Bittersweet Return

Today we got word that the judge still hasn't been assigned.  It's unlikely it will happen before the end of the year, so we are coming home.  We'll leave Donetsk tomorrow and we're scheduled to be home in Colorado January 1.  We can't wait to get home!

Every adoption story is different here, but for us, every step has seemed to be as difficult as it could be.  We will have court sometime in January.  Until then, we'll wait at home for our court date instead of waiting here any longer.  It's going to be hard to say goodbye to Anja tomorrow, but we'll leave a book with pictures of us all together so she'll remember us while we're gone.  Today was one of our favorite days so far with her, we got to watch the orphanage Christmas program with all the kids.  Although Anja didn't have much of role, she looked pretty cute in her ladybug costume.   So, at least we were here to see that.  And, we're thankful we were able to make the last minute travel plans come together this evening so we can get home, thanks to our wonderful travel agent, Casey's mom.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Colorado soon!

The Latest

We are still waiting for news of a judge and court date.  We should hear something either today or tomorrow.  Now that today is almost over, we’re hopeful for tomorrow.  We moved into another apartment, which is nicer, but has no internet.   We’re also trying to find flights so we can come home on Thursday.  Then, we’ll come back in January to either pick up Anja if we have court before the end of the year.  And, if not, we’ll come back for court, 10-day waiting period, and then paperwork to bring her home.  Either way, we know coming home for a little while will do us a lot of good.

Please keep praying that this can happen before the end of the year.  

Anja and Casey

Anja "reading" to us from our "Say it Right in Russian" book.

Merry Christmas!

No big news from us today.  Andrew said we have a 50/50 chance of having court sometime next week.  If not, we'll have to come back for court after the Ukraine holiday is over after January 11th.  We're staying one more night in the hotel and will go back to an apartment tomorrow.  We're really enjoying our time here, it has been so nice.  We tried to teach Anja a new phrase today.  Hope you all enjoy it!

Christmas Eve

We woke up this morning wanting to take a train to Kiev for the weekend and visit with other American families there.  But, Andrew told us we shouldn’t leave because there is still a small chance we could have court tomorrow.  So, instead, Casey made an executive decision and got us a hotel room at the Donbass Palace for the night.   This hotel is amazing.  We walked into our room and immediately felt refreshed.  We have a real king bed with amazing pillows. There’s even a “Pillow Menu” if we wanted something different.  Yes, we know this is not that big of deal at home, but if you’d seen the bed and pillows we had the last week you’d understand my excitement in this.  There’s a great spa and we are thinking of booking some massages as our Christmas presents to each other.  We ordered some Room Service - cheeseburgers w/fries and are enjoying some CNN.  The sound of the news and English has never been so calming! J  As far as we’re concerned this is the best place ever to wake up on Christmas morning. 

This afternoon we’ll go visit Anja.  And we’re also waiting to hear if Andrew gets any news from the court.   Please know that we are already feeling much better than our last post.  Thank you again for your comments, and prayers and awesome words of encouragement.  We can and we will keep fighting our way through this so we can bring our Anja home.  

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve wherever you are and whatever your plans!

No End In Sight...

Some of you know, Janelle used to say that maybe since the paperwork took 2 years to get accepted over here, maybe that meant everything would go smooth once we got here.  So much for that idea!

Last week we figured if we could get a supportive letter from the local agency everything would start going smoothly. Boy, were we wrong! The SDA approved our petition to adopt Anja however the one judge that Andrew was told would be the best one for our case doesn’t want it because of the separation. What this means now for us is that we wait for the head judge to appoint us one. I guess in Ukraine you can pick the judge you want figuring which one you have the best chances with. Now we don’t know what we are getting. Over the last few days we feared that we wouldn’t make our Christmas day flight home (without Anja but after the court so she would still be officially our daughter.) Now making that flight is obviously not going to happen. We are now just hoping and praying that one, we have court before Dec 31 and two, get a judge that sees the good in what we are doing. To us, and the people that are working on our behalf it is mind-boggling that this is still as difficult as it is. Optimism is not always easy when every step of the way seems much more difficult than it should. Christmas will be the date that we will have been away from home for two months. Please pray for us - we are very tired of being away from home, and frustrated because we still don’t have an end in sight.  We need our energy and hope to be renewed, we need the Lord's help to reach the goal, and give Anja a family.

