What a cutie!

Here are a few pictures of Little O, taken in the last few days! She is a real cutie - with a huge amount of lung capacity for screaming! HA! I have to say that she IS the cutest little angel! When we first met her - it was tough to get a smile out of her - now she just won't stop!

Happy New Year !

Week One - and we survived!

Well... it's Friday! We have been home officially one week! AMAZING! And we have lived to tell about it! Tuesday, we had lots more snow! Though it is pretty - it can be expensive (I got stuck in Uncle Jim's driveway and after numerous attempts to pull me out - we decided to call a tow truck!) Wednesday - another fun day - we had WIND! 25-30 mph winds, which is nothing really out of the ordinary - except when there is a ton of powdery snow! We have some hills and gullies at our house that make things really interesting when this happens - like getting stuck! There was one drift on the driveway that was taller than me! I had a fun time digging out our chickens and duck, their pen was FULL of snow... and yes, literally, I had to dig them out! It was like a recovery mission after an avalanche! I almost gave up half way, and then I heard our wonder-duck quacking from inside his house 3 feet away, under 3 feet of snow..... long story short - no fowl or feathered casualties Wednesday!
Ok - I will get to little O.... she is doing GREAT! She is really active! She is not interested in tv... like our boys - so that means I am constantly on my toes chasing her around - good exercise now, but I am sure that in a week I will be exhausted!
When we first got home, she was pretty nervous around PJ, our dog- but now - she is following him around, giving him treats and feeding her unwanted meals (a big no-no) to him! He seems to like her so far!
O has started sleeping all night - which before she was getting us up between 2 and 4 am, which makes for a long day! John went back to work - so she is waking up when he is! Cute, except for the full load in her diapers first thing in the morning! She is currently sleeping in our room in a toddler bed... we decided to keep her with us for awhile- so she can feel safe knowing that we are right there, and we can also make sure that she is not getting out of bed!
She is slowly expanding on her choices while eating... so far, crackers, yogurt and certain baby foods are her choice! She is also a bonafide fan of Cheerios - the honey nut variety! She has not wanted to try any vegetables, but she will eat almost any fruit placed in front of her!
We have forgotten how busy a two year old is! She is all over the place, all the time! She is testing waters daily - like putting things in her mouth, opening things after she has been told no many times... and when she gets wound up - BITING! Ugh - that part is the worst! Today she bit me HARD - left a nice red mark! Sort of like puppy teeth - small but very effective! haha!
Her verbal skills will probably start improving soon... currently her vocabulary consists of baby babble, mama, papa, no-no, no and da.... When asked if she wants something that she likes, she will either nod her head or clap her hands... when her answer is no - she turns her head away... cute now - but probably going to drive us nuts later!

We are excited to start the new year! It should be exciting! Once we finish getting all our trip photos downloaded - we will add some here!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas!
O has been doing well and is trying to get back on a schedule! Last night we got the first full nights sleep since Tuesday! We are still really tired - but feeling better!

Here is a quick photo of Little O - still in the orphanage....

We will get another better one loaded soon!

To all, a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Day one at home!

Well - so much for the comforts of home!
O woke us up about 3am.... I got up with her at 4am and got her breakfast and kept her occupied so John could attempt to get another hour or so of sleep! Little J got up about 5am - as O was noisy! A slept until 7:30 - and did not hear a thing!
Some O facts!
O does not like to have blankets covering her!
O likes to feed herself! If you try to feed her - she will refuse and go hungry instead!
O is fascinated with the dog -but very fearful of him!
O can throw a monster fit! We call her Linda Blair (from the exorcist!) There are no demons left here!
O does NOT like car seats! Like another scene out of the Exorcist!
O enjoys A and Little J's toys more than her own!

We came home to about 12 inches of snow on the ground last night - and then we got about 6-7 inches over night Friday! John went out to start the tractor and clear the driveway so that we can get out of the garage! Lucky for him - Steve Kyllo, a really nice neighbor of ours came up and brought his little Kubota and had it done in no time! A nice Christmas present!
We are truly exhausted, got some severe jet lag, and have been going with little sleep each night - since Tuesday! It has been non-stop!
The journey has been worth it! We have a beautiful little girl and our family is complete! We are very blessed to have 3 wonderful children, a comfortable home and terrific network of family and friends!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Friday! Homeward bound!

