One year ago today!

Today is considered our one year anniversary of the "metcha" day! One year ago today - we met our little O. After surviving an awful overnight train ride - where we got very little sleep, we were still dealing with the jetlag issue and a ton of anxiety from our recent SDA appointment - we made it to Zaporizhzhya, aka the Detroit of Ukraine!

We traveled from the train station to our flat (which we stayed at for 3 weeks) and then went to the city hall to get permission to go to the orphanage. After we received permission - we drove to the orphanage. We spent over an hour or so waiting for the doctor to talk about our referral with Dr. Yuriy. After hearing about test results and early development and all her health history - we were taken to the groupa room.

In they brought a screaming little girl who wanted NOTHING to do with blocks or toys! After answering questions and watching her attempt to complete the tasks asked by Dr. Yuriy, she promptly feel asleep!

We left the orphanage to have lunch and be "debriefed" by Dr. Yuriy on his findings. After a few hours of lunch and discussions - we made the choice to bring this little girl into our family!

It is hard to believe that you can sum up that life changing day into a couple of paragraphs!

Above is a picture of her when we first met and then the picture taken today. 7 pounds, 4 inches (of height) and 5 inches of hair later! She is a completely different little girl!

Cutie pie!

Here is a little video of little O! Her speech is getting a bit better - and man is she a cutie!

Fall fun!

There is not too much new to share - except cute photos - which are never ending around here!

A and J are enjoying school somewhat! J loves school! A would be more than happy if there was no such thing! Soccer has about a month left. Both boys really enjoy soccer and it is a great outlet for some of their energy! A few weeks ago, Alex got a new, bigger motorcycle - and J got the hand me down (since he is still learning!) and little O got a new-to-her Barbie jeep! Problem is - we can't keep the boys OUT of the Barbie jeep! Little O usually insists that J drive her around - which he totally digs! Such a princess!

We did have a small tragdedy last week, our beloved (using that term loosely!) attack rooster, Nakey, finally went to the great coop in the sky. We are not exactly sure what happened - and the two canine witnesses are not talking! Nakey was fairly old for a rooster - at least 5 years and he was one tough cookie for only weighing about 2 pounds! Yet - all who knew him never turned their back on him! He will be missed!

Little O has been doing awesome! She is growing too fast! She is now in her 24 months pants! UGH! She will be THREE in December - which is so hard to believe! She is an angel! We are getting ready to gear up for Halloween - which will be interesting because she is really scared when her brothers wear masks or disguises! haha! It may be a long (or really short!) night!

We'll post some photos of the costumes a little later!

Here are a few cute ones to enjoy!

The first is "Dr. Olya" She IS a specialist in all Sesame creatures! The second is her holding some of her favorites!

Video from the Fair!

Had to share the bull riding from the Fair! Look out Ty Murray! Here comes Big A!

Back to School! YEE HAW!

I was amazed that I got a picture! This was seconds before Jason chickened out on this ride! Lucky for him his brother was able to get the Carnies attention to get him off before it started! Poor kid was in tears! Big A stayed on and loved the ride!
3 overly anxious parade watchers had their seats positioned for the best angle to obtain candy!
We think that our little girl enjoyed the parade! She sure looks happy!

Little O has NO FEAR of animals! Here she is trying to make nice with the geese at the fair!

Big A is showing off the picture he took that he entered in the fair!
Little J shows off his butterfly art that he made and entered in the fair. He got a blue ribbon for it...
Each and every goat and sheep was greeted and pet at the fair! She was really cute walking by each pen saying "HI GO" (meaning goat!)
A and J went on the Sizzler... it was one of the few rides that Little J would go on.... he is still a chicken! Big A - no chicken here! He even rode the mechanical bull!

FINALLY! The gruesome twosome are back to school! Even little O seemed happy to see the school bus pull away! But - to recap the end of summer... we did go to the County Fair over the Labor Day weekend. Both boys entered some things in the Fair this year, so it had a little more meaning for them! A few art projects, some baking projects, A Lego disaster, a photo that Big A took, and some jointly harvested tomatoes from Nana and Grandpa were entered. The boys got a few blue ribbons and some great ideas for next year!

Little O enjoyed her very first county fair! She had a blast! Well, minus that major meltdowns when it was time to strap into the stroller to leave! She even played a few games! Each animal she could reach, she had to touch! We had to draw the line around the geese and chickens!

