A call for help!

I've been suffering a bit of writer's block as of late, so I've been praying for a message. When I can't get something out of my mind or off my heart, I call it the will of God. Sometimes He blinds me with it, most of the time it's this gentile nagging that won't subside. Here's what I feel He has tasked me with and the three things I need your help with:

Numero Uno & most important...


Our friends, the Hoffmann's are about to embark on their journey to bring home two sweet girls to their forever family. Their appointment is May 18th, THAT'S MAY 18TH...RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!! They got the call early to come for their adoption appointment and will not have time to finish their planned fundraisers to raise all that they will need. They will be about $8000 short. If we do my friend Becky's math, that's just 800 people giving $10 or 80 people giving a hundred! Folks, this is important. This is the future and well-being of two children in harm's way and the willingness of two people to follow God's call to walk in the fields of the fatherless. I don't know how else to say it...please send them whatever you can, TWENTY DOLLARS, FIVE DOLLARS, ONE DOLLAR, ANYTHING! It's not your money, it's God's money! Fore go that weekend movie outing with your family, rent a DVD instead. And for goodness sake put down that double ristretto venti nonfat organic chocolate brownie frrappuccino extra hot foo-foo drink from Starbucks for once and donate the $20 to the Hoffmann fund, OK! Here's a direct excerpt that I cut and pasted directly from their blog, there are two ways to send funds:

You can help two orphans be orphans no more. Any gift will help! Our
appointment is MAY 18, so time is short. The button above is for giving through Paypal. You can also give at any major Wells Fargo bank using the account name "Hoffmann Ukraine Adoption Fund" and the last four digits of the account number, 3692, for verification. (Be certain the teller spells Hoffmann with 2 n's. The entire account name must be spelled exactly right in order to find the account.)

Two...


The Ukraine Orphan Outreach camp is scheduled for June 22nd to July 13th! Yep, we finally got 'er nailed down. For those of you in the area, this is an excellent opportunity to do mission work without traveling to the far reaches of the earth. Whether you come out and help or volunteer your resources or just partake in an event, we welcome you with open arms. If any of our friends wants to come in from out of town, we can discuss options, I have a little bit of room, just e-mail me at felixroge@yahoo.com For a complete list of scheduled events and things that you can volunteer for, visit the UOO website at http://www.ukraineorphans.org/


Last, but certainly not least...


Please continue the prayers for our dear Zina. There has been no word on her registration and we are hoping that it is still being worked as planned by the officials in Ukraine. The plan is to go get Rimma if Z doesn't get registered by end of Summer. Mom and the kids talked to Rimma this past weekend (she is back from the sanatorium). Zina wasn't present, so they only got to talk with Rimma. They all refer to each other as brother, sisters, Mom and Dad. I'm so happy that all of the kids "get-it" and know that there will be a time when they are united and one family. Rimma asked where I was (I had weekend AF duty) and said that she was disappointed not to speak with me. She said that she missed the sound of my voice...aawwww! That was enough gas in my tank to last all week!


~Felix~

3 blossoming flowers

Heidi and I are extremely thankful for the three angels entrusted to our care. I can't wait to get home everyday from work to see them and hear about their day. Each always has a story to tell. All three, for quite awhile now, have become quite affectionate, as a family should. Kole told me the other night that I am a good daddy and that he is very happy to have a mom and dad.

Kolya routinely comes up with an American colloquialism and cracks us up, too. Last Saturday, after working in the yard mowing grass, trimming the shrubs, and planting new flowers, he asked me to go to Chipotle. In his words, "We deserve it!". They all worked hard and yes they did deserve it. After I quit laughing, we got cleaned up and headed out for some burritos. Here's Kole posing, in typical Kolya style, below his artwork at the St. Vrain school district art show. His is the red scarf he knitted in art class at Rocky Mountain Elementary.



Julia had a piece at the art show, too. However, I decided to post this cute picture of her at last weeks 5th grade choir concert. Julia practiced for weeks and did a great job singing in both Spanish and English. An episode of "lost in translation" became apparent when the music teacher explained to the students that they would have a dress rehearsal the morning of the concert. I remember her heading off to the bus with a plastic bag, but elected to ignore it as usual Julia quirkiness. Well, she had wadded up that nice dress you see her wearing in said bag because, as her little mind deduced, she was off to her "Dress" rehearsal! An ironing job later that day was in order. Another great laugh!

Julia continues to amaze us with her vocabulary. She is getting more confident and learning new words all the time. Her OT is paying off too and "things" are taking off for Julia! It s great to see her, and all of our children, blossom in their new family!



Nadia is a sweet young lady as she settles into teen-hood. She and I have grown quite close and she matter-of-factly tells us that she is a daddy's girl. I'm loving it and I hope it never stops, but I know that one day she will be too cool to hang on dad's arm. Oh well, they always come back around after the teen years are done, right? Nadia and Ashley's soccer team has advanced to the championship game. Nadia is ecstatic and talks about it with me all the time. She likes to kick the ball around the backyard with me, mom or Kolya to keep in practice. Here she is on Easter Sunday after she dyed her first two eggs. I told her that it matched her dress and she proceeded to make more colored eggs, except the white an black, of course. Since this picture, she talked me into letting her get her hair cut. You can see a picture of it on the Volf's blog. I haven't gotten around to snapping a recent picture of her yet. Sorry.

