Hi Everyone! HAPPY LABOR DAY! Today we have been home for 8 weeks with our 3 children! Well, Summer is officially over but here in Florida, we have many more months of hot weather, so we will still be going to the beach & the pool with the kids for quite a while. Our 3 children are adjusting very well to their new home with us here, & we are so happy how things are progressing...so many people who have met them comment on how "HAPPY" they are, & it's true--they are great kids who are very happy, they seem to love their home, their room, their pets, their activities...they love to help Mama & Papa, & we love them! We thank God we made the trip to Ukraine & that He led us to these 3 beautiful souls.
The days have just flown by--Each day is new & different as seen through the eyes of a 4 year old, 5 year old & 7 year old! It gets very busy as soon as they wake up until it's time for bed, & then we're exhausted, so we have been severely lacking in writing here or keeping up on our normal communications with friends & loved ones. We apologize again & again for not keeping this up, have great intentions of writing regularly, yet "POOF"! A month has passed--now it's been 2 months...
After much serious thought & research, we made the decision to Home School the children until we feel they have a better grasp of the English language before entering them into the school system, as they really didn't have any official schooling in Ukraine, especially our 7 year old son, so we really want to help him to build up his English comprehension so that he can understand the teachers better...the other 2 should also find it easier to cope in the long run this way as well. We've had a nice gal who speaks Russian visit us a couple of times a week to translate what we want to communicate & teach them, & then they will be getting additional tutoring 2x a week starting in the next couple of weeks, so since we've already been working hard helping them to learn the alphabet, their address & phone #, how to write their names, to count & ultimately to read, we'll take this track for now. They are speaking very well, each at their own pace, & in 8 short weeks it's amazing how much they understand considering they only spoke Russian when they arrived!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MICHAEL, STEPHANIE & ALEX...
MAMA & PAPA LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Home a MONTH!
We are SURE all of you have given up on us writing on our blog by now...Please accept our apologies as we really didn't fall off the face of the Earth when we touched down in Tampa,FL (although we ARE in Hurricane season now.)!
We have so MUCH to say, & yet with 3 kids, we have so LITTLE time (Surprise-surprise!) to write...We will try to write about our adoption experience from where we left off & catch you up to present time, it's easier for everyone to follow, & this way we can make sure WE don't forget those special times as well!
Let's just quickly say tonight that all 3 kids are fine, they are adjusting nicely to their new lives in America & to their new home, family & (HOT) surroundings. We have also adjusted nicely to having an instant family of 5! We WILL say that the "Honeymoon period" is officially over, & that we are all learning to live together despite language differences & each of our own personal life experiences...
So there will be more to come very soon as things start? to settle down and we can actually get to the computer to write without a (feels like) thousand interruptions--blessed as they may be, they STILL are interruptions! Oh well, it's been a very interesting month, much more good than bad, & we'll fill you in shortly--WE PROMISE!!! Also, we have many pictures to add as well! As Stephanie says when she's on the phone with her Grandma when she's done: "So, Bye Bye!"
Love,
Laura & Ed
We have so MUCH to say, & yet with 3 kids, we have so LITTLE time (Surprise-surprise!) to write...We will try to write about our adoption experience from where we left off & catch you up to present time, it's easier for everyone to follow, & this way we can make sure WE don't forget those special times as well!
Let's just quickly say tonight that all 3 kids are fine, they are adjusting nicely to their new lives in America & to their new home, family & (HOT) surroundings. We have also adjusted nicely to having an instant family of 5! We WILL say that the "Honeymoon period" is officially over, & that we are all learning to live together despite language differences & each of our own personal life experiences...
So there will be more to come very soon as things start? to settle down and we can actually get to the computer to write without a (feels like) thousand interruptions--blessed as they may be, they STILL are interruptions! Oh well, it's been a very interesting month, much more good than bad, & we'll fill you in shortly--WE PROMISE!!! Also, we have many pictures to add as well! As Stephanie says when she's on the phone with her Grandma when she's done: "So, Bye Bye!"
Love,
Laura & Ed
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! We made it home last night after a VERY LONG DAY & being up for over 24 hours! We'll write more tomorrow, but we are all doing well & we are trying to catch up`on some much needed sleep. We have lot's of funny stories to tell you, so we'll write soon now that we are home again. Thank you for your prayers & good wishes, they worked! ;-)
Love, Laura & Ed, Michael, Stephanie & Alex
Love, Laura & Ed, Michael, Stephanie & Alex
Monday, July 2, 2007
OUR LAST DAYS IN UKRAINE
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Hi Everyone! Sorry we haven’t written more recently, but we’ve been VERY busy this past week being parents to 3 kids who speak about as much English as we speak Russian! We will write more once we’re back home to catch you all up on our last week in Ukraine, & to finally post pictures! We won’t forget, don’t worry! It’s 12:36AM now, we’re 99% done packing & our facilitator & landlord will be here in the morning at 6AM.
We have to be at the airport at 7:30 for our 9AM flight out of Kyiv on Ukraine International (That’s 2AM EST). So by the time most of you are up having your breakfast, we’ll have HOPEFULLY changed planes safely in London’s Gatwick Airport & will be already crossing the Atlantic Ocean on our last leg of the trip to Tampa, FL. It’s kind of a scary time to be flying British Airways, so we ask all of you to kindly say a prayer for our new little (?) family to arrive home safely. We should arrive in Tampa, FL by 5PM God willing, with Mom & Dad waiting to meet their 3 new grandchildren for the 1st time!!! Oh Happy Day! We love you all, & will write more very soon…Laura & Ed
Hi Everyone! Sorry we haven’t written more recently, but we’ve been VERY busy this past week being parents to 3 kids who speak about as much English as we speak Russian! We will write more once we’re back home to catch you all up on our last week in Ukraine, & to finally post pictures! We won’t forget, don’t worry! It’s 12:36AM now, we’re 99% done packing & our facilitator & landlord will be here in the morning at 6AM.
We have to be at the airport at 7:30 for our 9AM flight out of Kyiv on Ukraine International (That’s 2AM EST). So by the time most of you are up having your breakfast, we’ll have HOPEFULLY changed planes safely in London’s Gatwick Airport & will be already crossing the Atlantic Ocean on our last leg of the trip to Tampa, FL. It’s kind of a scary time to be flying British Airways, so we ask all of you to kindly say a prayer for our new little (?) family to arrive home safely. We should arrive in Tampa, FL by 5PM God willing, with Mom & Dad waiting to meet their 3 new grandchildren for the 1st time!!! Oh Happy Day! We love you all, & will write more very soon…Laura & Ed
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
SATURDAY JUNE 23, 2007
WE ARE THE PROUD PARENTS OF THREE DARLING CHILDREN J
We picked up Alex (age 4) at the orphanage in Donetsk at about 9:30 am. He was in the hallway waiting to go play with his “Groupa” when we walked into the main entrance, & bursting through the crowd, he ran up to Laura and gave her a big hug as if to say “Yay! You’re here-Let’s go!”
It took us about an hour to finish all the orphanage paperwork, get him changed into his new clothing that we had brought along, donate other clothing, give our “gift” to the orphanage and then we were off to lunch at, where else but McDonald’s (They have standardized clean bathrooms there)! There, we found out that he didn’t like his Chicken McNuggets and only used the French fries as a tool to scoop up the the sweet sauce that came with the McNuggets. Then we were off on the hour & ½ trip to Kramatorsk to pick up Michael (age 7) and Stephanie (age 5).

When we arrived at the orphanage in Kramatorsk, we went through the same routine, but this time it was a lot shorter process, and they brought Michael & Stephanie in to us and their younger brother. There were great big smiles & hugs from both of them, although none of them seemed to remember each other. In fact we think Alex was a little afraid that we were going to leave him there & take the other 2! They are all blood related siblings, but were separated over a year & ½ ago. We had them change into their new outfits as well, and then we were off to Donetsk again. Picture a small Chevy compact with our driver & facilitator up front, and 5 of us in the small back seat! Let‘s just say it was interesting for an hour & ½--but really, it didn‘t seem that long because we were all so excited, and we did get to stop on the side of the highway twice for 2 little boys who had to go to the bathroom (little did we know, that was only the very beginning of hitting every bathroom, everywhere we go!), so the trip did go by fast! Did I mention that when you bring kids into McDonalds they give them a balloon on a stick? That was with us in the back seat as well, & it did eventually pop & give all of us a heart attack in the car, so we had entertainment too! Then we went back to the apartment we had rented there to pick up our luggage before going to the airport & wait the two hours for our plane from Donetsk to Kiev to take off. It was great getting acquainted with all of them again and we had fun watching them all playing & yes, running in the airline terminal. One thing we must mention here: We had one of the kindest, patient drivers we could have ever hoped for in Donetsk. He took care of us from our first trip down to Donetsk, waited with us during the long paperwork chase, helped us with our (much too heavy) luggage & groceries, he even took us to a great supermarket & helped us pick out good food/brands to buy that we needed since everything was in Cyrillic! He really became a friend to us rather than just a driver, & we had lot’s of laughs with him. When we were leaving Donetsk, we were so touched & surprised that his lovely wife & handsome son met us at the airport to meet the kids, wish us well & even gave us 2 lovely gifts! We will write to our dear friends there to let them know how we are doing, & send them pictures!

