Adding To Our Quiver

coming home!!

2011-06-24T20:10:00.000-05:00

Wow. Amazing that we are at this point. Leticia has been going 100 miles an hours and the kids, for the most part, have been hanging in there. She tells me that the days have been very busy. They were suppose to fly back Tuesday the 28th, but God changed the minds of the people at the embassy and they went ahead and did the kids medical exams and visa applications on Thursday.

So Leticia arrived in Zhitomir on Monday. She picked up the kids on Tuesday morning and got the 4 birth certificates by the end of the day. She then ran around all day Wednesday and got all 4 passports. There was some nervousness with that, because on Tuesday Oksana realized that they did not have Helen’s old passport. Apparently the lady that sets up the Spain hosting trips had left it in Kyiv. She is currently in Spain. Not till 10:30 pm Tuesday did they find out that it was in Kyiv and it was sent to Zhitomir by bus on Wednesday morning. Wednesday was also a very long day for me. I was awaken at 1:30 am to be informed by Leticia that Helen’s missing passport had been found, then again at 2:30 am so that I could email the US embassy to request an appointment for them for Thursday morning. I did that and went to bed at 3 am. I set my alarm for 4:30 am to check for a reply. I got up at 4:30 to check my email and was elated to find a reply for a 9:30 am appointment. I called Leticia to inform her and went back to bed. They were off to Kyiv that evening. Thursday morning a driver picked them up at 9 am to take them to the embassy. However, they did not get the process started till more than hour after their schedule appointment. I will just say that the delay was not the fault of Leticia or the Embassy. The people at the visa department told Leticia that if she came back there by 3 pm, they would attempt to get their visas by the end of the day. Unfortunately, the medical exams where not completed till a little after 4 pm so they were not able to get their visas on Thursday. They told Leticia to call back on Friday. The embassy was closed to the public on Friday, but they were still doing other business. Leticia text me at 7:30 am US time to tell me that they had gotten all the Visas. I put in an email to Eldo at Golden Rule agency, and within minutes he had changed their Tuesday flights to Saturday at a savings no less. So the crew is getting here tomorrow at 8:30 pm in Austin, TX. What was to take at least 10 days to complete, God decided that it would take 6 days from departure to arrival. Wow!!

Sorry that we do not have pictures to post, but we will later. Leticia said that she has taken many of them. Tomorrow, today in Ukraine, our kids start their new lives in America. Praise God. Please pray for safe travel and that all goes smoothly on their way home.

Isaiah 55:9

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

returning to Ukraine

2011-06-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

After ten busy days at home, Letty left for the final episode of our adoption. Her plane left at 12:33 pm from San Antonio and she will arrive in Kyiv Monday at 2:50 pm Ukrainian time. This is incredibly out of Letty's comfort zone. She just does not do anything by herself. She loves company. There is no way that even a couple of months ago she would be flying by herself. I really think that she is allowing God to control her heart and mind. This is big step of faith.

We are hoping that everything that the kids need to travel to the US will be completed in time for them to travel on the 28th with the hosting group. That would sure be neat.

Pray for Letty's safety, and that she experience peace during the trip and through the next few days.

Isaiah 51:16
I have put my words in your mouth. I have kept you safe in the palm of my hand. I set the heavens in place. I laid the foundations of the earth. I say to Zion, 'You are my people.' "

four new Quintero’s

2011-06-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

Sorry that I failed to write in the blog on the most impotent day of the adoption yet. The day was very busy, so I am writing this on the flight from Frankfurt to Chicago.

As is usually the case for days like this, we did not go to bed till after midnight. Even after going to bed, I could still hear Alona and Maya giggling. In the morning they said that they had not slept much because they kept talking and laughing. Vika mentioned that she had trouble sleeping and she kept waking up every hour during the night.

With six people needing to get ready, and four of them being girls, I decided to just get up at 6 am and get out of the way. I never want to be accused of impeding progress. Vika fixed Alona’s and Maya’s hair. Kolia dressed himself. His hair was cut way short at camp, so need to comb his hair. It is actually a good look for him. We might just have him keep it this short. We managed to get everyone dressed and feed by 8:15 am in a 1 bathroom flat. We should be able to do great at home then.