We also went to the parade. The boys are pretty quick on the draw when it comes to snatching all the candy thrown out! Little O picked up on that FAST! She had a blast watching all the horses in the parade.... except the ones with Indians on them! She was a little leary! The clowns spooked her too!

All in all, the weekend went a bit too fast!

It is hard to believe that Big A is in 4th grade already! Little J went into 2nd! Neither one of them had any back to school stress the night before - which is a good thing! I am glad to get back on a normal schedule! Hope that everyone had a great summer too! Pretty soon we will have some soccer pictures to post! Here we go again!!!!!!

Love,

Amy and family!

ps- JennT - ya just gotta email me - the folks are not THAT email literate!

pps - JennH - have the dates for the TX gathering been decided?

Summer fun!

Our little Rock Star! Why do batteries have to last soooo long! The barbie guitar is driving us nuts! But, man is she cute when she wants to rock out!

Little O gets a lift from her Papa while we waited for the ferry in Seattle. She had a great time on our weekend away! (well, except for sleeping at night! ugh!) She loves the water and being around it. (unfortunately) She has no fear of water!
"C" may be for Cookie - but it is also for CUTE! Here is princess O in her FAVORITE Cookie Monster shirt! She took a short break from beachcombing to look super cute!

The great hubby took this one! This one gives me nightmares! Little O was playing in the Teanaway river - which was about 5 inches deep or so where she was walking. I swear he took this picture literally the second she slipped. The river was sort of deceiving with sand stone in areas - and there was a small groove where she slipped and literally went under and the current took her about 3 feet before I could grab her. Luckily I was only a few feet from her when it happened - then I slipped as well and went down - so we were both drenched! You would think that it was scare her..... NOPE - she wanted right back in!
Little J and his gal-pal Abigail playing in the Teanaway!

Alex, Jason, Olya and I on the ferry, Puyallup. We were heading to Bainbridge Island. It was Little O's very first ferry ride - as usual she did awesome! No fear whatsoever! She actually likes the feeling of the wind whipping thru her hair!

We went to John Wayne Beach in Sequim. The boys were hunting for little crabs under the rocks. Of course, Little O had to be right in there! Little J, our future "Jeff Corwin" was all over the place hunting down creatures! Big Al was not as excited after he kept getting pinched... he liked to find them, and yell to his brother to come get them!

It's really hard to see in the picture, but she is holding a little tiny crab.. she enjoyed carrying them around in her hands, until she got pinched! She really loved going to the beach!

Just a quickie update....

Big Al and Little J are doing really well! It's hard to believe that they will be in 4th and 2nd grade in two weeks! AMAZING how time flies! It amazes me that they are actually growing up! Though I know that they will miss some of the carefree summer playtime - I know that I won't miss them while they are at school! haha! In many ways I wish we had year round school here! 3 months off is just toooo long! Soccer will be starting in about 2 weeks as well - which means we will be extremely busy until November! Labor Day weekend, the boys will be exhibiting some stuff at the fair, and of course spending their hard earned chore money on games and rides and lots of fair food - and getting to spend that time with their Nana and Grandpa and uncle Steve!

Little O had her final post-op hearing test. Looks like the tubes are working and she has on track ear development. So that is a really good sign! All we need now is the speech help! She has grown leaps and bounds! She is so spoiled as well! Everyone who meets her, just loves her! She is still very much addicted to her Sesame Street pals - which is better than some of the alternatives!

Jen H - we gotta get O and Zoey together somehow! Get me dates of that Texas reunion, who knows! Jenn T - thanks for the comment cous - but I need your email address, the old one does not work!

Hope that everyone enjoys the rest of their summer!

Summer stuff- end of July

Well... It looks like summer is half way over! Geez what a relief! I can't wait for the boys to go back to school and drive other people nuts! haha - though it has not been THAT bad, it has been close!

I just got back from Vegas a few days ago.. and I am more than READY to go back! It was a girls only vacation - and more fun than I could have imagined packed into three days! It was also my first time leaving O! I was really worried about her - well and John too, since he was stuck in charge! Little O and the boys got to spend some quality time with their Nana and Grandpa, who are completely worn out from the experience! The kids all survived, John too... and we are getting ready to start a new week with NO school for the boys! So, I am trying to plan some fun things to go and do that can be considered partly educational! We did have a rough weekend... our little kitty, Bob passed away due to an unfortunate freak rollover accident (the propane guy flattened him!) but we are thankful that it was quick as Bob was a sickly kitty and was probably not destined for a long healthy cat life. We also attended a memorial for John's former brother in law, Russ, who passed a Memorial Weekend in a jeep accident. We are deeply saddened by his loss, and find comfort in the fact that he is up jeepin with the big guy and left this life doing something he loved.

