A Few New Bumps in the Road

(Laura)

Thanks so much for all your comments. It's great to hear from our friends and family. I think the boys are pretty cute too! Biased opinion of course. :)

My Russian is about non existant so I am getting pretty good at charades although the number of words every female is supposed to use each day is sorely lacking for this female. Poor Rob and Igor, I just can't get in enough conversation each day. I have even had conversations with the taxi drivers who didn't speak english! I think it was more like we were both talking but not necessarily about the same topics. Rob just periodically chuckled at the whole experience.

We are still hoping to have our court date this Friday but some issues have come up that Igor is working dillegently on. We don't want to have to have 2 hearings but would like for all the boys to be adopted in the same one. We may have to wait until Tuesday now but would love to have Friday instead. Pray pray pray! We had booked Rob's ticket home for Saturday but fortunately (probably more like divinely) the information was entered incorrectly and therefor the ticket automatically cancelled. Inmagine that! We can always book another one and not have to pay a fee. Woohoo!

Rob's leg is getting worse and is pretty swollen all the way to the toes now so he is in need of a lot of prayer as well. Perhaps we can convinve the judges and lawyer adn such that he really need to get home so he can get that taken care of. Igor did go with us tothe Apteka to get some oil for it to perhaps reduce the swelling but it was also suggested that he put rubber bands around it to do the same thing! Ochen Ochen interesting medical advice. We aren't going to see Yuri today because Rob needs to keep his leg elevated as long as possible but we hope to see Vanya (Evan) in the afternoon. We were planning to see Victor today but we needed to take care of some additional paperwork stuff to hopefully get the court date set.

Mom, not sure where you got those nicknames on your comment but we will call them Yuri (pronounced your ee), Victor is currently being pronounced (Veech ya) but we will hopefully transition him to Victor, and Evan's given name was pronounced (eevon) but the short version is Vanya. We will probably still call him Vanya. So if you would like them to respond to you you might try these.

Here are a couple of other pictures from the last visits we had with Yuri and Vanya. One of caretakers had picked some roses and had given them to him to give to me. That was pretty cool since she was one of the ones who doesn't really smile alot so it was hard to read her. I guess she likes us. The older kids continue to hang out with us as well and have said "you take picture to America da?" It breaks your heart that they want a family so bad and htere are so many teenagers that have one that don't realize what itwould be like to be in a different position.
Papa is trying to show Vanya how to wave goodbye with his hand facing out instead of in towards himself. He catches on pretty well and has even started to say some english words like "kitty cat" and "hat" and of course "me". Gotta love that pink hat! At least he didn't have to be diaperhead. He has even started calling Rob dada however that could be misconstrued to mean that Rob is a yes man. NOT! We that's it for now. Thanks again for all your comments and prayers. God is good and his timing is perfect so we will rest in that.

Sorry For The Delay.......

(Rob Speaking)

Suzanne is the winner Laura is 41. I'm assume this is Suzanne Lever? Correct me if I am wrong. To make it easy I will bring chocolate for you too, unless you don't like chocolate.


I know we promised pictures yestersday, but I re-pulled my calf muscle yesterday trying to play basketball on a grass, dirt, and broken glass court with no basket. It only had the painted square on the bank board. I know I'm getting older, but Father Time doesn't have to keep reminding me. Vitamin M (motrin) has been my close companion and ally. Our cab was late in picking us up last night, and with my leg thing, I just didn't want to make the trek to the internet cafe, so it was my fault we didn't post yesterday. Since I know everyone reads this to find out about me, and not about the kids, my leg feels a little better, but it's swollen and tight as a drum.



Now, down to the important stuff. We got to visit the little one yesterday, and we are getting the impression that this one lady is saying something to him that makes him cry. If she's not careful I'll turn Laura loose on her. He didn't cry for very long since we had our big bag of all sorts of goodies. Half an orange seemed to do the trick, followed up by some trail mix, good fresh cold water, and even a little taste of Coke. You should have seen his face when he took the first swig of Coke, his eyes were wide like that was a big surprize. We had a very good time playing with him, especially Laura. He seems very proud of himself when he does certain things like climbing up the monkey bars, he seems to be a little frail, but we will fix that back in the States. I'm sure all the Ukrainian girls will just gobble him us when they see him.



We also went to see the oldest today, and he seemed really happy to see us. We brought him a happy meal and switched out a Coke for a Coke Light. I don't think he knew the difference. We had to remember to bring him one since I promised him Friday to bring him one on Saturday. We had a 4 hour visit which was nice, but quite long with nowhere to go. We played a lot of ball, and some of the older kids came and went and came again. There was one older boy that helped Laura go across the street for some drinks that was very nice. We sure would like to bring him home too. I personally thing he would be great for Rick and Fran and could work with Rick in his shop, and would be a great brother for sisters. Of course now that I think about it, the Cooks don't have a boy, he would be a great fit for them. I tried to explain to the oldest that Papa would be going back to America in 6 days, but Mama would be here. I tried to get a sense of if he would like to go, but didn't get much of a reaction. He may not have understood. I also explained to him that today was Saturday, and we would not be back until Tuesday. I'm sure he understood that. When we were leaving we walked him up to his room and we were instantly mauled by children, they don't like to let you leave. They gave us candy, snacks, hugs, kisses, everything. Then one little boy came out and told us that our boy was crying. We're not 100% sure why, but when the teacher came up, she asked him why he was crying and then asked us when we were coming back. I hope he didn't think that we weren't coming back, but I do think he is starting to miss us. I plan to have Igor read a note from us explaining what will be taking place when we go to court. We want him to know that we would like him to be our son and live with us in America with his brothers. We'll see how that goes.


After a much needed day to sleep in, we went to a photo shop today to have some of our digital pictures developed to give to some of the kids we have bonded with. It seems to be a big deal for them to get photos. The boy that I mentioned earlier gave us his photo for us to keep, so we printed some for him. It's very hard to tell who has family that visits or that they can visit, and who is content being there and who isn't content. Some kids make it very clear that they would like to come with you, some you think they might, but they don't feel comfortable opening up and telling you. We should have an exchange program for American kids who don't feel their parents give them enough, and let them come over here. Let them experience always having dirty fingers and toes, not having a refrigerator that you can just open and get drinks and snacks, not having clean clothes to wear every day, having to walk everywhere with no one to give you a ride or having a bike to use. What an eye opener that would be. Now for the spoiled grown-up club, of which I'm probably the president. I have become almost embarassed to show pictures of our house, the rooms we have, my car, and the activities we do. Why has God seen fit to bless us, Laura and I, the way he has? Some of the places where we have stayed since our arrival we would have never considered getting out of the car to look at if we were in the States. I know that most of us work very hard to make a good life for our families, but we need to do more. If money is what God has gifted us with, we need to donate more, if time is what he has gifted us with, then we need to volunteer more, if your gifted with time and money then please tell me how I can get both also. Most of the people we have met here have been so very helpful and so very kind, even thoughwe don't speak their language or know their customes. Our taxi ride last night was in a car that probably would never pass any inspection, and the insurance company would probably total for just a fender bender. I am embarassed to say that I was thinking that this old guy will probably gouge us for the fare. I then thought even if he tried to get 30 extra rph., that's only $6US, what's the big deal. Well, shame on me, he was very pleasant and tried to reassure us that his car would get us home (we gathered from his guestures), and charged us the correct fare. Then he shook my hand for giving him a small tip. Yea, I felt pretty small after that. For those of you who have already been here and gone through this, you probably experienced some of this, if not more. For those of you who haven't been here yet get ready, it will change your outlook on just how important you and your stuff really are, or aren't.