We were allowed into the court room at about 9:20 am. This was a new judge, so Oksana was not sure what the style of the proceedings would be. It was actually very simple. The judge asked very basic questions and most our answers were just yes or no. Only the prosecutor gave us a though question. She stated that we knew that the 3 siblings had older twin brothers. These are the siblings that we had to do separation from. She then asked why we had not elected to adopt them. I looked at Oksana and I said that we did not know they had twin brothers before hand, and I really do not know how to answer that question. Oksana then answered the question. I never asked her what she had said, but the prosecutor did not have any more questions after that. The judge and jury stepped out, and then came back after about 30 minutes. He read all the official stuff and decreed us parents of Viktoria Caroline, Maya Lene (she picked Lene), Helen Maria, and Nikolas David Quintero. Wow, the rush of emotion that runs through you when they read that out load is amazing.

In naming the children, we tried to stay as true to the original as possible. With Vika and Maya, we kept their Ukrainian names. For Alona and Kolya, we simply changed their Ukrainian name to the American version. So names were not difficult to come up with. We then dashed off to the notary, lunch, passport photos, other errands, and got in a van to take the kids back to camp at 5 pm. It took a while to drop them off because they refused to let us leave. It is a rather tough way to end such a significant day by being dropped off at a camp that they just hate. We had not planned it this way, but they told us that we could not keep the kids with us during the waiting period. What can you do?

We got back to Zhytomyr at about 8 pm and we met up with our friends Joni and Jodi from New Braunfels who had just met their kids at the same camp this morning. We visited for a short while, but there are always a million things to talk about in these types of encounters, and never enough time. We had to get packed and ready to be picked up at 1 am to head to the Kyiv airport for our 5:30 am flight. Mike Mullins, who is here with Michelle adopting their Alona, will be flying back with us. Michelle will be stay for the 10 day waiting period.

Vika's cabin

Alona's and Maya's cabin

Alona and Kolya

Tanya, Lety and Yana

Camp Director & kids

leaving camp for the apartment

Vika doing Maya's hair

Alona and Letty getting ready

Vika outside court

the family after court

Please pray for wisdom, wisdom, patience, and more wisdom as we prepare to bring our God given new children home. We know that it will be though. Those of you that have adopted know that it is not the though work of raising five children that is intimidating, it is all the unknowns that these kids bring with them due to their tough lives. Every child will be different, and each will have their unique issues to work through. We can only do it with God’s help.

James 3:17

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

court tomorrow

2011-06-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

Today we went to camp and picked up the kids. It was late in the day by the time we were able to get the necessary paper work that gave us permission to take them from camp. We rushed to get the girl’s manicures, and dresses. We were supposed to have more time to do all this, but as usual our schedule got squeezed. We are here in the apartment getting ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a BIG day. As Vika said, we will all be Quintero tomorrow.

Please pray that all goes smoothly in court.

Psalm 68:5

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

camp visit

2011-06-06T06:36:00.001-05:00

Saturday June 4th we went to the open market. It is only a few blocks from our apartment. Stay away from the open market on Sundays, it is crazy. Every other day, including Saturday is much better.

Sunday June 5th we went to the camp to see our kids. We had met the camp director at the end of school celebration, but he was not there when we arrived. The adult in charge was not the friendliest person in the world. She allowed us to see the cabin where Vika and her classmates sleep, and then we had to leave the camp. They did allow the kids to come with us so found a cool place to sit and talk, and then we walked up to a small mom and pop store.

Vika and classmate's room

group project

Kolya at play

local transportaion

ice cream time

mother and daughter

Vika and Tanya

Father and daughters

Kolya being coy

entrance to camp

Vitaly took us to the camp site. On the way he drove well, on the way back his NASCAR instincts took over and he was a mad man on the road. Way too fast. Thank God that we did not blow a tire.

Please pray for a smooth court hearing, safety for the kids travel back and forth to camp.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

signed, sealed and delivered

2011-06-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

Boy this day was tense. We finally got the signed document for separation of Alona and it is off to Kiev to get the SDA sigs. This allows Oksana to go home and spend time with her 16 y/o daughter after a month of not seeing her.
We will go get the kids from camp on Wednesday and get them ready for court on the 9th at 9 am. Then we will spend some time with them before we leave to Kiev to spend Thursday night so that we can catch an early flight home Friday morning. We will spend our required waiting period at home. We are looking forward to that time. After that we come back to finalize all the paperwork and bring the kids home.
The children left the orphanage this morning for camp. All our kids had to go including Vika. We were hoping to see them off, but we were stuck having to deal with the whims of the lady I mentioned on my earlier entry.
Leticia became ill last night. We think dehydration played a part in that. She is prone to migraine headaches and she had one last night. We walk so much here and you can only carry so much water with you. Once we get to the orphanage our kids drink our water then we are left with no water till we go by a store somewhere. It has gotten pretty hot during the day as well, so that has been a bit of a physical strain. She is better today.
We will not have much going on now till Wednesday. I'm sure you all do not want to know about our trips to the indoor mall.
Thank you all so much for the encouragements, prayers and for being interested. It is comforting to know that people are supportive.

