Hi All,
No, we haven't fallen off the face of the planet, though it seems like it sometimes. This is just going to be a quick note for those still visiting this blog. I've been trying to find time in the last several weeks to give an update but haven't found any real time to do it except when I've been too tired to type.
I used to wonder what why the blog entries would slow down after coming home. I now know why. Our two girls are wonderful and we feel that we have it easy compared to many adoptive families. Our girls are healthy and bright (many times I think a bit too bright for our good :) ).
The adjustment is going very well and we are all bonding quickly. I think the girls are adjusting quicker than Virginia or I. Up until they started school two weeks ago, I would do the morning duty and then get on to work and Virginia had the girls for the day. Virginia was originally going to be working full time and I was going to do the Mr. Mom routine when I wasn't with clients. Our welcome home gift from her company was a pink slip. It would have been easier to take but she was our insurance carrier. Oh well, we are making due.
Christmas was wonderful and we had both sides of our families descend on us. The girls were a bit overwhelmed but really enjoyed knowing that they have a sizable family. They connect very well and are quite sociable.
Getting them into school was more difficult than I had thought it would be. First, both girls but especially Olena was very scared to start school because of the language differences. Second, the school they are zoned for is not one that I was willing to send them to. I had contacted the county director of ESL and got a list of schools that had Russian speaking children already in them. I wanted them to have someone that they could relate to when starting to make their transition a little easier. After going to 7 or 8 schools and learning that there were no students still speaking Russian, we went back to our first choice and finally recieved a variance. I take them to school and pick them up each day (8 miles each way) and feel it's well worth it to give them a good school to attend. They both love school and are adjusting well to the language differences. Actually, their language skills are amazing me and their teachers, both of which love having these girls in their classes.
One last note: I now really appreciate what a single parent has to go through. Virginia had to go back East for two weeks and I've had the girls to myself for the last week. Olena was sick today and couldn't go to school so I couldn't get to any work today either. It seems that Sasha is coming down with something and I hope she can beat it before it gets as bad as Olena's. The only time is a short time in the evening when I'm already dog tired from the days events. Today, I decided I was going to give this short updated and now I'm ready for bed.
On this note, good night and God bless you all.
From a tired but happy new parent,
Chris
Showing posts with label information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label information. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Home Sweet Home
13 Dec 2008
We made it. We've been home a little over 24 hours and it already feels like a lifetime. The girls love the house and have made themselves at home already. We did not have family or friends at the airport because we needed a bigger car to get us all home and the girls just needed a bit of rest. The jet lag and travel are brutal but the girls did pretty well by any standards. I'll try and not make this a long post because I'm also suffering from jet lag. We were up at 4 am this morning which was better than the night before but we are hoping the girls sleep in tomorrow until at least 7am.
It was an 11 hour flight from Kiev to JFK. Up early the next day for an early flight of 5.5 hours that left an hour late, 2 hour layover in Salt Lake and then another 2.5 hours to Reno. It's a 10 hour difference from Reno to Kiev so jet lag is a definite bummer...
We had family over today so they wore themselves out playing and having a good time in general. They seem to be a match all the way around, but then I knew that. I can't tell you how I knew that, but I knew it from the SDA appointment on. Ah, but I diverge.
The girls are doing great and we are slowly recovering from the long travels, but not the journey because there is nothing to recover from. Sounds silly, but this journey has changed us; all of us. Our experiences have left an everlasting positive impression of a peoples that are very foreign to us. I was asked by our landlady if their way of life was more difficult than ours. If that's all you know, then it's not any more difficult than ours, but since we know of another way of life, then yes, their lives are more difficult than ours in daily living. I can appreciate this much more now than I could before. Oh, I could keep on this topic for awhile but I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.
I'll start posting the updates that I kept on my computer when I wasn't able to get Internet access. It's going to take several days to do so as I do run on a bit and will need to edit for the blog.
For those about to travel, I salute you.
Chris
We made it. We've been home a little over 24 hours and it already feels like a lifetime. The girls love the house and have made themselves at home already. We did not have family or friends at the airport because we needed a bigger car to get us all home and the girls just needed a bit of rest. The jet lag and travel are brutal but the girls did pretty well by any standards. I'll try and not make this a long post because I'm also suffering from jet lag. We were up at 4 am this morning which was better than the night before but we are hoping the girls sleep in tomorrow until at least 7am.
It was an 11 hour flight from Kiev to JFK. Up early the next day for an early flight of 5.5 hours that left an hour late, 2 hour layover in Salt Lake and then another 2.5 hours to Reno. It's a 10 hour difference from Reno to Kiev so jet lag is a definite bummer...
We had family over today so they wore themselves out playing and having a good time in general. They seem to be a match all the way around, but then I knew that. I can't tell you how I knew that, but I knew it from the SDA appointment on. Ah, but I diverge.
The girls are doing great and we are slowly recovering from the long travels, but not the journey because there is nothing to recover from. Sounds silly, but this journey has changed us; all of us. Our experiences have left an everlasting positive impression of a peoples that are very foreign to us. I was asked by our landlady if their way of life was more difficult than ours. If that's all you know, then it's not any more difficult than ours, but since we know of another way of life, then yes, their lives are more difficult than ours in daily living. I can appreciate this much more now than I could before. Oh, I could keep on this topic for awhile but I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.
I'll start posting the updates that I kept on my computer when I wasn't able to get Internet access. It's going to take several days to do so as I do run on a bit and will need to edit for the blog.
For those about to travel, I salute you.
Chris
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Last update while in country.
Hi All,
Just an quick update until we get stateside. We'll be home on Friday so I'll do some updates this weekend. I'll also post more pictures this weekend when I can work them.
For Sweeta, let us know which and I'll get it to you. I assume it's one of the infrared ones.
Or passports were ready on Wednesday of last week. We then had a quick party for the girls and went to Simferop0l to pick up the docs. We stopped by their birth town and took a walk around and learned a few things about their parents. Enlightening!! After picking up the passports, we got tickets for the train to Kiev and away we went. I'll describe this whole trip in more detail once we get back.
Right now we have the girls in an Internet Cafe here in Kiev and they just don't have the patience for this and Virginia isn't feeling adventurous enough to kill an hour wadering the streets of Kiev. For those about to come here, it's cold and snowy but feeling more like Ukraine in winter than the past week.
We are all doing fine and got the visas on Monday so we are officially done with the process here and ready to go home. Once the girls hit US soil, they are officially American citizens and we just need to do some paperwork to get their SS cards.
Family, we will be making calls once we get to New York. We'll be arriving at 4pm local and may take 2 hours to get though immigration and to the hotel. Virginia's phone is not working so we'll be calling from my phone so we may not have all the numbers with us. We'll do what we can, don't hesitate to call us and leave a message if we don't answer because we'll probably be on the phone.
As mentioned, I'll do some big updates this weekend. For clients, I'm looking at catching up starting Monday so give me a call on Friday and leave a message if you have a fire. I'll prioritze from these messages.
Hope all is well with you all.
We have our Girls and this is going to be a wonderful Christmas.
Love and Miss you all,
Sasha, Olena, Virginia and Chris
Just an quick update until we get stateside. We'll be home on Friday so I'll do some updates this weekend. I'll also post more pictures this weekend when I can work them.
For Sweeta, let us know which and I'll get it to you. I assume it's one of the infrared ones.
Or passports were ready on Wednesday of last week. We then had a quick party for the girls and went to Simferop0l to pick up the docs. We stopped by their birth town and took a walk around and learned a few things about their parents. Enlightening!! After picking up the passports, we got tickets for the train to Kiev and away we went. I'll describe this whole trip in more detail once we get back.
Right now we have the girls in an Internet Cafe here in Kiev and they just don't have the patience for this and Virginia isn't feeling adventurous enough to kill an hour wadering the streets of Kiev. For those about to come here, it's cold and snowy but feeling more like Ukraine in winter than the past week.
We are all doing fine and got the visas on Monday so we are officially done with the process here and ready to go home. Once the girls hit US soil, they are officially American citizens and we just need to do some paperwork to get their SS cards.
Family, we will be making calls once we get to New York. We'll be arriving at 4pm local and may take 2 hours to get though immigration and to the hotel. Virginia's phone is not working so we'll be calling from my phone so we may not have all the numbers with us. We'll do what we can, don't hesitate to call us and leave a message if we don't answer because we'll probably be on the phone.
As mentioned, I'll do some big updates this weekend. For clients, I'm looking at catching up starting Monday so give me a call on Friday and leave a message if you have a fire. I'll prioritze from these messages.
Hope all is well with you all.
We have our Girls and this is going to be a wonderful Christmas.
Love and Miss you all,
Sasha, Olena, Virginia and Chris
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Still waiting
Not much new for this post. Come to find out that they will allow us to upload a file to one of their systems for a fee. I may just do this next Monday when we'll be back in Yalta to pick up the court decree.
We've also been busy taking some video of the girl playing through one of my camera's. It's not the best quality but you should have seem them when they got to watch themselves on the screen. I need to see if I can get it to play on the TV so they can say the've been on TV :). I'll get some of these posted once we get home. I'll make a DVD for family afar so you can put sound to the faces until we see you all.
Moose, I hope you've been working out. Virginia says she sees a difference in my bicepts from the time we got here because of all the playing with the girls. Also, brush up on whatever Russian you can because they will not know much of any English.
For those about to travel, we have used a travel phrase translator and it has been VERY useful. Then again, our girls can spell, somewhat, and they like to use it when actions don't get their point across.
Running out of time so until next Monday,
Cheers all and enjoy life,
Chris and Virginia
We've also been busy taking some video of the girl playing through one of my camera's. It's not the best quality but you should have seem them when they got to watch themselves on the screen. I need to see if I can get it to play on the TV so they can say the've been on TV :). I'll get some of these posted once we get home. I'll make a DVD for family afar so you can put sound to the faces until we see you all.
Moose, I hope you've been working out. Virginia says she sees a difference in my bicepts from the time we got here because of all the playing with the girls. Also, brush up on whatever Russian you can because they will not know much of any English.
For those about to travel, we have used a travel phrase translator and it has been VERY useful. Then again, our girls can spell, somewhat, and they like to use it when actions don't get their point across.
Running out of time so until next Monday,
Cheers all and enjoy life,
Chris and Virginia
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Pictures of the Girls
Hi All,
Well, I've tried to post here from my site but these cafe computers are too much junk for me to use reasonably. There are three pictures posted to my photo site on the right hand link.
The first one is of the four of us on Day one shortly after we met. The other two are of them on the Yalta waterfront. The only way I got these shots posted was by pulling them from an email message I had sent awhile ago. So for now, no more pictures until I find another internet cafe. There is supposed to be one in Alupka but is run out of someone's apartment and I haven't found it yet.
What news since I last posted...
