It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood !

Day 10
              Today we went to visit Lincoln and he was not there. So a worker went to find the director. In Russain the director was trying to tell us something but we had no idea what. So she went and brought a worker to us and she took us on a 15min. walk thru the neighborhood. Before you knew it we were at his school. There were two ladies that came outside to meet us. The one was Lincoln's teacher and the other was the English teacher. So she translated to us that Lincoln was not there but two boys would take us to him. She also wanted to know what we were going to do with Z child. We just looked at each other and we told her we did'nt know we could take him from the home grounds! She said the director said it was ok. So picture this ...we are in a foreign country with not alot of language skills, in a strange neighborhood, know nothing of our surroundings, and are asked to come up with an outing on the spot. So I say to the English teacher....what do you suggest?  She recommeded the museum or the botanical garden near by.  Boy was I relieved !!!!
              We then went on another 10min. walk to meet up with him. Here he was swimming. We felt bad he would miss out. But he didn't seem to mind. On the way we stopped at a store that had some shoes. We need to get him his own clothes to leave the orphange. When he leaves all the clothes he wears are property of the orphange. We brought him clothes but not shoes because of not knowing the size. Thinking we could get his shoes today, we stop in the store and the lady comes and I'm expecting to find a pair and she will see if they have his size. To my American thinking I was suprised to find out these few pair of shoes was it. No ..."do you need this in a size six or seven?"  If they have something that almost fits ...that will do!!  Maybe we can look another day for shoes.
              It's off to the botanical garden. We first stop outside the museum to look at some excavation equipment displayed there. We are still not sure of what is in the museum. We get to the garden and come to a big iron gate with a sign on it in Russian. We both look at Lincoln as to say is it open or closed? The verdict is OPEN!! Good!! The funny thing about Kivy Rog is everything looks closed even if it is open.
We proceed to the builing on the grounds in search of a place to pay, a person to pay, some kind of formality or procedure. We finally found a person and payed. Off to the garden we go.

            We are only there a few minutes and can tell he has been here a few times before. We had our own personal tour guide, how nice!!! The garden was beautiful and nice to see in the middle of  old concrete buildings, broken down sidewalks, and  near people whom hardly ever seem to smile. We tour the grounds and smelled the roses. I thought to myself ...."It's a  Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!!"

Max - True Hope Hope Ukraine

Amazing How GOD Works!!!

Day 9           

           This morning we visited the orphanage. We were greeted with smiling faces and hugs. At first they were shy but now when we come it is like they have been expecting us. There were all boys and one little girl Liza today. She is so sweet and just beautiful. She has such a gentle and sweet spirit.  She sat with me for almost two hours putting a large Mickey Mouse puzzle together. I think she enjoys just sitting with someone and sharing in something. It is funny how you are limited in language skills but the heart makes up for it. She would try to fit a piece and it would not fit. So I would help her a little and she would just smile so sweetly and say "spa-ce-ba" or "thank you."  
       ***** Today is our sweet Jackson's 10th Birthday!!! "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAX....WE LOVE YOU!!!" Enjoy your day and save your dad a piece of Aunt Betsy's Texas sheet cake!!!!!!!*****
            For his special day we took the computer to the orphanage and let all the children skype Jax. They sang to him in Russian and English.   So, Thank You!!! Grammy and Pappy for getting up at 5am to Skype us!!
The kids all loved it!!!!!! They loved seeing the kids in America and themselves on the screen.  Lincoln kept touching the screen and telling the other kids "Brat" and "Sistra."
           Before long it was time to go. Our visits go fast and the children all want to know if we will come back soon. Lincoln gives hugs and says good everytime. But today Liza left the room and then came back to give Scott and me a big hug. Such a sweet girl!!!!
           We then had our driver "Eager" find us a place to eat.  So I sat down while Scott and Eager ordered.
Then they decided to move and go upstair to eat .  It was pretty full and I thought we may have to go back down but then we found a place. Lunch soon came and part of Scott's prayer before lunch was asking God to reveal how he would have us help the children and serve him while in Ukraine. We ate lunch an then headed for the exit.  Before we started back down the stairs a young man stopped us and said "You speak english?"  Excited we answer "YES!!!!" ... other than each other, he was the 1st person in three days who could speak to us.  Then he told us the teens he was with said " look foreignors"...I laughed... it is that obvious!?!
 He laughed and said "Yes!"  not the answer I was looking for. Long story short his name is Max Fetisov a native Ukrainian who ministers here in Ukraine thru "True Hope Ukraine" a ministry that helps hospitals with abandoned babies,different types of orphanages including special needs, provides dorms for graduated orphans to help keep them away from prostitution and drugs, sponsers technical school for the orphans, and many other outreaches.  I posted their site and included a  You Tube video on Max....Please check it out!!
I think you will find alot of the kids already know him and/or his work.  We found a picture of Lincoln and friends with a  " Team"  brought in from the States to do work with the kids.  Amazing How God Works!!!

