Hap-py New Year!

Greetings from the far side of the sea! (Black Sea that is)
It is a cold new year's eve here, but we are warmed by your prayers and love!

We understand that New Year's here is quite the blow out- literally. We have been warned to expect fireworks going off everywhere. We had a small preshow last night in front of out hotel. Some of the local young men set off a few rockets. We had a perfect view from our window. We expect to see even more tonight. (maybe for most of the night)

Kids are doing great although we have lost our regular playroom with Gideon -- it is now the doctor's office. They are letting us play in the old doctors office and we are grateful to have a heated place to be, but it is pretty cramped and there are lots of things we have to keep Gideon out of. I guess it is giving us the chance to set boundaries and enforce them. (we are discovering how exhausting that can be :-)

• Here is a brief list of some of the funniest things we have seen here:
  Babooshka's (grandmothers that look like they walked out of Fiddler on the Roof) riding bicycles.
• Babooshkas riding bicycles in the snow.
• Horses pulling carts driving right next to cars on main street downtown
• All of the kids are bundled up like the michelin man -- so much so that they can't even bend in the middle.
• There are more stray dogs than children in this town -- no kidding! -- and their favorite pass time is to run out in front of Viktor's van (We think Viktor is running a side line business of running down dogs and then selling them to the local resturants for meat. Did we mention that many of the menu items say "Meat with mushrooms" Or "Meat in pasta shells" with no indidcation of what kind of meat it is? Just a joke folks!)
• With my hand in the air, this really happened: We saw a smallish dog walking down the street carrying a blue plastic bread tray (like buns are stacked in at the store) in its mouth. If we had had the video camera out we could have made money off the video! He was just trotting down the street with the bread tray that had to be as big as he was out in front of him. (Okay maybe you had to be there but we were all dying laughing. I'm so mad that we didn't get a picture).
• Bras stacked on a table for sale in the open market, as in tables set up out on the street. (I could just hear the salesperson, "Would you like to try that on?")
• Fish as long as your arm for sale in the open market and they are still alive when you buy them -- talk about fresh!

Well that's about it for now. We are going to Kiev tomorrow to meet Kathy and Nancy's group to get our paperwork so I doubt we will have chance to post anything. The snow has just started up again here so maybe we will have a white New Year.

By the way, I realized today that Santa doesn't actually have to get toys to all the kids in the world in one night. He does Western Europe, Brittain, the Americas and probably some of Asia on Dec 25. Then he gets 2 weeks to regroup and does all of Eastern Europe, Russia and the rest of Asia on Jan 7. And here you thought he was already on vacation! (Hee-Hee)

Peace,
BLN&G

Hallelujah!

God works miracles in paper!

Not only is our paperwork on its way here from the US, but N got her passport in 1 (ONE) day. That may not sound amazing, but it normally takes 2 MONTHS to get your passport here. God went before Sveta and N and softened the heart of one of the officials who was willing to do everything in one day. IT IS A MIRACLE!

The kids are doing well. Sveta gives high praise for N as she learns English. Gideon is almost too cute to bear. (And he knows it!) I think we are actually adopting Curious George, he gets himself into trouble and then does something good and cute and if your're not careful, you find yourself forgetting about the trouble he was in. (This seems very true for his caregivers.) At lunch, Bruce and I decided that being cute may be the only thing that will keep him alive. God knows what he was doing when he made preschoolers cute. Really he is a good boy who likes to please and likes to help, he's just 3.

Please pray for Sveta she is feeling ill. Seems to be a cold or flu type deal.

Well thats it for today. Coming soon a list of some of the funniest things we've seen over here.

Peace,
BLN&G

Paperwork progress, Dec. 29

Finally, we have heard good news about the paperwork. It has finally come to Bruce's parents and they are getting all of the appropriate official seals placed on it. We should have it by early next week, well before our court date. God is good and His timing is perfect.

Things have been going well here with the Kids. Gideon is getting more and more comfortable with us and seems to be trusting us more and more. This morning with him we got bumped to a couple of different rooms and several other people kept coming into the rooms, including the Director who is Gideon's buddy. However, it did not seem to bother him too much even when he did not get any candy (the Director's and Gideon's favorite bribe) and did not cry at all but continued to interact with us. We are reassured by this.

Nina went with Svetta and Victor to Berdichiv to get her first of three passports. Apparently, because she is 16, she needs to have a Ukrainian passport in her original Ukrainian name; then a Ukrainian passport with her new american name; and then an American passport with her new american name.
Peace,
BLN&G

More Snow

Another light dusting of snow last night, but still not enough to entirely cover the grass.

