Sweet Saturday

Today we had a great day.  We woke up early enough to walk to McDonald’s and get there in time for breakfast.  After that, we went to Donbass Palace to see if they had any massages available this weekend.   We knew we could use the pool there for 3 hours for around $25, but a massage costs less than $50 and that includes the pool use, and we brought bathing suits with us this time!  We were able to get scheduled for the afternoon.  We then decided to hop on the bus to go see Anja from 11am – 12:30pm.  We had a great time, and we didn’t even have any of the usual toys with us.  We bought some cookies and juice, and she was happy with that. 

We went to Donbass pool and spa for the rest of the afternoon.  It was very relaxing, a little piece of Ukrainian paradise.  We finished off our night at Sun City Pizza.  Casey calls it playing “Russian Roulette” by trying out the sushi and see if we get sick the next day.  Who knows what the odds are?! It was really good and it was a great date.  So, now we’re down to 5 days left and then we’ll get to go pick her up.  It’s getting closer, we’re so excited.  Thanks for checking in with us.

Happy 30th Birthday Travis!  

3 Down, 7 To Go...

The past few days have been going really slow for us.  Do we miss the drama and excitement that we had gotten used to?  No way!  But, we are just ready to get Anja and get on our way home.   Our daily routine has been: wake up, drink some instant coffee, eat some breakfast, then head out for some walking around, going out to lunch, then head home to get our things and go visit Anja.  We go see her from 3:30pm - 5:00pm everyday.  Today we didn't even have our translator call us a taxi because we wanted to figure out how to take the bus there.  We were pretty proud of ourselves, except for we almost didn't get out at our stop, they closed the door and started moving before we made it there (they are crowded-and excuse me didn't translate).  But, I guess they understood our English/Russian.  Stoy!  Pazaloostah! Wait - stop Please!  or something like that...but it worked.  We had a nice time with Anja.  She loves the yogurt we bring her, loves her "ba non" (banana), and her "sok" (juice).   Then, we come home for dinner or go out again, watch a movie and then go to bed to start all over again.  It's great to have an end in sight and we are so grateful, we just wish it was yesterday!

Here's Anja cozied up in the hoodie we brought her, from "Babushka" Debbi.  (It just fits and it's a 3T - for all you people who wanted sizes! :)  - so she'll probably be in a 4T soon enough once we get her home !)

 Smiling at Beppe (Casey's mom) while skyping (via the laptop) from the orphanage.  It's been fun to introduce her to her babushka's.  She says "Babuya or babuka", it's pretty sweet.

Anja Larae DeHaan

Two months ago today, we met a beautiful little girl who God had always planned for us to be our daughter.  Through so many ups and downs and uncertainties, today is the day that the judge in Ukraine court accepted our petition to adopt her.  She is our daughter, God’s chosen child for us.

This has truly been an experience for us to see how God’s hand works.  What seemed almost impossible has been made possible.  We are so thankful for every prayer lifted up on our behalf, He heard them, and He answered.   We rest easy knowing the hard part is over, now the new hard part of parenting is just beginning!  I’m sure it will prove to be even more interesting than the adopting part! J  And with His help that will be a success as well! Janelle

Her name, Anja Larae DeHaan: In Russian her name didn’t sound like Anna nor Anja but a mix of the two. We decided on spelling it Anja because it was more like her mothers name (Janelle) because of the “j”. Ann and Anna are de Graaf family names (i.e. Anna Mae and Deborah Ann, Janelle’s grandma and mom). We feel this is a variation that honors all three. As for Larae, there are two reasons for that: she shares her birthday with her Auntie Lindsay who also has Larae as her middle name. Also this adventure to get her home would not have been possible without the help of my father Larry running the dairy and so we want him honored as well.  And DeHaan, her father needs some credit too…Casey

Happy new parents after court, in front of the court building.

Anja in her new blue sweater. Either they shrunk the red one or we've fed her too many bananas and she outgrew it.

We learned how to say "kiss" in Russian. And she isn't afraid to show her mama how much she loves her.

It's Official...Almost!

Little Miss Anja is going to be our daughter!  Court was an interesting experience.  The judge asked us some questions, why we want to adopt from Ukraine, etc. He also asked us, if we were ready for the challenges of parenting, and physically and financially able to raise a child.  We answered our questions pretty good we thought, but I’m sure we were translated to sound even better.  After everyone spoke, the inspector, Anja’s orphanage director, us, the judge it was over. We didn’t even know what had happened. Andrew said they were waiting until Monday at 4pm to issue the court decree. There is a letter we need to get from the office that wasn’t represented today. He said everything was positive that the judge was going to accept our petition to adopt Anja. Praise the Lord! Once the decree is ready on Monday it will feel and be more official. It looks like many prayers have been answered and we are praising God for His mighty hand through all of this.

We went to visit Anja after court today. To her it’s just another day, she has no idea what is going on around her and just how nervous her papa and her mama have been. She is absolutely worth any and everything we go through to get to bring her home. We will find out on Monday when our 10-day waiting period will be over.  I think that’s when we'll really feel relief, when we have her in our arms and take her out of her orphanage and into our family…forever.

Mother Teresa (plus new pics)

Who ever said doing a good thing would be easy?  Before we left back in October I stumbled on a Mother Teresa quote that has stuck with me.