(Laura)
I just love that man more and more every day. People had told us that many of the couples have marrital troubles over here. Once again, I think we are the opposite. We have seen things in each other that draw us closer all the time. We can feel the Lord's presence always. Since there are no churches here that we could find we had our own little communion service this morning and that was great. It was so cool that as I prayed on the way the to see the oldest boy a few days ago the radio was tuned to an english speaking christian station! I didn't even know they had those here and haven't been able to find one since. I think God knew I just needed a little reassurance that He was listening and had heard me. That was the day I had an awesome visit. The Lord really does continue to amaze me daily. I hope that continues when I get home. Raising 3 little boys will require lots of prayer time and I'm thinking an investment in some LAVA soap would be good too.



And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. Here they are, oldest to youngest with thier new names (provided all goes well with the rest of the process of course) :




Yuri Robert Passanita











Victor Reagan Passanita








Evan David Passanita

Sorry

Just Another Day In.........Paradise?

(Rob speaking)

No one has guessed Laura's correct age yet. Stop being so kind!

Well I think I'm ready to go shoe shopping. Yes, that's correct, shoe shopping. I'm hoping to find some ruby red slippers to I can click my heels together 3 times and say, "There's no place like home." It's been 2 weeks and I'm ready to go. I know Dale, you were here for 6 weeks, I'll gladly concede that you are better than me if I can actually fly out next Saturday(6/9). So.........Travis and Mayra, that means clean the house, wash the cars, cut the grass, and anything else you think I might think of. Crystal, I'll be home to wish you happy birthday, but Laura may not make it in time.

Well, we went to see our little one today. His orphanage had a special production for summer. His group didn't participate, but the ones who did were really cute. They had kids dressed like sailors, Kasaks, hula dancers, flower children, and strawberries. There must be some strawberry celebration because I saw a guy at the grocery store dressed like a strawberry, I felt better after I saw what he was wearing. They actually had water in the swimming pool today, but I could tell that they are sticktly forbidden to play in the water. So, what do you think we had him do? That's right, play in the water. We only let him put his hands in, but we splashed and giggled, and splashed and giggled some more. He did manage to get his whole front wet and throw his hat in the pool. When we took him back wet, I tried to tell the workers that the bad momma did it, but I didn't get my point across. It was actually me who was the culprit.... are you surprised? He really enjoyed the water, and so did we because it was a real scorcher today.

We got to take the water thing to the next level when we went to see the oldest one. Igor had a great idea to see if they would let us take him down to the river where the older kids go to swim. They gave us permission and we set out to get wet. The water was awesome, not too cold, not too warm. I don't think our little man had been swimming before because he was quite scared of getting into the water. He wouldn't jump off the dock, even though we showed him he could stand up, so we took him to a spot where he could walk in. We finally convinced him that it was safe to ride on my back, and after I convinced him that he really didn't need to keep me in a choke hold we were good to go. He seemed to have a great time as did we, and I think he was a little sad that we had to say good bye. I went and played a little with Igor and the older kids and Laura got to spend some good quality time with him. That made her feel good. When momma feels good......everyone feels good.

I have some international traveling tips for those who care to read it. When traveling in a foreign country where you don't speak the language and hand guestures don't seem to work well or be appropriate, this is most important. If you feel the slightest discomfort in your stomach, don't leave the place where you're positive there is a bathroom available. It's about a 2 mile walk from the internet cafe of our choice to our apartment. Not too far into our walk last night I got a case of the Terrible Ivan's. Don't ask what it is......you don't want to know. What a miserable walk home. I made it, intact, no accidents, but a Taxi would have helped a lot. I promptly took some vitamin I,(Immodium) but before I went to bed I got the chills and shakes that were almost like convulsions. I fully expected to be layed up for a day or two with some kind of food borne illness, but when I woke up, I was fine. Who ever was praying for our health yesterday, thank you, it worked.

(Laura)
Yep, mama feels good today! Laughs and giggles from 2 of my boys and a particularly good visit with the oldest. I think he finally trusts me (at least a little) and we had a great time playing with the machinas (cars) after he finally let me (although very reluctantly) take him out over his head in the water to papa. At first he wanted us both and had a big grin on his face being between us and then he was content to ride on papas back. He talked up a storm today and showed me what he meant when he knew I didn't understand. We watched papa play with some of the older kids and he even held my hand for a while. :) He shared his snack evenly with me right down to squishing a melting M&M so we would each have half. And yes, I had to eat it even though his hands were filthy and it really didn't look very appetizing even though it was chocolate. Did I really say that? Chocolate, not appetizing. Well as you see, I ate it anyway so there you go. I did bring some Cipro so if the water didn't have parasites and the dirt I ate with my M&M didn't have anything and the scrape I got on my leg from the glass in the grass doesn't get me then I am invinceable! Pray pray pray
I would do it all over again if I knew I would get the same results though. My little boy actually trusts me a little and wants to talk to me all the time! Woohoo!!! We didn't get any pictures of the visit with the oldest because I was too busy enjoying him and Rob was playing with some of the older kids so our recollection will have to do for now.

Tune in tomorrow for the much awaited pictures!!!! We just can't wait any longer.

An add-on to the one below

(Laura)
Ok I just had to add a few comments for today since there haven't been any tearjerkers lately. Here's one: I got to hear the youngest call for me today when Rob had picked him up to take him back inside. Rob said "call Mama" and he said "come on Mama" and when I turned to look at him he had a big smile on his face and that little sheepish grin he gets when he knows he looks so cute. Almost made me cry right there!
He liked the butterfly kisses I gave him today today too. He laughed when I gave one to Rob too. Then we got the "do it again" head nod so that was fun. He continues to amaze me with his understanding of our total lack of knowledge as to what he is saying. I really think he is laughing AT us and not necessarily WITH us. He has mastered unscrewing the sippy cup as trying to get anything out of it the right way is not an acquired skill here. I'm thinking straw usage falls into the same category. There is going to be a little show at his orphanage tomorrow so we are really looking forward to that. We aren't sure what it is they are celebrating but "who cares" ; we will get to see our little guy do some thing with his group. He did introduce us to 2 of his friends who managed to get away from the caregivers just long enough to get over to us before they were retreived. He pointed at them and I think called them by name but I can't be very sure. When he tells us something, it always very matter of factly so I'm guessing that would be what it was. So dskjtrewit and akfdjgerpog are his friends so he tells us.
I really enoyed our visit with the oldest one today as well. He really does know how much we don't know but he is beginning to talk more and more anyway which is great. One of his caregivers asked him something and he clammed up but still had a smile on his face so that was OK. He is very calm and gentle and even though I know he will be a great negotiator he doesn't get upset when told "nyet". I think he is warming up to me a little bit more now. I have tried to just add to what Rob is doing bit by bit. I think it is easier for him to bond with Rob because we don't think he has any recollection of his birth father. He even gave me hug today as we were leaving which is better than the stiff body treatment from the last time. Rob is awesome with him and always gets the biggest smile (Yea, I'm a little jealous but that's how it goes). He is a good sport and likes to joke around so the two make a perfect pair. He has a good sense of humor which is great also. He will miss Rob alot when he goes back after court. I think we will give him the laminated picture to keep with him and we will try to call home sometime during most visits so he can hear his voice.
Once again I was bombarded with a group of 10-12 year old girls who are just fantastic. THey know more english than I do RUssian and they get a big kick out of teaching me the "right" way to say things. THey have even tried to start helping our oldest with things like getting him a ball and taking his shoes off and they tell the other kids to be nice to him and share with him. I think they just want to show us that they could fit in too :( They all had sad faces when we had to go and they had just gotten outside and found us. We had one big group hug and they got a real giggle out of that. Vica just wanted to hold on and must have told me several times that she loves me. It makes it really hard to leave after each time. They told Igor that another 2 weeks would not be long enough and that they wanted me to stay longer. They are such nice girls and I told them I would love to take them all home with me but we would have to settle for seeing each other while I'm there. THese would be great kids to start a pen pal program with! They would love to receive mail and be able to write back and forth with "Amerrikansas".
Whoever guessed I was 29 is my new favorite person and is absolutely correct in the guess! (Ok, I know I'm imagining things, but what are numbers anyway?) Colleen, great to see your posts. Know that my mom keeps us up to date with the twins who are absolutely adorable by the way.
Thanks to all our friends back home for the prayers and comments. We appreciate them and feel uplifted and protected. We know God hears all of your prayers and has granted us favor so far with only minor issues.

