Introducing our new son!

On Saturday the 22^nd, Brandon, Kimberly, Grace, and Hanna boarded our 2 hour flight to Kiev from Treviso.  It was an early morning flight and the only one from Italy to Ukraine on that day.  We had a 6 hour wait in the Zuliany airport before we were picked up and taken to the train station.  Thankfully the airport had free Wi-Fi which helped make the wait not seem so long. It was snowing pretty good when we arrived and Hanna was thrilled to see, feel, and play in the snow.  Kim found a soft bench in a restaurant and happily snored through a much needed nap.  

The train ride was nice.  This is of course our opinion as most people have nothing good to say about the 14 hour train ride.  We have VERY low expectations…so in our case we were pleasantly surprised.  We were in a small room that had 2 bunk beds.  The motion sickness patches that Kim had prescribed to her, worked wonders and Grace did well with Dramamine.   We were able to get some sleep. 
The morning of the 23^rd, we arrived in Simferopol and were picked by two drivers to accommodate all four of us and our luggage.  We were taken directly to the apartment to freshen up and then an hour later we were packed into one car and taken to the orphanage.  Vitaliy was thrilled to see us and Mom got the first hug!!!  Grace and Hanna invited him into their arms and he accepted hugs from his sisters for the first time.  We spent some time indoors and then went outside to play on the ice covered driveways.  Afterwards we were able to engage in our first family snowball fight!  Grace and Hanna became instant targets in the snowball fight but they LOVED it!  The other boys at the orphanage were thrilled to play along with “Vitalik’s seesters”.  Then it was time for us to leave.  We slept pretty well that night and woke up early for our court appointment.  

Another family that is here adopting came and stayed with Grace and Hanna during the court time.  That was a HUGE blessing because we weren’t really sure that it would be a problem if we brought them along.  Thank you!!
We went to the court house and Vitaliy was already there with a representative from the orphanage.  He looked happy and nervous, same as us.  We were given the run down on what we would be asked and suggested responses to such questions.  Then it was time to go in.  There was a judge, dressed in a suit, two jurors, a prosecutor, the court cleric, our adoption facilitator, the representative from the orphanage, Vitaliy, Brandon, and Kim.  The atmosphere was serious but not cold.  We were asked to state our intentions and we heard many of our documents read out loud.  They asked about our daughters and what they thought.  We told them that they met him in person the day before and that they had their first snowball fight.  This lightened the mood of the room when everyone laughed.  Then they spoke with Vitaliy and asked him if he knew what was going on.  He looked so nervous but would soften when we smiled at him.  In the court, while he could hear they basically listed family members that have lost their rights to parent him and no family that would care for him.  Then they asked him if he wanted to be adopted and he replied, “Yes, I want a family”.  Kim had to keep her composure.  One of the jurors was in tears. 
It was so sad and so sweet at the same time.  We were there to be his new family but only because he had none.  This is the same situation the other 200 orphans are in at his orphanage.  They just long to be a part of a family.  The want to be loved. 
We were asked to leave the room to await the decision.  We offered Vitaliy a snack we brought for him and he was much more relaxed not having adults staring at him.

After about 10 minutes we were ushered back in and the judge announced us as Vitaliy’s new parents! 

His name will be changed to Vitaliy Neal Thompson.  We are now in the 10 day window of appeal.  We will return to Ukraine the 8^th of January to finalize the paperwork, get his new passport and birth certificate, and most importantly him.  Today has been the best Christmas Ever!  We will spend Christmas day with our new son tomorrow.  Thrilled to be a family at last.  

We are ALL off to Ukraine!

We finally have our court appointment, it is December 24^th! 
We will be having a Ukrainian Christmas this year. 

 Since it will be over the Christmas holiday and the girls will be out of school on Christmas break, we have decided to take them along with us on this trip.  We hope that this trip will have an eternal effect on our daughters.  During the coming months, Vitaliy will have to make many huge adjustments in learning to be part of a family, a new language, customs, foods, environment and so on.  We are anticipating a rough transition and we think that it will be beneficial for Grace and Hanna to see with their own eyes where their brother is coming from.  We hope that they will get a glimpse of his past and prayerfully to instill in them large amounts of grace and mercy for Vitaliy.  We also pray that this will prompt their hearts to be forever burdened by the plight of orphans around the world and will encourage them to seek justice and provide homes for these unwanted children.  Many of the orphans are their age.  We further hope that this will give them a deep gratitude for the fact that they have a family that dearly loves and cares for them.  We pray that this will show them that although they may be deprived of I-touches, I-pads, and other various “necessities”, that at least they are able to take more than one cold shower once a week and have clothes that fit them and haven’t been worn by 20 kids before them. 

Please join us in prayer as we prepare for this VERY exciting pivotal point in our adoption journey.  When we find out the exact time of the court, we will post so that you can join us in prayer that ALL goes well. 