Please pray for good health, that the paperwork gets back from Kiev in a timely manner, and for the safety of our kids while in camp.

Isaiah 12:2
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

power play

2011-06-03T04:58:00.000-05:00

This morning we rushed to the chief inspector’s office to be there when she arrived by 9 am. We got there on time but she was not there. We were then asked to go to this other building to find her. We got there and Oksana asked someone where this lady was. She was overheard asking by another lady who told Oksana where the chief inspector was. The inspector was about to leave and Oksana was able to catcher her and explain to her why we were there. The chief inspector kindly told her that at the moment she could not sign the papers b/c she was too busy then, but if she would leave them at her desk she would sign them later today. As this conversation is taking place, an assistant of the inspector rushes up and takes the forms from the inspector’s hands and says that the forms cannot be presented to her yet, because she, the assistant, had not had time to review the case. This is the sane lady that told Oksana by phone that she would have it reviewed and signed by now. After the chief inspector left, this lady proceeded to run Oksana through the coals, and actually told her to leave and that she would not see us. We did not know this at the time, but Oksana then came and sat next to us and was silent. She later told us that she was speechless. The assistant then summoned Oksana and told her that she would like to talk with us. We went into an office and the lady proceeded to explain to us how busy they had been and so she had not had time to review our case. She asked us typical questions about the adoption and personal information about us. She commented on how much responsibility she had on suggesting separation to the chief inspector. Oksana tried her best to give all the reasons why it would be best to get the forms signed today. The lady was not interested in the reasons and said that she would take her time to review the case. Oksana was clearly upset after we left the lady’s office. She called back and spoke to the kind lady that we had originally spoken to about the separation with Alona. She told Oksana not to worry because this assistant is like that, and that she knows how to talk with her. To show "good will" we purchased about $100 worth of office supplies for the inspector’s office. After we delivered the office supplies about 30 minutes ago, Oksana said that the forms were sitting at the chief inspector’s office. That is good news because we were worried that the assistant would hold on to them. I told Oksana that Letty and I would be willing to go sit in the waiting area of the chief inspector’s office if that would help reminder her to sign the forms. We got dropped off at the apartment and Oksana is contemplating whether she goes back up to the chief inspector’s office by herself at 2 pm, or if she should take us along. It is noon at this time.
I reminded Letty about the verse that we used on our blog just yesterday. So we are being still, but we are praying!!

no signature yet

2011-06-02T16:21:00.000-05:00

Oksana went by the inspector’s office this morning and the form has been prepared and signed by all members except the chief inspector. Yesterday was a state holiday for Child Protection Day, so the chief inspector was out and about yesterday and will be again today. We pray that it will be signed tomorrow.
We got a bit of good news this morning. Oksana went up to the court to try and get us a court date in anticipation of the separation being finalized tomorrow. She was able to secure a court date for June 9th. It could have been sooner, but she needs to allow time for all the forms to be sent to Kiev and approved before we can have court. So really that court date is pending on the signature occurring tomorrow. So we pray that tomorrow is the day that God allows the form to be signed.
O/W today was a slow day. We went to the orphanage and the kids wanted to go for a swim. They had been doing some painting in their rooms most of the day. I am not sure how much work gets done. I think that there was more paint on the kids than on the window frames.
We walked up to the swimming hole, but this time I did not go in. I found out from an American missionary named Liz Millikan how that swimming hole came about. They were strip mining and hit an underground spring which proceeded to fill the hole up with water. Makes for a great swimming spot.

We also watched the kids play soccer. Kolia is the goalie in these pictures. As you can see, he is aggressive, but he is not built for this sport.

You can guess what my prayer request is, for a signature tomorrow morning!!

Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth

Hanging out

2011-06-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

Today we did not hear anything from the inspector about Alona’s separation. Oksana will join us again tomorrow morning, so we will see.
Today we met the girls at the orphanage and headed in to town. We meant to take Kolia, but he went with a group from the orphanage to Kiev. Apparently they take some of the kids to Kiev periodically for a day of fun stuff, so it was just the 3 girls and us.
We first went to a small bowling alley that had 3 lanes. We had a good time. Luckily I had the best score.