Friday! We got up around 6am - as O made sure that sleeping in was prevented for all! We got our bags all put together and everyone showered... 8:30am we checked out an headed for McD's for breakfast! John is in love with the syrup they use for the pancakes here! We finally got O to drink some water and eat a little, but she is less feverish today!
We walked around the airport a bit - bought a few things.... ate a small lunch and then walked to the gate.
We were able to board a bit early - due to the fact that we had O! We got settled on the plane and started on the long flight (10hours) home!
Neither of us slept this flight - we just wanted to get home! O got a lot of sleep and felt 100% better! We had to force A to sleep - all he wanted to do was watch TV! I had to bribe him with for each hour he slept - he could watch an hour of the inflight tv!
They feed you alot on this flight! Everytime you turn around they are handing out a snack or meal of some sort! Oh well - since you have nothing better to do - might as well clog your body with airline food!
O slept thru the landing which made her automatically a US Citizen! We were so relieved to land and be back on home turf!
Customs and immigration went quick and painless!
We had about an hour to kill while waiting for our shuttle bus to take us home! The airport shuttle was FAST! I don't think that I felt the wheels hit the ground the whole way.. only took about 90 minutes - in a big bus! Usually takes us 2 hours in a car!
Uncle Jim picked us up at the bus drop off, we stopped by his house for a few minutes (though we don't really remember much!) and then picked up little J and PJ and went HOME! Such a great word! We finally got home!
We got to bed about 9pm - and it felt DAMN good to be in our own beds, in our own house and back to the place where we belong!

Amsterdam! Here we come!

Here is a short summary of Thursday!
Got up - we were able to sleep in a bit (like 4am - when O decided we should get up!) hung out- had yogurt and hot cereal. Enjoyed showers and watching news in English! For lunch we walked to the other McDonalds and stopped at the internet cafe to post the Wednesday news, and then headed back to the apartment to pack up to leave!
O was really tired all morning and just wanted to sleep. She looked sort of peaked. We got in the taxi around 2pm - enjoyed some Kyiv rush hour traffic and made it to the airport around 2:45pm. O slept the whole ride to the airport!
At the airport - you have to wait until atleast 2 hours before the flight to check in! So we had to stand around AFTER it took them 30 minutes to get us checked in - apparently A's passport had issues... ugh!
Got thru the customs and immigration and then just sat and waited until our flight was called.
O ran around a bit in the airport. We had tried really hard to get her to drink more water - as she had a fever and had hardly ate or drank anything all day... but she was not so interested in it!
Got on the flight - O promptly feel asleep on me. Our plane had some sort of navigational problem and they (KLM) had us pushed back from the gate onto some platform to wait for repairs... about an hour later we took off! O slept the whole time without a peep! She is quite the power thumb sucker - so her ears were fine for the flight!
We were so happy to get to Amsterdam! We spent the night in the airport at the transit hotel (Mercure) at $160 usd for 12 hours - you would expect something somewhat nice! HA! We had a room with no windows, 2 twin beds pushed together, a fold down bed for A and a small tv. Apparently the Chicago room was on the high end scale! hee hee! The really funny thing was that John was excited to watch some tv... for those of you who know A - he is addicted to tv - regardless what is on and will watch! John flipped thru the channels and ended on an "adult" channel! It was quite a shock for all of us! Funny - but a shock!
The night was pretty uneventful - O had a tough time - she was still running a fever and could not get too comfortable in bed with us and we could not sleep well either!
But- long story short - we made it! We will be taking off to Seattle tomorrow afternoon!
HOME - here we come!

Almost did not make it......