We can answer the question "How great and awesome is He" when we look into the eyes of our three little miracles.

Hopefully I have now provided the tearduck cleansing that everyone needs from time to time. Love to everyone back home and especially to our older kids Travis, Mayra and Crystal. We love you guys :)
Laura and Rob

Now We Are Rollin'

(Rob speaking)
Someone should suggest to Busch Gardens the idea of making a roller coaster ride out of a Ukraine adoption. After feeling like we were going to fall behind during the last 2 days, we turn around today and get everything we need. Our papers are done and should be on their way to Kiev. We are very hopeful for a Friday June the 8th court date. That means I might get back to work on the 11th, I never thought I would say this, but I'll be glad to go back. It will be very hard to leave my bride here, but June (Laura's mom) will take good care of her and be a great help as well. Pack light and dress light June, because it is hot!!!

We got to go see the youngest and the oldest today. I'm afraid the middle one is getting slighted because he is so far away, but he seems pretty happy-go-lucky, so he'll be okay. We captured some great short video's today of the youngest. Laura was holding him and just leaning him upside down(don't know how to describe it better) and he was laughing up a storm. It was so cute some of the little ones wanted to come and play. This cute little girl was having a blast just rolling the ball back and forth with me. Her smile could melt the polar icecaps. We are trying to determine if they make the same little girl "diaper cover head" everyday or if they rotate it. You'll understand when we post the pictures next week. It's hillarious.

When we went to see the oldest one today we felt like we have really connected with him. Laura bought some shoes, since all the kids go out side in flip flops, or sandals, and it's difficult for him to play ball. You should have seen the look on his face with new socks and new shoes. I thought his cheeks might break because of his big smile. I knew we had really made an impact when the moment he stepped out the door he said something to his friends. I would imagine it when something like, "Hey guys, check out these new shoes" When we got out to the playground area he wanted to show us he could run all the way around and do a full lap. He did it, and even managed to wave to us half way around. We did manage to limit him to one banana, one bottle of water, and one snack today. He tried for two, but the strickt Papa had to say, "only one." He seemed to understand, but I can see that he may be our food horder. I also had to play sherriff today with one of the other young boys who was tourmenting in really nice young puppy. He was picking it up by his front legs and spinning him around. After yelling at him and making him stop that, he put the puppy in the bushes by an older dog that bit the puppy, and then was looking like he was going after him with a stick. I know it's hard to believe, but I yelled at him again. He didn't take me seriously, silly young lad. He tried to run away from me and keep me from taking the stick, well I may be getting old, and I may be out of shape, but I can still run down a 5 yr. old. Soooo........I drug him back to his teacher kicking and eventually crying, and told her that he was being mean to the sabadka(dog). She understood and Igor reinforced with translation to be sure. Just so everyone knows, I wasn't scared of him because he is smaller than me. (Ha! Ha!) So it was a pretty full day, we made progress, saw two of our boys, brought them great joy(us too), and saved a puppy in distress.

I would also like to thank everyone for commenting on the blog. We have replied to some of your comments if you have a blog site. We've done them as a blog post to your site because we don't have everyone's e-mail, and quite frankly we can't understand all the buttons on the blog because they are in Russian. Thanks also to Sharon for taking our call yesterday and being a great support, we lucky to be working with you.

Expecting lower gas prices when we get back,

Rob and Laura

2 busy days

(Rob writing)
Well we finished up a day of rest with 2 very busy days. These felt like 2 unproductive days to boot. The shining point was it was Laura's birthday. She is _ _ years old. The first to guess Laura's age other than family or the Cook's, or Sharon, since she can look it up, wins the next Ukraine prize. We started Tuesday out leisurely, but then Igor promptly got us in gear. We were getting forms, going to the Notary, and going to Yuri's orphanage. But, before we went to the orphanage Igor took us bowling for Laura's birthday gift. We had a lot of fun, even though most of our scores weren't too good. Must have been the Ukrainian bowling balls.

We got to spend some good time with Yuri, and we also got to play with some very nice older children. We played a version of volleyball with a very small kids ball. It didn't matter, we had fun, we laughed, and we all got dusty. Everything and everyone gets dusty no matter what you do, and especially when you play. We also let the kids listen to the IPOD to see what kind of music they liked, and Laura received a Russian lesson from a very friendly girl, who didn't want to let Laura go. Yuri gladly accepted two snacks, half a litre of water, and 1/3 of a bottle of Coke. He was trying to keep all these things in his little hands and found that since he had stuff he also had a lot of friends. It was like feeding time at the zoo. The only downside is that I hurt my leg running for a ball, yes Travis I did say running. Don't worry, they didn't have to amputate. I think it was a really bad calf cramp, but it sure felt like something popped way out of place. I'm walking better today, I'm afraid if I don't Laura will place me on a street corner with a tin cup to finance our trip.

Today started out really rocky. We had some moral, christian value issues with Igor. I don't know if I conveyed my wishes in the right manner, but I know I made the right decision, and since our trip has been blessed so far I don't feel that turning a blind eye will help us in the long run. In the short run it will probably cost us more money. Pray for my temper, because it's really getting under my skin. We went to Molachansk today since they were supposed to have our papers ready, guess what, they didn't. Now Igor has to go back tomorrow. It's at least $80USD everytime we go there so it hurts to not be productive when we are there.

Now my bride and I will walk about 2 miles from the internet cafe of our choice back to the apartment. I have to be nice or she will walk faster than me, (hurt leg, remember) and I'll have to walk by myself.

