Wow

WOW! I'll say that backwards Wow. We had an amazing group of friends, family, coworkers and fellow adoptive families meet us at the airport. Thank YOU! Yes the kids are already into the clothes, toys and food. What awesome friends you all are.

Home!

Even made me (Jim) cry thinking about it all this morning.

If we are this excited to bring the kids to our home I can only imagine the celebration when God brings all of (us) his kids home.

Race to Freedom - Three new Americans

We are in America at Teresa's folks. Relieved to be out of Ukraine with our children. Teresa was able to sing I'll be home for Christmas with only minutes left. The kids were good on the flights. They went from orphans to spoiled Americans in less than a week. The final tally: 4 trips a total of 91 days in Ukraine over 14 months. Blessed with three wonderful kids.

Recognized Grandma and Grandpa from their pictures and took to them right away. Little slower when big brother and girlfriend arrived. We are managing pretty well with communication. Tomorrow in our own beds.

The idea of giving kids gum to help with take offs and landings should include the warning to take the gum in about twenty minutes. Sasha decided it should be saved for later by putting it in his hair.

If it weren't for bad luck....

I'd have no luck at all.

Another one day delay. Ukrainian passports are only allowed one western european city per flight. Ours had two. The travel agency says that they were aware of this just not the agent that booked ours. They will have us on a new flight tomorrow at no additional cost.

Almost Done

We have all our documentation. The kids are legally ours. Just in case we didn't think so they have been taking more than two hours each night to get to sleep. We will be able to fly soon but due to the holidays and the snow storms on the east coast we will only get to the US, home will still be a few more days. Teresa's folks will have all of us at their house for Christmas while we wait. They are excited. Just wait until we have a long bed time. The pictue is Alex (Sasha) he is the youngest and seven years old.

Plays well with others

All five of us had a very good tuesday and everyone was in good spirits/played well together. All of us but Teresa like being on the floor, Nadia and Sasha both think Papa makes a good pillow to lay on while watching videos. Can't wait to post some pictures, just waiting until it's official and we check them out of the orphanage. Each day now I am saying this will be the kids last Wednesday in an orphanage.

Please keep Richard and Cindy (another Colorado couple adopting in Ukraine) in your prayers. They are getting the court delay/run around just like we did. For more information you can check out their blog from the blogs I follow.

Some great lines that they have added to my adoptive parents lexicon.

Radiator Roulette-Drying your clothes after washing them in the bathroom sink.
Wheel of Torture-For the Ukrainian adoption process (We've all bought enough vowels, and I'd like to solve the puzzle)

We have seen the sun on two days this week. Not bad after two whole weeks without seeing it at all.

Music for a meltdown

Well both of us parents and at least one of the kids reached a mini-meltdown day. It just gets tiring. So this morning I decided it was music time. I started with some comfort/inspirational music. Some Amy Grant from 20 plus years ago. “Love will find a way.” (Which I do believe) “Angels” (Beyond the walls an endless prayer is being lifted for us) “In a little while” (We’ll be home) and “Ageless Melody.”

For no particular reason other than we like kids and cartoons I put Chris Rice’s “Cartoon Song” on (What if cartoons got saved)

Then I needed a little more irony. Yesterday for the first time in two weeks we saw the sun. Don’t worry, today it is cloudy again with a dusting of snow. So what could be more appropriate than John Denver’s “Sunshine on my shoulders.” And as long as we are playing Denver why not “Rocky Mountain High.” Sticking with the weather theme we moved on to America’s “Horse with no name” (It felt good to be out of the rain wandering the desert, the desert was also a good metaphor for our emotional feelings)

Then “Yellow submarine” never thought the song made much sense but then again we are in Ukraine. The Rolling Stones “Start me up” because, well nothing ever seems to get started around here. “Magic” by Kenny Chesney, we could use a little and hey I needed something other than Rock.

ELO’s “All over the World” because we are. Supertramp’s “Take the long way home” I think we made that choice when we picked Ukraine. And Chicago’s “One more day” (NOT)

And last, but not least, Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” since I will be the only one of the five of us when we get home that can say this.