An quick update on little O's ear surgery.... looks like she is healing nicely! We can tell that she is hearing better, as she is trying to say alot more words and actually tries to sing a bit (she's no Mariah Carey - but it's darn cute!) We are hoping that she will start to pick up a few more words in the next couple of months! She is still growing like crazy and eats like a horse!

Little J also passed a major milestone in the last week... he finally learned to ride the Honda 50 without any help! Up until this point, his fear has overcome his ability to ride - so he did not want to learn.

More pictures coming!

Ahhhhhh - summer is here!

Yesterday was little O's very first 4th of July! She was not impressed! She watched two or three little things go off on the ground and wanted nothing else to do with it! See why below!

A few exciting things have happened in the last few weeks....

We had our first camping trip of the season. So O had her first away from home sleeping experience - needless to say - I got NO sleep and dear hubby got a few minutes more than me! It was a tough night! Hopefully we won't have any more trips like that in the near future! The best part about the camping trip was playing in the river! O LOVED it! Getting her out was the challenge!



The temps have been in the 100's for the last two days... and today we had our first "fire" of the season. Luckily - it was quickly contained - and not so lucky that it was half a mile from our house! UGH! Thankfully, we were upwind of the fire. We are not having any luck with any type of water games either! We bought of those great pools that is big enough for the kids to actually swim in - nope - no section level enough for us to set it up! I have bought numerous squirt guns that either work the WHOLE time (like running the whole time) or don't work at all! I bought a pool today that I found that none of our pumps will inflate! Geez Louise! I can't stand taking the kids to the local "swimming" hole - it is more like a pond - and way overcrowded! Oh well! It's still July - and only going to get hotter!
Both boys are in summer school for 3 hours a day (ahhh 3 hours of sanity for me!) and they seem to be doing ok.. it is really important to us that both boys keep up their skills - as one of them has a really hard time learning as it is - and retaining the info is a challenge in itself! Some days I really wonder WHAT he learns in school - if anything...though I can't complain too much - since there is no way in hell that I would attempt to homeschool him! There are days though when I think that I could probably do it myself (those days are limited and it is probably after more than one margarita! haha!) I know that after seeing things that we could have done "better" with the boys - little O will be a challenge regardless!

We also found out that part of little O's speech problem has to do with the fact that she can hardly hear! We have been taking her to the ENT (ear.nose.throat) Dr for a few weeks to get the wax sucked out - now that they can finally see an eardrum - they determined that it is not moving and most likely it has fluid behind it. So - next week we have to take her in to the hospital for some outpatient surgery and to get tubes placed in both ears. We are really worried about how she will handle it! That is going to be a long day indeed!
We hope that the other families who were in Ukraine around the same time - and those with little ones the same age as little O are enjoying the changes they are going thru and loving every minute of it! Watching these kiddos grow and change and florish is an amzing journey in its own! (Jen - love Zoey's LOOOONG hair!)
We'll give another update after the surgery - hopefully all goes well!

Six months???!!!??? Already???

It is so hard to believe that little O has been with us for six months already! She is such an amzing little cutie pie! She has gone through so many things in her short little life so far - it is hard to comprehend how many "firsts" she has had since coming home!

Just physically, she has grown in size and weight. Her language skills are slowly improving. She is a brave eater and will try most everything at least once! She has learned to RUN, brush her own teeth, spit (not the best one!), call India or Japan on the phone, throw her shoes at me when I drive, turn the tv off, drive her brothers crazy and last but not least how to open and close doors! Her hair is getting longer and almost to the full pony-tail point! (yay!!!) And she is getting her "summer" hair color! Her 12 month pants are starting to get a little short and her feet have grown out of her Ukrainian shoes.

It is so amazing that this little orphan and has turned into such a beautiful and sweet angel!

We are thankful every day that we were so lucky to have things turn out the way they have! We think about how right around the day she was born, our very first set of paperwork was sent to Ukraine - and how we were lucky she was just made available for adoption right before we arrived. She is the perfect fit to our family! Apparently people think that she looks just like me - I am hoping that is a compliment! (haha!) But, never the less - she is our little angel and we all just love the dickens out of her!