We are on day 4 of our 10 day wait. For those not in the know, it's not totally official until we pick up the papers on Monday from the court. The court has granted us these children but until the 10 days are up, we don't have the paperwork.
Both girls are doing great and want to get out of here and start their new life. It's hard for them to understand why, when the court has given us the go, for them to still be at the Internat. Each day we have to tell them they have to go back and they really don't want to.
It looks like we'll have to process the passports through Simperofol but we are looking at staying in Alupka. We haven't asked if it's alright for the girls to still go to school while we are waiting for the passports. We will have the girls in our flat and have them go to school each day, if allowed. We hope to take one day and sightsee with the girls. Also, there is supposed to be a play or something like that that we have been invited to but dont' know when.
We are haning in there. Time is dragging slowly for us and we are ready to complete this process. For travel sake, I'm in no hurry to get home but want to get the girls into a steady environment ASAP.
We showed the girls pictures of Virginia's brother's wedding. They are excited to meet the family. They use the word "Class" to refer to something cool or classy. They kept using the word when seeing all the cousins they have. So, Bill, any plans in the making for this holiday season. We know the situation and we're there ourselves.
We sent away for plane tickets for the girls today so we are hoping that the 9th will be on target. If not, this is going to get expensive real fast. I've been keeping a log on our computer for their memory book, just no way to post it here, for now.
Hope all is well with the world and all is going well here.
Once again, we wanted to say thanks for the comments and emails as they do mean a lot to us.
Cheers from Yalta...still,
Chris and Virginia
Well, I've tried to post here from my site but these cafe computers are too much junk for me to use reasonably. There are three pictures posted to my photo site on the right hand link.
The first one is of the four of us on Day one shortly after we met. The other two are of them on the Yalta waterfront. The only way I got these shots posted was by pulling them from an email message I had sent awhile ago. So for now, no more pictures until I find another internet cafe. There is supposed to be one in Alupka but is run out of someone's apartment and I haven't found it yet.
What news since I last posted...
We are on day 4 of our 10 day wait. For those not in the know, it's not totally official until we pick up the papers on Monday from the court. The court has granted us these children but until the 10 days are up, we don't have the paperwork.
Both girls are doing great and want to get out of here and start their new life. It's hard for them to understand why, when the court has given us the go, for them to still be at the Internat. Each day we have to tell them they have to go back and they really don't want to.
It looks like we'll have to process the passports through Simperofol but we are looking at staying in Alupka. We haven't asked if it's alright for the girls to still go to school while we are waiting for the passports. We will have the girls in our flat and have them go to school each day, if allowed. We hope to take one day and sightsee with the girls. Also, there is supposed to be a play or something like that that we have been invited to but dont' know when.
We are haning in there. Time is dragging slowly for us and we are ready to complete this process. For travel sake, I'm in no hurry to get home but want to get the girls into a steady environment ASAP.
We showed the girls pictures of Virginia's brother's wedding. They are excited to meet the family. They use the word "Class" to refer to something cool or classy. They kept using the word when seeing all the cousins they have. So, Bill, any plans in the making for this holiday season. We know the situation and we're there ourselves.
We sent away for plane tickets for the girls today so we are hoping that the 9th will be on target. If not, this is going to get expensive real fast. I've been keeping a log on our computer for their memory book, just no way to post it here, for now.
Hope all is well with the world and all is going well here.
Once again, we wanted to say thanks for the comments and emails as they do mean a lot to us.
Cheers from Yalta...still,
Chris and Virginia
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Short update
5 Nov 2008
I'm behind again so I'll do a longer detailed post when next I can visit the Internet Cafe.
We still don't have a court date. The gatekeeper to the judges will not allow anyone, including other contacts and facilitators to see a judge. She'll contact Irina this week but told Irina not to call her till next week. Our papers are in Kiev and should be ready for court this week; we hope we can get an early court date next week. We've been in this process now for 2 weeks and thought the people are helpful, they do things on their own timetable. No white envelopes helping here. Our driver has contacts as well and he was shut down just as we were. The 10 day wait period is almost never waived here so we aren't holding our breaths for that, but I really want to try for the waiver. We've been with the girls now for 2 weeks going on three once we have court so I hope the judge takes that into account.
As for names and pictures, we will be waiting until after the wait period. Once I explain, it will all become clear, but that's for later.
Our spirits are up though Virginia really wants to be home. I want this part of the process over so we can move forward. We're bonding well and the longer we stay here, the tougher it gets. The honeymoon is over but the girls still are not ours so it's hard to start parenting with the current situation. We do what we can, but our hands are tied and there are still so many influences here that get in the way.
Gotta run so cheers for now.
Chris
I'm behind again so I'll do a longer detailed post when next I can visit the Internet Cafe.
We still don't have a court date. The gatekeeper to the judges will not allow anyone, including other contacts and facilitators to see a judge. She'll contact Irina this week but told Irina not to call her till next week. Our papers are in Kiev and should be ready for court this week; we hope we can get an early court date next week. We've been in this process now for 2 weeks and thought the people are helpful, they do things on their own timetable. No white envelopes helping here. Our driver has contacts as well and he was shut down just as we were. The 10 day wait period is almost never waived here so we aren't holding our breaths for that, but I really want to try for the waiver. We've been with the girls now for 2 weeks going on three once we have court so I hope the judge takes that into account.
As for names and pictures, we will be waiting until after the wait period. Once I explain, it will all become clear, but that's for later.
Our spirits are up though Virginia really wants to be home. I want this part of the process over so we can move forward. We're bonding well and the longer we stay here, the tougher it gets. The honeymoon is over but the girls still are not ours so it's hard to start parenting with the current situation. We do what we can, but our hands are tied and there are still so many influences here that get in the way.
Gotta run so cheers for now.
Chris
1 Nov - 2 Nov Update
1 Nov 2008
We picked up the girls at 9am to have breakfast with us before we headed for Yalta. Another beautiful day on the Black Sea, sunny and warm. We had to make the girls take a sweater because they thought it was too warm to wear them, and it was; they were carried most of the day. Virginia and Irina took the girls to get jackets and some more socks and I went to the Internet cafй to post yesterday’s blog.
It’s too expensive to take a cab to and from Yalta all the time so we took the bus today. It cost us 18 rph ($2.50) for four of us to go to Yalta and it’s about a 40 minute ride; not too bad for the price. The girls were busy identifying places they’ve been along the way. I guess they weren’t restricted to home their entire lives. They travel well and behave themselves.
Actually, I think we are definitely in a honeymoon period as they are still watching their own behavior. We’ve had them many days for all day and they still haven’t had a fight. For sisters living together I find this either incredibly amazing or more likely on their best behavior. We’ve seen them when they are tired and they still haven’t been at each other. Oh, sure they pick on each other a little, but nothing dramatic. Not sure how long this will last, but we’ll take as much of it as we can. They’re pretty comfortable with us now so I would assume we should start seeing some behaviors from them. The younger one will keep us busy trying to keep up with her, but nothing out of the ordinary for girls their age. The older one has her “stuff” together and helps keep her younger sister in line. It appears it’s been this way for quite some time.
One of the older ones friends met us when we picked them up this morning. She brought a few candies with her and gave them to the older one to give to us. (Note: I hope we get fast court date because I’m tired of having to write older or younger one all the time.) We bought some candy for the girls to give to their friends. Each day we take them back or pick them up, it’s hard to not take some of the others with us. It breaks our hearts seeing these kids there and their prospects are rather slim. We’re only the second family this school year to adopt so it’s not a regular one. The last family was Italian so a lot of the kids like to say Ciao. We also gave some beanie babies to the girls for their special friends. They’ll have several opportunities to give these to their special friends.
We did get a good laugh in today. Earlier, they asked Irina if all the games and such in our flat are going to stay with the school when we all leave. Irina said yes and then they asked if there were any more games where they were going. It seems that they thought all the games we have were there and there wasn’t any back home. Irina told them that there were plenty of games at home that they will be able to play with and they gave a sigh of relief. It’s sad to think that they would think this, their world is definitely smaller than those reading this.
It still amazes me how much these kids share with so little to call their own. They like to share with each other as well as with us. The older one has some insight into bonding and is always sharing her food with us. She’ll offer up her last bite, sweets, meat, it doesn’t matter. We’ve gotten to the point where we are sharing all our foods and drinks. Neither of them tries to hog the food. It’s getting to the point where we feel like we’ve been a family for quite awhile. It all seems too good to be true but God put these girls in our hands and us in theirs so we feel it’s meant to be. Virginia and I waited 10 years for the “other shoe to fall” because things were just too good between us for it to be real and after 18 years it’s still all good. We’re not going to count on the “shoe to fall” since we both feel this is right.
The girls keep asking when they are leaving and coming home with us. Unfortunately, we can’t say for sure and the last post has the projected time.
Tonight, we got invited to go to a wedding tomorrow. All of us are invited and quite excited to see this first hand. The girls don’t know about it yet but they’ll find our first thing in the morning. I hope I can get some nice pictures of the wedding and the girls all decked out for this.
This was supposed to be a short post since today was a rather uneventful day (compared with the others). Until tomorrow.
2 Nov 2008
Today is the last day of the girls fall break. We’ve fallen into a pattern of picking up the girls in the morning, having something to eat and then doing something for the day. Today, we went to a wedding and then to a local land mark (Palace).
The wedding was of close friends of our landlady and was held in a Russian Orthodox church. The ceremony had many elements of familiar symbolism that I’ve seen before, though not sure where. It was a small ceremony, quite solemn for a wedding and very interesting to see. We feel privileged and thankful to have been a part of the ceremony. At the end, the priest blessed our adoption.
Since Papi wasn’t feeling good, I stayed in our flat while all the girls went to a palace and park for the day. I guess the girls have finally felt comfortable around Virginia and Irina that they finally started acting like I would have expected. They’ve spent so much time together that I could see it building for several days, but I wasn’t there when it finally came forth. The girls got into a fight with each other and were cranky most of the afternoon. I didn’t see any of this and they watched their P’s and Q’s when they finally got home to where Papi is. I don’t know if they’re still on their guard with me or whether it’s a cultural thing. Virginia had to tell me all about it and I could see their tiredness and restlessness.
They are now at the point of testing the boundaries which is what I’ve been waiting for. I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen but now is as good as any. I feel this is the beginning of us fitting in together as a whole family and they will learn the roles each of us plays. They are already trying to go around one of us to the other when we say no but we are united and stand together. They grumble a bit then move on. This is progress and they’ll learn that what one says, the other will back up. Today was the roughest so far and I expect there to be many more when all they have is us and themselves without all these other distractions.
Tomorrow we’ll be heading into Yalta while the girls are in school. We have a few things we want to shop for and Irina is going to try and speak with our Judge and get a court date. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow (Nov 3) we’ll been in this process for 2 weeks and we still don’t have a court date. Irina keeps us posted whenever she knows something and I can tell you that it’s not the fault of our team. This region is hard and probably a bit harder right now with world affairs being what they are. Crimea is Russian by their standards, need I say more.