Today is Wednesday.... We arrived in Kiev at 6:05am and Era, our original translator was a welcome sight at the train station! She is a wonderful person! She just took charge - grabbed a suitcase and "A" and hauled off up the stairs! We began another day of hurry up and wait! We got into a taxi and was brisked off to a new flat.
We got the thrill of taking a shower, having some hot cereal, and they loading up in another taxi to head off for the medical exam (the mental exam should be done right before this point! Haha!) We get to some scary looking place with a ton of people waiting in the lobby, and everytime a door opens, 6 or 7 people try to beat each other threw the door! Since we were American and were with "O" - we had first priority (also helped that Era knows the Dr. personally!) This medical office is one of two that ALL immigrants have to go to get a medical exam to try for a Visa to travel oversees)
Anyhoo... I take little O back to the office, and the doctor speaks English, but chooses to talk mostly to Era... little O decides that she needs to fill the diaper at that point... lucky for me that I had all the necessary gear, and she was already on paper! Lucky for John that he was not the one that went back! haha!
The exam was super fast! I would not say that it was a very good exam - just fast!
After the exam - we rushed off to our 11am interview at the Embassy for the Visa! Made it a few minutes early and just filled out paperwork, while O and A played in the play area!
We were told to come back around 4pm to pick up the Visa.....
Needless to say - we did alot of running around for other unknown stuff!
The really ironic part about the day was lunch! Our taxi driver, Slava, took us to a cafeteria... it was funny because it was the first time eating out with "O" AND this was the same cafeteria we took A and Little J to for the first meal out 5 years ago! It was very bizarre!
We headed back to the Embassy, after looking for a stroller for O, which we had no luck finding one. We got to the Embassy a little late - about 4:15pm. It was dark outside and there was no one outside lined up or waiting.... My heart skipped a beat or two in panic! I ran up to the door to open - and it was locked.. I pulled on it a few times in panic and then a security guard appeared out of no where and told me that the Embassy was closed. Holy crap! I told him that I had to pick up that Visa today... The guard looked for the inside guards so that they could let me in - he had to pound on the wall and glass to wake the guy up... (great for security, nice to know how safe our Embassy is!) The inside guy let me in - made me do the scan for any sort of metal, phones, etc... then told me to go in.... I literally ran in... there was NO ONE inside waiting! No one at the windows... and some woman moping the floor. I was freaked out! I was frantically ringing the little bell at the window and then someone came out and helped me. She asked #1 - why was I so late! UGH... anyways - got the Visa! Yeehaw - we can leave tomorrow!
We headed back to the apartment to relax! Funny - relax! We hung out for awhile - let "O" run around then we walked down the hill to McDonald's!
Turns out - O does not appreciate the taste of McD's (not yet anyways!) It sure tasted good to us! Walked back - or atleast we walked and O was carried! Tried to go to sleep - which was a challenge - since O could not get comfortable!
Finally - the end is here and we are heading home tomorrow (Thursday!) We are soooo excited to get the heck outta here!

Tuesday - the continuation of Hurry up and WAIT!

Tuesday was another fun day in Ukraine! We had to get up at 12:45am to let our translator into the apartment - she had just gotten off of the train. We left the apartment at 7:45am to hurry and get some unknown piece of paper to take to the city where "O" was born. We got in a car driven by Yana's friend, Tolic. We start off by going to another mystery building - adding the ever present "rush fee" in a plain white folded piece of paper, and then we sit and WAIT! Apparently - the fee we paid does not include them opening early! haha! So we wait an hour - then go back, pick up some necessary paper and then proceed to the city where "O" was born. The drive was interesting... it reminded me of the Snoqualmie Valley, before all the development of course, there were HUGE plowed fields and orchards the whole way. The drive took about an hour and a half. We got to the city and then went to the office of unknown name - apparently some Civil records office. Paid for the "rush" - which instead of a few hours was supposed to be 15-20 minutes for a birth certificate! Well, apparently the typewriter (no that is not a typo!) broke and they needed someone to fix it. UGH. So - after the hurry and wait we got back in the car... Tolic was a little irked that it took a few hours instead of minutes... so he drive back to Zap. at Mach 3. Seemed like one near-death experience after another! I swear people here have no sense of "personal space" when they drive!
We got back to the city and then had to haul butt to get things notarized, and the passport application turned in so that we could have the passport for "O" by 5pm. Things had a way of working out - and we got the passport, had a quick dinner, since we had not eaten since 9am, and then hauled off to the orphange to pick up "O"!
We got to the orphanage at 6:15pm... we had to be on our train at 7:15pm - so the clock was ticking! We had "O" dressed and swept out of there before she could even have an idea of what was going on! Of course the caretakers stopped us to remind us of the donation they wanted us to make to her groupa... like we had time to pick up an electronic scale! haha! So, John threw a US $50 at her - which totally made her happy! And we hurried to the train station!
Lucky for us, the train was late! We got on the train at 7:30pm... Yana got called to head to another region to help another family - so she sent us back to Kyiv all by ourselves!
The train went pretty well.... O had to sleep with me on the bunk. Needless to say, she only screamed at the top of her lungs for about 45 minutes before she feel asleep!
What a day! But, she is officially ours! What a relief! One step closer to home!

Happy Birthday O!

Sunday was O's 2nd Birthday! We brought some cookies, juice and bananas for the kids in her groupa.... the kids sang a little song and danced around her.... she was not sure what to do! It was cute!
We bought her a little tiara to wear - which she REALLY liked!
Things have been moving along. We have been throwing away our clothes and stuff that we do not plan on bringing home! Coming here on the train was a huge eye-opener to how much we overpacked! It is really hard to get your stuff on those trains... add a 2 year old - and you have a real fiasco!
This is our last full day in Zapor.... unless things go badly tomorrow - we will be outta here Tuesday night on the overnight train to Kiev! YEEEEHAW!
So - until we get to Kiev, this is our last post and opportunity to read emails/comments! Thanks to everyone for your kind words and encouragement! Though it has been a journey - there is no place like HOME!
Little J - we will be home on FRIDAY to give you a big huge! We can't wait to see you! Be good and enjoy the 2 and a half feet of snow you got yesterday! WOW!
Love,
Mama, Papa, A and O

Happy Holidays to ALL!!!

