Quack, quack

Dear Leslie, I'm thinking of changing from the rooster crow in the morning to quacking like a duck. We swim EVERY day! How do you handle it! My feet are starting to grow webbing and I'm shriviling like a prune. The girls probably think Longmont Rec Center belongs to us. Loved your story about the swim meet! Our family closely resembles yours. Everyone at the pool follows the strange-talking little girls to each attraction.

BTW...I was wrong about Luba not knowing how to swim. She's a fish! So is Tanya. They have moved on to the diving board. After that who knows, perhaps white water rafting or skydiving. ~Felix~

Translation!

Last night we visited our friend Lilya with the girls. Lilya is so kind and wonderful with children. Jordan, Tanya and Luba all love her. We all enjoyed her company and the opportunity to learn more about each other by using a translator. I learned that they miss drinking green tea, and their favorite food is fried potatoes. Thanks Lilya!

Have you read Karen Springs' 6/23 post about the orphanage graduation? You need to! http://karensprings.blogspot.com/2008/06/graduation-time.html

Happy Days

The thing that strikes me most about Tanya and Luba is that they are HAPPY. They seem so happy to be here and happy all the time! It is good to see and warms the soul. We did the right thing by bringing them here and God's timing was perfect. We will not travel to Ukraine until after the summer. Indications from the SDA are that we will get a Fall '08 appointment. Ten weeks with T & L will be uninterrupted. Perhaps they will be our first set (we have plans for 6 total over the next couple of years).

Saturday afternoon we went boating at the Carmen's house. They live on a private lake, so there is less congestion and it is safer. Originally the plan was to go to the Recreation center here in Longmont and let them play in the 3 pools. There are water slides and a lazy river there. But, we got the invite that morning and I just had to see if they would enjoy power boating with a tube. The girls never hesitated, they jumped right into the tube and off we went. They got some good air time, too. This did not scare them and they kept giving the "faster" signal. Both girls have a sense of adventure and will try most anything. Later, we had a bar-b-que with the Carmens followed by more tubing and a little swimming. Tanya can swim OK, but Luba cannot. Therefore, I asked them to leave their life jackets on. With their confidence in the life jackets, they swam everywhere and it was hard to get them out of the water. We capped off the evening with a marshmallow roast, which was a big hit! Despite the "sugar rush" both girls slept soundly in the backseat for the 30 minute trip back home. I even heard snoring! They played hard!

Tanya is OK with my presence, but Luba exhibits some "Felix fear". She will give me a good morning and goodbye hug when pressed for it, but normally shys away from me for other occasions. I will be patient and work on her. I went alone with them to the lake outing, Heidi went with Mayme for a girl's getaway. I made some good "Luba brownie points" but this morning it seems that I am back to square one. Perhaps pancakes this morning will put me back in her good graces. ~ Felix ~

Full House

Suddenly, Internat Longmont doesn't seem so big! Tanya and Luba arrived safely, Jordan is here for the summer and our friend Mayme arrives tonight for the weekend. Seriously folks, I'm thinking of renaming the place to, "The house of women".

The girls are cute and precious. We are lucky to have them, grateful to the nation of Ukraine for entrusting us with such darlings, and thankful to God for bringing them to us. They will be here for 10 weeks. We will keep you posted from time to time of our summer adventures.

I miss my little dochenkas, Zina and Rimma. I can't help but wonder where they are now and what they are doing. Zina is off to summer camp somewhere on the Black Sea and Rimma was sent to a different sanitorium. I pray daily for their eventual registration and return to us. God please keep watch over them and bring them home one day. ~Felix~

Meet Tanya & Luba

For the past few weeks, I've been cranky, grumpy, and downright ornery! I've been struggling with God's plan for us concerning Rimma and Zina. I feel that God sent these two little girls to us for a reason. We want to adopt them, but they are not properly registered. That's why we journeyed to Ukraine for 10 days back in April...to get the "ball rolling" again for their eventual adoption. The director wouldn't let them come to us for the summer hosting program and things were falling apart at the seams. Zina was no closer to registration and Rimma was in the hospital. We made some good strides, but it is still going to be a long process. To all who ask us, "When are you going to adopt R & Z?", there is no clear answer. Once both girls are properly registered (and who knows when that will be) there is a one year waiting period for international adoption. Combine that with the SDAs slow adoption process, you get the picture that this will be a long journey. But, we will never give up on Rimma and Zina. We are family, just separated by 6000 miles and a bureaucracy.