We picked up the girls at 9am to have breakfast with us before we headed for Yalta. Another beautiful day on the Black Sea, sunny and warm. We had to make the girls take a sweater because they thought it was too warm to wear them, and it was; they were carried most of the day. Virginia and Irina took the girls to get jackets and some more socks and I went to the Internet cafй to post yesterday’s blog.
It’s too expensive to take a cab to and from Yalta all the time so we took the bus today. It cost us 18 rph ($2.50) for four of us to go to Yalta and it’s about a 40 minute ride; not too bad for the price. The girls were busy identifying places they’ve been along the way. I guess they weren’t restricted to home their entire lives. They travel well and behave themselves.
Actually, I think we are definitely in a honeymoon period as they are still watching their own behavior. We’ve had them many days for all day and they still haven’t had a fight. For sisters living together I find this either incredibly amazing or more likely on their best behavior. We’ve seen them when they are tired and they still haven’t been at each other. Oh, sure they pick on each other a little, but nothing dramatic. Not sure how long this will last, but we’ll take as much of it as we can. They’re pretty comfortable with us now so I would assume we should start seeing some behaviors from them. The younger one will keep us busy trying to keep up with her, but nothing out of the ordinary for girls their age. The older one has her “stuff” together and helps keep her younger sister in line. It appears it’s been this way for quite some time.
One of the older ones friends met us when we picked them up this morning. She brought a few candies with her and gave them to the older one to give to us. (Note: I hope we get fast court date because I’m tired of having to write older or younger one all the time.) We bought some candy for the girls to give to their friends. Each day we take them back or pick them up, it’s hard to not take some of the others with us. It breaks our hearts seeing these kids there and their prospects are rather slim. We’re only the second family this school year to adopt so it’s not a regular one. The last family was Italian so a lot of the kids like to say Ciao. We also gave some beanie babies to the girls for their special friends. They’ll have several opportunities to give these to their special friends.
We did get a good laugh in today. Earlier, they asked Irina if all the games and such in our flat are going to stay with the school when we all leave. Irina said yes and then they asked if there were any more games where they were going. It seems that they thought all the games we have were there and there wasn’t any back home. Irina told them that there were plenty of games at home that they will be able to play with and they gave a sigh of relief. It’s sad to think that they would think this, their world is definitely smaller than those reading this.
It still amazes me how much these kids share with so little to call their own. They like to share with each other as well as with us. The older one has some insight into bonding and is always sharing her food with us. She’ll offer up her last bite, sweets, meat, it doesn’t matter. We’ve gotten to the point where we are sharing all our foods and drinks. Neither of them tries to hog the food. It’s getting to the point where we feel like we’ve been a family for quite awhile. It all seems too good to be true but God put these girls in our hands and us in theirs so we feel it’s meant to be. Virginia and I waited 10 years for the “other shoe to fall” because things were just too good between us for it to be real and after 18 years it’s still all good. We’re not going to count on the “shoe to fall” since we both feel this is right.
The girls keep asking when they are leaving and coming home with us. Unfortunately, we can’t say for sure and the last post has the projected time.
Tonight, we got invited to go to a wedding tomorrow. All of us are invited and quite excited to see this first hand. The girls don’t know about it yet but they’ll find our first thing in the morning. I hope I can get some nice pictures of the wedding and the girls all decked out for this.
This was supposed to be a short post since today was a rather uneventful day (compared with the others). Until tomorrow.
2 Nov 2008
Today is the last day of the girls fall break. We’ve fallen into a pattern of picking up the girls in the morning, having something to eat and then doing something for the day. Today, we went to a wedding and then to a local land mark (Palace).
The wedding was of close friends of our landlady and was held in a Russian Orthodox church. The ceremony had many elements of familiar symbolism that I’ve seen before, though not sure where. It was a small ceremony, quite solemn for a wedding and very interesting to see. We feel privileged and thankful to have been a part of the ceremony. At the end, the priest blessed our adoption.
Since Papi wasn’t feeling good, I stayed in our flat while all the girls went to a palace and park for the day. I guess the girls have finally felt comfortable around Virginia and Irina that they finally started acting like I would have expected. They’ve spent so much time together that I could see it building for several days, but I wasn’t there when it finally came forth. The girls got into a fight with each other and were cranky most of the afternoon. I didn’t see any of this and they watched their P’s and Q’s when they finally got home to where Papi is. I don’t know if they’re still on their guard with me or whether it’s a cultural thing. Virginia had to tell me all about it and I could see their tiredness and restlessness.
They are now at the point of testing the boundaries which is what I’ve been waiting for. I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen but now is as good as any. I feel this is the beginning of us fitting in together as a whole family and they will learn the roles each of us plays. They are already trying to go around one of us to the other when we say no but we are united and stand together. They grumble a bit then move on. This is progress and they’ll learn that what one says, the other will back up. Today was the roughest so far and I expect there to be many more when all they have is us and themselves without all these other distractions.
Tomorrow we’ll be heading into Yalta while the girls are in school. We have a few things we want to shop for and Irina is going to try and speak with our Judge and get a court date. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow (Nov 3) we’ll been in this process for 2 weeks and we still don’t have a court date. Irina keeps us posted whenever she knows something and I can tell you that it’s not the fault of our team. This region is hard and probably a bit harder right now with world affairs being what they are. Crimea is Russian by their standards, need I say more.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
31Oct Update
31 Oct 2008
Today was another wonderful day spent with the girls. We’ve now spent 1 week, nearly all day every day with the girls and it’s going great. They are still on their guest behavior but are defiantly feeling comfortable with us as we are with them. It’s hard to think that we, as well as them, were so nervous when we met them for the first time. We already feel like a family and our time together is quite natural. I can also tell you we are acting like proud parents and think they are the most wonderful girls we could have hoped to get. Laura, if the offer for Annabelle still stands, we’ll take her also as she’d fit right in (inside family joke).
Today was a leisurely day for us. We picked up the girls and walked to the local store for some supplies. It only takes about 5 minutes to get from the school to our flat so we were home by 11am. We had them work in some grade appropriate math books so I can get an idea as to where they’re at; I still need to work with them to really find out. When we handed them the books, they just dove in and started working on their own for quite some time. We also picked up some books on learning English and show’s them how to make letters and such.
We watched “Emperors New Groove” in Russian. Since this is one of our favorites, we were able to follow along. Speaking of movies, these are not pirated, have the Disney seals and were from a video store and were only 10 Dollars each. We’re headed back to Yalta tomorrow and I’m going to pick up some more movies for that price. We brought some of our movies along but don’t hold the girls attention when there is a lot of talking. We fully understand. These movies are region 5 so since I don’t have a hack for my computer DVD player, I use a program to copy the DVD to my hard drive, another program to remove the region code and then we can watch these with a DVD player on the computer. Works great and I don’t have to have the DVD in the drive to watch them.
Today was a milestone day for me. While watching the movie, the older one sat next to me and snuggle up with me. What a wonderful feeling. They’re bonding with Virginia very quickly and just slower with me. The culture here is different (duh!) and I believe they were close to their mother and not so much to their step father. I haven’t trust myself at them and figure they will come around in their own time. I always showed them small signs of affection like putting my hand briefly on their shoulder or kissing them on the head. After a couple of days, they quit pulling away and accepted these gestures of affection. Of course I would want my hug on greetings and goodbye’s, but those are expected by both parties. My biggest fear was a severe case of Reactive Attachment Disorder but I can say that these girls have no signs of it and are already attaching, strongly. They are no longer overtly worried about their peers stealing us. The younger one which had a larger issue about this asked us if she could bring her friend to our flat and play. As much as we would’ve liked to, it’s prohibited. We felt bad for the little girl who probably didn’t understand why she couldn’t come along. I no longer worry about any bonding issues with these girls as we’ll all strongly bond; that I have no doubt.
We played a few games here in the flat. Twister was a challenge at first since we didn’t know the words for right and left; hand and foot were easy to find out. It’s quite interesting trying to communicate rules when you can’t even say right or left. We have plenty of music on the laptop so they love to dance and horse around while it’s playing. We feel the younger one will always be young at heart and reminds me so much of my youngest niece. She loves to play rough and is always laughing. I have this one picture of her and Virginia together (the older was being the dedicated photographer as was I) on the waterfront in Yalta. They were playing model for us and the younger one busted herself up with her antics. When she goes into a full blown laugh, her eyes are close and she has an ear-to-ear grin; she laughs with her whole face. Every time we see the picture, it crack us up. The older one doesn’t play nearly as rough and not very often. She prefers to make up Virginia or herself or to play calmly (much like my nieces her age). We’ll have our hands full with these two, but in a good way.
Our paperwork is also moving forward. Irina was in Yalta all day waiting for the conclusion to be signed. I guess there is no mayor in Yalta right now so the standin has to sign the paperwork. At first he wasn’t going to since he doesn’t know anything about these matters and was going to make us wait until Dec. 7th for the newly elected official to sign. ARGHH!! But he relented and yesterday Irina came home with the signed documents. She also applied to the court and hopefully get our court date on Monday. As mentioned before, this area is difficult so we don’t expect to get a court hearing until the following Monday. Our return tickets were originally booked for Dec. 9th and it looks like we just might make it if we only encounter small glitches. These are all if’s.
Back to Yalta on Saturday with the girls. Irina needs to mail the documents to Kiev and she found jackets for 100rgh ($20).
On many travel blogs, I read where the prospective parents were glad they brought lots of books and movies to kill the boredom of waiting. We may have had paperwork/officials problems, but we haven’t had any time to read of watch our movies. Last night, we went to be by 9pm because both of us were wore out. I usually have to sneak in some time for these updates because we are so busy. We’ve been blessed in our process because we get to spend so much time with our girls and thankfully it doesn’t look like it’ll slow any. Their normal school resumes on Monday so we will have time during the day till about 3pm when their classes end. Maybe only then will be have time for these things, but I just as soon have the girls and be all worn out instead.
We think we may have to build a playground in our back yard. They love the seesaw and swings not to mention the big spinning thing. They may look old (which they are) and decrepit, but they are built solidly and are holding out just fine. Virginia and I play most times on this gear with the girls. You should see the looks we get from the locals as though we must be insane to play like that. I’ve yet to see any fathers actually engaging their children in play so I’m thinking it’s another one of those cultural things; but that’s not going to stop us from playing with the girls because we’re just having too much fun.
It’s going to feel wonderful to hear children’s laughter in the house again. The only time we heard this was when Virginia’s brothers family visited (they have younger kids) and it always made me feel like it was a home. When they left, it always got quiet again and I went through withdrawals afterward (I came from a large, noisy family). I can’t wait to hear it again with our girls and especially when we ALL get together there again. Some of you may say it’ll get old for me, but I never tire of the sound of laughter. There’s truth in the saying “Laughter is good medicine”. It’s good for the heart and soul. Just think of how good you felt after a good laugh and think what a better place the world would be if people laughed a lot more. I don’t think I’ve heard any laugher on the streets here and that is SAD!
