Dossier Submission

Hi everyone, sorry it’s been awhile since our last posting. I wanted to hold off until Heidi got a chance to write about her trip. She’s been terribly busy catching up at work since taking off to go to Ukraine. She simply never has the time to stop, and neither do I. I usually write these posts over my lunch break or when I can’t sleep. Hopefully, we will get you a trip report soon.

We were notified yesterday by Oleg, our facilitator, that we can expect a dossier submission on October 15th! This is good news and I couldn’t wait to update our timeline over on the right side. If Rimma is eligible now…by all indications of other blogs and the SDA friendly stance on older child adoptions…we could get a SDA appointment around the middle or end of November! If Rimma is not yet eligible, we will of course, wait the month or two until she is. Oleg says that the SDA will time the appointment appropriately. Nothing says commitment like a Ukrainian adoption in winter. Here we go again!

We have been prepping our old house for sale since our renter moved out this past weekend. We spend every evening painting, running kids to practices, painting, cooking dinner, painting, doing homework and parent-teacher conferences and oh yeah, painting. Here and there I manage to hang a light fixture, too. So, sorry again for not getting a trip report out yet. Thanks for the understanding.

My dad has been with us for a week and a half. He arrived the same day as Heidi got back. Grandpa has been a great help to us and immediately bonded with all the kids. He too has a heart for the fatherless children of the world and gets teary when he hears the answers to his questions regarding our kids pasts and the status of R & Z. Now I know where I got it from! Dad has been helping with homework, fixing our old house, and even a little upholstery. We have been in need of getting our dining chairs and stools recovered forever and he just jumped in and knocked it out in a couple of days. Thanks Pop!

Heidi arrived with a case of food poisoning from the Air France flight. She and Carol apparently ate some bad French chicken. It also took Heidi a week or more to get over the time zone difference. She was going to bed way early and waking up at three in the morning. She seems to be sleeping better now. Heidi does all the painting at the old house after work and crashes once the kids are in bed. She’s a trooper!

Nadia, Julia & Kolya are all doing well in school. They each have surprised us in their learning ability. Mid-term reports came in last week and both girls had 2 A’s, 2 B’s and 2 C’s. Nice job! That’s not to say that we don’t have our bad days and each kid tests our patience from time to time. Julia continues to struggle with organizational skills, Nadia’s teachers are coaching her on not coming across as arrogant and know-it-all, and Kole gets a little whiny from time to time.

We miss R & Z terribly. There will be a day soon where we have all the kids under one roof. I don’t want to end on a bad note, but the orphanage lawyer is arguing that Zina is not registered yet and that this is the month that they go to court to fix it all. Our facilitators’ people (can’t explain here) tell us that she is registered. Who knows who is right? All we know is that we are forever committed to Zina and we will bring her home one day. We’re not upset by this information and after all, it is not up to us, but God’s timing. I do wish he would fill me in on it, though (lol)!

~ Felix ~