Favorite things to do when we are not visiting Anja

Playing Super Size Me – we eat at McDonalds at least 3 times a week.  Sounds disgusting, but I think that the MickeyD’s are better here, really.  And, there’s just something about a cheeseburger and fries when you’re hungry and homesick.

I-Tunes – we love to pay for shows that we normally get to watch for free

www.ex.ua - Andrew showed us this website where we can download some movies, songs, and apple software.  We have seen 2012 and the season premiere of Alf.   However, it’s difficult to find the English version for some, so we didn’t get to watch Transformers or New Moon because they were only in Russian. I guess pirate laws don’t apply here?

15 cents for a bus ride across town.  The first time we were really uncomfortable because of the lack of personal space, but now we’re pros.   It’s seriously comical to see how many Ukrainians can fit in a bus (and two Americans.)

A half-liter of Stella Artois costs less than $1.50 at a restaurant however we could buy a 2-liter bottle of the local beer from the grocery store that costs the same. We are beer snobs and and prefer the imports.

Exploring the huge juice section and cheese section at the grocery store. At least the juice has pictures on it so you know what kind you are getting. Surprisingly all the cheese we bought so far has been good.

Giving our driver a gift and getting homemade Moonshine as a gift in return.

We love restaurants with menus in English. We love it even more to see how its been translated. Has anyone ever seen a dessert that has been “impregnated” by mascarpone and cherries?

Go to any city in Ukraine outside of Kiev and you can rent an apartment for under $40/night. Just smell the fridge before you hand over the cash.

A great exchange rate. At least Americans can travel to somewhere in the world and have an advantage.

And the thing we like most: Checking the blog comments and emails for support. We appreciate them so much and it really has helped us stay positive through this long journey.

A Big Answered Prayer!

Last night the snow stopped and although the roads were not yet plowed today it was easier to get around. As for the letter…this morning Andrew called us saying that the government agency wrote the letter, however they would not tell him what it said until we came with him to sign it. So instead of seeing Anja first this morning we went to their office. We were terrified on the drive there because of what we feared might be the outcome. From what Andrew said the letter was very good and we may now proceed with getting a court date. What a relief! One minor step in the meantime is that the SDA in Kiev must approve the letter but we hope to have them verbally approve it by the end of today. A co-worker yelled at the lady who wrote the supporting letter. This was the one who opposed doing this but she did it anyways and everything was OK with their boss. What an answered prayer from Our Great God! It truly was a fight between good and evil and good won. We still have a few things we must get past to officially call Anja our daughter however it looks like one of the biggest obstacles we will have to face has been overcome.

Family picture on the set where they perform their Christmas program.

Our Little Angel Anja

Although we cannot see her perform, we were able to see her dressed up.

The view from our apartment yesterday.

Driving in the blizzard yesterday.

Our God is Greater

It started snowing last night and hasn’t stopped since (24hrs later). So far it is about two feet deep. And they say it won’t stop until tomorrow. Considering this, our car picked us up this morning and in all of our driving today we saw only one snowplow. Our driver Oleg said that they are probably working the highways so town was mostly unplowed. Surprisingly we only had to get out once to push the car. Our car is a newer Bulgarian car much like a VW Passat. Our driver masterfully dodged other cars and pedestrians while honking for them to get out of our way.  Most of the public transportation stopped midday so most people had to walk home. We made it to Anja’s orphanage fine, just a little late. We came with a box of oranges so all the kiddos could get some extra Vitamin C. We then drove to the agency that we are hoping to write us the letter stating that it is OK for us to separate the siblings so we can adopt our little girl. We waited there most of the afternoon. After a while they said that they wouldn’t do it but we could talk to their boss. Fortunately we were able to talk to her right away. Our translator pleaded our case with one official supporting while another opposed. The head lady seemed to listen to both arguments but said that she wants to think about it until tomorrow. To us it seemed to be a fight between good and evil happening right in front of our eyes and the jury is still out on who won. Please pray today that our God is good and victorious over this decision. He has the power to overcome and at this point it seems that our adoption of Anja is dependent upon it.