Virginia’s input:
Although I don’t now the name of most of the food items as they are written, I have tried many things and enjoyed them all. I worry that the tastiness of much of the things I have eaten might have long term consequences (weight gain), but our companion Irena tells me that we are so busy and active that not a chance. All the people we have had to deal with directly in regards to the adoption have been very helpful. Some things are slower and harder in this region for adoption, but it is the nature here. The girls are bonding well with us and vice-versa. They were on fall break this last week and contrary to usual practices at our stage of the process we were permitted to take them on outings off property for the day, each day. This has definitely put us further along in respects to bonding with each other. We have also been quite fortunate that they weather here in Crimea has been extraordinarily warm and sunny. We have gone into Yalta many days with no jacket on and just a light sweater, shed half way through the day. We don’t expect this may last much longer, but will take it for as long as it lasts. Chris even had to buy a couple of short sleeve shirts to wear, hard to find this time of year. It was + 28 Celsius yesterday and our landlady’s mother was going for a swim in the ocean, (the water is pretty warm it was + 17 Celsius yesterday), and the ocean is perhaps a ten minute or so walk from here, (rough life, I know).
Cheers for now so I can finish getting ready for Yalta to post this.
Chris and Virginia
Note: The girls are 9 and 10. FYI for those about to travel, the dollar got as high as 7:1 the other day and is hovering around 6 right now.
Today was another wonderful day spent with the girls. We’ve now spent 1 week, nearly all day every day with the girls and it’s going great. They are still on their guest behavior but are defiantly feeling comfortable with us as we are with them. It’s hard to think that we, as well as them, were so nervous when we met them for the first time. We already feel like a family and our time together is quite natural. I can also tell you we are acting like proud parents and think they are the most wonderful girls we could have hoped to get. Laura, if the offer for Annabelle still stands, we’ll take her also as she’d fit right in (inside family joke).
Today was a leisurely day for us. We picked up the girls and walked to the local store for some supplies. It only takes about 5 minutes to get from the school to our flat so we were home by 11am. We had them work in some grade appropriate math books so I can get an idea as to where they’re at; I still need to work with them to really find out. When we handed them the books, they just dove in and started working on their own for quite some time. We also picked up some books on learning English and show’s them how to make letters and such.
We watched “Emperors New Groove” in Russian. Since this is one of our favorites, we were able to follow along. Speaking of movies, these are not pirated, have the Disney seals and were from a video store and were only 10 Dollars each. We’re headed back to Yalta tomorrow and I’m going to pick up some more movies for that price. We brought some of our movies along but don’t hold the girls attention when there is a lot of talking. We fully understand. These movies are region 5 so since I don’t have a hack for my computer DVD player, I use a program to copy the DVD to my hard drive, another program to remove the region code and then we can watch these with a DVD player on the computer. Works great and I don’t have to have the DVD in the drive to watch them.
Today was a milestone day for me. While watching the movie, the older one sat next to me and snuggle up with me. What a wonderful feeling. They’re bonding with Virginia very quickly and just slower with me. The culture here is different (duh!) and I believe they were close to their mother and not so much to their step father. I haven’t trust myself at them and figure they will come around in their own time. I always showed them small signs of affection like putting my hand briefly on their shoulder or kissing them on the head. After a couple of days, they quit pulling away and accepted these gestures of affection. Of course I would want my hug on greetings and goodbye’s, but those are expected by both parties. My biggest fear was a severe case of Reactive Attachment Disorder but I can say that these girls have no signs of it and are already attaching, strongly. They are no longer overtly worried about their peers stealing us. The younger one which had a larger issue about this asked us if she could bring her friend to our flat and play. As much as we would’ve liked to, it’s prohibited. We felt bad for the little girl who probably didn’t understand why she couldn’t come along. I no longer worry about any bonding issues with these girls as we’ll all strongly bond; that I have no doubt.
We played a few games here in the flat. Twister was a challenge at first since we didn’t know the words for right and left; hand and foot were easy to find out. It’s quite interesting trying to communicate rules when you can’t even say right or left. We have plenty of music on the laptop so they love to dance and horse around while it’s playing. We feel the younger one will always be young at heart and reminds me so much of my youngest niece. She loves to play rough and is always laughing. I have this one picture of her and Virginia together (the older was being the dedicated photographer as was I) on the waterfront in Yalta. They were playing model for us and the younger one busted herself up with her antics. When she goes into a full blown laugh, her eyes are close and she has an ear-to-ear grin; she laughs with her whole face. Every time we see the picture, it crack us up. The older one doesn’t play nearly as rough and not very often. She prefers to make up Virginia or herself or to play calmly (much like my nieces her age). We’ll have our hands full with these two, but in a good way.
Our paperwork is also moving forward. Irina was in Yalta all day waiting for the conclusion to be signed. I guess there is no mayor in Yalta right now so the standin has to sign the paperwork. At first he wasn’t going to since he doesn’t know anything about these matters and was going to make us wait until Dec. 7th for the newly elected official to sign. ARGHH!! But he relented and yesterday Irina came home with the signed documents. She also applied to the court and hopefully get our court date on Monday. As mentioned before, this area is difficult so we don’t expect to get a court hearing until the following Monday. Our return tickets were originally booked for Dec. 9th and it looks like we just might make it if we only encounter small glitches. These are all if’s.
Back to Yalta on Saturday with the girls. Irina needs to mail the documents to Kiev and she found jackets for 100rgh ($20).
On many travel blogs, I read where the prospective parents were glad they brought lots of books and movies to kill the boredom of waiting. We may have had paperwork/officials problems, but we haven’t had any time to read of watch our movies. Last night, we went to be by 9pm because both of us were wore out. I usually have to sneak in some time for these updates because we are so busy. We’ve been blessed in our process because we get to spend so much time with our girls and thankfully it doesn’t look like it’ll slow any. Their normal school resumes on Monday so we will have time during the day till about 3pm when their classes end. Maybe only then will be have time for these things, but I just as soon have the girls and be all worn out instead.
We think we may have to build a playground in our back yard. They love the seesaw and swings not to mention the big spinning thing. They may look old (which they are) and decrepit, but they are built solidly and are holding out just fine. Virginia and I play most times on this gear with the girls. You should see the looks we get from the locals as though we must be insane to play like that. I’ve yet to see any fathers actually engaging their children in play so I’m thinking it’s another one of those cultural things; but that’s not going to stop us from playing with the girls because we’re just having too much fun.
It’s going to feel wonderful to hear children’s laughter in the house again. The only time we heard this was when Virginia’s brothers family visited (they have younger kids) and it always made me feel like it was a home. When they left, it always got quiet again and I went through withdrawals afterward (I came from a large, noisy family). I can’t wait to hear it again with our girls and especially when we ALL get together there again. Some of you may say it’ll get old for me, but I never tire of the sound of laughter. There’s truth in the saying “Laughter is good medicine”. It’s good for the heart and soul. Just think of how good you felt after a good laugh and think what a better place the world would be if people laughed a lot more. I don’t think I’ve heard any laugher on the streets here and that is SAD!
Virginia’s input:
Although I don’t now the name of most of the food items as they are written, I have tried many things and enjoyed them all. I worry that the tastiness of much of the things I have eaten might have long term consequences (weight gain), but our companion Irena tells me that we are so busy and active that not a chance. All the people we have had to deal with directly in regards to the adoption have been very helpful. Some things are slower and harder in this region for adoption, but it is the nature here. The girls are bonding well with us and vice-versa. They were on fall break this last week and contrary to usual practices at our stage of the process we were permitted to take them on outings off property for the day, each day. This has definitely put us further along in respects to bonding with each other. We have also been quite fortunate that they weather here in Crimea has been extraordinarily warm and sunny. We have gone into Yalta many days with no jacket on and just a light sweater, shed half way through the day. We don’t expect this may last much longer, but will take it for as long as it lasts. Chris even had to buy a couple of short sleeve shirts to wear, hard to find this time of year. It was + 28 Celsius yesterday and our landlady’s mother was going for a swim in the ocean, (the water is pretty warm it was + 17 Celsius yesterday), and the ocean is perhaps a ten minute or so walk from here, (rough life, I know).
Cheers for now so I can finish getting ready for Yalta to post this.
Chris and Virginia
Note: The girls are 9 and 10. FYI for those about to travel, the dollar got as high as 7:1 the other day and is hovering around 6 right now.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
29Oct update
I've posted new pictues of Yalta and some more of Kiev. Hopfully I can post some pictures of the girls by the end of next week. I will make a special trip if I have to so I can post and update. I've already taken a few hundred pixs and the girls are at about 200 themselves.
Paperwork is starting to move but there is not definate end in sight. We are guestimating 3-4 weeks still but could be less. In Ukraine, the only certain thing is uncertainty itself.
We move in a few hours so it's time for me to sign out. We're loving all the positive thoughts coming though and enjoy reading your comments. Virginia is ready to come home right now but there is so much more for me to learn about this place. We'll make the best of our stay.
We haven't been able to find a battery for Virginia's phone is if you need to message us, use my phone.
Cheers and miss you all. Actually, wish you all could be here :)
Paperwork is starting to move but there is not definate end in sight. We are guestimating 3-4 weeks still but could be less. In Ukraine, the only certain thing is uncertainty itself.
We move in a few hours so it's time for me to sign out. We're loving all the positive thoughts coming though and enjoy reading your comments. Virginia is ready to come home right now but there is so much more for me to learn about this place. We'll make the best of our stay.
We haven't been able to find a battery for Virginia's phone is if you need to message us, use my phone.
Cheers and miss you all. Actually, wish you all could be here :)
27-28 Oct Update
27Oct2008
No paperwork action today since it’s fall break and the principle is out. Maybe tomorrow. The one advantage of this is we get the girls all day again to our delight. Update on paperwork. We did need to go to the Notary at 9am for some paperwork. They told us they couldn’t find 3 pieces including both copies of the girl’s birth certificates. Also, most everyone was out sick so it was looking grim but they came through and we got our papers.
We did a bit of shopping today for the girls. We picked up a top each and an over-sweater type thing. We are trying to spread out the purchases so we have something to get them every few days. This is all stuff they will need since they will not leave with anything from the school; that includes the cloths. We haven’t been told this but it’s usual practice since most of the cloths are community property.
We spent most of the day in the apartment playing games and just having fun. We found out that the kids at this school watch a fair bit of TV. A benefactor donated a large screen TV so they all like to watch it. We’ve been trying to keep the TV to a minimum and spend time together instead.
