OK, that is weird.........I just signed on to update our blog and noticed that about 3/4's of this entry is missing, and this entry is supposed to be connected to the one before it.........hmmmmmmm, I don't have time to write it all again now, but I will in the morning hopefully.  I am soooooo tired!!!!!  The kiddos are keeping me very busy!  I am usually up at 5AM and zonked at 9PM.  Promise to update more VERY soon with recent pics.  Stay tuned..........

by the way, the kids are doing AWESOME!!!!!  We are having lots of fun! :)

Love you guys!!!!
Julie

 

 

We arrived at the Atlanta airport and were greeted by lots of family and friends.  It was 11:30pm, and were very suprised to see so many people there.  It was so awesome to see everyone and for them to meet our new family members.  There were lots of hugs, tears and laughs.  Brayden and Abby did so well with all of the "strangers" giving them hugs and kisses.  We "hung out" at the airport until about 12:30am and then went home.  It was so cool to see the kid's reactions when the got home.  First they saw Flip Flop, our outside dog, and played with her for a little bit. 

Well, here we are........we made it home "safe and sound" (Alyssa's favorite saying).  Sorry we haven't updated, our computer has been crashed until last night.  Lets see, hmmmmm.........what has gone on in our lives in the past 4 days............

First of all, let me say that we are having the time of our lives!!!!!  It has been SOOOOOOO much fun these past few days at home!!  Wow, how the Lord has blessed greatly and I wonder if life can be any better than this? 

OK, now that doesn't mean that our kids are perfect, because by all means they are NOT!!  Ha Ha!  :)  Brayden whines more than the girls do combined, Abby is as stubborn as a mule, and Alyssa, well.......she thinks she is the "big sister" because she can speak English and she LOVES to tattle on EVERY thing that they do!!! 

Thursday night..........We started packing up all of our stuff for the flight home.  The kids were extremely hyper, running around, jumping on beds, doing flips, etc.  After telling them to settle down about 137 times, we decided to just let them burn ouit their energy :)  Well, that wasn't a bright idea, because we soon heard a loud crash and glass shattering.  (Keep in mind that we were staying an an old lady's apartment <she was staying with a friend> and this old lady was really protective over her stuff, she told us before we left to pretty much not touch anything.  There was even a giant stuffed chipmunk that the kids were playing with while she was still there and she said "Nyet, Nyet, Ne Nada" and put the thing away where they could not reach it.)  Back to the crash........when we heard it we both ran into the living room and sure enough, a HUGE lamp that was the ONLY lamp in the room was shattered inot a gazillion pieces.  My first reaction was to of course yell and ask who in the world did it, but when I saw the loook on little Abby's face, I knew she was the culprit.  Poor thing was terrified!!!  I asked Alyssa what happened and turns out she was involved too.  The were jumping on the bed/couch and Alyssa "accidentally" knocked into Abby and she fell and knocked the lamp over.  Since Abby was so mortified and was shaking pretty badly, we dicided to comfort her instead of what we wanted to do :)  I told her that it was OK and tat accidents happen, but tried to expain to her that she and Alyssa should have listened to us and stopped horsing around and because they didn't listen, the lamp got broken.  I think she understood.  We told her and Alyssa both that they had to tell the babushka (oold lady) that they were sorry in the morning.  They were both really worried about doing that.  Even the next morning when they first got up, we could hear Abby talking about the babushka.  Well, the Babushka came, we told her what happened, gave her $50, and made the girls tell them they were sorry.  It seemed like she was OK with it.  Whe our driver arrived to take us to the airport, we lugged all of our stuff down the 5 flights of stairs and were all ready to go until I realized that we left our travel alarm clock in the room.  I ran back pu to get it, rang th doorbell, and the babushka answered with a stern look on her face.  I tried to explain to her that we left something in the apartment and she decided to drag me into the bathroom and was pointing to the toilet seat and was almost yelling at me in Russian.  Aparently, the toilet seat lid was broken???  I told her that I didn't know why it was broken (the lid was about 2 mm. thick made of plastic, it could probably break if you shut it hard enough) We did not even have the lid down the entire time that I know of.  I felt bad for her, but decided to make a run for it, besides, we had already have her $50.  I ran into the living room, grabbed the alarm clock and ran right past her saying "Spaceiba, Dasvidanya" (Thank you, goodbye), all while she was still shouting things in Russian.  :) 

The airport, well, that was an experience also!!!  To get the kids out of the country, you have to have all of the necessary paperwork to do so.  We knew we had all of it, so thought we were good to go!  An official was thumbing through all of our documents and then asked for the court decree.  We had a copy of it, but he said we had to have to original.  We had 2 originals, but they were sealed up the the documents for when we land in the US (these documents are not allowed to be opened).  He would not let us go and told us we needed the original.  OK, that is when my anxiety started to kick in.  We called Sveta and told her the situation.  She started to panic to and said she would call us back.  Int he mean time the official was calling several people over to ask them if we could get through without the original.  Sveta called back and told us that Leo, our driver, was on the way with the original after he picked it up from her apartment.  Well, the airport is 30 min. from her apartment.  About 10 minutes later, they finally let us through with the copy.  We called Sveta to tell her and she said that she had just gotten off the phone with the US Embassy, and they told her that a copy is all that is required and the man obviouly didn't know what he was doing.  WHEW, big releif!  As soon as a turn around, a lady stopped me to search my carry on.  Of course I had liquids on it.  I was for some reason thinking that they lifted the liquid ban, um...........nope............they took all my liquids out (luckily we still had our check on bags with us at that point so we put them in those).  I did have some hand sanitizer and lotion stashed in a pocket in the bag that she didn't see though :)  It was funny, because in Alyssa's carry on, there was a mesh pocket on the outside that had a ziplock with toothpaste in it and the lady didn't catch that. 