On a side note we would like to mention that we are thinking that Anja might be putting on some pounds since we started visiting. We show up right before lunch but we always come with snacks. Everyday we bring her juice, goldfish, fruit and/or fruit snacks and she always eats whatever we bring her. We are pretty sure her little tummy is getting bigger.  Casey

What child doesn't love bubbles? We had fun, until today she was trying to eat them.  I guess she'll wash her own mouth out with soap after the "Ca Ca Video"...

Anja reading to her imaginary audience; she sat down, crossed her legs, pretended to put on her glasses, and opened her book to the first page.  It was precious to watch her mimic the mamas' and how they must read to her group.

CSI - Ukraine

We thought that maybe we could have had our court date by the end of the week, however that is not an option. So now we look forward to the beginning of next week of making that happen. What we are waiting on at the moment is a letter written by the local agency that is the legal guardian of these children that says it is OK to separate the siblings. The letter they gave us yesterday only said that they don't want to make that decision. Them wanting to do it or thinking that it is the right thing to do is not the issue. The problem that we are encountering is that they have only had this position for a few months so they don't know what to do and are afraid that if they do this they may get in trouble. They won't get in trouble because what we are asking is not against the law, they just don't have any experience in these matters. Our plan tomorrow is to meet with their higher ups and prove to them our case. Please pray that will be effective and yield us what we need to complete this process. After we have this letter, we can get a court date, then we will legally be the parents of Anja. (Of course there is a wait period before we can take her home but officially after court she will be our daughter.) Court should be a breeze if we have all the needed paperwork.

On the phone a relative asked if we could just hire a lawyer so they could make everything right. Wouldn't that be nice. I have a new appreciation for lawyers in the US now. And no this is Ukraine, we cannot hire a lawyer to plead our case. Things just don't work that way here. Come and visit and see. We would love to have a visitor. And we have a new flat now so no more stinky fridge. 

Nonetheless we are optimistic. This is all a mystery that just needs some time resolve - kind of like a CSI episode. Drive here talk to this person then drive and talk to another one. Little by little you get all the information to make everything right. Someday our experience will be summed up in an hour long video for Anja to watch. We know that we are so close and we will not give up until we have what we came for. Casey

The "Play by Play" from Today

We started this morning with another short, but sweet visit with Anja.  We created a monster, because every time she runs up the stairs, we say okay, then, "good-bye" (dahsvedahnya) and she runs back "mamamamamama".  Well, today she grabbed her cheerios, some fruit snacks and told us "Dahs-vee-don-yah".  The little stinker.  Anyways, we still got our goodbye hugs and kisses and went to move apartments.  The first place had no internet...which is ALL we requested we needed for our next apartment.  So, we put that on hold, and headed off to the inspectors office, who told us to be there at 2pm.  After getting nowhere, again, Casey asked Andrew to translate for him to see if he could persuade her to get the job done quicker.  She said 40 minutes, and what do ya know,  2 hours later the paper was signed and ready for us.  But, instead of signing it in favor of separating the siblings, they wrote to leave it up to the judge.  But, we were happy because we had a paper with a signature!  Which means we can get a court date.  Andrew had to stop by another inspector and then the orphanage to get a few more documents before it was ready to send to Kiev.  We asked if we could say "hi" and "good-night" to Anja.  She's our bright spot in all of this, and we thought it would make us feel better.  Poor thing was so confused.  She tried to take off my scarf, and get us to stay.  When Andrew translated we were only there for a minute to say hi, she didn't understand.  Stupid us.  I brought her back to her room where she just started to cry.  It breaks my heart, what a dumb idea, we thought we had...won't do that again. 

So, we headed off to our "new apartment." We have internet on their computer, and are trying to sign in on our sites in Russian.  The fridge really stinks...I guess instead of baking soda, they open a can of sardines, and leave it there...seriously.  We tried to use the oven, and it smoked up the whole kitchen.  Just a few highlights, we're moving tomorrow.   We spoke to Valentin, because we were really curious about the 2 week "Holiday Closure" starting in January for Ukraine and how that would effect our court time line and 10-day waiting period.  Bad News.  He doesn't see a way that we could have court done in time to get out of here with Anja before the end of the year.  Our court date will hopefully sometime next week.  Good News. We'll come home after the court date refresh ourselves, and head back for a week once the offices reopen  to bring her home, sometime after the middle of January. Right now we have a flight home scheduled for Christmas day.

