Still looking for a flight from JFK to Richmond. Evidently there aren't any affordable ones on Saturday evening. I'll have to do my super slouth internet surfing to see what I can find.
Babushka is still having culture shock particularly after visiting Victors orphanage. "Glory Be!", "Oh my goodness!", "That just doesn't make any sense at all!", "How long are we waiting this time, all day?", are all phrases that are frequently occuring at this point in time. Any one who knows my mom can picture her saying these things I'm sure. She has been a great help though and has been the "watcher of the stuff", much to her chagrin. I think she envisioned happily watching little boys sit quietly and read and color pictures with her and instead she has been hit with a ball, a hand, a head, and has sat on the ground, a slide, a one rung bench as well as on the steps. She has used the sand paper (oops!, I mean toilet paper) and has eaten things not on the safety approved list from the CDC. We have used up quite a bit of hand sanitizer though which is good because she is planning to bring anything and everything that we don't use home in order not to be wasteful. God bless her! I really mean that. She has been a trooper so far and will be a great help in keeping up with the boys as we travel home. I like the sound of that "travel home". Ahhhhh. I can forsee a long bathtime for mama and then some intense scrubbing of 3 pairs of little feet, hands and bodies. The may look totally different when they're clean. It's OK though, I'll take them clean or dirty and still scoop them up and tell them I love them. Not that they know what I'm saying, but it does seem to get big smiles from all of them. Must be a God thing.
That's it for now.
Am starting to fold up my tray table and put my seat back forward in order to look forward to the end of this part of the process. Am ready for the final decent (into Richmond, I hope).
Love to all,
Laura

Tokmak City

(Laura)
Well I haven't really decided if this can be referred to as a city. We did find accomodations that are suitable in record time. After our first choices were eliminated (one because they had NO water and the other because they charged double for foreigners and Igor was appalled so he went back through the curtain they were using as a door and we left. The taxi drivers were our source for finding a place to stay since there aren't any apartments in this part of nowhere so we found a hotel. We actually have water and our own bathroom in our room #12. Woo hoo! Zapporazhzhia is a happening place compared to here. I thought perhaps we could just ask the person with the most cows in their front yard with collars on if we could stay with them for a coupls of nights. Igor didn't find much humor in that. Sorry Igor.
We got to visit with Victor last night and this morning and they were good visits. He is a very busy little boy. Since we haven't gotten to spend as much time with him we have to start at the beginning with just having him not run away. Yesterday he didn't really recognize me but today he ran over with his WHOLE group and everyone wanted to say hello. Because it is such a rough orphanage we have had to be very careful about playing with the other kids as they get rather violent with people and I didn't want my mom to be in the middle of that. I felt like an ogre having to hollar at them to get away from her but if you play with one then you will get swamped. I haven't minded getting swamped but I know she would have a hard time and would end up having things taken from her.
Victor has the cutest smile and his little voice is so cute. Good pronunciation but not sure if he is actually using correct words for things. His friend Sasha always comes up to me with her arms up in the air to be held or played with. We tried to include her and Igor spent some time with her as well. We did find an internet cafe, as you know, but not sure how to do the pictures so I may have to add those later.
Victor loves to play with the ball and gets a kick out of sending the machina (car) down the slide. He even wanted mama to sit at the top of the slide and he would send the car up. He had a hard time with that part and it sort of flew off the side before reaching the top but he finally got the right combination of strength and accuracy and was very proud of that. Igor and June both think his personallity and looks are more like Vanya but I think he reminds me more of Yuri other than the wiggle worm part. We are working on being more gentle with his things and with other people as well as the sabakas (dogs). He is getting better at trying to wipe off mamas and babushkas face and hands. I think the first time Rob and I almost got black eyes and Igor almost got stabbed so we are making progress. He just loves to hang out with Igor and Sasha seems to want more of my attention. They are both happy and love the snacks we bring and are interested in anything having to do with food. It all goes in their mouths at the same time so we are trying to work on the same things we did with Vanya (chew first, swallow, and then you can have some more) He isn't a big fan of this new process but he will get used to it and probably not choke as often. That would be good.
I saw my favorite older boy there (other than Victor, of course) and he had gotten his head shaved and I thought it was his twin brother. This is a case of the good twin/bad twin so I was a little sceptical at first but it is easy to tell by their actions which one is which. They all left today for camp as well so I won't get to see him again either. What a bummer. He was a good kid.

Thanks to everyone who welcomed Rob home. I know he enjoyed all our church friends yesterday and others who he saw. I continue to love to read the comments and am in awe that so many people from around the country read this. I though it was a great way to have a diary of events but it has proven to be so much more than that. God is good all the time. I love to watch Him at work and am inspired to do whatever it is He has in store for us. The people whose lives have crossed mine and whose paths I've crossed have been a huge blessing.
Keep praying as there are many things that still need to happen before we can leave. Please pray that Yuri understands that I am not leaving without him even though they didn't tell him that when they sent him to camp. Also forVictor that he will start the bonding process and understand that Mama is going to take him to America and that Papa is waiting there for him and his brothers. My little guy Vanya will not have seen me for several days and the other couples say how pitiful he looks when he sees that they are there and we're not. I know a huge hug from him will be able to cure almost anything. Don't worry, Rob, you aren't being replaced. Your hugs are still the best; his just fill a different place in my heart. There's room enough for everyone. You are still my number #1 guy and best friend. I love you and miss you. :)

Ordering the Ruby slippers for a week from Saturday,
Mama

Home again Home again, jigety jig........

Rob speaking)
As my wonderful mother-in-law says "Home again, Home again, jigety jig". I finally made it home at around 2am Saturday morning. When my head hit the pillow I totally went unconscious. When I woke up I promptly stuck my head under the sink in the bathroom and took a big long drink, no cup, no cupped hands. Sorry Laura if this embarrasses you, but anyone who has been gone that long will relate, and I bet you do the same thing when you get home.

I went back in to the blog spot today to catch up on all of Laura's posting that I missed and actually found myself missing being there. I didn't miss the place, but I missed my family that is there. Fortunately Mayra was here to keep me company, Travis is still in Northern VA, but I look forward to seeing him this evening. I also want to thank everyone for sending your comments to Laura while she is still there. I hated to leave her, but June will be a huge help, and I feel very relieved that she is there with Laura.

