Thursday, January 25, 2007
On the way home, kinda
Here is the latest update for the Elbert adoption journey. Bruce and Gideon are on their way back home and should be in Louisville Friday at 2:15pm if all the conections are made. Bruce was a little anxious about traveling with Gideon all by himself as Lori stated that he had to be watched all the time. He just could not be left alone. Bruce feels that Gideon is his dad's pay back child. Lori and Nina had to remain in Keiv as Nina had not received her visa. Lori stated the an official at the embassy in Keiv told her that due to Nina's age the request for a visa was automatically kicked to the FBI for a background check. Lori was told that 95% of the time the clearance is given in about 48 hours. If this is true then she and Nina should be in Louisville Sunday at 2:15 pm. There could be a delay of as much as 3 to 4 days. Pray that things move quickly and they have the visa in their hands tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Tues Jan 23
Hey guys,
Bruce here. I am currently in Berdichiv with Nina, Sveta, and Viktor trying to finish up Nina and Gideon's passport issues. Thus far things have gone smoothly but we have only done the easiest part. Already, we have been to Zhytomer and picked up papers. Then we went to Novagrad Volensky to have Gideon's orphanage stamp his paper and now we are in Berdichev to have Nina's boarding school stamp her paper and to get her second of three passports. We will probably be in Berdichiv for several more hours to have that done. Then we will go back to Zhytomer to show them the stamped papers and get their paperwork that we need for the U.S. embassy. Hopefully things continue to go well.
We currently still have the reservations for our flight but have not comfirmed it yet and cannot until we have all of the paperwork from today. We will have to repeat the reservation by phone today and confirm tomorrow. So we will let everyone know as quickly as possible.
Currently, Lori is back at the apartment in Kyev with Gideon all day. I hope they are surviving one another. I'm sure they are, but I have a feeling that I will have to take Gideon on a long walk when we get back to Kyev.
Well, I have to run. Hopefully, we will be able to get to the internet tomorrow.
Peace,
BLN&G
Bruce here. I am currently in Berdichiv with Nina, Sveta, and Viktor trying to finish up Nina and Gideon's passport issues. Thus far things have gone smoothly but we have only done the easiest part. Already, we have been to Zhytomer and picked up papers. Then we went to Novagrad Volensky to have Gideon's orphanage stamp his paper and now we are in Berdichev to have Nina's boarding school stamp her paper and to get her second of three passports. We will probably be in Berdichiv for several more hours to have that done. Then we will go back to Zhytomer to show them the stamped papers and get their paperwork that we need for the U.S. embassy. Hopefully things continue to go well.
We currently still have the reservations for our flight but have not comfirmed it yet and cannot until we have all of the paperwork from today. We will have to repeat the reservation by phone today and confirm tomorrow. So we will let everyone know as quickly as possible.
Currently, Lori is back at the apartment in Kyev with Gideon all day. I hope they are surviving one another. I'm sure they are, but I have a feeling that I will have to take Gideon on a long walk when we get back to Kyev.
Well, I have to run. Hopefully, we will be able to get to the internet tomorrow.
Peace,
BLN&G
Monday, January 22, 2007
Coming Home
We are now in Kiev and only passports stand between us and coming home so I now will post that N's name is Nina (NEE-na). Gideon loves being with and pestering his big sister.
Here is the news:
We now have a tentative flight home. We do not yet have all the passports finished but we are hopeful that it will happen tomorrow (tues.). Bruce and Nina will go with Sveta and Victor to Zhytomer, then Berdichiv, then Zhytomer and then back to Kiev. IF we get all the passports we have an appointment at the embassy at 11:30 am on Wednesdays. Both kids will have to have their medicals early that morning. Nina's will probably be more extensive because of her age. If all goes well tomorrow we will confirm the flights we reserved this morning. That Means . . . we will arrive at the airport on Friday -- check with family or the church for the time.
Obviously we were not able to complete all the passport things on Saturday but they should be done tomorrow. We checked out of the hotel around 11:45 on Saturday. Nina was ready to go at 10 am. She was very anxious/excited about leaving. We then went to the orphanage to get Gideon. They did not tell him he was leaving forever in hopes that he would not be freaked out by the car ride. All of his care givers lined up see him off. You could tell they were happy for him but were sad to see him go. We dressed him in his new clothes and then he ran into the bathroom to show his friends and kiss them all. We then headed out to Victor's van. The minute he was sure we were getting in, he began to cry and it took him an 1:10 to stop. He then just laid in my arms sort of listless until we got to Kiev, at which time he began to cry again. The Boy does not like being in the car, luckily it doesn't make him sick.
We went to church yesterday. Nina and Galla to a Ukrainian service and Papa, Mama and Gideon to an English one. I cannot tell you how good it was to be able to worship with understanding again. The service was very similar to the 9:00 at St Paul, but more extended. it was scheduled to be 2 hours but was only 1:30. Gideon was great through the singing and listened very intently. By the time for the preaching he had to go to the bathroom, so he and mama slipped out and let Papa listen to the sermon undisturbed. I (Lori) cried through a lot of the music. It was as if God reached down and said, I will carry you through all that is ahead. I am faithful. I could cry now remembering.
Today we have been out running around. It has been a good day. Nina seems to be warming back up to us and to Bruce. She does not like to be alone with him, but we are taking baby steps. Hopefully tomorrow will help. Gideon is doing better with the car rides, but it is still hard on him and anyone riding with him.
I'm not sure if we will get back to the internet before we leave. If you don't here from us, assume that plans won't change. If they do we will let you know. We love you all.
It seemed unreal when we finally got to come and now it seems unreal that we are finally coming home. Praise God we are finally coming home.
Pray for Bruce, he may have the roughest transistion because he has to be back at work on Monday. Pray for all of us for patience, love and understanding. our prayer has been that God will bind us together.
Please let Mandy E know we are praying for her daily. When she is up to it, I will bring the kids by.
Peace of Christ,BLN&G
Here is the news:
We now have a tentative flight home. We do not yet have all the passports finished but we are hopeful that it will happen tomorrow (tues.). Bruce and Nina will go with Sveta and Victor to Zhytomer, then Berdichiv, then Zhytomer and then back to Kiev. IF we get all the passports we have an appointment at the embassy at 11:30 am on Wednesdays. Both kids will have to have their medicals early that morning. Nina's will probably be more extensive because of her age. If all goes well tomorrow we will confirm the flights we reserved this morning. That Means . . . we will arrive at the airport on Friday -- check with family or the church for the time.
Obviously we were not able to complete all the passport things on Saturday but they should be done tomorrow. We checked out of the hotel around 11:45 on Saturday. Nina was ready to go at 10 am. She was very anxious/excited about leaving. We then went to the orphanage to get Gideon. They did not tell him he was leaving forever in hopes that he would not be freaked out by the car ride. All of his care givers lined up see him off. You could tell they were happy for him but were sad to see him go. We dressed him in his new clothes and then he ran into the bathroom to show his friends and kiss them all. We then headed out to Victor's van. The minute he was sure we were getting in, he began to cry and it took him an 1:10 to stop. He then just laid in my arms sort of listless until we got to Kiev, at which time he began to cry again. The Boy does not like being in the car, luckily it doesn't make him sick.
We went to church yesterday. Nina and Galla to a Ukrainian service and Papa, Mama and Gideon to an English one. I cannot tell you how good it was to be able to worship with understanding again. The service was very similar to the 9:00 at St Paul, but more extended. it was scheduled to be 2 hours but was only 1:30. Gideon was great through the singing and listened very intently. By the time for the preaching he had to go to the bathroom, so he and mama slipped out and let Papa listen to the sermon undisturbed. I (Lori) cried through a lot of the music. It was as if God reached down and said, I will carry you through all that is ahead. I am faithful. I could cry now remembering.
Today we have been out running around. It has been a good day. Nina seems to be warming back up to us and to Bruce. She does not like to be alone with him, but we are taking baby steps. Hopefully tomorrow will help. Gideon is doing better with the car rides, but it is still hard on him and anyone riding with him.
I'm not sure if we will get back to the internet before we leave. If you don't here from us, assume that plans won't change. If they do we will let you know. We love you all.
It seemed unreal when we finally got to come and now it seems unreal that we are finally coming home. Praise God we are finally coming home.