On the plane..........Brayden and Abby were beyond excited to be on the Samoliyot "airplane".  We let Brayden sit next to the window.  I sat next to him and Alyssa sat in the seat across the isle from me then Chis and Abby.  It was so sweet because Alyssa knows I don't like to fly, so she grabbed my hand on take off and said "Mommy, I'll hold your hand, it's OK, you are all "safe and sound" with me"  Awe, how sweet was that??  Take off is the absolute most terrifying part for me!!!!  As we took off I think I squeezed Alyssa and Brayden's hand so hard that it had to hurt them.  Once we got up and settled, I was fine, and the kids were having a ball.  After we ate, I really wanted the kids to sleep, so I gave them benadryll, but it didn't work, so a little later I gave them more, still, the didn't budge.  Well, Brayden did finally sleep for maybe 1 hour and Alyssa and Abby maybe 30 minutes.  Chris and I didn't sleep at all.  On our leg from JFK to ATL, I was sitting in the very back with Abby and Alyssa, both zonked out from the time we first sat down until after we landed.  Brayden was up front with Chris and was playing the Game Boy the entire way home while Chris slept.  Remember me saying the take on the way out of NY to Ukraine was very bumpy and scary?  Well, the take off out of NY to ATL was just dandy, but once in the air, it was 200 times scarrier than that take off to Ukrane.  The weather was bad, so the plane was bouncing around all over the place.  It wasn't like normal turbulence, this plane was on a rollercoaster ride!!!!!  It would drop and then shake and then dip down to the left and then drop some more and then dip down to the right!!!  AHHHH!!  I was mortified, and all I cold do was sit there with each girl layin on my lap asleep praying to God not to take us now!!  It is kindof compical now that I am thinking back on it, but at the time...............Oh no, not comical in the least bit!!!!  I was thinking of poor Brayden up in the front all alone while Chris was somehow managing to sleep through all of this.  The reason I knew it was bad is because the flight attendents all were trying to make it back to thier seats and could barely walk to them.  They even looked a little scared!  Oh, and Alyssa's tray was down with 3 cups of water on it and when we dropped one of the times, the waters bounced off and and landed right on her.  Poor thing was so tired she didn't even wake up.  But, as you can see, we landed all "safe and sound" :) 

COMING HOME....................

I know, I know, I haven't updated in a while.  We have literally had NO time to get to a computer in the past few days.  I do not have much time today either, but I have very good news.......WE ARE IN KYIV!!!!  And even better..............WE ARE COMING HOME TOMORROW!!!!!! 

The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity going from Kerch to Brayden's hometown of Sudak to get his birth certificate.  By the way, Brayden supposedly lived there until he was 6 and he remembers A LOT from this town.  He remembered great detail about his birthfamily and what they would do together.  So far only good memories and I hope it stays that way.  Sudak was absolutely georgeous!!!!  It had to be the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life!!!!  To get to the city, you drive up winding mountians, very tall mountians.  All of the trees were stunning with bright yellow and orange leaves.  We then ended up in a very cozy little town that was set up on the beach.  The beach was black, but the water was clear and there was a spectacular view of the mountians all around.  There was also a huge castle on top of one of the mountains.  OK, I better stop before I sound like a boring book.  I'll send pics when get home and settled. 

After Sudak, we then went to Simferopol for Abigail's birth certificate.  We had to stay there overnight and we just arrived in Kyiv via overnight train late yesterday afternoon.  THe train ride was a hit for the first ummm...............15 minutes..........after that, it got old real quick.  I'll have to admit that all of my children are troopers now.  Imagine keeping 3 children couped up in a van for 2 days, and then in a train station for FIVE HOURS and then an overnight train until the next afternoon.  Poor things, they had nowhere to burn thier energy, and needless to say, they took all the energy that I had left.  Last night I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open during dinner.  Luckily Chris gave the kids baths, but I had to wash clothes BY HAND after baths.   We were all asleep by 10pm and we had to be up and ready by 7am this morning.  We went to the medical center to get Abby and Brayden checkups (this is required for their US VISA) and then we had an appointment at the US Embassy at 11am.  We got done with that at 12:30 and went to eat lunch at the Potato House and now I am sitting here typing this while Brayden is beside me playing the GameBoy and Chris took the girls for a walk around the city for a few minutes. 

AHHHH...........see what I mean by a whirlwind of activity???  It has been so crazy!!!!  We have to go pick up the children's passports from the Embassy at 4pm (hopefully) if they are not ready, we'll get them in the morning at 8am and we will be on our way to the US at 12pm!!!!!  Our flight lands in NY at 3 something and leaves at 7:45pm for Atlanta, which puts us in ATL around 10 something of Friday evening.  For those of you who want to meet us at the airport, I am sorry it is so late and completely understand if you cannot make it.  For those of you still coming, get in touch with my mother, she will know the exact time we land because we will call her fom NY to let her know.  For some reason the arrival time is not on our itinerary.

That is all I will write for now since I am in a hurry.  Except for this.............We wnet to McDonalds in Simferopol!!  You should've seen the look on Abby's face when she bit into a chicken nugget dipped in Sweet n Sour sauce...........the girl absolutely LOVED it.  Brayden got a hamburger, although he ate it all, he didn't have much to say about it.  He did try a bite of Chris's nugget and didn't like it. 

OK, good bye for now, and next time I update will be in the good ole' US!  Thank you all for your prayers and please pray for us a safe return home. 

Love to you all,

Chris, Julie, Alyssa, Abigail and Brayden

 

OK, I just checked online and our flight arrives in ATL at 10:09PM on Friday.

2 more days

Only 2 more days and we get to leave for Simferopol!!!!!!!!!!  Horray!!!!  We are going to pack up everything tonight and only leave out what we really need.  I bought Alyssa and Abby 2 awesome Russian/Ukrainian fur coats, so we'll probably need to buy another bag just for those :) 

Thank you everyone for your nice comments.  It is so wonderful to hear from everyone.  I wish I could respond to each of you individually, but it would just take too much time, but know that we read each and everyone's comments and e-mails and we treasure them!!! 