At 6 pm we were on the plane and the kids got their first ride in an airplane. Michael was glued to the window for most of the trip, Stephanie would watch everything and Alex fell asleep ( very over tired) . When they served the snack onboard (small roll, butter, sausage, cheese, ham & olives with a cookie and a small juice container), they ate it all and Michael was going to save his to eat later (the hoarding syndrome that we had heard about). Our facilitator told him that he had to eat it now and that he couldn’t take it off the plane, so then he understood & really was hungry--he wolfed it down happily..

We landed and were met by two drivers to take us (& all our luggage) to our new apartment in Kyiv and get some groceries. The apartment was old and only had a small bed for the kids. We told our facilitator to get us another apartment for tomorrow (Sunday).
Sunday June 24
We moved to a beautiful apartment about a block away. All of the kids had a melt down when Ed went to get the other bags. They thought we were leaving them there. We then settled down into the new apartment. After a little nap we took them to the playground up the street where they burnt off some excess energy.

At about 5 pm we decided to take a walk down to Independence Square for dinner and exchange money. We tried McDonald’s again and all three enjoyed their cheese burger happy meals. Since Alex didn’t want his French fries the other two fed them to the pigeons. 3 more balloons were given to the kids at McDonald’s! Fun-Fun!

Monday June 25
Today was spent getting the kids medical exams for the US Embassy. This took us almost 3 hours. Then it was off to British Airlines to find out that there were no early flights out of Ukraine till July 3rd (which were our original tickets). They put us on standby for July 3rd . The only other tickets were to Heatrow and then a bus to Gatwick and stay overnight till the morning of the 3rd and fly out. The hotel was about 500 British pounds a night (approx $600 USD). No way with three kids and 4 suitcases!!! Our appointment for the Embassy is at 11 am on Tuesday.
Tuesday June 26
British Airways called and said that they got us on the direct flight to Gatwick, England then directly on to Florida and HOME!!!!
The Embassy was another lesson in “hurry up and wait“. We filled out the I-600 forms and went over all the paperwork with the people there. After waiting another hour (almost 4 hours total) they said the Visa’s will be ready at 4PM. So off we went to McDonald’s for another quick meal (and another 3 balloons) and then back to the Embassy. Guess what? They were not ready and they said maybe they’ll be ready in an hour “or so…” or they would have them ready for us by 9:30 the next morning. After waiting with 3 kids for ½ a day, fighting traffic to give them lunch at 4PM & then fighting traffic to get back to the Embassy by 4, we were not pleased to hear this!!! Then, because we didn’t have the kids passports (The Embassy still had them), we couldn’t go to British Airways to get the kids tickets.
By the way: Thursday and Friday are holiday’s in Ukraine for Constitution Day. So all banks, Gov’t. offices & of course, the US Embassy are closed. So we MUST get the visa’s and tickets in the morning.
Wednesday June 27
We were up nice and early to get to the Embassy by 10 am. Once we were there it was another 20 minute wait till all the paperwork & visa’s were finished and handed over to us with instructions about handing the sealed envelopes over to Customs once we land in Florida. From there we went to the British Airways office and got the three additional tickets for our flight home. They were great at British Airways and very helpful including putting in for kids meals on the flight out of Ukraine and to Florida. Very nice people to work with! Then we went back to the apartment, ate lunch and the kids took a nap (which they are used to but have been missing these past couple days). We then walked to the playground to wear them out againJ
Actually, we were all worn out after these last couple of days and got a good night’s sleep.

WE ARE THE PROUD PARENTS OF THREE DARLING CHILDREN J
We picked up Alex (age 4) at the orphanage in Donetsk at about 9:30 am. He was in the hallway waiting to go play with his “Groupa” when we walked into the main entrance, & bursting through the crowd, he ran up to Laura and gave her a big hug as if to say “Yay! You’re here-Let’s go!”
It took us about an hour to finish all the orphanage paperwork, get him changed into his new clothing that we had brought along, donate other clothing, give our “gift” to the orphanage and then we were off to lunch at, where else but McDonald’s (They have standardized clean bathrooms there)! There, we found out that he didn’t like his Chicken McNuggets and only used the French fries as a tool to scoop up the the sweet sauce that came with the McNuggets. Then we were off on the hour & ½ trip to Kramatorsk to pick up Michael (age 7) and Stephanie (age 5).

When we arrived at the orphanage in Kramatorsk, we went through the same routine, but this time it was a lot shorter process, and they brought Michael & Stephanie in to us and their younger brother. There were great big smiles & hugs from both of them, although none of them seemed to remember each other. In fact we think Alex was a little afraid that we were going to leave him there & take the other 2! They are all blood related siblings, but were separated over a year & ½ ago. We had them change into their new outfits as well, and then we were off to Donetsk again. Picture a small Chevy compact with our driver & facilitator up front, and 5 of us in the small back seat! Let‘s just say it was interesting for an hour & ½--but really, it didn‘t seem that long because we were all so excited, and we did get to stop on the side of the highway twice for 2 little boys who had to go to the bathroom (little did we know, that was only the very beginning of hitting every bathroom, everywhere we go!), so the trip did go by fast! Did I mention that when you bring kids into McDonalds they give them a balloon on a stick? That was with us in the back seat as well, & it did eventually pop & give all of us a heart attack in the car, so we had entertainment too! Then we went back to the apartment we had rented there to pick up our luggage before going to the airport & wait the two hours for our plane from Donetsk to Kiev to take off. It was great getting acquainted with all of them again and we had fun watching them all playing & yes, running in the airline terminal. One thing we must mention here: We had one of the kindest, patient drivers we could have ever hoped for in Donetsk. He took care of us from our first trip down to Donetsk, waited with us during the long paperwork chase, helped us with our (much too heavy) luggage & groceries, he even took us to a great supermarket & helped us pick out good food/brands to buy that we needed since everything was in Cyrillic! He really became a friend to us rather than just a driver, & we had lot’s of laughs with him. When we were leaving Donetsk, we were so touched & surprised that his lovely wife & handsome son met us at the airport to meet the kids, wish us well & even gave us 2 lovely gifts! We will write to our dear friends there to let them know how we are doing, & send them pictures!

At 6 pm we were on the plane and the kids got their first ride in an airplane. Michael was glued to the window for most of the trip, Stephanie would watch everything and Alex fell asleep ( very over tired) . When they served the snack onboard (small roll, butter, sausage, cheese, ham & olives with a cookie and a small juice container), they ate it all and Michael was going to save his to eat later (the hoarding syndrome that we had heard about). Our facilitator told him that he had to eat it now and that he couldn’t take it off the plane, so then he understood & really was hungry--he wolfed it down happily..

We landed and were met by two drivers to take us (& all our luggage) to our new apartment in Kyiv and get some groceries. The apartment was old and only had a small bed for the kids. We told our facilitator to get us another apartment for tomorrow (Sunday).
Sunday June 24
We moved to a beautiful apartment about a block away. All of the kids had a melt down when Ed went to get the other bags. They thought we were leaving them there. We then settled down into the new apartment. After a little nap we took them to the playground up the street where they burnt off some excess energy.

At about 5 pm we decided to take a walk down to Independence Square for dinner and exchange money. We tried McDonald’s again and all three enjoyed their cheese burger happy meals. Since Alex didn’t want his French fries the other two fed them to the pigeons. 3 more balloons were given to the kids at McDonald’s! Fun-Fun!

Monday June 25
Today was spent getting the kids medical exams for the US Embassy. This took us almost 3 hours. Then it was off to British Airlines to find out that there were no early flights out of Ukraine till July 3rd (which were our original tickets). They put us on standby for July 3rd . The only other tickets were to Heatrow and then a bus to Gatwick and stay overnight till the morning of the 3rd and fly out. The hotel was about 500 British pounds a night (approx $600 USD). No way with three kids and 4 suitcases!!! Our appointment for the Embassy is at 11 am on Tuesday.
Tuesday June 26
British Airways called and said that they got us on the direct flight to Gatwick, England then directly on to Florida and HOME!!!!
The Embassy was another lesson in “hurry up and wait“. We filled out the I-600 forms and went over all the paperwork with the people there. After waiting another hour (almost 4 hours total) they said the Visa’s will be ready at 4PM. So off we went to McDonald’s for another quick meal (and another 3 balloons) and then back to the Embassy. Guess what? They were not ready and they said maybe they’ll be ready in an hour “or so…” or they would have them ready for us by 9:30 the next morning. After waiting with 3 kids for ½ a day, fighting traffic to give them lunch at 4PM & then fighting traffic to get back to the Embassy by 4, we were not pleased to hear this!!! Then, because we didn’t have the kids passports (The Embassy still had them), we couldn’t go to British Airways to get the kids tickets.
By the way: Thursday and Friday are holiday’s in Ukraine for Constitution Day. So all banks, Gov’t. offices & of course, the US Embassy are closed. So we MUST get the visa’s and tickets in the morning.
Wednesday June 27
We were up nice and early to get to the Embassy by 10 am. Once we were there it was another 20 minute wait till all the paperwork & visa’s were finished and handed over to us with instructions about handing the sealed envelopes over to Customs once we land in Florida. From there we went to the British Airways office and got the three additional tickets for our flight home. They were great at British Airways and very helpful including putting in for kids meals on the flight out of Ukraine and to Florida. Very nice people to work with! Then we went back to the apartment, ate lunch and the kids took a nap (which they are used to but have been missing these past couple days). We then walked to the playground to wear them out againJ
Actually, we were all worn out after these last couple of days and got a good night’s sleep.