Then we headed to the indoor mall to look for shoes for the girls and to ice skate. Only Maya and I were up for ice skating. Thank goodness I did not fall

After that we took the van/bus back to the orphanage to drop off the girls. This is what it looks like inside.

There is not much ventilation in these.

Please continue to pray for Alona's separation to occur soon, tomorrow would be great!!

Isaiah 25:1
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

afternoon at the swimming hole

2011-05-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

Today was a warm day in Zhytomyr. The kids wanted to go to a local swimming hole so that is where we headed. It is surrounded by the forest, so it is a nice setting. One can sit in the shade cooled by a nice breeze. The water was much cooler than I thought it would be. I guess that I am getting soft in my old age. We had a blast and it really cooled us down.

We spoke with Oksana today. It seems that the head inspector has decided to have a small committee sign off on the separation instead of just having her name on it. This could take place on Wednesday or Thursday. So we will wait and see.

Tomorrow we plan on taking our 4 kids into town for a treat before they head out to camp

prayer request: that the separation for Alona happens soon, that God would watch over our business at home while we are away.

Isaiah 8:13

The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,

2 weeks and counting

2011-05-30T14:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a slow day. We visited the kids. There was a church group that came up to spend the day with the kids. They had a picnic for them, and then some of us went down to a creek where the kids were able to play in the water.

Today we got some great news. Oksana met with the head inspector this morning. The inspector assured Oksana that she did not see any reason that would prevent the separation of Alona from her siblings. There are some formalities that need to take place then she will sign the form. It could be signed tomorrow or in a couple of days. Tomorrow would be just great for us. We had some phone stuff we had to take care of so we went to the indoor mall. We spent a few hours there, Leticia got a manicure for $6 and we found a good place to eat lunch. Then we took a bus from the mall to the orphanage. I need to take a picture of the van/bus that we road. This was the first time we had taken a bus from the mall to the orphanage. It went well. O/W we spent the rest of the day with the kids. We also found out today that at least Maya and Kolia will be going to the summer camp. That starts on June 3^rd. That will make our visits with them a bit more difficult. Alona will still be at the sanatorium till June 11, and then she says that she will be going to her aunt’s house. Vika we are not sure about yet. We hope that she is allowed to stay in town. We will see.

Prayer request: that Alona's separation forms will be signed quickly

Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, 2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

Fun day in Zhytomyr

2011-05-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

We went up to the orphanage late morning today. We brought along a badminton set that we had brought with us to play with the kids. They seemed to really enjoy it.

We also finally had the time to go visit Vika and Snizhana, the sisters that we hosted summer 2009. We still love these girls.

Then we finished the evening with the infamous dinner at Alla's mom. Had we know earlier during the day we would have fasted until dinner. She had enough food to feed an army and it was all good. We ate way too much. For dessert alone, she had 6 items. She is so funny. We had two teachers join us along with Alla and we had a great time. I will not be able to eat for a week to keep my calorie count at baseline. What a treat!! Many thanks to Alla's mom.

Prayer request: continued health, strength and encouragement.

