WE HAVE TICKETS TO UKRAINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have booked our flights, and we even found rates for summer travel directly from Fort Wayne that were less than I paid for my last business trip to New Jersey!
So.....we leave Fort Wayne on Sunday, 13 May (Mothers' Day) at 1:23 in the afternoon. We have a 2 hour layover in Detroit, and then board a flight to Amsterdam. An overnight flight schedules us into Amsterdam just before 6:00 AM, and then after a very quick connection, we leave for Kiev at 7:10 AM. If all goes well, we should arrive in Kiev around 11:00 AM on Monday!
The best part of the plan is that our good friends are with us on the same flights! We've already commandeered the second row of the Economy section for the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam....and I think that everyone around us will be sorry!
We leave FOUR WEEKS FROM TODAY!!!!!!! We are so excited!!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
We Talked To Masha!!!!
We had one of the biggest joys this morning….we talked with Masha on the phone!
Flash back to a few weeks ago when the orphanage director was here…she left us all with a phone number for the orphanage, and told us that we could call the kids one time per month until we could come to get them. Life at the orphanage is very structured, and it's obviously a bit of a disruption to go take the kids away from whatever they are doing, so they do try to limit the phone calls. It's quite a privilege to be allowed to call!
We thought that Ksenya, the woman who translated when she came to the US with the director, would be available to translate, but she was not there. We were more than a little challenged with language--every Russian word that I know left my head when I heard her little voice. But I think we got across to her that we were coming to Ukraine in the middle of May, one month from now!!
Other than communicating the travel schedule, we pretty much just kept repeating, both in English and Russian, "I love you!!" Saying goodbye was really really hard, and it was kind of funny…neither of us would hang up the phone. We just kept saying "goodbye" back and forth.
I hope that she liked hearing our voices as much as we liked hearing hers, and that she doesn't think that we're weird! We just miss her so much.
The countdown has begun!!!!!
Flash back to a few weeks ago when the orphanage director was here…she left us all with a phone number for the orphanage, and told us that we could call the kids one time per month until we could come to get them. Life at the orphanage is very structured, and it's obviously a bit of a disruption to go take the kids away from whatever they are doing, so they do try to limit the phone calls. It's quite a privilege to be allowed to call!
We thought that Ksenya, the woman who translated when she came to the US with the director, would be available to translate, but she was not there. We were more than a little challenged with language--every Russian word that I know left my head when I heard her little voice. But I think we got across to her that we were coming to Ukraine in the middle of May, one month from now!!
Other than communicating the travel schedule, we pretty much just kept repeating, both in English and Russian, "I love you!!" Saying goodbye was really really hard, and it was kind of funny…neither of us would hang up the phone. We just kept saying "goodbye" back and forth.
I hope that she liked hearing our voices as much as we liked hearing hers, and that she doesn't think that we're weird! We just miss her so much.
The countdown has begun!!!!!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Easter
He is risen indeed! Greetings to all of you on this special day of renewal and rebirth!
This past week has been one of great sadness and great joy, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our family and friends that have reached out with your kind thoughts and comforting prayers during this difficult week. Each day, I’m reminded of the amazing people that we have been blessed to have in our lives, and we thank God for each and every one of you.
We love you all, and we thank you from the depths of our hearts for your continued friendship and encouragement!!!!!
This past week has been one of great sadness and great joy, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our family and friends that have reached out with your kind thoughts and comforting prayers during this difficult week. Each day, I’m reminded of the amazing people that we have been blessed to have in our lives, and we thank God for each and every one of you.
We love you all, and we thank you from the depths of our hearts for your continued friendship and encouragement!!!!!
A Bittersweet Day – 3 April
My mother left this world on Sunday evening, 1 April, after a 2 ½ year battle with lung cancer. She died peacefully at Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home surrounded by our family. While I miss her terribly, I could not have chosen a better way for her to pass. The people at VNHH were the best…kind, caring, and dedicated to keeping Mom comfortable and caring for all of us during her stay.
We held a family calling on Tuesday, 3 April, to say goodbye to Mom. Joined on this day with the sadness of this final goodbye was the sweet joy of receiving word of our appointment date in Kiev, where we will receive permission to travel to Masha’s orphanage to begin the final steps in our adoption!
We meet with the officials in Kiev on Wednesday, 16 May…our ninth wedding anniversary! We will most likely travel to Ukraine over Mother’s Day weekend, and will probably be able to see Masha on either Thursday or Friday of that week!
Once in her city, we will begin proceedings by requesting a local court appointment to hear the case for our adoption. If all goes well, we understand that this will probably be a little over 2 weeks after our appointment in Kiev. At this hearing, we hope to be granted our petition to adopt Masha. Then we have a mandatory waiting period of ten business days, which is required following all decisions in Ukrainian courts.
After this waiting period, our adoption will be final and the official decree will be signed and translated for us. Once all the papers are issued, we will scramble to get amended birth certificates and a new passport issued, and then we head back to Kiev for about three days of appointments at the US Embassy for her visa.
In all, we expect to be in Ukraine for just about 5 weeks. While it seems like a long trip (and I’m sure we’ll be VERY ready to come home), it’s nothing in the perspective of the lives that will be changed from it!
