Simferopol Day 2

Brandon and I were blessed with a very restful night’s sleep.  When we woke we were all smiles knowing that this was the day we would meet our son!  We tried to busy ourselves with, unpacking our bags, organizing donations, and making sure that we had the proper paperwork.  When we got ready today, I tried to imagine what a good mother would look like to Vitaliy.  I wanted to look, smell, and feel like a gentle mom.  At 2pm our driving came to pick us up from the apartment.  We drove though Simferopol to the orphanage/boarding school in Lozove.  It took us about 15 minutes to arrive, I recognized it from pictures as we pulled up.  We were so excited!  We were lead into a room and introduced to the orphanage director.  A young woman came in and she spoke some English.  We were just sitting in this room while the women spoke to each other.  The director showed us 3 pictures of Vitaliy and commented on how much he looks like Brandon.  We thought we were going to be asked a lot of questions and given information on Vitaliy, but we just sat there kind of awkward like as they spoke.  Another woman kept coming in and out of the room and they spoke.  I was facing away from the door and then the door opened again and in walked Vitaliy!  I jumped up from my chair, dropped to my knees and hugged him, probably a little too tightly and of course I was crying.  Brandon says that I hugged for 5 minutes before he got the opportunity to touch him.  ;)  Then he sat in a chair in between us and sort of had a stunned expression on his face.  The young woman and director spoke to him and while looking down he would sort of shake his head and say “da”.  He would look at us every little bit with a smile and look back down.  Brandon says I was petting his head too much, so I tried to control myself from over touching him. I brought a banana and clementine to give to him and we was thrilled.  Then they asked us if we were coming back tomorrow and how long we were staying then.  We said we would come everyday and for as long as they would let us each day.  Then we were lead to another room, that was referred to as the weekend activity room and we sat at a table with Vitaliy. In this room, we gave him a small lego set to put together and he and Brandon worked on it.  They were so cute! 

After this he wanted to take us to the building where he lives, he was still holding the banana and I told him he could eat it.  He had the entire thing gone in about 30 seconds!  I guess we will be bringing a banana everyday to him.  We followed him up some stairs and he took us to a bigger room with some old couches.  Then other boys came in and he showed them his new lego toy. I started to take come pictures and then the boys and Vitaliy decided to show off for us.  Vitaliy and N. did hand stands and walked across the room on their hands, they did some breakdancing, some running and flipping.  It was very entertaining.

  I was instructed by them to video tape all their moves and then they would run over to watch what we taped.  Brandon brought out his I-Touch and one boy clicked on the Angry Birds icon, then Brandon game to Vitaliy and that is when he lost interest in us.  LOL

We let him play while the other boys took our camera and took pictures of us and anyone who walked into the room. After this we followed Vitaliy downstairs and back to the first building we were in. He let us know that it was snack time, and walked away to the cafeteria. We followed him and he got a cookie wafer and glass of milk. 

After snack we had to leave, but we told him we would be back in the morning.  Our driver met us in front of the building and called Vitaliy over and handed him a handful of hard candy to share.  Vitaliy smiled and walked away when our driver called to him and said to tell his momma and papa goodbye.  He giggled a bit and waved goodbye. 
No one was able to speak very good English, so we didn’t really get to talk to him or anyone for that matter.  But tomorrow we are being picked up at 0845 and taken back and our missionary friend Natalya will be there to help us communicate and spend time with him. I am thankful I brought toys and activities to do with him that don’t require spoken language. 
Vitaliy is ADORABLE, small, he smelled clean, his hair was so blond, and soft.  It felt SO GOOD to squish him.  Looking forward to tomorrow!!!

Simferopol Day 1

This has been one crazy week!  We left Kiev on the 23^rd, my sister arrived in Italy on the 25^th, and we fought with base personnel for 3 days about my sister being allowed to do what she needs to do to take care of our daughters in our absence.  That brings us to last night the 28^th when Brandon and I were still only 25% done with our preparation and packing for this trip.  At 2:30 in the morning, I was in a combination of laughing and crying at the same time, when Brandon insisted that we get some sleep.  3 hours later we were up and walking out the door heading for the airport.  We drove to the airport in Treviso, Italy and all went smoothly with our three bags weighing about 30 kg (70lbs) each.  We arrived at Zhuliany International Airport in Kiev which is 50 kilometers from Boryspil International Airport on the opposite side of Kiev.  When I booked our tickets, I had no idea that there were two airports and due to my lack of knowledge, put us in a tight spot.  We had only 1 hour and 15 minutes to get off our plane, get our bags, get across Kiev during lunch time traffic, and get checked in again.  We made it with 10 minutes to spare!!!  God is so Good!