The kids are still doing great!  But I think we are all starting to get burned out with the whole situation.  We are all together 24/7 and have been for 7 days now.  Chris, Alyssa and I have been with eachother 24/7 for 4 weeks & 2 days.  Don't get me wrong, it is great to have family time, but it can get tiring sometimes too much of it if you know what I mean.  I do love my family though VERY MUCH!!!!  And I am sooooooooooo very greatful to have them in my lives. 

The kids are still doing better everyday with their English.  Every morning before breakfast we make them sit down and watch either Sesame Street or Brainy Baby...........Yes I know they aren't 2, but beleive it or not, it really helps with thier language skills, especially the brainy baby ones.  If anyone has any spare Brainy Baby DVD's or anything similar that we could borrow for a few months, that would be GREAT. 

I am not going to update much, because there is only one computer available and Chris needs to e-mail pics to Tiffany so she can put them on our blog. 

Oh, and I am feeling much better now, thank you!  The only problem we are having now is runny noses with all the kids and Alyssa and Brayden couging all night long.  We didn't bring any "cough" medicine, so we are going to get some today.  Last night is was so bad to the point where neither one of them hardly got any sleep. 

Tricia, yes, that is the prayer they are saying :)  Brayden knows it by heart now and says it ALL the time, not just at meal times now :) 

We love you all and can't wait to get home!!

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail, and Alyssa

Hopefully only one more week.....

Although it has been so much fun hanging out with the kids this past week, I am more than ready to get back to our lives in America with our new family :)  It is starting to get to me now and being sick for the past two days hasn't helped.  I have been couped up in the apartment most of the past two days, because with my cold, it is just too cold windy to go outside.  It is freezing here, feels like 30 something with the wind, it may be better if I were dressed for the weather, so today we are going to go look for Chris and I sock hats and maybe a scarf for me.  The kids already have all that stuff, so they are fine.

OK, now that I have sounded so drab..............let me talk about a few good things.  The kids are all doing GREAT!!!!!  They are all getting along very well and all seem to be very happy :)  Brayden is still opening up to us more every day.  We have moved the TV into our bedroom along with the kids too.  We have no heat except for one electric heater.  We are all piling in our room so we can stay warm.  Last night, we watched Pirates of the Carribean.  Brayden LOVED this movie, he layed in our bed with us and wanted to cuddle with us.  So, even though during the day, he acts so independent and "big", there is still a little boy inside who needs to be loved and held :)  Abby and Alyssa are still the best of friends.  They copy eachother with a lot of things they do.  I think I am going to put Abby in gymnastics when we get home because she is definately a little monkey :)  She loves to flip and climb pretty much anything.  It is bad at the same time though because she is ALWAYS getting hurt.  She jumps off of things that I would never think about jumping off of, she doesn't think twice about doing a back flip when she doesn't know how to do one.  Last night, se was on the bed and decided to jump to Papa while he was turned around.....................not good...................he didn't know she was coming and she fell and twisted her ankle.  It was very scary at first because we thought she broke it, but when she ended up moving it we were very relieved.  It never swelled up or turned blue, but I woke up about 5am to her sniffling.  Poor thing was laying there crying quietly becuse she was in pain.  Alyssa was awake too and said "Mommy, her foot hurts really bad"  I gave hersome tylenol and put her in the bed with us and she fell back asleep for a couple of hours.  She seems to be fine now thank goodness. 

We went to the beach yesterday with Irina.  It was so pretty there looking out at the big ships and seeing Russia on the horizon.  We didn't stay long because it was really cold there and I started to feel really horrible.  The kids found a few shells, skipped rocks, and Abby and Brayden enjoyed their time with Irina.  She is such a sweet lady with such a kind heart for kids.  We are going to see her once more before we leave for Simferopol (which will hopefully be Monday).  We may be in Simferopol until Tues or Wednesday at the latest for more paperwork.  Good news............. there is a McDonalds there!!!!  YEAH!!!!!  I can get a Fish O' Fillet ( It is by no means a Turkey, Basil & Pesto Frescata, but it will do)  And then we'll be on our way to Kyiv hopefully by Wednesday if not sooner.  I am hoping that we will be able to leave for America next weekend. 

After the beach, we went to the grocery store and then I went back to the apartment and rested and read a book for a few hours while Chris took the kids out for a walk. 

I am also proud of my kiddos because they do not seem to be picky eaters.  Alyssa has even started to eat more things now :)  Abby LOVES salad................YAY!!!!!!  Infact they are all eating salad.  Brayden and Abby both LOVE mayonaise.............they will dip anything in it and eati it alone it you let them.  I fixed speghetti last night and they all three cleaned thier plates.  I wonder if that is the first time they have had speghetti?

They are learning more English words everyday.  So far they both know by heart.........Hello, Hi, Good Morning, Good Night, Please, Thank you, Your Welcome, Excuse Me, I'm Sorry, Yucky, Yummy, Yes, No, Okay, Let's Go, Shoes, Pizza, Computer, Music, Juice, Fanta, Coca Cola, Macaroni, their ABC's., numbers 1-10.  That is all I can think of so far, but I am sure there are more.  Oh, and the prayer that we do before meals (a cute rhyming one that Alyssa learned at school) They know the hand motions and a few words in it. 

Better go now, we never had a chance to climb the mountian the other day, so we are going to try it today (although I am NOT up to it with this cold). 

Having a BLAST in Kerch..........

I typed up a long entry yesterday and it obviously didn't post, so here I go again............

Look at the previous entry for recent pics......

We have our whole family together now!!!!  It is so much fun, we are having a BLAST :)  Yeah, I know, this is the "honeymoon phase"  but for now, I am lovin' it :)  The kids are so great and I thank God so much for bringing us all together. 