Feel free to toss us some of your favorites.

3 1/2 hours in Court

Some families get through Ukrainian adoption court in 30-45 minutes. Ours lasted 3 1/2 hours.

We have three kids!! We are now starting our 10 day waiting period for the court decree to become official.

We still haven't seen the sun since 10 minutes before we landed last sunday. But it is about as bright a day as we have seen.

One (Last?) delay

Our court has been delayed another four hours. We will be in court at 3 pm tomorrow. (Tueday, December 8)

Teresa is feeling a little better but is still coughing and afraid she'll get kicked out of court.

Tomorrow with the kids, Monday in Court

Well we are on the move again. We will be able to see the kids late afternoon on Sunday and then we will be in Court Monday morning. Stay tuned. I think this has been one of the longest "paper pregnancy's." And I've told Teresa that the weight of the three kids in this case is about equal to hers. No numbers! my head is still recovering from the frying pan therapy (behavior modification.)

Waiting again

Well we are home for a little more than two weeks. Court is scheduled for November 30. While we are gone our facilitator has visited the kids and taken them care packages Teresa made for them.

Ukraine seems to be unwinding from the Swine Flu scare so in a few days we should be with the kids again.

It is giving us a chance to get caught up on work and do a few things around the house now that we have an idea of what the kids like.

Parenting, We asked for it.

Well our youngest is in the hospital with a fever of 101-102. Even the orphanage staff were not allowed to see him to take him some fruit. They are still letting us visit the older two kids even on the weekends. Today they finally let some of the kids friends join us. Our daughter showed some jealousy today. Kind of nice except for kicking & hitting her friends. Ahh parenting, what we've been waiting for.

As for finding a location with fast enough internet speed to use our skype webcam we are still unsuccessful.

We are lucky in our location to be in one of the few oblasts (states) in Ukraine where there have been no deaths reported from swine flu. Interestingly here they are referring to the strain of swine flu as the California strain.

Lights Out

Well our power is out not just for the motel but as far as we can see in all directions. Since we still have internet access I'm assuming somewhere nearby has power. So with battery powered laptops and windup flashlights we have another of those Ukrainian moments like internet access on the train where the toilet empties onto the tracks below. I guess it's about time to sleep anyway.

Do po bach ne ya (Goodbye)

Birthday's Weird Coincidence

When we were looking at the kids documents Teresa said oh look N's (daughter) birthday is the day after mine. I'm thinking good that helps with remembering important dates.

Then she says I's (oldest son) birthday is the day after her Dad's. So I'm thinking kind of spooky and then we see the S's (youngest son) is the day before Teresa's sister's birthday.

So much for spreading dates around the calendar.

Under Construction

We are waiting for the State Department for Adoption to handle the paperwork. Thinking they should have plenty of time now that they have cancelled/postponed other family's appointments.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed that construction remodeling seems to follow us where ever we are staying. Is it just to annoy my nap or our we providing the funding for it when we rent the motel room?

Funny thing what the mind comes up with to think about at times.

The diaper

Ukraine is in the middle of paranoia over swine flu. In order to visit the kids at the orphanage we are now required to wear face masks. The aptika (Pharmacy) are sold out of them so Valentin, our facilitator made us some on his daughter's sowing machine.

I was going with the idea that it made us look like taliban but thanks to our friends John & Felix it has taken a new direction. John thought it looked more like a diaper and Felix reminded us that the diaper goes on the bottom not the face.

Anyway we have a judge assigned to our adoption case we should know our court date tomorrow. The state department for adoption has a few more pieces of paperwork for our file to be complete, but we are moving forward.

Ukraine has closed all schools and theaters for three weeks to try to prevent the spread of swine flu. The state department for adoption has postponed anyone who had an appointment for the next three weeks. Our case is moving forward but there are other families, some already here that this is really messing up their situation. Please pray for a quick resolution for all. There have been some deaths due to the flu but the news reports that it really isn't any more than in a regular flu season.