Friday, June 22, 2007
HURRAY!!!!!!
Hurray! Hurray! We got 3 birth certificates and 3 passports for our children Today!!!
Tomorrow, Saturday June 23rd will be our GOTCHA DAY when we will pick up Alex at 9AM & then drive to Kramastorsk to pick up Michael and Stephanie.
Thank you for your prayers because that was the only way we were able to get this all accomplished in one day!!!
We will write more and post photos when we get back to Kyiv for the final leg of our journey.
Love, Laura and Ed (for 1 more day!)
Tomorrow, Saturday June 23rd will be our GOTCHA DAY when we will pick up Alex at 9AM & then drive to Kramastorsk to pick up Michael and Stephanie.
Thank you for your prayers because that was the only way we were able to get this all accomplished in one day!!!
We will write more and post photos when we get back to Kyiv for the final leg of our journey.
Love, Laura and Ed (for 1 more day!)
It's Friday June 22
Just a quick note -
We are waiting for our facilitator to arive from Kiev to finish this part of the paperwork chase.
For those of you who have been here before is Gotcha Day the day you actually pick up the kids?
Thanks
Love Laura and Ed
We are waiting for our facilitator to arive from Kiev to finish this part of the paperwork chase.
For those of you who have been here before is Gotcha Day the day you actually pick up the kids?
Thanks
Love Laura and Ed
Wednesday June 20th
Hi all,
Monday was very hot in Kiev, we went to Metro (like a Sam’s Club) to buy some clothing for the kids. It was hard trying to go buy using our measurements and converting those numbers into centimeters and European clothing sizes (like shoe size 29) . Luckily we had our facilitator with us to help out. We had some success getting 2 outfits for each of them and 3 pairs of sneakers.
After a little rest we walked through Independence square and visited the vendors and ended up eating ribs at the Potato House (excellent ribs by the way).
On Tuesday we had our driver take us to try and find the British Airways office in Kiev to try and arrange for our trip home next week, but we had no luck and decided to go up by the SDA to visit the vendors there. After about two hours we ended with several small bags of goodies and a soccer outfit for Michael and Alex and a porcelain native doll for Stephanie. We did manage to bargain down the prices at a few of the standsJ
We then headed to the smaller regional airport to buy two tickets to Donetsk for Wednesday. We had decided that we would head back to Donestsk ahead of our facilitator so that we could see the kids a few more times before we picked them up on Friday. It was a good thing that we had our driver (who speaks good English) with us because the lady at the ticket counter spoke no English). It took awhile for the driver to explain that we understood that we cannot get a flight to Donetsk from this airport and that we only wanted to buy tickets for a flight.
Two tired people got back to the apartment for a rest and to repack and to look over our bargains. We had decided to go back to the region light (only three nights) and our facilitator kindly agreed to store our suitcases at her apartment. She also arranged for an apartment in Donetsk and for a driver to pick us up Wednesday at 3:10 when we arrive.
With all that done, we went out and visited the department store across the main street and decided to have McDonald’s for dinner. It was like a little bit of home & really tasted good for a change!
We arrived at Boryspol airport at about 11:30 am with our facilitator to check in and find British Airways. We were told that we could only check in one hour before the flight took off (1:55) so we headed out to find British Airways to no available. They have a new location in Kiev and we will try to contact them while in Donetsk. We checked in and went through security with no problems. We had to wait for the bus that takes you to the airplane in a tent attached to the airport building. There we met the other American couple (who we met at the Elton John concert in Kiev) who were going to Kramatorsk for their referral. And, they were in the same row as us on the plane--fate brought us together again! Once on board and waiting to take off we waited for almost 50 minutes (with no announcements) before we started to taxi to the runway. All we could figure was that the pilot decided to wait out the passing storm that we had.
We landed in Donetsk at 3:50 pm to late to see Alex. So we headed for the supermarket and our apartment. This was a VERY OLD apartment. Laura will describe the apartment accommodations we’ve had in the future (so far, we’ve been in 6 different ones since we arrived). We contacted our facilitator to have us moved to another apartment the next day.
We visited Alex on a rainy Thursday morning from 9:30 to 11 am. There was an Italian couple visiting their little boy in the playroom with us. Alex gave us a hug (after instructions from the teacher) and we settled down to play. The time went by too fast.
We then headed out for lunch at a place that was recommended and the food was good once they brought the correct order but the service was very slow. After that we headed for our new apartment (which was our apartment the last time we stayed in Donetsk). Then headed back to see Alex. The playroom was very hot so we asked to go outside with him which we did. Alex seems to like playing outside a lot. He especially likes blowing bubbles and chasing after them. We left at 4:30 and got ready for our “Gotcha Day” on Friday, when the verdict paperwork from the court will be ready-so 6hat‘s really day 11 of waiting.
Friday, we will have a lot of paperwork to get ( 3 birth certificates in Donetsk and their passports), and a lot of hurry up & waiting. Not sure if we’ll get Alex Fri. or wait till Saturday when we drive to Kramatorsk to pick up Michael & Stephanie. We will write more on Saturday or Sunday & also hope to be able to post some pictures.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Ed & Laura
Hi all,
Monday was very hot in Kiev, we went to Metro (like a Sam’s Club) to buy some clothing for the kids. It was hard trying to go buy using our measurements and converting those numbers into centimeters and European clothing sizes (like shoe size 29) . Luckily we had our facilitator with us to help out. We had some success getting 2 outfits for each of them and 3 pairs of sneakers.
After a little rest we walked through Independence square and visited the vendors and ended up eating ribs at the Potato House (excellent ribs by the way).
On Tuesday we had our driver take us to try and find the British Airways office in Kiev to try and arrange for our trip home next week, but we had no luck and decided to go up by the SDA to visit the vendors there. After about two hours we ended with several small bags of goodies and a soccer outfit for Michael and Alex and a porcelain native doll for Stephanie. We did manage to bargain down the prices at a few of the standsJ
We then headed to the smaller regional airport to buy two tickets to Donetsk for Wednesday. We had decided that we would head back to Donestsk ahead of our facilitator so that we could see the kids a few more times before we picked them up on Friday. It was a good thing that we had our driver (who speaks good English) with us because the lady at the ticket counter spoke no English). It took awhile for the driver to explain that we understood that we cannot get a flight to Donetsk from this airport and that we only wanted to buy tickets for a flight.
Two tired people got back to the apartment for a rest and to repack and to look over our bargains. We had decided to go back to the region light (only three nights) and our facilitator kindly agreed to store our suitcases at her apartment. She also arranged for an apartment in Donetsk and for a driver to pick us up Wednesday at 3:10 when we arrive.
With all that done, we went out and visited the department store across the main street and decided to have McDonald’s for dinner. It was like a little bit of home & really tasted good for a change!
We arrived at Boryspol airport at about 11:30 am with our facilitator to check in and find British Airways. We were told that we could only check in one hour before the flight took off (1:55) so we headed out to find British Airways to no available. They have a new location in Kiev and we will try to contact them while in Donetsk. We checked in and went through security with no problems. We had to wait for the bus that takes you to the airplane in a tent attached to the airport building. There we met the other American couple (who we met at the Elton John concert in Kiev) who were going to Kramatorsk for their referral. And, they were in the same row as us on the plane--fate brought us together again! Once on board and waiting to take off we waited for almost 50 minutes (with no announcements) before we started to taxi to the runway. All we could figure was that the pilot decided to wait out the passing storm that we had.
We landed in Donetsk at 3:50 pm to late to see Alex. So we headed for the supermarket and our apartment. This was a VERY OLD apartment. Laura will describe the apartment accommodations we’ve had in the future (so far, we’ve been in 6 different ones since we arrived). We contacted our facilitator to have us moved to another apartment the next day.
We visited Alex on a rainy Thursday morning from 9:30 to 11 am. There was an Italian couple visiting their little boy in the playroom with us. Alex gave us a hug (after instructions from the teacher) and we settled down to play. The time went by too fast.
We then headed out for lunch at a place that was recommended and the food was good once they brought the correct order but the service was very slow. After that we headed for our new apartment (which was our apartment the last time we stayed in Donetsk). Then headed back to see Alex. The playroom was very hot so we asked to go outside with him which we did. Alex seems to like playing outside a lot. He especially likes blowing bubbles and chasing after them. We left at 4:30 and got ready for our “Gotcha Day” on Friday, when the verdict paperwork from the court will be ready-so 6hat‘s really day 11 of waiting.
Friday, we will have a lot of paperwork to get ( 3 birth certificates in Donetsk and their passports), and a lot of hurry up & waiting. Not sure if we’ll get Alex Fri. or wait till Saturday when we drive to Kramatorsk to pick up Michael & Stephanie. We will write more on Saturday or Sunday & also hope to be able to post some pictures.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Ed & Laura
Sunday, June 17, 2007
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !
June 17, 2007 FATHER’S DAY!
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! We are wishing all of you Father’s out there a wonderful day! We took it easy today, it was raining & thundering, so we just “lazed” around here in the apartment, & around 6pm, we took about a 20 minute walk to TGI Fridays for a Father’s Day dinner for Ed! We are still in Kyiv, the kids are in Donetsk & Kramatorsk, & they don’t celebrate Father’s Day here in Ukraine, so it seemed a little strange without any celebrations going on--but, we did talk to Dad & Uncle John tonight, & we feel better now!