While out shopping, the girls asked who was cooking tonight and Irina said I was. The older one chucked and didn’t did Papa had it in him to cook anything. Actually, I was only cooking the appetizer and Virginia was cooking spaghetti carbinara (sp.). I sautйed mushrooms in butter and garlic and then melted cheese in the mushroom bowl. Not much left of either dish and they were impressed that Papa could use a knife. Irina remarked that the girls have been taught to cook amongst other things which leads her to believe the Mother took car of her children. I would love to believe that. We won’t know for sure till they open up with us.
The other night I was washing dishes after others made the meal. The girls asked if I always did the dishes and we explained that Virginia and I share the duties around the house (they will have to as well). When these girls get older, if the boys make it past my shotgun, then they’ll be in for a surprise because our girls will expect much from them.
The language progress is coming along slowly. I think I’m learning more Russian than they are English…for now. They are a little scared about the language problem and we are trying not to scare them too much. We use an English phrase or word and follow it by the Russian term. They are catching on. I think their favorite phrase is “Let’s go”. They know exactly what it means. We wanted to spend some time on the Alphabet but couldn’t find enough time to fit it in.
Some of the pictures just updated contain some women’s fashion shots as requested. Kiev is much more fashionable than here in Yalta. Kiev is pretty much Ukrainian and Yalta is pretty much Russian. Most of the people we’ve talked to..OK, everyone we’ve talked to here claims to be Russian, not Ukrainian and wants to be a part of Russia.
28Oct2008
Hurray, we have movement on our paperwork. The principle called in sick so the paperwork was done by someone else, I guess. There are so many confusing twists to this adoption that I can’t keep track, but who cares when the process is finally moving forward. The children and school paperwork make it to the inspector’s office today so they can write the conclusion. With that and some more paperwork from the school, we can send it to Kiev. It’ll still be later this week before that happens. Seems that is no direct route for paperwork to Kiev from here so Irina is finding out the best way to get the docs to Kiev. If things flowed perfectly, court is still more than a week away so we’ll be here for quite a spell (20 or so days +-). Then we have to wait for passports before we can go to Kiev so maybe early to mid December we can be on a plane.
And, we had the girls again today. They don’t share shoes so we went ahead and bought them new shoes, socks and stockings. Their shoes were either falling apart or were way too big for their feet. This family thing is going to get expensive because they need new of everything. For the most part, they are good about not wanting everything they see. We buy some small things and not others, but the buying will need to stop for awhile since the money burn rate is rather high. Irina is helping us keep the costs down but it still costs a fair bit for these things.
Tomorrow we move into a flat near the school. We’ll lose our cloths washer so it’ll be done by hand. We should be able to see the girls on a more regular basis (though we’ve seen them every day for the max time) and they should be able to eat in the evenings with us. We can have them bathe more often and start working on better hygiene like clean socks every day, or every few days, or even once a week. New shoes, clean socks and feet should keep some of the French Perfume down to a minimum.
We can’t wait to post some pictures of them after court. The older one is a little camera shy but I’m working on that. I got some really good pictures of her today and I seem to always get good pictures of the younger one. It usually take me at least 1 hour in the evenings to look at the pictures and transfer them to the computer. I have my DSlr I use and sometimes let the girls use. I brought another digital camera for Virginia, but the girls use it and they also love to use Virginia’s cell phone. We’re letting them use the cameras so they can record what they see and will remember. We’re having a good time with it and they are getting some really wonderful pictures. They put their hands together and open them like a clam to tell us they want to use Virginia’s flip phone. The younger one will make camera click sounds to tell us she want to use the other digital camera. It’s quite effective at getting their points across.
Speaking of language, both are doing a little better. The older one will have no problem with language and want to go to school ASAP when we get back. The younger one has the cutest accent which is quite thick and endearing. I’m thinking she’ll learn much from her older sister, language wise. On the ride from Yalta to the school, I worked with the older one on please, thank you and you’re welcome. She knew the first two but not the last. Russian has the same word for please and you’re welcome so I had to convey this in English. I handed her my pocket knife and motioned for her to give it to me. When she did, I said “Thank You” and followed it with the Russian. When she repeated what I said I knew she didn’t understand so we did it again. This time she didn’t repeat what I said and then made it understood about “Your Welcome”. #3’s the charm because she understood about this communication transaction and even said “Your Welcome” when appropriate. “Your Welcome” is a pretty large word to start out on but she’s sharp…they both are.
Jerry, could you email us a picture of Virginia when she was young. You have some from the disk you made about your Mom.
There’s an uncanny resemblance between the girls and Virginia when Virginia was young. The school admin even commented that Virginia looks a lot like them. Virginia is European by birth and Mother so this makes sense.
****Note: Virginia’s phone has died a painless death. It seems to have died in it’s sleep so she will not be able to receive any more text messages. We can’t get this thing to charge at all, even from various different chargers. We’ll see if we can breathe some life into it by replacing the battery if we can find one.
I have no idea if there is any Internet connectivity or cafй in the village we are off to. If not, it may be awhile before we can update again. I’m hoping they have something. Also, for those waiting to travel and intend on bringing a laptop, make sure you have a very good antivirus always running. I use a USB drive to upload these updates and pictures. I don’t write to the stick but always come back with several viruses/trogons on it.
Last post from Yalta…Cheers
Chris and Virginia
Almost feels like we’re heading into a black hole or something. It’s really not that bad here, actually it’s very nice and we’re enjoying ourselves. It’s a major tourist destination and quite beautiful so we’re not complaining.
No paperwork action today since it’s fall break and the principle is out. Maybe tomorrow. The one advantage of this is we get the girls all day again to our delight. Update on paperwork. We did need to go to the Notary at 9am for some paperwork. They told us they couldn’t find 3 pieces including both copies of the girl’s birth certificates. Also, most everyone was out sick so it was looking grim but they came through and we got our papers.
We did a bit of shopping today for the girls. We picked up a top each and an over-sweater type thing. We are trying to spread out the purchases so we have something to get them every few days. This is all stuff they will need since they will not leave with anything from the school; that includes the cloths. We haven’t been told this but it’s usual practice since most of the cloths are community property.
We spent most of the day in the apartment playing games and just having fun. We found out that the kids at this school watch a fair bit of TV. A benefactor donated a large screen TV so they all like to watch it. We’ve been trying to keep the TV to a minimum and spend time together instead.
While out shopping, the girls asked who was cooking tonight and Irina said I was. The older one chucked and didn’t did Papa had it in him to cook anything. Actually, I was only cooking the appetizer and Virginia was cooking spaghetti carbinara (sp.). I sautйed mushrooms in butter and garlic and then melted cheese in the mushroom bowl. Not much left of either dish and they were impressed that Papa could use a knife. Irina remarked that the girls have been taught to cook amongst other things which leads her to believe the Mother took car of her children. I would love to believe that. We won’t know for sure till they open up with us.
The other night I was washing dishes after others made the meal. The girls asked if I always did the dishes and we explained that Virginia and I share the duties around the house (they will have to as well). When these girls get older, if the boys make it past my shotgun, then they’ll be in for a surprise because our girls will expect much from them.
The language progress is coming along slowly. I think I’m learning more Russian than they are English…for now. They are a little scared about the language problem and we are trying not to scare them too much. We use an English phrase or word and follow it by the Russian term. They are catching on. I think their favorite phrase is “Let’s go”. They know exactly what it means. We wanted to spend some time on the Alphabet but couldn’t find enough time to fit it in.
Some of the pictures just updated contain some women’s fashion shots as requested. Kiev is much more fashionable than here in Yalta. Kiev is pretty much Ukrainian and Yalta is pretty much Russian. Most of the people we’ve talked to..OK, everyone we’ve talked to here claims to be Russian, not Ukrainian and wants to be a part of Russia.
28Oct2008
Hurray, we have movement on our paperwork. The principle called in sick so the paperwork was done by someone else, I guess. There are so many confusing twists to this adoption that I can’t keep track, but who cares when the process is finally moving forward. The children and school paperwork make it to the inspector’s office today so they can write the conclusion. With that and some more paperwork from the school, we can send it to Kiev. It’ll still be later this week before that happens. Seems that is no direct route for paperwork to Kiev from here so Irina is finding out the best way to get the docs to Kiev. If things flowed perfectly, court is still more than a week away so we’ll be here for quite a spell (20 or so days +-). Then we have to wait for passports before we can go to Kiev so maybe early to mid December we can be on a plane.
And, we had the girls again today. They don’t share shoes so we went ahead and bought them new shoes, socks and stockings. Their shoes were either falling apart or were way too big for their feet. This family thing is going to get expensive because they need new of everything. For the most part, they are good about not wanting everything they see. We buy some small things and not others, but the buying will need to stop for awhile since the money burn rate is rather high. Irina is helping us keep the costs down but it still costs a fair bit for these things.
Tomorrow we move into a flat near the school. We’ll lose our cloths washer so it’ll be done by hand. We should be able to see the girls on a more regular basis (though we’ve seen them every day for the max time) and they should be able to eat in the evenings with us. We can have them bathe more often and start working on better hygiene like clean socks every day, or every few days, or even once a week. New shoes, clean socks and feet should keep some of the French Perfume down to a minimum.
We can’t wait to post some pictures of them after court. The older one is a little camera shy but I’m working on that. I got some really good pictures of her today and I seem to always get good pictures of the younger one. It usually take me at least 1 hour in the evenings to look at the pictures and transfer them to the computer. I have my DSlr I use and sometimes let the girls use. I brought another digital camera for Virginia, but the girls use it and they also love to use Virginia’s cell phone. We’re letting them use the cameras so they can record what they see and will remember. We’re having a good time with it and they are getting some really wonderful pictures. They put their hands together and open them like a clam to tell us they want to use Virginia’s flip phone. The younger one will make camera click sounds to tell us she want to use the other digital camera. It’s quite effective at getting their points across.
Speaking of language, both are doing a little better. The older one will have no problem with language and want to go to school ASAP when we get back. The younger one has the cutest accent which is quite thick and endearing. I’m thinking she’ll learn much from her older sister, language wise. On the ride from Yalta to the school, I worked with the older one on please, thank you and you’re welcome. She knew the first two but not the last. Russian has the same word for please and you’re welcome so I had to convey this in English. I handed her my pocket knife and motioned for her to give it to me. When she did, I said “Thank You” and followed it with the Russian. When she repeated what I said I knew she didn’t understand so we did it again. This time she didn’t repeat what I said and then made it understood about “Your Welcome”. #3’s the charm because she understood about this communication transaction and even said “Your Welcome” when appropriate. “Your Welcome” is a pretty large word to start out on but she’s sharp…they both are.
Jerry, could you email us a picture of Virginia when she was young. You have some from the disk you made about your Mom.
There’s an uncanny resemblance between the girls and Virginia when Virginia was young. The school admin even commented that Virginia looks a lot like them. Virginia is European by birth and Mother so this makes sense.