On our last flight to Simferopol, Brandon and I were able to talk and reflect on what the next 24 hours would hold for us.  We knew that this was the time that we would finally be able to see, touch, smell, hold, and experience our son for the very first time.  It is an odd feeling, to love a child that you have never met, as deeply as we do.  The only way I could try to explain it is this, it is like our son was taken from us the day he came into this world, and we were never given the opportunity to kiss his little head, and count his little fingers and toes.  We weren’t able to squeeze him, and sniff his tiny ears, listen to his cries and be able to calm his fears.  We weren’t able to teach him to walk, and hear his first words, we weren’t allowed to send him off on his first day of school and be there when he came home.  All this time he has been our son, but he was lost and we didn’t know him.  Now, he has been found, we know where he is, we know that he knows that we have finally found him.  We are able to see our son for the first time, to hold his hands, and look at the beautiful creation that God has graciously brought to us.  Tomorrow we will find our lost son, and we will be together, a family.  I once was lost, but now am found, and Jesus has provided the way. 

Kiev Day 3

Woke up in a chilly apartment but the sun was shining bright for the first day since we’ve been here.  We were picked up at 1pm for a trip downtown to the TGIF’s for a Thanksgiving meal.   Brandon and I were so excited to have TGIF’s that I think our American companions must have thought us a little strange.  We haven’t had TGIF’s in 4 years so for us it was a meal to be thankful for!   After lunch, we went to the SDA to pick-up our referral to adopt Vitaliy.   All went smoothly and we were in the office for about 3 minutes.  While at the SDA we met several families who are also adopting.  One couple from Arizona adopting a boy and girl who are unrelated but who both need a mommy and daddy.  A couple adopting a 15 year old daughter another adopting a 14 year old daughter and an amazing family who is in the process of adopting their 12^th child with special needs.  What a testimony of what the church is called to do in loving the least of these in the world. 

We now have a document to take back to Italy with us to show the base that we are indeed adopting so we can get Vitaliy registered into the DEERS system.  This is a very good thing!
Afterwards, we were allowed a little time to look at the small market near the SDA.  We found a small souvenir for each of the kids. 

Tomorrow we return to Italy to finish paperwork, love on our daughters, pick up Kim’s sister from the airport on Sunday, and get ready to come back to Ukraine next Thursday.
On this unique Thanksgiving Day, we have much to be thankful for.  We are first and foremost thankful to our Heavenly Father who by His immense Grace and Mercy chose to send His Son Jesus to be the sacrifice and pay the penalty of our sins, and by that sacrifice and then resurrection has made possible for us to be adopted by Him and be His heirs forever and ever!  We are thankful for our beautiful daughters who have also chosen to follow Jesus even though the road is difficult.  We are thankful for our church family here in Italy and worldwide, who love, pray for, and serve in ways that are shocking to the world who doesn’t yet know Him.  We are thankful for family and friends that love and care for us and make sacrifices to show us their love.  We are thankful for the Stork International Team that has been and continues to be our advocates during this adoption process.  We are thankful for Vitaliy and any other children that God may have for us in our future that show us how much our Father in Heaven loves us, unconditionally when we are purchased by the blood of Jesus. 