Today marks the 6 month anniversary of the end of our 10 day waiting period in Ukraine. On Sunday, not only will it be Father's Day, but also O's 2 and a half birthday! So - we will get a little celebrating for both them!

What a ride it has been!

The joys of Spring!

Ahhhh - what a beautiful time of year! Flowers blooming, winds are blowing, baseball games starting, soccer practices continuing, Scout activities, baby bunnies and chicks running about, and the car getting over 100 miles a day - just around town and back, numerous times! haha!
We have been busy busy busy - go go go for the last month! A and J both started baseball and games just started a few days ago, A is also on a select soccer team, both boys have Scouts and all the activities that are going along with that!
I just can't imagine doing it all AND having a two year old AND having a job.... yep - after MANY years I finally "retired"! I would say after 17 years with one company, I am allowed to use the word retired! SO - in my new position/career as a domestic engineer - I am trying to still get things in a routine and trying hard to get all those "I really need to get this.... done" projects! It is SO not as easy as I thought! I almost want to go back to work to make it easier! haha!
Little O and I have a good time during the day though... she is so such a little angel! She of course has her beloved tantrums and screaming spells - but over all she is just precious! She loves ALL animals and wants to pet them, regardless of the animal wants her to or not! She loves to HELP you do whatever it is that you are doing, regardless of if you want her to or not! (though she is GREAT at loading clothes into the dryer!) She is a very effective little communicator too! Her vocabulary has grown, though not significantly.... but she can name the Sesame Street monsters - no problem! Her favorite show, obviously Sesame Street! Not much else will hold her attention! O is making some little friends, and enjoying interacting with them. She is very independent and likes to take off to do "her thing". She has adjusted to everything SO well... we feel really lucky that she is healthy and getting along. Her hair has really grown, she has gained weight, and her clothes that we bought in Ukraine are finally starting to get a little tight! She is not a very picky eater and likes to try new things (even if it is only once!).

Both boys are keeping busy with sports and school activities - we are excited in some ways that school is winding down - though summer school is just on the horizon! Little J broke his collarbone about 2 weeks ago, so he is running around with a sling on! Hopefully all will heal fine and he can return to baseball in about a week! He is tired of being the "bat boy"!

Above is a picture of O and me - all dressed up to go to a big birthday party! Her very first large "social" gathering! Considering she was the only toddler with about 100+ adults - she did really well and seemed to enjoy herself! Needless to say - on the hour long drive home - she threw up all over her party dress and car seat! Ick! Oh well!

Enjoy your spring!

You'd never know!

On our little field trip to Seattle last week, we got an actual good picture of all three with the Olympic Mountains in the back! The kids loved seeing all the otters, seals, fish, etc! We have lunch at Ivars and the boys got to feed some of their fries to the seagulls!
Thank goodness Spring Break is over! It was a long week!

Sick and Tired/Tired and Sick??

Tis the season???? It seems that we have been lucky enough to each have had some sort of cold or illness consistantly in the last month or so! UGH! You know its bad when you have to start shopping for cold medicine at Costco! haha! Hopefully, we are on the downhill slope...Little O has been the one battling the ickies currently! She is NOT a very pleasant patient!

Spring has finally come around and brought the cold wind off the Cascades - so it might look nice and sunny outside - but dang if its not darn-right chilly with the wind chill!

The boys have been finishing off half days of school for conference week. Next week is Spring Break... I don't know if I am ready to take on all three for a whole week! As long as no one is sick - I should make it!

Little O has been doing really well, considering she has been sick. Her tv show of choice is Sesame Street. She will watch the Elmo videos OVER AND OVER! It is so cute when she will come up to me, pat my leg, point to the tv and say "melmo!"... that is her way of telling me to get that movie on! Since the weather has improved, we get to spend more time outside, which she totally loves! She calls all the chickens and the lone duck - "quack quacks" and will follow them around. She loves the horses and calls to them when she is outside... then she waves at them. She loves to help me feed them, so she can pet them. We have been tempted to put her on Little J's pony when she is feeling better...

Here are a few more photos... and a photo of all three of the crazy kids together!

For the love of Big Bird!