Pakah (see you later)

Day of rest

Today is a holiday in Ukraine and so no one is working, except Igor! He is doing a great job of lining things up for us to get our documents to Kyiv hopefully by the Wednesday night train to arrive Thursday, be checked, and then submitted to the SDA on Friday. Then hopefully we will have a court date the following week.
Today we went to the beach as you can see by the picture. It is really odd for us to see people with open beer bottles and such on the beach. It was pretty dirty with trash all over but it was nice to have a little breeze and put our feet in the ice cold water for a brief time.
It has been nice to catch up on some reading and such but i miss being able to see the boys. We have spent more time at the internet cafe and catching up with people so that has been nice.
We have run across some very interesting things here. It seems that is not OK to smoke marijuana but it is Ok to use it for any other purpose you see fit; above is one example. Can you imagine, marijuana ice cream? We decided to pass on that little adventure but the lady thought I was crazy wanting to take a picture of her ice cream. Everything seems to be just the opposite of what we have expected. The train was nice, the bathrooms have been nice, the clothes are very expensive, the people have been friendly and many of them smile, the inspectors and directors (except one) have been extrememly efficient and quick, and the list goes on. Perhaps we are in the Ukrainian twilight zone. I think it is more like we have so many people praying for us that God has been paving the way and blessing us immensly (sp?). He also said He wouldn't give us more than we could handle so in this case it must be good to be wimpy.
It is so nice to read everyone's comments and hear from home. It really makes a difference. Even our hairsalon has posted for us and is following our journey. Thanks "What I Want" friends! I know many others are following our journey even if they don't post comments and we greatly appreciate all the prayers for the us and for the boys. It is still a long road ahead but the Lord is our strength and picks us up so we can fly like eagles. Truly there is nothing He can't do. Watching Him work is an awesome priveledge.
God Bless,
Laura and Rob

Wow! Great end to a hard day (long)

(Rob) Kathie Schweikert is the winner!

(Laura)
I am extremely blessed to have such a wonderful husband! God is good! Rob wouldn't let me read the post until today (sunday) and believe my when I say it made me cry too! I didn't even realize he could see my excitement over the first little gigle from our youngest, but it was and is a completely overwhelming feeling to see these boys smile and laugh. It takes everything I have not to just want to hold them the whole time we are there. Clearly that would be very boring for them but it warms my heart just to see them look up at me and smile or giggle.
The most recent visits were a little difficult though.

At the oldest ones orphanage we were told we weren't going to be able to see him without the presence of a social worker but Igor made some calls and got the director to allow us to see him. What I didn't know until later was that as we getting ready to take him outside to play he was told that we were there to take him away. That explains why he wouldn't take our hand and walked at least ten feet ahead of us. When we got outside Igot explained to him we were just there to play with him today. At that, he lightened up and looked relieved. We had fun playing with him outside with a ball. He has a great throwing arm and really enjoyed seeing himself on our digital camera. We played with him for about an hour and he laughed and smiled and we think he had fun. When we went back inside he was again grilled about whether or not he wanted us to take him away. He said he was afraid. Duh! Wouldn't any 7 year old be afraid if they were told some people they had only seen twice in their life were going to take them away! We asked if he was afraid of us or afraid of leaving the orphanage. Thank goodness he wasn't afraid of us, he was simply afraid of leaving the orphanage. Fairly normal, I think. Particularly when it is presented the way it was. The director staring at him and us sitting across a board room like table and him sitting by himself in a chair facing all of us. What a scary thing for anyone. Please pray for him that he will not have so much anxiety and that the peace of the Lord will come upon him and comfort him. He is clearly unsure what the future brings and isn't even sure he wants to be adopted because he isn't really sure what that means. We will continue to visit him and hope that he will start to feel more comfortable. I think he relates being adopted with whatever it was he has experienced when living with his birthmother. They also keep bringing up to him that a couple in another country have hosted him for 2 summers and have invited him back this summer but that he won't be going becasue we are going to take him away. We don't know whether or not they intended to adopt him or not but 3 years is long time. He said he didn't want them to adopt him either. Poor little guy. We hope to see him as often as we can. The good thing is that the director is a believer and even asked us if we were. Everything she said she said with a smile but the things she was saying to him were not smiling kinds of comments. Hopefully the Lord will also speak to her heart and see that this is what is best for him and that his brothers will also benefit from having him with them as well. We hope we will not have to separate them and just take the 2 youngest ones. That would be really sad for all of us. I'm sure God has it all worked out though.
We went again to the middle boy's orphanage as well and couldn't find any adults! All these kids were wondering around and we couldn't find anyone to help show us where to find our little guy. The other children followed us around wherever we would go. It was like a little herd we had behind us. One boy about 14 came up and started to talk to Rob and after couple of minutes had interlocked his arms with Rob's. I could see that Rob was about to tear up because he wasn't sure what to do. There was also a girl about the same age who was extremely helpful and led us everywhere we needed to go to look for the director. There was just something about her but we aren't sure yet what it is. We finally found out that the kids were in another building in school and that's where the other adults were. Our little guy came around the corner with his group but was a little hesistant when his teacher brought him over and said go with your mama and papa. Since they hadn't gotten back to thier area yet, I'm not sure what he thought but it was clear that he wanted to continue walking with his group. It's so cute, they all hold hands with one other person in their group. He would take my hand and we walked a little closer to his building but then he wanted to run ahead since his group was ahead of us. Once we got to his room and he got his house shoes on he was told he could play in the play room with us. Then he was just all smiles and he very busily played with each and every toy we brought and even when we cleaned of his little feet and hands he wanted another wipe to go over to Igor and Rob and I and clean us off too! He seems very compassionate. He is a little rough with that cleaning and if we weren't careful he might have poked an eye out in the process, but the thought was nice. He shared his cars with us and loved the puppets they had there. We got a precious picture of him looking at himself in the mirror with my sunglasses on. He asked if we would come play with him again and we said of course. He looked very proud of himself for that. Even though we had to correct him on a number of things this visit he still wanted us to come back and he even asked for kisses before we left. It is the cutest thing. He comes up to us each and says "kiss" (in Ukranian of course) and then he sticks his cheek out for us to kiss him. He loves to be huged too but for short amounts of time or until he sees something he wants to play with. I think our visits with him will have to be a little more stuctured so we don't have to keep saying "stop, don't, no, put that down" etc. His smile makes it very difficult to say no to. Papa is much better at that part.
Now for our youngest. This was the hardest one. We got there a little earlier than we had before in order to have more time with him. Bad move. They got him ready and he came out and stood between my knees for a minute or so but when he heard the caregiver ask the other kids to sit at their table he ran back in the room. When they stopped him and said he needed to go with us he had a little melt down. He was crying and said he just wanted to sit at the table. We showed him his favorite toy to play with and he shook his head no and continued to cry. They picked him up and gave him a cookie and that didn't help either. I almost started crying with him. When they put him down he backed away from the caregiver as well and was now almost hyperventilating. They just picked him up and handed him to me and said go. Boy that was hard. Even though he latched on to me and put his head on my shoulder he was stilling crying really loudly and his little body was trembling. Once we got him outside I rocked him a little and we gave him a banana and something to drink. He settled down but still had a frown on his face. It wasn't until after he finished his snack and we got his toy out to play with that he got back to his happy self. We finally figured out that they had just woken up from thier 4 hour nap and that is the time that they get their snack when they sit at the table. I think he thought he was going to not get a snack because he wasn't seated at the table. Timing is everything. Even when one of his caregivers came outside to go home and passed us, he only said hello and watched her go around the corner. He then looked at me and said something very matter of factly but I don't know what it was. My interpretation was "That was one of the ladies in my group". He didn't get upset or even try to go over to her. Then when his group came out to play later some of them came over to him and said something (Probably Hi _____) and he just continued to sit on my lap and watch them. It was so cute though; they all came out in just their underwear and a hat (to ovoid sunburned heads so I'm told) and were holding hands and carrying the toys they were going to play with. One kid had such a small head that they had to put a diaper cover on his head instead of a hat. What a hoot. They looked like the Ann Geddes babies only without accessories. He didn't try to get down and go with them and was just content to sit with us. The other caregivers said hello but didn't come over to him since they were watching all the other kids. His group is hilarious. They have some very strong personalities and seem close to each other. In fact when we got there, about half the class called him and said "_________ mama and papa" so they recognized us! Amazing. He had evidently fallen the day before and had a fat lip and a scrape on his forehead and chin. He still got to the point where he was smiling but I could tell that smiling hurt his lip a little so we didn't tickle him and made sure we were careful giving him a drink. None of them know how to drink out of a sippy cup or straw we found out. I had an insulated sippy cup to keep water or juice cool but they don't know that they have to suck on it to get the liquid to come out so we had to take the cap off and then they did just fine. In fact the middle one puts the whole opening of the bottled waters in his mouth and guzzles all he can get and doesn't seem to choke, although I'm not sure how he does that.
Soooo rough visits this time. BUT are you ready for the next part? Sure? OK