N was back today (PTL). She had gone to a nearby village with the aunt she is staying with to visit another relative. It seems the aunt wants to give N a chance to say good-bye to her family before she goes. I don't know if it is an attempt to change N's mind or just a genuine gesture to help N as she prepares to leave. Either way N is still determined to come with us :-) Sveta took her to have her passport photo made while we are on the internet. Before all is said and done N will have received 3. That's beaurocracy for you.

Gideon's orphanage gave their Christmas show today. There were several local dignitaries there and even some TV coverage. I was struck again at how good the orphanage is. The children do cry when they are unhappy (a good sign) and most of the care givers had at least one child on their lap at all times. While it still has the problems of an orphange, for what it is, it seems pretty good.

Bruce got the whole show on video. The kids were all very cute, but it was also sad, knowing that most of these kids will never have a home. Gideon's orphanage is for those with "severe" health problems. Although many seem just as healthy as Gideon, many others do have obvious problems. There is one little girl with severe fetal alcohol syndrome and 2 brothers that have some sort of genetic skin disorder. It looks like eczema so severe that it bleeds and scabs over. We also saw a couple of kids in the next age group down with Downs Syndrome. It is heart breaking.

Our evening sessions with Gideon continue to improve. He didn't cry at all last night. As strange as it may sound, I am looking forward to the day when he will cry when we leave. That will mark a significant step in the bonding process.

We are hopeful that the US paperwork will be in Bruce's parent hands by the end of this week. Please continue to pray toward that end.

We love each and every one of you!

Peace of Christ,
BLN&G

Snow Day

We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning, less than an inch, but it sure is pretty. Snow just makes the dreary winter world look better :-)

I thought you might like to know what our daily routine is. We get up in the morning and have yogurt or cereal for breakfast around 9. We meet Victor and Sveta and the Wonderful VW bus at 10 to go to the orphanage and see Gideon. N usually meets us there and we stay with Gideon until 11:30 or 12. While we are there, Sveta is usually busy with paperwork and official appointments on our behalf. We have lunch from 12 to 1:30 or so (have I mentioned the food is terrific?) Then we come to the internet place to check emails and post up our news. This is more like an arcade than a cafe. There are always a gaggle of young men here playing video games for 5 grievna (that would be 1 dollar) an hour. When we leave the internet we head back to the hotel where N gets an English lesson while we play cards or read and rest. At 4 we usually drop N off close to her aunts house and then head back to the orphanage to spend another couple of hours with Gideon. These sessions are often the hardest because he tends to be fussy. At 6 we go back to the hotel. We play more games or read and then watch a movie on our computer. We also eat a light supper, like a snack of sausage, bread, cheese, and fruit. We generally head to bed between 11:30 and 12. Then we get up the next day and do it again. We are slightly concerned that the 52 DVDs we brought with us will not be enough to get us through but we will tough it out. ;-)

Things with Gideon are improving. Overall his nightly fits are getting shorter and Bruce was quite pleased with himself when he managed to get his son belly laughing at him. It was a beautiful sound! We also notice that G is much more verbal since we came. He still doesn't have very many words, but he verbalizes a lot more than he used to. He also understands our English pretty well. He understands simple commands and questions. As well as the English names for many of the items we bring with us. (cup,coat,hat, book, blocks, etc.)

We are a little concerned about N. She has not met us at the orphanage for the last 2 days. We're not sure what this means, if it means anything. She may be having second thoughts, she may be sick, she may be tied up doing things for her aunt with whom she is staying. We just don't know and don't really have a way to get in contact with her. We are praying for her safety and health and for God's will to be done.

I guess that is all for now. We will be thinking about the St Paul choir as you rehearse tonight.

Peace of Christ,
BLN&G

Good News

We finally have a court date! January 9th at 11 a.m. We are very excited that things seem to be moving forward! Continue to pray for the US paperwork. It needs to be in the hands of Bruce's parents by Dec 29th so that all the appropriate seals and certifications can be placed on them so that they can be brought to us by Kathy D and Nancy S when they come on Jan 1.

The not so good news in this is how long we will have to be here. There is a 10 day waiting period during which we must stay in the area. That makes it Jan. 19th. IF we can get the appropriate paperwork that day (which is very doubtful) we can head back to Kiev to be at the US embassy on Monday, Jan 22. More likely we will have to pick up the paperwork here on Monday the 22nd and then head to Kiev. We will have 1 or 2 days of tying up paperwork in Kiev and then will fly home. We will pass along a definate date when we know one, but we will probably arrive back home sometime around the 26th.