****Note: Virginia’s phone has died a painless death. It seems to have died in it’s sleep so she will not be able to receive any more text messages. We can’t get this thing to charge at all, even from various different chargers. We’ll see if we can breathe some life into it by replacing the battery if we can find one.
I have no idea if there is any Internet connectivity or cafй in the village we are off to. If not, it may be awhile before we can update again. I’m hoping they have something. Also, for those waiting to travel and intend on bringing a laptop, make sure you have a very good antivirus always running. I use a USB drive to upload these updates and pictures. I don’t write to the stick but always come back with several viruses/trogons on it.
Last post from Yalta…Cheers
Chris and Virginia
Almost feels like we’re heading into a black hole or something. It’s really not that bad here, actually it’s very nice and we’re enjoying ourselves. It’s a major tourist destination and quite beautiful so we’re not complaining.
Monday, October 27, 2008
26 Oct Update
26Oct2008
We had the girls again all day and had a blast. We decided to do some touristy stuff. The highest peak in Crimea is just outside of Yalta which has a cable car from bottom to the top. We had our driver take us to the top with a few stops along the way. Most stops were unplanned because the older one was getting car sick. The roads are windey, rough and these drivers think they’re in a rally race (Moose, they run a rally each year from top to bottom; check it out).
We stopped at a Tartar village on the way up to eat some real kabob. We had meat, rice, mountain tea, vegetables and local bread. Talk about good eats!! We got a few pictures of all the girls on horses. I think we are making some wonderful memories of the girls home for them to keep close to their heart since this is their first home. We finished the trip to the top and did quite a hike to reach the peak where we got some wonderful pictures. I was even able to take a few aerial shots of the town where their school is. The girls did some shopping and I tagged along looking for picture opportunities. We then took the cable car down to the bottom; all this taking most of the day.
When we got to the apartment, the girls played some cards and then they all made a salad that they make in the school. Both girls like to help in the kitchen and know how to prepare some dishes. They cut the meat, pealed cooked carrots and sliced them (I panicked each time they were using knives but it’s normal for them at their age). They did much of the preparing and did much of the eating. The salad was scrumptious and we all ate plenty of it. What should have easily fed 6 people fed the 4 of us with just a tiny bit left over.
We played for the next hour before we had to take them back. We’ve been lucky in that we were able to have the girls all day for the last two days. We’re still trying to get the paperwork from the school principle to we can get this process going. We can’t do anything till the principle does her part; then we can apply to the court for a hearing and get the paperwork to the SDA. Until then, we’ve been waiting for a week without any paperwork progress. Our team can’t do anything till the principle does hers. The gal in charge of the orphans has wanted us to get the paperwork last week so we go move forward, but she doesn’t have the power to do that since the principle has to sign it.
If anyone wants to know more about the area, just ask and I can give descriptions of what I’ve seen. This place isn’t as fashionable as Kiev. Not nearly as many short skirts and spiked heals. These streets plus spiked heals = broken shoe or busted leg. It can be hard enough in flat shoes to walk around here.
I did record the girls talking and playing and even made a short movie of them playing a card game. We also worked on their names. In the end, they decided to keep their original names and we gave them American middle names. The older one picked Angela and the younger one picked Cassandra. Gotta run so I can post this before they get back from picking up the girls (it’s Monday morning so I’ll have to catch up today tomorrow). I’ll have to get some pictures formatted and get them posted tomorrow since I don’t know if there’s any place in the village for Internet access.
Signing off from Yalta for now J.
We had the girls again all day and had a blast. We decided to do some touristy stuff. The highest peak in Crimea is just outside of Yalta which has a cable car from bottom to the top. We had our driver take us to the top with a few stops along the way. Most stops were unplanned because the older one was getting car sick. The roads are windey, rough and these drivers think they’re in a rally race (Moose, they run a rally each year from top to bottom; check it out).
We stopped at a Tartar village on the way up to eat some real kabob. We had meat, rice, mountain tea, vegetables and local bread. Talk about good eats!! We got a few pictures of all the girls on horses. I think we are making some wonderful memories of the girls home for them to keep close to their heart since this is their first home. We finished the trip to the top and did quite a hike to reach the peak where we got some wonderful pictures. I was even able to take a few aerial shots of the town where their school is. The girls did some shopping and I tagged along looking for picture opportunities. We then took the cable car down to the bottom; all this taking most of the day.
When we got to the apartment, the girls played some cards and then they all made a salad that they make in the school. Both girls like to help in the kitchen and know how to prepare some dishes. They cut the meat, pealed cooked carrots and sliced them (I panicked each time they were using knives but it’s normal for them at their age). They did much of the preparing and did much of the eating. The salad was scrumptious and we all ate plenty of it. What should have easily fed 6 people fed the 4 of us with just a tiny bit left over.
We played for the next hour before we had to take them back. We’ve been lucky in that we were able to have the girls all day for the last two days. We’re still trying to get the paperwork from the school principle to we can get this process going. We can’t do anything till the principle does her part; then we can apply to the court for a hearing and get the paperwork to the SDA. Until then, we’ve been waiting for a week without any paperwork progress. Our team can’t do anything till the principle does hers. The gal in charge of the orphans has wanted us to get the paperwork last week so we go move forward, but she doesn’t have the power to do that since the principle has to sign it.
If anyone wants to know more about the area, just ask and I can give descriptions of what I’ve seen. This place isn’t as fashionable as Kiev. Not nearly as many short skirts and spiked heals. These streets plus spiked heals = broken shoe or busted leg. It can be hard enough in flat shoes to walk around here.
I did record the girls talking and playing and even made a short movie of them playing a card game. We also worked on their names. In the end, they decided to keep their original names and we gave them American middle names. The older one picked Angela and the younger one picked Cassandra. Gotta run so I can post this before they get back from picking up the girls (it’s Monday morning so I’ll have to catch up today tomorrow). I’ll have to get some pictures formatted and get them posted tomorrow since I don’t know if there’s any place in the village for Internet access.
Signing off from Yalta for now J.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Yalta
Just a quick note since I only have 5 minutes left to update.
We have visited two beautiful older girls outside of Yalta. I'll give more details and pictures of the girls after we have our court date. They are definitely healthy and on track; we couldn't be happier.
Yalta is beautiful but internet access is really hard to find. I'll give a longer update on another day when I have time to pretype it. This area is a difficult one so we are not really sure of how long we will be here. In a few days, we will move out of Yalta to a place near the girls. I reckon that if finding internet access here is tough, then it will be really tough when we are staying in the village.
Gotta run but hope to give a long update before we leave Yalta. This place is worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
We have visited two beautiful older girls outside of Yalta. I'll give more details and pictures of the girls after we have our court date. They are definitely healthy and on track; we couldn't be happier.
Yalta is beautiful but internet access is really hard to find. I'll give a longer update on another day when I have time to pretype it. This area is a difficult one so we are not really sure of how long we will be here. In a few days, we will move out of Yalta to a place near the girls. I reckon that if finding internet access here is tough, then it will be really tough when we are staying in the village.
Gotta run but hope to give a long update before we leave Yalta. This place is worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Appointment Time
19Oct2008
12 Hours and Counting
Just under 12 hours till our appointment at the SDA. Only those that have been here know how this feels. The realization keeps peeking in its head every now and then. For Virginia, think the big moment will come during the appointment when we actually will meet our children on paper (today at the SDA). For me, it’s been sneaking in at various times, ie just as we were taxing down the runway, I became overpowered by good emotions. Though I’ve known all along that this was going to happen, it’s taken a long time and sometime despair rears hi ugly head. Now, there is no despair, no question as to if our kids are here. FYI, it’s now only 2 hours and counting; I fell asleep at the keyboard last night when I started this update.
We spent the day wandering old Kiev. This is a beautiful town with lots of old, ornate buildings. We finally walked through the underground mall so I could look for an adapter for our computer. It’s just another mall, just very high priced by Ukraine standards. I’m sure that will be our last mall visit till we have our children, then very limited with them if we do go. We walked past the presidents residence, Chimera house (see pictures when I can post them) and then down to the Dnipro river. It was a leisurely day.
They close the street down in front of Independence Square on the weekends for various events. We were walking along and Irina pointed out a large bronze horse and asked if I was going to get a picture while on it. I asked her twice if I would get arrested and she said no, so up I climbed onto the statue for a picture. She didn’t think that I was serious and that I would actually climb up there. It did draw a number of chuckles from the crowd. I wasn’t too worried because you could see where quite a few people had actually been up there before.
As I mentioned before, we mostly eat at these Ukrainian cafeteria style places and we’ve been trying nearly everything. We’ve enjoyed most of what we’ve tried with few exceptions. The price is always right as well. We’ve been eating out 2 meals a day and it’s costing us about $12US per meal. And, of course, my eyes are always larger than my stomach and I’ve been eating way too much but enjoying all the new flavors. For those liking American fare, there are lots of McDonalds around. TGIF’s is right in Independence Square and they have a Papa John’s pizza in the food court of the mall.
We met the other couple that is trying to get out of here. We hope their passport comes today so they can finish the process. We had a wonderful time with them. We took their adorable little boy down to a park by the river and let him play while we talked up a storm. It’s always a pleasure to finally meet the people that you’ve been in communication with. We hope they have a quick and safe return to home.
20Oct2008
I gotta stop this now so I can get ready for our appointment.
Were back from our appointment and we made a selection of siblings from the Crimea region that we are going to visit. I won’t say much so we don’t jinx the process, but we feel good. We were shown several sets of siblings, most were healthy and older. The gal helping us in the SDA was very nice and helpful. Though I’ve read lots of blogs on the process, I was surprised by the process. I expected that they would have pulled several files of children and we would have selected from those. Instead, we got there and explained what we were looking for and she went through the books pulling files as we talked. We liked the first set she showed us but wanted to look at more. It seemed that she continued to show us files until our hour was running out and then we had to pick from those that were pulled. We selected the first set of siblings we were shown. This is just an observation on our process and it may be different for many families.
We may be leaving either tomorrow (Tuesday) evening or Wednesday morning for region. We’ll then spend some time with the children before the final decision is made. We’ll give more information once we know that the process is going to go through.
We found out that the orphanage is in a village. We don’t know yet whether we’ll be staying there or in a nearby city and drive back and forth each day. What this means is that we may not have internet access for periods of time. As it is, we probably won’t have access after today for a couple of days so don’t think we fallen off the face of Ukraine. We’ll update as soon as we can. We’ll be writing each day to track the events and then post all we have when we can.
My apologies for the possible lack of updating. I know when I was following other families during their travels, I was always waiting for their updates. I won’t post pictures of the kids until after the court date; at least that’s my intention.
Virginia wants to add that if you have problems sleeping on pillows other than your own, bring your own. She sleeps with a tempurpedic pillow at home and is having problems with the apartment pillows. Be prepared to do lots of walking. High heels are definitely the norm, but can be quite treacherous on the old cobblestone streets.