What’s going on?

After spending 12 days with our little man, we found out that the court date was going to be later than we thought.  Then we had to make a decision as to whether or not to stay in Ukraine visiting the orphanage once a day or return to Italy to finish up paperwork and allow Brandon some more time back at work.  We made the decision based on cost of staying versus leaving and decided it would be better to return to Italy until the court date.  We think the court date is going to be December 24^th but will get a confirmation on that hopefully today.  We let Vitaliy know that we had to return to Italy to finish paperwork and according to another family that is there, he is quite content.  We’ve had reports that he is happy and fine and knows that we will be returning soon.  It was a hard decision to make, it felt like a choice between spending time with which of our children.  We still have a long road ahead of us in this process and don’t want Brandon to be forced to take too much time off from work.  After court we will return to Italy once again since all of the offices responsible for finalization of the adoption will be out of work due to the holidays.  Nothing will re-open until January 7^th.  We are anticipating a longer stay on that trip than most families that are adopting.  Vitaliy will have his new Ukrainian passport with his new name on it.  Unfortunately, Ukrainian passport holders may not enter Italy without a Visa.  We will have to obtain a Visa from the Italian Embassy in Kiev in order to bring Vitaliy back to Italy with us. We are expecting this to take a while.  We could take Vitaliy straight to the USA but then we would have to obtain an American Passport for him.  This passport would only be valid for 90 days.  If an American  stays longer than 90 days in Italy, one MUST have an Italian Visa.  Visas for that type of a stay can ONLY be placed in an official “no fee” American passport, not just the regular tourist passport.  I know this is all very confusing, but this is our attempt to explain the complexity of the situation. 
We still know and rest in the knowledge that God is a Sovereign and a good God and worthy of our trust and obedience.
We ask for your continued prayers to settle Vitaliy’s heart, give us wisdom to make wise decisions, and for the paperwork to roll along smoothly for the rest of this process.  Many Thanks.

Simferopol Day 11

As we all get more familiar with each other, the time we spend together everyday moves faster and faster.  We’ve seen some of the moods and emotions that he is experiencing.  Most days Vitaliy is thrilled to see us and embraces us immediately.  Saturday he seemed a bit reluctant.  Sunday he was happy once again and was waiting for our car to arrive at the end of the long driveway that leads to the orphanage.  The driver let Vitaliy and his friend jump in the car with us and ride the rest of the way up to the building.  Everyday we have been able to spend an hour to 3 hours with him.  Some days it is just the three of us, doing puzzles, playing with toy cars, finding hidden pictures in books.  Other days we are joined by his friends.  When there are more than us three we play dominos, play outdoors, or do crafty type things.  Vitaliy has found his new super-hero in his father.  It is such a blessing to see a boy being able to belong to his father.  We know the road set out for us is difficult but we know without a doubt that this child is our son. 

The hardest thing to watch is the other children as they watch us.  These kids, just like Vitaliy are hoping and praying for a forever family.  They desperately want a family that comes and looks at them the way we look at Vitaliy.  Vitaliy’s closest friend N. watches Brandon and him play and Kim is brought to tears by the look of longing on his face.  These kids need families, all of them.  Who would go though all that we are, the expense, the travel, the long-suffering, the emotions just to bring a waiting child home?  We can assure you that it is not by our own strength that we have been able to endure all this time.  God has been gracious to give us what we need at the perfect time to continue to fight this battle.  We are most assuredly in a war here, a fight for the hopeless and unwanted. Our hearts ache as we see teenagers follow us around hoping beyond hope that we might notice them and maybe be their answer to a forever family.  How old is too old for a family, 12, 15, 17, 30?  Every person no matter their age longs to belong to a family, to have people that care about them, praying for them, and loving them.  If you want to be a part of this fight, to join the team of prayer warriors, and to give a home to the poorest of children, we want to be a part of your journey too.  We aren’t rich, we don’t have all the answers but we have Jesus and He is MOST capable of making a way when there seems no way. 

Simferopol Day 5

Another great day!  We were picked up by our driver at 10am and taken to the city authority that processed yet another application for adoption.  Afterwards, we were taken to another official type building and met with a social worker who asked us some questions about ourselves and Vitaliy.  Then we waited while another paper was drafted for us.  After these two appointments we went to lunch at an Indian Restaurant that was delicious! 
After the scrumptious lunch we went to the orphanage.  We went into the director’s office and the orphanage doctor came in and we were given the opportunity to ask questions about Vitality’s health history.  According to them, he is healthy and well.  We will have him evaluated more thoroughly once we are back in Italy.  Then after the doctor left, in bounded Vitaliy, we exchanged hugs and smiles.  Our coordinator, the director, and another woman spoke with Vitaliy and he seemed in agreement with what they were saying.  They led him to a table and gave him a pen and paper and he began to write.  We asked what he was writing and they said he was writing a letter stating that he wanted to be adopted by us!  He worked very hard on this letter and it took him awhile.  He’d look up at us every once in a while and smile. 