It was really great to get back to church today. I always enjoy Mark's messages, but today was extra special. I was so happy to see all my friends and get a big old hug from Pop. I am looking forward to getting back together with our home group, and the Saturday morning bible study gang. And yes, I am even looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow.

(Laura, don't read the following paragraph, I don't want you to be jealous)

Mayra and I went out last night for a great steak dinner complete with salad that actually contained lettuce. I even made the waitress guess how long it had been since I had a lettuce salad; 5 weeks. She probably thought I was crazy, and she would have been right. I enjoyed a big fat 14oz NY strip steak, with a baked pototo, and a huge dessert.

I did talk to Laura today, they are heading to Tokmak city for their extended time of visits with Victor. Hopefully they will find good accommodations complete with a toilet and hot water.

Fat, dumb, and happy,

Rob

Fun in the sun AND the rain

Happy Birthday Crystal!!! Hope you had a great 21st birthday.

Visits with boys today went well again. Babushka is getting a little worn out I think. We took a taxi to the internet cafe this time. Both the boys really interact well with her and she with them. I'm really glad to see that they enjoy her company. I'm sure they will just be thrilled to play with all the shells she has at her apartment (after they have ransacked the rest of the house of course) and will love the ocean and the beach with no broken glass, beer bottle parts and cigarette containers. Should be very interesting. Not sure we will all fit now that we are 5-8 people depending on the time of year. Perhaps the kids could stay at babushka's and Rob and I will stay at the Ritz down the street. Hmmmmm. No, scratch that, we'll be too poor by then.

Vanya had fun today on the playground with the merry go round. Not sure if that is what you call it but it's the thing that goes arund in cirles and you push it and then jump on. Babushka opted for sitting in the middle of it instead but my oh-so-mighty 3 year old decided he wanted to push it as fast as possible and then try to jump on. That was comical from all sides. Mama, of course, slowed it down while looking like I was helping and then caught one very scared little boy when he found out how difficult it was to step onto something that moving. We masters it going very slow and he was then quite proud of himself and babushka hasn't been the same since. Noooo just kidding, she was fine and did better than I did with the whole going around in circles thing. I only made it about 2 revolutions and that was it for me. Vanya finally figured out that it was much more comfortable to sit on babushka's lap in the middle than it was to try to standup and hold on and occasionaly bang your head while trying to get to the next section over. What a kid. He also got a kick out of watching 2 of the ladies dig up a few tiles near the shelter we were playing in and put them in a baby carriage and take them somewhere. When they lifted the first big tile (probably 18X18) there were so many ants under it that the lady starting hitting them with a shovel to keep them from crawling all over them while putting the tile in the carriage. Of course Vanya wanted to try that as well with no luck. After they hollered at him for asking to use the shovel he wasn't much interested in that anymore.
Even though it may sound kind of weird I think my favorite time is when he is sitting on his pot right before we wash hands and say "paka". The way he looks at me and puts his little hands on mine and smiles just makes my day. It makes me forget how much of a pill he can be at times. Mama is still working on being tough and Vanya is getting used to knowing when I mean business and that laughing will not get you out of anything. His laugh is contagious though and it really takes alot not to just scoop him up and laugh with him but at the same time I don't want him get into real trouble or drive us nuts because we didn't teach him to listen.

Today was an iteresting day at Yuri's as well. Igor was with us so many of the kids were happy to see him. Yuri also got to talk toPapa on the phone and had a big smile on his face. He felt very important to be talking on the cell phone Papa told me that he told Yuri to have me get him some ice cream. Thanks alot Papa. We started out on the dirt-glass-weed-trash field for a while and then I took Yuri to the store to get some snacks for him and all the other kids that gather around. When he knew he wasn't getting the 2 liter Coke that he wanted, and in fact wasn't even getting the 1 liter one, he got upset. He's my sensitive one, so when I say he got upset it means that he was quiet and looked like I had just beat him or something and then the tears started but he wiped them away quickly. One of the girls that was with us said something to him but he ignored her. When he saw that the tears weren't changing the result and that I was not upset with him he settled down and held my hand the rest of the time. We went to the river again and Yuri actually got in the water with Igor since Mama didn't wear her suit since it was raining when we headed out to see him. He got to ride on Igors back but still held on with the death grip. There were older kids who light fires all over the place and Yuri just loves to stand close and throw things in and play around it. I have started making him back up and not try to pull things out of the fire. I know he has been doing this for years and I don't seem to see any major burn marks on him but my mama instinks tell me it's just a matter of time and it's not going to happen on "my watch". He also got to spend some time with babushka drawing pictures. She just loved that. She drew a picture of the beach and he drew a water scene with a whale spouting fire. Yep still interested in the fire so he thought he would just incorporate it into his drawing. Igor and I were playing with some of the older kids but when I came up to see what they were doing he was trying to get my attention because he wanted to draw an airplane. He did just that and said "America". I think he might be a little excited now. What he wasn't thirlled about was my playing with the kids in his group when we came back to the shelter. He tried to push them away and then looked at me like"Hello, I'm the one you came here for!". He was also a little upset when I told him I wouldn't be back for 4 days. He held up one finger and said "one" and sighed. I tried to tell him I needed to go see Victor but wasn't sure he really got it. He was pretty bummed when I held up 4 fingers to his one. Again with the sad look, but he put his arms around me and said Paka (see you later) while looking very disappointed. I'm glad he will miss me but am sad too for him.