Jeremiah 49:11

Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me

Alona's separation

2011-05-27T17:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we woke to a temp. of 50 F. It felt great.
Oksana was back again with us this morning after taking a 12 hour train ride to Kiev, then a 2 hour bus ride from Kiev to Zhytomyr. I know she does not get paid enough.
She went straight to the social workers office and they signed off on allowing us to visit Alona. We went up to the orphanage and our kids and the other children were happy to see us again. We waited for Oksana to get forms sighed and copied. Then we went to the sanatorium to get Alona's hand written letter stating her desires to have us adopt her. As we starting to walk on to the sanatorium grounds, she spotted us and came running to meet us. Hugs and kisses is the norm for this child. I hope that continues when we get back to the states.
She was eager to write her letter. We sat there with her and visited. Oksana is very good about asking the children questions. I guess after 10 years of doing this she can read the kids well. She asked her about both her older and younger brothers. Oksana said that Alona really does not want to talk about the older brother because he has been delinquent since he left the orphanage for technical school. She is worried that he may interfere with her adoption. After visiting with her, we were off to the town where the separation of the 3 siblings from their twin brothers took place. We were supposed to go on Friday, but Oksana got a call from the social worker stating that they would not be there Friday so we should come today. It took us about 1 hour one way to get there, and 5 minutes to get the form. This is actually the last form that we need for this separation. Now we start Alona's separation. The biggest problem here is that no one knows where her 16 y/o brother is. Because this sibling actually lived with Alona at the same orphanage, they prefer that the he sigh a statement stating that he approves of the adoption. O/W some kind of entry must be made in the paper work stating why this type of statement is not included. Oksana states that the social worker could state that this child has been delinquent and thus was not available to provide a written statement. She said that Friday we should go up to the regional social workers office and see what they might require for Alona's separation.
This morning we were off at 9 am to get papers notarized for Alona's separation. Then we headed to the regional office to see what they would require for this separation. The chief social worker was not available because she was at one of the many ends of school celebrations. The assistant was a very nice lady. She pulled the kids file that included Alona and her two brothers. This is the first time we had seen pictures of her younger brother. He is a cute 2 & ½ y/o. Her older brother Alosha we had visited with early on through Skype. We have not talked to him in over a year. It is tough to look at pictures of siblings of a child that you are adopting and know that they need help too, but you can't take them with you. As we studied the pictures Leticia began to tear up. She had to sit down because it was all she could do not to start sobbing. The assistant social worker told us not to feel bad about the siblings because we were doing a good thing for Alona. But how could we not. It is who we are; it is why we are here. God is Always Good. The assistant feels that we should not have a problem with the separation.
The orphanage had their own end of school celebration, but we missed it because of the official meetings we had to have this morning. We did make it back in time to take a couple of pictures of the kids.
Our eldest child Vika was off to spend the weekend with her friend Tanya at Tanya's aunt’s house about 2 hours away by bus. We saw her off at the bus stop with a large group of kids.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids both at the orphanage then at the sanatorium. Having to go to the sanatorium has allowed us to meet so many more kids. There more kids at the sanatorium than there are in the orphanage.
Tomorrow we will try to go visit Snizhana and Vika, the two little girls that we hosted the summer of 2009.

Prayer request: that Alona's separation gets approved quickly

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

back in Zhytomyr

2011-05-25T15:33:00.000-05:00

We got our referral letter for Alona today. As you can see from the pic, the Mullins were there with us to get their letter for their Alona. This picture was taken by a woman from Richmond Va. She and her husband were there to adopt as well.

We got back to Zhytomyr at about 7 pm. We have been using a driver named Vasyl. He is the driver we used when we were here January 2010. He has a great van with AC. He is a safe driver, punctual and he is cheaper than most drivers. I would highly recommend him to anyone coming to Zhytomyr. He is also a believer to top that off.

We got word from Oksana who is off working with another couple that the separation for the twins from the 3 siblings was approved and signed. We should be traveling to that town again on Friday to get the final directors signature.

Tomorrow we go meet Alona officially. Though we have met her unofficially, this will be a great day for her because this time we will start the process for getting her adopted. She will be very excited and so will we. We hope to then be able to visit her 2 & 1/2 y/o brother who is not available for adoption.

Boy, it looks like I may get to bed before midnight.

Isaiah 58:10

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

successful second SDA appt.

2011-05-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

Our second SDA appt. went well. We will get our referral letter for Alona (Helen) tomorrow and then we are off to Zhytomyr again. We had dinner with the Mullins again today. On the way to dinner we encounter this lady with her cat and dog on a stroller of sorts. My wife thought it was too cute so she just needed to take a picture with her.

If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. Isaiah 7:9b

2nd SDA appointment

2011-05-23T15:26:00.000-05:00

This morning we went with Oksana to the small town where the sibling’s brothers live. This is the town where the kids were legally separated from their parents. Thus, it is here where we must obtain legal separation from the twin siblings. The social worker in charge was very pleasant and upbeat. She seems to feel that we should not have any problem with the separation. She said that they were in favor of adoptions. The committee in charge will meet on Wednesday to decide if they will sign off on it. Then the director will either sign it on Thursday or Friday. The social worker will call Oksana to let her know.
We got word that our second SDA appointment will be tomorrow, so we made our way back to Kiev today. We got in about 5 pm. We had dinner with the Mullins who are here to adopt an Alona of their own. It felt great to visit with friends and neighbors.
On Wednesday late afternoon, we should get the formal permission to visit with Alona. We will then head back to Zhytomyr. We will be back at the orphanage Thursday morning to officially visit Alona, and then her separation proceedings will begin. Alona's separation should all be in Zhytomyr. She has a 16 y/o brother who is no longer at the orphanage and a 3 y/o brother who is not available for adoption at this time. After Thursday we hope to be able to go visit the 3 y/o.