Ground Hog Day .... yet again

Each day is something like ground hog day -the movie!
We get up at the same time, do the same thing at the same time.. it has got pretty darn boring! The weather switched back to the same cloudy and dreary weather! UGH! Oh well! In seven days we will be in Amsterdam if all goes well on Tuesday! On Tuesday we have to travel to the city where little "O" was born and complete some MORE paperwork! Then drive back here to Zap. and get everything stamped as official, get her a passport and then hop on the overnight train to Kiev.
We are outnumbered here in Zap! At the orphanage, there are currently 4 families adopting that are not from Ukraine... 2 from Spain and one from Germany.... We have not seen any new families in a week...
We did our 2 a day visit with "O" yesterday... before we were only visiting once due to the taxi time/fare and the times we could visit... so now we have a little different schedule on ground hog day!
Looks like we are going to take the Airport Shuttle home from Seattle.... thanks for the offers to pick us up )thanks Jenny!)
We miss home! We can't wait to see our little J!

Love,
Amy, John, A and O

Let there be sun!

We have finally seen some SUN!!! It is amazing how all the disgusting smells and sights don't seem so bad when you get a full hour or two of the SUN! Blue Skies and Sunshine! YEEHAW! The nice thing too is the taxi driver rolls the window down for a few minutes during the drive! hee hee! We have seen so little of the sun - it is amazing how much that you miss it!
Though we live in the windiest part of the state - at least we get to see the sun - even in the winter! We are on the countdown.... 7 days from today and if all goes well we leave Kiev and head to Amsterdam! We have been spending our days/hours doing about the same old things! We have been eating much better this trip - or we are much braver.. knock on wood - no illnesses!
We need to get "A" home - this trip was too long for him... not enough for him to do and too many distractions! He did not quite get the whole benefit out of this trip that we were hoping for - but he has seen some things that he will not forget! (so have we!)
We do miss everyone one- but most of all we miss Little J... it has been hard to be away from him this long! Hopefully he does not forget who we are!

Happy Holidays!!!

Good news Monday!

Today we spent over an hour on the phone and computer trying to figure out HOW we are going to get home! Our biggest challenge is getting 4 tickets on one flight.....
We finally contacted KLM in Kiev and managed to get the ticket for little "O".... it was amazingly cheaper than we thought it would be (yeah-no top ramen tonight!) and they were able to change our tickets! We are only able to get as far as Seattle..... the Yakima flights were booked out! So - if all goes well and all weather holds and we don't go insane - we should be in Seattle FRIDAY the 22! Please keep your fingers crossed for us! We have a few more hurdles to clear and then get back to Kiev for a non-stop day of exams and embassy visits.... then the next day we should be on a plane......... If we have any hick-ups... we won't be home until after xmas... ugh!
Please tell little J that we miss him soooo much and can't wait to see him!

Amy

ps- anyone got a spare toddler bed????????

The weekend

We have spent the weekend desperatly trying to get tickets changed and purchased with no luck... what a pain in the butt!
The weather has gotten colder and damper... so the days are getting more boring as we have to wait!
We bought "O" a sippy cup - which did not go over well until she figured out throwing a massive fit BEFORE drinking would be more fun!!!
Since she got the taste of the juice, it is a different story!
Saturday and Sunday - the days pretty much ran together! Hopefully on Monday we will have some luck with tickets!
Keep your fingers crossed!
Hoping to be home before 2007!

UGH!

Friday! IT's a......

BOY.. have the last two days been busy and crazy! Friday we went to court! They have a nice little cage/cell in the courtroom... we thought about putting "A" in it, but the judge probably would not appreciate the humor in it! We did get a picture though!
Court took about 20 minutes... only asked us a few questions... so it was less stressful than we thought! Yana came early in the morning on the train and then left after court....

We got to take "O" in a taxi to get passport photos! Things were fine until the actual photo! Lots of crying! Oh well!

So - we have another 10 days here in Zap, before we can bring home our new little GIRL!

Welcome O to our family!!!!

John and Amy

Catching up! Thursday!

We have been having a really tough time with the internet... sorry that we can't email people back as we would like to! Or even share much! It is a major challenge to get time in the cafes, AND to get onto sites and read email! Your patience gets extremely challenged!
Things are going fine here.. we pretty much have a schedule! It is the same each day.. so it is getting a little tiring!
Little "O" is doing better each day... more vocal and more fun!