Kiev Day 2

We went to bed fairly early last night and Brandon was thrilled to have found a soccer only channel. Even though it was only in Ukrainian, Brandon enjoyed watching his favorite sport.  We woke this morning and I made a hearty breakfast of bacon wrapped sausage, eggs, toast, and juice.  Brandon is going to want me to cook like this all the time. J 
We were picked up by our driver at 10am and driven to downtown Kiev for our SDA appointment which was at 11am.  The appointment was pretty fast, we were asked about our family and how we found out about Vitaliy.   Brandon gave a 2 minute answer, which was translator into about 2 sentences. LOL  It seemed to suffice.  We were told a few interesting things about Vitaliy’s family but we will find out more at the courts in Simferopol next week. 
We then were dropped off at a mall with another couple here adopting.  We got some Ukrainian Mall food and then walked to an outdoor market.  It was interesting, as our group was approached by a woman selling herself.  We are so thankful that we can adopt our children so that they don’t have to resort to this way of living. 
We found our way back to our apartment from the market and are now cozy inside.  Tomorrow we have Thanksgiving lunch at TGIF’s and then go and pick up our referral for adopting.  We will make a copy to bring back to the base to enroll Vitaliy into DEERS and Sasha will take the original to the region of Crimea where we will be next week.  Successful Day 2.

Made it to Kiev (trip one)

We are in Kiev!  It is amazing that we are here after waiting so long. 
You know how you hear people say, “I can feel your prayers”?  I have probably said it before too, but this time I truly can FEEL your prayers.  It has been a bit strange that this week, we find it easy to fall asleep and wake up refreshed.  Last night as we said good-bye to the girls and this morning as we woke up, I felt positively serene.  Such a strange peace and calm when normally I would be anxious, upset, and hurried.  This is definitely a super-natural peace that passes all normal understanding, and we are so grateful and humbled by God’s tangible presence. 
We arrived in Kiev’s airport and breezed through customs.  We were met by our driver Sergei who then drove us to get our American dollars exchanged for Grivna.  We did some food shopping and we felt like we did when we first moved to Italy, looking at pictures and hoping for the best. J  Then we were brought to our apartment where we will be staying until very early Friday morning.  Kiev looks very much like any European big city.  We may go do some sightseeing on Thursday as it will be our free day. 
Our SDA appointment is tomorrow, Wednesday at 11:00.  Please be praying for us at this time as it is our first big appointment in the final steps of this adoption.  We are assuming that Vitaliy knows that we are coming at this point but we haven’t heard for sure yet.  Our missionary friend has informed us that the social worker would have definitely let him know we are coming at this point. 

More to come tomorrow.

We are GOING!

After 14 months of adoption preparation we have FINALLY received our SDA (State Department of Adoption) appointment.  Our appointment is scheduled for November 21^st.  That leaves us only 9 days to make final preparations and only 5 work days to get paperwork done on base.  We knew that this would probably happen.  After months of sitting around and waiting, now everything must be done super quickly. 
We need to break down our trips into 3 separate trips to Ukraine.  Our first trip will only be for 3 days.  We are heading to Kiev on Tuesday, November 20^th and attending our appointment on November 21^st.  We will come back home on Friday (only available time to fly).  This trip we will NOT being seeing Vitaliy as he is 12 hours south of Kiev. 

Our first trip is basically our physical presence presenting our intention to adopt Vitaliy and to initiate the court appointments that will follow.  Since we are so close and the plane tickets are cheap from Venice to Kiev we are heading back to Italy so that we can be here to greet my sister Robin who has graciously decided to come to take care of the girls while we are gone for the 2^nd longer trip!

Robin will be arriving in Italy on the 25^th and we will have a few days to get her paperwork finished for her to have a pass to get onto the base and get her the approval to drive our car while we are gone.  This also gives us time to enroll Vitaliy into the DEERS program to initiate the Command-Sponsorship approval.  We will have “official” papers from Kiev at this point to present to the base proving that we are in-fact adopting. 
Right now we are planning on leaving for Simferopol on the 29^th, this time we will be able to hold our son for the first time!  We will also be there for his 11^th birthday on December 15^th!  How awesome is that?  We are not sure how long we will be in country this second trip but we are figuring about 2 ½ weeks. 

The third trip, the one where we get to bring Vitaliy home, will likely be after the New Year.  Due to the holidays, the offices will all be closed and we probably won’t be able to get anything done until after they re-open.

Please continue to pray that the travel plans go perfectly, that the remaining $1,950 we need will be donated, that all the appointments are problem-free, and that ALL of us are healthy for all the trips and those who are helping take care of the girls will be Abundantly Blessed for their time and love. 
Can’t wait to post pictures of our adventures.  Thank you for praying with us throughout our journey!