There's one last youngster in the family to report on, Buddy. He's doing fine and fitting in well with the family. The kids are taking good care of him. So far, he's only chewed up a pair of Easter dress sandals that Julia left on the living room floor. They were promptly replaced with his tug-rope. How can you get mad at a face like that? Julia was able to salvage the shoes, albeit a bit mangled!

~Felix~

No wind in my sails

I've really struggled this week with whatever plan is in store for us. I pray and pray, but I'm frustrated and struggling all the same. And then, the news that R & Z won't be coming this summer. The director has once again gone back on his word and he demands an unconquerable obstacles for us and Frontier Horizons. I'm really tired of this guy and his bait-and-switch routine. The best option is to just move forward on the adoption of the girls and get them out of there as soon as possible.

Heidi will most probably fly over in August or September to see the girls for a few days or a week. I would be most grateful if anyone wanted to accompany her as I will have to stay behind and look after our kidos. This would be an excellent opportunity to travel to Ukraine on a min-mission trip. For any of our friends who are uncertain about going there alone, not knowing your way around, the customs, the food, the transportation, etc, Heidi is well educated on all these subjects and we have an established network of friends you will meet. The cost wouldn't be much more than your airfare. Let us know.

Thank you all who provided input about the one vs two trip adoption. Your comments made all the sense in the world. We have chosen to ride out the next few months and start the dossier near the end of summer. Our rationale is that Z will hopefully be registered by the end of summer, thus eligible summer 2010. If so, we can slow the dossier and facilitator to include both girls. If no Z registration this summer, we will move on R and bring her home first. We may ask for an additional child, probably a boy, with R. This would round us off to six children total, we definitely have the room in the new house. Yes, the money would come for a third adoption trip.

That's all I got folks. I'm a little down about the news. I've got nothing more for you. I may blog once more this week if the inspiration returns. The kids are doing fine and the routine is the same. My days are made joyful by the sounds and laughter of our three. I am certainly grateful to the Lord for giving them to us and quite happy in this regard. My lovely wife Heidi is the icing on the cake! So, yes, I am happy and content and by no means full of gloom and doom. We will look back and realize God's plan he had for us when we have the girls safe and sound at home, in their forever family.

~Felix~

Praying for a miracle!

Photos courtesy of the Jones family & Karen Springs

Last weekend, we talked to Zina again. Rimma is once again in the sanatorium, this time for a shorter stay and as a follow up to her TB test issue from last summer. Since we could not find a translator and we had promised Zina a call that day, Nadia served as translator after a little coaxing. Initially she was nervous and afraid, but before too long, Nadia and Zina were talking and giggling like the sisters that they will be one day. It was a sweet phone call and a big relief to hear these two accepting of one another. Rimma, Julia, and Kolya will follow if the two "big sisters" get along.

We continue to pray for a miracle in Z's registration. We have learned that her paperwork is in the hands of social workers in the area and that once their work is completed, a court date will be established for her and a few other kids in the same situation at the orphanage. We have been told by our contact that these social workers "are very efficient and law-abiding...they will not take longer time than it is provided by the law". This is very good news! Consistently pushing and bringing Z's plight to the forefront has brought her a few steps closer to her and our dream of adoption. As of late, Heidi and I have been a little panicky and worried about the apparent stalemate we all were in, but I have to remind myself constantly that this is God’s timing and plan, not Felix’s! His will be done according to his purpose.

So, the next step will be to hear about Z’s court date and her registration at the local level as being an orphan deprived of parental care. Hopefully this will occur sometime this summer. From there it will take about 2 months for her to get into the SDA system where she will be adoptable exclusively by her countrymen for a period of one year. (Rimma is in this stage now). The girls, being of age, will have to give consent for adoption. Both have consistently stated their desire to be in our family. If the girls change their minds and want to go with a Ukrainian family, we would be very happy for them, of course. After this year is up, Zina will be available for international adoption. At present ‘guess-ti-mation” this would be Summer-Fall 2010. Please pray for Z’s process!

Rimma, on the other hand, will be eligible for international adoption sometime around the December-January time frame. She was successfully registered this past Fall 2008. Here-in lays another source of angst. We will have the funds to go again for another adoption, but not two. Do we start our dossier and go after Rimma and borrow/save for a third trip to get Zina? Or do we leave Rimma in place and bring them both home at the same time?

Prudent minds would suggest the latter and get more “bang for the buck” and only one more trip. Vacation time is strained and there are children at home to care for. However, there are (but there has always been) indications that Ukraine may change the laws or cease international adoption in the near future. Experts say that this is illegal and cannot be done overnight, but those who know Ukrainian parliamentary whims will attest to the volatile nature that is Ukrainian adoption. Therefore, should we “for-sure” rescue one while hoping for the best circumstances for the other? A few Ukrainian contacts feel that we should get Rimma out; Zina included who told us that “…we should get Rimma home before it is too late, even if her (Zina’s) paperwork isn’t ready”.