We got home and thought we would just chill out since it was a very hot and emotionally draining day. Even though it was our anniversary I told Rob I didn't mind if we just went to McDonalds for ice cream. That would be enough for me. He agreed and made some comment about how I deserved better but it was hard to find something great to do here. I understood and was fine with it and appreciated the thought. He said he and Igor were going out to the inernet cafe so I said I'll pass and just get in the shower to cool off. When I got out Rob called and said he wanted to show me something and could I be ready in 10 minutes. Well, of course I could. Here it is easy since I could just put my hair up or not curl it or whatever. So I got ready and put on the last set of clothes I had that weren't crunchy and when we got the cab Igor got out and said have fun. My first clue, no Igor. Hmmmm. We headed out and finally stopped at a place by the water (what water, I haven't got a clue) where I thought maybe we would watch the sunset. Noooo. We were going to eat at the fancy looking restaurant. When the waitress came, she showed to a table that had a reservation plaque on it and guess what? There were 15 huge long stemmed red roses on the table waiting for me! Wow! That was really cool. Evidently he and Igor had gone out, bought the flowers, made the reservations and got back all in the time I was showering. Whew! I am so blessed to have such an awesome man to love me and make me feel special. God surely picked him out special. Pictured above is what they called steak (although I think it was a pork chop) some marinated onions, and some kind of garnish, I think. Great meal and wonderful man to share it with. As the title says "Great end to hard day" (and long post, sorry)

Who really lives in Ukraine?

(Rob writing)
Well I'm sure most of you can tell that we are finding things much different than what we had heard and imagined. The accomodations have been good, the food has been great, the orphanages have been good (for the most part, I'll explain later), even the trains and bathrooms haven't been bad, where we are.

We also heard a funny quote,'the devil lives in Ukraine". He might collect mail here, but he definitely is not the landlord. With all the favor we have received I'll give you 3 guesses who the landlord is and the first 2 don't count. (The first one to post the correct answer in a comment gets a souveneire from Ukraine). That brings me to the title of this post, who really lives in Ukraine. I have seen something that I have never seen before. It wasn't until several hours later during some time of relection that I realized what I saw. What I saw cannot be bought, may never be duplicated again, and was worth all anxiety, planning, explaining., etc........... I got to see my wife's face light up and glow brighter than the Sun, I saw a smile come over her that I never knew existed. I saw a _ _ year old woman look like a small child on Christmas morning that just received the imposible present. I wasn't able to capture this in a picture, a picture wouldn't do it justice, but that moment will be burned into my memory forever. These, once in a lifetime, moments affirm that what you are doing is God's will. When Laura had the youngest boy on a set of climbing bars and gave him a tickle and got that first laugh from him, put a smile on her face that would make heaven pause and rejoice. The most amazing thing is, I got to see it, and me alone. This is something that I wish Crystal, Travis, and Mayra could see. This is what I would love to hear from them one day, that they got to experience one of those moments.

Tomorrow is our 12th anniversary, we will post no updates tomorrow. I am trying to find a jewelry store, which is like trying to find a fast way to do things here; very difficult. I am also planning on a nice dinner and flowers, without a translator. So, don't call tomorrow, I'll be trying to impress a really beautiful woman, hubba, bubba. I will say that I wouldn't be able to pull this off without Igor,

Tuesday the 29th is Laura's birthday, and you'll notice I left out her age earlier, but I might sell that info on e-bay. Funny e-cards would be appropriate.

trains, taxis and boys, oh my!

Well first of all teh train was not anyhting like what we had expected. Thanks to Henry's advice we asked for the airconditioned one and thanks to the rest of you for telling us to take sleeping pills. We got onteh train around 8:30 and roasted until teh train started moving and hte air came on. Since we were alittle leary about thesleeping pills we split one and hte next thing I know it's 5am and time to get up and go to the dreaded "bathroom". Again, nothing like what was described. It had an actual toilet (with a seat although sitting on was still out of the question (Laura speaking of course)) and even had a sink and get this! Soap! Wow we must have really been blessed because we had a great experience. Good thing Nicoli has arms like Popeye becasue he carried our bags adn put them on the train and Igor was thre to meet us on the other end.
Igor worked quickly and we actually met the youngest boy and the oldest one on Wednesday. Sorry everybody we had no internet cafe to post. Both boy are abosolutely perfect. Their health record wer terrible inaccurate and they are perfectly health with only the expected speach and developemental delays but both boys seem to be extremely bright and attentive. When they brought Ivan in from his groups we sitting ona bench that was about 6 inched off the ground and he peaked around the corner briefly at us as they dressed him. When they brought him in it took everyhting I had not to just bust out in tears becasue he was just that cute adn he has a smile that will make you melt. He came up very hesitantly after htey let go of his hand and walked up to me a little shy but seemingly with great expectation. I took hold of his hands and said hello lathough I really just wanted to scoop him up and give him a great big hug and kiss but was afraid that might scare him. He sat between us and played with a toy for about 30 minutes. Great attention span for a 3 year old! We offered him a cookie and it was gone in an instant. And then the best part: He turned his cookie crumbled face towards me and gave me a kiss! Ok I was hooked from that point on. He would even go to Rob for a brief period but was always very obedient and cheerful and very calm. He loved being able to see his picture on the digital camera and wearing my sunglasses. He is very well cared for at his orphanage and the caregivers consider him to be one of the favorites. After our brief time there we then went to teh orphanage where the oldest boy is.
When they brought him in he was clearly frightened and a little uneasy. He didn't speak much and when he did it was very quitely. Once we got him to come over to us Rob showed him a game on teh pocket PC and that was that. He figured out how toplay it and even got a better score than I do most of the time. We laso got to take him to another room with a big rug adn play with some of the cars we brought. He really really liked that, particulary playing it with Rob. He laguhed and squeeled as teh cars would run into each other. We got to continue to play with him for about an hour. They said since he had no diagnosis of anything that we didn't need to speak with teh doctor since there wasn't anyhting to tell. He does still remeber his birthmother as he has only been in the orphanage for 2 years. He was asked a few questions by teh social worker adn was then clearly uptight again but wanted us to come visit with him again so that was good. He has a very tender heart and is a happy boy and hte director even smiled at him and said a few things to him to make him a little more at ease. We don't know what she said but she told us she really like our family adn that she was happy that the boys would be together.
Today, Thrusday, we went to the orphanage of the middle boy. It was a very long cab ride (1 1/2 hours) of which we all slept part of the way. This orphanage was way out in the country and a little difficult to find but with teh help of the inspector adn Igor we got there adn got to meet him. He was just as precious as can be and there is nothing as far as we can tell that would indicate anything being wrong with him. He was bright and knows his colors, numbers, etc.. His attention span is alittle shorter thant he other boys but her is a very sweet boy and very obedient and happy as well. He chatters up a storm and will repeat after us when asked to. We had brought waters with us and I think he probably drank almost a litre of water! I though he was going to choke the way he was drinking it. I think he was thirsty! He also had a banana and ate in about 4 bites while holding hi lollipop that he had when we arrived (that then had carpet fuss and such on it). He loved seeing the pictures on the camera and playing with the cars. He was also very good with the flash cards and even sharing things with both of us. Clearly he very bright and inquisitive. I think he will be a good apprentice for papa with just about everything!