Now that we have news and movement, I expect we’ll be posting a little more frequently. We are beginning our travel preparations, and Mark’s sister is planning a “baby” shower for us! Lots to do…and we leave in about 5 weeks!
We held a family calling on Tuesday, 3 April, to say goodbye to Mom. Joined on this day with the sadness of this final goodbye was the sweet joy of receiving word of our appointment date in Kiev, where we will receive permission to travel to Masha’s orphanage to begin the final steps in our adoption!
We meet with the officials in Kiev on Wednesday, 16 May…our ninth wedding anniversary! We will most likely travel to Ukraine over Mother’s Day weekend, and will probably be able to see Masha on either Thursday or Friday of that week!
Once in her city, we will begin proceedings by requesting a local court appointment to hear the case for our adoption. If all goes well, we understand that this will probably be a little over 2 weeks after our appointment in Kiev. At this hearing, we hope to be granted our petition to adopt Masha. Then we have a mandatory waiting period of ten business days, which is required following all decisions in Ukrainian courts.
After this waiting period, our adoption will be final and the official decree will be signed and translated for us. Once all the papers are issued, we will scramble to get amended birth certificates and a new passport issued, and then we head back to Kiev for about three days of appointments at the US Embassy for her visa.
In all, we expect to be in Ukraine for just about 5 weeks. While it seems like a long trip (and I’m sure we’ll be VERY ready to come home), it’s nothing in the perspective of the lives that will be changed from it!
Now that we have news and movement, I expect we’ll be posting a little more frequently. We are beginning our travel preparations, and Mark’s sister is planning a “baby” shower for us! Lots to do…and we leave in about 5 weeks!
VIP Visitors – 27 March
Even though Masha was not able to come to the US for the last two weeks of March, we appreciated the opportunity to host the director of her orphanage and one of the orphanage workers on Tuesday, 27 March.
Mark was a tremendous blessing and a help to me in shopping, cleaning, and preparing for their visit to our home, as I was spending almost all of my free time helping tend to my mother. At about 11:30, we picked Ludmila and Kseniya up at the home where they were staying, and brought them to our house for lunch.
Kseniya served as a fabulous translator, and also provided great insight of her own, as she works closely with the children as well. We learned much about Ukraine, the orphanage, and Masha. Best of all, Ludmila and Kseniya provided us with a phone number for the orphanage, and they are allowing us to call Masha once a month until we are able to go to Ukraine!!!!! Our first call will probably be next week.
We showed them the video of the children’s presentation from last summer, and we told them (truthfully) what wonderful children they are caring for. We talked for a long time, shared a lot of food, and then delivered them to the next set of parents.
Later that evening, the whole group of us (four families, plus Ludmila and Kseniya) shared a full Thanksgiving dinner at the Stewart’s home. We have been so blessed to have such a tremendous support system of families that are in pretty much the same boat, working with the same people through the same process as we are, and we take such encouragement from all of them!
The day was a success…we know that Masha is healthy and doing well in school, but she is anxiously waiting for us to come to Ukraine and bring her home. A number of times, Ludmila stressed to us the importance of consistency and setting limits. We also learned more about some of the losses that Masha has been through, and the circumstances that brought her to the orphanage.
We will have our work cut out for us to earn her trust and to help her grieve the losses in her life and heal the old wounds, but we trust God to help us all, and to do a great work in all our lives. People have told us what a great thing we are doing for Masha, but my answer is that she is doing a much greater thing for us…bringing her light and strength and spirit into our home and teaching me about a love I never could have imagined.
Mark was a tremendous blessing and a help to me in shopping, cleaning, and preparing for their visit to our home, as I was spending almost all of my free time helping tend to my mother. At about 11:30, we picked Ludmila and Kseniya up at the home where they were staying, and brought them to our house for lunch.
Kseniya served as a fabulous translator, and also provided great insight of her own, as she works closely with the children as well. We learned much about Ukraine, the orphanage, and Masha. Best of all, Ludmila and Kseniya provided us with a phone number for the orphanage, and they are allowing us to call Masha once a month until we are able to go to Ukraine!!!!! Our first call will probably be next week.
We showed them the video of the children’s presentation from last summer, and we told them (truthfully) what wonderful children they are caring for. We talked for a long time, shared a lot of food, and then delivered them to the next set of parents.
Later that evening, the whole group of us (four families, plus Ludmila and Kseniya) shared a full Thanksgiving dinner at the Stewart’s home. We have been so blessed to have such a tremendous support system of families that are in pretty much the same boat, working with the same people through the same process as we are, and we take such encouragement from all of them!
The day was a success…we know that Masha is healthy and doing well in school, but she is anxiously waiting for us to come to Ukraine and bring her home. A number of times, Ludmila stressed to us the importance of consistency and setting limits. We also learned more about some of the losses that Masha has been through, and the circumstances that brought her to the orphanage.
We will have our work cut out for us to earn her trust and to help her grieve the losses in her life and heal the old wounds, but we trust God to help us all, and to do a great work in all our lives. People have told us what a great thing we are doing for Masha, but my answer is that she is doing a much greater thing for us…bringing her light and strength and spirit into our home and teaching me about a love I never could have imagined.
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