Pray for Bruce, he may have the roughest transistion because he has to be back at work on Monday. Pray for all of us for patience, love and understanding. our prayer has been that God will bind us together.
Please let Mandy E know we are praying for her daily. When she is up to it, I will bring the kids by.
Peace of Christ,BLN&G
Friday, January 19, 2007
Last Day in Amongst the Farms and Horsecarts
At least we hope it is the last day. We had the little party with Gideon's group last night and it was a big hit. You have never seen so much food disappear so quickly.
This morning we got up a little early to hit all the important offices when they opened. First the notary to sign our names again and pick up papers. Then the Civil Registration office to pick up the new birth certificates and adoption certificates. IT IS FINAL THEY ARE OURS! Now we just have to be able to get them out of this country and back into ours. When we finished that, Sveta, Viktor, and N headed off to Berdichiv to get N's second passport. Our prayer is that they will again be able to get it in one day (today) if not it will further delay our coming home.
Tomorrow we will pick up Gideon, put him in his new clothes, since he will take ABSOLUTELY nothing with him from the orphanage, I mean nothing. (I think there is a sermon in there somewhere, I'll have to think on it then pass it along to one of you preacher types.) We will put him in the van (which hopefully will go better than last time) and all of us will head out. First stop will be Zhytomer to take care of more passport issues for the 2 kids then on to Kiev. Getting to the internet maybe iffy over the next few days, but I promise we will get our flight info out.
Best case scenario we will leave here on Tuesday. Worst case scenario (I am willing to think about) we will leave on Thursday. Leaving on Wednesday is the most likely (At least we hope so.)
Pray for N, she seems very overwhelmed with everything. She has pulled back from us a little. I think she is afraid that it will all fall through and we will leave her behind. I can't imagine what she must be feeling.
N, got pretty upset with Sveta this morning because N's aunt had told her she was regestered in Novagrad-Volensky. N wanted Sveta to take the court judgement to someplace here to make sure that they released her from here. Sveta told her that she was not registered here, she was regestered in Berdichev, you could tell by the passport we had already received. N loudly told Sveta she was not right, her aunt had said she was registered here. N, almost crying in frustration, said if they didn't release her from here, they would not let her go to America. It made us feel better that even though she is pulling away from us a little she still desperately wants to come with us. (It was a very teenage moment :-)
Pray for Gideon. He seems very scared of completely new things (like the car ride) and he is in for nothing but new things. Pray that he will be able to receive comfort from us and embrace his new adventure.
Pray for us, that we will have patience, wisdom, love, ans strength to do the right things and say the right words. I have asked God a few times if he is sure he picked the right people for this job :-) As God has said he is sure we are trusting him for the strenght and grace to do the tasks before us.
Maj. Tommy, do you remember when we were in Japan and you said that people who think with the metric system judge things much differently, that instead of feet they thing centimeters? Well having ridden around in another metric country for 7 weeks, we would like to confirm you hypothesis. Centimeters, definately centimeters. [For the rest of you, that means that if they have 3 centimeters between them and the car next to them that is plenty of room, where as we English measurement people want 3 feet]
I guess we will close for now. We miss you all and are counting the days until we will FINALLY be home. Wow, is life going to be different.
Peace,
BLN&G
This morning we got up a little early to hit all the important offices when they opened. First the notary to sign our names again and pick up papers. Then the Civil Registration office to pick up the new birth certificates and adoption certificates. IT IS FINAL THEY ARE OURS! Now we just have to be able to get them out of this country and back into ours. When we finished that, Sveta, Viktor, and N headed off to Berdichiv to get N's second passport. Our prayer is that they will again be able to get it in one day (today) if not it will further delay our coming home.
Tomorrow we will pick up Gideon, put him in his new clothes, since he will take ABSOLUTELY nothing with him from the orphanage, I mean nothing. (I think there is a sermon in there somewhere, I'll have to think on it then pass it along to one of you preacher types.) We will put him in the van (which hopefully will go better than last time) and all of us will head out. First stop will be Zhytomer to take care of more passport issues for the 2 kids then on to Kiev. Getting to the internet maybe iffy over the next few days, but I promise we will get our flight info out.
Best case scenario we will leave here on Tuesday. Worst case scenario (I am willing to think about) we will leave on Thursday. Leaving on Wednesday is the most likely (At least we hope so.)
Pray for N, she seems very overwhelmed with everything. She has pulled back from us a little. I think she is afraid that it will all fall through and we will leave her behind. I can't imagine what she must be feeling.
N, got pretty upset with Sveta this morning because N's aunt had told her she was regestered in Novagrad-Volensky. N wanted Sveta to take the court judgement to someplace here to make sure that they released her from here. Sveta told her that she was not registered here, she was regestered in Berdichev, you could tell by the passport we had already received. N loudly told Sveta she was not right, her aunt had said she was registered here. N, almost crying in frustration, said if they didn't release her from here, they would not let her go to America. It made us feel better that even though she is pulling away from us a little she still desperately wants to come with us. (It was a very teenage moment :-)
Pray for Gideon. He seems very scared of completely new things (like the car ride) and he is in for nothing but new things. Pray that he will be able to receive comfort from us and embrace his new adventure.
Pray for us, that we will have patience, wisdom, love, ans strength to do the right things and say the right words. I have asked God a few times if he is sure he picked the right people for this job :-) As God has said he is sure we are trusting him for the strenght and grace to do the tasks before us.
Maj. Tommy, do you remember when we were in Japan and you said that people who think with the metric system judge things much differently, that instead of feet they thing centimeters? Well having ridden around in another metric country for 7 weeks, we would like to confirm you hypothesis. Centimeters, definately centimeters. [For the rest of you, that means that if they have 3 centimeters between them and the car next to them that is plenty of room, where as we English measurement people want 3 feet]
I guess we will close for now. We miss you all and are counting the days until we will FINALLY be home. Wow, is life going to be different.
Peace,
BLN&G
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Jan 18 one day to go
Howdy Partners!
Well we have one day to go until everything is final. Gideon is doing well. We are going to have a small party for he and his friends this afternoon for his going away. N is also fine but in full blown teenage angst, unfortunately it is all directed at Papa. It is tough to take. She is basically giving him the cold shoulder. I keep checking to see if he has frost bite. We could use some prayers on that front for sure. Sveta is going to talk to her this afternoon. We hope it helps.
I (Lori) am up and moving again. Still not great in the appetite department, but I feel much better.
Tomorrow will be very busy. We already have copies of the court judgement (PTL) and we will set off at 8 in the morning to sign paperwork for birth certificates. Then we will pick up the birth certificates and N, Sveta, and Victor will head off to Berdichiv. We are praying for another passport miracle that they will be able to get N's second passport in one day as well. It is our hope that we will be able to head to Kiev on Saturday.
We have yet to tell you about our favorite Ukrainian TV commercial. First you see this guy wakeboarding. Then they show a girl on a paddle boat (you know the kind where you have pedals that turn the paddles) then they pan out to show that the girl in the paddle boat is actually pulling the guy on the wake board. It is very funny and makesBruce long to go to the lake :-) It is for this cookie called "Super-Kontact"
I guess that about covers it for now. Keep up those prayers. We feel them and know they are carrying us. We love you and miss you all. We are entering the home stretch!
Peace,
BLN&G
Well we have one day to go until everything is final. Gideon is doing well. We are going to have a small party for he and his friends this afternoon for his going away. N is also fine but in full blown teenage angst, unfortunately it is all directed at Papa. It is tough to take. She is basically giving him the cold shoulder. I keep checking to see if he has frost bite. We could use some prayers on that front for sure. Sveta is going to talk to her this afternoon. We hope it helps.
I (Lori) am up and moving again. Still not great in the appetite department, but I feel much better.
Tomorrow will be very busy. We already have copies of the court judgement (PTL) and we will set off at 8 in the morning to sign paperwork for birth certificates. Then we will pick up the birth certificates and N, Sveta, and Victor will head off to Berdichiv. We are praying for another passport miracle that they will be able to get N's second passport in one day as well. It is our hope that we will be able to head to Kiev on Saturday.
We have yet to tell you about our favorite Ukrainian TV commercial. First you see this guy wakeboarding. Then they show a girl on a paddle boat (you know the kind where you have pedals that turn the paddles) then they pan out to show that the girl in the paddle boat is actually pulling the guy on the wake board. It is very funny and makesBruce long to go to the lake :-) It is for this cookie called "Super-Kontact"
I guess that about covers it for now. Keep up those prayers. We feel them and know they are carrying us. We love you and miss you all. We are entering the home stretch!