Yesterday Little O got a wonderful surprise! Her very own Big Bird sweatshirt! She loves the characters of Sesame Street! She is so cute in her little yellow bird suit! She tries really hard to pronounce it - but it sounds more like "ba - balm" and Elmo is "melmo"... she just loves looking at the things she has with Cookie, Big Bird and Elmo! It's about the only thing that she will watch on tv - even if it holds her attention for about 10-15 minutes!
Everyone has been getting better this week - as the cold has been handed off from one to the other! Little O has a bit of it now - but she is a little trooper and the cold does not slow her down! Last night the boys had their Blue and Gold banquet for Cub-Scouts... Little O really enjoyed running all over the place and getting into stuff... Due to her cuteness, she gets away with alot of stuff! Things are going well while we sit here and watch the snow fall and hope for spring! All that Groundhog stuff is a load of crap!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!
The last few weeks have been really stressful for everyone - but we got through it! My wonderful Ukraine "bug" finally reared its ugly head and I came down with the flu as well as a wonderful cold! Nothing like being sick for the last three weeks! O has been doing great ! She has a loving and sweet personality that is just so contagious! It is like she has been with us all along! Her brothers enjoy her and play really well with her - until she destroys their stuff! The dog has a terrific new partner in crime when it comes to food! She was evicted out of our room when I came down with the flu - and she has been doing great in her own room!
Some days I find it hard to believe that this beautiful little girl is ours! We are very blessed to have her and thankful that things worked out how they did! This year - she is our very special little Valentine!

Week Four!

We have had a fairly good week so far! Hard to believe it has been a month! O just got her official social security card! Yea! Now she can get a job! haha!
O has been testing the waters a bit this week! She had a major meltdown on Wednesday when we went to storytime at the library... she did NOT want to leave! I had to carry her out of there kicking and screaming - it was quite pleasant! Then, for the first time - she did the "you can't strap me in" thing in the car seat! Quite pleasant as well! Oh well! Her comprehension of language had really improved, but like any 2 year old - the word "no" is pretty much ignored! She can be really demanding of your attention at times - it is almost funny how she will walk up and pat your leg wanting to tell you or show you something....She is slowly learning the names and words for certain things... she has been trying to say her brothers names, and she is sort of close - but an outsider would not be able to figure out what she is saying! She continues to harass poor PJ the dog, the chasing him around with laundry baskets and her wagon has worn his patience out! He likes to get up on our bed to "hide" from her - since that is the only place she can't get to him!
Yesterday, she got to spend the day with her cousin, Georgie, who is 3 1/2... they did ok together.. the beginning was tough, as she is not used to someone who refuses to let go of her toy when she screams! Unlike her brothers, her cousin was fine with the screaming and would carry on as if it was nothing!
We are working on her bedroom, still trying to decide if we will leave her in a toddler bed, or move up to the big bed!
Overall - the month home has been good.. it has gone fast! We are thankful for our littlest angel! She has made the last two years plus of waiting finally seem worthwhile!

More sights and smells....

Upper left:
We affectionately called him "Libka-man"! At some point - we learned many years ago that "leeb-ka" was a fish. Every day about 10:30 or so - he would set up his little table with these HUGE, smelly carp! It stunk so bad! Every day we passed him! Usually, there was a cat sitting at the bottom of the table - just waiting! (though the fish were probably 3 times the weight of the cat!) A would get grossed out! Needless to say - he ate little or no fish on this trip!
Upper right:
From one smelly site to another! Ahhhh - the marvelous internet cafe! It had a very fragrant aroma that just begged you to run out and gasp for fresh air! There were about 12-15 computers inside, and from about 11:30am on - they were constantly filled with young men playing interactive video games online! And you think dial-up is slow! You can walk a letter somewhere faster than you can send it from here! Thankfully, it was pretty cheap at $1 USD for an hour!
And finally - this photo of A in front of the Ministry of Youth and Sport - aka - State Department for Adoption - aka the SDA or National Adoption Center in Kyiv!

a few more.....

Upper left picture is in front of the outdoor play "shed" for sake of a better word, that O's group was assigned. She was in group 19,20. During the winter though, the children did not really play on the outdoor playgrounds. Outdoor time was fairly brief and mostly they were bundled up in sixteen layers and walked around the grounds, which was something we did alot of!
Upper picture is in front of O's building. This building was not the main building, but the back building. O's group was on the second floor.
Ahhhh - the picture to the left! We had court on December 8th. If you were following the blog previously, you would have read the "cage" comment! Well..... bring on the cage! This was in the courtroom as you walked in. We really thought it would be funny to put A in it - but did not want to push our luck! haha!