Finally, about the children! We won’t post pictures of them until after Thurs. June 21st (our “Gotcha Day!), for obvious reasons. But here are some details about them ;-) We named our youngest son Alex, our daughter Stephanie & our oldest son Michael. Michael just turned 7, Stephanie is 5 & Alex just turned 4. They are very nice looking kids (if we don’t say so ourselves!), & look good health-wise, although they say here in Ukraine that none of the adoptable children here are labeled as “healthy” since they have been institutionalized in an orphanage setting. We received as much medical information as possible on each of them, took photos & measurements & have emailed the information to a Dr. in the U.S. who specializes in Eastern European adopted children, so we are waiting for his report back to us--but overall, they seem very good, so we proceeded with the adoption anyway. Michael & Stephanie are in the same orphanage & extremely close! They watch out for each other on the playground, & she scolds him in Russian like a little mother hen if she feels he’s getting too wild! Alex is, well…kind of like a little “tank”! He’s in an orphanage with children overall younger than him, so he seems to act a little younger too although he’s very smart, loves the musical toys, dances, but tends to bang things a little roughly--is this typical of a 3 or 4 year old boy? Time to put all the breakables away or out of reach at home!!! When we gave Michael & Stephanie their own “Life books” with photos of their new home, room, our pets, the area & of course our family, our facilitator translated for them what each picture was, & the next time we visited them, they were both clutching their little books & taking it wherever they went! It was precious to see how they loved showing others their new family! An Italian couple who was adopting Michael’s best friend were there one day & told us that the kids proudly showed them their book the day before. Alex wasn’t quite as interested in his book the first day we showed it to him, although we didn’t have the facilitator with us either, so we were kind of limited in our descriptions to him that day, & he ran to show us another toy in the playroom. The next day, however, we were sitting outside with him & showed it to him again & he looked at every page, & mimicked everything we said in English--we were so surprised! We also brought puzzles that he learned how to put together very quickly & also bubbles which he just loved! He was chasing them, then wanted to do it himself, which he blew a little too hard on the wand, but managed to get a couple out anyway! Sometimes we got “pouty” faces from them when it was time for us to leave, other times they just kissed us goodbye & ran to their friends! Kids will be kids I guess! We are going shopping with our facilitator for clothing for them tomorrow, as they will come with nothing when we pick them up. The clothing has us in a bit of a quandary, because the measurements they gave us were in centimeters, & the clothing/shoes are in European sizes, so she’ll help us convert the sizes. We’ll need to pick them up some underwear, pants & shirts, sneakers & I think we already have PJ’s, slippers & jackets for most of them. We’ll get enough clothing to last them for about a week more here, & then we can get the rest when we get home. We really miss the kids. We thought it was a good idea to get away a little, but all we do is think of them, talk about them, worry about them, look at their pictures, etc. so, we may as well have stayed in Donetsk! I know…welcome to parenthood!
We have spent a lot of time these last few days walking around the area near Independence Square. We found the Underground Mall there to be pretty, but again a little pricey--for those who haven’t been there, it’s circular & has 4 or 5 levels that you can take a glass elevator or an escalator to. We found on the top level (you guessed it!) a pizza place spelled Cili Pizza, but the waiter says it’s pronounced “Chili” Pizza. I think Kerry was mentioning this place? The food was good & we have been there twice now. We tried little beef dumplings smothered in a cream sauce with melted cheese, & blintzes with a spicy ground beef stuffing also topped with melted cheese. Another time we tried a pizza with a few different types of cheeses on it including Blue cheese, but didn’t care for it too much, very little sauce & it was quite bland, so we won’t order that one again! By the way--for those who have been here: Why do they always put oil & vinegar out on the table when serving pizza?! Well, since the pizza was so bland, I put a little on my plate & swiped my piece on it--not too exciting, just “OK”.
Our facilitator took us on the “Metro” or subway the other day, unbelievable how deep this thing is! We used to live in N.Y. so we are very familiar with subways, but Holy Cow! The escalators have got to run a ¼ of a mile down at least! All the people going down are standing at an angle because of how steep this drop is! And it is very crowded-yet quiet (unlike us loud mouthed Americans who were talking to each other & our facilitator while going down!). The subways have beautiful mosaic tile work in them, some bronze statues, & are very clean. But at rush hour, everyone still sandwiches in, just like everywhere I guess.
Our big excitement yesterday was unplanned--we did a little shopping in an open air market, & walked up to the Independence Square area where we were going to go to the Potato House for dinner. They have been building a stage in front of the Pedestal statue that locals call “The Lady on a Stick” for days now & there were rumors that Elton John would be coming next week for a concert there (which we definitely wanted to see). Well when we got up in the area, police were everywhere, sidewalks were blocked & police were lined up all around the stage. So after surveying the area & the crowds, we decided to go into a Beer tent & spotted a table to sit at right next to a fountain with a huge glass globe in the center. It turned out that indeed Elton John was giving a concert there that night at 9pm! So, we kept our table through the night by ordering quite a few beers, even finally met a great American couple who are also adopting here & they joined us as we watched Elton’s concert from the table & viewed him on the giant screen that was in the square. It was a great concert & we really had a lot of fun! After all the beer, the walk up the steep hill to our apartment didn’t seem to be as bad (plus having to use the bathroom was a great motivator for walking as fast as we could!). Well, it’s after 1:30AM Kyiv time, 6:30PM EST, & our facilitator picks us up tomorrow at 10AM so I better go. Sorry if you thought we fell off the face of the Earth, we are here, walking-walking-walking & climbing-climbing-climbing all the steps here in Kyiv! We’re getting your e-mails, thank you so much for the wonderful comments & wishes and we’ll try to write more soon. Night-Night!
Love, Laura & Ed
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! We are wishing all of you Father’s out there a wonderful day! We took it easy today, it was raining & thundering, so we just “lazed” around here in the apartment, & around 6pm, we took about a 20 minute walk to TGI Fridays for a Father’s Day dinner for Ed! We are still in Kyiv, the kids are in Donetsk & Kramatorsk, & they don’t celebrate Father’s Day here in Ukraine, so it seemed a little strange without any celebrations going on--but, we did talk to Dad & Uncle John tonight, & we feel better now!
Finally, about the children! We won’t post pictures of them until after Thurs. June 21st (our “Gotcha Day!), for obvious reasons. But here are some details about them ;-) We named our youngest son Alex, our daughter Stephanie & our oldest son Michael. Michael just turned 7, Stephanie is 5 & Alex just turned 4. They are very nice looking kids (if we don’t say so ourselves!), & look good health-wise, although they say here in Ukraine that none of the adoptable children here are labeled as “healthy” since they have been institutionalized in an orphanage setting. We received as much medical information as possible on each of them, took photos & measurements & have emailed the information to a Dr. in the U.S. who specializes in Eastern European adopted children, so we are waiting for his report back to us--but overall, they seem very good, so we proceeded with the adoption anyway. Michael & Stephanie are in the same orphanage & extremely close! They watch out for each other on the playground, & she scolds him in Russian like a little mother hen if she feels he’s getting too wild! Alex is, well…kind of like a little “tank”! He’s in an orphanage with children overall younger than him, so he seems to act a little younger too although he’s very smart, loves the musical toys, dances, but tends to bang things a little roughly--is this typical of a 3 or 4 year old boy? Time to put all the breakables away or out of reach at home!!! When we gave Michael & Stephanie their own “Life books” with photos of their new home, room, our pets, the area & of course our family, our facilitator translated for them what each picture was, & the next time we visited them, they were both clutching their little books & taking it wherever they went! It was precious to see how they loved showing others their new family! An Italian couple who was adopting Michael’s best friend were there one day & told us that the kids proudly showed them their book the day before. Alex wasn’t quite as interested in his book the first day we showed it to him, although we didn’t have the facilitator with us either, so we were kind of limited in our descriptions to him that day, & he ran to show us another toy in the playroom. The next day, however, we were sitting outside with him & showed it to him again & he looked at every page, & mimicked everything we said in English--we were so surprised! We also brought puzzles that he learned how to put together very quickly & also bubbles which he just loved! He was chasing them, then wanted to do it himself, which he blew a little too hard on the wand, but managed to get a couple out anyway! Sometimes we got “pouty” faces from them when it was time for us to leave, other times they just kissed us goodbye & ran to their friends! Kids will be kids I guess! We are going shopping with our facilitator for clothing for them tomorrow, as they will come with nothing when we pick them up. The clothing has us in a bit of a quandary, because the measurements they gave us were in centimeters, & the clothing/shoes are in European sizes, so she’ll help us convert the sizes. We’ll need to pick them up some underwear, pants & shirts, sneakers & I think we already have PJ’s, slippers & jackets for most of them. We’ll get enough clothing to last them for about a week more here, & then we can get the rest when we get home. We really miss the kids. We thought it was a good idea to get away a little, but all we do is think of them, talk about them, worry about them, look at their pictures, etc. so, we may as well have stayed in Donetsk! I know…welcome to parenthood!