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.”

The quote doesn’t give me a lot of assurance because I figure we would fight as long as we needed to give Anja a family. Good or bad, I am the type of person that could endure this day in day out without going insane. Paul spent years in prison. Christ was beaten and nailed to a cross. What we are going through is nothing compared to what others have had to undergo for His cause. 

As of right now we are somewhat optimistic about the outcome but not entirely. Our translator, who has done dozens of adoptions, has said that ours has been his most difficult. Not a lot of comfort there, even though this separation is not an uncommon thing. We have had to endure some difficult evenings with this journey and tonight will be no different. Although I am honored that we have been entrusted with being the potential parents of Anja, I do wish it didn’t have to be this difficult. Janelle and I jokingly wonder why we would ever do this again but then a moment later we say we would come back in a heartbeat because there is so many that need a family and they are all such beautiful children.

By the time our court is over tomorrow most of America should be waking up. Stay tuned dedicated blog followers: tomorrow, hopefully, we will officially be able call Anja our daughter. Casey

***Picture Update

 Reunited after 3 long weeks. We were happy to see that she remembered us and showed us love by giving us both big hugs.

Anja sized, Hello Kitty sunglasses that we brought her. She thinks she is pretty cool. We think she is too.

Not Quite like we Expected...

but then again what in this journey has been!??  We got off our plane to Donetsk from Kiev at 10:45pm last night.  On our way to the apartment, Andrew let Casey know that court was not happening tomorrow like we had originally heard.  He was meeting with the judge in the morning.  It was very disappointing news.  One minute we're thinking that we'll have court in less than 12 hours and all that anticipation that goes with it.  The next we're thrown into, the "here we go again" frustration.  After a semi-restless night we met with Andrew this morning.   Court is now scheduled for Friday at 2pm.  Today, the judge requested that he wants the babushka and Anja's biological mother to be present for the court.  We don't see how anything good could come from them being present but he must have his reasons and we just get to along on with it.  As you can imagine, we are clinging on to the peace that only God can provide during this time.  And praying with all our hearts for His will to be that Anja is our daughter.  

On a lighter note...we moved into a new apartment this morning that the missionaries in Kiev (the Kuvshinikov's) helped us find on the campus of Donetsk Christian University.  We will be very comfortable here.  We're looking forward to meeting with some of the English speaking students and teachers.  They also have a cafeteria available if we want to eat here and it's not too far from the area we were used to.  We're going to see Anja this afternoon.  We can't wait to see her and remind us of all the reasons why we are here and we still are holding on hope.  We'll write more as we know more.  Thanks for your amazing prayer support through this all.

Goodbye West

We couldn’t say goodbye America because as we are in London, everything that we needed this morning we had. The comforts in England are about as close to America as anywhere else in the world. So goodbye western civilization.  Starbucks no problem. Apple store because we left…no I left the computer charger at home, done. Now we have a UK apple charger for all the frequent times we come back to England. Lucky for us our converter will take UK plugs as well which is different from Ukraine. After this trip if anyone you know is moving to London and has an apple, we will have a charger for sale cheap.

It was fun to look back at how we packed different for this trip compared to last. Definitely less weight was packed but more than that a lot less clothes and more food. A couple cans of green chile and hamburger helper should keep us satisfied for the next few weeks. Casey

It's Time to Go Back

We have gotten our court date.  It's this Wednesday, January 20th at 9am.  Our flight was already  scheduled tomorrow at 5:20pm out of Denver to London.  We'll have another stay over in London and get to Kiev on Tuesday at 1:25pm.  Then, we'll take a flight to Donetsk that night at 9pm.  And, court will be that next morning, bright and early.  Not sure how bright we'll be, but we'll have our anticipation to keep us awake.  Hopefully we'll adjust quickly to the time change. 

 Please pray for safe and on-time flights, we don't have the "extra day" that we would have liked to have to travel to Donetsk.  And please pray for our court, for our judge, and for Andrew who will be speaking on our behalf.  We are so excited that this day is almost here!  We are so excited to see Anja again - we really have missed her!  

 

Home

We got into Denver last night.  After 9 1/2 weeks away from everything we know, I don't think we've ever appreciated our home as much as we do right now.  On Wednesday, Dec 30th, we had our "goodbye for now" visit with Anja.  I don't think she really understood what it all meant, but she knew we were coming back.  We know that she's comfortable in her routine there, and it's our world that's really been changed without seeing her everyday.  We flew to Kiev from Donetsk and stayed Wednesday night with the wonderful, hospitable Kuvshinikovs'.  New Years Eve we flew to London, stayed the night by the airport and woke up New Years Day to come home.

We're happy and relieved to home for a little while.  But, we will definitely be ready to go back as soon as we have our court date middle to end of January.  We won't have any news until after the Ukraine Holiday vacation ends January 11.  We will update the blog when we have news.  In the meantime, thanks for your prayers and support as always.  We are fully dependent on the Lord to help us get the right judge, the court date, and that our adoption of Anja will be completed.  It's been a long journey and a lot different than we'd ever imagined, but we will trust in the Lord who continually has provided us the strength we need to complete our journey.

Anja in her ladybug costume the day before we left.  We love her joyful expressions!

Giving "Papa" a kiss, she's come a long way since that first week we met her.