Day - 11 Yarik's Letter - Wed Sept 28

Another exciting day! At least this time we did not have to be ready quite so early, as we are staying in Sumy the same town as Yarik's school. Ksenia was to pick us up at 9:30am, so we got up early enough to shower and go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I got the ham omelet and tea, Darren thought he ordered 2 soft boiled eggs, but ended up with fried eggs, ham and tomato slices.
We finished in plenty of time to be out front to wait for Ksenia. She did not get there until closer to 9:45am and we found out that our paperwork was still en route from Kiev and we had to drive to the bus stop for Ksenia to pick it up. We waited at the bus stop for a few minutes and after Ksenia had the paperwork in hand we drove to the inspector's office. On the way Ksenia told us that this was a new inspector that they had never worked with before. The previous one was on maternity leave. She wanted Darren and I to go in to meet her, just in case. While in the office, we pretty much just stood around and listened to them rattle off lots of Ukrainian chatting. Eventually the inspector was ready and we all crowded back into the taxi and rode the few minutes to Yarik's school. Once there we were guided to the director's office by another student. No one was in the office, so they took us to another lady and she brought us to her office. At first, Darren and I were not sure if she was the director as she seemed to be in charge. Soon Yarik came in and they asked him questions and we were able to view the file that the school had for him. His passport, birth certificate and other important papers were there. There was not really any more information about his family. They asked him if he understood that by agreeing to be adopted by us meant that all his former ties to his past family would be broken and that we would be his family from here on out. He smiled his big smile and said he understood. I had the thought that it seemed a frivolous question, as he had never had any ties to his biological family. In fact, he had more ties to us in just the past year than any interaction with his family nearly his whole life! I am so sad for his past, and so excited for his future.
He wrote his letter and then they started writing up some documents. Soon a man came in and invited us upstairs, we found out that this was the director. He was very friendly and seemed happy to take care of the signing of documents. He asked if we had any questions, but I was not really sure what to even ask.
Then we had to let Yarik go back to his classes and give hugs until he could come back to meet us after school.
Ksenia came back to the hotel with us and then she gave us a whirlwind walking tour of the area around our hotel. She showed us the supermarket, some restaurants and took us to an electronics store for me to buy a hot water kettle that plugs in to heat water for tea and soup, etc. while I am in the hotel for the next month!
Then she pointed us back to the hotel and she went to work on paperwork for us. We got back to the hotel room and did some stuff online a bit. Soon our friend Tonya called to meet us for lunch. They had left the hotel that we shared in Oktyrka and are now staying in the same hotel as we are. We all went to try to find the pizza place Ksenia had shown us to get lunch. For some reason Darren and I got twisted around and could not find the one we wanted. After Darren called Ksenia we got our bearings and found the one we wanted. We all enjoyed our pizza and then went grocery shopping. By then Yarik had finished school and planned to meet us across the street from the grocery store in half an hour. We started shopping and enjoyed exploring this nice sized store. We were able to get lots of good stuff to stock up on for breakfasts and lunches. We even figured out how to get sliced deli meat! While we were still shopping, Yarik called and Darren went to meet him. We finished up buying groceries and went back to the hotel. Darren tried to do some work and and Yarik and I joined Tonya and her crew for some Uno. After lots of rounds of Uno, we decided to have dinner in Tonya's room. We combined our finds and had sandwiches with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and onions along with our deli meat and cheese. I had bought some cup of soup type stuff and used my hot water pot to heat the water for the soup and some tea. It was a tasty dinner with chocolate covered cookies for dessert. I did not like the cookies as they had peanuts in them, so I opted for Nutella spread on apple slices.
After dinner we hung out with the Stubbs and talked, worked on Ukrainian and English and played with the kids a bit. Soon it was time for Yarik to get back to his school. So Darren and I walked him most of the way back to the McDonald's to catch his bus.
After that, we did some internet stuff, called TJ and went to sleep!