We have spent a lot of time these last few days walking around the area near Independence Square. We found the Underground Mall there to be pretty, but again a little pricey--for those who haven’t been there, it’s circular & has 4 or 5 levels that you can take a glass elevator or an escalator to. We found on the top level (you guessed it!) a pizza place spelled Cili Pizza, but the waiter says it’s pronounced “Chili” Pizza. I think Kerry was mentioning this place? The food was good & we have been there twice now. We tried little beef dumplings smothered in a cream sauce with melted cheese, & blintzes with a spicy ground beef stuffing also topped with melted cheese. Another time we tried a pizza with a few different types of cheeses on it including Blue cheese, but didn’t care for it too much, very little sauce & it was quite bland, so we won’t order that one again! By the way--for those who have been here: Why do they always put oil & vinegar out on the table when serving pizza?! Well, since the pizza was so bland, I put a little on my plate & swiped my piece on it--not too exciting, just “OK”.
Our facilitator took us on the “Metro” or subway the other day, unbelievable how deep this thing is! We used to live in N.Y. so we are very familiar with subways, but Holy Cow! The escalators have got to run a ¼ of a mile down at least! All the people going down are standing at an angle because of how steep this drop is! And it is very crowded-yet quiet (unlike us loud mouthed Americans who were talking to each other & our facilitator while going down!). The subways have beautiful mosaic tile work in them, some bronze statues, & are very clean. But at rush hour, everyone still sandwiches in, just like everywhere I guess.
Our big excitement yesterday was unplanned--we did a little shopping in an open air market, & walked up to the Independence Square area where we were going to go to the Potato House for dinner. They have been building a stage in front of the Pedestal statue that locals call “The Lady on a Stick” for days now & there were rumors that Elton John would be coming next week for a concert there (which we definitely wanted to see). Well when we got up in the area, police were everywhere, sidewalks were blocked & police were lined up all around the stage. So after surveying the area & the crowds, we decided to go into a Beer tent & spotted a table to sit at right next to a fountain with a huge glass globe in the center. It turned out that indeed Elton John was giving a concert there that night at 9pm! So, we kept our table through the night by ordering quite a few beers, even finally met a great American couple who are also adopting here & they joined us as we watched Elton’s concert from the table & viewed him on the giant screen that was in the square. It was a great concert & we really had a lot of fun! After all the beer, the walk up the steep hill to our apartment didn’t seem to be as bad (plus having to use the bathroom was a great motivator for walking as fast as we could!). Well, it’s after 1:30AM Kyiv time, 6:30PM EST, & our facilitator picks us up tomorrow at 10AM so I better go. Sorry if you thought we fell off the face of the Earth, we are here, walking-walking-walking & climbing-climbing-climbing all the steps here in Kyiv! We’re getting your e-mails, thank you so much for the wonderful comments & wishes and we’ll try to write more soon. Night-Night!
Love, Laura & Ed
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
We have been approved!!!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Good Morning everyone! It’s a little overcast & cooler here in Kyiv today, It’s around 66F, but our high is supposed to be around 77F so it should be nice & pleasant to walk around the downtown area of Kyiv today! We are temporarily in 1 apt. & expect to move again either later today or in the next day or so, and therefore we will not fully unpack again ‘til we know for sure where we are going! Once we are sure we are on line better, we’ll back-track details from last week & our 1st visits with the 3 children--more fun details another time, but first, our most important announcement:
Yesterday, Monday June 11th we had our court appointment, and our “Petition to Adopt” all 3 children was APPROVED!!!! J J J We are officially now in the mandatory 10 day waiting period that provides this time to any Ukrainian family of the kids who may want to appeal this decision. In our case, it is highly unlikely that this would be appealed, but we still have to wait the 10 days out, so we are officially the parents of these children, but still need that piece of paper from the court on Thursday June 21st to get their birth certificates, passports, etc. and the paperwork chase will begin again between Donetsk & Kramatorsk!
Our facilitator & we talked about staying in Donetsk & Kramatorsk for the duration, but after so much traveling between the 2 areas for daily visits at each orphanage & all the paperwork chasing that had to be done, we decided to take a “last break” up here in Kyiv to relax on our own & see the beautiful sights this city has to offer, before picking up our Forever Family--- “Our daughter & 2 sons”!!! Isn’t it amazing how you can miss 3 little people you only met 8 days ago so much? God has opened our hearts to these 3 blessings, & we are absolutely convinced that everything has been accomplished according to HIS plan! It’s been quite stressful here at times, but perseverance seems to always pay off, & your prayers & words of encouragement have given us so much strength & peace of mind, that we just keep plugging along, step by step! So thank you again for hanging in there with us, we’ll hopefully be able to write much more now that we are back in Kyiv, so we can also start to work on getting some pictures posted!!! J
It’s 11:40 AM right now, & we just heard from our facilitator that we will be moving to another apartment in this area around 1PM--So, better sign off for now, we love you all, & think of you constantly! The internet problems in Donetsk were SOOO frustrating, but now we can communicate with you again! YAY! J Talk to you later…
Love, Laura & Ed
Good Morning everyone! It’s a little overcast & cooler here in Kyiv today, It’s around 66F, but our high is supposed to be around 77F so it should be nice & pleasant to walk around the downtown area of Kyiv today! We are temporarily in 1 apt. & expect to move again either later today or in the next day or so, and therefore we will not fully unpack again ‘til we know for sure where we are going! Once we are sure we are on line better, we’ll back-track details from last week & our 1st visits with the 3 children--more fun details another time, but first, our most important announcement:
Yesterday, Monday June 11th we had our court appointment, and our “Petition to Adopt” all 3 children was APPROVED!!!! J J J We are officially now in the mandatory 10 day waiting period that provides this time to any Ukrainian family of the kids who may want to appeal this decision. In our case, it is highly unlikely that this would be appealed, but we still have to wait the 10 days out, so we are officially the parents of these children, but still need that piece of paper from the court on Thursday June 21st to get their birth certificates, passports, etc. and the paperwork chase will begin again between Donetsk & Kramatorsk!
Our facilitator & we talked about staying in Donetsk & Kramatorsk for the duration, but after so much traveling between the 2 areas for daily visits at each orphanage & all the paperwork chasing that had to be done, we decided to take a “last break” up here in Kyiv to relax on our own & see the beautiful sights this city has to offer, before picking up our Forever Family--- “Our daughter & 2 sons”!!! Isn’t it amazing how you can miss 3 little people you only met 8 days ago so much? God has opened our hearts to these 3 blessings, & we are absolutely convinced that everything has been accomplished according to HIS plan! It’s been quite stressful here at times, but perseverance seems to always pay off, & your prayers & words of encouragement have given us so much strength & peace of mind, that we just keep plugging along, step by step! So thank you again for hanging in there with us, we’ll hopefully be able to write much more now that we are back in Kyiv, so we can also start to work on getting some pictures posted!!! J
It’s 11:40 AM right now, & we just heard from our facilitator that we will be moving to another apartment in this area around 1PM--So, better sign off for now, we love you all, & think of you constantly! The internet problems in Donetsk were SOOO frustrating, but now we can communicate with you again! YAY! J Talk to you later…
Love, Laura & Ed
Monday, June 11, 2007
We are back in Kiev
Hi all
It is good too have a decent internet connection again! Whoever comes over here stay away from the doris internet cards. The svit cards are the best plus the web site has an English option.
We have been up and around since 6 am this morning and it is now 11:30 pm!
A lot of positive things have happened today and we will write about it in the morning after we change apartments.
Don't worry it is all positive because of all of your prayers :)
Love to all
Ed and Laura
It is good too have a decent internet connection again! Whoever comes over here stay away from the doris internet cards. The svit cards are the best plus the web site has an English option.
We have been up and around since 6 am this morning and it is now 11:30 pm!
A lot of positive things have happened today and we will write about it in the morning after we change apartments.
Don't worry it is all positive because of all of your prayers :)
Love to all
Ed and Laura
Hi all we are back on line!!!
As promised here is what happened over the last few days:
June 3, 2007 Sunday night
After an eight hour drive and one pit stop we made it to Kramatorst (about 1 ½ hours drive from Donetsk) where two of the three children’s orphanage is. This is a smaller town but we did find the local market to buy water and snacks.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent on paperwork. We checked into the Kramatorst hotel and for about $56 (USD) we got a decent room, with air conditioning! YEAH!!!! We went to the local market to pick up some water and then we walked to a pizza chain that was just down the block, a quarter of a mile later we got there. The food was good and the pizza was almost NY style. We then walked back, no wonder the Ukrainians are slim - they walk everywhere!
A note about the hotel and the apartments - you make your own bed with sheets that they leave under the pillows. The sheets just fit the top of the bed and can not tucked in!
June 4, 2007 Monday
After many hours of paperwork chasing between the inspectors office and the notory we were given permission to visit the kids.
The 7 YO was very happy to see us and very outgoing. He came up and gave both of us a big kiss. The 6 YO girl was a little more reserved gave us a kiss and sat on her rocking horse observing everything!
The boy took turns riding 3 bicycles around the play room. He impressed us when he started putting some of the large building blocks together in a shape and crawled through them then put a round block in the middle of the others. He obliviously has an analytical mind. Our girl watched every interaction we had with her brother. She happily took a stuffed animal from Laura. We had lunch at the same pizza place, but this time we opted for ham and cheese blintzes, which were great!