We picked the kids up Saturday morning..........they were so excited to leave and to come with us!!!!  They left their lives there and didn't turn back.  I figured since they were older, they would be a little sad, but they were not at all!!  I was sad a little and even started to cry when Abby's caretaker hugged me and told me to have a good life with our children. 

Brayden............He is doing so well.  He is such a sweet boy, but is having some probems when it comes to not getting his way all the time.  Since we have a communication barrier, he doesn't understand why he can't play the gameboy ALL DAY, or watch movies ALL DAY.  When we tell him no, he will pout and then get over it a few minutes later.  Other than that, he is being so good!!  He reminds me of my nephew Dawson so much!! :)  I think they will get along great when we come home.  We have been letting all 3 children sleep in the same room, Brayden on a cot and the girls in the bed.  Last night we let Brayden sleep with us and he was so excited.  He is bonding more and more with us every day, and us with him.  He is so sweet because he has no problem helping me in the kitchen (he likes to set the table) and he says "Thank you Mama" after he is done eating.  He loves to play in the bath :)  You would think he has never had one before as happy as he is in the tub.  Yesterday we went to buy the kids hats (it is getting very cold) and while at the store we let Brayden pick out 2 toys.  We have so many girl things with us and I think he was getting bored.  He picked out a spiderman figurine and a remote control "Machina" (car).  He LOVES his car and plays with it all the time now :) 

Abigail...............She is just a sweetheart!!!!!!!!!  For those of you who know Alyssa, and know how sweet she is, Abby is the same way :)  She LOVES to cuddle!!!!!!  She is so excited because she knows that tonight she gets to sleep in Mama and Papa's bed.  We are going to take turns with all the children every night.  ALyssa and Brayden are a little shy, but Abby, she is FAR from shy.  She has the most beautiful smile that will melt your heart!!!  She smiles at everyone and will talk to anyone (which can be a bad thing sometimes).  This morning we were sitting by the ocean and there were older men out there fishing.  She ran up to one of them and just started talking to him about his fish and started picking them up and playing with them (yuck).  The whole time she was talking to him, she was grinning at him and he just smiled back at her.  I don't think that anyone who meets her wouldn't fall in love with her :)  She is just ALWAYS so happy and loving!!!  She has the sweetest little voice :)  She takes after me when it comes to allergies!  Our apartment is right above another that is being remodled and from all the vibrations, we have dust all over our bathroom.  I mean, it it a thick layer of white dust, it is horrible!!!  I clean it up as good as I can, but it is impossible to get it all.  Alyssa and Abby were taking a bath the other night and I guess from being in there too long, it was too much for her.  Her nose was running and her eyes were watering.  After she went through about 20,000 tissues, I gave her 2 benadryll.  Well, that knocked her out cold, but atleast it dried her up :)  The next moring her allergies were bad again and her nose was raw from all the tissues.  Also, her nose bled twice yesterday.  Does anyone know if that is normal??  We were thinking about taking her to the Dr., but today she seems to be doing fine. 

Alyssa................She is my little trooper!!!  She has done SO GREAT this whole time we have been in Ukraine!!!!!  She hardly ever complains and is loving having her brother and sister to play with.  Alyssa plays very,very,very well with Abby!!!!  They are great friends :)  So far there has been no fighting between them.  Brayden kindof does his own thing most of the time. 

Oh, and no more sleeping in for me :)  The kids are up bright and early every morning jumping on us and wanting to eat.  

Today we are going to take them on a hike up the mountian and then to eat pizza again.  We had it for lunch yesterday too.  They LOVED the pizza and Brayden asked if we could eat it againtoday. 

One more week and we should be headed to Simferopol to try to get train tickets for Kyiv.  I am excited about Simferopol..............there is a McDonalds there!!!!!!

Gotta go now, Abby is climbing all over me and the kids are hungry.  But not before I check e-mails and comments. 

Cindy...........Since I don't have time to e-mail, I will tell you on here...........Sveta talked to the director and he said we would have to ask the secretary since she should have the information.  She is on sick leave and will be back by Monday the 23rd.  She will ask her then.  Oh, and the director LOVED the pictures!  He said he remembers you and that your daughter was tired??  Maybe she was sleeping when he saw her??

Renee from FRUA............The director's name is different than what you told me.  Were they in the Kerch Boarding School on Apryl Street?  He looked up their names and didn't find them, but said the secretary will have the info for children who were previously at the boarding school.  I'll let you know what I find out Monday.

Love to you all and please continue to keep us in your prayers!!!
Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail, and Alyssa

 

Everything is going so perfect.........

I am sitting here almost in tears right now just thinking about our family and how we will all be together for good tomorrow.  By the way, the director said that we could get our kids tomorrow.  YAY!!!!!  That is a huge answer to prayer!!!  Words cannot express how happy I am!!!!!  :)  Sveta told Abigail and Brayden this morning that they would be staying with us after today.  They seemed very excited, especially Abigail..........she was smiling so big and you could hear the excitement in her voice.  This morning we took them to get their passport photos and to get ice cream.  They had a blast!  We are all going to have so much fun together.  However, I must say, that the sibling rivalry has officially begun.........today in the ice cream parlor, Alyssa was begging for Abby's ice cream because hers wasn't the "exact" color as Abby's and she liked Abby's better.  I wasn't about to give in to that, and she eventually got over it :) 

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your nice comments!!!!  I miss you all so much and can't wait to come home!!! 

I will update more tomorrow when we have the kids to let you know how that is going. 

Love,

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail, and Alyssa

Our family of three is now a family of FIVE.........