The other difficulty is that Bruce is supposed to be back at work on the 22nd. We are exploring options in that area.

We are enjoying our second day in a row of bright cold days. It may not seem like much, but the sun is very comforting! The kids continue to do well. Evenings with Gideon are more difficult, he seems pretty out of sorts and spends a lot of time crying and sitting on Mama's lap being rocked. We're not sure why this is, we are just doing our best to comfort him as he will allow us. We haven't seen N today, we are a little concerned by this, but we are sure there is a good reason. I guess teenagers are just designed to make their parents worry :-)

We have learned that pretty much the whole country shuts down from Jan 1-7. We are going to have to change rooms at the hotel because our whole floor has been rented out by a single party. They have pretty much reserved the hotel and resturant from the 30-2 or so. We will be living in the midst of the party it seems. We are hoping that the shower in our new room will not leak. I miss my nice long showers!!!!

Bruce misses the bed that is long enough for him to actually stretch all the way out. He has learned to cope but it has messed with our sleeping patterns just a bit. We are grateful that our mattress is very thick, at least 4 or 5 inches. That is a true luxury.

Will S, I hope Boar's head is coming along well. I got up today thinking about you and the set building. Man are you in for a ride, but you have great help and it will go well! Did all the dinners sell out?

Some of you have mentioned sending us snail mail. We are trying to find an address you can send to and will post it when we have it. We would love getting mail! But please don't send anything that would be difficult to pack and bring back with us. (Tea cakes would be much appreciated though :-)

Well I guess we will sign off for now. We love you all and miss you. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even though it is a small light!!!

Diehls and Stewarts, maybe we will meet up again in Kiev as y'all are heading out and we are meeting Kathy D.

Peace,
BLN&G

Christmas Day, 2006

We woke up to a bright sunny and cold Christmas day here. Of course it is only Christmas for Bruce and I, everyone else will celebrater Jan 7. Today is just another day as far as our schedule.

Through the help of several friends we have collected 3 letters that we hope will impress upon the judge the time crunch we are under. They have never done an international adoption here so Sveta has her work cut out for her. She is trying to catch our judge between sessions to give her these letters and to see if she will set the preliminary date. Apparently, there may be more than 1.

Please continue to pray for the expediting of our US paperwork. It is essential to things going through here. I am not above asking if anyone has any influence at BCIS(US Citizenship and Immigration Services) to use it in our behalf. We are now in the midst of the holiday break both there and here and it is not helpful to us. We are trusting that God will work a miracle and everything will get straightened out.

If you're wondering why we chose the name Gideon let me tell you, because the reasons still apply. Through out this process we thought we had it all together and then the bottom would fall out, only to see God pull it all together again. In Judges, God cuts down the size of Gideon's army so that everyone would know that the Lord won the victory. It is the same with us, when we finally get home with our children, we will know that only God was able to bring us through all of the red tape and emotional mine fields and financial difficulties to bring our family together. Every time we will call Gideon's name it will remind us of all God has done for us.

It is supposed to get REALLY cold here. Around 8 degrees farenheit. We will be piling on the layers. But our hearts are kept warm by your love and prayers. We had a bunch or Christmas wishes in our email this morning and it made us both smile to see it. We pray that each and every one of you has a blessed Christmas day.

The kids continue to do well. Gideon seems to be learning that Mama's lap is a comforting place to be and will now stroke Papa's beard when we leave (still no kisses, but Papa is patient). He is beginning to push limits and Papa is a stern disciplinarian (believe it or not). Nina still spends most of every day with us and continues her English lessons. We hope she will be able to speak to us about who she is in a week or so.

Peace of Christ to you all,
BLN&G

PS: Happy Boar's Head Week!! ;-)
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Prayer Warriors Needed

We desperately need prayer over here:
1. Pray that our renewal with US immigration goes through QUICKLY. They just finished November's paperwork yesterday and our didn't arrive until Dec 8. We need that paperwork over here yesterday.
2. Pray that we can get the addendum to our US paperwork stating that we can adopt a child 17 and under. This is also vital for us to get a court date!
3. The director of N's orphanage is doing everything she can to obstruct the process. We don't know why. Maybe it is because we are Americans. maybe because she sees N as a rule breaker and therefore unworthy of a break. She sent a letter to all of N's relatives requesting a letter that they are not against this adoption. The courts don't care about this but it may still cause problems. Please pray that all her scheming will come to naught.
4. Pray that we get a court date next week. Or at latest on Jan 2. We wonder what affect a court date after the first will have on taxes and we just want to get this over with! Bruce is suppose to return to work in Mid-Jan. and we want to be able to all travel home together. We don't want Bruce to have to leave early.
5. Pray for N as she continues to try and learn some English, Sveta is helping her.
6. Pray for our judge to have compassion. To decide to have just one court date here in Novagrad-Volynsky (Instead of one here and one in Birdichiv). Pray that she will see fit to compact the process as much as possible.