Sooooooooo, we have made the decision and know that we know that we know that htese are the right ones for us. Our path has been very smooth and God has really paved the way for absolutely everything. All uneasyness is gone and now the reality of picking names and getting another bed is setting in. We haven't measured them yet so we don't know thier sizes but I'm sure we will get to that soon. Thanks for all of your prayers. We can tell God is at work in all of our lives and I know the boys will have many Ukranian friends to dote over them. I'm sure all the girls will just love them to pieces. The oldest and middle one will keep the activity level up and get Travis running to play soccer with them. I think the little one will be momma's for a while yet. I'm simply overwhelmed with the blessings we have recieved in these boys. What a God we have. He deserves all the glory and honor for creating such perfect children for our family. One of the orphanages said "now all you need is another girl!" Rob had a big "nyet" to that and I simply said "one step at a time".

Blessings to all,
Laura and Rob

TRAINS,BOYS,TAXIS-OH MY

Well we made it to Zaporizzhya rested and cool. Yes I said cool. We took the overnight train for 10hrs. and slept almost the whole way because we had an air conditioned car. Thanks to the Henry's for letting us know they existed. By the way, we hope they made it home safely. Igor picked us up at the train station and has had us moving ever since. He has done well to find the best accomodation for us, and even the best cabs with the best rates. We are currently in a one room apartment with air conditioning that is very clean. We are trying to get another apartment in the downtown area that is more centrally located and a little nicer with a washing machine. We met the oldest boy and youngest boys yesterday. The youngest is very bright, and has been very well taken care of. they really seem to take care of the children there. We got to play cars with him and do small things to check his intelligence, for 3 he is doing well. We met the oldest boy second. He like the youngest looks like he needs some more time outside, but seems very healthy. He talked and played with us and seems very bright. I let him play the jawbreaker game on my IPAQ and he caught on to it very quickly and soon wanted to know how high his score was. We also got to play cars together in a larger room, he really enjoyed that. I don't think the workers liked it when we started having 2 car pile-ups, but what do you expect when you have 1 big boy (Rob) and 1 small boy, something is going to get wrecked. He listened very well, but was a little taken back when they asked if he would like to come live with us. We wish they hadn't done that, he still remembers his mom and his 1 brother, and still has hopes of living with her. That's a little too much to put on a 7 year old all at once.

Today, Thursday we went to Molochansk to visit the middle child. We were most concerned with the youngest and the middle child from the initial reports. We now know that the oldest and youngest were fine, and we both had a sense that the middle child would be fine, but we weren't positive. Well Molochansk is 1 1/2hrs. from the city, in the middle of what seemed to be no where. This orphanage didn't seem to be as structured, many older children wandering around. You could see it in their eyes that maybe it would be their turn, we even had several children following us around the grounds, in the building, and up the stairs. It's kind of hard to know how to act or react to that kind of situation. Well we finally got to meet the middle child, and even though he was shy at first, he warmed up very quickly. Laura offered him a banana and he devoured it in about 4 bites, then she offered him her water, with immune booster, and he proceeded to chug down about 1/2 litre. After playing cars and ball for a while Laura did some flash cards with him and he knew all the fruits, animals, clothes, and parts of the body. He has a great smile, and kindly excused himself to use the toilet before coming back and claiming my water. He said he would like me to come back and visit again, and asked us both for a kiss good-bye. Needless to say we were sold, so now Igor gets to get busy and file a lot of paperwork. This will take a lot of coordination since we are dealing with 3 different orphanages and 2 different cities. Yea, if your thinking what we're thinking it might be expensive. It does make us feel better that every orphanage we have visited has been very kind, very accomodating, and feels like they would be a good fit for our family. They have all said that they would do the paperwork for us right away, which would be great.

We think the 2 youngest ones will melt everyone's hearts, and the oldest will probably get me back in shape and keep Travis in shape. (Travis, you are running, right?)

Please pray for the Harrison's we talked with them today and they are having trouble adopting their 2 girls. They are not being given the same favor that we have with the facility they are visiting. Please remember them, we can only imagine how disheartening that would be.

Rob and Laura

The train leaves at 8pm

Well we will get to experience the trian tonight. That should be very interesting from all that I have heard. Guess what? We managed to get the one with the air conditioning!! Woohoo for me (Laura) because I would be miserable with this heat if we didn't have it. Yep, I'm spoiled. The adventure so far has been fun. Even though it doesn't look like I'm going to get my girl :( I will just have to spoil everyone elses girls.

I'm really excited about meeting the boys either tomorrow or the next day. Their pictures were really cute. We will reserve judgement until we actually meet them and see their medical file and such. Have been searching and praying but not hearing much right now. I don't want to rely on my emotions as I know God has a specific plan. I'm simply waiting to hear. Please continue to pray for us as we meet the boys and make the decision as to whether those are "the ones" or whether He has others in mind for us. We did start to pick out some names and that has been pretty fun. No, mom, I'm not sharing those just yet. I know you are dying to ask.

Our driver, Nicholi, has been great! He is very calm and soft spoken behind his big burly exterior and bald head. Boy he can carry some luggage though! I don't think I have seen anyone carry that much. He must be half pack horse.

We went to a great market today. The produce was twice as good as the best I've seen in Virginia. I think I could have passed on seeing the bull head complete with teeth, horns, you name it, it was still intact. No skin though. The markets look alot like the ones in Mexico. I'm guessing people here go to the market each day as most things are not refrigerated here (meat included). We have had lots of interesting food so far: Vernicky, borshe, pizza with blue cheese. I will try some things but McDonalds is always available somewhere close by.

