UOO Camp - Day 16

Swimming and haircuts was the order of the day. Every summer camp I request two special swim days at the Longmont Rec Center. The first one, last week, got moved to Sunset pool due to a chlorine level issue at our regular pool. No worries though, we made the move seamlessly and I knew that we would have a second day at the LRC.

The girls had to reschedule their hair cuts a few days prior to the swim day so the boys and I went on over without them. The girls showed up in due time and everyone had lots of fun. The LRC is a camp favorite due to it's twin sliding tunnels, the dive board, the lazy river, the kids pool with water pipes and the jacuzzi all in the same area. Not only that, the kids can be kids without too much correction. It's a freedom that they and we the volunteers come to enjoy. There are several lifeguards on duty and one young man even speaks Russian, so I tend to let them take charge while I oversee everyone. NICE!

The activity planned for the evening was sleep-overs for the boys at one volunteers house and the girls at another. I haven't heard about it yet, but I'm sure they had a great time. The whole camp has been a great time!

~ Felix ~

UOO Camp - Day 15

On day 15, the kids traveled to the big city! That's right, the big D, Denver. We were going to see critters!

Our first stop was the Denver Aquarium. Always a big hit, the aquarium has cool fish to look at and even a few "touch" tanks so that you know what a sting ray's back feels like, not that I ever had a desire to know. But, I joined in the fun. The kid insisted, really!

We next ventured over to a park next to the Denver Zoo where we had lunch. A game of capture the flag was started by Clarke right after lunch. I hear it tired out our weary campers and that they slept good that night. At 2 pm, the kids and chaperons headed over to the Zoo while I dismissed myself to take care of some UOO business. Besides, if you read my post a few weeks ago you'll know that I took my kidos to the very same Zoo, so we had "been there, done that".

After the Zoo, everyone gathered at a restaurant named Cinzetti's in north Denver. I'm sure everyone slept on the way home that evening. It was a long, event packed, hot day. But, everyone is still having a good time and dreading the day that they will leave us. We will have them with us until this Tuesday morning. I miss them already, so I will attend every event from here on out to spend as much time as possible with them.

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Days 13 & 14

I returned to work Monday & Tuesday, but the camp continued. The kids went to a Painting Potter event in Lafayette, CO on Monday morning. I haven't seen their creations yet, but I was told that they really had a good time! While they were there, they were treated to a BBQ lunch and some swimming and the host's home.

On Tuesday, the kids went on a dairy farm tour. We do this every year at Pickets Dairy in Berthoud, which happens to be a mile right down the road from the Stoesz house. They dairy folks also have a pool at their house, so you guessed it, they swam some more. You can never do enough swimming for kids in the summer! By the way, I would humor you with some cows jokes if I had time, but that would be udder-ly ridiculous!

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 12

On Sunday, we went to Cornerstone Church in Boulder, CO. The kids went to Sunday school while the adults attended service. Afterwards, we all enjoyed a nice Sunday lunch at church. I grew up a Southern-Baptist and some of my fondest memories are having lunch in the church kitchen after service while enjoying the fellowship. I’m glad that I had the maturity to appreciate those moments, even as a child. The event brought back a flood of memories as I watched the happy faces of the children, the conversation of the adults and the interest in our UOO mission. I do believe we picked up a few volunteers for next year’s camp and fueled the fire for an interest in Ukrainian adoption. Mission accomplished!




The kids participated in a Field day at the church. There were many games; one included a water-balloon toss. It was like the egg toss, just water balloons instead. I couldn't stay, but I hear it was a great day and a happy event for all.

That night, everyone gathered back at the Stoesz house for a Bonfire and Gospel message presented by our Grace Place children’s minister, Kim Land. The glory part of this is that one young man, Dima, is close to making a decision for Christ. This has long been another goal of UOO. It is amazing to see the Spirit working in these children, despite their seemingly insurmountable futures.

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 11

It was an early rise for the Greeley Stampede parade for our Saturday! The kids got to see a real, authentic cattle drive, which is how the Greeley parade starts. There were lots of cowboys & cowgirls, bands, floats, old cars, etc. Everyone commented that they had never seen a parade. This was a real treat and something that they would never forget.

"Holy Cow!!"

I took the kids to a local Greeley park to wait while our other UOO members went to KFC to get food for our park lunch. While they were in line, a nice lady asked them what the t-shirts meant and our UOO president, Clarke, explained. She donated $20 on the spot for our lunch! God’s hand is always looking out for us no matter where we go and He routinely causes these kinds of things to happen regularly. Thank you to that person and may God bless you.