Day 9 & 10 - Second Referral Appt & Back to Sumy - Mon/Tues Sept 26 & 27

Today was a lazy day. We would not have our appointment until the afternoon, so we did not have much on the agenda. We wanted to try to find a grocery store and get some food and water. We knew there was also another American couple around and hoped to try to meet them for lunch. So we took our time getting ready for the day. Glad for a real stand up shower with a shower curtain. We tried to connect with the other couple, but did not have any luck. They were to call us when they finished their appointment around 10:30am. We decided we would walk down by the SDA to see if anyone was around. No luck. We did not want to eat if we were to have lunch with them, so we just wasted time walking around. We finally called Nastia and she said that she had given them our number, but she would be back at the SDA for another appointment at noon. So we decided to go back again to meet her. When we got there we met another American couple who was just going in for their appointment. Nastia tried to call the other couple, but they did not answer. We waited until the other couple was finished and made plans with them instead. Craig and Jolie were from Louisiana and had the accent to prove it. They were a delightful couple who were adding a boy from Lutigino and would be meeting up with the Yoders on Wednesday. We were glad for both the Yoders and the new family. The Yoders had arrived to find their boys gone, so they had to just sit around and wait a week for their boys to come back and give an answer. We have been praying for them and hope that all goes well in the next couple days.
We drove back to the new couple's apartment for them to change and in the meantime, Nastia showed Darren and I a cafeteria style restaurant near Independence Square where we could all have lunch. We went back outside to meet the other couple and Nastia was off to get paperwork for us at the US Embassy. We had a nice lunch with Craig and Jolie. We strolled through Independence Square and took some photos. Then they walked back with us toward our apartment because we are staying close to the Saint Sofia cathedral and they wanted to check it out. They continued on and we went back to our room to get a shopping bag for some groceries. Nastia had pointed out a small store just down the street from our apartment.
We got some bread and yogurt and water, Darren also decided to give the Crab flavored Lays chips a try. After we put the stuff in the apartment we meandered back towards the SDA for our 4pm appointment.
Nastia met us there and we waited and waited. Finally around 4:40pm they called us in. At first I got the impression that they could not find Yarik's paperwork, but after she was in and out of the room a few times, she finally brought a small file. There was not much information about Yarik. Good health, average student, etc. Did we want to look at another child? Duh, NO!
So that was it, now we signed the log book again and they would get our paperwork together to be picked up the next day.
By this time, I was getting a pretty bad headache and just wanted to go back to the apartment and lay down. We walked back and took a brief detour at the Saint Micheal's Cathedral. I had been in to see it during the interview trip, but Darren had not gone with me last time. When we went in, they were in the middle of some type of service. We could hear the monks chanting and smell the incense. We went back outside to take a few pictures and then back to the apartment. I was glad for a short rest to try to get rid of my headache. Darren caught up on paperwork and computer stuff.
After my rest, I did some computer stuff and we snacked a little. Then we watched the beginning of Casablanca and fell asleep.
Tuesday- all we had to do today was check out of our apartment and pick up our referral paperwork. We finally touched base with the Sems and tried to make a lunch date with them. We got our things organized and walked our suitcases over to the Saint Sofia cathedral where we hoped to meet up with them. As we were waiting, we called to check on their progress. They had a setback and could not get away yet. We found out that they were closer to the SDA, so we walked our suitcases to the pizza place by the SDA, hoping they might be able to meet us there. We took our time having lunch, but they never were able to meet us. It did happen that we ended up having a group of Americans come in just before we finished eating. We exchanged stories of why we were in Kiev. They had some work at the Embassy and were only there a few days. They wished us luck and we went out to wait for Alexey who was to meet us to get the paperwork and get us to the train. We walked out the door, and there was Alexey, parked and waiting. He had come early for something else and had to wait anyway. It was nice to be able to stow our bags in his car and then do a little browsing at the street vendors' booths.  It was not long until it was time to go back to the SDA and met Alexey to pick up the paperwork. Once again we signed the log book and made our way to the train station to take the train back to Sumy. This time we did not have to drive so crazy to make the train.
The ride on the train, however, was much more interesting than last time. The first time we had paid for 4 places, so we could have a whole cabin to ourselves. Since we did not have so much luggage, we only got 2 seats this time. So we ended up have another lady in our cabin. She was part of a group of train association professionals who had just been in a conference in Kiev. For the next hour or so, different people joined us and we tried to make conversation about why were were here, the boys we were adopting, our family and their families. They gave us a Ukrainian calendar and helped us to pronounce the months. It was a fun interaction. They bought me some tea. Darren declined, but then later they convinced him to go to another cabin to have some appetizers and a shot of Vodka. I declined the invitation and stayed with our stuff. Two of the ladies stayed with me and I showed them the small photo album I had made with photos from our Christmas hosting.
In the other car, the people were trying to understand why we would adopt older kids, and Darren got the impression that one lady was very sad that we were taking away two Ukrainian children from their homeland. It is a difficult thing, knowing that the people have great pride in their country and the children, but also knowing the future for the orphans is so grim. We wish we could make them understand our reasons better. Darren did try to affirm that he would teach them Ukrainian history and help them to be proud to be Ukrainian.
It really helped the time pass and after they got off the train it was not much longer for our stop in Sumy. Once again, Ksenia met us with a taxi to take us back to the hotel. We got some food and soon got to sleep.

Day 8 - Return to Kiev - Sept 25

Day 8 - Back to Kiev

Pretty uneventful day. Our second referral appointment is for Monday afternoon back in Kiev. Our options were to take the bus or 6am train to Kiev from Sumy. We decided to go with the bus. It has been great having Yarik with us the last couple days. His English is constantly improving. I am really enjoying working with him reading the Bible and the Learn English the Fast and Fun Way book. But he can not go back to Kiev with us, so we got to ride together to Sumy and then parted ways.
Taxi Sergei picked us up at the hotel at 9:30am. We had heard scary stories about the bus rides, but as we waited to board, a big charter bus pulled up and Sergei jumped right up to the driver and booked us seats on the big comfy bus. At least our ride to Sumy was not so scary. We arrived in Sumy and Yarik made sure we got off at the right spot to walk to McDonalds where we met Ksenia. It is great that Yarik can help us so much. We got some lunch at McDonalds and then Ksenia took our large suitcase that has all the stuff for the boys once we get custody. It was so nice to only have our back packs and small carry-ons to travel to Kiev with us.
Yarik got instructions from Ksenia to help us find our next bus. We had some time to wait until it would load up, so we walked a bit with Yarik and just people watched. We passed some Hare Krishna people singing on the sidewalk..felt a little surreal...it was funny to see the reaction of the other people to them dancing. One Ukrainian lady walked by and was cracking up. I had to laugh at her laughing at them; it was pretty comical.
Yarik made sure we got on the right bus and then stood outside watching until the bus left. This was not a nice big charter bus, but a small 19 passenger bus, more like a large van. At first we had the 4 back row seats to ourselves, but as the hours passed and stops were made, the bus filled up. By the time we stopped half way to Kiev, it was full. We got a 15 minute break during the 5 hour ride. I so needed to stretch my legs. We stopped where there were lots of stands selling snacks and drinks. We each got a snack and hesitantly squeezed back into our spots.
Once we arrived in Kiev, they parked the bus at the train station. We were not sure where to go, so we called Nastia and let her know we had arrived. She was nearby, so told us to stay close by where we parked and she would find us. A few minutes later she pulled up to the curb and we loaded in and went to the hotel.
We were happy to be off the bus! We were also happy to have a place with wifi. Nastia still had to get the code, but we saw the router and knew we would get it soon. We went to Drova's for dinner and then came back to catch up on so much internet stuff.
After our internet fix, we dropped off to sleep. Ready for a couple days of walking around Kiev.

