We have had a busy couple of weeks since returning from Ukraine. I (Felix) caught a cold from traveling on the plane and we both went back to work the next day. Add to this my two week ANG obligation, a 3-day-a-week volleyball coaching schedule, and the closing of the Internat Longmont, you can see how a couple of weeks can get away from you. We are presently moving our furniture and household goods ourselves every night after work…we should be done in a couple of days. Our friends, the Fetters, the Stoezs, the Volfs, the Keenes and the Carmans have helped us move. We really appreciate it, guys! I get a big joy of seeing the kids (6 total) run around the house. It makes the new house feel more like home and reminds me of what it will be like once we fill it up with our own kidos.
It occurred to me that we never reported back on the garage sale. Sorry! Here’s the scoop. It became cold and eventually started snowing. The UOO’ers sold almost all of the items and we made $3500! It’s not enough, but it got us closer. We are getting a few donations and we are on track to meet our goal of $22K for the camp. In fact, we have already made payouts to cover some of travel expenses. I think Kris S. bought airline tickets last week after we found out that the kid’s passports were completed. So it is happening! We will have 8 kids here this summer. Get to Colorado and be part of this wonderful opportunity! See the UOO website http://ukraineorphans.org/for contact information and how you may help in ways other than financially.
We’ve been talking to Zina every weekend now and we continue to text both of them every morning. We wrote letters to R & Z this week, too. I keep hoping we can nail down the return texting problem so that we may hear from them on occasion. Zina’s English is getting better but she is still limited in vocabulary, so are we with our Russian vocab. I can hear and feel her frustration when she wants to ask or tell us something really involved. She regularly asks for the translator. But, as we have been calling more frequently and the translators aren’t available as often, we don’t have help. It's just good to hear her voice, even when we don’t understand each other. She starts most conversations with, “Uhmm… Mom”, followed by a few seconds of “mmmmmmmm” as she formulates the words. Hearing that and seeing Heidi’s beaming smile makes it all worthwhile!
It occurred to me that we never reported back on the garage sale. Sorry! Here’s the scoop. It became cold and eventually started snowing. The UOO’ers sold almost all of the items and we made $3500! It’s not enough, but it got us closer. We are getting a few donations and we are on track to meet our goal of $22K for the camp. In fact, we have already made payouts to cover some of travel expenses. I think Kris S. bought airline tickets last week after we found out that the kid’s passports were completed. So it is happening! We will have 8 kids here this summer. Get to Colorado and be part of this wonderful opportunity! See the UOO website http://ukraineorphans.org/for contact information and how you may help in ways other than financially.
We’ve been talking to Zina every weekend now and we continue to text both of them every morning. We wrote letters to R & Z this week, too. I keep hoping we can nail down the return texting problem so that we may hear from them on occasion. Zina’s English is getting better but she is still limited in vocabulary, so are we with our Russian vocab. I can hear and feel her frustration when she wants to ask or tell us something really involved. She regularly asks for the translator. But, as we have been calling more frequently and the translators aren’t available as often, we don’t have help. It's just good to hear her voice, even when we don’t understand each other. She starts most conversations with, “Uhmm… Mom”, followed by a few seconds of “mmmmmmmm” as she formulates the words. Hearing that and seeing Heidi’s beaming smile makes it all worthwhile!
2 comments:
You guys are doing great things. Thanks for sharing your story.
Congratulations! You both have so many wonderful things happening for you right now - enjoy it all!
Staci
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