Tomorrow, Andrew will submit for a court date.  He'll also try again to get someone at that office to sign a paper agreeing to seperate the siblings, so it will make our court process easier.  Otherwise, the court will decide whether the sibling can be seperated.  This is a legal procedure, and Donestk is know to be very pro-adoption, so it should be okay.  But, we still need your prayers for the Lord to move powerfully to get this one through.  We'll go visit Anja, sign some papers, and move apartments.  Then, we'll wait for our court date and plan our trip home.  Although, it will be so tough to come home without Anja, the future of bringing her home forever will help get us through that.  She is so worth it, and that's what keeps us going. 

On a lighter note, we had a much needed, delicious dinner tonight.  A new restaurant nearby our new apartment, had a lovely man who could translate for us.  We had a salad, and the best Ukrainian bread we've ever had (we don't like the bread here normally), this was warm, and even melted the butter we asked for.  The butter came with some caviar on top...yum, not really!  And, we had coconut crusted chicken with a mango sauce and stuffed with pecans and all kinds of good stuff.  Hooray, for a date night that helped us gain perspective after a rough day.  Well, that's about it.  That's our play-by-play...  But, we have to get a shout-out to the Houghtons blog and how much more cleverer they are with their handlings of obstacles.  Please keep them and all the other families on their personalized roller coaster ride called adoption in your prayers.
Thanks and love to all!

Part 2 - Pray for Progress

This is the beginning of our 8^th week here in Ukraine.  When we began our trip we expected 4-6 weeks, but that was before the quarantine delay that added two weeks.  I think we would be losing our minds, if it wasn’t for the amazing detour vacation we got to take during those two weeks to Italy and the cruise.  But, since the fight for Sergei has ended, our weeks have slowed way down.  We only get to see Anja once a day for about an hour.  And when it’s the weekend, only Saturday, not Sunday.  The rest of the time is spent wandering the streets of Donetsk, going to the grocery store, and exploring the open air markets.   But, on Thursday we got the first snow and it’s a little dangerous to walk around here.  Everything is icy and there doesn’t seem to be anyone salting the sidewalks to prevent nasty falls.  So, to prevent those falls, we tried staying indoors, but then we become stir-crazy.  I think we’ll have to take a chance out there, so we can keep our sanity.  We just want to have the date to come home to look forward to.  We want court this week, and then we can count out our 10-day waiting period.  We can call the US Embassy in Kiev and check on their holiday hours, and plan our flight home.  Anja’s smiles and her spirit really keep us going.  If it wasn’t for her, I’m afraid we’d be home already, giving up on this process and the trials it presented.  So, thank you Lord, for precious Anja!  He knows what He’s doing and He will continue to show us the way.   

The “work day” here is over, and we still didn’t get the signature on the form that is necessary for us to move forward and request the court date.  It was supposed to ready this morning, then it was 1pm, then it was 4pm and Andrew was still waiting for it.  Please pray that this signature can and will happen.   We were so frustrated today we got a cab at 4:20 to take us to building where Andrew was waiting just so they could see us waiting too.  We’ve been waiting a whole week already for this letter…It might have helped, but there’s still someone in the chain of command that needs to sign it.  We really need some strength because we are getting weary on our journey and our patience is running thin.  We really want to get Anja to her new home and her forever family.  Today she was telling the other mama’s in the orphanage that she was going to her new home on an airplane with us.  And, even though she’s scared because she’s never been on a plane before she’s excited.  (Our translator helped us understand her, because we still don’t know Russian – in case you were wondering.)

Pray for Progress

Here are some pics from the last few days that we wanted to share:

Anja all bundled up when we got to the orphanage.

The kids are all outside running around, enjoying the cold weather.

We enjoyed the smiles on all their little faces.  I tried to take more pictures of all of them, but I got in trouble. We're only supposed to take pics of Anja, I guess.