We got back to the orphanage at 4:30 pm and saw our children in the play yard. Boy, did we receive a big welcome from the boy who immediately ran up to us, hugged and kissed us and grabbed Laura’s hand and lead her to the play ground pulling with all of his might. Our Girl was very chatty, laughing and playing with her brother on the slide. This was a total difference from our visit this morning. They both loved to have their picture taken and then looked at picture on the digital camera. After about an hour we left to many hugs.
Because of the late hour we decided to stay at the Kramatorst hotel again and got a small room without AC for $42 USD a night. This was much smaller and had 2 twin beds pushed together and NO AC! Tonight we walked to a “Chinese restaurant” to try something different. It was a nice place but had nothing that we would consider as Chinese food.
June 5, 2007 Tuesday
We woke early and met our facilitator and driver for breakfast at 7:30 AM. Today was paperwork day we drove to the inspectors office to pick up documents then to the notary to have the paperwork finalized. We then went to the orphanage to drop off the paperwork and see our two children. Again a big welcome and a lot of talking that we could not understand. We all had a great time.
We then drove the 1 ½ hours back to Donetsk to see our 4 YO son. We met him in the play room with a teacher and after a big hug and kiss the teacher showed us that he new his shapes and colors. He loved playing with a toy that played different music with each button that was pressed, even danced for us.
June 3, 2007 Sunday night
After an eight hour drive and one pit stop we made it to Kramatorst (about 1 ½ hours drive from Donetsk) where two of the three children’s orphanage is. This is a smaller town but we did find the local market to buy water and snacks.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent on paperwork. We checked into the Kramatorst hotel and for about $56 (USD) we got a decent room, with air conditioning! YEAH!!!! We went to the local market to pick up some water and then we walked to a pizza chain that was just down the block, a quarter of a mile later we got there. The food was good and the pizza was almost NY style. We then walked back, no wonder the Ukrainians are slim - they walk everywhere!
A note about the hotel and the apartments - you make your own bed with sheets that they leave under the pillows. The sheets just fit the top of the bed and can not tucked in!
June 4, 2007 Monday
After many hours of paperwork chasing between the inspectors office and the notory we were given permission to visit the kids.
The 7 YO was very happy to see us and very outgoing. He came up and gave both of us a big kiss. The 6 YO girl was a little more reserved gave us a kiss and sat on her rocking horse observing everything!
The boy took turns riding 3 bicycles around the play room. He impressed us when he started putting some of the large building blocks together in a shape and crawled through them then put a round block in the middle of the others. He obliviously has an analytical mind. Our girl watched every interaction we had with her brother. She happily took a stuffed animal from Laura. We had lunch at the same pizza place, but this time we opted for ham and cheese blintzes, which were great!
We got back to the orphanage at 4:30 pm and saw our children in the play yard. Boy, did we receive a big welcome from the boy who immediately ran up to us, hugged and kissed us and grabbed Laura’s hand and lead her to the play ground pulling with all of his might. Our Girl was very chatty, laughing and playing with her brother on the slide. This was a total difference from our visit this morning. They both loved to have their picture taken and then looked at picture on the digital camera. After about an hour we left to many hugs.
Because of the late hour we decided to stay at the Kramatorst hotel again and got a small room without AC for $42 USD a night. This was much smaller and had 2 twin beds pushed together and NO AC! Tonight we walked to a “Chinese restaurant” to try something different. It was a nice place but had nothing that we would consider as Chinese food.
June 5, 2007 Tuesday
We woke early and met our facilitator and driver for breakfast at 7:30 AM. Today was paperwork day we drove to the inspectors office to pick up documents then to the notary to have the paperwork finalized. We then went to the orphanage to drop off the paperwork and see our two children. Again a big welcome and a lot of talking that we could not understand. We all had a great time.
We then drove the 1 ½ hours back to Donetsk to see our 4 YO son. We met him in the play room with a teacher and after a big hug and kiss the teacher showed us that he new his shapes and colors. He loved playing with a toy that played different music with each button that was pressed, even danced for us.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Internet problems part 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
Hi all we are still experiencing internet problems in this region.
This is the first time that I was able to stay on line for more then 1 min!
We leave at 8 am to visit our son and daughter. We promise to post more when we get back
and the internet bugs let us stay on.
Ed
This is the first time that I was able to stay on line for more then 1 min!
We leave at 8 am to visit our son and daughter. We promise to post more when we get back
and the internet bugs let us stay on.
Ed
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
June 6, 2007 11:30 0m
Hi everyone. We are sorry that we have not been able to write but we had internet problems plus we have been putting in 15 hour days with all of the paperwork that needs to be filled between the two orhanges.
We saw all of of children and promise to give a detailed account tommorrow.
The kids are great and we have started the bonding process pretty quickly.
We will catch up on your wonderful comments and really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
Love Ed and Laura
Hi everyone. We are sorry that we have not been able to write but we had internet problems plus we have been putting in 15 hour days with all of the paperwork that needs to be filled between the two orhanges.
We saw all of of children and promise to give a detailed account tommorrow.
The kids are great and we have started the bonding process pretty quickly.
We will catch up on your wonderful comments and really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
Love Ed and Laura
Saturday, June 2, 2007
FINALLY OUR COMPUTER IS BACK UP!!!
Saturday, June 2, 2007 11:20 pm Kyiv time
Sorry that we didn’t add to the blog Thurs. or Fri., for some reason our computer froze & we could not get on to the internet.
So, lets catch you up - Thursday (May 31st) our facilitator took use to an authentic Ukrainian buffet restaurant for lunch called Puzata Khata which means “Fat Belly House” which is how we felt when we left! For those of you who have been there before, you will remember this place for sure (it’s across from TGI Friday’s). For those who haven’t yet, it is a must for a great Ukrainian meal. Our facilitator guided us to the Borscht, which we didn’t know what to expect, but it was delicious! Now we know what people have been talking about, and we will learn how to make it at home. We also tried their blintzes, home made sausage, Chicken Kiev (ha-ha), Pirenky’s (not sure of the spelling) which is what we here in the U.S. call Pierogies (I don’t think that’s spelled correctly either!). Interestingly enough, here in Ukraine pierogies are actually a sweet roll with a sweet ricotta-type cheese inside it. (which our facilitator kindly treated us to after our first appointment with the SDA.). Anyway, we really felt like “fat bellies” after that meal. But the 48 steps at our apartment are helping us to work off all the good food we‘ve been eating here( we hope). No stair masters for us - We ARE the “stair masters” Ha-Ha.
After that we went to the SDA to sign for our referral appointment (between 5 & 6 PM).
There was a short wait and within 5 minutes we were out again & on our way.
On Friday June 1st we had a slow day with our daily trip to the Mega Market and a walk around the area. We had lunch at “our” ( we ate there twice now) pizza place.
The pizza was good and they had an English speaking waitress on. We then strolled through the under ground mall in the area. I still don’t get the underground part since only one floor is underground and the other 4 are above ground? We found a nice shop that we bought a few unique items to take home. Most of the mall is dedicated to women’s clothes (can you tell that Ed is writing this part?) and women’s shoes. It was interesting to wander through, although a little pricey since this is an upscale neighborhood. We had to leave the mall (boo-hoo) in order to be back at the apartment to pay the landlady the weeks rent at 4 pm and she was fashionable late, although very nice & she was so proud that her son had taught her English, which she was much better at that than we were at Russian unfortuanately!
Then last night, we decided to try the Japanese restaurant up the street for dinner. We were surprised that most of the waitresses (picture Ukrainians dressed in kimono’s ) spoke some English and the menu was in English. After an explanation from the hostess that the numbers under the pictures were the weight in grams and not the price, we ordered a nice meal of sushi and shrimp in a spicy garlic sauce. It was very good!
Today, Saturday June 2nd, our facilitator and driver took us for a tour of the old down town Kyiv. Since they weren’t going to pick us up until 3 PM we decided to go where else, but to Mega Mart and pick up some things for our trip to Donetsk tomorrow. Then we had a good ride around Kyiv and saw some of the famous cathedrals. They had the downtown streets blocked off to cars so that the people could wander around without getting hit. There was a group there with huge speakers & very loud music break dancing and the young girls all screamed when their favorites danced. It was very cute to watch!
We had “lunch” at a local pizza place in that area that also served Caviar blintzes. Laura LOVES caviar, & LOVES Blintzes, but the 2 combined didn’t go together as well as expected because the caviar is salty & the blintzes are sweet, so she’ll have them separately in the future! But the pizza was excellent. After that, we headed back to our place to try and fit 4 suitcases of gifts, children’s toys, clothing and our “stuff” into 3 suitcases so that we would have room for the children on the way back to Kyiv. Laura fried some hamburgers for dinner ( you should have seen us at the market trying to find ground beef! The meat manager was called to help us, since only he could speak English), the meat consistency was “very loose”--not much fat to keep the burgers together, which was probably healthier, but it did taste a little different--good, but different than the ground beef we get at home.
Now that you have figured out that all we write about is what we eat, eat, eat, we hope to give you much more “interesting” info & news about the 3 children we’ve traveled ½ way ‘round the world to see on Monday! Well, that is about all for now. We leave for the region at 10 am (3 am EST) tomorrow for a 9 hour drive. We will post more as we get time. We’ll also update the blog to reflect Donetsk’s weather if possible!