We spent the day today seeing some sites of sites of the city again. We visited one of the large churches here. Quite magnificent!! We took the underground and metro trains around town. The underground is quite deep and quite crowded. We also took some busses topside which weren’t nearly as crowded as the trains. The underground (subway) is quite clean as is Kiev at large. Overall, I’m quite impressed with Kiev and would like to spend more time here as a tourist. The driving is pretty fast for a city, but not as bad as I thought it would be. They don’t like to stop for pedestrians, but will when push comes to shove and you walk in front of them.
I now need some time to format the pictures for posting so I’m signing off for now. We’ll catch as catch can.
Some of our pictures can be viewed here:
http://www.pbase.com/higgmeister/adoption
We were hoping to check email from here but can't. We'll keep trying from another location. They won't let Vista systems connect in this cafe.
12 Hours and Counting
Just under 12 hours till our appointment at the SDA. Only those that have been here know how this feels. The realization keeps peeking in its head every now and then. For Virginia, think the big moment will come during the appointment when we actually will meet our children on paper (today at the SDA). For me, it’s been sneaking in at various times, ie just as we were taxing down the runway, I became overpowered by good emotions. Though I’ve known all along that this was going to happen, it’s taken a long time and sometime despair rears hi ugly head. Now, there is no despair, no question as to if our kids are here. FYI, it’s now only 2 hours and counting; I fell asleep at the keyboard last night when I started this update.
We spent the day wandering old Kiev. This is a beautiful town with lots of old, ornate buildings. We finally walked through the underground mall so I could look for an adapter for our computer. It’s just another mall, just very high priced by Ukraine standards. I’m sure that will be our last mall visit till we have our children, then very limited with them if we do go. We walked past the presidents residence, Chimera house (see pictures when I can post them) and then down to the Dnipro river. It was a leisurely day.
They close the street down in front of Independence Square on the weekends for various events. We were walking along and Irina pointed out a large bronze horse and asked if I was going to get a picture while on it. I asked her twice if I would get arrested and she said no, so up I climbed onto the statue for a picture. She didn’t think that I was serious and that I would actually climb up there. It did draw a number of chuckles from the crowd. I wasn’t too worried because you could see where quite a few people had actually been up there before.
As I mentioned before, we mostly eat at these Ukrainian cafeteria style places and we’ve been trying nearly everything. We’ve enjoyed most of what we’ve tried with few exceptions. The price is always right as well. We’ve been eating out 2 meals a day and it’s costing us about $12US per meal. And, of course, my eyes are always larger than my stomach and I’ve been eating way too much but enjoying all the new flavors. For those liking American fare, there are lots of McDonalds around. TGIF’s is right in Independence Square and they have a Papa John’s pizza in the food court of the mall.
We met the other couple that is trying to get out of here. We hope their passport comes today so they can finish the process. We had a wonderful time with them. We took their adorable little boy down to a park by the river and let him play while we talked up a storm. It’s always a pleasure to finally meet the people that you’ve been in communication with. We hope they have a quick and safe return to home.
20Oct2008
I gotta stop this now so I can get ready for our appointment.
Were back from our appointment and we made a selection of siblings from the Crimea region that we are going to visit. I won’t say much so we don’t jinx the process, but we feel good. We were shown several sets of siblings, most were healthy and older. The gal helping us in the SDA was very nice and helpful. Though I’ve read lots of blogs on the process, I was surprised by the process. I expected that they would have pulled several files of children and we would have selected from those. Instead, we got there and explained what we were looking for and she went through the books pulling files as we talked. We liked the first set she showed us but wanted to look at more. It seemed that she continued to show us files until our hour was running out and then we had to pick from those that were pulled. We selected the first set of siblings we were shown. This is just an observation on our process and it may be different for many families.
We may be leaving either tomorrow (Tuesday) evening or Wednesday morning for region. We’ll then spend some time with the children before the final decision is made. We’ll give more information once we know that the process is going to go through.
We found out that the orphanage is in a village. We don’t know yet whether we’ll be staying there or in a nearby city and drive back and forth each day. What this means is that we may not have internet access for periods of time. As it is, we probably won’t have access after today for a couple of days so don’t think we fallen off the face of Ukraine. We’ll update as soon as we can. We’ll be writing each day to track the events and then post all we have when we can.
My apologies for the possible lack of updating. I know when I was following other families during their travels, I was always waiting for their updates. I won’t post pictures of the kids until after the court date; at least that’s my intention.
Virginia wants to add that if you have problems sleeping on pillows other than your own, bring your own. She sleeps with a tempurpedic pillow at home and is having problems with the apartment pillows. Be prepared to do lots of walking. High heels are definitely the norm, but can be quite treacherous on the old cobblestone streets.
We spent the day today seeing some sites of sites of the city again. We visited one of the large churches here. Quite magnificent!! We took the underground and metro trains around town. The underground is quite deep and quite crowded. We also took some busses topside which weren’t nearly as crowded as the trains. The underground (subway) is quite clean as is Kiev at large. Overall, I’m quite impressed with Kiev and would like to spend more time here as a tourist. The driving is pretty fast for a city, but not as bad as I thought it would be. They don’t like to stop for pedestrians, but will when push comes to shove and you walk in front of them.
I now need some time to format the pictures for posting so I’m signing off for now. We’ll catch as catch can.
Some of our pictures can be viewed here:
http://www.pbase.com/higgmeister/adoption
We were hoping to check email from here but can't. We'll keep trying from another location. They won't let Vista systems connect in this cafe.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Stressed to the MAX
Less than a week to go and we are nearly there. We're leaving on the 16th and will arrive in Kiev on the morning of the 18th. There are so many small things to put into place when the length of travel is this long. It seems like as we get some things checked off our list, new ones crop up.
As for the actual trip, we have most of what we need (and then some) but just need to organize it and get it packed. It took me several weeks to acquire all the monies in clean bills. We back with a small credit union and they don't have control over what bills they receive from other institutions. They were helpful in that they would order the money for us and presort through it for the good 100's, but it still took longer than expected to get all that we were going to take.
Though other couples didn't have any problems carrying all that cash, we feel very uncomfortable about it. I'm not sure what other options we have so we'll do what everyone else has done.
So, with the 20th nearly upon us, do we feel ready? No...and YES!! Could we spend more time with the minute details here, sure, but then again they never end. It's been a long time in coming and we are more than ready to get into this. We are very excited, not only with the adoption, but the travel as well. I would love to have more time to work on our Russian, but I figure we'll get along fine. As a last minute purchase, we picked up an iTravl translator from Ectaco. We'll let you all know if the purchase was worth it. We're hoping it will be of use with the children once we get home as well as our travels. Knowing the luck we've had so far, we'll probably end up in a Ukrainian speaking region :).
Not much else to report on but just going crazy with excitement and stressing over the small stuff. I do promise to update this on a near daily basis while we are travelling. It's our link to family and friends. I hope to post lots of pictues.
Until next post, have a wonderful day.
Chris and Virginia
As for the actual trip, we have most of what we need (and then some) but just need to organize it and get it packed. It took me several weeks to acquire all the monies in clean bills. We back with a small credit union and they don't have control over what bills they receive from other institutions. They were helpful in that they would order the money for us and presort through it for the good 100's, but it still took longer than expected to get all that we were going to take.
Though other couples didn't have any problems carrying all that cash, we feel very uncomfortable about it. I'm not sure what other options we have so we'll do what everyone else has done.
So, with the 20th nearly upon us, do we feel ready? No...and YES!! Could we spend more time with the minute details here, sure, but then again they never end. It's been a long time in coming and we are more than ready to get into this. We are very excited, not only with the adoption, but the travel as well. I would love to have more time to work on our Russian, but I figure we'll get along fine. As a last minute purchase, we picked up an iTravl translator from Ectaco. We'll let you all know if the purchase was worth it. We're hoping it will be of use with the children once we get home as well as our travels. Knowing the luck we've had so far, we'll probably end up in a Ukrainian speaking region :).
Not much else to report on but just going crazy with excitement and stressing over the small stuff. I do promise to update this on a near daily basis while we are travelling. It's our link to family and friends. I hope to post lots of pictues.
Until next post, have a wonderful day.
Chris and Virginia
Friday, September 26, 2008
Not too much new to report
Soon after we received our notice of appointment, we received a fax of our appointment letter in Ukrainian. Though we couldn't read it, we were still excited by the fact that we had it. So, it's official that we will have our appointment on the 20th. We already have our plane tickets and will be leaving Reno on the 16th and arriving in Kiev on the morning of the 18th. It's hard to believe that this day is almost upon us.
The stress levels are running high since it seems that is so much to do and so little time to do it in. We're busy trying to get some items as well as the clean bills. We back with a small credit union and we aren't getting all the money we need. Then again, we are trying to scrape up a bit more cash because the flights were more that we had hoped. So, I'm writing this while away on a business trip and beginning to feel panicked about time left. I know it will all fall into place, but it hasn't happend yet!!
As for travel, we decided to use a travel agent the Virginia works with through the company she works for. The Aerosvit prices were more reasonable but the savings weren't all that and the schedule wasn't all that favorable for us. We are breaking up the trip into two parts since we are on the West side of the states. We'll overnight it at JFK and catch the afternoon flight to Kiev on Delta and do the same on the return. We figured the kids would like to stretch their legs after an 11 hour flight to JFK and I know we will want to as well. As for the adoption fares with Delta, they weren't even close to competitive with just doing a RT and pay for the changes. We'll also book RT flights for the kids and trow away the return trip as it's half as much as a one way ticket. All said and done, it'll run us just over 5K for all of us to get there and back. Are there cheaper ways to go, yes, but not by much and the JFK to Kiev is a straight though shot.
I'm hoping to catch up on some blogs tonight since I haven't had much of a chance lately.
Cheers,
The stress levels are running high since it seems that is so much to do and so little time to do it in. We're busy trying to get some items as well as the clean bills. We back with a small credit union and we aren't getting all the money we need. Then again, we are trying to scrape up a bit more cash because the flights were more that we had hoped. So, I'm writing this while away on a business trip and beginning to feel panicked about time left. I know it will all fall into place, but it hasn't happend yet!!
As for travel, we decided to use a travel agent the Virginia works with through the company she works for. The Aerosvit prices were more reasonable but the savings weren't all that and the schedule wasn't all that favorable for us. We are breaking up the trip into two parts since we are on the West side of the states. We'll overnight it at JFK and catch the afternoon flight to Kiev on Delta and do the same on the return. We figured the kids would like to stretch their legs after an 11 hour flight to JFK and I know we will want to as well. As for the adoption fares with Delta, they weren't even close to competitive with just doing a RT and pay for the changes. We'll also book RT flights for the kids and trow away the return trip as it's half as much as a one way ticket. All said and done, it'll run us just over 5K for all of us to get there and back. Are there cheaper ways to go, yes, but not by much and the JFK to Kiev is a straight though shot.