Our nephew Kenton will be happy to learn that all three of his new cousins are younger than he is.

Anyway here's a picture of the latest fashion trend sweeping Ukraine. Join us if you wish.

It's so easy to fall in Love!

We met with the kids yesterday. They are definitely easy to fall in love with. S the youngest has a huge amount of energy he's not yet in school. N is very territorial, even of her match box car. She looked through the picture album 3-4 times. I think the house and family passed inspection. She is in first grade. If she's afraid her brothers are going to take her stuff it quickly goes up her skirt. I the oldest has freckles and loves to play ball. He is in third grade. We got all three of them blow up beach balls that are a world globe. They now can identify where Ukraine is and where Colorado is. Ivan also gets extra brownie points for being able to identify one of my favorite places - Australia.

Snug, All Highway no train

If you are following our trip on a map or with google earth, we are heading west from Kyiv toward Zhytomyr, and then south toward Berdychiv. Picture to follow later. Our driver has a new Suzuki and we can fill the trunk and part of the back seat with our luggage plus four of us fitting snugly.

The good travel news is that the trip will be all on four lane highway with no shake and bake on the train.

It's a play date.

Go West (Young?) Man!

We have our referral letter and will be heading about 90 minutes west of Kyiv to visit with two boys and one girl. Of course since we worked hard trying to learn Russian this is a Ukrainian speaking area.

Eleven hours of sleep. Aahh!

I feel almost human again. Sleep a good shower and everything looks better. Only problem so far is I can't get onto my office email or log into work software. I'll work on that some more later. If there is something that I need to know right away use the yahoo email account or the skype phone number.

Kyiv, What recession

We are safe in our apartment in Kyiv. Flights were basically uneventful. They have poured alot of cement around the airport since april and there are still many cranes building apartment or condo developments on the ride in to the city. The rest of the country may be hurting but the capital is still growing.

Our appointment in tomorrow morning. Please pray the God will lead us, our facilitator and those at the state department for adoption.

Thank you all.

PS: Teresa has timed it well again. We leave and it starts snowing at home. Maybe they'll get more than a foot?

On the road again, Just can't wait to get on the road again!

Thanks Willie Nelson,

Actually waiting is about all we get to do for this trip. Currently sitting in the Denver Airport. You guessed it...waiting.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. We will keep this updated as we can.

October 29 - New Appointment

I know it's been a loooonnnnggg time and I haven't done any updates.

But.....We just learned

We have a new appointment at Ukraine's State Department for Adoption!!!
and it's coming fast. We have less than two weeks to get ready to go.

More to come

Or should I say the Best is yet to come!

Dead End

Well we got information back on the UOO kids and one of the boys that we were interested in seems to like orphanage life in Ukraine. We've been down that road before and so we have decided not to pursue him.

UOO (Ukrainian Orphan Outreach) Camp

It's been a long, long time.

We are still figuring out what we want to do. Friday we went to our friends Heidi and Felix's home. They are part of an organization that brings kids to Colorado for a cultural exchange/summer camp. There are eight orphans visiting this summer. They are a nice group of kids and have been enjoying their time here. Events have included a trip to Miller farm to pick food, camping, the race track, shopping Walmart, crafts, church and the Zoo.

Check out their website for yourself: http://www.ukraineorphans.org/

I'll try to post a little more regularly. Teresa's folks 50th Anniversary is in about a week. Teresa is also doing two VBS programs this summer so we aren't going to be bored.

Click your heels three times-Home

Actually it was three flights but the ending is the same. We are home. Where do we go from here. We really don't know. Any thoughts?

We do appreciate all the prayers and support from family and friends both old and new. Thank you Donna & Larry for picking us up at the airport. Thank you Carol, Thom, Donna and Larry for the flowers and food that was so very thoughtful. Also to anyone else who was involved.

Thanks also to Eileen and Rolan the internet device was great. Very Helpful.

