UOO 2009 Camp - Arrived Home Safely

I received the following e-mail from Clarke last night:

I got word early this morning that all the kiddos arrived safe at home, and couldn't stop talking about their experiences. Tatiana is convinced that Colorado is the Best State of America!Thanks everyone for such a great camp!

- Clarke Stoesz

UOO 2009 Camp - Homeward Bound

We left the Stoesz house in the van and headed to Denver International Airport this morning. It was a sad day to see them go. The Roge's and Volf's watched from the glass as Amanda Stoesz and Arie Pals escorted the kids and chaperons to their gate.

I will post again soon, but as of now I need some time to recompose, get over the missing space in my heart, and get back into the "groove". We signed the I-600 paperwork for Rimma +1 today, so that lifted my spirits a bit. We are all done with our dossier, the hiring of the facilitator, and our home study has been submitted. The only thing left is our USCIS process. So, this work will be a good distraction from missing the children.

Also, we have that time scheduled with a family that is thinking about Ukrainian adoption next week. So things are looking up.

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 20

The kids’ last full day with us would be spent completing arts and crafts, some more scrap booking, and just riding bikes and being a kid. We did this at my house and opened the house to all who wanted to visit with the kids one last time. They enjoy being in a family environment the most and we wanted to send them off with this last memory fresh in their minds.

Around five o’clock or so, we prepped dinner, which was left-overs from the Ukrainian Dinner the day before. The kids really liked the American-made Ukrainian food and commented on our ability to make it just like they have it back home. Cabbage rolls and Varenyk were served up and I’m happy to report that I won’t be eating this food for the next three weeks like I thought I would! We finished the whole thing! There were plenty of tears as everyone knew this would be the last that they would see of the kids. Heidi is going to Ukraine in September for Rimma’s birthday and I know that she will probably have some calls from people wanting to accompany her on that trip now. I hope to see the kids again at the end of the year when Heidi and I return for Rimma’s adoption.

It was hard, as it always is, to see the tears and hugs from children that want to stay and from Prospective Adoptive Parents, or PAPs, letting go of the children that they have come to love as their own. This is the major goal of UOO, to raise awareness of the plight of older orphans and perhaps to start a family or two’s adoption process to Ukraine. It’s all in God’s hands now for these families and these 8 little representatives of the thousands of children-in-waiting in Ukraine and around the world. We will meet next week with one such family and answer any questions that will help them make a decision to pursue Ukrainian adoption.

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 19

We started Sunday with a church service at Rocky Mountain Christian Church. This is where the Volf’s attend service. I could not go because I was prepping for the big day ahead.

Ah yes, the big day for me was finally here! A lot of planning and volunteers went into making our 3rd annual Ukrainian dinner a success. At long last, the facility was decorated by my wonderful volunteer staff, the food prepared by a hard working kitchen crew, the bands reminded of their show times, and Heidi’s annual Silent Auction items placed. Everything went off without a hitch and despite the fact that I was concerned about the attendance and food count, there were plenty of people and way too much food. I think we counted around 150 people and we had enough food for the next day’s going away party. Not too shabby, crabby! We brought in a nice sized donation from the ticket sales and silent auction, too! Everything sold and nothing had to be carted back home for next year.

Many thanks to our musical entertainment, Peregrin Road and The Luke Ham Sandwich Family Band. PR provided nice background dinner music while LHSFB was the main attraction. If you’ve never heard these guys, you’re missing a real treat. A few kids with their Dad & Mom put on a great fiddle, mandolin and singing concert. See their website for concerts this summer. Since they have three international adoptees in their family, their entertainment style and our mission is closely intertwined. I hope we can get them back next year for another great night.

Thanks, everyone!

~ Felix ~

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 18

Saturday had us at the Carmen’s lake house again. Most folks have to work Monday through Friday, so we schedule a weekend on the lake in hopes of getting these beautiful kids in the community’s eye. Besides, the kids can never get enough of the water and the tubing and I love to drive Eric’s speed boat. Nothing says power like a V-8 I the water! We even got a few of the kids up on water skis for the first time in their lives. Unless they are adopted internationally, most of these kids will never do this again. It is truly a once in a lifetime achievement for them, literally!

After I drove the boat for what seemed like forever, we got the kids cleaned up for a church service at Timberline Church in Ft. Collins, CO. You may remember a post about a year ago when Heidi and I traveled up to TL for an adoption seminar where Tom Davis, author of Fields of the Fatherless, was the quest speaker. We set up our UOO booth and got a lot of response from the audience. Timberline is home to a couple of our newest UOO volunteers that we met during that visit. We are always expanding our church base and we are happy to have new friends there. The kids were special guests at the children’s church and were recognized on stage. They played a few games, participated in a relay race of sorts and listened to the message presented to them on Forgiveness.

We ended the day at the Stoeszs house for dinner where a lot of new faces were on hand to meet the kids. That evening, the Stoesz’s held another bon fire and worship service for the kids.

UOO 2009 Camp - Day 17

On one day of each year’s camp, my sweetie Heidi holds a scrapbook party with the kids. Today was that day. All of the UOO members forward their pictures to her and she combines these with our pictures. All-in-all, there are hundreds of electronic photos to go through and send to the printer. Heidi likes to group the pictures so that each kids gets a specialized stack of photos of themselves, another stack of the UOO folks, and a stack of the group as a whole. It’s always interesting to see what the kids will do and if they will select pictures of themselves or pictures of the UOO folks. It’s usually half-in-half and this year was no exception. The kids liked the stickers and cut-outs, too.

Later that evening, we went out to yet another delicious pot luck dinner at the Stoesz house. I did mention that I like pot luck’s, right?!

After dinner, went traveled over to our church’s youth center to put on our first ever UOO talent show, or as I like to say, the “lack of talent” show. Actually it was a lot of fun! We had everything from a family song & dance routine by the Stoesz’s to a play with an aria by the Pals family. I think the highlights of the show were the chicken dance and the marshmallow-mouth stuffing contest. The winner was Josh Volf with a total of 12 giant marshmallows. WOW!

UOO 2009 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 ~