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We had court today and we are now officially the parents of Brayden Sergey and Abigail Elena :) :)  The judge liked us very much and said that we look like a very nice couple.  The court hearing only lasted about 30 minutes.  They asked Chris a few questions about his buisiness, our income, etc.  And they asked me a few, like how we are getting along with the children, how we are communicating, about school when they get home, etc.  We felt very comfortable the whole time and not the least bit nervous.  Alysssa was allowed in the courtroom with us and she did very good!  That could also be for the fact that she knew she was getting an ice cream afterwards if she behaved.  She sat very still for the first 10 minutes, and then she fell asleep :)  So, we celebrated court afterwards with an ice cream in the cold windy weather.  I am not sure if I mentioned this or not but the weather has been pretty hot the whole time until aout 3 days ago, the temp dropped about 15 degrees.  I hear it is even colder in Kyiv. 

We aren't going to see Brayden and Abby tonight because it has gotten too late, but we did get to see them this morning.  We pulled up to the orphanage about 8am to go get their blood taken.  They looked so sweet standing there waiting on us with a caretaker.  Their eyes were as wide as saucers as they got into the van.  When they sat down they had a grin on their face and the grin was on their face the whole way to the hospital.  They were just amazed, registering all of what they saw into their little heads :)  When we got to the hospital, we walked into a hallway and waited for them to call them in one by one.  Abby went first and came out about 2 minutes later like nothing ever happened.  I couldn't believe it, I was for sure that she would atleast have tears in her eyes.  Then when it was Brayden's turn he was the same way. 

Tomorrow morning we are taking them to get their passport photos.  A little bad news is that the director of the orphanage is in Simferopol until Saturday.  So, we may have to wait until Saturday to get the children.  Sveta is going to call him tonight to see what he says.  Our 10 day wait will beover on Sunday the 22nd and we have a few papers to pick up on Monday the 23rd.  If all goes well and we pick up the papers on that day, we will hopefully get to leave on the overnight train that evening and arrive in Kyiv on the 24th.  That is IF there are train tickets available for the 6 of us.  If not, we may have to wait a day or two, or we could fly.  So, if we get to Kyiv on the 24th as planned, we could "possibly" be free to come home by the 26th.  And that is IF we can exchange our airline tickets for the 26th.  I, however, am not holding my breath and am assuming that we will not be home until atleast November 1st or so.  We'll see, but I don't want to get my hopes up.  But most importantly is the fact that we had court today and the children are officially ours :) 

Thank you all for your prayers!!!!!

We will update more tomorrow hopefully.

Love,

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail and Alyssa

Not much to update for now.....

We don't have too much to update for now except to say that everyone is doing fine and that our translator got the paper needed for court from the Adoption center this morning.  She will leave on the overnight train this evening to be here tomorrow for court.  Also, tomorrow at 7:45am, we are taking Abby and Brayden to get some blood tests done that are necessary for the US Embassy in Ukraine.  It will be neat to take them in a car for the first time with us, but it is kindof bad that it has to be to get a needle stuck in them :(  We will then take them back to the orphanage and go home to get ready for the court hearing.  I can't wait!!!!  I just can't wait to hear the words from the judge that officially we are the parents of Abigail and Brayden.  When I heard those words in 2004 about us being Alyssa's parents, I just started crying.........It is such a cool feeling, it is kindof like finally giving birth :)  Other adoptive parents know what I mean :) 

We are falling in love with these kids more and more every day.  Two days ago when we had to leave Abby, she almost started to cry.  The look on her face jsut broke my heart.  Hopefully Thursday will be the last time we will have to leave them...............oh, I forgot to say that we will not be able to get the children until Friday because the director of the orphanage will probably not be there by the time court is over, and he is the one who has to approve it. 

There should be a few pictures on this blog in the next day or two.  They are just random pics of the kids. 

Please say a huge prayer for us tomorrow!!!  And thank you all for the comments and e-mails!!!

Love,

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail and Alyssa

Three siblings finally reunited

First of all..........BRAYDEN GOT A BATH..........YAY!!!!!!! :)  And he was in fresh clean clothes!!!!

Saturday we got all 3 of our kids together for the first time.  They played really well together!  So far there has been no fighting, but I know that will come in time. All 3 children are completely different in the way they act, but they all look so much alike. We have had them together 2 times now and so far they pretty much do their own thing.  Except for when we do things like play chase, or kicking a soccer ball around.  Hey, at the rate we're going, we'll have enough for our own soccer team in a few years :) JUST KIDDING!!!!

Yesterday, Abigail fell down and she was trying so hard not to cry.  She was fighting itback with all that she had, but when Chris picked her up and cuddled with her, she let it out a little.  It was so sad, but it was neat to see Brayden's reaction to her getting hurt......you could tell it bothered him really bad.  Oh, and Brayden is calling Dina, Abigail now :)  Well, most times, but we have noticed that when he doesn't call her Abigail, he calls her "Dinka" I think it is sortof like a pet name?  Alyssa is still calling Abigail "Dina".  She says she likes it better :)  It is cute how Abigail and Brayden pronounce Alyssa's name. Brayden calls her "Aleesa" and Abby calls her"Ally-Issa" It is just their accents. Their accents are very cute...........Brayden calls himself "Brayden" but rolls the "R" in his name :)  I also noticed that instead of Sergey, his friends and caretakers call him:"Sarosha"??  Maybe another pet name??

Alyssa has mastered a few things since we have been in Ukraine.  She has learned to play the gameboy VERY WELL and can beat boards on Donkey Kong that I can't even beat.  She is pullup free now! Hallelujiah!!!! I will still put them on her on the overnight train and the airplane though (just in case). And most importantly, she has learned to tie her shoes!!!!!!!  She is so proud of herself, and we are so proud of her as well :)  She has been such a trooper while here and has not complained about the 400 miles that we walk each day. Well, she complained the first day until Mommy had a long talk with her telling her that basically she had no choice and this is how it was going to be for a while.  Since then, pretty much the only thing she used to complain about is sitting in the internet cafe for so long...........that is when the mastering of the gameboy took place :)  Now, she looks forward to the internet cafe :) 

As far as court, we will have court on Thursday at 2pm.  Please pray that it goes smoothly and again, that we'll be able to get Abigail and Brayden for the 10 day wait. 