Prayer request: 1) for continued good health, 2) favor with the government officials.

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:3

learning to travel by bus

2011-05-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

Today we went up to the orphanage late morning. The plan was to go to the outdoor and indoor malls. Our driver took us to the orphanage to pick up Vika, Kolia and Alona. Unfortunately, the people at the sanatorium did not let Alona go. I was so proud of her because she did not even pout for a second. We told her that we would be back to see her when we got back. Vika had invited Tonya, Svieta's sister (Svieta was adopted by Shelle and Kevin in 12/10) to come with us. Even though the people at the sanatorium did not allow us to take Alona with us, they did ask us to take this rather large lady to the bus stop. So all 6 of us got in the car and we had the driver drop us off at the bus stop. BTW, I finally met a not so nice person working at the sanatorium. It turned out to be the female doctor that was in charge today. She refused to shake my hand and she spoke to me in a not so pleasant tone. Oh well, such is life.
So off to the outdoor mall we went. Boy it was crowed. We went to several places and found some tennis shoes for Kolia. Turns out his feet are much larger than Vika gave him credit for. After that we walked over to an indoor mall. It is a nice big mall with an indoor skating rink. For lunch, Letty and I got out voted so we ate at McDonalds. Go figure. Vika says that the food at the Ukrainian McDonald taste better than the ones in the US. But then Vika says everything taste better in Ukraine. We will see what she says after a couple of years in the states. She’s a doll!!
We finally made it back to the orphanage and went over to see Alona. We feel like Pied pipers, because we have all these kids follow us around. It is great. The kids are so much fun. They are constantly doing something to keep us entertained. Alona was in a great mood. We visited for a couple of hours. Then it was time to head home. Now the real test on whether we would be able to get home by ourselves on the bus. The kids, minus Alona, walked us to the bus stop. Our bus just happens to be there when we arrived. While Letty was giving the kids hugs and kisses good bye, the bus started to move. She quickly jumped in as the door was closing. She did make a comment to the bus drive. Hopefully she won't get us in trouble up here. The savings for taking the bus was significant. It cost us 50 Hyrvnias (~ $6.00) to get to the orphanage with the driver, it cost us 3 (~38 cents) to get back by bus. We will be taking the bus from now on if we do not have any official business.
Tomorrow we leave at 8:30 to go to where the sibling’s twin brothers are. We will find out what we will need to get the separation papers signed. We should also find out when our second SDA appointment for the official visit with Alona will be. It may even be tomorrow afternoon at which point we would have to leave to Kiev from the other location. So we will be packing a small suit case tonight just in case that is the case.

Prayer request: 1) that all go smoothly tomorrow.

But the LORD Almighty will be exaltedby his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness. Isaiah 5:16

getting to know our kids

2011-05-21T18:27:00.000-05:00

Oksana came to pick us up today at about 12:30. She had just gotten back from getting an official form for Kolia corrected. She said that it went well. Regarding the separation from the twin brothers, she did mention that we should go with her to their orphanage to see what they are going to require for the separation. So Monday morning we will be heading there.
We spent all afternoon with the children and we did not leave the orphanage till about 7:30 pm. Lunch time at the orphanage is at 2 pm. Since all the kids and staff were heading up there, I asked if we could join them at the infamous "canteen". So we went up and join the kids for lunch. We tried their soup and mash potatoes, but neither Leticia nor I were game for the fish. They also had a drink that was made from dried apples and another fruit with sugar added. Way too sweet to for my pallet.
We spent most of our time talking, looking at pictures and just being together. We made our way to a nearby store and bought some junk food and water with the kids. We are starting to learn the different characteristics of our kids. All four are very different. We even had a bit of drama today as one of our girls did not get her wish and pouted a bit. It did not last long, but we can see that she will be on the sensitive side. I am glad that our 14 year old biological son Vincent is laid back and adaptable because he will have to adjust to four very unique kids. It will be interesting. But then that is what makes life fun.
Tomorrow Vika has volunteered to take us to the market. We will be going by taxi and coming back by bus. She will try to show us how to get around by public transportation. We need some items from the market and we need to get our 9 year old Kolia some tennis shoes. The shoes he is wearing are in very bad shape.
Today our friends Michelle and Mike Mullins left to come to Ukraine to start their adoption. We hope to run into them in Kiev for our SDA appointments. The Mullins live just 3 houses down from us. It is ironic that we both started down this road in the summer of 2009.