Day 7 - Saturday with our boys! Sept 24

So cool to have Yarik with us for a few days. We have been able to read the Bible together, pray and practice English. What a huge blessing. Our hotel room is small, we have a separate room with two single beds for Darren and I, but since Yarik is staying with us, Darren and I shared one of the single beds and gave Yarik the other one. I was so tired, it did not matter, I really slept well!
We were able to go to the orphanage at noon today, so we went out to get some food and snacks to bring to the orphanage. Then back in the room we had our "brunch".
To leave the hotel we had to coordinate with Tonya, because even though we had 4 adults sharing one hotel room, there was only one key for all of us. We gave them the key and got our things together to take to the orphanage. Taxi Sergei was there waiting for us when we came out a few minutes after 11:30. We made the bumpy trip out to the orphanage and arrived while the kids were still having classes. Sergei found us and then got permission to skip his afternoon classes. The weather was not as warm as the other days, but it was still nice to sit outside. We played some Uno for awhile and then played some games on the laptop and my cell phone. The wind was picking up, so we decided to play some soccer for a little while to warm up. We played 2 on 2 changing who was on a team. It was fun to run and have the field to ourselves, but we tired pretty quickly....well, at least Darren and I did...Soon little Dima came and found us and joined in. He had been hosted last Christmas with his sister. We could tell that he was hoping for some attention. He had come around the other days we were there as well. For a while, Sergei and I were playing with Dima and then I needed a break, so we just watched Sergei and Dima play. It was fun to see how Sergei treated Dima in a kind way, they are 4 years apart and Sergei said he was like a little brother to him. When they were done playing, Sergei was sweaty and sandy. We had him go wash his face. Then we were trying to figure out what to do next. As we were loosing sunlight, and the temperatures were getting cooler, we decided to go inside and watch a video on Darren's laptop. Dima joined us. We started the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. We only had about an hour before it was time to go, so we had to stop the movie half way through and give hugs. It was hard to leave again, especially since we are not sure what day we will be able to come back to see him. We gave big hugs and love you's and then drove back to town with taxi Sergei.
We had made plans to meet Tonya and her crew at "the Hunter" restaurant. The town of Oktyrka was having it's big 370th anniversary celebration, so we could not get back to the center of town. Sergei gave Yarik instructions on how to find the restaurant, so we got out of the taxi on a back street and made our way to the restaurant. Tonya and the others were waiting for us when we got there. The food was very good and reasonably priced. Yarik ate well, and I had him finish some of my dinner. I was not that hungry and he needs to gain some weight! Back out on the streets things were very festive. There were lights hanging across the street and the church was lit up so beautifully, I got some good shots as we walked back to the hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel, Darren totally crashed on the bed. Within minutes he was out. So Yarik and I read from the Bible, worked on English and just visited a bit. I got my things together, because taxi Sergei was to pick us up at 9:30 to catch the bus to Sumy. I was pretty sleepy by then and got Darren to move enough so I could fit in our shared single bed.
Another wonderful day with our boys. So very thankful to God for such an amazing blessing.

Day 6 - Yarik joins us!! - Friday Sept 23

Day 6 – Yarik joins us!

We had made plans for Yarik to come to meet us in Oktyrka and spend the weekend with us. I was so excited that he would be here that night. We took our time in the morning as we knew Sergei was not going to pick us up until 2:30pm. First we went to the open air market for some shopping. While we were there, we got a call from our Sergei that Yarik was already in Oktyrka and wanted us to meet him. So we called Ksenia and had her call Yarik and arrange with taxi Sergei to pick him up and take him to our hotel. We finished checking out the open air market and walked back to the hotel. We waited outside in anticipation of his arrival. Tressa went up to the room to get our camera so she could take photos of our reunion. It seemed like a long time, but it was not really that long and taxi Sergei pulled up with Yarik in the front seat. Darren had called dibs, so he was the first to get hugs. I followed close behind. We all got some good hugs and then went to get some food for lunch. We went to the wifi cafe and were able to do a facebook chat with Bekka, Olivia and Laraine Brands before they went to school. They were all glad to get to see Yarik. We tried to get our lunch fast, since we knew that Sergei was coming back to pick us up soon. But of course, today, they were really slow. By the time we got back to the hotel for Sergei to take us, he was already waiting.

I ran up to the room to get our bag of stuff to do with the kids. And this time Darren, Yarik and I went to the orphanage while Tonya and Tressa waited at the hotel for her Vitaly who was allowed to come and spend the weekend with them.

We arrived at the orphanage and were not sure where Sergei was, but in a few minutes he came around the corner and waived. Yarik was able to introduce us to one of his past teachers. I went to Sergei for a hug. He wanted to go to the sport stadium to play soccer. We went over, but did not have his size 5 ball that was locked in their storage closet. I had brought a floppy frisbee, so we played keep away for a little while. Then we all were hot and tired, so we sat down for some Uno. After a few rounds of Uno we decided to walk down to the river where the kids would swim in the summer. Sergei needed to let his teachers know where he was going, so he and I went around to tell them.