We will be off to see Victor for a few days out in teh middle of nowhere so I'm not sure when the next post will be. Rob may have to post via relayed phone message. I do hope we can find a decent place to stay there. I don't want to end up like one of the cows with the collar out on the front lawn. That seems to be all there is there. Igor will really be earning his money this time. I think he may have to request hazard pay for going to the orphanage with us. It's a really rough orphanage and all the kids are mean to each other and are very crude and crule toward the little people and everyone else who comes into contact with them. I'm looking forward to spending time with Victor but would really love to take him out of there and visit somewhere else. These kids are truly "the least of these" and have obviously not gotten any love or attention from anyone at any time. They have no concept of right or wrong and many of them have some mental or physical problems on top of that. Oh great joy! I will look forward to seeing the other little girl who gets picked on a lot and maybe I can make her life a little nicer even if it is only for a few days. I really hope our friend Sergey (12 years old) is there because he is a big help and chases the other mean kids away (even if one of them is his own brother) .
Rob is home now and I'm sure enjoying being on US soil once again. I would like to do the same at the first opportunity. I will (as I'm sure Rob did) leave a piece of me here that I will never forget but I will welcome my own bed in my own house that always has running water that is drinkable and people who understand me (aside from the ones I am bringing with me of course).
Lots of prayers needed for the next few day. Babushka has already asked for protection and we may need to sit her with the caregivers with a big stick and no money or snacks or toys. She would probably appreciate an air-conditioned armored suit as well. Sooo, if we survive the next few days I will continue to feel invinceable. I know the Lord will be my sheppard so I am expecting some still waters and green pastures. I know at least the pasture part will be there.
Love to all my family and friends. Keep the comments coming. I will try to post interesting information and pictures as often as possible.
Laura and the very tired but good sport Babushka

Best friends

I titled todays blog Best Freinds for several reasons. The first one is that I miss my best friend, Rob. Yep it's great being married to your best friend but it stinks when you are apart. He did finally get a flight out today and will hopefully be home sometime soon. It was much nicer for me and the boys when we were both there, although they are really enjoying babushkas company and hugs and such. My other best friend Christine I miss terribly as well. Don't get me wrong, I miss ALL my friends but had to mention my best friends by name today as it is fits with "The Rest of the Story".

The second reason is because I found out who Vanyas best friend is today and it was soooo precious to see. The little girls name is Luba and she has not feet so she goes out in a stoller when they take her outside. She can scoot across the floor just as fast as the other kids inside though. It's amazing. She has the cutest personality as well. She sits at Vanyas table for meals and everything. When I went to pick him up today the rest of his group was outside but for some reason he was still inside along with a couple of other kids, Luba being one of them. When I got him dressed to go outside in came Luba and the caregiver said," Say Paka Luba". So she said Paka Vana and then he went over and put his arms around her and said paka luba and then gave her a kiss. They continued saying goodbye to each other and laughing all the way out the door. When he saw that Luba had come outside he ran towards her and gave her a big hug and then tickled her under her chin and they both just laughed hysterically (sp?). Even the caregivers were laughing. Then what he did next was amazing. He took her hat off (not the diaperhead) and fixed her pony tails! Yep he knew to gently take the ends of the hair and pull them in opposite directions to make them tighter. Then he put her hat back on and gave her another big hug and kiss and then they laughed again. All we heard about today was Luba. She is sooo cute and I know they are going to miss each other alot. I could see it in the eyes of the caregivers that he is very sweet to her and she just loves him being with her. The other kids in the group just ignore her and simply hold on to the storller as they are told. My little casanova is going to melt some hearts I think.

When we went to Yuri's today he was a little tired and out of sorts. Not very talkative today. Usually Adrey shows up right after we get there but today we didn't see him at first. We told him we would go swimming again today and he sort of just looked like "Well, OK, if we must" and usually he is excited about that. When we started walking toward the river we ran into Terry Muesen's nephew John (Sasha) Muesen who had been adopted from there about 3 years ago. What a charming young man and so full of the Lord! We chatted with him a while and exchanged stories and such which was great. Yuri was still just standing there and then Andrey came! He just lit up and was happy with everyone again. I think it is hard for him when he knows that neither of us understand him but Adnrey is also the one who he looks up to and who takes good care of him. I think Andrey has become his best friend. I know he has friends in his group too though.

Igor is now back and we are making plans to go spend a few days with Victor. Probably Sunday through Wednesday or Thursday. It will be great to be able to spend some additional consistant time getting to know him better. Already he is getting the middle child syndrome. Since his orphanage is in the middle of nowhere I may not be able to post for a while but rest assured I am still here. There will be rejoicing when I finally get to go pick the boys up for good. Keep praying that there is no problem trying to get the balance of the paperwork and birth certificates and flights and such finished up. I appreciate all the prayers; keep 'em coming. THe final stretch is somewhat hectic and I will have 3 very frightened, out of sorts, little boys to travel with for many hours on planes, trains, and automobiles. I know God will be with me and help me comfort them the best I can along with Babushka.
Love to all,
Laura

Good news bad news

Bad news first. Rob wasn't taken to the airport on time and has missed his flight home. He is a little flustered but has actually taken it in stride as long as the other pieces fall into place for him to leave tomorrow and get home. I think I'll use a different pair of ruby slippers. The ones he had must have been defective. There are 2 other couples we know who are in Kyiv so I have called them to see if they could cheer him up and maybe get together with him for dinner or something. We have made some great friends here and hope to keep in touch with them. I know they will make every effort to connect with him today and we hope to stay connected when we all get home. (whenever that may be!)