Prayer request: 1) that we find favor in the heart of the authorities when we visit with them about the separation of the siblings from their twin brothers, 2) continued wisdom in developing bonds with our kids, 3) for safe travel for the Mullins and that all goes smoothly for them.

If you are willing and obedient you will eat the best from the land, Isaiah 1:19a

official meeting

2011-05-20T18:20:00.000-05:00

We had our official meeting yesterday, 5/19/11, at the orphanage. Things went well, but not exactly as planned. We were supposed to meet all four children with the director but the director did not make it in because of back pain. Instead, we had our official meeting with the 3 siblings. Alona is currently in a sanatorium about a 15 minute beautiful walk on a road through the surrounding forest. I know it is 15 minutes because we walked it today. The visit with the siblings went very well. All 3 were excited about us being there. The staff was also very pleasant. ALL the people that we have interacted with thus far have been exceptionally pleasant and kind, all with smiles. Even the lawyer at a government office down town Zhytomyr where we had to get some official forms signed was kind.

All 3 children had to write a short letter stating that they desired to be adopted by us. Then they signed it in front of the orphanage lawyer. That was neat. Oksana read Kolia's letter to us.

The children are still having classes, so they had to leave. We then went off to have lunch and get some official forms signed to begin the separation process for these kids. They have twin 16 year old brothers at a different orphanage in a town about an hour drive from Zhytomyr. The government official will send them and email with the request for separation, then she will call the social worker responsible for the brothers to see if there will be any issues with the separation. Obviously our prayer is that there will not and the signatures will be but a formality. Otherwise we may have to go down there to make a personal request. As you can imagine, that adds time to the process.

Vika came with us yesterday afternoon, so we were able to interact one on one with her. Though we have known Vika since summer 2009, we have not spent much time visiting with her and certainly not working on developing an intimate relationship. We were able to talk a lot as we waited on several occasions for forms to be printed and signed. We could feel Vika becoming more comfortable with us through the afternoon. Later yesterday evening Alla sent me an email to tell us that she had spoken with Vika and Vika was extremely upbeat about having spent the afternoon with us. Certainly we were please.

Today we went up to the orphanage at about 10 am and the director had made it in, bad back and all. He was still in a good mood and smiled throughout the visit. He asked the typical questions, why adopt Ukrainian children and can you afford them. When he described the children, he made nice comments about all 3, but with Vika, he could not say enough nice things. He went on and on about how excellent of a person and student she is. He said that she was not just a child; she was a "treasure." At that point my wife could not hold it any longer and tears started flowing. The director noticed and commented that he knew that those were tears of joy.

Having had a bad back myself, I brought some prescription medications on the trip with me. I shared some with him. Hopefully it will make him feel better.

We spent quite a bit of time with the kids today. Maya had us come to one of her classes and sit in. We tried to keep the class going, but that did not go very well. The children were just interested in interaction with us. The teacher was fine with it and so we visited and took picture.

The director signed a letter giving us permission to visit Alona at the sanatorium. We went with the 3 siblings and Oksana. We were just entering through the gate at the grounds when Alona spotted us. She quickly came running straight to Leticia. She gave her a long, tight hug. She then came over to me and did the same. She did all she could not to cry. We hugged again, then she grabbed Leticia's hand and we walked to a shaded area. Though I was thrilled beyond words to finally see Alona after visiting with her through Skype and phone for over 18 months, the situation was a bit stressful because of the other 3 siblings. We have been working towards this meeting with Alona for all this time, but we have only been working on our new relationship with Vika, Maya and Kolia for about a month now. We are worried about each child’s feels, trying not to make one feel less loved, or one favored above another. We do feel like we are walking a tight rope when interacting with Alona and siblings. But we knew this would be the case. I know that this will resolve itself as each child develops their confidence about being a part of the family, but for right now, their emotions are fragile and we are being very careful to spread the hugs and attention.

Late this afternoon the sibling’s 18 year old brother came to visit us. We talked for about 2 hours. He is very nice and soft spoken. He asked us if we went to church. Great question and we had lots to say about that. I asked about his church life and he said that this is new for him. A cousin of their spoke to him about Jesus, and he has been attending a local Baptist church for about a year. He is working with young teens at that church. He gave us his blessing and said that he felt very good about us and he was happy that we were adopting his siblings. He has invited us to go with him to see the country side of Ukraine which he says we would be very impressed with it. We may take him up on that later.

The paper work has been submitted for our second SDA visit. Natalia says it could be Monday afternoon or Tuesday. She will tell us Monday morning. Oksana is off to the children’s birth town to correct a legal document for Kolia tomorrow morning. We will go to the orphanage late morning tomorrow as not to interrupt their classes. And yes, we want to sleep in!!