In the meantime, may I introduce Tanya (13) and Luba (9). They will be coming to stay with us for 10 weeks this summer, starting next Friday. They are part of Frontier Horizon's summer hosting program and were the last of eight kids not yet placed in homes. I contacted our dear friends, Garth & Debbie, last week (when I was in the doldrums) and told them that we wished that we had signed up with FH for hosting. We thought that we would get R & Z for the summer or that we would be traveling to Ukraine for adoption by this time, so we didn't sign up. I told her that we would volunteer to take kids if a family had to back out of the program. Not two days later, Debbie informed us that FH still had these 8 kids available, so we took a look at the bios and photos. I am happy to say that Tanya and Luba will be with us all summer and we completed the process of getting them here today.

I feel better and a peace and calm has come over me once again. God laughs at me when I plan. So, I felt his presence and hand in this when all things came together. Just like our relationship with R & Z, this is his will and I will obey. Nothing has changed with our desire to adopt Rima and Zina. They will be with us once we get through their process. However, we always knew we would adopt kids before they were ready. Perhaps Tanya and Luba will work out and they are the ones that God has planned for us. We will see if they are God's answer to our consistent prayers. ~Felix~

Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
~ Philippians 4:6,
NLT

Доченька

Доченька , or "little daughter" as I like to call Rimma and Zina, is an endearing term letting them know that I consider them my children. It's English spelling is dochenka. My youngest dochenka has to go back to the sanitorium and cannot attend summer camp with Zina. Rimma will spend all summer somewhere on the other side of Kiev in a place alien and lonely. For the time being, she is isolated at her internat and sees her sister, Zina sporadically. Zina leaves soon for summer camp on the Black Sea.

We asked both girls if they needed anything and we got the typical, "No, but Rimma may need something, I'm ok" from Zina. So we asked Rimma. She also never asks for anything, so it was with pleasant surprise when she asked for a cheap cell phone to be able to talk with us and Zina when she leaves. Heidi sprang into action and over the course of Monday night she 1.) contacted Sergie, our translator friend in Kherson, 2.) arranged to have him pick up a $100 she Western Union'ed, 3.) got the phone to Rimma, 4.) talked to Rimma on her new phone (albeit, just a few words). It was so funny to watch, well, sleep through. She started around 11pm (8 am, Ukraine time) and finished about 6 am. Every two hours or so her phone would ring and she would coordinate the next move, sleeping between each call. I would wake up and listen to her directing Sergie, so I too, was awake. I was utterly amazed at the Lord's work ongoing in the hands of friends in a foreign country we just only met in April. It was comical and divine, all at the same time. Yes, we do trust these people with our (God's) money and our children. Rimma was ecstatic and Zina was pleased that she would be able to check on her little sister when possible.

Cell phones are extremely cheap and easily re-charged with $ via the internet. We text both girls each morning via the internet for free and they receive all calls for free. It costs us just $20 a month per phone and we pay MTC via the Internet. Ask us about it if you want to do the same for a child in Ukraine. Of course, snail-mail is about 9-14 days service, too. We write the girls and send clothes through the mail routinely. I'm not bragging, just telling you all how easy it is to correspond with a child who needs to know that someone, somewhere cares. We have it down to a science, it's easy. Just ask us for help if you need it.

Remember the whole "science" and "receive all calls for free" thing. The girls never call us, we call them. They know how to "drop" a call if they need to talk to us, which usually, is never. However, we got a drop call from Rimma yesterday morning after we sent our morning text message. We called her and she answered. She wanted to say "Thank you for telephone". How sweet! She then put Zina on and she told us that she received the package that had their shirts. She also said that she received the pictures we sent of our house and her room. She said, "My new house, I like" and "My room, I like".

That phone call and the fact that Jordan is here for the summer makes me feel better. We received news from our facilitator this week that we are, again, not not on the submission list, this time for July.She also said that the SDA will only be accepting dossiers for two weeks in July, so half the people that expected July will not get in. Lord, grace me with patience as I try to live with and understand your plan.

She's here!!