Good news next. Great day of visits with the boys. Vanya continues to ask about papa when I pick him up. One of the caregivers asked him who I was and he said in his very matter of fact voice "Mama" and then he added "and Papa". The lady must have said "Well I don't see a papa" to which he replied "America". So I think he gets it but I can't really be sure. I continue to try to be consistant with him and correct him and he is starting to understand when mama "means business". He only fussed a little bit today when I made him put down the stick that he hit the wall with that broke off with pieces flying everywhere. And ,yes papa, he got a little pop on the behind and had to sit with mama at the picnic table instead of continuing to play with the "machi" (ball) with Babushka. In his most pitiful voice he kept repeating "babushka, babushka" as if she could come save him from the mean mama. Once he settled down I let him get back up and he was just as happy as before and continued to play with babushka. His laugh is contagious and it solicited lots of smile from everyone around, including mama. For the first time he let me walk him inside his room to wash his hands and sit on "his" pot. Yes I literally mean a "pot" not a toilet. He pointed out which one was his and he proceeded to sit on it. While he was sitting was the best part. He tilted his head a bit and reached his arms out a little and rubbed both of my arms and said very sweetly with a great big smile "Mama, Mama". Yep, I almost cried yet again. Is this normal, you other moms out there? I feel like I have shed more tears during this trip than I have my whole life. Maybe it's my age showing but these little guys just choke me up all the time with the simplest sweetest things they do and say.
When we went to visit with Yuri we took him to the river with his new bathing suit from babushka. He didn't understand that he didn't need underwear too so he kept his underwear on and his bathing suit on top just like he would regular shorts. Maybe he really wanted board shorts, I don't know. Just kidding. He was thrilled to just have something new so I let him keep them on when we got back. It was pretty cold there so we bundled up after we had gone swimming for that 4 minutes and just enjoyed sitting on the blanket together. Andrey was, of course, with us and he kept all the other kids straight about what they could play with and what they couldn't. One of the older boys took one of the small soccer balls we had and Andrey promptly went down the hill and retreived it from the boys shorts that were on the shore. He is such a big help. We then went to get ice cream and ended up with croissants and sugarless chewing gum instead. Better choice, I think. Then the highlight of Yuri's day was getting to ride in the car with Roman, our driver. He was all smiles and was so excited to tell everyone that he almost forgot to say goodbye to me. He did forget babushka but she will give him hugs and kisses on tomorrows visit enough to last if he forgets again I'm sure. He continues to be very happy and he is talking up a storm and loves to take pictures. He gave papas picture a hug today when he saw it on the camera but didn't want to take the printed picture back with him because he thought it might get taken away from him. He definitely wants me to bring it each time though. The coolest thing happened while he was scrolling through the pictures on the camera. He found the one of Papa, Yuri, and Victor and hugged it to his chest and then he found the one of Mama, Yuri, and Victor and hugged that one and then he found the one of just himself with Victor and he looked up at me with a smile on his face and gave that one a big hug too. Priceless, just priceless. He isn't quite sure about Vanya yet but I think it is because he hasn't met him yet. He is going to make a great big brother.
Igor rejoined us today and had great news about finding a house and some property to purchase so he can start organizing things to make some money and have enough to adopt 2 little girls. Congrats, Igor.
That's it for now. I continue to love all the comments and prayers and feel very fortunate that God has chosen us to be the parents of these little boys. What a priviledge!
Blessings to all,
Laura
I'll post more pictures tomorrow

Babushka gets giggles, kisses, and a new doo

(Laura) Today was a great day with the boys although they both really missed papa. That was the first thing Vanya said when I picked him up this morning was. Papa? with his hands turned up side down and that famous furrowed brow. Clearly he knew that Papa was missing today however now he knows how to say America. He talked to Papa on the phone and got big wide eyes when he heard his voice but had a hard time figuring out how Papa was in the phone. I think Papa only got a very hesitant Alo Papa? He continues every day to laugh and giggle up a storm. Today he found the brush in Mama's bag. Boy was that a hit! Vanya, Mama, and Babushka all got our hair brushed along with the being fanned with the new fan Babushka brought. Perhaps hairdressing is in his future. I was a riot to watch him give himself spikey hair and then just laugh. Mama did get a little tougher today when the brush started to be used as a weapon to take down the cobwebs in the corner of the shelter. I found out that he is pretty heavy when being carried by one arm. The G-3 gand were there minus Rob, Giovani, and the Lambeths (they had court today and it was a successful 20 min.!) He ran out and gave babushka hugs and kisses and then raced mama up the stairs laughing the whole way. When I got him upstairs however he said his usual "peet mama" but the mistake he made this time was that he didn't let mama get his clothes off first so the caretakers came out and hollered at him and he looked so dijected and simply said in a very low voice "paka mama"and then gave me kiss and hug and his sad little face disappeared into the room for lunch.
Then the highlight of babushkas day was Yuri running all the way out of his building and straight for her to give her a big hug and get the kisses we promised him yesterday that he would be getting. When I went in to wake him up (yes, even 7 year olds take long naps after lunch until 4pm) he was already awake and waiting for me. He showed me his boo boo's were healing and then he got his clothes on and was ready to go. When I told him babushka was here he went to look out the window and then after he saw where she was he ran all the way down the stairs and out the door and left mama in the dust. Babushka welcomed him with open arms and covered him with the kisses on each cheek. I know who is going to be spoiled alot. We played in the shelter for a while and Yuri got a big kick out of taking lots of pictures around the internat (orphanage). I'm glad he did so he will have them to look at when we get home. Lots of Sabaka pictures papa. The puppy as well as ALL the other dogs. Andrey helped him, of course, and he got some great shots. He was all smiles to get his new bathing suit from Babushka as well as a sucker on a plastic stick. He did also eat the snack we brought and wanted his shoes and hat on and also remembered that Mama said he could get an ice cream today. We'll fatten him up in no time! He needs to eat some of Giovani's spaghetti too!
He was very happy today but also really missed Papa. He wanted me to throw him up in the air like Papa does but Mama just doesn't have the muscles for it. He was quite disappointed. Papa, you are missed! Most of all by me but the boys miss you too. Yuri was very proud to say though that Papa was waiting for him in America! Do you think they make Red Ruby flip flops so we can all click our heels and go home! That would be cool.

Babushka has made it to the internet cafe twice now and may need some extra vitamin I. Igor has left us and is working on another project but has the taxi's all lined up for our visits. Of course I was a bad mama and was yelled at by the teacher at Yuri's orphanage because he drove onto the grounds and she had to come find us and I was 10 minutes late. See papa, you complete me!

Cio and das vedanya to all,

Laura and Babushka

Kiev......It's not just for chicken anymore

The trains here run just like clock work. Right on time.....7:40am and I was getting off the train in Kiev. Yuri was there to meet me and he's probably luck I didn't hug and kiss him. The train ride started out really hot, I had a top bunk in a 4 person compartment with no A/C. But, low and behold the weather changed to be very windy and cool. The temperature probably dropped 20F over what the normal temperature had been, and that made the ride much more comfortable. I always knew I was God's favorite son.