Also we appreciate so much in so many ways Kari, Jim, Heidi and Felix. You guys have been wonderful throughout.

I thought I was ending with the last post but I think I will still do a few more with what I learned.

The End???

We have been on a rollercoaster over the last four days as d changed his mind at least four times. In the end we believe someone was influencing/pressuring him, Teresa may write more later. We are accepting the last answer he gave which was no. We are taking the train back to Kiev and heading for home.

A Day Away

D is still at the hospital. We have permission to visit him both Saturday & Sunday. When we leave Sunday we are going to Kherson which is a little more than an hour away. We get to spend some time with some American missionary/church planters. It will be good to have a little break from the schedule we have been on and be with some people who share our outlook and background. The majority of Ukrainians have been as helpful and friendly as possible. (Just don't expect any acknowledgement of your existance when walking down the street)

More of the same

We are waiting and/or helping with the processing of paperwork. There is no such thing as a fast speed on that. It is frustrating.

The sun has been out almost everyday on this trip. That is a nice change and it means that we get to play outside with the guys. This is a good thing it helps us stay out of trouble with no mats that we are supposed to stay on. Also the other kids can come around and play also. D is doing well with Roller Blades. There is a nearly destroyed pair with plastic wheels that cuts into his ankle but he got to put the good pair on with real wheels and he does well. We were surprised that most of the kids had not seen play-dough. All enjoyed that activity our boys as well as the rest of the kids. It was another good reason to be outside, we might be just a little messy.

The boys missed out on school to go to the doctor and be checked out for some of the forms. These are not the ones for the US Embassy so they will still need those later. They said going to the doctor was better than going to school anyway. We think they might be developing short timers disease. The realization that they will be leaving in the middle of a school term and so how they score in classes doesn't matter.

They are adding new words in English faster than we can in Russian. New words today include Very Good, monkey, come. Teresa is going to have competition on who can take the most pictures. She has over 500 on this trip. The boys took about 200 in just two hours yesterday. We hope that we can build a good file for them of their friends and where they lived for a few years of their life.

Teresa has a birthday we're so Glad

Yes today is Teresa's birthday and she's how many years old? OUCH THAT HURT!

We got to spend three hours with the boys today. Even without a translator it was pretty good. One of our boys does really well with a perfect pout if he doesn't get his way. Another is always trying to trade for something we have. Little does he know that it is all his with parental supervision in a few days.

We are now on daylight savings time here. So we were an hour late for everything and overstayed our welcome at the orphanage. And unless it causes problems later we are not sorry. Bad Americans, and we still don't keep the boys bundled and zipped like it's winter. It was nearly 60 today, that would be t-shirt and shorts weather for Denver.

The guys now know how to work the Ipod, mp3 player, camera and so forth. Yes I posted the ipod picture twice. Teresa's crash up cars were a big hit. We are still not sure that we are allowed to post pictures of the guys so all you get this time is an unidentifiable picture.

Plus three makes five Sons

Teresa, here. The journey of Life takes so many twists and turns. It has now been three years since we decided to adopt children from Ukraine and we still don’t have children.

Our first trip to Ukraine was unsuccessful. We met and fell in love with three brothers. It seems a lifetime ago now. Just a few weeks ago we got a call from Ukraine saying the problem has been solved and the boys can be adopted now. What a roller coaster ride. Here we are back in a small town named, Kahovka. It is a place that brings back great joy and great pain all in one. It is very familiar as if nothing has changed but every thing has.

We first visited the inspector’s office. There we found out the orphanage director is sick with the flu. Oksana spent time talking to the inspector, Tatiana. When last I saw her she had tears in her eyes as I asked her how it is fair to the boys. She still has a red outfit on but it is not the red sweater we saw her in every day the last trip. Finally we were told we could see S and V in about 1 ½ hours. But that D would be Monday or Tuesday. At 1:30 pm we picked up Tatiana from her office and we are off to the orphanage.