With our sons by the river

Then the four of us walked down the path through the school grounds to the river. We met the pigs on the way and took some photos. At the river, we had a beautiful setting for photos. The boys climbed the tree and posed. We used the timer and took some photos of the four of us. As the sun was setting the scene was even more beautiful. A small line of geese floated down the river toward us in the sunset. It was very picturesque and we got many beautiful shots. It was so nice to just pal around with the four of us. We walked back to the orphanage grounds and played around a bit with some kids near the playground. We did not have much time, though and it was soon necessary to say good night. I always hate this part. At least we could take Yarik with us this time. It was a great evening and I am so thankful for the way it worked out.

We had taxi Sergei drop us off at the Montplizer restaurant for dinner. There we were able to get wifi again and catch up with the day's news. I called my mom and brought her up to date and then called Angie to talk to TJ. I was pretty surprised when TJ said he missed me a lot. I asked if he missed Daddy a lot, too and he told me, “You can tell him that”! I just laughed. I am not sure if he meant that he did, or he just wanted daddy to think that. He was doing well. He said that he was getting his school work done before the other kids got home. I related that I was proud of him! I am glad that it is working out for him to stay at my sister's and spend time with his best buddy, Luke.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Yarik and I worked on some English and Russian, read the Bible and then Darren and Yarik watched a movie together while I went to sleep. I finally was able to drop off quickly and sleep pretty well.

Day 5 - Sergei's 15th Birthday - Sept 22

Ukraine Day 5 – Sergei's Birthday!!!!!

We were not able to go to the school until 3 today, so we could enjoy a leisurely morning. However, not too leisurely, because we were anxious to switch to a new hotel where there would be a real toilet and private shower. We got our suitcases ready for taxi Sergei to pick us up at 11:00am. He arrived and helped us load our stuff into his car. We drove to the new hotel and found our room. We got really excited because the exterior and entry of the hotel was really nice. However, when we got to our room, it was not quite as nice. We were to share a room with separate bedrooms with Tonya and her sister-in-law. There were two separate bedrooms, but they were both very small and there was only a large closet in the second bedroom for any storage of our luggage. The bathroom was okay, at least it was private. There was a real toilet and bathtub with a hand held shower. I was happy to be able to wash in private.

We settled in to the room and I got my shower. Yeah! In the meantime, taxi Sergei brought Tonya and her sister-in-law to the room as well. They had gone from a much nicer hotel to this one. They had wifi before, but we could not get wifi here. After my shower, I walked to a cafe with Tonya and her sister-in-law while Darren rested in the hotel room. We got a quick internet fix and a little to eat. Then Ksenia called and said she could help Tonya exchange some money. After we went to the bank, Ksenia took us to the grocery store to get a birthday cake for Sergei. I also was looking for finger nail polish remover. I did not see any at first and Ksenia asked if they had some. The clerk said no, but as I turned to leave I saw a small container of polish remover pads. We decided that they must think that it is not the same thing. I bought them anyway. I also bought some juice, Coke, plates, forks, etc. to go with the chocolate cake. Then we went back to the hotel to get ready to go with Sergei back to the orphanage. I was so excited to have a cake for him.

We arrived at the orphanage along with Tonya and Tressa, but did not know where our boys were. She said they usually hung out at the gazebo near the office building and the kids would come and find them. So we did that and soon we saw our boys come to us. I am so thankful that we were able to share his birthday with him. We showed him the cake and gave him his birthday gift of a camera and some chocolate candy. Then we spent quite a while trying to figure out the best place to eat the cake and find some friends to join us. We ran into dead ends and locked doors. Eventually, we went to his room and found 2 of his friends to have the cake and soda. The rest of the goodies he locked in the storage room by his bedroom. Then Sergei and I played a game of checkers...or kind of a game of checkers using chess pieces. It was an intense game and I made some dumb moves and he beat me! Darren was happy about that, because he thinks I always win. Soon someone came and told Sergei he had to go outside. So we made our way back to the sport stadium as he calls the area with the sand covered rocks that they use for “futball” and the various sports equipment surrounding the field. We had brought two soccer balls with us this time and used the one to play soccer for a bit. At first we just kicked the ball around, but as a few more kids showed up they wanted to try to play a scrimmage. We chose sides and

Darren and Sergei were on one team and I was with a bunch of little guys. Although the little ones and I outnumbered them, it was pretty evenly matched. We both were able to score a few times. But Sergei dominated the game and Darren hung back at goal. At one point he had blown down the field and was ready to score again, but I grabbed him and let my little guys get the ball back to try to score. He did not mind too much my sneaky tactics, but I only did it once and the rest of the game played fair. Most of the time he blew past me, but every once in a while, I got the advantage and got the ball back to my team mates. Little by little we had more boys join us. By the time we had to get ready to leave we had a really good game going. None of us wanted to stop, but the clock was ticking and the sun setting and we had to say good bye. I know that it was only for the night, but it made me sad just the same.

We drove back to Oktyrka with Tonya and Tressa and had Sergei drop us off at the smaller cafe with wifi for dinner and internet. After dinner we walked back to the hotel to get some sleep. I have been having a hard time getting to sleep, so I read for awhile and then finally drifted off for a few hours of restless sleep.