A little toilet talk for you!

They have these joyous things called squat toilets here... I'd add a picture if I could - but we can't download! They are basically a hole in the ground... with some foot grippers... you get to squat over the hole and do your darndest to not pee on yourself! And say your leg muscles are tired - and you start shaking... all you can do is pray that you are not going to fall! The smell from these mystery holes is TREMENDOUS! You honestly take bathrooms for granted here! We like to choose our restaurants by the bathroom! haha!

Amy

Wednesday

Hello all!
Another exciting day! We got a better computer at a different internet cafe! Same smell - different locale!
We enjoyed our daily "O" visit today. It was a bit colder and very foggy today... we take "O" outside for about 20 minutes to walk the ground... it seems pretty exciting to "O" as i don't think that they let them out much! We have been bringing banana and some cookie-type crackers each day - and "O" really loves it! Let's hope that the appetite continues! "O" gets happier each visit and is showing more expression... though most everything is non-verbal - you defiently know what "NO" is!
We think that we will have court on Friday... 2 more days... and then we have a minimum 10 day waiting period... 4 or so days after that - we should be heading back - as long as the flights are not too full!
A few hints about "O"... "O" looks good in BLUE! "O" also likes A's toys!
We have met a few other families here... one from Colorado, one from Spain, and another from Germany... sort of like an international summit! haha!
Hope everyone back home is doing well! We can't wait to get back!

Monday/Tuesday

2 more days down! It is really tough to get time on the internet - you have to wait awhile if there is a line up = due to the kids all playing video games!
Things are pretty much on a schedule here - same stuff - different day!
We did have a few questions for folks back home:
* Joe- recycling is BIG here - you should see all the bottles lined up on the curbs! I will bring a picture back for you! Our BBQ's would not stand a chance!
*Kristy - you would have a WORLD of job security here! Neutering??? What's that??? Male dogs are pretty darn obvious!
* JenH - Thanks for the boot suggestion! They have been a lifesaver! Hope all is well!
*Jenny/JimC - thanks for taking time with little J for us! Could you email us A's spelling lists????? Sorry we missed the pie in the face stuff!
*GaryF - got any gameboy charging solutions???
*Nana and Grandpa - no color hints for about a week! haha - either way, we think that you will like "O"!

See everyone soon!

Saturday!

Here is some more info!
We have been enjoying LOTS of walking! Between trusting your life to the crazy taxi drivers - or attempting to cross the street - it is a challenge to get around - unless you walk and do not cross the street! haha!
On Saturdays- the markets (outside) are packed! It is really neat to walk around and see everything! Most of it is basically dollar store crap - but you get the best fruit and vegies from the outdoor market!
I wish that we could post some photos! We will when we get home!
We are unable to give anymore info on "O" until after we have court - so that is why we are not saying much on the blog.
We visit every day -and each visit gets better!
Saturday am - "O" was cranky and a little hacked off that we cut off the food! We brought grapes - bis mistake! A big mess! "O" likes M/M's! We will go back to banana for awhile! The orphanage is depressing sometimes - very dreary and colorless!

We had to post this on Monday - as the internet cafe connection sucks! It is SUPER slow!

Friday

Hello all!
We have survived an entire week! We are in a city that could be considered the "Detroit" of Ukraine - they have car manufacturing plants here - Chevy and Daewoo. You see lots of compact cars - Daewoos, Ladas, Chevys and unknown brands! Occasionally you will see a VW, SUV or BMW... but not too often! The streets are pretty crazy - and you take your life into your own hands when crossing - even in a cross walk!
The weather has been cool - but not bitter cold.. much warmer than at home!
We are staying in a high-rise apartment that is butt ugly on the outside - but really nice once you get into our apartment! We have hot water, a clothes washer, fridge.... and this AWESOME electric teakettle - it boils water in less than a minute!
Our translator, Yana - left us alone here for about a week... she took the overnight train back to Kiev to turn in more of our paperwork.... We are hoping to have paperwork back so that we can have court sometime next week... but - you never know what can happen here!
We found an internet cafe across the street and it "smells like teen spirit!" It is filled with teen-age boys playing interactive video games online - it slows everyones connections and the smell is overwhelming!
We found a somewhat decent restaurant - that has a menu in English - though no one here speaks it or can understand it... the translator book is getting plenty of usage!
We hope that little J is doing well.... hopefully he is enjoying the snow! We miss him alot!
A is having a good time so far - I think he enjoys being out of school! He has been playing with "O" during our visits - its cute!
The food has been ok - sometimes you get mystery meat! haha! We eat alot less here too!