Peace,
BLN&G
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Jan. 17
Howdy friends and neighbors. The elbert family here (in my best Al Pernell voice). (Actually, it is only Bruce) Unfortunately, Lori woke up sick today. She was vomiting and having diarrhea. Luckily, it did not seem too severe and looks like she merely has a stomach virus. However, because of this she was not able to go to our morning session with Gideon. Gideon did well. We walked around and explored and interacted with his friend's who were also walking. Then we played on the porch, while N read one of her new books. He did come to me a couple of times and ask, "Mama?", like where is Mama? I told him, "Mama's sick," and he would say, "Oh," in a very sad voice. I'm sure she will be happy to hear that. Hopefully, by resting, Lori will feel better this afternoon and be able to go with us.
N is doing well. Sveta says that she is doing well with her English lessons, but that she will check with Sveta about her answer before she will write it down. It seems she is afraid to make a mistake, and we have noticed this in other aspects too. Lori and I feel that she may have the idea that how others view her, especially us and Sveta and Viktor, is based upon her performance. Hopefully, through experience and talks we will be able to her that we want her to do her best but that our love is unconditional. She is a very good girl, but unfortunately she still has many life lessons to learn (as do we all).
It is fun observing both N and Gideon and seeing how they are similar. They are both social butterflies and like to talk to everyone. Gideon loves to go outside and talk to everyone at the orphanage. He is such a charmer when he wants to be (which is most of the time). We just need to teach him to use his powers for good. N also loves to talk. She will talk Sveta and Viktors ear off when she is with them, and during our visits with Gideon, she will often talk with several of the caregivers. She does not talk with us as much because of the language barrier, but she has tried to say more things to us in English recently. Unfortunately, she also does not like to make mistakes and this hinders her from trying to say things in English.
Wow! The train wreck in Kentucky must have been really bad. They even picked the story up here on the Ukrainian News last night on TV. They also had a story about the ice storm in Florida.
Could everyone please pray for our friend, Mandy? She was in a car wreck a couple of days ago and broke her hip and pelvis. They are performing surgery today to fix it. Your prayers would be much appreciated.
Well, only 2 days left until the court decision is final and we can start the last bit of paperwork to come home. We can't wait to see everyone.
Oh, and one final thing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STUART. We love you and miss you. We wish we could be with you to celebrate. We hope you have a great day.
Well, got to go. We love you all.
Peace,
N is doing well. Sveta says that she is doing well with her English lessons, but that she will check with Sveta about her answer before she will write it down. It seems she is afraid to make a mistake, and we have noticed this in other aspects too. Lori and I feel that she may have the idea that how others view her, especially us and Sveta and Viktor, is based upon her performance. Hopefully, through experience and talks we will be able to her that we want her to do her best but that our love is unconditional. She is a very good girl, but unfortunately she still has many life lessons to learn (as do we all).
It is fun observing both N and Gideon and seeing how they are similar. They are both social butterflies and like to talk to everyone. Gideon loves to go outside and talk to everyone at the orphanage. He is such a charmer when he wants to be (which is most of the time). We just need to teach him to use his powers for good. N also loves to talk. She will talk Sveta and Viktors ear off when she is with them, and during our visits with Gideon, she will often talk with several of the caregivers. She does not talk with us as much because of the language barrier, but she has tried to say more things to us in English recently. Unfortunately, she also does not like to make mistakes and this hinders her from trying to say things in English.
Wow! The train wreck in Kentucky must have been really bad. They even picked the story up here on the Ukrainian News last night on TV. They also had a story about the ice storm in Florida.
Could everyone please pray for our friend, Mandy? She was in a car wreck a couple of days ago and broke her hip and pelvis. They are performing surgery today to fix it. Your prayers would be much appreciated.
Well, only 2 days left until the court decision is final and we can start the last bit of paperwork to come home. We can't wait to see everyone.
Oh, and one final thing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STUART. We love you and miss you. We wish we could be with you to celebrate. We hope you have a great day.
Well, got to go. We love you all.
Peace,
BLN&G
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jan. 16
Howdy folks from the other side of the world (unlessyou live in Europe). Things are going pretty steady here. Lori was not feeling too well last night, so she didn't go to our afternoon visit with Gideon. He did call for his Mama a few times during the visit but did fairly well. Papa and Nina played with him and chased him and walked with him. He wanted to go outside frequently last night, mainly because he is a pirate and wanted to commandeer some "booty" from unsuspecting merchants (that is he wanted to con candy out of as many people as possible). He got quite a haul. He did share some of his ill-gotten gains with his sister and one of his friends but still had 7 pieces for his own person. When Sveta showed up to check on us, N informed her that Papa spoils Gideon because he lets Gideon go wherever Gideon wants and if she was in charge it would be different. She is so 16.
Mama was feeling better this morning, so the whole family was back together again for the morning visit with Gideon. Several of his friends were out walking with the Caregivers, so we joined them. Mama and Papa were having fun playing with a couple of Gideon's friends, but the men changing out the windows on the house next door were more interesting to Gideon. (And why anyone would change windows out in January, we don't know, but they were.) When Gideon's friends went back inside, we went back to the porch to play. Mama put on the hip carrier that we brought to carry Gideon, but he was having none of that. He indicated that he was scared of it and wouldn't get close to Mama while she had it on. He was even tempted to almost kiss Papa with his beard while Mama was wearing it. However, when she took it off, she was able to get several kisses from her sunshine boy. We guess it will take more time for him to get used to it.
Well, that's all for today. We love and miss you all and can't wait to get home.
Peace,
BLN&G
Mama was feeling better this morning, so the whole family was back together again for the morning visit with Gideon. Several of his friends were out walking with the Caregivers, so we joined them. Mama and Papa were having fun playing with a couple of Gideon's friends, but the men changing out the windows on the house next door were more interesting to Gideon. (And why anyone would change windows out in January, we don't know, but they were.) When Gideon's friends went back inside, we went back to the porch to play. Mama put on the hip carrier that we brought to carry Gideon, but he was having none of that. He indicated that he was scared of it and wouldn't get close to Mama while she had it on. He was even tempted to almost kiss Papa with his beard while Mama was wearing it. However, when she took it off, she was able to get several kisses from her sunshine boy. We guess it will take more time for him to get used to it.
Well, that's all for today. We love and miss you all and can't wait to get home.
Peace,
BLN&G
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jan 15, 2007
Greetings from the windy city! Okay maybe not THE windy city but it is so windy over here this morning we thought about tying a string to Gideon and using him for a kite! (Just kidding)
We are now in our last week in Novagrad-Volinsky! Hallelujah! We are so ready to come home. Cathy M sent us pictures from the party at church. We are so blessed with such wonderful friends and family! We were overwhelmed! We long to be back home with all of you.
Things continue on well with the kids. N is spending lots of time with "Aunt" Sveta and "Uncle" Victor. They are helping her English and helping her understand what it means to be in a family. They are saying a lot of the things we would say if we could, but she may hear them better from them than from us. We are very appreciative of the ground work they are helping us lay. She asked lots of questions today about what life would be like at home. She has already figured out the way to her Papa's heart. We couldn't get to the internet yesterday because every computer was full of teenage boys playing games. So we decided to let N have the camera and lead us around town. She led us down to the river so Papa could put his hands in it. She is going to fit right in!
Gideon is a stinker-pot and the cutest little guy ever! We have some work to do on the "We don't hit" side of things. I can't wait till he is all ours and we don't have to give him back after a couple of hours (Talk to me in 3 weeks and I may be ready to hand him off for a couple of hours though!) We played with he and about 5 of his classmates on the porch today (Like I said it was too windy to take them out. I really am not sure some of the smaller ones wouldn't have been blown away by the wind.) It was fun. Bruce gave each of the kids turns being picked up and I was handing out cereal to everyone. Gideon was not real sure he wanted everyone to have his cereal, but he didn't have a say.
We finaly found someone in town that sells books. We bought N all of the Harry Potters and The Chronicles of Narnia in Russian. (well we do have to go back on Friday and pick up Harry Potter 3). She was very excited. I think she is still amazed that we are buying her stuff! When I handed her the books (all hard back) she was surprised at the weight and told Sveta she could kill someone with the weight of the books!