Day 4 - Sergei's answer - Sept 21

Wednesday – Day 4 Getting an official answer.

We were almost ready to go out the door when Ksenia called at 6:33am. We drug our bags out of our room and made our way down the elevator. Once again we loaded all our bags into the taxi and sped off in the dark toward Oktyrka. We arrived at a hotel room to drop our bags and change drivers. At first glance the room seemed adequate. There were 3 single couches and a separate bath. It was only for a few nights, we could live with that. We rushed back out the door to our new friend, Sergei who was waiting to take us to the Inspector's office. We waited in the car as Ksenia went in and arranged things with the inspector. They both came out and Darren moved to the front and the three of us ladies shared the back seat. Next stop, Sergei's orphanage. When we arrived, the director was not available, so we sat and waited. When she finally got there, they spoke of the documents and confirmed that we were aware of Sergei's eye injury. We said that we were aware and that it was no problem for us. We had our friend who was an eye doctor examine him and found no issues with his vision.

Moments passed as the women conversed in Ukrainian and we were clueless as to the meaning and what to expect. Then a quiet knock on the door and we saw a shy young man sneak into the receptionist's room and peak at us. A quick wave and, “Hi, mom” was all we got as they pulled him aside and “made him presentable”. Completely unnecessary for us, as we were so anxious to see him again. We did not get to give hugs or real greetings as the interrogations began as soon as he entered the director's office where we sat waiting. The inspector grilled him to confirm that he really understood that he was leaving his country to stay in America permanently to be part of a family with the rights and responsibilities that come with it. He looked like a deer in headlights looking for a place to leap for cover. He spoke his assent quietly and meekly. This would be good practice for the court hearing where he would have to stand before the judge and other officials when he had to give his final answer. But my momma's heart longed to reach an arm around his shoulders and give him some reassurance of our love. Once his answer was given, they brought him back to the receptionist's desk and he began writing his letter stating his wishes to be adopted by us. On the way over we finally got to give him some hugs! We could tell that he was still not relaxed. After the letter was written we were free to go outside and just “hang out” until the others were finished. We gave some more hugs and he began to relax. We talked and began to ask questions about his school and where he slept and which building is this. Then he asked if we wanted to go to the sport field, so we went and found a soccer ball to kick around. As we were hanging out, Sergei stopped friends here and there and introduced us as his mom and dad. Then we got photos of him and his friends. At the soccer field Sergei, Dad and another friend kicked the ball around for a bit. The sun was getting warm, so Sergei wanted to go and change out of his dressy school clothes and into some sport clothes. He took us to his room to show us around, but he forgot to get the key to unlock the room with the clothes that he needed. He had us wait and then he rushed out to find a friend who had the key. On the way back he was given a mini-watermelon. This he presented to us. Then he got the clothes that he wanted and changed. While in his room, Darren had sat on his bed with him a minute. It did not look bad, but when he sat, he knew better. He had me give it a try. It kind of felt like it was supported similar to a hammock and certainly was not comfortable.

Back outside we did some more sports and meeting friends. We tried the watermelon and Sergei got some spoons to make it easier to eat. As we had only a protein bar in the car on the way there, even the bland tasting watermelon seemed good. I took more pictures of him and his friends and of the buildings and areas around the only home he has known for the last 7 years. We do not want him to forget this part of his life.

As we were out walking around we got a text from Ksenia that she and our driver, Sergei were taking the Inspector back to her office and they would return later. We were happy to have the extra time with our Sergei. He showed us the photos that we had sent to him of our family. He was happy to have this connection with us. I played the video that TJ and Bekka had made of a greeting for him. He laughed to hear their message. He also was glad to see photos of Frodo and Sam. It was a pleasant afternoon. We watched him join his PE class for some running and stretching, jumping and racing. He came back all sweaty and dirty, but very happy. Soon after the PE ended, Ksenia and Sergei were back and we had to say good-bye and get into town to notarize the paperwork that would give us the chance to ask for a second referral to adopt Yarik. We gave hugs and promised to be back the next afternoon with his birthday present and a phone that he could use to keep in contact when we were apart.

The ride back did not seem nearly as long as it had in the morning. We got back to town and Ksenia went to the notary and sent us for some lunch. Before we even got our main course, she was back and the documents were ready to be signed. We hurriedly ate our meals and went back to the notary with Ksenia. We each signed about 4 documents and copies of the originals and then signed another ledger book. Then we were done and we had some time to exchange money and go to the grocery store. We got food for breakfast and a big bottle of water. We wanted to get the sim card for the phone we had for Sergei, but the area to buy the card was blocked, so we planned to do it in the morning. In the meantime, another adoptive Mom who had been here for some time called and asked if we could meet her somewhere in town to get to know each other. So we had Sergei take us back to the apartment to drop off our groceries and back packs and then had him take us back to the restaurant to meet Tonya.