Meeting "O" - Monday

Monday we arrived at the orphanage and met "O"....
Dr. Yuriy did a fairly quick exam and gave us more information about medical history.
"O" is 2 years old, has light hair and gray blue eyes... weighs about 20 pounds and is pretty meaty!
"O" took a little time to warm up to us - but after banana bribery - things went much better!
A enjoyed playing with "O" and had a blast! A can be pretty good with little kids!
Little J is going to like "O", they have something in common - ROCKING! haha!

Little J - we sure miss you! Hopefully - things will go by faster! See you soon!

Monday - catch up

Hello all!
Well - we survived the train! It is an experience! We had to take an overnight train, so your only option is to lay down and sleep. The "bathroom" rivaled one of the worst outhouses I have ever smelled! Just disgusting! It took about 12 hours to get to the region... it looks about the same as everything else that we have seen, very industrial and drab! Today we saw about 10 minutes of the sun!
We rode on the train with Dr. Yuriy and Yana. Yana is our translator, networker extroidinaire! She has the most amazing way of getting things done! Dr. Yuriy is great! He speaks English and is very knowledgable in a way you can understand.
We got to the apartment (located in what appears to be a ghetto!) but awesomely new inside! and everyone took much needed showers and had oatmeal and hot cocoa that we brought from the states! We did some running around - paperwork - and then headed to the orphanage!
See next post!

fyi - ALL Ukraine drivers are maniacs, seatbelts??? yeah right! And Vicks vapor rub would come in handy to mask the BO smell!

Sunday

Tonight we are heading on an overnight train to one of the southern regions... I guess you could say that it will be an adventure. Another night with no sleep - but who is counting at this point... yesterday we will assaulted with an overly agressive 9 year old pickpocket vagrant child - who in the US would have been thrown in juvie..... anyhoo...
We hope that little J is ok - we miss him! He would hate it here - too much walking and lots of hurrying about and no tv that he would like either! They have strict no whining policies!
We sure do miss home!
We will try to update from the region!
Thanks everyone for their comments - its nice to hear from home!

A says hello to little j!

Appointment at SDA

We had our appointment at the SDA yesterday (turkey day!) It was for ONE hour only. We were shown 5 referrals - only 2 in our age range. It was a little disappointing... we saw 3 in our age range - but each had its own set of issues... girls are extremely hard to find in Ukraine. We are hoping to get permission today to travel to one of the southern regions to visit a little one... we won't post details until we have more!
We miss everyone very much and are coping - but home is sure looking good right now!
Alex is glad to be out of school! He can't STAND the fact that the TV is not in English! haha!
I got to say HI to little J last night - it was tough to hear his voice and not give him a hug...
We have jet lag - saw a monkey in a santa suit (got a family photo!) and have ate at McDonalds... We are sorta left on our own most the day - so we have been waling around a bit to try and get some ideas of things to do...
weather is foggy - but not too cold...
We will update maybe tomorrow!

Edit: We were shown referrals from Cherkasy, Luhans'k, Zhytomyr, Donets'k and Zaporizhzhya Regions
Cell phone made it to Kyiv and beyond!

Arrived in Amsterdam!

Hello all!
We made it to Amsterdam! Our flight was fairly uneventful and LONG!
We have yet to hear from VLAD - so hopefully someone will pick us up!

John and Amy

Leaving on a jet plane.......

This is our last "stateside" post for awhile! We are flying out Tuesday morning at 9am! We will try to post at the internet cafe at the airport in Amsterdam, since we will have some time to kill there!
Hoping all is well with everyone!
UJ & AE - please give little J a hug for us! We miss him already!

Six days until lift off!

It is hard to believe that this time next week we will be eating dinner on the other side of the earth!
We are wrapping up the odds and ends and trying to get everything in place - which is quite the task!
A is getting excited for his "field trip" and Little J is thrilled to be going on a 21 day sleep over! We hope that we can get everything done within 21 days - as we will be getting really close to XMAS - and travel could be a huge issue coming back!
A big thanks to all our friends that have been checking our blog and for their support!

Eleven Days and Counting!

Well - we are down to 11 days before we fly out! We did a quick prelim pack job - and found that we are really going to have to cut back MORE!
Our friends the Rockhills should be back any day now, The Russells are going to the same region that the Rockhills were at, The Warchols are in flight, Jeff and Michelle are getting ready to charge thru customs and the rest of us have a few more days to hold out and WAIT! It is a ton a fun watching the other families and following their journey - as each and every story is different and each person comes home with a different perspective!
We are on the downhill slope - and the adrenelin is starting to pump!