The train will leave tonight at 8:30pm and will arrive in the region at 6:45am. I'm hoping that the majority of the time will be spent sleeping. I know, wishful thinking. At least it was nice that the Henry's warned us that they bang on your door 1 hour before your stop and you MUST open the door and show them you are up. Good thing we knew that or they might have been banging for a very long time.

Today we get to relax a little and just hang out at the Sense office and catch up on things. It is nice that we can use the internet and store our luggage here until we leave for the train. Both Julias are very nice. Rob will get to do some of his school work and I can look up some things on the internet that might be helpful for where we are going.

Thank you to all those who are praying for us. Don't stop! And if you're not, now would be a good time to start. We appreciate any and all prayers. (Guidance, health, speedy process, for the boys, for our kids at home, etc , etc)

(Rob speaking)Laura has even become so desperate to speak to people here she has resorted to ask if they speak Spanish. Boy does that bring a strange look. I can't really fault her, I keep trying to tell people Si' when I should say Da. Mayra is really rubbing off on us. Travis would be happy though, we wouldn't be pestering him to translate like we did in Mexico, he could just act dumb like me.

Too da loo for now,
Laura and Rob

SDA Appointment

We made it to our appointment on time with everything we needed. There was another couple in front of us, Laura will not allow me to comment on my thoughts of them. Just a little international competition, that never hurt anyone, except in the early 1900's and in the 1940's, okay........all throughout history. It truely pains me to be politically correct.

We met with the interpreter and the psychologist; they were both very nice. We had a wonderful conversation with them, showed them the scrapbook that Laura stayed up until 4am, Ukraine time, to complete. What a wonderful job she did with it. We were shown approximately 7 files of sibling sets. Most were older than what we were looking for.

Now for the million dollar question, did you find a brother and a sister? The answer is "no" we did not. Instead we found 3 boys that we will go to visit. Hey Dale, what did you do to me? Well at least it's not 3 girls. That should make Travis happy that we are looking at boys since he has enough sisters, and last night Leslie was calling the children "the boys."
The are 7, 5, and 3 years old. They all appear to be healthy and are in the same region. We will pick up our referral for them tomorrow and then we will be off to the region probably on the overnight train. It seems to be quite a distance away. We are excited to meet each of the boys and wish we could meet them all together, however they are each in a different orphanage. We will try to post again when we arrive in region, but it will depend on the availability of internet services and our travel between orphanages. We appreciate all your prayers. Please keep praying for us and for the boys, that we will be a perfect match for each other.

We keep forgetting to bring the adapter to post our pictures, but hopefully we will have them posted soon. It's hard being 7 hours ahead, we would like to call home, but we have to wait.

Be blessed,

Rob and Laura

Yes We made it

5/19/07
Wow, we made it. we arrived Saturday just after 11am. Aerosvit was actually an excellent airline. Thanks to the kindness of the lady at the check in counter we were able to get an exit row.....love that leg room. We got some sleep on the plane, but not much. Anatolli met us at the airport and helped us get out of the airport quickly. Nickolai was our driver, and did a great job geting us to the apartment in one piece. It was a very nice ride. Juri met us at the apartment and helped us get settled. He also took us to the market where I struggled to keep Laura out of the chocolate isle, stress I guess.

Our apartment looks out over an open air market place, we wanted to go , but we were too tired after the trip, and once I (Rob) took a shower, it was all over. We can look out our window and watch guys washing peoples cars on the street, and people selling either dried or smoked fish from a table.

Travis would love Ukraine because of all the beautiful women, since there are so many, he is not allowed to come here. Sorry Crystal and Mayra, not much here for you to see.

5/20/07
Today we took a taxi to meet Lesley @ church. It was a wonderful time of praise and worship. Guess what, they sing the same songs we do, and it was in English. The pastor was from Wisconsin, he was good, but not as good as Pastor Mark. We also went out for some lunch and shopping. I had the Borscht, Chicken Kiev, salad, Vareniky(looks like Perogie), Laura and Lesley and McDonalds, how adventurous. We went to the downtown shopping area, and Laura shopped until I dropped. She single handedly kept the economy moving forward. We got really cool gifts for almost everyone. We then passed by St. Michaels and St. Andrews cathederals, the Parliment building, and Sophia's Square. We met Sara, Adrian, their mother and daughter for dinner at TGIF. We tried to drink all the soda and water that they had, we were thirsty.

Tomorrow is our big day. Juri picks us up at 9:30 and we will have our appointment @ 10am. Pray for us and the people at the SDA. We have a real sense of peace and Juri has told us how nice they really are at the SDA.

We are hoping to get together with the Henry's for dinner tomorrow, pray that all their appointments tomorrow go well.

Be blessed, and take care of the country in our absence,

Rob and Laura

Ready to Go!?

This is my first attempt to update the Blog (Rob). It's 1:45am and we are still getting ready for our trip. Just taking care of a few loose ends, and quite frankly I don' think either of us wants to go to sleep. It is truly amazing how fast time can creep up on you. It's been a year and a half since we started this process, but it only seems like a blink of an eye.

Laura and I think we have everything ready, the kids room was completed yesterday, great job Laura, the garage has been cleaned out and we actually got both cars inside, great job me, and the rest of the house is somewhat in order.

We have plenty of peanut butter, hand sanitizer and movies. Apparently you can't get peanut butter in Ukraine, go figure. We feel we are sufficiently loaded with technology, IPAQ pocket pc, wireless keyboard,(thanks Dave), IPOD, noise cancelling headphones, electronic translator, portable DVD, domestic and international cell phones, camcorder, new digital camera, and I think that's all, at least I hope so......

Our church blessed us with a donation which we will use to bless whatever orphanage we go to, and hopefully this will help Leslie, our missionary friend, establish a relationship to be able to visit the orphanage and work with the children.

We were hoping Travis and Mayra would have been able to make is home tonight, but they couldn't. They just finished their finals and I'm sure they are going to welcome one last night to just chill out with their friends. I'm sure I speak for both of them when I say, "If you visit them, bring food." One piece of advice, since Mayra now has her license, if you see her on the road, be very careful, and don't let her park next to you. Just kidding, she is doing fine with her driving. My very handsome son Travis will be driving my convertible. I don't know how the ladies will be able to resist him now.

My wife has informed me that I've been playing around long enough and I need to get back to work.

Duhsv'e Dahn yuh

Mother's Day

I (Laura) have had an awesome Mother's Day and am blessed everyday by the children (and adults) in my life and particularly by my husband whose cards always seem to say just the right thing. Usually they bring tears to my eyes as well with the handwritten portions. This year's was particularly touching because he wrote about his excitement over sharing the next phase of life and new children with me. Each of our older children, in their own unique ways, also made me feel special for Mother's Day.
Our lives will be forever changed with the addition of this next set of children. I can't wait to meet them! Good thing the Lord already knows them by name and has hand picked and created the right ones for us. Now the biggest and hardest part will be to make sure we follow His lead and have the discernment to know which ones He has chosen for us and accept them without question. Whew! I don't know how we would choose otherwise.
We also had the awesome privilege of being honored by our church family this morning at both services for our upcoming adoption journey. We are hoping to be able to greatly bless the orphanages we come in contact with in order to establish an ongoing relationship to help support all those children we will have to leave behind who also need mamas and papas.
Thank you Pastor Mark and our Crosswalk Family for your support, comments, and prayers.
They meant a great deal to both of us!