I almost forgot..........2 days ago, we climbed a mountian that is in the middle of the city.  There are steps that go all the way to the top. We has themost beautiful view from up there looking down on the town and at the sea.  We are posting pictures of that along with apicture of Chris and Alyssa riding a horse, Alyssa riding a power wheel 4-wheeler, Alyssa riding on Papa's backpack, and a few of the children. 

We are having fun, but we are VERY ready to come home!

Let me say to 2 little girls out there.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! Kylee and Madison, I hope you had wonderful birthdays and I am sorry that we missed them.  Alyssa had a great birthday, we asked her on that day, if she could do anything for her birthday what would it be, and she said "Eat ice cream"  :) LOL!! So, we walked to the store and bought her an ice cream and she was very happy :)  Also, Sveta,our translator, got her a gift. She bought her some cute hair clips and bows and a card.  That was very thoughtful of her.  On my birthday, Sveta got me a very pretty red wallet and nail polish. 

OK, I gotta go now, need to check our comments and e-mails.

Only 3 more visits to the orphanage to go!!! YAY!!!!!

Love,

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail and Alyssa

Hanging out with the kids.....

Brayden is out of the hospital!!!!!!!!!!!  Finally, but he has still not had a bath :(  If he doesn't get one by today, we are going to say something to the caregivers about it.  We give him a wet wipe and let him wipe himself down whenever we see him, but to not have a bath and to still be in the same clothes for over a week???? YUCK!  We have more good news though............today, they are going to let us take Brayden to Abby's orphanage!!!  So, we'll have all 3 children together for the first time :)  I am curious to see how they all interact.  We are hoping for only 5 more days or less of visiting them and we'll have them with us full time. Please pray for us to be able to get them for the10 day wait, it is all up to the orphanage director. 

The children in both kids groupa's are so sweet! It was so sad yesterday because one little girl in Abby's group told me that she wanted to come to America too :(  I told her that her Mama and Papa would come one day. I didn't know what else to say. In Brayden's groupa there are 7 yr. old twins that are just great boys :) We had fun with them too yesterday.  Their names are Vova and Sasha and they are adorable :)  A 14 yr.old boy, Sergey, walked up to us and I noticed that he had a shirt on that said "The Least of These".  It is a christian organization ran by Rich Richmond and his wife.  They take a team a few times each year to Kerch and a few other cities in Ukraine to spread the gospel to the children.  www.theleastofthese.org  Well, Sergey pulled out a bible that he was given, I am guessing, from this organization. He was so proud of his bible.  I asked him if I could see it, and Chris and I looked through it. It is written in Russian, and this kid had obviously been reading it because it had markings all in it along with lots of pieces of torn paper bookmarking different passages. It really touched our hearts. What the Richmond's and their teams are doing is working, God Bless them!!!

While it is fun hanging out with all of the kids, we really do need our time to bond with our kids.  And that is really hard to do when all of the other kids are around.  Maybe today we'll try to take them to a place more private so we can interract with just them for a little bit, and then at the end of our visit we can play with all of the children. 

Yesterday, while visiting with Abby, we let her listen to music with headphones.  At first she was grinning from ear to ear, and then she started to sing really loud :)  The songs are children's songs that are in Russian and English. She sang the Russian part well and actually did pretty good on the English part.  I think she is going to learn English pretty fast :) I guess we'll see :) 

The mesquitos are very bad here at night. We have been keeping our balcony doors open while we are sleeping because it gets hot.  Well, it is not worth the 10+ bugbites we have the next morning.  I would spray with bug spray, but it would be gross to get it all over our sheets.

Last night I cooked the best meal yet! I stirfried chicken with bellbeppers, garlic and onions in butter, oil, and an AWESOME spice packet that I bought. I have no idea what is in the spice packet, except I do taste ginger in it.  Chris told me to buy aboiut 20 of these packets to take home:)  I also cooked my MIL, Caroline's famous frenchfries:)  I cut up potatoes very thin and cooked them in oil on a high temp for about an hour. They were so crispy and chewy! YUMMY!! Oh, and I made some crab salad with crabmeat, seashell pasta, peas and mayonaise. I think we will probably just cook in the room everynight, it is much easier, and cheaper than going out to eat. And the food is much better too :)

Well, I better go for now. I haven't read the comments or e-mails yet, but will in a minute! Again, thanks for them, we look forward to reading them :)

Oh, and I have had a few people ask me about the toilet pictures!! Don't worry, they are NOT the toilets in our apartment.  The latest is of a public toilet in Kyiv, and the toilet on the overnight train.  Trust me, the pictures do the toilets no justice. Imagine what you see in the picture accompanied by a smell so bad that you could not imagine. But just so you know, the toilets are NOT like this everywhere, only a few of them we have been in are like this, and there are some that are worse too :) 

It is hard for me to explain the pictures on our blog since I am never sure which ones are going to make it to our blog.  A couple of the pics from a few entries ago, you saw a lady with each of the children. This lady is Irina, the angel who was "looking out" for our kids for us until we could get there.  It was so great to meet her in person.  She is a wonderful Christian lady who truly cares for children.  The pictures you will see next (maybe in a day or two) are of our trip to Yolichka (Alyssa's orphanage) One she is standing in the bathroom of her old groupa and the other one is when one of her caretaker's saw her :) The others are of Brayden and Abigail, and one is of me and Alyssa with the Black Sea in the background. We are less than a minute walk from the ocean, but since Kerch is a port city, there is no beach, just a wall.  It is still neat to walk by the sea though, just to feel the breeze from the water and to watch fish and jelly fish swimming by.  When we get the kids with us, we are going to get a taxi to take us to the nearest beach.

Yeah, I know, I said I had to go............so I am really going now.