 

When the paper was done our coordinator and the other adults were speaking, so Brandon gave him a coloring book and crayons that they worked on together to pass the time.  The director commented again on how much Vitaliy looks like Brandon.  Vitaliy has to get some lab work done for the adoption and will have to leave the facility to do so.  The director said that while he was out he’d have to go and get his haircut to match Brandon’s.  They really do look a lot alike.  ;)
Afterwards, our coordinator had to take our documents to the city so we stayed with Vitaliy in a large room, playing, talking, and just being together alone for about 2 hours.  It was very nice. 

We aren’t sure of the plan yet for tomorrow but we are so thankful for how things have been going so far. 

Simferopol Day 4

Today was a Fantastic Interaction Day!  When we arrived at the orphanage Kim opened her arms to Vitaliy and he came into them and gave her a hug.  First time he has done that.  We went into a big room with him and 3 of his friends that he allowed in, and played with dominoes, Legos, and a word book.  Then we found a couple of balls and the silliness began!  Vitaliy and N. started to wrestle and Brandon took the opportunity to join in by grabbing Vitaliy and swinging him around.  From that point on, wrestling and laughter were the norm.  We were all hot and sweaty but full of joy at being able to play together.  We brought him a pomegranate, and he was thrilled! 

 

 

Since we have arrived he has referred to us as Brandon and Kim.  During all the fun today he called out to Brandon twice as Papa.  He wanted Kim to show him how to take videos with the camera to video tape Brandon playing with the other boys.  Then he decided he wanted to join in, and while handing her the camera back call her Mom.  We heard him talk, laugh, giggle.  We saw him, smile, relax, and show-off.  When it was time for us to leave, Kim leaned in and gave him a kiss on the forehead and he did Not pull away. 

It was a WONDERFUL day! 

Simferopol Day 3

This morning we woke up before our alarm with anticipation of seeing Vitaliy again.  We were picked up at 0850 and taken to Lozove.  We pulled up to the front and saw kids walking from one building to another and found out that they were finishing breakfast.  We didn’t see Vitaliy, so we took some time to take pictures of the outside of the orphanage.

  Natalya arrived and we went in search of Vitaliy.  About that time he came rushing out of the building looking in a hurry and concerned.  Kim asked him what was wrong and he told Natalya that he was instructed to change his clothes.  He had on the same clothes as yesterday but he looked fine to us.  We told him it was okay and he ran off at full speed to change and get back.   
After he was back, we went up to the activity room where they spend time on Saturday mornings doing crafts and drawing.  We brought out a pack of dominoes and the boys knew how to play a version of the game.  Brandon was dealt into the first game at Vitaliy’s insistence, and then the second game Kim was allowed to play.

 

 He really wanted to play with the I-Touch but we kept telling him no, with a smile. 
Then we got out a dinosaur coloring/activity book and crayons.  He was very excited about this!  There were stickers in the book and he spent some time trying to match the stickers with the pictures in the book.  The crayons we brought had a crayon sharpener on the back, all the boys were impressed with that.  He did some connect the dot pictures and colored. 

We brought some scratch and sniff book-marks with strawberries, cookies, and chocolate.  This was a big hit and he let some kids sniff but then quickly hid them back into the book.  They had a movie playing in the room we were in, and Vitaliy started to get distracted by it.  It was an action packed movie that we wouldn’t have let him watch had he been living with us.

 

Kim needed to use the bathroom and so she asked Vitaliy to show her were it was.  It was very small, no toilet lids, a waste basket in between the toilets, and no paper.  How different our bathroom will look compared to this. 

We had a few minutes to have Natalya help us talk to one another.  The only question Vitaliy asked us is if he would be going to school with his sisters?  We told him that he would be home with Kim and she would be his momma and teacher, but that we would enroll him in sports with boys his own age to play with.  He seemed satisfied with that.  We told him lots of things, like that he will have his own room and it will be decorated with soccer things.  At this, he smiled and laughed.  We told him about the shower and bathtub that is close to his room, and he told us he likes to go swimming.  We told him it is too cold now but we will take him in the summer time.  We told him that we will make a cake and have a party for his birthday, and he raised his eyebrows and did a small smile.  We asked him what other fruits he liked and he told us bananas, pineapples, oranges, and pomegranates.   So, on our way home we went to the store and bought more fruit to take to him tomorrow. J

He was excited to see us, he looked at our eyes and smiled much more today than yesterday.  We were allowed to stay at the orphanage for 2 hours and have been told this is a pretty standard amount of time we can stay per day.  When we left, Kim gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek, he scrunched his face but he allowed it.