A Wonderful Day with the Kids

Day 7

Today we traveled with our "Trusted Driver Eager" to the orphanage to visit Lincoln and the kids.  We had picked up some coloring books, markers, colored pencils along with some oragome for the kids.  The day was rainy and outdoor play would not be good.  The gifts were a big hit and before long everyone was playing UNO or coloring a beautiful picture.

Lincoln on his bed

After a short while it was shower time and all the kids moved toward the shower with their towels, buckets and clothes.  Amazingly they all returned without much time passing and it was right back to the games and coloring.  Not long and it was one o'clock and lunch was ready.  Jen and I excused ourselves to go for a walk until the kids were done with lunch and their afternoon nap.  They lay down after lunch for about two hours a day.  We returned after about an hour and a half and most were up already.  Play resumed and elevated to some of the toys, balls etc. that we had sent near the holidays.  It was good to see them well used already and that they had gotten there.  We could never get Lincoln to tell us, on Skype, that he got the box or not.  Four o'clock came quick and Eager was there for our agreed transport back to the apartment.    We had a great day playing Lincoln and his friends.  They are so happy to have someone new to see and talk or try to talk to.  Playing UNO will help me with my colors I am sure of that. 

The rest of the evening Jen and I settled in had dinner and caught up on communications with the kids.   We did catch a little TV The Voice, and Greys Anatomy were on in Russian version of course.  You don't need to understand the language just follow along. 

Yesterday Scott received the best 40th Birthday Gift!!

          Yesterday was the best!!! Scott turned 40 and for his special day he received the Gift of seeing our new son for the first time in 10mths. God is Good!!!  Thursday evening we jumped a train in Kiev that was headed for Kivy Rog with our translator "Alena".  It wasn't bad just a little warm and watching Scott trying to sleep on the little bench/bed was funny.  We arrived at 6:15am where our driver  "Eager" was waiting to pick us up and take us to our new home.  The apartment is clean and comfortable but driving to where it is located makes me very thankful for everything we have in America.  The every day things like acceptable sidewalks, drinkable water, safe streets to drive on and "yes" traffic laws and seat belts.
         After droping our luggage at the apartment located on the other side of the three steel doors we went to obtain written approval to visit our son. The Inspector is the one who gives the approval and has 10days to make the decision whether we can proceed with the adoption.  First she went thru our documents and asked for our passports and asked to see pictures of our other children. Lucky I had a few in my wallet and one with all the kids including Lincoln (Sash). After sobber faces and long periods of silence and people coming in checking our passports and going out... Finally, she gave her approval and ok'd our visit.  Little did we know they send a worker from their office to observe our visit "with Z child" as they say.  As if we were not nervous enough.