Well I will hang out in Kiev today, go to the embassy and sign my last papers, whew, then I fly back to the Red, White, and Blue tomorrow at 1pm. The Blue and Yellow of Ukraine are very nice, but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to the Red, White, and Blue. As soon as I land at JFK I'm going to ask the first person I meet to say anything at all to me in English, they may say *&^%**& yourself, but I won't care. I'm going to get myself a big fat salad with lettuce, not just tomatoes, cucumber, dill, parsley, and cheese that we have been getting. I'm also going to get whatever type of soda I want in "DIET", how do they stay so slim without diet soda. Maybe it's a soda conspiracy, you decide. I'm also going to get a TRIPLE VENTI HAZELNUT LATTE from STARBUCKS! When I get back to Williamsburg I'm going to take back my convertible, and enjoy driving for the first time in over a month, even if it's just driving to work (sorry Travis). I'm going to listen to every radio station IN ENGLISH. I am really looking forward to seeing my kids Travis, Crystal, and Mayra. Crystal turns 21 on Friday. How can that be? I am also looking forward to getting back to church, it's been too long.

Here's what I will miss. I will miss my beautiful wife till she comes back. I will miss visiting with the boys, and the other children. I will miss being able to walk to and from the internet cafe with Laura (great conversation time). I will miss the excitement of loging on to the blog to see what comments we received. I will miss the soups. They actually make them from scratch. Yes I can tell, DUH used to be a chef, remember. I will miss the friends we made there, Igor, Yuri, Hunter & Lauri, Giovanni & Maria, Alex & Alicia, Grant & Suzanne. These are friends I hope not to lose touch with.

(without a clever quip to end)

Rob

Visits, Court, and Babushka Oh My! (long)

(Laura)
Sorry for the long absence from the blog. Lots to do before our court date today. Visits have been going very well and all the kids are doing great. Yuri continues to get more excited as the days go by and he will really miss Rob on the next visits. He has been able to go swimming at the river with the big kids because we were there with him. In fact, the last time we went we saw some goats there as well. Must be a happenin' place to be. There are local people there as well which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. Yuri got to get in his first raft when one of the local people came to put it in and let him get in it first. That was great fun and he came running up the hill to where I was and spouted off a whole bunch of things that I have yet to understand. I'm thinking it went something like this," What a cool raft. Did you see that I got to get in it and everything? Papa talked to the man who owns it and got me a ride. That was great. Come see!" But maybe he actually said,"What a cool mom you are going to be and I just love running up to talk to you even though I know you don't understand anything I say. " Ok, so let me fantasize a little along the way. Ha HA. That was the good one; and on the not so good side, one of our favorite older kids, Andrey, was hit by a local man because he accidently splashed him. The guy actually head butted him and then socked him in the mouth. Good thing we weren't there to see that one! We just saw the results and it wasn't pretty. Things like that make you want to leave this country with all the kids you can gather up. So there is good with bad anywhere. We just pray every day for the kids safety and health. ALL of them, not just the ones that we get to bring home with us.

Vanya continues to amuse us every visit with his constant laughter and giggles. He is getting a little stubborn however and really doesn't like that "nyet" word. He gets the furrowed eyebrows and the whole nine yards and looks like his best friend has just taken away his favorite toy or something. I will have to get better at making him mind but he is just too darn cute. I know what you other moms out there are thinking; "It won't be cute in a few months", and I do realize that. It worked quite nicely to have Rob do that but it's not fair to make him be the heavy all the time. Mama will get on board somehow. Vanya continues to be very affectionate to us and recognizes strangers very well. One of the couples we had met saw him this morning and they said he looked very downtrodden and didn't even smile when they said "hi" to him. Hard for us to believe since he is such a happy little guy. I think when he saw them he was wondering where we were since we usually go in the morning with the other G-3 summitt participants. Little did he know, we were in a court room to make sure we could take him home with us.

On to the court hearing. Very long and very hot would describe it best. The same growling judge was presiding and all the representatives of each of the 3 orphanges were present as well as the inspector for the region and a couple of other people who I think were the court secretary type person and the assistants to the judge. The best part was that Yuri and Victor got to meet each other for the first time! Ok Ok so yes I cried even before the hearing started just seeing them look at each other and waiting with Yuri as he tried to look in the car when it pulled up. Victor was a little indifferent to whole thing and was probably tired of being in the car since it was about a 2 hours drive for him (probably the first time he had ridden in a car) I don't envy the ladies who brought him since he is our little wiggle worm. Yuri looked at him from a distance when he got there and I'm not quite sure what he thought. He had that puzzled look on his face and was probably wondering why I was hugging this other kid the same way I hug him. He was smiling though and I think he understood that this was the little boy we had been telling him about and showing him the picture of that looks so much like him. We got upstairs after everyone arrived and entered the court room after about a 5 minute wait and after they found a potty for Victor. Amazingly enough he sat on my lap or Robs for the entire time and even used a whisper voice when he wanted to say something. (Must have been a God thing) This is the stillest we have ever seen him. He had no toys other than a bottle of water and a hankerchief and he was perfectly content. Yuri just sat in his chair and looked content but bored. I don't blame him. The judge introduced all of the people present which took a while and then asked Igor a lot of questions which I have no idea what about. She didn't like him much so I imagined she was just being irritating. She then went on to Rob and asked about his job and position and how much he makes and why he wanted more kids when his were grown. She wanted to know whether or not the older kids resided at home or were out their own and probably some others. Then she asked me the standard name address and such and asked if we resided in the same home together (DUH!) and then did I realize that if they gave a successful judgement that I would be a mother (another DUH!). The next one got me "How do you feel about the boys?" That one I started out OK before I got out the "Well I love them" along with a few tears. Then the assistant shed a few and then the secretary shed a few and after that I'm not really sure what she asked me. Something about my faith and something about if I had a job. You'll have to ask Rob about anything else. Then each of the orphanage representatives gave their conclusions which were also pretty tear jerking after they read the diagnosis in each of their files (which were the same as the ones at the SDA) and then said how grateful they were that we were going to keep the boys together and that no Ukrainian families would have ever adopted them and they were so happy that they would have a good home. They said all kinds of nice things about us and how we treated not only our own kids but the other kids as well. Some of the ladies who we thought were very stern and didn't like us very much were actually the ones who said the nicest things. Go figure! But then again what's not to like! Ha Ha Then they called Yuri up to the judge which, I could tell was not really where he wanted to be. They asked him if he knew who we were and if he knew who the other little boy was who was there (that causes a ruckuss with the caregivers who weren't happy with that question because they knew he didn't know what that meant) and he must have answered something but we couldn't hear anything at all. He had one hand on his hip which is his nervous look and then they asked him if he just had a birthday and if we were there to celebrate with him and he nodded his head but didn't say anything else. Then as soon as she asked if he wanted to go to America there was an immediate "da!". We heard that one! Then she let him off the hook and he came back with a smile on his face like he was asking "so did I do good papa?" OK so I cried again. They didn't call Victor up since they figured if a 7 year old had a hard time that they probably wouldn't get anything out of the 5 year old. He was content to sit withPapa and try to remove his watch time after time after spilling part of his water down his leg. Then they read through all of the documents in the dossier which took a really long time they then said that they would go out and dilberate and come back with their findings. That took all of about 3 minutes and we all marched back into the room and they read that they find favorably for us to adopt all three boys (Vanya was too young to be present) and that after the 10 days they would be officially ours as long as no one comes forward to appeal in the 10 day period. Woohoo! And again after they found a potty for Victor who had drunk a whole bottle of water during the hearing we headed outside. What a site to see when the boys gave each other a hug with big smiles on their faces. It was so quick we didn't even get a picture. It was priceless though, you'll just have to trust me.
Another highlight of the last few days is that Babushka arrived! Albeit a little frazzled and tired from the long journey. Stroller in hand she got off the plane with all of her parophenalia. Since Igor got a new camera he was taking pictures of the arrival. I'll just have to get him to send them to me so I can post them. Once we got babushka home we got all the cute things she brought unpacked and oggled over. Boy they are going to be spoiled! After getting a good nights sleep during teh time we were at court we went to see Vanya since Rob had gotten to see the other boys to say goodbye for a few weeks. Well, needless to say, Babushka was a big hit with Vanya. The little fan and new books as well as the playing got lots of laughs and giggles. She even got a few hugs and kisses as well as lots of smiles. She even got to "share" his banana. Oh boy!