A big Happy Mother's Day to my mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law. You are all appreciated very much and we are fortunate to have you in our lives. We love you very much and we thank you for all you do :) XOXO

8 days to go!

Wow! It's hard to believe it is almost time to actually get packed up and go to Ukraine to get our children. It seemed like it would never get here and now we are scrambling to get everything done. It's like home improvement central right now. Rob has put up new shelves in the office, we had some cabinets made for the game room to be able to put the pool cues safely inside and away from sticky fingers, and currently we are having the ceiling in living room fixed and painted. It even gets better than that. We are having the new kitchen floor laid next Wednesday! In between those projects is, of course, getting our things ready to pack, paying the bills ahead, putting together the photo album and painting the children's room. Since we don't know the age or gender it makes it a little difficult to do too much.

Oh, and it's Mayra's 21st birthday tomorrow so on Saturday we will go to Liberty to celebrate with her and drop the car off for the kids to get home after finals (they get out the day we leave) and then on Sunday (yes, mothers day) we will be going to get together with Crystal since we might be gone for her 21st birthday June 22. Just a few things going on here at the Casa de' Passanita or should I say Дом Passanita. Pray really really hard for us that we don't totally wig out before we even get to Ukraine. We will be completely relying on God's strength by that time (which I guess we should be anyway but the point was that we probably won't have the energy to let the flesh take over at all) and thank goodness for that because we would mess it up for sure. Aaaaaahhhh!

Cacun was amazing!

We spent the past 4 days enjoying a wonderful trip to Cancun, Mexico that Rob won for being one of the top managers in a contest for work. Soooo, free vacation for us! It was amazing that it worked out this way because we had thought that we would be in Ukraine during the trip and would either have to forfeit it or Rob would go and take Crystal. Even thought she was bummed that she didn't get to go, we really needed to get away just the 2 of us before we embark on the next phase of life with the next set of kids. We got to relax and enjoy each other and the beautiful view.
HOTEL AND FOOD

We were treated like royalty and stayed in a wonderful hotel called the Fiesta Americana and fed some tremendous food. The breakfast buffet alone could have fed a small country and had everything you could imagine on it. Our room had a great view of the pool and beach. The first evenings reception was poolside and beach side with a buffet of local cuisine. We also ate at an Argentinian Steakhouse called Cambalache. They actually brought you a whole meat case to show you the cuts of meat. They were HUGE. We even had Crepe Suzettes for dessert. My mom used to make those so I really enjoyed having them. The last night they had a buffet of local cuisine in town and a show since it was Cinco de Mayo. It is not as big there as it is here in the states. Go figure!

ACTIVITIES
We got to pick 2 activities to do so we chose the zip line and the speedboat tour. Because we are adventurous we chose the Extreme Adventures. The zip line wasn't as high as the brochure indicated (only 100 feet above the ground instead of the 200-2000 feet as described)but we added some adventure to it by hanging upside down on one of the 11 lines we zipped across. What a rush. The 2 man speed boats really zipped along the water as well. It was like playing follow the leader since you were in a group of 5 boats and they lead you out to a reef where we snorkeled for a while before retuning to the marina. I (Laura) lost my hat since we were going so fast but luckily the boat behind us scooped it up and returned it to me at the snorkel spot. Got a little sun but we spent most of the snorkel time in the water.

SHOPPING
We would be remiss if we didn't mention the shopping. Laura and Kathy (friend who works in Rob's office who won as well) went to the market in the downtown area and bargained our way into to several souvenirs and we also did a little shopping a the hotel shops and after our dinner at the steakhouse which was on the "strip" where all the shows and touristy places are (Hard Rock, Senor Frogs, etc.) . After eating that much at the steakhouse we needed to walk it off anyway so what a better activity than shopping? Woohoo. We did some last minute shopping at the airport but Rob was a little shopped out by that time so not as much as I would have liked but enough to spend the rest of our pesos.

All in all it was a great trip and we enjoyed having the time to spend together before we go to Ukraine in a few weeks to adopt our children. I suspect the food will be as good but the experience, although I'm sure it will be Extreme as well, will be quite different. It will still hold same, well probably more, excitement though. We continue to pray for God to prepare our hearts and the hearts of the children He has for us. We know they will be perfect for our family and rely on His strength and wisdom to guide us. We look forward to our next journey and hope all who read our blog will continue to pray for us.
Thanks :)

27 days and counting!

Most recently, we have had the privilege of hosting 3 gentlemen from the Mater's Commission Program from Orlando, Florida the past few days. It is truly refreshing to see young men who are living their lives for Christ and ministering to the middle and high school kids who need it desperately. Anthony, Gill, and Glenn have been great house guests and we wish them the best in whatever God has in store for them. Rob and I enjoy being able to open our home and host people. Everything we have has been given to us from God and we have been incredibly blessed and therefor enjoy being able to share that with others. I couldn't think of more thoughtful, talented and helpful young people than the 3 we got to share some time with. They will always be welcomed to come visit should they get the opportunity.

We only have 27 more days until SDA DAY on May 21st. We continue to prepare for our Ukraine trip and complete some desperately needed home improvements. We are also excited that we leave for Cancun next Thursday! Woohoo! Way to go Rob for winning this all expense paid vacation for us. We will be zip lining over the rain forest and speed boating through the jungle as well as enjoying some good food and company. Then it's back to reality and packing for Ukraine. We continue to pray daily for the 2 children waiting for us. Only God knows who they are but we have every confidence that they will be perfect for our family. I can hardly wait!! 27 days still seems like an eternity.

He is Risen!

Easter weekend was a great joy with both Mayra and Travis home for the weekend to celebrate. Two of Mayra friends came also and Laura enjoyed getting to be one the "girls" and go shopping with them and such. It was a nice relaxing weekend.
In case you were wondering, the title was not referring to Travis; although it is fairly normal to make such a comment mostly around 1-2 pm in the afternoon. They do love their sleep time at home.
We had a wonderful Easter service in celebration that Christ died for us and has risen and sits at the right hand of the Father. Our pastor always gives a unique perspective on how to apply the Word to our lives. The kids are able to relate to the message and enjoy going. Pastor Mark has nine children, as you can see, and they are all wonderful. Not a rotten one of the bunch! We thoroughly enjoy being neighbors and love watching the kids grow up and spoiling them a little from time to time. The littlest one will probably be thrilled when we have kids at our house for him to play with. Although, since he has gotten to have few sleep overs at our house, there might be a fight over who gets to sleep in the Elmo bed. We may have to get an additional one just in case.

Preparation are still taking place for our trips. Yes, I said trips plural. Rob been so blessed at work that he won a trip to Cancun, Mexico! Woohoo! It was nice of God to work that out so we could go there prior to our Ukraine trip to get our kids. It will be nice to spend some time together just the two of us with the added benefit of someone footing the bill! We are going to go on a 2 person speed boat tour through the jungle and we are also signed up to ride a zip line over the rain forest. If we don't die doing one of those two things then we will be home for a couple weeks and then off to Ukraine to get our new little children. God is so good and His mercies really do last forever! Happy Easter!!!