Photos from Zaporizhzhya

Not the best picture! But -it gives a general idea! This picture was taken about 9am... about a block from the orphanage, and near the internet cafe, every morning they would start lining up the glass bottles from (I assume!) the night before! They were probably paid 1 ko-peck (about 1/20 of a cent USD) for each - depending on the size and brand! By the end of the afternoon - it would be completely lined full of bottles! At first we thought it was a great idea seeing that there was always garbage everywhere. Later, we started noticing how many people would hang around the dumpsters at the apartment building we stayed at. As soon as you dumped your garbage, there was usually someone nearby heading over to go through it. It was really sad. It really did amaze us that you would be walking around at 8 or 9 am and men would already be chugging away at a beer on the street! But, after a month - we were not even fazed! haha! We did buy a bottle of the beer, just to try - and it was pretty good... STRONG but good!

Photos- Kyiv

Here are a few quite belated photos from our first few days in Kyiv! The first one is a litttle obvious to what it is! A really loves McD's!
The second is in the St. Michael's Monastery. We have photos of A and Little J in front of this from 5 years ago! We tried to revisit a few sites that we went to back then - just to show A!
The weather did not cooperate much while we were in Kyiv - it was foggy the whole time... so many of our photos are not very pretty! But, it is an absolutely beautiful city! The buildings and cathedrals are amazing! It was unfortunate that we did not have the time to see more!
More photos coming!

Week 3 completed!

Well - though it feels like 3 months, it has only been 3 weeks since coming home! O is doing great, considering she and I are still getting over some funk that we probably brought home with us! She survived her first visit to the dentist and doctor, got her finger stuck in the lab - but no tears until she was all done!
She is exploring more and more each day... I don't think that she many fears at this point! She has determined that our dog, PJ, must be some sort of toy! She will chase him around the house by pushing an empty laundry basket! PJ will get stuck in a corner or smaller room and be trapped! Poor thing! He has been pretty patient with her so far! She likes to pet him and wag her finger at him and say "no-no" when he tries to take whatever she is eating!
This morning - the box of Cheerios dropped out of my hand and half the box spilled on the kitchen floor! Obviously - PJ was very excited and started to clean up the mess... but O was FURIOUS that he was eating HER cereal! After she was done with breakfast, she got down on the floor and found a few that he missed!
O wants so badly to go outside and explore, but it has been too dang cold here! She has pet the chickens a few times (not sure the chickens are sure WHAT she is yet!) and she loves to look out the windows at things.
Two nights ago, my wonderful husband said that he missed Ukraine! I almost fell out of my seat! He was the one who just wanted OUTTA there as soon as he got there! I know what he means though.. and I agree with something that AmyW posted on her blog awhile back....
You get into the lifestyle. It is so much simpler than ours here. You have alot less to worry about - your apartment is small, you don't have alot of trinkets or crap covering shelves, you own alot less clothes (and do less laundry!), you walk EVERYWHERE, you tend to eat less (since you don't know WHAT you are eating!) and things just seem alot more laid back! I have to agree with him that there are days when I wish we could switch back to the more simple life!
Ukraine recently started accepting adoption dossiers again - the first time in about 8 months and so there are lots of families who have been emailing asking about our experience... I can sum it up as this... It is like nothing you have ever done before, and your journey will be different than anyone elses doing the same thing! Each person has their own expectations, opinions and lessons learned, but one thing is always the same and that is you will have a wonderful story to tell and share when you get home!

Ahhhhh - another week down!

Officially - we have been home two weeks now! Feels like 2 months one minute and 2 hours the next! We have been enjoying a "real" winter! Cold weather, ice and snow! A and J are back in school, which is a life saver! O and I have been hanging out during the day - trying to get things done, running around town - the fun stuff!
We were fortunate to have Uncle Steve come over during New Years and celebrate a mini-xmas... the kids loved it! Got to watch the Seahawks actually WIN a game, and lit off snow fireworks!
Little J is VERY happy to have us home! He is not too excited about having a new-roomie, that being brother A! O is still bunking with us - drives us a little batty, but it is probably best for her for awhile! She has good nights and not-so good nights!
O has been enjoying all the sights of her new home... making nice with the dog (that she totally adores now!), trying to figure out what the horses are doing, wanting SO bad to pet the chickens, being mad at the ice when she slips on it, and meeting new people! She has been very resilient and takes everything in!
She has finally calmed down in the car seat - but will panic when everyone is getting out and she is last! She has not said too many understandable words yet - but she is pretty effective with her non-verbal communications! Her understanding of English is pretty good considering!

Again - thanks to everyone who has sent us congrats emails and kind words! They were so great to read while we were gone!

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!