She was all smiles for us this morning

Here she is putting pins in my hair.  I wonder if another kid did her hair today!? : )

                                  

Saying..."please" but it sounds like "pah-ese"

Helping herself to the cup of Cheerios while we trying to use it to teach her please and thank you

The Ukrainian burritos: filled with either chicken or beef (from a kabob), cabbage, mayo, spicy red sauce, and you can add cheese, corn, mushrooms, and carrots.  Casey tried one of each - he really liked it! It's no Qdoba though!

Today's Friday and we've been waiting all week for the paperwork trail to be sent off to Kiev and for us to get a court date.  Today, Andrew went to the inspector's office in hopes of getting the signature from the official on one of the last papers needed.  His plan was to sit around there, until they gave it to him.  We're hopeful that his patience over there will pay off.  We're so anxious for a court date, because then we'll know what day we can possibly be home.  After court, we'll have the mandatory 10-day waiting period, then a couple of days in Kiev, and then HOME.   It would be so nice to have an "end in sight".  Our Ukrainian Vacation is just getting a little too long...  We're staying positive though, and we're thankful for your prayers.  I know that God is giving us the patience to get through this.  We just want to bring our daughter home soon!  Please keep praying that this process will happen sooner than later.  Thank you!

No News is Good News

We now wait. We wait for our papers to be drawn up. And we have extra papers for the separation. Then we wait for our court date, which we hope to be Monday but likely Wednesday. Then we have a 10 day wait period to take custody of our child. After that we should be somewhat on our way home. We are already certain that we will miss Christmas, but what does it matter, we have already missed Thanksgiving. Does this sound depressing? It isn't. We see Anja everyday - we are happy to see her and she is happy to see us. Everyday we learn more about her. Yesterday we taught her a few English words like "please" and "thank you." And I am sure she is learning much about us as well like what she can get away with. Enjoy some pictures from yesterday. Casey

The look she gave papa when I wouldn't give her all of the cookies.

Next Steps and Videos

Today we went to the notary to begin our request to start the process of adopting Anja.  Andrew has to get documents from several places gathered up and then it all gets sent to Kiev for the SDA’s approval, then sent back here.  Then, we wait for a court date.  Andrew said if everything goes well, it should be a week from Wednesday.  Then, there will still be a 10 day waiting period for us to take custody of Anja.  We’ll have to do a day’s worth of documents after that.  We get her new birth certificate and passport, and then go back to Kiev.   We will then go to the US Embassy to file the paperwork over there.  Finally, we’ll get to book Anja a flight and change ours and come home!  We’ve been here forever it feels like, and we still have a long ways to go.

Our facilitator, Valentin, called Casey today and said he was “impressed with us that we were still sticking with it”.  He said this has been a very abnormal situation with Sergei still having visits/contacts with family members.  Once parental rights have been terminated, visits are usually no longer allowed.  The children are then placed in Ukraine’s adoption system for a year, and then after that, they become available for international adoption.  In Sergei’s case however, the mom and great grandmother were still allowed contact, which really influenced his decision.  

But, here we are…and we are looking forward!  We are thrilled to have met Anja.  We know we would have never seen her if we hadn’t started this process requesting a sibling pair.   So, if this is the “why” part we don’t understand, we know she is worth it! 

Today we brought some clothes we had bought for her to make sure that they fit.  She was so funny once Andrew translated what we were doing.  Anyone that walked by, she got their attention, to show them her new jeans.  She was kinda a show-off but everyone was nice and excited for her, so that was good. J  Big progress of the day was that Casey got a real hug and a kiss from her when we said goodbye.   Our visits are busy, but fun.  She makes us laugh so much, especially when the translator tells us little things that she is saying.  Our ride is far from over, but it’s now completely focused on one special little girl!  We are so thankful for her.  

Caca is a word that needs no translation. When we get home we won't be laughing anymore.



Here she is sucking on a hard candy while looking at pictures of mama, papa, & Anja.

She loves mama's sunglasses.