Tonya and her sister-in-law were waiting for us there. We had been facebook friends, but now we got to meet in person. We were both adopting from the same orphanage. She had already had her court date with her husband and now he was back home and she was waiting out the 10 days. They were ready for some American companionship. We sat outside in a lovely flower covered gazebo and had tea, cold coffee and soda. It was nice to sit and chat and hear each others' stories. She had been so thankful to Yarik for his kind willingness to fetch their son when they called to the orphanage on Yarik's phone. Tonya was anxious to meet him. We told her that Yarik should be with us on Friday night if Ksenia could make the arrangements for him to come and stay with us for the weekend. Then we could all spend some time together before we both had to go to Kiev on different days. The girls wanted to get back to their hotel before dark, so they left and Darren and I took our time, using the nice bathroom at the restaurant instead of the squatty potties that we discovered were our only option at our cheap hotel. So glad that there was another hotel lined up for tomorrow! We had a leisurely walk back toward our hotel when we heard some lovely music from a side street. There was a group of ladies singing on the sidewalk with microphones and a small crowd had gathered to watch. We found a spot on the far side of the street to take in some Ukrainian culture. After the women finished, a young man stood up with his accordion. He played a peppy song that I think would have made TJ interested in learning to play the accordion. After him was another couple on a guitar and violin. We are not sure what the occasion was, but it was a nice diversion on our way home. We walked the rest of the way through the center of town and on to our apartment way...way...down the street. The weather has been beautiful all day and we could not have asked for any better to enjoy being outside nearly the whole day.

Now we are making the best of our hotel room and ready to call it a night. Looking forward to seeing Sergei and celebrating his 15^th birthday. I hope Sergei our driver knows where we can get some kind of birthday cake!

Day 3 in Ukraine - Picking up Paperwork - Tues Sept 20

Darren on the train

So today we started out slow, not needing to be anywhere in particular until noon. We had to clean up the apartment, pack our bags and be ready for pick-up/check out at noon. We took our time getting awake and ready for the day. Once we were all packed we called the Yoders and planned to meet them for some sightseeing.

We arrived at their place around 10:40 and walked to the Cathedral near their apartment. Since Darren's soccer injured leg was bothering him, he stayed back with Myron and Abbey and I walked back to our apartment to be ready for pick up. We waited and chatted. Around 12:40 Nastia and the guys arrived to load the rest of the luggage.

After that, we walked to the Saint Sofia cathedral and toured the grounds. We had to walk back to the SDA to meet Nastia to pick up our paperwork by 3pm. So from 1-2pm we were at the cathedral and then we decided to go to the pizza place by the SDA for a quick lunch.

A little after 3, Nastia arrived and the paperwork was not quite ready. We waited on pins and needles as Darren and I had to make the train by 4:20pm. Finally, someone called us in to sign for the paperwork. We scribbled our signatures and dashed out the door. We had a completely crazy ride through Kiev as Alexey drove like we were in some spy movie trying to escape from bad guys. I prayed all the way that we would be safe and that no one would unexpectedly pull out in front of him as we careened at high speeds down narrow alleyways lined with cars.

Yes, we made it to the train station with about 10 minutes to spare. Which meant that Alexey could help us with our bags to find the right train compartment and let us know what to expect as we made the 5 hour journey on our own to Sumy where we would be closer to meeting our boys.

Once on the train we got comfortable and settled in for the journey. During one stop it was quiet enough to telephone Yarik. He was so excited when he heard Darren say that we were in Ukraine. And not only that, we were on the train from Kiev to Sumy. But Darren could hear the disappointment in his voice when we said that we may not be able to see him until the weekend. We told him we were going to see Sergei first and because the train did not get to Sumy until after 9:30pm, there was no way to see him that night either.

It must have been torture to this sweet boy who has waited 16 and a half years for a family of his own to hear that his Mom and Dad were so close to him and yet still days away. We both felt so awful, but there was nothing we could do. The conversation was cut short as a teacher called and told him to go take a shower.

Although I hoped to avoid it, before we got off the train, I did have to use the toilet. We had been warned, but it was still a bit of a surprise to experience it. The small bathroom had a toilet with a seat , but there was no way I would sit on it. So I hovered above it as the train pulled and swayed. Not easy to aim as your body goes one way and the toilet another. Somehow I was successful in not making a mess. Next – the flush – I had heard that it just opens to the tracks to dump – and yes, it was true. As I held the lever down to flush, I could see the tracks flashing by. I was not sure how to get the water to come out of the faucet, so I opted for hand sanitizer I had stored in my backpack. Certainly another experience that I will long remember.

We pulled into the train station right on time at 9:35pm. As we were hauling our bags out the door we saw Ksenia enter the train car. She had stayed with us a week last summer during hosting, so we knew who she was right away. She bundled us off to a waiting taxi to get us checked into the hotel. We had until 6:30am to get some sleep and be ready to go to see Sergei.

Of course, I could not sleep as the excitement of the next day was building. I had started a novel on the train while Darren slept and as I could not sleep, reading helped to transport me away enough to fall asleep...at least a short, fitful sleep.