After all the ordeal and such of the last few days Rob finally clicked his heals and said "dom sweet dom". I know everyone was waiting for the diaperhead picture but we were not able to acquire it without offending anyone. We will just have to create one of our own when we get home. I vote that at the next orphan meeting or H4O meeting he be required to wear it. Perhaps the big screen at church would be good. What do you think Mark? Soooo Rob is on his way to Kyiv as I write this with Babushka. He will get in at 7 ish in the morning and hopefully get together with the Harris family (complete with Svetlana) and then on to the embassy to sign whatever he needs to and then on to the good 'ole USA. (Someone has to get back to earn some more money to pay this whole adventure) I'm jealous (not about the work part but about the home part) but I do get to spend some additional one on one time with boys. OK 2 on one with babushka. I guess I will have to practice being more tough on them to get them to behave. My furrowed brow just doesn't have the same affect.

Well that's it for now. Thanks for keeping up with us and praying for us. God's timing is always perfect and He must have known we needed more time with all of them to get the result we got this morning. Hip Hip Hooray! Now we just have to enjoy them and wait. I did keep the ruby slippers so I can use then just as soon as humanly possibly. OK God, now would be good time to move time along a little faster. I want to take my boys home. Thank goodness for babushka helping me to get them all on the plane. I hope there aren't any birds in the airport or we may loose Vanya before we get him on the plane. I can't wait for the boys to meet him and be together for the first time. That might even make papa cry to see the picture I get (correction: hopefully get)

Happy mama and babushka

Adoption, Its a Global Thing

Rob Speaking)
Dobre Dain, from sunny Zaporozhe. Let's see, what's new? Visits with Yuri and Vanya are going well. If Travis, Crystal, and Mayra are reading this, then you better sit down. Laura has turned into a cream-puff. These kids have her totally wrapped around her fingers, and it is a beautiful sight to see. I'm not just talking about our kids, but all the kids who seem to flock to us. Laura singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" to 10 kids with all the hand jestures and facial expressions was priceless. It would have either made a great human interest story or won money on America's Funniest Home Video. I, on the other hand, had about 5 little boys who thought they could take down King Kong (no Christine, not the lizard, the big ape). It made me feel a little bit younger to know that I could still have 3 or 4 of them hanging off my arms, and I could still lift them.

Yuri was a little out of sorts today, we believe because he found out that he would not be going to Italy since he would be going to America with us. Even though he was a little out of sorts, he still didn't want us to leave. He did however get to have a brief conversation with Travis, I'm sure they were both confused, but I enjoyed it.

Visits with the kids are always great, but its what we did after the visits that was a lot of fun. We actually got to have dinner with adults who understood us. Its amazing, its incredible. We got to have dinner with out new friends from Georgia USA, Italy, and Israel. We had pizza, drinks, and a lot of laughter. We have an Italian dinner planned for the 4 couples on Saturday which I am really looking forward to. After talking to Giovanni and Maria about food, I developed a healthy appetite and put away more than my share of pizza. I'm quite sure we raised more than a few Ukrainian eyebrows since we were probably quite loud for them. Oh well, at least this time they can't just blame it on the loud Americans, we had an Internation Coalition making noice. This could be considered a G-3 summit and the resolution we reached could solve world hunger, just order more pizza.

Fat, Dumb, and Happy,

Rob and Laura

Sun...Rain...We still have fun!

Rob speaking)

Well today was only the third day that we have seen any rain since we've been here. The day started out beautiful and sunny, and by lunch time it started raining and didn't quite till dinner time. So, what do you do with a 7 year old and all the other kids that look to you for entertainment. We still showed up on time for our visit in the afternoon with Yuri, and didn't worry about the rain. A nice teacher who spoke a little English offered to let us sit in her classroom. What a nice surprize, we hadn't even talked to her before. I kinda think the word has gotten around that we are the family adopting 3 brothers from 3 separate orphanages, and I think those that know respect what we are doing. Not only did she let us use her room, but she made us hot tea since it was a little chilly. We had a few of our usual kids, Vica, Rita, Andre', and a new one Tonya. They had fun drawing, playing with our Language Translator, electonic version not Igor, and trying to communicate. Andre' drew us a picture of a rose that he sketched and colored off of one of the tea cups. This boy is so talented and kind hearted, I really wish we could bring him back, or at least have him adopted by a good family. Travis would absolutely love having this kid around, he loves to play, catches on really quick, and doesn't cause trouble. The kids also just love the camera, they like to take photos, see photos, pose for photos, anything for photos. It's going to be really hard to say goodbye to these kids. I'm just glad I'm not going to be the last one to say goodbye, good luck Laura, you'd better bring plenty of tissues.