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. We’ll try to answer individual emails once we get to Donetsk--they mean so much to us, until you are here you can’t imagine how important they are to us! Please keep praying for us, the “big moment” is right around the corner! J
Love,
Laura and Ed
Sorry that we didn’t add to the blog Thurs. or Fri., for some reason our computer froze & we could not get on to the internet.
So, lets catch you up - Thursday (May 31st) our facilitator took use to an authentic Ukrainian buffet restaurant for lunch called Puzata Khata which means “Fat Belly House” which is how we felt when we left! For those of you who have been there before, you will remember this place for sure (it’s across from TGI Friday’s). For those who haven’t yet, it is a must for a great Ukrainian meal. Our facilitator guided us to the Borscht, which we didn’t know what to expect, but it was delicious! Now we know what people have been talking about, and we will learn how to make it at home. We also tried their blintzes, home made sausage, Chicken Kiev (ha-ha), Pirenky’s (not sure of the spelling) which is what we here in the U.S. call Pierogies (I don’t think that’s spelled correctly either!). Interestingly enough, here in Ukraine pierogies are actually a sweet roll with a sweet ricotta-type cheese inside it. (which our facilitator kindly treated us to after our first appointment with the SDA.). Anyway, we really felt like “fat bellies” after that meal. But the 48 steps at our apartment are helping us to work off all the good food we‘ve been eating here( we hope). No stair masters for us - We ARE the “stair masters” Ha-Ha.
After that we went to the SDA to sign for our referral appointment (between 5 & 6 PM).
There was a short wait and within 5 minutes we were out again & on our way.
On Friday June 1st we had a slow day with our daily trip to the Mega Market and a walk around the area. We had lunch at “our” ( we ate there twice now) pizza place.
The pizza was good and they had an English speaking waitress on. We then strolled through the under ground mall in the area. I still don’t get the underground part since only one floor is underground and the other 4 are above ground? We found a nice shop that we bought a few unique items to take home. Most of the mall is dedicated to women’s clothes (can you tell that Ed is writing this part?) and women’s shoes. It was interesting to wander through, although a little pricey since this is an upscale neighborhood. We had to leave the mall (boo-hoo) in order to be back at the apartment to pay the landlady the weeks rent at 4 pm and she was fashionable late, although very nice & she was so proud that her son had taught her English, which she was much better at that than we were at Russian unfortuanately!
Then last night, we decided to try the Japanese restaurant up the street for dinner. We were surprised that most of the waitresses (picture Ukrainians dressed in kimono’s ) spoke some English and the menu was in English. After an explanation from the hostess that the numbers under the pictures were the weight in grams and not the price, we ordered a nice meal of sushi and shrimp in a spicy garlic sauce. It was very good!
Today, Saturday June 2nd, our facilitator and driver took us for a tour of the old down town Kyiv. Since they weren’t going to pick us up until 3 PM we decided to go where else, but to Mega Mart and pick up some things for our trip to Donetsk tomorrow. Then we had a good ride around Kyiv and saw some of the famous cathedrals. They had the downtown streets blocked off to cars so that the people could wander around without getting hit. There was a group there with huge speakers & very loud music break dancing and the young girls all screamed when their favorites danced. It was very cute to watch!
We had “lunch” at a local pizza place in that area that also served Caviar blintzes. Laura LOVES caviar, & LOVES Blintzes, but the 2 combined didn’t go together as well as expected because the caviar is salty & the blintzes are sweet, so she’ll have them separately in the future! But the pizza was excellent. After that, we headed back to our place to try and fit 4 suitcases of gifts, children’s toys, clothing and our “stuff” into 3 suitcases so that we would have room for the children on the way back to Kyiv. Laura fried some hamburgers for dinner ( you should have seen us at the market trying to find ground beef! The meat manager was called to help us, since only he could speak English), the meat consistency was “very loose”--not much fat to keep the burgers together, which was probably healthier, but it did taste a little different--good, but different than the ground beef we get at home.
Now that you have figured out that all we write about is what we eat, eat, eat, we hope to give you much more “interesting” info & news about the 3 children we’ve traveled ½ way ‘round the world to see on Monday! Well, that is about all for now. We leave for the region at 10 am (3 am EST) tomorrow for a 9 hour drive. We will post more as we get time. We’ll also update the blog to reflect Donetsk’s weather if possible!
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. We’ll try to answer individual emails once we get to Donetsk--they mean so much to us, until you are here you can’t imagine how important they are to us! Please keep praying for us, the “big moment” is right around the corner! J
Love,
Laura and Ed
Thursday, May 31, 2007
OUR REFERRAL!!!
May 31, 2004 Midnight Kyiv time.
This is just a short note. We will fill you all in tomorrow, we promise!
We had our meeting at the SDA and looked through 9 referrals and settled on one in the Donetsk region. It is a nine hour drive Southeast, and with the weekend coming up we will leave on Sunday morning, so we can go to the orphanages first thing Monday morning. We updated the map on top of this blog so you can see where Donetsk is.
For those of you that are waiting anxiously for what our referral is for, are you sitting down? Three siblings - two boys (ages 4 and 7) and a girl (5 years old). Most of you are probably saying “OH MY GOD“? We have been saying the same thing for the last day and a half. It’s like the Barth Brady Bunch! We have thought very seriously about it and are praying that GOD is leading us this way. This is why the delay in letting you know, as we weren’t totally sure about this decision. We have been considering this VERY carefully.
Please feel free to post comments on our blog spot. You can comment right below our most recent post! We really enjoy and feel encouraged by your comments. We also continue to ask for your prayers on our journey to find our forever family. Laura will write more tomorrow with more details…
Love,
Ed
This is just a short note. We will fill you all in tomorrow, we promise!
We had our meeting at the SDA and looked through 9 referrals and settled on one in the Donetsk region. It is a nine hour drive Southeast, and with the weekend coming up we will leave on Sunday morning, so we can go to the orphanages first thing Monday morning. We updated the map on top of this blog so you can see where Donetsk is.
For those of you that are waiting anxiously for what our referral is for, are you sitting down? Three siblings - two boys (ages 4 and 7) and a girl (5 years old). Most of you are probably saying “OH MY GOD“? We have been saying the same thing for the last day and a half. It’s like the Barth Brady Bunch! We have thought very seriously about it and are praying that GOD is leading us this way. This is why the delay in letting you know, as we weren’t totally sure about this decision. We have been considering this VERY carefully.
Please feel free to post comments on our blog spot. You can comment right below our most recent post! We really enjoy and feel encouraged by your comments. We also continue to ask for your prayers on our journey to find our forever family. Laura will write more tomorrow with more details…
Love,
Ed
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
OUR FIRST DAY IN KYIV
May 29, 2007
Yesterday, after helping us settle into our apaertment, our facilitator took us to Mega Mart (similar to a Sam’s Club) to pick up fresh baked bread, butter, milk, cheese, water and Coca-Cola Light (their version of diet). On the way there, poor Laura tripped & took a fall coming down the last step of the walk up that we are staying in. She is ok, but both knees took a good banging. What a way to start!
The apartment is on the 3rd floor, without an elevator…boy, can we feel how OUT of shape we’re in (especially when carrying up all that heavy luggage & the (2) 6 liter bottles of water along with the other groceries--we thought we were going to die!!! But the apartment is nice, with a queen size bed and a normal toilet (that‘s the most important!). The bathtub/shower is on a raised platform so it makes it “interesting” getting in and out! The owner of this apt. even put a hot water tank in there & we even have a small washing machine in the bathroom (haven’t figured out how to use it yet though). We have a small eat-in kitchen with a microwave, coffee maker, full size refrigerator, & a gas stove. Our facilitator says we are staying in an “upper class” part of town, in the central part of Kyiv-vs. near Independence Square-for those who have “been there & done this” trip before, we are on Gorkiy Street, near the Mega Mart. Tomorrow, after our appointment our facilitator is going to take us around the area more.
Today (Tuesday), we were happily able to sleep in, although we went to bed last night around 12:30 & we woke up around 8AM (I think we were still very keyed up & overtired). So this morning, we watched all the people walking to work from the balcony of our apartment (where we get a little breeze anyway) while we had our coffee & donuts--oh yeah, we bought those too :-) & they were yummy! Later, we made the first trip out on our own to Mega Mart to stock up on more water, buy some paper plates (who does dishes?!) paper towels, napkins, plastic cups ( the glasses & coffee cups supplied are like thimbles!), cheese and Coke Light. Ed also checked out the three aisles of beer all sold in single serve! The locals seem to like to buy a bottle and drink it on the street on the way home. Ed will write more on his beer expedition later, after he buys some or “1” himself!
Tonight, we really became daring and walked a little around our area & took some pictures. Then, we found a pizzeria nearby and had an enjoyable “Four Fromage” (cheese) pizza which was very tasty and cokes without ice for dinner. So, our 1st day in Kyiv was quite relaxing, & now we can strictly concentrate on the reason we are here: To bring home our child(ren) & start our “Forever Family”!
Our facilitator also came over this afternoon, and said that our appointment is scheduled for 10 AM Wed. (3 AM EST). Please say a prayer for us before you go to bed tonight that everything goes smoothly, & that God will guide us to the child(ren) we are meant to adopt. This was a combined blog written by both of us! We’ll let you know how everything goes tomorrow…Until then, God Bless All of You! Love, Laura & Ed
Yesterday, after helping us settle into our apaertment, our facilitator took us to Mega Mart (similar to a Sam’s Club) to pick up fresh baked bread, butter, milk, cheese, water and Coca-Cola Light (their version of diet). On the way there, poor Laura tripped & took a fall coming down the last step of the walk up that we are staying in. She is ok, but both knees took a good banging. What a way to start!