Todays funnies:
We are now in our last week in Novagrad-Volinsky! Hallelujah! We are so ready to come home. Cathy M sent us pictures from the party at church. We are so blessed with such wonderful friends and family! We were overwhelmed! We long to be back home with all of you.
Things continue on well with the kids. N is spending lots of time with "Aunt" Sveta and "Uncle" Victor. They are helping her English and helping her understand what it means to be in a family. They are saying a lot of the things we would say if we could, but she may hear them better from them than from us. We are very appreciative of the ground work they are helping us lay. She asked lots of questions today about what life would be like at home. She has already figured out the way to her Papa's heart. We couldn't get to the internet yesterday because every computer was full of teenage boys playing games. So we decided to let N have the camera and lead us around town. She led us down to the river so Papa could put his hands in it. She is going to fit right in!
Gideon is a stinker-pot and the cutest little guy ever! We have some work to do on the "We don't hit" side of things. I can't wait till he is all ours and we don't have to give him back after a couple of hours (Talk to me in 3 weeks and I may be ready to hand him off for a couple of hours though!) We played with he and about 5 of his classmates on the porch today (Like I said it was too windy to take them out. I really am not sure some of the smaller ones wouldn't have been blown away by the wind.) It was fun. Bruce gave each of the kids turns being picked up and I was handing out cereal to everyone. Gideon was not real sure he wanted everyone to have his cereal, but he didn't have a say.
We finaly found someone in town that sells books. We bought N all of the Harry Potters and The Chronicles of Narnia in Russian. (well we do have to go back on Friday and pick up Harry Potter 3). She was very excited. I think she is still amazed that we are buying her stuff! When I handed her the books (all hard back) she was surprised at the weight and told Sveta she could kill someone with the weight of the books!
Todays funnies:
- They really like concert type shows on TV. N was flipping through last night and stopped on just such a show. At first we thought it was a boyband. But no! It was an Accordian Playing pop star! NO LIE -- ACCORDIAN. Complete with boy band dancers around him. He even had a few dance moves himself with the Accordian strapped on. He was all in white and his accordian was white. Kind of reminded me of Liberache (except this guy was cute and younger). Actually he seemed to be quite a good player -but accordian pop music? Who knew?
- Another steller piece of Ukrainian TV: The movie was call "Shaolin Soccer." It was a Chinese film that had been dubbed into English and then over dubbed in Ukrainian. It was Histarical. If you can get your hands on a copy it would be worth a laugh.
Just a brief word of thanks to our wonderful friends at St Paul. You are the best! We are so grateful for all you have done for us. We miss you terribly! We love you dearly!
Well I guess that's all for this installment of Life in Novagrad-Volensky. Tune in tomorrow when mama will say, "No Gideon, We don't hit."
Peace,
BLN&G
Saturday, January 13, 2007
January 13, 2007
Let me answer the question most of you seem to be asking. We still don't know exactly when we will get to come home. On Friday, Jan 19th the adoptions will be final (That will be our "Gotcha Day" ie the day we will celebrate the day we Got them). We will receive all the paperwork from the court hopefully bright and early that morning (they open at 8 am). We will then go to the office that will issue their new birth certificates. That office has promised to turn our the new birth certificates in 2-3 hours (that is incredibly fast for here.)
Now is when the process gets sticky. Gideon will then be ready to head to Kiev for medicals and embassy appointments. N on the other hand, will need to get her second passport (Ukrainian with her new name) before she is ready to head to Kiev. This will require another trip to Birdichiv and a trip to Zhytomer (None of these name spelling are correct so they may not help you find them on the map) We know the passport office in Berdichiv is only open on Tues., Thurs., & Sat. We are not sure if we will be able to submit the passport stuff on Sat or if we will have to wait till the next Tues. N cannot go to the American embassy in Kiev to get her american passport until she has received her Ukrainian passport in her new name. Thankfully N has already done all her medicals so that is out of the way. We will not know when we can schedule our flight until we know what will happen with N's passport
In case you are wondering, Lori has decided that childbirth would be easier (although she has never been through it. It would certainly be faster!). But we wouldn't trade our kids for anything in the world.
We are all beginning to get restless. We are ready to move on and get out of here. N especially seems to be growing a little bored. But she is 16, boredom is what they do best, Right? Gideon was better today and didn't seem to hold the car ride against us. Mama got lots of kisses today (she was trading cereal for kisses if the truth were known) Papa didn't. Gideon just won't kiss the beard.
Funny for Ukraine: If you think soap operas are bad, try watching them in a language you don't understand. It makes you want to bash your head against a wall! (N is a bit of a TV junkie)
We will sign off for today. We are holding each of you in our hearts and yearn to hear the wheels of the plane touch down at home.
PeaceBLN&G
Let me answer the question most of you seem to be asking. We still don't know exactly when we will get to come home. On Friday, Jan 19th the adoptions will be final (That will be our "Gotcha Day" ie the day we will celebrate the day we Got them). We will receive all the paperwork from the court hopefully bright and early that morning (they open at 8 am). We will then go to the office that will issue their new birth certificates. That office has promised to turn our the new birth certificates in 2-3 hours (that is incredibly fast for here.)
Now is when the process gets sticky. Gideon will then be ready to head to Kiev for medicals and embassy appointments. N on the other hand, will need to get her second passport (Ukrainian with her new name) before she is ready to head to Kiev. This will require another trip to Birdichiv and a trip to Zhytomer (None of these name spelling are correct so they may not help you find them on the map) We know the passport office in Berdichiv is only open on Tues., Thurs., & Sat. We are not sure if we will be able to submit the passport stuff on Sat or if we will have to wait till the next Tues. N cannot go to the American embassy in Kiev to get her american passport until she has received her Ukrainian passport in her new name. Thankfully N has already done all her medicals so that is out of the way. We will not know when we can schedule our flight until we know what will happen with N's passport
In case you are wondering, Lori has decided that childbirth would be easier (although she has never been through it. It would certainly be faster!). But we wouldn't trade our kids for anything in the world.
We are all beginning to get restless. We are ready to move on and get out of here. N especially seems to be growing a little bored. But she is 16, boredom is what they do best, Right? Gideon was better today and didn't seem to hold the car ride against us. Mama got lots of kisses today (she was trading cereal for kisses if the truth were known) Papa didn't. Gideon just won't kiss the beard.
Funny for Ukraine: If you think soap operas are bad, try watching them in a language you don't understand. It makes you want to bash your head against a wall! (N is a bit of a TV junkie)
We will sign off for today. We are holding each of you in our hearts and yearn to hear the wheels of the plane touch down at home.
PeaceBLN&G
Friday, January 12, 2007
Jan. 12, 2007
Not a whole lot to tell today. We received the box from our friends at home with clothes and gifts for the kids. Thank you so much for all your generosity and thanks to the Chancel Choir for footing the bill to send the box. You saved us loads of time and money because now we only have few things to buy for the kids to get them home :-)
Gideon went for his first car ride today. He did not enjoy it. It was either his first time in a van or the only time he has riden in a van was to the hospital or some such traumatic place. He screamed and cried the whole time he was in the van. Poor little guy, he was so scared. We went to get his picture taken for his passport. He was cute but very serious in his picture. The ride back to the orphanage was not quite so traumatic but he still cried the whole way.
When we got back his buddies were outside for a walk (it is a beautiful, relatively warm day) When he saw them, he ramped his crying back up as he walked over to them. All his little friends gathered around and started patting his head to comfort him. It was so precious! He is really going to miss all his friends and the caregivers who have taken such good care of him.
N reallt enjoys her video games. She came with us to the internet today and is playing games next to me. She likes the games but she doesn't have the patience to wait through a long story line intro. She is quite a hoot. She has begun to feel a little more comfortable trying out some of her English. She is saying "I like" or "I don't like" It is very helpful. It is also fun to see her excitement over our upcoming trip and the goodies that were for her in the box. She loved opening the wrapped gifts that were in the box so much she even wanted to open Gideon's. Knowing what will be waiting for her when we get home, I can't wait to see how she will react!
I guess that is about all for today. We love and miss everyone. We can't wait for our time here to be at an end even though it will mean some difficult times adjusting for all of us.
