Summer Hosting

A few folks have aske me if the Ukraine Orphan Outreach (UOO) summer camp kids can be housed in their homes. Unfortunately, no. UOO keeps the kids all together in a camp-style setting in two homes that are board member homes. You may, of course, participate in all the day's activities during our annual three week camp. Details to follow as we cement our camp schedule.

That being said, there is another organization that I am familiar with and that I help on occasion. Frontier Horizon has been bringing kids from Ukraine for years and can help if you desire to host a child in your home for the entire summer, a short summer stay or over Christmas holiday. If you are interested in hosting children through FH, visit the link in this post, e-mail me at felixroge@yahoo.com or comment on this post for more information. As a "Rocky Mountain area helper", I can help get them to your home from DEN airport if you are in the state. Neighboring states would need to travel (any means, air, car, Am-track train) to Denver. East coast & east-Midwest residents can contact FH directly.

For an introspective on adoption, read the comment from Alycia...thank you Alycia!

By the way, Oksana & Vladik had a family step forward to host them this summer, thank you all who responded. There are more children without homes listed at FH's website. Take a look.

~ Felix ~

Heidi's adoption savings tip #2...

No car payments! Heidi pulled over and snapped this picture when she rolled 222,222K miles on her 1997 CRV! Honda's are like the Energizer bunny, they keep going and going and going. Don't worry, that red "maintenance required" flag has been stuck since 100K.

Heidi's adoption savings tip #1...

Nothing says fine dining better than your own collection of Red Robin cups. We get at least 12 everytime we go! Tupperware be darned! We even get the added benefit of dinner for 6 for the low, low price of $36...tip included!

Answering your questions...

I've been suffering a bit of writer's block as of late. In case you didn't notice, I went almost two weeks between posts last time! Sorry! Working my civilian job 40 + hours and then going out to my part-time Air Force job at night and one weekend a month has kept me busy. I've had to make up quite a bit of work, especially the AF gig...there's always tons of work to be done there. Both of Heidi's big construction projects at CU are in full swing, too. We are both fortunate to have this "over-employment". There a lots of friends out of work and searching, our hearts and prayers go out to them. Now you know how we afford the cost of international adoption!

Honestly, it's all we can do some days to keep up with the four sports the kids are involved in, my two workout programs, the kids homework, dinner prep, Julia's OT program, Nadia's purity class...uhh, the list goes on and on! Did I forget something, oh yeah, UOO and counseling about the BOB behavior. But this is something we wanted and something God has blessed us with, and so we press on.

So you may ask, why do I continue to write and why bother? Well, it's therapy folks! It makes me happy, and I hope it makes your day brighter, too.

But, as of late I've been considering shutting down the blog after Lizzie comes home. I'd write for a few months afterwards, but once we are done getting them all home, I might be done, too. We will have to wait and see. I have this crazy fantasy of printing up all of the blog and selling it as a book to pay for 4 weddings, six college degrees and donating the rest to UOO. Also, I want to save each kid a copy to read once they are grown, signed by the author, of course :-)"

Therefore (with writer's block in full-swing), I thought I'd answer a few of your questions. By all means, if anyone has "questions you have, but were afraid to ask", send them to me! I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

M asks: I know that with older kids - although I'm not sure what the age is - the child must actually SAY they want to be adopted by the people trying to adopt them. is this only for international adoptions or for ALL adoptions, even when the child will stay in Ukraine? the reason i ask is that i know Lizzie wouldn't just go off and accept a different family should one try to adopt her internationally, but i was wondering if she would be given any choice should a potential family be Ukrainian. i know the chances of a Ukrainian family wanting to adopt a child her age is practically non-existent, and i have no doubt she will be joining your family, I'm just curious about the laws for kids like her. :-)

M, I can't speak for all adoptions as I have only adopted from Ukraine (that may change if we don't get a boy with Lizzie this time). As far as Ukrainian adoption is concerned, yes, the child must agree and say yes to the adoption. The age part is in question, but I know six year olds who have refused adoption. Nadia, Julia, Kolya and Rimma all had to agree and write their consent on paper before witnesses.

In regards to an international or Ukrainian family adopting Lizzie, it is her choice. We have long told Rimma and Lizzie that if it was in their hearts to go to another family we would not be angry or stand in the way, being very supportive of their decision. We still hold true to that. Any family for them was always the main objective. That being said, Rimma turned down two Ukrainian families and chose to put her trust in us and wait for our promise to come for her. Lizzie is more adamant about being our child and most probably would never go with anyone else, either. It is not about feelings of loyalty due to our involvement in getting them registered. We, and she, truly feel the bonds of family...Mother, Father, Daughter.

Linda writes: If you could, could you tell me all of their ages? From all my guessing, you will have a house full of teenagers! Still love your blog, and keep up with it always. Linda xoxoxo to all.

Linda, thank you for following. Here's the breakdown. Only Nadia has had a birthday thus far this year, everyone else turns a year older, me included :)

Lizzie - 14
Nadia - 14
Rimma - 13
Julia - 12
Kole - 10

So, please buy my blog book when/if it comes out. The "Bank of Dad" is almost insolvent!

Another kido in 9 months!

Got your attention, didn't I! No, Heidi is not pregnant, but we are expecting...in 9 months!

We got word today that Lizzie's has been officially registered at the SDA and will be eligible for adoption by us in mid-January 2011!

This falls in line with what we calculated when we heard that she had been registered in the region. Despite the 1-yr wait rule for international adoption, the time actually ends up being 12-15 months of wait time. This is because the child's file remains in region for 2-3 months in hopes that someone there will want to adopt a local child. After this period elapses, the files gets sent to the SDA for country-wide adoption for one year. Afterwards, the file is opened for international adoption. Such was the case for Rimma's timeline, if you look at the board on the right side of this blog. Our first three waited for the same 14-15 month period before they were eligible for international adoption. We just didn't know them then.

This is fine with us, but Lizzie wants to be home now. She reminds us every time we skype or call. Nine more months is a long time for a waiting child.

However, there is more great news! Her wait time won't really be so long after all! She is coming for the summer for 10 weeks! She will be home from mid-June to the end of August. Come out and see her and us this summer if you can!

In other news, thank you for all of the support from everyone after the recent news of the returned child to Russia last week. I've had dozens of folks who know us, express concern. They thought that we were adopting from Russia and that we would not be able to bring Lizzie home one day. Your concerns are valid because Ukraine is always considering a moratorium on international adoption and the new president is pro-Russia. However, Ukraine is it's own country and I am putting all my prayers and trust to God to take care of her and us. I learned awhile back to just pray about a situation and not to worry over something I can't control. I wholeheartedly trust in Him and believe that He sent R & Z, as well as the other three, to us to further His purpose. Your prayers are appreciated and we will continue to do so as well.

~ Felix ~