Just a quick hug out to JenH, who is under the weather.... hoping that you get this thing kicked - and kick it hard girl!

16 days!

It is hard to believe that in 16 days - we will be boarding a plane for our journey half way around the world!
We realized that our suitcase was TOO big! Last trip to Ukraine we took 2 HUGE suitcases (that were full!) and a carry on each! We had a tough time before cramming those big things into the trunks of the little cars! We got some mid-sized rolling duffle bags instead. "A" will have a small bag to check with his stuff as well. So hopefully - we will be good, even IF we have to lug them up 5 or 6 flights of stairs!
Little J is excited about his extended "sleep-over" with his aunt and uncle. He is worried that about a bunch of little things - lots of 6 year old drama! But he should be fine! We have been slowly getting the rest of the stuff together - bills paid, things put away, closets cleaned out... things that have been on the to-do list for the last 6 months are now down to crunch time! We are still debating one of us coming home early - after the court date so that A and Little J will have less time away from us and things back to some-what normal! This will be our first Turkey day apart... AND I will be celebrating MY birthday in Ukraine... John better make sure that he is prepared to host a party for me! haha!
Anyhoo - we are both excited that this chapter is finally moving along - though with a little less advance notice than we expected - we are excited none the less!
16 more days!

Packing and the countdown!

I don't know how I managed to remember where I had stashed the money belts and the power converter - but by some miracle - I managed to find them and add them to the "to be packed" pile!
We are realizing that we are probably going to freeze our butts off! Trying to get together the warmest of the warm clothes we have and all the rest of the stuff we need to cram into a suitcase is almost overwhelming! We are going to try to get all of our stuff into just ONE suitcase, and then "A" will have his own small suitcase. If we pull it off - we might as well buy a powerball ticket too!
Down to 19 days before liftoff! Each day we take a small part of the list and TRY to get it done! It does not help that the weather changed here pretty quickly - and fall is over... WINTER is here a bit early! We had our first snow today and earlier this week the lows were in the teens!
I guess that mother nature is preparing us for the COLD Ukrainian weather!

Travel! In 21 days!

We got our reservations today! We will be leaving Yakima on 11/21 around 11am - hit Seattle and then take a flight direct to Amsterdam.
We are traveling on NWA/KLM - like our last trip! Nothing like flying over the North Pole in the winter!
We are getting our lists together... all the fun stuff like packing, paperwork, evac insurance, contact lists, etc!
Logistically - we are only able to take "A" with us. Little "J" and PJ will be remaining with their aunt and uncle. It was a tough choice - but we feel that A will be able to get more out of the trip - and it will be a little less worry for us leaving them both behind for this length of time!
Now all we need to figure out is where the 3 horses and 28 chickens will be fitting in! UGH!
For the time being - we have made our blog private - as #1, it controls who we are giving information to and #2 it gives us the uncanny ability to strike any comments that any of our crazy friends or family might leave! Nothing personal - just trying to protect the info we are posting - if we have any problems while in Ukraine with any agency or person, that information could jeoparodize another families trip! So - from this post forward - "A" is Alex and Little "J" is Jason! I will try to keep things simple but vague enough so that there are not any problems!
Only 21 days left to go! The countdown has begun!

Who What When and HOW?

Here are the answers to a few questions that we have had!
#1 - WHERE is Ukraine?
** Ukraine used to be part of the Soviet Union - they became their own nation in August 1991. Ukraine is west/southwest of Russia, south of Belarus, east of Poland and north of Romania and Moldavia. Directly north of the Black Sea as well! Just fyi - the name of the country is UKRAINE - not "the" Ukraine as many people say... it would be like saying that we were from "the" America!
#2- WHAT language is spoken?
** Russian and Ukrainian are spoken. Most everyone speaks both - and frequently they interchange a Russian word with an Ukrainian word.
#3 - WHEN are you leaving?
** Not sure yet! Our appointment is in Kiev on November 23rd - Thanksgiving Day. We will post some of our travel plans when we have them!
#4 - HOW does this work?
** We do not have any idea "who" our child is until we get to our appointment on November 23rd. It is called "traveling blind". It is illegal to have a child pre-selected in Ukraine. At our appointment - we are given what are called "referrals" based on the criteria we have given them... ie boy/girl, age, health related, etc. We then get to choose our referral based on the background information of the child. After we choose our "child" we have to travel to where that child is currently living. For children under 4 - these are called "baby houses" or up to age 6 are called "detsky domes".
We travel to the "region" (similar to counties here - only largers!) where the child currently lives and we are able to see the child. We are allowed certain timeframes to meet and bond with the child before making a final decision on the adoption.
From there - its all paperwork baby! We have to go to court to be approved and then more paperwork!
The whole process can take 3 to 5 weeks...(we are hoping for 3!)