The apartment is on the 3rd floor, without an elevator…boy, can we feel how OUT of shape we’re in (especially when carrying up all that heavy luggage & the (2) 6 liter bottles of water along with the other groceries--we thought we were going to die!!! But the apartment is nice, with a queen size bed and a normal toilet (that‘s the most important!). The bathtub/shower is on a raised platform so it makes it “interesting” getting in and out! The owner of this apt. even put a hot water tank in there & we even have a small washing machine in the bathroom (haven’t figured out how to use it yet though). We have a small eat-in kitchen with a microwave, coffee maker, full size refrigerator, & a gas stove. Our facilitator says we are staying in an “upper class” part of town, in the central part of Kyiv-vs. near Independence Square-for those who have “been there & done this” trip before, we are on Gorkiy Street, near the Mega Mart. Tomorrow, after our appointment our facilitator is going to take us around the area more.
Today (Tuesday), we were happily able to sleep in, although we went to bed last night around 12:30 & we woke up around 8AM (I think we were still very keyed up & overtired). So this morning, we watched all the people walking to work from the balcony of our apartment (where we get a little breeze anyway) while we had our coffee & donuts--oh yeah, we bought those too :-) & they were yummy! Later, we made the first trip out on our own to Mega Mart to stock up on more water, buy some paper plates (who does dishes?!) paper towels, napkins, plastic cups ( the glasses & coffee cups supplied are like thimbles!), cheese and Coke Light. Ed also checked out the three aisles of beer all sold in single serve! The locals seem to like to buy a bottle and drink it on the street on the way home. Ed will write more on his beer expedition later, after he buys some or “1” himself!
Tonight, we really became daring and walked a little around our area & took some pictures. Then, we found a pizzeria nearby and had an enjoyable “Four Fromage” (cheese) pizza which was very tasty and cokes without ice for dinner. So, our 1st day in Kyiv was quite relaxing, & now we can strictly concentrate on the reason we are here: To bring home our child(ren) & start our “Forever Family”!
Our facilitator also came over this afternoon, and said that our appointment is scheduled for 10 AM Wed. (3 AM EST). Please say a prayer for us before you go to bed tonight that everything goes smoothly, & that God will guide us to the child(ren) we are meant to adopt. This was a combined blog written by both of us! We’ll let you know how everything goes tomorrow…Until then, God Bless All of You! Love, Laura & Ed
Monday, May 28, 2007
Happy Memorial Day
May 27, 2005 8:43 pm
UP UP & AWAY…Somewhere over the Eastern Atlantic
After lot’s of hugs & kisses & saying a heartfelt goodbye to Mom & Dad who took us to the airport, we had a very pleasant 11 AM flight on Continental. Instead of the usual peanuts & a soft drink, we were served a “lightfare” meal of a Turkey breast sandwich on a little round roll, a mini bag of baby carrots, skittles for dessert & a soft drink. The weather was good for flying-clear & just a couple bumpity-bumps on the way up North.
We arrived in Newark, NJ at 1:35 pm to a warm 88-90 degrees. Are you sure we left Florida?!
One of Laura’s best friends came over to Newark from Long Island NY to send us off on our long awaited journey. What a pleasant and wonderful surprise! We were taking off on British Airways at 6:30 pm so we got a good chance to visit with her for a couple of hours & it really did help to take some of the nerves away after a hectic week of getting ready & packing!
As tired as we were, we were so excited that after over two years, we were finally on our way to get our forever children. We did manage to catch a few winks on the cross Atlantic trip though--Ed had a lot of winks, Laura who can't sleep sitting up very well, didn't catch quite as many! ;-)
Arrived in London at 6:45 AM to typical "London Fog" weather: rain & 45 degrees F Brrr coming from FL! The fog was so thick the plane kept circling London & was delayed in landing-when we finally did touch down, the runway was slick & our plane skidded a little-which is always good for a few gasps-or was that all us?? Thank God, the pilot straightened it out-but that was a little scary! Even though we were tired of carrying our jackets everywhere else today, we put them on right away there!
We were to depart at 9:40 AM London time, so after following the crowd all over the airport, we took a bus to terminal 1, where Security decided we should be taken aside & patted down. It only took 40 minutes to locate the terminal building but they wouldn't announce the gate for Kyiv 'til 40 minutes before the flight and then we had to sprint to the other end to get to that gate to find that our plane was boarding and had long lines because the Girl's Scottish Soccer team was playing Ukraine in Kyiv. This plane was packed! Anyway, we took off at 10AM because of heavy runway traffic. This flight was fine, & we landed in Kyiv at 3:15! We were met by Alex, our VIP representative who we literally ran after to get us through customs, bypassing tons of long lines-it was worth it to us to use this service! Then, we were met at the sliding glass doors by our Facilitator & driver, & they took us to our apartment! It is Thundering badly now, it was very hot & humid here today(this apartment is very nice, but no air conditioning) so we'll write again tomorrow after some rest! ***Thank you all for the wonderful calls & good wishes, we're so pleased to be included in your prayers, please keep them coming, we need every one of them! Love, Ed & Laura :-)
UP UP & AWAY…Somewhere over the Eastern Atlantic
After lot’s of hugs & kisses & saying a heartfelt goodbye to Mom & Dad who took us to the airport, we had a very pleasant 11 AM flight on Continental. Instead of the usual peanuts & a soft drink, we were served a “lightfare” meal of a Turkey breast sandwich on a little round roll, a mini bag of baby carrots, skittles for dessert & a soft drink. The weather was good for flying-clear & just a couple bumpity-bumps on the way up North.
We arrived in Newark, NJ at 1:35 pm to a warm 88-90 degrees. Are you sure we left Florida?!
One of Laura’s best friends came over to Newark from Long Island NY to send us off on our long awaited journey. What a pleasant and wonderful surprise! We were taking off on British Airways at 6:30 pm so we got a good chance to visit with her for a couple of hours & it really did help to take some of the nerves away after a hectic week of getting ready & packing!
As tired as we were, we were so excited that after over two years, we were finally on our way to get our forever children. We did manage to catch a few winks on the cross Atlantic trip though--Ed had a lot of winks, Laura who can't sleep sitting up very well, didn't catch quite as many! ;-)
Arrived in London at 6:45 AM to typical "London Fog" weather: rain & 45 degrees F Brrr coming from FL! The fog was so thick the plane kept circling London & was delayed in landing-when we finally did touch down, the runway was slick & our plane skidded a little-which is always good for a few gasps-or was that all us?? Thank God, the pilot straightened it out-but that was a little scary! Even though we were tired of carrying our jackets everywhere else today, we put them on right away there!
We were to depart at 9:40 AM London time, so after following the crowd all over the airport, we took a bus to terminal 1, where Security decided we should be taken aside & patted down. It only took 40 minutes to locate the terminal building but they wouldn't announce the gate for Kyiv 'til 40 minutes before the flight and then we had to sprint to the other end to get to that gate to find that our plane was boarding and had long lines because the Girl's Scottish Soccer team was playing Ukraine in Kyiv. This plane was packed! Anyway, we took off at 10AM because of heavy runway traffic. This flight was fine, & we landed in Kyiv at 3:15! We were met by Alex, our VIP representative who we literally ran after to get us through customs, bypassing tons of long lines-it was worth it to us to use this service! Then, we were met at the sliding glass doors by our Facilitator & driver, & they took us to our apartment! It is Thundering badly now, it was very hot & humid here today(this apartment is very nice, but no air conditioning) so we'll write again tomorrow after some rest! ***Thank you all for the wonderful calls & good wishes, we're so pleased to be included in your prayers, please keep them coming, we need every one of them! Love, Ed & Laura :-)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
HELLO & HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
This is our first entry, so please be patient with us as we are just learning how to "blog"! We are hopefully celebrating Mother's Day for the last time without any children (however, we do have a dog & 2 cats who we love dearly, & they really are our "babies", & we are their "Mommy & Daddy"!). As you can see at the "counter" in the margin, we've been in the process of adoption for over 2 years...it has been a long ride with many ups & downs, but right now, we are on the "upswing"--finally preparing for our trip to Ukraine in 2 weeks!
We will do our best to communicate regularly during our journey, & if we figure out how to post pictures, we will share with you some of the sights we see in Ukraine. By the way, as a little tid-bit, did you know that Ukrainians are insulted when Ukraine is called "The Ukraine"? That is because they are very proud of their independence from the Soviet Union & are no longer a "region" of Russia previously referred to as "The Ukraine", but they are their own country, which is properly referred to as "Ukraine". OK, enough history, we will write again soon! Laura & Ed
We will do our best to communicate regularly during our journey, & if we figure out how to post pictures, we will share with you some of the sights we see in Ukraine. By the way, as a little tid-bit, did you know that Ukrainians are insulted when Ukraine is called "The Ukraine"? That is because they are very proud of their independence from the Soviet Union & are no longer a "region" of Russia previously referred to as "The Ukraine", but they are their own country, which is properly referred to as "Ukraine". OK, enough history, we will write again soon! Laura & Ed
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