My mind races as we get closer and closer to the orphanage. What have they been told? Will they be mad at us for just not coming back (even though we were not allowed to see them before we left)? I love them will they believe us since we left before? Will they be glad to see us? What do we tell them? There are hundreds of question and no answers.

As we waited in the orphanage computer room, I remember the last time we were here. Getting in trouble for getting off my mat to help the boys with something. I was brought back to reality as S comes running into the room. The joy I felt when S came running into my arms was overwhelming. He was happy to see us. Even V after a few minutes warmed up to us and we had a great visit. We gave them crash up cars as their Christmas present since we were unable to send them anything. They make noise. Lots of noise. Maybe the orphanage director will kick the boys out of the orphanage early to get peace in the orphanage.

I believed S and V missed us as we much as we missed them. Oksana was able to convince the orphanage director to let D come back to the orphanage tomorrow (Saturday)if we pay for the driver and nurse to pick him up. D was the one I was really worried about. The last time we saw him he really took his role as the oldest very seriously. We met with all three of the boys yesterday. We spent time explaining why back in December we didn’t come back and see them. It seems that every day for a month the boys asked why we had not come back and they were never give a reason. D comment was it really doesn’t matter why. The important thing is you are back. All three boys said they are ready to come home with us.

It will be Tuesday before we can start the paper work. I really hope and pray there are no more surprises as we work on the paper work. I am not sure I understand why everything happened the way it did but, God does have a plan for us all, we just have to trust.

Photograph of Oksana by Raymond S. Jensen

It doesn't matter!!! Oh yes it does!

Dennis is back at the orphanage. The nurse went and picked him up this morning. She said he was very excited to learn that we were back for him. We had Oksana our translator talk to him about why we suddenly quit coming to see them and He said "It doesn't matter they are back now" She asked whether anyone had told them about the situation and he said no. She tried to put it in terms that they could understand but I think all three of the boys were only listening half way.

It really does matter to us but at this point we are just happy to be back to the point where all of the boys say they want to come home with us. We won't be able to see the boys again for about 48 hours so there shouldn't be any major news for a few days.

I'm sure this trip will have it's moments but right now it seems like we are all picking up right where we left off.

Teresa's Dancing Eyes

We had a safe trip to Kherson. The train was actually pretty comfortable this time. Temperature was 70-72. We got our referrel from the State Department for Adoption and were allowed to meet with S & V today. V was a little hesitant but warmed up pretty quickly. S came running when he saw us. D is at a Sanitarium for precautionary measures and should be back at the orphanage tomorrow.

Teresa is as happy as I have seen her in months and it is good to see her sparkling/dancing eyes. All in all as good a reception as we could expect.

The inspector and many of the orphanage staff were very friendly and helpful. Two of them are even going with us on their day off so we can see all of the boys tomorrow.

Tired but safe

Just wanted you to know we are in our apartment in Kyiv. Need sleep and a shower.

2, 1, 0

We are now under two days. No not everything will get done. Kari and Heidi came by today with stuff for us and to take to some of the kids. It is amazing to me how quickly many of the adoptive families go from meeting each other to good friends. It's especially good to know there are family and friends praying for us and the boys.

We now have more family with more communication stuff. Wendell (Oldest son now has skype and webcam) and visited with us and Wayne (youngest son) today. Aunt Ruthie who was the first family member to contact us through skype with a webcam while we were in Ukraine called us today. She has inspired Mom & Dad to get high speed internet so maybe they will be able to see and talk with us this trip. Uncle Bud also called with good wishes.

We have also been collecting a small amount of stuff for some of the mission families that we are aware of in the area we are travelling to.

Anyway here we go again.

Never Give Up

We got word on Thursday morning that the boys little sister had been officially adopted by her foster family. As part of this process they had to get the kids officially seperated.

This means that the three boys who we visited in November and December are available for adoption. After waiting and waiting we are now in panic/rush mode. Our new appointment with the State Departement for Adoption (SDA) is March 26. We expect to be with the (our) boys again on the 27th.