That's right! Our daughter, Jordan, has arrived for the summer. There is a teen in the house and the Bank of Dad is open. It is good to have her. She is a welcome respite from the quietness of an empty house. Her stay all summer will put her here when the SB kids arrive for our UOO camp. She is best buddies with Rhya, Kris & Clarke's adopted daughter. They have plans to hang out over the summer and Jordan is eager to learn more about her and Luke's lives as orphans in Zytomir, Ukraine. It is good to see that Jordan has a heart for orphans and cares. She is excited about the prospect of being a big sister to Zina and Rimma. Until now she has always been the little sis.

Jordan also had a big surprise for us! She graduated from 8th grade at the top of her class! #1 out of over 300 students. We are so proud of her! Sounds like a reason to celebrate!

We called Zina this morning and Jordan got to hear her voice for the first time. Jordan was surprised when Zina answered with, "Hi Mom!" Jordan recogonized a few words of Russian we quickly taught her and she recognized them when Zina spoke. We told Zina that her sister Jordan was with us and she said hello.

When we asked about Rimma, Zina said that she was isolated because due to another problem, which we will keep private and off the blog. Also, she will not be able to go to the summer camp with Zina beacause she will have to go back to the sanitorium for more treatment. Poor Rimma, she is not doing very well right now and I am concerned. I wish Ukraine would let us come get our daughter and care for her here. She is losing weight because she won't eat the unfamiliar, unsavory food at the santitorium. When we hugged her in April, we could feel her ribs. Her jacket was dingy because they don't have adequate laundry service. And now this new problem. Please pray for Rimma and her health. The power of prayer really works and she needs all the help we can give her. I became very upset this week because I don't understand God's plan for us and R&Z. But, I know, when I pray and ask for guidance, I get it.

Bump, Set, Spike!

I've been looking at all of the pictures from the trip back in April and I just noticed how much taller Zina has grown since the December trip. Has anyone else noticed this? I guess that I have had other things on my mind lately. Dear ole Dad tops out at 5'8", but Zina is gaining! I suspect that I will be looking up to her one day soon, both physical and figuratively! Of course I do that now. I am amazed at her kind-heartedness with all that she has been through and her life in the orphanage.

Zina liked playing volleyball with us. That's good news! Heidi has played competitive VB for nearly 25 years and just a few years ago was a top finisher in 2-person sand. Her partner and she used to rule the courts all over Colorado, usually winning the tournament or finishing in the top 4. A terrible calf injury two years ago during a game has slowed her down a bit and she plays when she can, but not as much as she would like. Nowadays, she and I coach and she lives vicariously through our girl's 5-6th and 7-8th grade teams. Perhaps we will have R&Z on our teams one day.

Of course, Heidi brought a volleyball to play with the girls and to leave with them. In no time at all she had taught them the fine art of passing and body form. Zina and a few other girls at the Internat were quiet good after a little instruction. I think we may have a front row hitter on our hands!

Hello, is this thing on?

Hi everyone. Sorry we haven't made an entry in awhile...there isn't much to report on the adoption front. We haven't heard any new word on the dossier submission. But, it is time to start updating some of our documents. Much to my chagrin, we have to go see the Doc and get a medical update complete with new blood work. Yikes! Oh well, anything for my kids.

We have been slowly making Internat Longmont a home. It is too quiet and empty without kids. We have hosted a couple of UOO meetings and the Stoesz have brought over their Ukrainian adoptees, Rhya, Luke and Natalie. The Stoesz's oldest daughter and son and some of our close friends like the Fetters and Keenes have come over with their kids as well. The house makes a great entertaining home and it warms up with the laughter and play of the young-uns. One day, our kids will be here...and I will probably wish for peace and quiet again, hee-hee-hee!

We last talked to Zina two weekends ago. She was suppose to travel to Kiev with some other kids for some kind of field trip. She also told us that she would be leaving mid-June for camp and that she couldn't take her phone and that this would be the last time we would get to talk with her until late August. Then today, we got an e-mail from Oksana in Crimea. She said that Zina's trip to Kiev was cancelled and that she would like to talk to us soon. We will call her this weekend. Oksana said that she heard Rimma in the background, so that's good news. We were never quite clear on her release date from the Odessa sanatorium.

Our daughter, Jordan, arrives this weekend for the entire summer. It is a treat to have her that long each year and she eagerly anticipates spending the school vacation with us. We hope to make the call to Z & R with her so that she can hear her one-day-sisters' voices. Perhaps they will talk to one another for awhile.

That's all for now. We will be sure to write more often, if just to say hello. God bless you, our friends!