Day 2 - SDA Appt -Mon Sept 19

So, happy to report that we had another smooth day. After blogging last night, I did get some very good sleep. I slept soundly until the alarm went off at 7am. Nastia was to pick us up at 8:40am to go to the SDA. The Yoder's appointment was at 9, so we all went together hoping Darren and I could get in early. We are staying very close to the SDA building, so we got there before the door was open. A few minutes before 9am we walked in a waited a bit for Nastia to take the Yoders to their appointment. Darren and I waited in a little waiting area. We prayed and talked. It did not take them long. Unfortunately, they would not be ready for us until 10am, so as Nastia went to make copies, we and the Yoders went for a scenic walk. Darren was concerned with being late to get back, so we walked back to the building, but still waited a bit for Nastia to take us to our appointment.
At our turn, we went into a little room with Nastia and our Ukrainian counselor (?not sure what their title is). She had Sergei's file all ready for us. We had not turned the paperwork in to show that we were approved the age range up to 18, so we could not do Yarik first because of this and also we found out that he is still not off the registry. He will officially be off on Wednesday! So had we come earlier in September as I had hoped, we would have been too early and had to be in country much longer, or go home and come back...why oh why do I not trust the Lord instead of whining and complaining when things do not go as I plan them!?!
She gave us a few basic facts about Sergei's history. And I mean basic: date of entering care, height and weight at the time he came into care, and then again in 2009. A few facts about his parents and family and that was it. His medical records were almost a joke, but there was a good chart with his vaccinations listed. So really we know almost nothing more than we did during hosting. But we do know that we love him no matter what they would have told us and are so excited to begin to document a history for him as a member of our family.
After our appointment Nastia had some additional paperwork to do, so she promised she would finish up, then call us and meet us to take us to a grocery store for some food. Since we were not far from our apartment, and it was a beautiful day, we opted to walk back. We strolled a bit, checked out the open air market, checked out some sights and went back to our apartment to wait. The Yoders hang out with us for a while and then we got hungry. We called Nastia, but she was still detained, so we decided to try to find a snack closer to the Yoder's apartment. We walked along and Abbey and I got some meat filled pastries, Darren got pizza and Myron was not that hungry. Then we went up to their apartment to wait some more.
We got some calls into family back home while we waited and then were about to call Nastia back when she rang us. She was ready to pick us up, so we went down to the street to meet her. Abbey and I took her back up to their apartment to have her explain to Abbey how to run the washing machine. Ours had English, but theirs was all in Russian.
We discussed some plans for the next couple days and then drove over to the grocery store. We got some food for breakfast, water and snacks. Then Nastia took us back to the Yoders and we left our stuff in their fridge and went out to try to find something for dinner. There was a restaurant that we had read was recommended by other American families. So we tried to figure out where it was. We actually found it pretty easily. It was a very lovely restaurant that was full of traditional Ukrainian decoration and the staff wore traditional Ukrainian costumes. We had very good service, but it was much more expensive the the place from last night. Especially poor Myron who was trying to order something, but they did not have it, so the waitress suggested something else and he agreed, not quite sure what he was agreeing to. All of our food was very good. However, when the bill came, the Yoder's bill was twice as much as ours. He ended up with a steak that was charged per 100 grams. It was 300 grams, so the price of 108 listed ended up being 324 grivna, or about $40...oops...he did enjoy it, but will be more careful in the future.
After dinner, we walked back to the Yoders to get our groceries. Abbey used Darren's phone to make a free call to her kids and we watched a little soccer. As we are all still a bit unused to the time difference, we were all tired and Darren and I came back to our apartment to get ready for bed. Darren found our girls online and we did the Facebook video chat with them. We were able to give them the "tour" of our apartment. They are doing great back home and have had fun with their friends. They were getting ready to go to a different place tonight after their schoolwork was done and soccer was over.
So now I am back at the apartment writing down the notes from today and trying to keep my eyelids open.
I do have to detail one incident from last night. I was not going to mention it as we know that many people worry about us, but Darren posted it, so I guess it is out there any way. As we were walking back to our apartment last night, we were passed by a guy in a rush. He dropped something on the ground right in front of us and did not realize he had dropped anything. Darren got his attention and I picked up the packet he had dropped. When I looked at it, it was a wad of cash! He was very grateful that we returned it to him, but then he realized he was missing a second packet of money. He asked us if we had seen anything else, but we had only seen him drop one packet. He was very upset and was hoping we might know something. As we were talking to him, a Ukrainian policeman walked up to us. He was worried that there was a problem. However, the first gentleman tried to explain the situation and he did not incriminate us, but told him that we had been helpful to him. We aren't sure where the first man was from but it was not Ukraine. Fortunately, he knew a good deal of English. The policeman was satisfied that he did not need to take any of us to the police station and left us go on our way. We wished we could help him find his money, but there was nothing we could do, but pray for him when we got home. As we were approached by the policeman I was thinking, oh great, is this some sort of scam where they try to accuse us of stealing their money and take advantage of us!?! But no, we were not punished for doing a good deed. God kept us safe and we now just have an interesting story to tell.
Good night from Kiev! Tomorrow it is the train to Sumy.