No Bull! It's a bunch of "Bol-shoy Ka-ro-vahs" (Big Cows)

We left Greeley behind to travel to Berthoud, CO for more horseback riding. The kids can’t get enough of this and we had a second gracious volunteer give her time and horses to us for a couple of hours. Needless to say, there were smiles all around!

Fun in the sun

Did I tell you that I love a good potluck dinner? Well I do and we’ve had two of them this week! That’s what we did next. Everyone gathered back at the Stoesz house for dinner and conversation. I snoozed for a few minutes on the couch until sweet little Olya sneaked up on me. I was OK with it, time spent with them is the most treasured and I will miss them once this is over.

Our group was invited to Lake Loveland for the Fourth of July fireworks show. The kids have seen fireworks before. Actually, when we were in Ukraine last winter, there seemed to be one big boom every night from a fire work. No explanation as to what was being celebrated, though. The kids, however, had never seen so many at one time and all the brilliant colors that a Fourth of July celebration entails. We had spread out a big tarp by the lakeside and it was a treat to cuddle-up with these sweet kids for an hour. Another fine ending to a fantastic day!

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 10

Our Friday started with the much anticipated Wal-Mart shopping trip. Each year, our generous sponsors provide us with $25 gift cards to Wally-world. This is a unique event that pairs an orphan kid up with a volunteer, not a UOO member, to purchase something themselves with their own money. The fun is seeing how a child will choose to spend the card. Some go for that one thing they have wanted; others get the most items that can get with $25. Sometimes the kids buy not for themselves, but for their friends back home. This year’s purchases ran from a single kid getting an MP3 player to another getting a couple of shirts (with a toy attached) and three or four small toy items. Another successful Wal-Mart trip!

After shopping, everyone went to a nearby park to have lunch and await the time for our next event, a movie at the theater. As usually is the case, when a soccer ball comes along on the trip, a game is sure to break out. We played a game of “Four-square” in our down-time.

Ms. Yulia, our CBN chaperon

It came time to go see the new movie, Up. The theater was a short two-mile trip from the park, so off we went. We budget our donations accordingly for all the camp’s events, so we were prepared to use funds that have been donated for this event. Imagine our surprise and gratitude when we were told by the movie theater manager that all the children were free of charge for the movie!

The kids loved the movie, even though it was in English. A great deal of it didn’t have dialog anyway, so it was a great choice for them! I love movies, so I watched the whole thing. But, I did look around and I caught a few of our UOO members catching a snooze. The dark theater with the nice air conditioning was the perfect catalyst for some weary but happy UOO workers!

"King" of the Gladiator Joust, Dima

The final event of the day was at my house. That’s right, the annual Rogé Open House. I had rented a blow-up gladiator joust toy to act as a way for adults and children to interact and get to know one another. I learned a valuable lesson in the past from orphans that didn’t have anything to do but eat, watch TV and ride bikes. The idea is to put them and their plight in the spotlight and hopefully raise awareness and interest in adoption of older, at-risk orphans in Ukraine and in the world. Not to have them riding down the street, out-of-sight, while me and our guests talk about the weather. The plan worked and Ms. Heidi & kids did a great job preparing the food and decorating the house. It was a complete success and everyone had a great time. Thanks to everyone who was there physically and in spirit. We hope to see you again next year.

Rogé open house

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 9

After a hiatus for three days to catch up at work, I rejoined the camp kids for a four-day weekend of excitement. It was hugs all around as I rounded up and loaded all the kids into the big brown van.

First stop, Horseback Riding! Our good friends and yearly volunteers, the Welzigs, have us out every year to ride their tame and child friendly horses. This is a big hit for them as most of them have never touched a horse, much less ridden one! The Welzigs grilled burgers and brats for us before we had to leave for the next event. Thanks Welzig's!

Pool Day at Sunset pool was next. Sunset is an outdoor pool with three spring boards of varying sizes and two water slides. Sunscreen was applied and our spot was set up. Soon, all of our campers were jumping of the high-dive board! Wow, what brave kids! They had a lot of fun as the weather threatened. It held off for an hour and a half while we got in some quality swim time. However, all good things must come to an end as we were chased inside a cold rainstorm.

We loaded up the van for our next event, a Potluck Dinner at the Stoesz house. Thanks to all of our generous volunteers, we had lots of leftovers from the previous two days, so there were a variety of yummy dishes to chose from. We said "dobre noche" (goodnight) to the kids as my family retired to our home for rest and sleep. We had a big day and an early wake-up for Friday's events!

~Felix ~