We are trying several things to try and convince the judge to move things along. Pray that those are successful.

We love and miss you. We feel your support even across the distance. We will desperatly miss being at the Christmas Eve services at St Paul.

The kids are doing great. Progress seems to be slow but steady. Gideon still won't kiss his Papa because of the big bushy beard (and it is that !!!!!!!)

Tad & Kristy, we are so glad your process is moving so quickly. Any idea when you are going home? The same goes for Chris & Terri.

Peace of Christ,
B,L,N,&G

Dec 21 -- a good internet day

Howdy from the hinter lands!

The temperature seems to be on a steady decline and we are piling on the layers. Sveta and Viktor had to go back to Birdichiv to get the paperwork re-done because they had a stamp on them that the director of the AC didn't like. In this country it is all about the paperwork. Apparently the same it true of the US. We found out yesterday that we will have to have and addendum to our home study saying we are fit to be parents of a 16 year old. We are still also waiting on the renwal from immigration which will allow our court date here to go forward. Keep praying!

We appologize for no posts yesterday -- bad internet day! We think this internet place is actually running on DIAL-UP!!!!!! No wonder we are having problems.

Things with Gideon continue to move along. He had his first real fit (and it was a doozy) last night. Mama put him in time out and that sent him over the edge. He screamed and Cried for 15-20 minutes. The good thing was that he wanted to be in my lap, let me rock him and sing to him. When he was finished he took a cracker from Papa and stayed in my lap. I think that counts as progress. Today we were able to say "No" to messing with the light switch (the time out offense) and he left it alone.

N continues to spend the day with us. She enjoys teasing her brother :-) and taking care of us. She has fallen into calling us Bruce and Lori and that is fine with us. She also thinks Bruce is funny and tried to get him to finish off 2 12" pizzas by himself. He wisely refused and then she call him a bad little boy for not cleaning his plate, laughing all the time.

And now what you have all been waiting for: Sizes (sorry for the metric)
Gideon: As best we can tell on a wiggly boy
Height 92 cm
Waist 57 cm
Head circumferance: 49 cm
Inseam: 32 cm
Rt Foot: 14 cm
Lt foot: 13 cm
Waist to floor: 50 cm
Mid back to wrist (arm bent) 38 cm

N
Height 160 cm
Bust 95.5 cm
waist 81.5
hips 91.5
waist to floor 99
midback to wrist 74.5
Inseam 74.5
Head 53
Neck 35
Shoe size 37.5-38 (European Sizes)

The other families have had their court dates and are now in their 10 day waiting period. We are just waiting period. (rim shot please!)

Okay getting a little punchy! Bruce is rolling his eyes at me. As today was our first day on our own, I think we did pretty well. We took a taxi to the orphanage and then walked to a cafe for lunch. We then walked to the internet place. When we are done here we will walk back to the hotel. Bruce assures me it is just a couple of miles from here. I'll let you know tomorrow :-)

Sweet dreams my friends we will post more tomorrow (hopefully)

Peace of Christ,
B,L,N, & G

Dec 19

Not much new to tell y'all today. N seems to continue to enjoy our company and has discovered our video games! (Much thanks to Ian and Evan W.) She learned yatzee in about 3 games (impressive since it is all in English) She is also enjoying the Harry Potter game we brought.

K (from hence forth known as Gideon) is also settling in with us. We had a pretty good visit with him this morning. He enjoyed showing off his cup of juice to his friends. All was going well until the director came in. Gideon is used to getting candy from him (and every other man) The director didn't have candy so they went and got a BOX OF CHOCOLATES!!! Which they proceeded to let him open and then set the whole box down in front of him. He was totally prepared to eat the whole box (probably 24 pieces or so) in 3 seconds flat. We managed to keep him down to just 2. We were a little frustrated and he was completely wound up from that point on. But it gave us the chance to enforce some boundaries so he will learn that no means no.

Did I mention Gideon doesn't like to be carried?