Prayer request: 1) that the separation of the siblings from their twin brothers is simple and quick, 2) that we are granted the second SDA appointment early next week, 3) wisdom in interaction with the 4 children.

Because the Sovereign LORD helpsme, I will not be disgraced. Isaiah 50:7

On our way to Zhytomyr

2011-05-18T15:42:00.000-05:00

We got our paper work that gives us permission to visit the kids at the orphanage, and then we made our way to Zhytomyr. The trip went well. We used the same gentleman who drove us around when we were here in January of 2010. He has a big comfortable Mercedes van and he is a very safe driver.
We met a couple of from Atlanta that was here to adopt as well. They were waiting for their forms at the same time. They had a 4 hour trip to get to their region. Zhytomyr is only about 1 hour and 45 minutes due west from Kiev.
We are staying in an apartment on a main street. It belongs to a fellow name Alex. He has been renting to foreigner for a while. He says that his parents have a big apartment, so he stays with them when he rents his apartment. The apartment is small but cute and the price is right.
Oksana will be handling our proceedings here in Zhytomyr. She will arrive tomorrow morning and we should be making our way to the orphanage with her. Finally after visiting with Alona for over 18 months by Skype and phone, we will be meeting her in person. We are excited to about seeing the 3 siblings and staring a new and different relationship with them.
I will eventually put some photos on the blog, actually I thought I had but they did not show up, but every time I am blogging it is in the evening and I am too tired to mess with it. But we will be taking a lot more photos now since our subjects will be much more interesting.

SDA appointment

2011-05-17T15:47:00.000-05:00

Well, today was an important day in the process. We had our SDA appointment. It was nothing like we envisioned. The social worker who we met with was very pleasant. She made us feel very comfortable. She brought us the info. on the four children, and we laughed as we looked at the pictures that were attached to the forms.
We originally had planned to use our first appointment to visit with Alona, however when Natalia discovered that the 3 siblings had 2 siblings under the age of 18 that lived about an hour away, we decided to get started on there proceedings since it seems now that this will take a bit longer than Alona's separation. We were a bit distraught at doing this because Alona might feel that we were putting the siblings ahead of her, however Natalia assured us that when we go to meet the children in the director’s office at the orphanage, they will bring all 4 children together. She said that the lady that does the paper work at the orphanage is very much in favor of the adoptions so she will know that we are coming for the four children and thus they will be "introduced" to us as a group.
We had dinner with Alla and Galina today. Galina works for the department in Kiev that does the official paperwork for the orphans hosting trips.
Tomorrow we should be getting the official papers that allow us to go to the orphanage to visit the children. This apparently occurs between 4 to 5 pm. Then we are off to Zhitomir.

Praise God

Arrived safely

2011-05-16T15:14:00.000-05:00

We arrived at 1:30 pm local time with very little trouble. The trip went smoothly except for a minor hiccup in Chicago while checking in to board Lufthansa airline to Frankfurt. Apparently our carryon bags which were just fine for United were too big and heavy for the 747 Lufthansa plane. They needed to check our carryon all the way to Kiev. Leticia quickly got something to wear for the SDA appointment in case the luggage did not make it, and put it in her computer bag. I, on the other hand, was content to wear what I had on. It all made it!!

The apartment is nice, quiet, clean, and close to the center of town and the underground mall. We feel very safe here.

Natalia and her husband came by to drop off stuff for our adventure. She will be back tomorrow to take us to the SDA.

We spoke to Vika and Alona today for a short time through Skype phone. They can’t wait to see us and we can’t wait to see them either.

Praise God!!

Getting Started

2011-05-14T06:31:00.000-05:00

So here we are taking the next step on a journey that began January of 2009 when we were asked by our dear friend Alison Skolaut if we were interested in hosting a Ukrainian child for the summer. No sooner had we said yes to God’s leading about getting involved in the ministry for orphans, we got this opportunity. The first time we heard about hosting a child from Ukraine, we said the same thing many people say to me when I tell them what we are doing: “why children from Ukraine when there are so many kids here.” Well because those are the children that God brought into our lives when we said “yes God, we will go, send us.”

So we could not start this blog without paying tribute to the two children that God blessed our home with in the summer of 2009. We fell completely and totally in love with the two sisters Vika and Snizhana. We will forever love them, but at this time God has not allowed them to come with us forever.