Hope that this answers some of the questions!

And the countdown begins!

GREAT NEWS!
We were informed that we have an appointment! HOLY COW! November 23rd! On Thanksgiving!
After over two years... the time has finally come! Though we are excited - it seems like a dream still!
When we get our travel plans ready - we will let everyone know!

Early October news - or lack thereof!

Alex on his Honda 50!
Here is Jason riding on "Dixie"... isn't she cute!
Well - we are at the final "paperwork" stage. We have turned in the last papers that we are going to do! The SDA (National Adoption Center) gave all families until the 15th of October to get everything turned in. It is hard to fathom that a small stack of papers can cost you an arm and a leg! Each form has to be notarized AND apostilled (which goes to the Secretary of State) and then is sent to Ukraine to be translated. It is in no-way an easy or stressless process! All it takes is for one date or signature to be missing, and you have to start over - YET AGAIN! We are very tired of the waiting game and this is pretty much it. We have been waiting over two years just for an appointment date - with a very dim light at the end of the tunnel!
We are fortunate enough to have more than enough distractions while waiting for our coveted date! School is back in and the boys are keeping busy with school work.... Soccer is full force three days a week... and Scouts have started up again! In the "free" moments - Jason rides Dixie and Alex rides his "50"! The next post will hopefully contain more info about our date!

September News

Well - we are still waiting for our appointment letter. There is/was a possibility that we might get to go in October - as the appointments are being assigned by registration numbers - and we are 3 or 4 digits off from the October dates... hopefully those families that are in Ukraine now will help smooth the way for the rest of us waiting!
Until then - we are just waiting waiting waiting and suffering sticker shock from the cost of airline tickets!

News for August

Well - the word on the street is that we have an appointment sometime in NOVEMBER! UGH for cold weather - YEAH for actually getting one step closer!
We would feel alot better with the actual letter in hand from Ukraine before we get too excited about actually getting an appointment!
Happy Trails ahead! (we hope!)

June/July 2006 update

Well... it has only been two months since our last update! In the last two months... we have redone our paperwork - YET AGAIN! This time we have been told (don't hold your breath!) that we will be getting an appointment sometime before the end of this year. We had to send TWO separate letters of intent/appointment requests off to Ukraine. We are hoping that in August we will get some news on an appointment!
The photo above was taken Father's Day weekend. Alex, Jason and I took John to the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle. John enjoyed it - though the kids got a little bored after a couple hours! We just drove over for a few hours... but it was worth getting away from the wind at our house!
In other news.. we had a new addition to the family... her name is Dixie. Dixie is a "teenager" and she is quite small! Dixie is a Shetland/Mini horse and has a huge beer gut! She is really cute! Jason has been doing an excellent job of riding her and taking care of her! She came from our friends, The Cutrones.... hopefully they won't want her back for a while.. she has been a really nice addition to the "farm"!
Alex and Jason are both done with "regular" school... but both are taking Summer school to help get a little ahead for next school year.
Alex has been busy this summer with riding his scooter and motorcycle around the fields. He is pretty good on it too, though he is starting to get a little creative and trying to jump things and ride without hands (that won't last long!).
We are stilling working hard on supporting the Gradisk Internat in Ukraine. We are always welcome to donations! Go to Life2Orphans.org and take a look around!
Hopefully, next month we will have more news (good news that is!)
Happy Summer!

Amy, John, Alex, Jason and all the critters!

No news!

Well - it is May 9th, 2006. We have not heard anything as of yet! We have received a new approval from BCIS (only took 4 months) and all of our documents have be re-done for at least the 5th or 6th time.
The good news is that we did get signed on as Coordinators for the Gradisk Internat in Kremenchuk via Life2Orphans.org
Please visit the link to the right for Life2Orphans.org and click on "Gradisk".
We can use all the help we can get!
Keep us in your thoughts - hoping for a appointment date this summer!

Well - it's March 2006 and no word!

Well - we have not posted in awhile as there is no news to post! Our apparent March 2006 appointment date will not be happening. The National Adoption Center (NAC) in Ukraine was shut down for awhile to do re-organization. Currently, Ukraine is not accepting any new adoption dossiers from the US. We are fortunate to already be registered! There will be a new ministry taking over adoptions in May 2006. We are in the process of waiting for new approvals from USCIS (immigration) which has already taken over 3 months! We are still keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a summer appointment so that we do not have to pull the boys out of school for the journey!
We will update again when we get some "better" news to share!