         Off we went to the orphanage to meet the director who was very nice. She offered us coffee, Tea, and cookies.  We were to excited to think about afternoon tea.   After checking Z documents and passports she sent a worker to bring him to the office for our visit.  At this point I had sweaty palms and a lump in my throat. Alot of thoughts racing through our minds ....how will he react to us... will he be shy... do we go to him or let him come to us.  Next we heard foot steps and around the corner he came with the Biggest Smile you could imagine.  Before you  knew it he was in our arms. There were tears of joy and laughter thru relief as we knew it was just like the day he left.  After we got our composure I looked up to see the director, social worker, and our translator all wiping their tears.  It was a great reunion that exceeded our expectation by far. We were then invited to stay and visit with him for the rest of the day.  We were welcome to stay in the visiting room or go out and play in the yard.  There are alot of trees and very old playground toys that don't look very safe or sturdy. No swings just metal monkey bars and a few things like that . Behind there is a basket ball court that must belong to the neighborhood. We played there with Lincoln and two other little boys from his group.  They were very cute and shy but the more we played ball and laughed the more they warmed up to us.  At one  point we were playing with a few other kids to turn around and find the two little boys, six year old Kola and 7 year old Roma hanging  about 12ft in the air over the top of the basketball hoop  trying to get the ball unstuck between the rim and the backboard..  It was not their first time doing this. It was sad to see how they just figure it out for themselves but nice to see them working  together to achieve their goal.  And they did!!! 

     We had a wonderful day and wouldn't trade it for anything.  A few more paperwork items to take care of and a stop or two and the day had ended.  The wonderful process continues and we are one more step closer to bringing Lincoln home!

Day 3

Today we met with the SDA and got our approval!  Wow what an answer to prayer!  It was great to see Lincoln's (Sasha) picture when he was younger.  Scrawny little guy!  Mam ma Boyer's home cooking will work on that for him. 

SDA Bldg. we visited to get approval

It seems as though the process is moving now.  All the wheels of the engine are fully engaged and we are picking up the train on Thursday to go to see Lincoln.  It has been 10 months since we last saw him.  Long for us as adults, we can't imagine what it has been like for him. 

After meeting with the SDA we prepped a lot of our paperwork.  Paperwork, paperwork, we have killed too many trees during this process. 

Jen and I had dinner and a walk before heading back to the apartment.  One more trip to the market and back to our temporary home to prepare for tomorrow. 

Day 2

Our facilitator picked us up at around noon to take in some sights with our eyes open this time.  She tried to move our appointment from Wednesday to today to speed the process but they are coming up on a three day holiday and it was too short of notice.  Wednesday will be just fine.

Kiev is a very beautiful city with old architecture  Some of the buildings reminded us of Pittsburgh downtown with the large stone and carved moldings.  The churches are magnificent many with gold domes and beautifuly painted interiors. 

Jen and her new found friend!

We completed our day with dinner for two downtown.  $3.50 each for dinner!  Not bad.  Back to the apartment to figure out the washing maching. 

Behold, children are a gift from the Lord. Psalm 127:3

Day 1      

Travel:  JFK on Father's Day was very busy to say the least.  Several planes leaving the country from the day before were delayed or canceled and lines became long.  It was clear we were not in Bellwood anymore!  Overall our travel was without a hitch.  The plane ride was long as predicted and the food was interesting; yes interesting would be best.  Arrival in Kiev a little ahead of schedule 5:00 a.m EST and 12:00 here in Ukraine.  Our facilitator picked us up at the airport and off to the apartment we went.  The apartment is very nice and extremely clean.  We like it.  I am trying to talk Jen into letting me buy the furniture to update our home for Lincoln (Sasha).  I don't think I have her yet but the OVER SIZED RED lampshade is helping!

We went to dinner with the facilitator and then a small walk around Kiev.  One stop a the store for some supplies and money exchange.  Jenn tried to steal a jug of bottled water.  The store has many parts and I would guess that each is owned by a different proprietor.  They do not give you bags so we were carrying our purchases and went through another part of the store.  The owner began to yell at Jenn to stop and pay for her water.  I left him go until he got her attention and then told him we bought it in the other store and showed the receipt.   Returning to the apartment to regroup and rest was well needed at this point.  I fell asleep in the couch and I think Jen fell asleep while on Skype with the kids and her mom and sister.

It has been a blessing to travel with Jen and prepare for a Great addition to our family.  I know the kids and our extended family are excited and looking forward to this great opportunity.  Day One Done!