We are trying to get all of the paperwork together. Sveta is scurrying around lot trying to pull it all together. All of N's is together and all her medical workup is done. Today Sveta is trying to get Gideon's together and several of the papers weren't done yet or weren't done right. She is hoping to talk to the judge today to set forth all of our issues and get a court date set. We are praying for much mercy from the judge. Worse case is that we will have to have 2 trials one here and one in Berdichiv. Sveta said that our best hope for a court date is Friday or Monday. That means that we are definitely caught by the holiday unless the judge figures some way for us to get our papers during the holidays (fat chance!). Oh well, its all God's timing.

The director of N's boarding school doesn't seem to care much for N or us. Sveta said if she could find a way to stop the adoption she would, but her (the director's) hands are tied. That would be the system working for us. Everyone else has been very kind and warm and ready to help N and us. The Director in B is your stereotypical Russian/Ukrainian Bureaucrat.

After 2 days of rain the sun just came back out again. I have been singing "O the sun shines bright in my old Kentucky home." in my head while the rain falls in Ukraine. It is good to see the sun! I am also beginning to tire of the same 6 articles of clothing. It is sobering to think that I packed more clothes than many people here even own.

I guess that's all for now. We love and miss everyone. Happy week before Christmas!!!!

Peace of Christ.
B, L, N, & G

Monday, Dec 18

Sorry for the long silence. Internet in Novagrad-volinisky is VERY SLOW so sometimes we can get things out and sometimes we can't

Things with the kids seem to be going well. N seems very happy to be with us. She is beginning to talk about herself a little (through Sveta) and we are able to communicate about the basics. (We are leaving at this time, are you hungry, etc.) Her favorite color seems to be pink, but she likes darker more subdued colors. Truthfully I don't think she had ever thought about her favorite anything before we began to ask. She seems to be just an average 16 year old. We've detected no attitude problems at this point and she seems willing to be within whatever boundaries we are setting. (We'll see how long that lasts :-) She also seems to want to spend time with us (We'll see how long that lasts too) We have spent a couple of afternoons playing crazy eights (cards). Oma Kay, she loves to play cards and is very fast. As soon as her English is better we will learn more games! (Imagine trying to explain a wild card to someone who doesn't speak English). She also like to hike in the mountains and the forest, is interested in photography and Soccer!

We still haven't had a chance to measure anyone. N is between 5' and 5'2" she might weigh 100 lbs soaking wet. She has a very petite frame. K hits Bruce about mid thigh and probably weighs less that 30 lbs ( I know he is less that N. Temple). We will try to get measurements to you soon.

K is also warming up to us. He is always happy to see us and has the best smile (just like his sister). He likes toys that make music and things he can take apart and put together. He is proud to say we are his Mama and Papa but doesn't like to kiss Bruce because of the beard :-) He contemplated shaving it, but then K would have to get to know him all over again. (And it is keeping his face warm) He no longer cries or needs assurance from the caregivers when he is with us. He will choose to sit in my (Lori's) lap, but only for a short time. He has even allowed me to hold and rock him once. He will allow me to place food in his mouth and will let Bruce or I hold his juice or food for him. All of these are good signs of building trust and bonding. While he is content to play in our presence, he doesn't yet want to interact with us that much. I am trying to draw him into some singing games with me, but as of yet, no luck.

Opa, I would love some input on what you think of the bonding with K so far.

The weather has returned to gray and rainy. Today we are in the B town (see previous blog for name) to try to get N's paper work together. The director of her boarding school/orphanage wanted to see her and make sure going with us was what she really wanted. She had to write a letter stating her intentions and have it witnessed. She also had to have several blood tests made and get a full physical. She is doing that while we are using the internet.

There have been some questions about what we need so I will put a few ideas here. Please coordinate with either Karla or the Elberts.
Neither kid needs a heavy coat, N has one. We will get K one.
N will need a dresser, alarm clock, maybe a small jam box that plays CD's
K would love lego's, lincoln logs, blocks or stacking cup type toys. Puzzles would also be great.
Clothes of course but as I said before, we will have to send measurements later (and they may be metric)

We understand there is a school that specializes in English as a second language. If anyone know specifics we would appreciate hearing from you. We figure N will have to spend the rest of this school year mastering English and it may cost her a year (or two) in school. We will see.

Keep praying for the U.S. paperwork! We cannot have our court date until it gets here. We anticipate that we will be waiting out the Ukrainian winter holiday so that would put us back home more towards the middle of January. The only way to avoid it would to have a court date tomorrow and that would be a miracle in itself.

That's all for now. Keep those emails and posts coming. We read them very eagerly.

Jimbo & Bebel, I hope the 9:00 service went well. I thought about you while we were at a Russian Baptist service (2 hours with 3 sermons :-)

We love and miss you all.

Peace of Christ,
Lori & Bruce