Here's the best news of the day. While using the voice recorder function on our electronic translator, Yuri said " I want to go to America!" This was the first time he actually said he wanted to go with us. I drew a picture of the house and showed him where everyone's rooms were located, and he was all smiles when I showed him his and his brothers room.

We also had a very good visit with Vanya this morning. He is just a lot of fun to play with. He constantly cracks us up with his facial expressions. He is going to be a real ham. He loves to play ball and race. He also has a very healthy appetite and can drink quite a bit of liquid. We haven't been able to locate the word he uses, but it sounds like "peet". We know it means something like, drink, thirsty, or something like that. It's so funny that Laura and I have adopted it into our everyday conversations. I can't quite do it like Vanya, he furrows his eye brows, gets very serious, and just keeps repeating it over and over again. You know, he just might be related to Laura somehow, because I think she's done the same thing to me for 12 years. I know she's done it to Travis. We have also had several people at the orphanage tell us that Vanya actually looks like Laura.

We have decided that we will each post our 6 favorite pictures when we leave Zaporozhe, me hopefully on the 19th, and Laura hopefully on the 29th. I will still have 1 day in Kiev and Laura will have probably 3 days.

Now for those of you looking for a diaper head picture, I'm trying. They haven't had a diaper head outside lately. I will get it this week even if I have to humiliate myself and ask a caregiver for it myself. As most of you know, I'll do almost anything for a laugh......almost anything!

One week to court and counting,

Rob and Laura

Sun...Rain...We still have fun

Over the hill and far far away

(Laura)
It was a long day today but worth time. We got to see Victor again today and this was a much better visit. He actually listened to us and didn't run away from us until it was time to go inside to eat. Igor confirmed for us that he was saying the correct words when I was pointing to different pictures in a book we had. He speaks so softly it is hard to hear him. Most of the time he doesn't really talk alot but I think the other boys will get him going. He does know his numbers and colors and loves to run around outside and play with the older kids. He really likes his group but he is warming up to us a little bit. He has such a cute smile I could just gobble him up. He will hold my hand while we are walking and sit on our laps for a short time so today was good. Not sure if we are still just the snack people or whether he is getting used to us.
The hat he had on today was hillarious! The sides were folded up and you could see the inside part that goes around your head. That along with the pink sandles, brown shorts and orange patterned shirt was a site. The other kids recognized us and scooped him up right away and brought him to us. He had a smile on his face but wasn't very sure about being picked up.
There was one little girl who always comes over and attaches herself to my legs. Today the teacher promptly removed her and she started to cry. That face was sooooo sad. All I was going to do is hug her but clearly that isn't allowed. The time before I had picked her up and the other kids started hitting her so I knew not to do that again. I get a little cool feeling from that teacher so I'll have to tread lightly next time. She wanted us to take Victor somewhere away from all the other kids but that is hard to do at his orphanage because everything is wide open so the kids follow us anyway.
We have really enjoyed reading all the comments and appreciate everyone keeping up with our journey and praying for us along the way. Colleen, thanks for the comments, prayers, and traveling mercies for my mom and Rob. It's great to connect with you.
On our way back from Victors orphanage today, Igor calmly tells us that our building was on fire today and that it was on the news. No other infomration; that was it! I was freaking out thinkng I had left my curling iron on or something. Dollar signs started racing through my brain as I was thinking how we were going to pay for a whole new aprtment building. Thanks goodness when we got there we found out that it was NOT our apartment but the fire was either on the roof or in another apartment. You could see the left over standing water and smell only a little bit of that ashy smell. The stairway always reaks of cigarette smoke so the ashy smell was a bit of a relief. At least we know a portion of the interior was hosed down!
The next couple of days we will have a regular schedule of seeing Vanya in teh morning and Yuri in the afternoon and then back to see Victor on Saturday. Poor little guy is getting slighted since he is so far away. Being the middle child hasn't been easy for him so far.
The time is seeming to pass so slowly but we are enjoying it for the most part. We know when we get home it will be a much faster pace and the adjustment time might be long so we will enjoy our time here. I really do miss home though. It's like we took a step off the planet and everything stopped. OK, it's not THAT slow here but it's not too far from that. We even got adventurous and tried this drink that is sold along the road in these big yellow barrels. They told us it is not alcoholic and that each one may be a little different but that they are all made of bread. I think they meant yeast but who knows. It says KBAC on the barrel but the taxi driver called it kVas. Another one of those times when you just don't ask! Anyone who hasn't tried it should do so just for the experience. It tasted a little like molasses but was the consistancy of tea. I don't think we really want to know exactly what it was. Suffice to say, we have tried it.