Crazy Departure - Safe Arrival

Here I am sitting in our apartment. I want to document all that has happened in the last 24 hours so that I can remember! I am sure that in time it will all be a happy blur.
We started yesterday with craziness. I have not blogged anything for weeks, because trying to make sure that all of our responsibilities would be covered while we are away is a job in itself. Maybe I should start off with Friday afternoon, because that is when things started to get complicated. We had been able to withdrawal the required cash, but found many of the bills were in bad shape, we choose out the worst ones and went to a casino to try to trade them in. A friend had suggested that we do that in case we did not have enough "nice" ones. We were able to trade in $2000 each. Not as much as we would have liked, but we had to make it due. We were able to change some additional money with someone else, who had it available...(side note...if any adoptive parents are getting their cash to come over do it months in advance a little at a time if you do not have good bank contacts. Then you can keep the best bills and trade back the rest.) So we are hopeful that what we do have that seemed okay to us will not be rejected by anyone here.
The second frustration on Friday was trying to activate our international calling feature on our phones. When I took my sim card out to get the number off the back and tried to power my phone on again I got the bootloader error again! I had already called tech support for the same problem previously and they sent a replacement phone that was worse than the bootloader error. So I used a google search and had found a way to reset my phone and get it working the other week. This time, however, the trick did not work. As I was on the phone with Verizon as it was happening, she immediately got me to tech support and I explained the situation and my dilemma. Surprisingly, the tech person was so helpful and ordered me an upgraded phone to be delivered by Fed Ex with a guaranteed delivery by 10:30. So with much anxiety, I got as much done as I could Friday night to be ready for our noon departure. My parents arrived that evening and helped to get some last minute things done for us. I got my suitcases all packed and weighed in. One was 50.2 lbs and one was 48.6 lbs. I was hoping it was close enough to the 50 lb weight limit.
Saturday morning was extra crazy, because the kids had their soccer pictures scheduled before their 10am game. So we had to be at the soccer field early, then TJ and Bekka both had their games at 10. I watched a little of TJ's game, then over to Bekka's game and back to TJ's. When I came back to see Bekka, she was already done and so we caught the end of TJ's game.
In the meantime, my dear friend Claire, had agreed to stay at our house to wait to sign for the phone packages. So at half time she called to let me know that my phone packages had arrived! Yeah, God!! One worry lifted.
Next, I rushed home to get the rejected cash, took it to the atm to deposit so the checks I wrote to the friend who gave us the good cash would not bounce. Then turned around and rushed back home to load up the car. Also, while I was driving I had plugged in the new phone to charge up so that I could make sure that it was activated and working before we left for the airport. At home Darren loaded up the suitcases and I called to activate my international calling. This time it all went smoothly.
My parents were planning to take TJ to my sister's, so they were there to say good bye. We gave hugs and met our neighbor Tony who had agreed to drive our stick shift back from the airport. I hope he made it home okay with the car! We stopped in at Sam's club to pick up some protein bars for those days where there is no time to get food. While I ran in to the store, Darren finished taping address labels to the luggage. At the airport we stuffed protein bars to any space that we could find.
We got inside and had to check in at an electronic kiosk before they would let us get our boarding passes and luggage checked. Seemed like a waste of time to me, because it meant we stood in 2 lines instead of one...hmm...aren't there enough lines at the airport already? Well, we checked one suitcase each and then she asked to see our carry-ons...she wanted to weigh mine...uh oh...of course, it was over weigh, but they would check it for no extra charge. I had no where to go with the stuff inside to meet the weight requirement, so with a prayer we sent it off with the other luggage. I had a backpack as well, but put all my clothes in the one carry-on.
It was kind of nice to not have that extra weight to carry around, so I just trusted it would all work out.
We had arrived early enough to get some food before our flight. So we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway and then went through security. Other than forgetting to take my cell phone out of my pocket, security was not too bad this time. No pat downs or those crazy body image machines. We had a little time to wait and then we were boarding. Kind of odd, but they said that our flight time was too short and we would have to taxi to the run way and kill some time, because the airport in Dusseldorf would not let us land before 6am. Not sure why we could not have boarded later and waited in the airport, but maybe they wanted to get us to the run way so we did not lose our place in line.
Well, we got to sit in the bulkhead which gave us lots of leg room. But we were beside a little one who was not too keen on sleeping most of the night. So I did not get any real sleep, although I had taken a Benedryl to try to induce it! The flight was good and we arrived a few minutes after 6 am. As we only had to go up one flight of stairs we did not have to go through passport control at our first stop. However, we were not going to be boarding until 10:50 am...almost 5 hours later. Although it was uncomfortable, I did manage to fall asleep a few times during the wait.
This time we had to squeeze into a bus to get to our smaller aircraft. But the flight was not full, so even though Darren and I were not assigned to sit together, his row was empty, so I got to stay with him. Another smooth flight that brought us into Kiev.
We knew that our friends were arriving within an hour of us, so we were in no hurry to get through the very long passport control line. We were pretty much the last ones through of hundreds of people. I think it took over half an hour to get our stamp of approval to enter the country. While we were waiting, Darren was able to find wifi and use the "Sipdroid" application to make free calls to let our family know we had gotten here safely.
Next question: did all of our bags arrive with us??? We went over to the baggage area that was pretty empty so it was not hard to see the two large suitcases even from a distance. But my carry on was not in sight. I walked around to the back side of the conveyer belt and there it was laying on the floor! Yeah, thank you, God!!
We were not sure who would be picking us up, so we stacked our luggage, put it on the belt to be scanned, stacked it back on the cart and went through the arrival doors. I was looking for a sign with our name and nearly ran right into Alexey, our adoption facilitator's husband who was our driver when we went on the NHFC interview trip in February. It was so nice to see a familiar face. It was nice also that he felt confident that he would recognize us and did not need the sign.
We loaded our baggage into the car and went back to wait for the Yoders to come through. Their flight had landed and their lines were much shorter for the passport control. Within half an hour they came through and we recognized them right away and introduced Alexey. We got a little bit of money changed and loaded their luggage and were off to our apartments.
We took Abbey and Myron to their apartment first and then Alexey took us to our apartment. We both have wifi and are only a few blocks around the corner from each other. We got our stuff settled in, Darren posted on Facebook, and then we went to meet the Yoders for dinner. Alexey had given us a suggestion of a good inexpensive restaurant right by our apartment, so we ordered there and had some very tasty Ukrainian food. The restaurant was called Drova and had menus with English subtitles. (For other families coming to Kiev, it was just up the hill from the Opera house.)
After dinner we attempted to find a grocery store, but could not locate one that had yogurt and breakfast foods. We did get some laundry detergent as that was one of the things I was supposed to get on Saturday and missed. We also stopped at a little kiosk and got some bottled water. Then back to our apartment to blog and try to sleep.
So Spakoni Noche from Kiev! And God Bless!