Love to you all,

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail, and Alyssa

Could someone FedEx me a Frescata from Wendy's Please???

Hi everyone!!  We came to the internet cafe earlier this AM so we would have more time to read e-mail and journal.  Hope everything is going well back in the US.  Is there anything new happening back at home?  We have NO access to English channels on our TV so have not heard news in over a week. 

We went to Simferopol yesterday and we had a nice visit at Alyssa's orpanage.  Unfortunately, there was only one caretaker there yesterday that we remembered, but it was well worth the trip.  I swear, I thought the caretaker was going to have a heartattack when she saw Alyssa :)  She grabbed her and hugged her so tight (it scared Alyssa) but I thought it was so sweet. We have a few pics of it that we'll post soon.  We let Alyssa walk around the orphanage grounds for a little bit.  She remembered a little I think.  We then gave the director pictures of Alyssa (we made a little album of her growing up).  He was very happy to recieve the pictures.  We also gave him pictures of another little girl who was adopted from Yolichka about the same time.  Her mother and I keep in touch via e-mail.  He oohed and aahed over the two girls for a while along with a few other people that were in the room.  If you are reading this (Gianna's mom) our translator asked him to please let us show the pictures to her caretakers and we would give the pictures back.  He said that he didn't think the ones in the picture were working that day and he would show them to the groupa later.  Sorry that we couldn't do it ourselves so we could let you know their reactions.  But, if it makes you feel any better he was VERY glad to see them.  :) 

After the orphanage visit, we went to Chelentanos, a pizza place we always ate at when we were there in 2004, and got 2 pizzas and 2 salads to go.  We then dropped our translator off at the train station............she had to go back to Kyiv to translate some documents to be submitted at the SDA.  She will come back right before court next week and then leave again after court.  So, we are on our own now, but we can still call her everyday and she will get us a taxi to go to and from the orphanage.  After the train station, we were on our way back to Kerch, a long 3 hour drive.  Chris and I watched a movie and Alyssa played the Gameboy the whole way.

When we got home, we realized that we still had enough time to visit one of the children.  We decided to visit Sergey since he was still in the hospital and was so sad the day before when I told him that we wouldn't be there on Wednesday.  We rode over to the hospital to suprise him.  He was VERY excited when we walked in the door!!!!!  He ran to me and gave me a big hug and then he showed us how his balloons had popped and how his beachball had a hole in it.  :(  Chris decided to rip up the beachball into strips and tie them together.  We played "tug of war" with the "rope" for a while, it was fun.  One of the nurses then came in to take Sergey's temperature.  She was talking up a storm with us and Sergey was just laughing telling her that we don't understand Russian. He then was telling the nurse that we he was going to America with us, and that we were his Mama and Papa and Alyssa was his sister.  He was so excited while he was telling her this.  When the nurse left, we went through a Finding Nemo work/color book that we had left with him.   He did a few word searches and then I wrote the English Alphabet.  He knows almost every letter and can even sound out words already :)  I am guessing he is learning this in school.  Oh, and last night, Sergey really came out of his shell!!!!!  I tickled him one time and that was all it took :)  Mama, Papa, Alyssa and Sergey were having a tickling match :)  It was so much fun and I have never heard Sergey laugh so hard!!  I finally had to call it quits and we sat down and I tried to exlain to him about his new American name.  I told him that Dina's new name was Abigail and that his was Brayden.  He seemed to be OK with it, if he understood what I said, that is :)  We had to tell him goodbye because it was getting late. He was sad, but he told me that we was going back to the boarding school tomorrow (today).  Well, he said "internat and zaftra" Internat is another name for orphanage or boarding school and zaftra means tomorrow.  So, we are HOPING and PRAYING that he will really be out of the hospital today.  I really don't think I could have taken visiting him in that place another day.

Abigail................what a fun, crazy, silly and precious cutie pie she is :) :) :)  She is going by her new name now and when I ask her what her name is, she tells us "Abigail".  She'll put on my sunglasses and say"American Girl" (her caretaker taught her that).  She loves to be chased, yet loves to be held.  She loves to run up to you and flip all over you, yet loves to cuddle.  I can't wait to see her again today, I missed her so much yesterday.  Alyssa and Abby played very good Tuesday.  They collected snails, there is a wall at the orphanage that have TONS of snails on it.  The girls must have had about 20 or so in a pile. YUCK!  Then we played with a soccer ball that we bought at the market for a while.  After that Chris hid behind on one of the buildings and while the girls started running, he jumped out and scared them.  Abigail was laughing so hard and she go so tickled and told me (in Russian and hand motions) exactly what happened, but she wsa laughing so hard she could barely talk :)  Alyssa, Chris and I were cracking up laughing at her laughing............it was hilarious!!!  LOL!! 

I can't wait to see all three children together.  I don't kow when that will happen yet because Abby's orphanage is so far away from Sergey's.  Well they are in walking distance, but about a 10 minute walk.  We may have to wait until after court.

As far as food, we are eating in the room for dinner most nights.  Last night after Sergey's visit, we ate our Chelentanos pizza, crab salad and pickles.  The two nights before, we ate meatless speghetti (can't find ground beef here) It actually turned out pretty yummy.  Tonight, we are going to have leftover pizza and the little bit of speghetti that is left.  I told Chris the other day that the FIRST thing I want to do when we leave the airport in Atlanta is to go through the Wendy's drivethrough to get a Turkey & Basil Pesto Frescata!!!  I am craving one so badly right now!!!  :)  So, if anyone wants, could you FedEx me one please??  Ha! Ha!  Just kidding..........well sortof :)

Thanks Teri and Jess for the comments about the clothes, I'll have to try the bleach thing for sure, although I do like the color of my shirt :) 

Laurel, I don't know why you can't see the pictures???  They usually show up in the upper right hand corner of each entry.  Let me know if you still don't see them.  Sometimes it takes a while for them to load.