New pictures of Yuri's birthday are on the last post. FYI

Still sitting at the Lord's feet being so thankful for such wonderful blessings!



ps. Rob is getting the diaperhead tomorrow as well as the kvityoubellyakening! FYI

Progress...Slow....But Progress

Rob Speaking)

Sunday was a much needed day of rest. Get this, we slept in until 11:30. Sleeping in isn't just for college students any more. We had fun Saturday evening meeting Hunter, Laurie, and their translator Sergey. We had a light dinner over looking the beach by the river. They are adopting a girl just a little younger than Vanya, from Vanya's orphanage. They are the second American couple we have met there, Italy is still in the lead with 4 couples. We seemed to have much in common and welcomed their American speaking company. So, back to Sunday. We met our new friends at a private beach along the river for a little sun and watersport. The water was cold, but we all managed to get wet. This beach was very nice because it was actually litter free. No bottles, cigarette packages, etc... We also tried a new restaurant, The Potato House, it came highly recommended. Unfortunately, it didn't pass the test. It was okay, but might not have been worthy of 2 lines on our upscale Blog Site. We'll give them another try, maybe it was an off day. We also went to see what we thought was a horse show, but it turned out to be an outdoor live performance with horses in it. Even though we didn't understand what the people were saying, Igor filled us in so we enjoyed the production. What we didn't enjoy were the bugs. Wow, I though Virginia was bad. These mosquitos ate us alive. Both Laura and Laurie got up and moved to the back in hopes of standing by some smokers. That's the only time Laura will tolerate cigarette smoke. The performance was held on an island across the river. It's a pretty large island, and if I remember correctly this is where the Kasaks used to train their military. Igor also intoduced me to Russian billiards. Man is that hard. The pockets are very narrow like a snooker table, and the balls are large. The rules are quite different from 8-ball, but I adapted and won by 1 ball. One game took us an hour to play. You don't have to worry about someone running out a table on you like in 8-ball. I'd like to see how my dad would do on these table.

Today, Monday, we got to see Vanya in the morning. We were working on saying please and thank you. He did very well. We also worked on having him finish what he has in his mouth before shoving more in. We'll keep trying to reinforce that with him. However, he is quite stubborn when he wants something and doesn't like being told no. I think Papa and Mama will win this battle, Crystal, Travis, and Mayra can testify to our resolve. All in all it was a very good visit.

We also got to see Yuri for his 7th Birthday. We had cake, candles, balloons, games, prizes, and candy. It turned out great, but was quite difficult with only Igor to translate what we wanted the kids to do. We had bobbing for apples, I bet the teachers loved seeing all the soked kids. We also had plastic bowling. Then we made our pivitol mistake, we had a candy free-for-all. I was totally surrounding by kids pleading their candy needs to me in a language I didn't understand. Fortunately I was not harmed in the stampede, and I didn't need to hang any children on hooks to get them away from me. Okay, there weren't any hooks, but I was looking for them. Yuri seemed very pleased with his party. I don't think he fully got what was happening right away, but he caught on. I also think he is really warming up to the idea of coming to America, and he also asked us to please make sure we came back on Wednesday, since we should be going to Molachansk tomorrow.

Now about our progress. It looks like our court date will be Tuesday, of next week. Not ideal, but I'm hopeful that I will see home soon.

Progress is good,

Rob

Visit with Victor, finally

(Laura )
We finally got a chance to get back to see our middle son. Wow, that still sounds wierd, "our middle son". It is a very long drive from where we are and this is only the 3rd time we have seen him. He is still a little bit apprehensive about who we are, so it is a little more difficult to get him to come and do things with us. He is very attached to his routine and his group and then we show up out of the blue and disrupt that. I think it throws him off a little but he is a happy little guy and has the most awesome smile. He looks very much like Yuri and sounds like Vanya so it isn't hard to tell they are brothers. He is a good little soccer player (yea!) and is very scrappy. If we can get him to not use his hands I think he will do great on a team some day. He does get tired easily but I think that has a lot to do with nutrition and such.
Since he doesn't understand us, he simply ignores us when we talk to him until we say something he gets. Like "da" or "nyet" or "veecha" and then he will look at us and then go on to the next thing he wants to do. I can tell it will take a longer time for him to warm up to us so hopefully we will get to spend some more time with him during our waiting time after court. We may go and stay out that way for a few days so we can go at the same time each day for a few days to show him we aren't just passing through. It might have to be just me and my mom if it is after court but I know with as actvive as he is, Rob will have him wrapped around his little finger in no time after some backyard fun. Since we spent the majority of the time chasing him around we didn't get any new pictures :( He wasn't interested in trying on any clothes and only sat long enough for me to get one shoe on to see if it fit. At least we will know he will have a pair of shoes to come home in. The other stuff we'll just have to play by ear. He still wants us to kiss him before we leave and he even blew us kisses today after being prompted by his caretaker. All together it was a pretty good visit and we look forward to spending some more time with him.

As far as court goes, no news yet. We should be hearing something on Monday though. Hopefully that something is that we will be heard the following day or at least that week. We appreciate all your prayers and words of encouragement. They are quite helpful. As a matter of fact, we both went back and reread some of the comments of previous posts and enjoyed them as much the second time as we did the first. Keep 'em coming.

We are going to meet another American couple this evening who are adopting from the same orphanage as Vanya so that will be great. Woohoo, I see conversation my future! With poeple over 5ft tall who speak English! Yippee. Whoever prayed for that, thank you thank you thank you. We also met another person at the internet cage who comes here each year to do work at 3 orphanages and provides new beds or windows or whatever. He is a commercial Real Estate person in Florida and just comes here on his own to do this. Neat guy adn perhaps a good contact for our H4O group since he knows who to contact for construction materials and even knows the major of the city we are in! We asked if he knew the cheif judge but unfortunately that was big "nyet". Too bad. Well we are looking forward to some entertainment this evening and hopefully some good laughs too. Igor was able to set it up since he knows their translator.

It was a true experience trying to order a birthday cake for Yuri at the local supermarket. We are being allowed to have a birthday party for him on Monday when he turns 7. We have now found out that they do not make cakes over the 1/4 sheet size but they will make a fruit torte as big as you want. No box of course you have to supply them with whatever you wish for htem to put it on. We managed to find 2 lunch trays that will suffice. It's a little pricey but we know these kids probably wouldn't get anything like this so it's worth a few extra bucks. Since we went without Igor the transaction was very humorous. I still think the bakery lady thinks we are crazy and just can't imagine why we need that big a piece of torte. We showed her a birthday candle with a 7 on it but she still didn't get it. We are hoping when we go pick up the lunch trays that they will actually have something on it that we can feed the kids and put a candle in! We'll make sure we have the camera for that one.

Rob's leg is getting better with teh cream and the ace bandage so it will jsut be a matter of time for healing. It is fortunate that it doesn't hurt him and we have found that whatever the cream and powder that they gave him are, they seem to work OK and none of his toes have fallen off or anything. THanks be to God!

Bye for now, we're off to have some entertaining ENGLISH conversation!