Looking Forward

Today we expected great things. We expected that after the Grandmother talked to Sergei, he would change his mind and want to come with us. That didn’t happen though. The grandmother came with us to his orphanage this morning but Sergei wasn’t convinced. We think there is more to him wanting to stay because he is still very determined not to go. We could tell though that they had a close relationship. We are very disappointed and we really believed that he would change his mind today. Being that tomorrow is his last day we are losing our optimism that he will say yes to America.

Tomorrow we will start our paperwork for just Anja. It is a bit more complicated than if we were to adopt both because we must get permission to separate them. Please pray that that will not be a problem. I was talking to Janelle a few minutes ago wondering why we (and all of the people that follow our blog) were put through this extended fight for Sergei even though we will not able to adopt him. One conclusion that we came up with was that we now have a better understanding of their family, we have their great-grandmother’s blessing and we will likely be able to get some baby pictures of Anja. Please also pray that this “RiDE” will not be so much like a roller coaster any more but something smooth and easy. Thanks for the support and prayers. Casey

Meeting the Babushka

Today we met Sergei and Anja’s grandmother and Sergei’s father and stepmother. Sergei is quite close to his grandmother and she visits him often. She is a woman that lives for children and is very protective of Sergei. We talked for about 45 minutes, showed them pictures of the kids and pictures of our home in Colorado. She asked us about our marriage and if we believed in God. She was very apprehensive at the beginning of the meeting, but started asking us questions towards the end. Sergei’s father and stepmother were very supportive of the adoption, and tried to encourage her it was a good thing. Tomorrow we will meet again and we are planning on going to Sergei’s school together to talk to him. Grandmother wants to think about it overnight and seems to be softening to the idea.

She wanted to know if we were married, how long, etc.  She asked us if we believed in God.  We said, “He’s the reason we are here.” She asked us if we loved Anja, and I said “yes” from the minute we met her.  And, I also said we love Sergei too.   When she asked to see the pictures the second time, and Andrew was describing what and who were in the pictures, she asked if she could come too.  We kinda laughed, and said, “Sure!”  She said she was a hard worker, but that she didn’t know how to work with cows.  It was sweet.  They also talked about how we could send pictures, emails, use Skype, etc. to stay in touch and that she will see how the kids are doing.  We said she could come for a visit, and we would also love to take the kids back here someday as well.   She’s going home to talk to her son, who she lives with here in the city, and then we’ll go to see Sergei tomorrow.  Please pray that her heart continues to warm up to this idea.  That she may see that this is an act of love on her behalf to give Sergei a chance for a better life.  And, that Sergei can handle all of this when we meet with him.  He’s been pulled so many directions, but thankfully it’s because of love.  Please pray for Andrew too, he’s really trying hard to help us get this done, and we’re very thankful for him.  It’s definitely not been an easy case for him either.  Thanks for the continued prayers and encouragements because we need them.  We’ll fight ‘til the finish, until we know we’ve done everything we could to change these hearts, and provide these kids a loving home.

No Fat Lady Singing Yet...

We thought our 10 days to establish contact was up today, but found out it is 10 working days, so we have until Monday, which means we don’t need to ask for an extension from the SDA.  That’s good news.  Another piece of good news is that Andrew got a hold of a family member who is close to Grandma.  Tomorrow, we are meeting with her and maybe some other relatives at noon.   It’s hard not to get our hopes up because this is what we were praying for and something really great could come out of this.  But, we still are trying to remain calm because there’s still a lot of things that need to happen in order for this to work out for Sergei to want to come home with us.  So, prayer warriors, I hope you are not too tired, because we still need you! 

We haven’t been out to see Sergei in 2 days, but our visits to Anja have still been great.  We’ll visit her tomorrow at 10:30AM, and then head off to our big meeting.  Then we’ll see how the weekend goes and hopefully on Monday can file the court paperwork to proceed with the adoption of either one or both.  Casey and I were just laughing today because it’s been crazy how these little glimmers of hope still happen, right when we’re about to give up.  Some say that adoption can be a roller coaster ride because it is so unpredictable. When we titled our blog we had no idea it would be so fitting. Stay tuned….

Still Waiting...