Peace,BLN&G
PS. Please say an extra prayer for Lori. She has been struggling with migraines over the last two weeks. They are not severe, but they are annoying and sap her energy. Thanks.
Not a whole lot to tell today. We received the box from our friends at home with clothes and gifts for the kids. Thank you so much for all your generosity and thanks to the Chancel Choir for footing the bill to send the box. You saved us loads of time and money because now we only have few things to buy for the kids to get them home :-)
Gideon went for his first car ride today. He did not enjoy it. It was either his first time in a van or the only time he has riden in a van was to the hospital or some such traumatic place. He screamed and cried the whole time he was in the van. Poor little guy, he was so scared. We went to get his picture taken for his passport. He was cute but very serious in his picture. The ride back to the orphanage was not quite so traumatic but he still cried the whole way.
When we got back his buddies were outside for a walk (it is a beautiful, relatively warm day) When he saw them, he ramped his crying back up as he walked over to them. All his little friends gathered around and started patting his head to comfort him. It was so precious! He is really going to miss all his friends and the caregivers who have taken such good care of him.
N reallt enjoys her video games. She came with us to the internet today and is playing games next to me. She likes the games but she doesn't have the patience to wait through a long story line intro. She is quite a hoot. She has begun to feel a little more comfortable trying out some of her English. She is saying "I like" or "I don't like" It is very helpful. It is also fun to see her excitement over our upcoming trip and the goodies that were for her in the box. She loved opening the wrapped gifts that were in the box so much she even wanted to open Gideon's. Knowing what will be waiting for her when we get home, I can't wait to see how she will react!
I guess that is about all for today. We love and miss everyone. We can't wait for our time here to be at an end even though it will mean some difficult times adjusting for all of us.
Peace,BLN&G
PS. Please say an extra prayer for Lori. She has been struggling with migraines over the last two weeks. They are not severe, but they are annoying and sap her energy. Thanks.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Jan 11, 2007
Greetings friends.
Thank you so much for your kind notes of celebration and encouragement on yesterday's post. I have had a few moments in the last several days where I have thought, "Well, God, I never saw this coming!" It is always an adventure when you let God set the course. I wouldn't have it any other way!
Some of you have asked when the kids will be with us. N is already staying with us because of her age and unique circumstances. It is fun. She loves to play cards and is very competative. [Yes, Oma, dominoes would be a good thing too. And wait till you get her at the hand and foot table!] Her English is improving daily. This morning she read one of Gideon's books with Papa. I don't think she actually comprehended a whole lot but she is doing a good job of sounding out the words! Have I mentioned that she's very smart! Papa and N were playing ball with a stuffed animal last night (Gideon was cranky and Mama was dealing with him) She has a lot of natural athleticism. Papa is already envisioning going to her volleyball and soccer games. Nina has also begun to ask more questions about what life will be life in America.
Gideon will remain at the orphanage until Jan 19th. At that point we can take him whenever it is most convenient for us. {I'm not sure how we would do with all 4 of us in our little hotel room}
Gideon was being a bit of a stinker yesterday, but was much better today. We have been kicked out of our latest play room so we are back to the porch of his room. This is fine except that they are hyper-worried about the kids getting cold. So Gideon has to leave on all of his cold weather gear. He gets so hot! He has usually sweat through the sweatshirt he is wearing by the time we go back inside. I have the feeling that the workers may think we are unfit to be parents since we don't keep him bundled up like a michelin man every second he is not with them. It is frustrating. It is hard to continue to grow the relationship when we are constantly changing the routine and having care givers walk in and out. But the end is in sight!
Okay, some more funny things. There is a TV program over here that is an EXACT copy of 3's Company. We even think they copied some of the scripts. We saw 2 grandpa's riding together on a Vespa (motorscooter). Imagine this for a date. The guy is wearing a suit pedaling a bike. His girl is sitting in front of him riding the bike side sadle in her nice long coat and 4 inch stileto heals. THe guy has 2 fresh fish (like they were breathing in the tank 5 minutes ago) in a plastic bag in his right hand as he steers. (Can you picture it?) To top it all off it was Christmas Eve!
I guess that about covers today's adventures. Hopefully we will have more fun and adventures to post tomorrow.
Peace,
BLN&G
Thank you so much for your kind notes of celebration and encouragement on yesterday's post. I have had a few moments in the last several days where I have thought, "Well, God, I never saw this coming!" It is always an adventure when you let God set the course. I wouldn't have it any other way!
Some of you have asked when the kids will be with us. N is already staying with us because of her age and unique circumstances. It is fun. She loves to play cards and is very competative. [Yes, Oma, dominoes would be a good thing too. And wait till you get her at the hand and foot table!] Her English is improving daily. This morning she read one of Gideon's books with Papa. I don't think she actually comprehended a whole lot but she is doing a good job of sounding out the words! Have I mentioned that she's very smart! Papa and N were playing ball with a stuffed animal last night (Gideon was cranky and Mama was dealing with him) She has a lot of natural athleticism. Papa is already envisioning going to her volleyball and soccer games. Nina has also begun to ask more questions about what life will be life in America.
Gideon will remain at the orphanage until Jan 19th. At that point we can take him whenever it is most convenient for us. {I'm not sure how we would do with all 4 of us in our little hotel room}
Gideon was being a bit of a stinker yesterday, but was much better today. We have been kicked out of our latest play room so we are back to the porch of his room. This is fine except that they are hyper-worried about the kids getting cold. So Gideon has to leave on all of his cold weather gear. He gets so hot! He has usually sweat through the sweatshirt he is wearing by the time we go back inside. I have the feeling that the workers may think we are unfit to be parents since we don't keep him bundled up like a michelin man every second he is not with them. It is frustrating. It is hard to continue to grow the relationship when we are constantly changing the routine and having care givers walk in and out. But the end is in sight!
Okay, some more funny things. There is a TV program over here that is an EXACT copy of 3's Company. We even think they copied some of the scripts. We saw 2 grandpa's riding together on a Vespa (motorscooter). Imagine this for a date. The guy is wearing a suit pedaling a bike. His girl is sitting in front of him riding the bike side sadle in her nice long coat and 4 inch stileto heals. THe guy has 2 fresh fish (like they were breathing in the tank 5 minutes ago) in a plastic bag in his right hand as he steers. (Can you picture it?) To top it all off it was Christmas Eve!
I guess that about covers today's adventures. Hopefully we will have more fun and adventures to post tomorrow.
Peace,
BLN&G
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
WE ARE SO SORRY
Title: We are so sorry!
We are so sorry that we didn't make it to the internet yesterday. We know you were all on pins and needles waiting to hear but we were in court for A LONG TIME! It started at 11 and we weren't finished until around 2:30! By the time we finished lunch it was too late to come back into town and get online.
The judge was very thorough. For a little while we were afraid she was going to read every document in our Dossier. Thankfully she didn't. She did ask everyone in the court their opinion about the adoption. Then they took an hour long recess that turned into an hour and a half at least. Finally she came back and read the decision. The court approved our request!! It will not be final until after the 10 day waiting period (Jan 19) But the decision is made. Now all we have to do is wait and get their passports! Easy with Gideon; Difficult with N because she is 16.
N had to stand before the judge and say that she wanted to be adopted by us and the judge asked her several questions. She was very brave and answered well. We had given her a small Teddy Bear we brought from home on Sunday. She brought the bear with her to court and fiddled with it the whole time she was talking to the judge. Such a brave girl!
We thought we would be able to get the heck out of Dodge, I mean Novagrad-Volensky on that Friday. The Passport issue complicates that. We are not sure at this point what our itenerary will be. I would like to get back to Kiev as soon as we can, but we may end up being here through that weekend. Who knows? Not us at this point.
I still think we are looking at a return date between Jan 24 and 26. The sooner the better in my book.
We took N shopping this morning for a few items. I think she was a little overwhelmed by the freedom of choice she had, and the fact that we were there soley to buy her stuff. Wait till she hits the malls at home! Talk about overwhelmed.
Gideon is still doing well. We played outside today which was good but it is very distracting for him. He must talk to everyone that comes by: tell them that the manhole cover is off so there is a big hole in the ground and ask for candy. He didn't seem too upset with us that we missed seeing him yesterday.
Well, that is all for now. We miss you all terribly. I want the days to fly by, but I am afraid they will crawl. Two weeks left and counting.