We are concerned about what they may have been told when we were no longer allowed to see them without any explanation. Hopefully they still want to be adopted. We will still have the court date and the 10 day waiting period. Yes we are wary of the many problems that still could come up but...

Teresa can't wipe that big grin off her face.

Stay Tuned - Here we go again

We have survived closing the books for all four organizations we are involved with. And we got a call from our facilitator Valentine today. More news to come in a few days.

Waiting and learning

Well we are still waiting for the response to the letter sent by Ukraine's State Department for Adoption attorney. Within the next 2-3 weeks we should know how to plan.

We came out of our anti-social mode at least long enough to have a small superbowl party. Yeah I know the wrong team won but at least it was a good game.

I've now finished the first 12 lessons of Rosetta Stone's Russian language course. It runs about four hours per lesson with about half of that listening to the CD's on my way to and from work. The interactive software is pretty good and it evaluates how close you are coming to speaking correctly. My worst area is the spelling/writing.

Teresa has also been on the phone with Jim King. He is a terrific Christian. We have been so impressed with how he handles people (us included). If you are ever looking for a good cause to support his ministry is involved in several including the boys orphanage. He added us to his mailing list and Teresa was crying a little when I got home last night. Dennis (the oldest boy) was pictured with what I think is a remote control car. That is what he wanted.

We've enjoyed following the blogs of those recently back home with their kids. The teens that we have leading worship for Children's church are willing to try a couple of songs in Russian. We have been using Hillsong's kids albums. Hillsong is an Australian church that just happens to have church plants in both Kyiv and Moscow. And they have done one DVD in Russian. David (guitarist) should have it easy. Thanks Lexi, Tori, Chelsea and Steve we appreciate you so much.

The Boys are healthy and doing well

Jim King called yesterday to let us know that the boys are all healthy and doing well. We are still waiting to see what type of answer the attorney at Ukraine's state department for adoption receives. At that point we will have a better idea of how to proceed.

We are both working long hours as is typical for accountants this time of year. Teresa and her team are going to a VBS training.

For Christmas we agreed to buy ourselves the Rosetta stone software for learning Russian. We have a number of other learning products as well. I like this one and it seems to be helping speed up the learning process.

Thank you all for your support. We continue to pray for the kids of Ukraine and the families that are traveling now as they work to bring their kids home.

Not much news

We had a good time at the Golden Gates Dance program. The kids did a terrific job. They are very talented. Enjoyed the program with our friends Sten & Julie. Probably one of the last times we will get to do that for a long time. Work is taking them to California. Also enjoyed sharing the program with Pastor Udo and his wife Lidia. They lived most of their life in the former Soviet Union and have now been in the US for 6-7 years. Both love music as well as having some cultural ties. We also enjoyed meeting Twyla, John and their kids as well as Matt and his daughter Anya at the program.

Teresa has been concerned about the kids since we were not allowed to talk with them after they told us they were not available for adoption. She emailed Jim King who's church and ministry support the orphanage as well as other ministries. I thought we'd just get a quick can't do anything about anything response. But he was very nice and although he can't promise he'll be able do be of any help. He will check on the boys health and well being. The youngest is the one we are most concerned about. They put on a really good Christmas program and gifts for the kids. When Dennis agreed to come with us he wanted to know if that could wait until after their Orthodox Christmas party. I guess he at least got that wish.

Teresa is now saying that she thinks she has been depressed this last month over the whole deal. Duh (and Da) I love her dearly and she wouldn't be herself if she didn't care for kids so much.

Ukraine's exchange rate is still going higher. Good for Americans travelling to Ukraine but not good for their economy or ability to purchase imported products. It also looks like there is a deal for Natural Gas from Russia as well as transporting it through Ukraine to Europe.

Golden Gate Dance Program

This Sunday we are planning on going to the Golden Gate Dance program in Broomfield. This program is sponsored by a group many adoptive families join called FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption) We would love to meet in person those who have been on this journey as well. The support from those who have "been there" has been so helpful and timely for us.