I'm hoping to catch up on some blogs tonight since I haven't had much of a chance lately.
Cheers,
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Thanks for all the support
Thank you all for your encouragement and positive comments. We haven't dropped off the face of the planet, we've just been incredibly busy.
We are pushing forward on the Ukrainian adoption front. We've been running around getting everything updated. Our HS updated interview has been completed and we are now waiting to get the referrals and background checks back (yes, we had to redo all these). Our state background checks should be back within a couple of weeks. Our medicals have been redone for the third time. And on top of all this, I've been incredibly busy with work so time has been in very short supply. Unfortunately, I'm now out of town for this week on business and will have Virginia try and get some of the other stuff done, if she can get the time off work. I think all the time consuming items are taken care of and just have the local quick stuff to do (ie. marriage license, house deed, my statement of earnings, etc.).
I'm hoping to catch up on some blogging this week in the evenings. I'm actually at a remote mine site that connects only by satellite so I'll see how much I can actually catch up on. Then we are on vacation for the next two weeks so there won't be much I can do, adoption wise for the next three weeks. I guess there is no real good timing for anything, but I'll get it when it can.
We didn't realize how much we need this vacation. We haven't vacationed for the last two years expecting to travel when we adopt. Now that vacation is imminent, we are so ready. It will feel good to just get away. Though there are things that will still need to be done, we can't do them while away so we are just going to hold tight and (try) not to worry about them while sunning (burning) on the beach.
So for now, not much new news; just pushing forward with Ukraine. I hope to have some (good) news to report on my next post.
The other couple who went through the same ordeal we did has been notified that they were submitted on June 4th. Our prayers are with them that it all goes well this time around.
Cheers all and thanks again,
Chris and Virginia
We are pushing forward on the Ukrainian adoption front. We've been running around getting everything updated. Our HS updated interview has been completed and we are now waiting to get the referrals and background checks back (yes, we had to redo all these). Our state background checks should be back within a couple of weeks. Our medicals have been redone for the third time. And on top of all this, I've been incredibly busy with work so time has been in very short supply. Unfortunately, I'm now out of town for this week on business and will have Virginia try and get some of the other stuff done, if she can get the time off work. I think all the time consuming items are taken care of and just have the local quick stuff to do (ie. marriage license, house deed, my statement of earnings, etc.).
I'm hoping to catch up on some blogging this week in the evenings. I'm actually at a remote mine site that connects only by satellite so I'll see how much I can actually catch up on. Then we are on vacation for the next two weeks so there won't be much I can do, adoption wise for the next three weeks. I guess there is no real good timing for anything, but I'll get it when it can.
We didn't realize how much we need this vacation. We haven't vacationed for the last two years expecting to travel when we adopt. Now that vacation is imminent, we are so ready. It will feel good to just get away. Though there are things that will still need to be done, we can't do them while away so we are just going to hold tight and (try) not to worry about them while sunning (burning) on the beach.
So for now, not much new news; just pushing forward with Ukraine. I hope to have some (good) news to report on my next post.
The other couple who went through the same ordeal we did has been notified that they were submitted on June 4th. Our prayers are with them that it all goes well this time around.
Cheers all and thanks again,
Chris and Virginia
Thursday, May 22, 2008
A New Day
Usually, it's darkest just before it goes pitch black. The heavens have opened up and given us light to see by. As you know, there was another couple in the exact same position with the same facilitator. There has been lots of confusion, lack of communication and plain old lying by the facilitator. Through this confusion, it looked as though our Ukrainian journey was taking a bad twist and we even considered that, though our hearts were there, that this country wasn't meant to be for us. Through perseverance, prayer and dumb luck, we are still in with Ukraine.
We actually have a date of July 23rd to submit our dossier. This is wholly workable for us and we can even enjoy our vacation :). We already have some appointments and will be making more in the very near future. I now don't see any roadblocks for us regarding or dossier submission. We have to have some faith that this is actually our date and when the submission sheet comes out, we'll ask a favor of someone to actually check it. We'll deal with that when the time comes; one step at a time. I need to preserve what sanity I have left.
We've been looking into Hungary and like the process there as well. It can take a long time but we would hope that with our broad requirements that it would not take quite as long. We are still going to pursue this avenue as a secondary route. It's a long stay in country, but you spend the time with the child/ren getting to know them. Essentially, you foster them for a month over there before the adoption becomes final. That's a rather nice thought; getting to take them places over there. I view it as a kind of vacation with potential children.
I don't know if many of you have found our requirements, but we are looking for a sibling group of 2 between the ages of 2 - 12 yrs old and at least one a girl. Healthy is preferable, but moderate issues are workable depending on what they are. As you can see, we are open to a rather large range. We are a childless couple, not by choice, and really love having children around. We hate having to give our nephews and nieces back when they visit.
Sorry for the long post, but we are in better spirits. We love roller coasters. Though things are looking brighter than they were several days ago, we are ready to get off this ride. Enough is enough, but we will be here though it all. This may sound selfish, but the children deserve it and so do we; let's get this done.
Once again, we thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and advice. We may be contacting some of you in the near future as we evaluate our options.
Thanks Again,
Chris and Virginia
We actually have a date of July 23rd to submit our dossier. This is wholly workable for us and we can even enjoy our vacation :). We already have some appointments and will be making more in the very near future. I now don't see any roadblocks for us regarding or dossier submission. We have to have some faith that this is actually our date and when the submission sheet comes out, we'll ask a favor of someone to actually check it. We'll deal with that when the time comes; one step at a time. I need to preserve what sanity I have left.
We've been looking into Hungary and like the process there as well. It can take a long time but we would hope that with our broad requirements that it would not take quite as long. We are still going to pursue this avenue as a secondary route. It's a long stay in country, but you spend the time with the child/ren getting to know them. Essentially, you foster them for a month over there before the adoption becomes final. That's a rather nice thought; getting to take them places over there. I view it as a kind of vacation with potential children.
I don't know if many of you have found our requirements, but we are looking for a sibling group of 2 between the ages of 2 - 12 yrs old and at least one a girl. Healthy is preferable, but moderate issues are workable depending on what they are. As you can see, we are open to a rather large range. We are a childless couple, not by choice, and really love having children around. We hate having to give our nephews and nieces back when they visit.
Sorry for the long post, but we are in better spirits. We love roller coasters. Though things are looking brighter than they were several days ago, we are ready to get off this ride. Enough is enough, but we will be here though it all. This may sound selfish, but the children deserve it and so do we; let's get this done.
Once again, we thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and advice. We may be contacting some of you in the near future as we evaluate our options.
Thanks Again,
Chris and Virginia
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Update on our options
First, we want to say thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and advice.
Just so you know, we are not giving up by any means. Money is the least considered factor, but we still need to keep it in mind (not rich, just saved awhile to afford this). We've looked at our options realistically. We contacted Washoe County Child Protection Services about an update for the HS. No fees for this, but we need to do another background check which takes about 10 days. Ouch. The state background checks take 2 weeks on a good day and that is expedited. Redoing the medicals could be done probably without any problems. Then, if we got the dossier there on time, it still needs to be translated which I imagine could be expedited as well. The most significant factor is whether we actually have a June 4th appointment. There is a translator which is going to check on this today (Wed Ukraine time).
We are giving our current facilitator one chance to keep us and that's to get us a date with the existing dossier. The date would have to be verified by the letter from the SDA. We are also looking for another facilitator that will take us and hopefully has a submittal date for later this year. As I said before, we aren't giving up.
One other option we are looking into is changing countries (we have one in mind). This is an option we can pursue now to see the viability. I only see Ukraine becoming harder next year with more uncertainties, but that didn't prevent us this last year. We still have options and are not closing any doors. I know many of you have had similar problems that you've overcome. With prayers, tenacity and some luck, we will overcome this as others have.
Thank you everyone for putting up with my rants and vents. I think I'm done with that and hope to get back to posting positive forward movement soon. Thank you again :-).
Just so you know, we are not giving up by any means. Money is the least considered factor, but we still need to keep it in mind (not rich, just saved awhile to afford this). We've looked at our options realistically. We contacted Washoe County Child Protection Services about an update for the HS. No fees for this, but we need to do another background check which takes about 10 days. Ouch. The state background checks take 2 weeks on a good day and that is expedited. Redoing the medicals could be done probably without any problems. Then, if we got the dossier there on time, it still needs to be translated which I imagine could be expedited as well. The most significant factor is whether we actually have a June 4th appointment. There is a translator which is going to check on this today (Wed Ukraine time).
We are giving our current facilitator one chance to keep us and that's to get us a date with the existing dossier. The date would have to be verified by the letter from the SDA. We are also looking for another facilitator that will take us and hopefully has a submittal date for later this year. As I said before, we aren't giving up.
One other option we are looking into is changing countries (we have one in mind). This is an option we can pursue now to see the viability. I only see Ukraine becoming harder next year with more uncertainties, but that didn't prevent us this last year. We still have options and are not closing any doors. I know many of you have had similar problems that you've overcome. With prayers, tenacity and some luck, we will overcome this as others have.
Thank you everyone for putting up with my rants and vents. I think I'm done with that and hope to get back to posting positive forward movement soon. Thank you again :-).
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Starting to get frustrated!!
Still not a word from our facilitator. Our agency has been in constant contact with us on this and have been great. We are not sure what the issue is, but we are starting to get worried. There is another couple that got submitted on the same day as us and their dossier had not been given a date yet either. Well, just before the holidays last week, the SDA did a search and finally found their dossier. It seems that theirs was misplaced by them and we are hoping that ours can be found in the same place. We don't know if ours is lost or not and are waiting to hear word from the facilitator.
I've taken the Ukrainian holiday week off of blogging just to try and clear my mind. I'll remotivate once I hear something, hopefully it'll be positive.
OK, I've vented for now. I hope those of you who are in the process are going along smoothly. For those of you already home, I hope the same for your family.
Cheers to you all :)
I've taken the Ukrainian holiday week off of blogging just to try and clear my mind. I'll remotivate once I hear something, hopefully it'll be positive.
OK, I've vented for now. I hope those of you who are in the process are going along smoothly. For those of you already home, I hope the same for your family.
Cheers to you all :)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Small Update about timing
Well, I have a possible bit of timing on our travel date. It seems that a family adopting older/special needs children have an early June travel date. From what I understand, their dossier was submitted a couple weeks (mid February) before ours, so I'm guestimating a mid to late June as a possibility for us. Just an FYI.
Again, this is all conjecture and is subject to change on a whim. But at least someone who submitted their dossier this year has an appointment date so things are beginning to move for 2008 :). Keep the faith, chin up and march ahead!
Cheers
Again, this is all conjecture and is subject to change on a whim. But at least someone who submitted their dossier this year has an appointment date so things are beginning to move for 2008 :). Keep the faith, chin up and march ahead!
Cheers
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