Peace
BLN&G
We are so sorry that we didn't make it to the internet yesterday. We know you were all on pins and needles waiting to hear but we were in court for A LONG TIME! It started at 11 and we weren't finished until around 2:30! By the time we finished lunch it was too late to come back into town and get online.
The judge was very thorough. For a little while we were afraid she was going to read every document in our Dossier. Thankfully she didn't. She did ask everyone in the court their opinion about the adoption. Then they took an hour long recess that turned into an hour and a half at least. Finally she came back and read the decision. The court approved our request!! It will not be final until after the 10 day waiting period (Jan 19) But the decision is made. Now all we have to do is wait and get their passports! Easy with Gideon; Difficult with N because she is 16.
N had to stand before the judge and say that she wanted to be adopted by us and the judge asked her several questions. She was very brave and answered well. We had given her a small Teddy Bear we brought from home on Sunday. She brought the bear with her to court and fiddled with it the whole time she was talking to the judge. Such a brave girl!
We thought we would be able to get the heck out of Dodge, I mean Novagrad-Volensky on that Friday. The Passport issue complicates that. We are not sure at this point what our itenerary will be. I would like to get back to Kiev as soon as we can, but we may end up being here through that weekend. Who knows? Not us at this point.
I still think we are looking at a return date between Jan 24 and 26. The sooner the better in my book.
We took N shopping this morning for a few items. I think she was a little overwhelmed by the freedom of choice she had, and the fact that we were there soley to buy her stuff. Wait till she hits the malls at home! Talk about overwhelmed.
Gideon is still doing well. We played outside today which was good but it is very distracting for him. He must talk to everyone that comes by: tell them that the manhole cover is off so there is a big hole in the ground and ask for candy. He didn't seem too upset with us that we missed seeing him yesterday.
Well, that is all for now. We miss you all terribly. I want the days to fly by, but I am afraid they will crawl. Two weeks left and counting.
Peace
BLN&G
Monday, January 8, 2007
1 Day to Go
That's right by this time tomorrow we will be posting up the results of the court appearance! I can't believe we have finally gotten to this point. The Stewarts went home last Thursday; the Deihls went home Sunday night and we FINALLY have our court date tomorrow. When we were leaving for Ukraine we were the last ones to the airport. Lori said to Kathy, "Well we live the closest to the airport and we are the last ones here." Kathy replied saying she hoped it wasn't a sign. Apparently it was.
N is back from Russia. She said the trip was fine, but I'm not convinced it was. It is good to have her back and she seems glad to be with us as well. We gave her the teddy bear we brought with us last night as a Christmas gift and she was extremely pleased with it. (Every girl needs a teddy bear, I don't care how old you are!) N continues to work on her English and Sveta seems please with her progress. She is quite different from Gideon. Where Gideon wants to be the center of attention, N is rather shy and doesn't seem to want the spotlight at all. We will have to be careful introducing her into the youth group so she is not overwhelmed by all the attention.
Gideon continues to be the life of the party. He likes to be picked up now especially if there are some acrobatics involves (airplane rides, flying, etc.) He is quite comfortable crawling on us now and recognized N immediately. He even came up with a close proximity to her name. Quite impressive since all other young women are "ana"
Yesterday we visited a Russian Orthodox Abbey that is about 30 minutes from here. It was quite beautiful and there was definately the sense of the "Holy" that hung about the place. The abbey itself was built in 1500. It makes you realize how young our country is. The door into the church (and the grounds themselves) were very short. Sveta says this is so you have to bow and humble yourself to enter. The people were definately humble and reverant as they worshiped, but it did make me sad that they basically just watched -- no listened as the priest and liturgist performed the rituals. I say listened because most of the actual actions of worship occur behind the large screen (anastasis) that seperates the main room from the holy place. There is much to be admired about orthodox worship but I just can't help feeling that they left the people behind. (unfortunatly we couldn't take any pictures)
Well, I guess that will do it for now. We miss everyone so much! We look forward to the day when we will be home again! We look forward to being able to post good news about our court date tomorrow. Please continue to pray for us, that the judge will move things along swiftly (remember they have never done an international adoption in this region). Thanks you so much for your love and support, they mean the world to us!
Peace of Christ
BLN&G
N is back from Russia. She said the trip was fine, but I'm not convinced it was. It is good to have her back and she seems glad to be with us as well. We gave her the teddy bear we brought with us last night as a Christmas gift and she was extremely pleased with it. (Every girl needs a teddy bear, I don't care how old you are!) N continues to work on her English and Sveta seems please with her progress. She is quite different from Gideon. Where Gideon wants to be the center of attention, N is rather shy and doesn't seem to want the spotlight at all. We will have to be careful introducing her into the youth group so she is not overwhelmed by all the attention.
Gideon continues to be the life of the party. He likes to be picked up now especially if there are some acrobatics involves (airplane rides, flying, etc.) He is quite comfortable crawling on us now and recognized N immediately. He even came up with a close proximity to her name. Quite impressive since all other young women are "ana"
Yesterday we visited a Russian Orthodox Abbey that is about 30 minutes from here. It was quite beautiful and there was definately the sense of the "Holy" that hung about the place. The abbey itself was built in 1500. It makes you realize how young our country is. The door into the church (and the grounds themselves) were very short. Sveta says this is so you have to bow and humble yourself to enter. The people were definately humble and reverant as they worshiped, but it did make me sad that they basically just watched -- no listened as the priest and liturgist performed the rituals. I say listened because most of the actual actions of worship occur behind the large screen (anastasis) that seperates the main room from the holy place. There is much to be admired about orthodox worship but I just can't help feeling that they left the people behind. (unfortunatly we couldn't take any pictures)
Well, I guess that will do it for now. We miss everyone so much! We look forward to the day when we will be home again! We look forward to being able to post good news about our court date tomorrow. Please continue to pray for us, that the judge will move things along swiftly (remember they have never done an international adoption in this region). Thanks you so much for your love and support, they mean the world to us!
Peace of Christ
BLN&G
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Happy Epiphany!
Well children here are gearing up for the appearance of Santa Claus tonight. We continue in our same routine. We are anxiously awaiting the return of N hopefully tonight and we will hopefully see her tomorrow -- but we the holidays we may not see her then either.
Gideon has not been feeling great the last couple of visits. He has been a little droopy but still very cute. It has allowed for a little more cuddling. He also wasn't ready for us to leave this morning. I ended up carrying him back into his room and then he was fine -- very cute as he kissed us both goodbye and then blew us kisses.
We took him out for a walk and he was trying all his tricks to get anyone he could to give him candy. I think the boy could be sick to his stomach and still eat candy by the handfuls.
We are still trying to decide what would be the best thing for N as far as schools go. We have looked into the ESL programs in the local public schools and they seem good, but we worry about dumping her in more than half way through the school year. We were wondering what some other people have done who adopted older children. We were thinking about maybe getting a tutor and homeschooling her for the rest of this year, focusing on English of course. [Sveta thinks this is the way to go.] Our hope would be that her English would be good enough by next fall that she could be pretty much mainstreamed into regular classes. We would love the opinions of those who have walked this road before us.
Can someone let me know when Ash Wednesday is?
I'm not sure if we will be able to get to the internet on the 7th and 8th, it is their Christmas holiday. If you don't see anything new up that will be why. I hate the thought of the interuption in communication, we miss being able to read your notes and know what is going on at home. We were glad to hear that Boar's Head went well. We knew it would. Now y'all take it easy on Will and Erin for a few weeks!
Our court date fast approaches. We are anxious to get on the other side of it so we can start the real count down to going home. Pray that the court hearing goes smoothly (I think the director of N's school will make trouble if she can.) Pray that N will grasp Englsih quickly -- the sooner she can communicate the sooner she will feel comfortable in her new home. Pray that we will all stay healthy.
Well, I guess that is all for now. We love and miss you all. Hug each other for us.
Peace
BLN&G
Gideon has not been feeling great the last couple of visits. He has been a little droopy but still very cute. It has allowed for a little more cuddling. He also wasn't ready for us to leave this morning. I ended up carrying him back into his room and then he was fine -- very cute as he kissed us both goodbye and then blew us kisses.
We took him out for a walk and he was trying all his tricks to get anyone he could to give him candy. I think the boy could be sick to his stomach and still eat candy by the handfuls.