Tom, thanks for getting me in touch with the missionaries in Simferopol.  Unfortunately theycould not make it to the orphanage while we were there, but left a few pitures with the orphanage director.  There weren't any of Alyssa in them, but tell them I said thank you for trying to help.

Cindy,  I showed the pictures of Evan to his groupa and they LOVED looking at them.  All the kids and 2 caretakers were gathered around the table for about 15 minutes looking at him, pointing at them and saying his name.  When the caretaker gave the pictures back she told me thank you and was very sincere you could tell :)  When our translator gets back, I'll tell her to give them to the director. 

Nikki, not sure if you read the journal or not, but any news yet???  I've been thinking about you.

Mama, how is flip-flop and Casey? 

Tiff, THANK YOU for posting pictures!!!!!  We are sending you more today. 

Everyone else, THANK you for your comments, prayers, thoughts, and everything else!!!  We are ready to come home, but it'll be a while :)  Looks like we we probably won't make Halloween, but atleast we'll make Thanksgiving..........we have A LOT to be thankful for this year!!!

And most of all..............THANK YOU GOD...............thank you for bringing our family together!  I love you!!!

Love to you all,

Chris, Julie, Brayden, Abigail, and Alyssa

 

Having a great time.......

When we started trying for our family in 2002, I would've NEVER guessed that 2 years later we would be the proud parents of a beautiful 3 year old Ukrainian girl who has and still is blessing our lives more that I could've ever imagined.  And now, soon to be the parents of the sweetest 8 yr. old boy in the world and the most adorable little 6 yr. old Ukrainian beauty............I just can't beleive it!  The Lord has truly blessed our family!!!

The visits with Abigail and Brayden are getting better everyday.  Sergey/Brayden (we are still calling him Sergey for now) is opening up to us more and more each day.  He is still in the hospital, but we are now allowed in the room with him.  We even got to take him outside for a little bit yesterday to play ball.  I think he is a natural little soccer player :)  Alyssa gave him a flower yesterday and later on in the visit, he put the flower in my hair.  He is so sweet :)  The communication barrier is pretty hard, but hopefully he'll learn more English words each day to make it easier.  He started learning English in his classroom this year, but the only words he knows are........boy, girl, teacher and Umbrella :)  He talks to us in Russian and I tell him "Ya ne Penimyou" (I don't understand) and when we talk to him he will sometimes say the same thing to us.  Yesterday we blew up 2 balloons.  I drew a face on one and wrote "papa" in Russian on it.  Sergey thought that was so funny, so he drew a face on the other one and wrote "mama" on that one.  I can't wait unil he gets out of the hospital, the building is so horrible!!!  A building like this in America would be condemed.  Also, he had been in the same clothes since he has been there and they haven't been washed, and his toilet is broken and doesn't seem to flush.  We are going to see him after we leave the internet cafe, I am hoping when we get there, he will not be there anymore.  I would much rather visit him at the boarding school. 

Abigail..........she is such a little princess :)  SHe loves it when I do her hair, except for yesterday, she wanted to do it herself.......LOL!!  She put it in a ponytail, but since her hair is so short it was falling out on the sides, so she added about 10 clips on each side.  She seems to be into fashion :)  She is really good with Alyssa and acts like she is her big sister and tries to help her do things like climb trees, and other things on the playground.  Abigail could climb anything she was wanted to with enough determination, Alyssa on the otherhand isn't as strong in her arms yet.  But Abby helps her out :)  It is so funny to see Abby acting like the big sister when she is a smaller, it is cute :)  Alyssa got a little sad yesterday because Abby wasn't into being wild and running around, hmmm........maybe she is getting sick??  Just kidding, but atleast she has a calm cuddly side :)  When it was time to go Abigail started to act up a little. She didn't want to go inside, well at first she refused to go inside until I picked her up and made her.  While saying our goodbyes, she acted a little sad.  The other times she would cheerfully say "Dasvidanya" (Goodbye) and run inside.  This time it wasn't like that at all.  That is exactly what Alyssa did when we were visiting her at her orphanage.  At first she was fine with us leaving, and then it got harder everyday.  So hard to the point that I would leave in tears and she would be crying as well.  I know it will proabably be like that this time too.  We have 10 more days of this and then we get them for the 10 day wait after court (Lord willing). 

We tried to post pictures again, but it did not work.  So far the only thing that has worked is sending them to Chris's sister and she posts thembut for the past 2 days we can't even do that.  We are still tryin Tiff, so be on the lookout for some in the next couple of days. 

Tomorrow, we are going clothes shopping for Sergey.  For those who have asked, here are his measurements:

Chest 25"  Waist 24"   Inseam 21"  hips 27"  Height  51"  Foot 8"

According to the chart I have, he would be a size 8 I think and a shoe size 2 in shoes

Abigail measures:

Chest 21.5"  Waist 21"  Inseam 17"  hips 23.5"  Height 43"  Foot 7"

She should be a size 5 and a size 11.5

We are going to Simferopol on Wdnesday to visit Alyssa's orphanage.  It is a 3 hr. ride there and 3 hr. ride back, so we won't get to see the kids that day. We probably will not get to post again until Thursday, but we'll try to do it sooner.  The connection here is sooooooooooooo slooooooooooooooow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Thankseveryone for your e-mails and comments :)  We enjoy reading them "when we can" but may not be able to respond to each one because of the connection. 

Oh, one more thing.......What do you get when you wash a pair of dark blue jeans with whites????  A very pretty shade of blue actually :)  What was I thinking?I have no clue, but now my white shirt, Alyssa's white shirt and tights and a few pair of tighty "whities" are a powder blue color :)  LOL!!!!  It looks good thought because it came out very nice and even! 

Gotta go see our boy now!  Hopefully you'll see some new pics of our cutie pies soon (if we can make it work)

Love,

Chris, Julie, Alyssa, Abigail and Brayden