This morning started with Andrew trying to find out where Grandma works from the inspector.  He was able to get an address, and went to check it out.  She wasn't there, but all the other women said that she has been talking about this and has been very distraught.   She is actually a "great-grandma", she's 75 years old. He's still trying to help us arrange a meeting with her, so we can all talk about this, but we've been waiting all day for word and have heard nothing.   We also got word that's Sergei's answer hadn't miraculously changed overnight, either.  Bummer!  But there's still a crack in the door before it's closed, so we haven't completely given up yet.

We had another great visit with Anja this morning, she's so much fun.  We were still not in the regular visiting room, but in the "hallway-room" area.  There's a hallway with stairs going up and down on either side, and a couch and two chairs.  Well, the stairs are just too inviting for her to not go up and down them over and over.  We tell her "ne-et" (no), but we're still pushovers at this point.  The heaters are on full blast and we are running all around, it's gets really hot in there!  They had 2 big bows on her head today.  They must have had something special going on, because all the girls had their hair done the same way.  It was cute but funny, too.  Her group walked by Casey, and they were all talking to him, and asking him questions.  He understood "Anja's Papa" and they all wanted to shake his hand and give high-five's.  They are all such precious children.   But here's a few pics of the one we think is the most precious. :)

Tonight we are going to the Shakhtar game with Ryan, Tabitha, and our translator Andrew.  We will hopefully have more news to post before then, but if not, we still have one more day until we start paperwork for one way or the other.

The Final Countdown

That was the song we were listening on Ukrainian radio a few minutes before we arrived at Sergei and Anja's family/Grandmothers house.....however let me back up to the beginning of the day. We picked up Sergei at his school accompanied by the school attorney late this morning and took them to Anja's orphanage for them to play together again. That went well...after an hour we were on our way. We had more time with Sergei so we took him to an amusement park nearby. Most things were closed but there was a shooting booth open that Sergei was able to shoot his first gun. It fired plastic bullets but we enjoyed watching him shoot cans off the shelf. We then went to McDonalds, also a first for him, let him pick out a toy and bought him a Happy Meal. He loved it as all kids do, and finished the meal with an ice cream cone. We really had a great time together and we know he enjoyed it. On the way home we talked to a girl in Ukraine, who is waiting to be adopted by her family in Colorado, and even though he said he liked us, he again said that he doesn't want to go to America.

We thought that our final chance was to talk to his grandmother figuring that she was telling him not to go. We drove to their house on the outskirts on the opposite side of the city. She wasn't there. She was working tonight. She is our last hope. Pray that we might find her and that she will support this adoption and convince Sergei that it is in his best interest. Friday is our last day to make that connection so you can say it is the Final Countdown. We will post pictures later.

Keep On Keeping On - Part 2

Today we got to see Anja and Sergei interact for the first time in over a year. It was a surprise visit to Sergei’s orphanage so he wasn’t expecting it. When he walked into the room he immediately smiled and walked towards her to give her a hug. She however didn’t remember him since she was 2 ½ since she had seen him last.  But, it didn’t take long for her to warm right up to him.  They had a fun time together, playing with a soccer ball and reading a book. It was a precious time witnessing it all.

Our car ride was a new experience too.  When we got picked up today by Oleg (our driver), and Andrew (our translator), and they had Anja and also one of the child’s psychologist’s, who is an amazingly sweet woman.  Then, Casey and I also crammed in the backseat too.  Yes, there were no car seats or seatbelts involved, but God kept us safe.  J  Anja is so much fun, she makes everyone smile.  The woman that rode with us just kept talking to Anja about her Mama and Papa and Sergei and Anja all 4 being a family.  It was a fun car ride getting us ready for a great visit.

We know that Sergei cares for his sister and wants to be with her.  We also know that his school doesn’t want him to leave.  We know that God is at work here.  And, He can help us reach Sergei, even if it’s slow steps that we need to take.  Every time we start to feel like it’s hopeless, and we need to pursue separating them something else happens that intrigues us and calls us back to fight for Sergei.  Andrew is working so hard on our behalf.  He’s speaking to the director at Sergei’s school this afternoon.  We trust that he represents us for everything that we wish we could say, but can’t communicate.  And, he knows the system and what to do.  It was a great day, so far.  We feel really good about the progress that was made today.  There are more details, of course, but for now, please just continue to pray for Sergei, and this process, and the all the people involved.  Thank you!!