We are still trying to decide what would be the best thing for N as far as schools go. We have looked into the ESL programs in the local public schools and they seem good, but we worry about dumping her in more than half way through the school year. We were wondering what some other people have done who adopted older children. We were thinking about maybe getting a tutor and homeschooling her for the rest of this year, focusing on English of course. [Sveta thinks this is the way to go.] Our hope would be that her English would be good enough by next fall that she could be pretty much mainstreamed into regular classes. We would love the opinions of those who have walked this road before us.
Can someone let me know when Ash Wednesday is?
I'm not sure if we will be able to get to the internet on the 7th and 8th, it is their Christmas holiday. If you don't see anything new up that will be why. I hate the thought of the interuption in communication, we miss being able to read your notes and know what is going on at home. We were glad to hear that Boar's Head went well. We knew it would. Now y'all take it easy on Will and Erin for a few weeks!
Our court date fast approaches. We are anxious to get on the other side of it so we can start the real count down to going home. Pray that the court hearing goes smoothly (I think the director of N's school will make trouble if she can.) Pray that N will grasp Englsih quickly -- the sooner she can communicate the sooner she will feel comfortable in her new home. Pray that we will all stay healthy.
Well, I guess that is all for now. We love and miss you all. Hug each other for us.
Peace
BLN&G
Friday, January 5, 2007
Title: Thunder over Novagrad-Volensky
We were treated to another fireworks display last night. There were a couple of young men who had set up in front of the hotel apparently as part of a party that was going on in the resturant. They put on a pretty good show complete with music and coordinated firings. It was fun to watch and we had a great view from our window. Of course it was just us and 30 of our friends as opposed to us and half a million of our friends. And you would never go to thunder of Louisville in your PJ's. Okay some of you might, but we wouldn't.
Gideon is great! He has determined that my (Lori's) lap is his territory and now spends a good portion of our visits sitting there. He is also jealous when Papa picks up one of the other kids from his group. He was given an apple this morning and ate the whole thing -- I mean all of it. I felt lucky that I managed to get the stem away from him before he ate that too! Poor little guy was having some gas pains this morning :-( We now know that he can be quite pitiful when he feels bad. He did let me carry him back his room from our play room. He only wanted down when we got to the door of his room. It made Mama happy! He is such a cutey! [Have I mentioned that there are some real cuties in his group too? Little boys with eyes that sparkle and grins that would steal your heart!]
We expect Nina back tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing her. We have missed her very much!
We did have a difference of opinion with some of the caregivers/workers at the orphanage last night. Gideon was in trouble because he had drawn on the desk and then hit me (hit at me might be more accurate), so he was in time out in my lap. He was beginning to wind down and it would have been over in another minute or two but one of his buddies, Dada (Ukrainian for Uncle -- all men are Dada) came in, apparently told Gideon he needed to shape up and then gave him 5 yes FIVE pieces of candy! On his heels was the Babboshka who also gave him a stern talking to and then proceeded to put his coat on him and take him back to his room so that he could go to the bathroom! We didn't know if she would bring him back or not, but just as I was about to go look for them, they came around the corner. We were so frustrated! Who gives a 3 year old 5 pieces of candy at once?! I mean a large piece of chocolate and 4 hard candies! He had already bamboozaled the secretaries out of 3 large chocolates that morning! ARGH! And of course he wanted all the candy RIGHT NOW! We had another tussled over my not handing them all over when he got back from the bathroom. I've never seen anyone eat hard candy so fast. Man do we have some battles ahead ;-) So for at least the next 6 months there will be no candy in our house. It will take us a while to break him of the habit. Thankfully he eats all food with just as must gusto as he does candy -- he just prefers the candy.
Well that's all for now from the exciting Elbert adventures!
We love and miss each one of you.
Lantz, I am so proud of you! Will you be able to fix my speeding tickets now?
PeaceBLN&G
We were treated to another fireworks display last night. There were a couple of young men who had set up in front of the hotel apparently as part of a party that was going on in the resturant. They put on a pretty good show complete with music and coordinated firings. It was fun to watch and we had a great view from our window. Of course it was just us and 30 of our friends as opposed to us and half a million of our friends. And you would never go to thunder of Louisville in your PJ's. Okay some of you might, but we wouldn't.
Gideon is great! He has determined that my (Lori's) lap is his territory and now spends a good portion of our visits sitting there. He is also jealous when Papa picks up one of the other kids from his group. He was given an apple this morning and ate the whole thing -- I mean all of it. I felt lucky that I managed to get the stem away from him before he ate that too! Poor little guy was having some gas pains this morning :-( We now know that he can be quite pitiful when he feels bad. He did let me carry him back his room from our play room. He only wanted down when we got to the door of his room. It made Mama happy! He is such a cutey! [Have I mentioned that there are some real cuties in his group too? Little boys with eyes that sparkle and grins that would steal your heart!]
We expect Nina back tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing her. We have missed her very much!
We did have a difference of opinion with some of the caregivers/workers at the orphanage last night. Gideon was in trouble because he had drawn on the desk and then hit me (hit at me might be more accurate), so he was in time out in my lap. He was beginning to wind down and it would have been over in another minute or two but one of his buddies, Dada (Ukrainian for Uncle -- all men are Dada) came in, apparently told Gideon he needed to shape up and then gave him 5 yes FIVE pieces of candy! On his heels was the Babboshka who also gave him a stern talking to and then proceeded to put his coat on him and take him back to his room so that he could go to the bathroom! We didn't know if she would bring him back or not, but just as I was about to go look for them, they came around the corner. We were so frustrated! Who gives a 3 year old 5 pieces of candy at once?! I mean a large piece of chocolate and 4 hard candies! He had already bamboozaled the secretaries out of 3 large chocolates that morning! ARGH! And of course he wanted all the candy RIGHT NOW! We had another tussled over my not handing them all over when he got back from the bathroom. I've never seen anyone eat hard candy so fast. Man do we have some battles ahead ;-) So for at least the next 6 months there will be no candy in our house. It will take us a while to break him of the habit. Thankfully he eats all food with just as must gusto as he does candy -- he just prefers the candy.
Well that's all for now from the exciting Elbert adventures!
We love and miss each one of you.
Lantz, I am so proud of you! Will you be able to fix my speeding tickets now?
PeaceBLN&G
Thursday, January 4, 2007
January 4
Jan 4
I think I am fresh out of clever ways to start this thing. Oh well. Things continue to go well. Just 5 more days 'till our court date. I am hopeful that the days will begin spinning fast now.
Gideon continues to do well. He allows Bruce to carry him for longer periods of time and spend almost the entire session this morning on my lap :-) He seems to be gathering more and more comfort and strength from us and even seemed to be trying to extend out time together this morning. He also ran to us with a big smile! During the afternoon sessions it is quite dark so the noises of people moving around outside our little room can be a little scary, Gideon quickly backs into one of us for comfort when he hears those scary noises.
We now know that N is indeed in Russian with her Aunt. N called the inspector here at home before the new year and told her (the inspector) that she (Nina) was going on the trip. The inspector had left Sveta's number at wrok, which is closed this week, so we did not find out until last night when Sveta called the inspector. It is good to know, but we still are going to have that talk about knowing plans ahead of time :-) [In Nina's defense, she may not have known] We are glad she is taking this trip. This may be the last time she will have with these relatives, at least for a long time.
Thank you so much for the emails and prayers. I wish we had time to send each of you an individual email to say how much we love and miss you. But this will have to suffice.
Here is today's humor from Ukraine: Pickles seem to be a major food item over here. They put them in everything. I have seen pickles on pizza and in soup. There is in fact "Pickle Soup" think about that the next time you are eating pickles on your hamburger.
Peace of Christ,
BLN&G
I think I am fresh out of clever ways to start this thing. Oh well. Things continue to go well. Just 5 more days 'till our court date. I am hopeful that the days will begin spinning fast now.
Gideon continues to do well. He allows Bruce to carry him for longer periods of time and spend almost the entire session this morning on my lap :-) He seems to be gathering more and more comfort and strength from us and even seemed to be trying to extend out time together this morning. He also ran to us with a big smile! During the afternoon sessions it is quite dark so the noises of people moving around outside our little room can be a little scary, Gideon quickly backs into one of us for comfort when he hears those scary noises.
We now know that N is indeed in Russian with her Aunt. N called the inspector here at home before the new year and told her (the inspector) that she (Nina) was going on the trip. The inspector had left Sveta's number at wrok, which is closed this week, so we did not find out until last night when Sveta called the inspector. It is good to know, but we still are going to have that talk about knowing plans ahead of time :-) [In Nina's defense, she may not have known] We are glad she is taking this trip. This may be the last time she will have with these relatives, at least for a long time.
Thank you so much for the emails and prayers. I wish we had time to send each of you an individual email to say how much we love and miss you. But this will have to suffice.
Here is today's humor from Ukraine: Pickles seem to be a major food item over here. They put them in everything. I have seen pickles on pizza and in soup. There is in fact "Pickle Soup" think about that the next time you are eating pickles on your hamburger.
Peace of Christ,
BLN&G
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Back in Town
Howdy Partners,
We are now back in Novagrad-Volensky. We have seen Gideon 2 times since we last posted and he is doing well. He was a little more difficult last night, but I think he was probably acting out a little bit because we had missed 2 visits because of our brief jaunt to Kiev. He is a sunshiney little stinker-pot and he can turn on the charm before you can think. This morning he had a lesson on "When Mama says No, Papa will also say no." He wanted some paints to play with which I said "no" to. He then promplty squirmed out of my arms and called for Papa. Papa picked him up and he started pointing to the paints and saying the word that in Gideon-language means "I want that" Papa also said no and Gideon was not a happy camper BUT he did allow Bruce to carry him for several minutes. This is a first as he doesn't really like to be carried. He aslo spent several minutes sitting in my lap coloring and even indicated that he wanted me to put him on my lap. That is also a first. He even sat in Papa's lap for a few minutes (also a first). I'd say it was a good day.
We haven't seen Nina since she went to get her passport. We are not especially worried about this, we know she is with her aunt and Sveta thinks they might have gone to Russia for the holidays. (Not my idea of a holiday destination, but then again I tend to go to Texas in the summer when it is hottest so who am I to say?) When she gets back, we will have a long talk with Nina about letting us know where she will be and when (I already sound like the parent of a teenager ;-( We do miss her and miss the chances we are having to build relationship with her and help her begin to get some more English under her belt, but we have no misgivings about bringing her home with us.
By the way, some of you have noticed that Nina's hands seemed to be clinched in some of the picture. She severely broke her left arm 3 years ago and it was poorly set. So she has lost a lot of mobility in her left hand, that is why that hand looks clinched. She still used that hand fairly well and it certainly doesn't slow her down much. Luckily she is right handed (Although I have a sneaking suspician that Gideon is left handed -- he draws and throws with his left. he eats with which ever hand has the food in it and can get it to his mouth the quickest :-)
We are settled back into our hotel room for the long haul. We continue to walk the path set for us and we are trusting that when we get all of us back home these weeks will float away like a distant dream.
Lori is missing Mexican food! Bruce is missing basketball season! We miss our family and friends most of all.
Peace,
BLN&G
We are now back in Novagrad-Volensky. We have seen Gideon 2 times since we last posted and he is doing well. He was a little more difficult last night, but I think he was probably acting out a little bit because we had missed 2 visits because of our brief jaunt to Kiev. He is a sunshiney little stinker-pot and he can turn on the charm before you can think. This morning he had a lesson on "When Mama says No, Papa will also say no." He wanted some paints to play with which I said "no" to. He then promplty squirmed out of my arms and called for Papa. Papa picked him up and he started pointing to the paints and saying the word that in Gideon-language means "I want that" Papa also said no and Gideon was not a happy camper BUT he did allow Bruce to carry him for several minutes. This is a first as he doesn't really like to be carried. He aslo spent several minutes sitting in my lap coloring and even indicated that he wanted me to put him on my lap. That is also a first. He even sat in Papa's lap for a few minutes (also a first). I'd say it was a good day.
We haven't seen Nina since she went to get her passport. We are not especially worried about this, we know she is with her aunt and Sveta thinks they might have gone to Russia for the holidays. (Not my idea of a holiday destination, but then again I tend to go to Texas in the summer when it is hottest so who am I to say?) When she gets back, we will have a long talk with Nina about letting us know where she will be and when (I already sound like the parent of a teenager ;-( We do miss her and miss the chances we are having to build relationship with her and help her begin to get some more English under her belt, but we have no misgivings about bringing her home with us.
By the way, some of you have noticed that Nina's hands seemed to be clinched in some of the picture. She severely broke her left arm 3 years ago and it was poorly set. So she has lost a lot of mobility in her left hand, that is why that hand looks clinched. She still used that hand fairly well and it certainly doesn't slow her down much. Luckily she is right handed (Although I have a sneaking suspician that Gideon is left handed -- he draws and throws with his left. he eats with which ever hand has the food in it and can get it to his mouth the quickest :-)
We are settled back into our hotel room for the long haul. We continue to walk the path set for us and we are trusting that when we get all of us back home these weeks will float away like a distant dream.
Lori is missing Mexican food! Bruce is missing basketball season! We miss our family and friends most of all.
Peace,
BLN&G
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Welcome to 2007
Title: Welcome to 2007
Having expereinced this new year for 7 to 8 hours longer than the rest of you, I feel justidied in welcoming you to this year. Truthfully, my mind cannot even wrap itself around how different this year will be than last year. It is truly mind boggling.
We now have all of our paperwork in hand! Now we are just waiting for our court date which is Jan 9th at 11:30. At least as far as paperwork goes, there are no more obsticles in our way. It is a really good feeling. Now we just sit back and wait and enjoy our kids.
We came to Kiev yesterday afternoon to meet the group from home that was coming over to pick up our paperwork. While the practicalities of the paperwork brought us here, we were also very grateful for the chance to see some of our friends from home as well as spend time with the Stewarts and their new son, Kole. It has been a wonderful time of refreshing for us. I cannot express how nice it was to talk to people from home and just to be surrounded by people speaking English. I feel like my brain took a big sigh of relief. We had a great time laughing with the Stewarts and swapping stories about our children. We basically had a sleepover at Gayla's and then played with Kole some more this morning. Did I mention that we also got laundry done? I have never rejoiced over clean laundry so much in my life. It is the simple pleasures of life that bring the most joy, a childs laughter and clean socks!
We will head back to Novagrad-Volensky in just a few minutes so we can see Gideon this afternoon. But I wanted to tell each and every one of you how much you mean to us. I know that we would not have made it this far without the love and support that you have given us. The Stewarts are on their way home on Thursday. The Dheils will leave a few days after that. We anxiously look forward to our trip home but we are hopeful that every day we spend with the kids here will ease the transistion when we get home.
May God bless each of you more abundantly that you can ask or imagine according to his riches which are in Christ Jesus.
Peace of Christ to all,
BLN&G
Having expereinced this new year for 7 to 8 hours longer than the rest of you, I feel justidied in welcoming you to this year. Truthfully, my mind cannot even wrap itself around how different this year will be than last year. It is truly mind boggling.
We now have all of our paperwork in hand! Now we are just waiting for our court date which is Jan 9th at 11:30. At least as far as paperwork goes, there are no more obsticles in our way. It is a really good feeling. Now we just sit back and wait and enjoy our kids.
We came to Kiev yesterday afternoon to meet the group from home that was coming over to pick up our paperwork. While the practicalities of the paperwork brought us here, we were also very grateful for the chance to see some of our friends from home as well as spend time with the Stewarts and their new son, Kole. It has been a wonderful time of refreshing for us. I cannot express how nice it was to talk to people from home and just to be surrounded by people speaking English. I feel like my brain took a big sigh of relief. We had a great time laughing with the Stewarts and swapping stories about our children. We basically had a sleepover at Gayla's and then played with Kole some more this morning. Did I mention that we also got laundry done? I have never rejoiced over clean laundry so much in my life. It is the simple pleasures of life that bring the most joy, a childs laughter and clean socks!
We will head back to Novagrad-Volensky in just a few minutes so we can see Gideon this afternoon. But I wanted to tell each and every one of you how much you mean to us. I know that we would not have made it this far without the love and support that you have given us. The Stewarts are on their way home on Thursday. The Dheils will leave a few days after that. We anxiously look forward to our trip home but we are hopeful that every day we spend with the kids here will ease the transistion when we get home.
May God bless each of you more abundantly that you can ask or imagine according to his riches which are in Christ Jesus.
Peace of Christ to all,
BLN&G
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