I don't know if I could do this...leave without Zina. I would feel horrible and it would kill me to see her in tears as we drive away from the orphanage without her. More importantly, what about Z's feelings as she is yet again, left behind? For these tumultuous questions, I pray for and seek guidance from you our friends and from our Lord and Savior. Again, please pray for Rimma and Zina.

~Felix~

Mr. Mom

First things first, Kolya's new word of the week is "destroyed". Heidi and I started a new Kolya word of the week game just recently. The rules, unbeknown to him or his sisters, are that he must totally surprise us with it's use, it must be a word that he learned on his own, and of course it has to be a word that we have never heard from him before. Last week his word was "hexagon"! OK, proud dad moment over.

Yesterday, the lovely Miss Heidi took off to the "Big Town" of Tulsa, Oklahoma for some training. So I'm playing Mr. Mom until Thursday night. No biggie, I'm in the zone! I'm juggling work, kids, guitar lessons, running club, boot camp, Thursday night youth group at church, cooking and pressure from my fly fishing buddies to go fish every afternoon. Actually, fishing is not pressure, if I could find a way to cast whilst cooking dinner, scheduling showers and tucking kids into bed, I'd be hooking onto that big rainbow trout I missed a couple of weeks back at the Big Thompson! Hey, fish gotta eat, too!

I'm not boasting about all the stuff going on in my life. Miss Heidi does a lot of work when she is home, probably way more than me. She's the glue that holds us all together. Also, I applaud single moms for their ability to juggle all of life's demands. I personally know two, Joe's mom (my little brother from the program) and my baby sister who is doing it all and visiting her incapacitated husband in the hospital, all the while explaining to her two little boys why Dad can't speak or move. Having been a single parent myself, I have sympathy for the hard work it takes to raise kids on your own. So this little soiree is nothing compared to what Heidi goes through on my drill weekends and outings or what my Little's mom and my sister cope with daily. I just have to remind myself to slow down and be compassionate with the kids. I get into this zone I spoke about and I'm all business. Nadia and Kolya need direction, but they take it well and with the first attempt. Julia still needs constant direction and quizzing. A typical event goes like this:

D: Julia, when we get home I want you to take a shower and put on your PJ's.
J: OK
D: Julia, what are we going to do when we get home?
J: Put on PJ's and take a shower.
D: Uhh, no, turn it around!
J: Ohh, ha-ha, Dad! I get PJ's wet that way!

(then as we walk in the door, she sits down or wanders off)

D: Julia, what are you supposed to be doing?
J: Take a shower?
D: Yes, and what else?
J: Uhh, put on PJ's?
D: Yes, great job! (here's where i tum off the all business attitude and show compassion) Now let's help Dad by getting this done. (big hug, big kiss)

Then I repeat the above steps a few more times before the actual task of showering and PJ's gets done at all. Meanwhile, everyone else has moved on to the next task, which usually is helping with dinner. Family time comes after dinner, but this week, we have thrown a dog into the mix! Yep, we took the plunge! More on that in another post later this week.

I really do love and relish my role as Dad and helping Heidi with raising our children. It's so much fun and when they get it and things click, all the hard work pays off! That being said, I look forward to a little downtime from when we put them in bed (8pm) and when I turn off my nightstand. Depending on the day I've had or if I'm tired that's anywhere between 9 & 10 pm. I read a book or surf the Internet with the laptop during this time, sometimes I watch the only two TV programs I Tivo, but only after the kids are in bed. (They don't get TV at night during the week. They are allowed cartoons before school, only.)

As I drift off to sleep, that ever-elusive Rainbow trout rises to the surface to inspect my entomological offering. Most nights he stares at it and swims off. Other nights he refuses to budge, snickering at me as if to say, "you gotta do better than that Rogé! Your fly pattern is weak, your presentation is off, and the current has your 'bug' scooting sideways in the drift! Hmmn, not believable, not even close!"

~ Felix ~

Happy Birthday, Nadia!

Today is Nadia's birthday! I have another teenager, she turned 13 today. I am happy that Nadia has new opportunity, a new home and a new family. She continues to learn and grow and her English is remarkable. She is still a bit shy with new people and sometimes refuses to answer back to questions posed to her in English. I usually remind her that it is rude to not answer and this usually elicits a "hello" or "thank you" from her.

It is Teresa's birthday, too! She and Jim are in Ukraine right now and hope to bring their three boys home for good, right soon!

I often wonder about adoptive children's bio parents and whether or not such parents remember or reflect upon their former kids' birthdays. This started for me when we celebrated Rimma and Zina's birthdays for the first time last year. Is there someone on the other side of the world that thinks of our 5 children and remembers them on their special day. Someone bore them for 9 months and then gave birth to them, surely they remember this difficult and uncomfortable task.

If ever asked, I will tell our kids that their parents did the best for them that they could under very harsh circumstances and that it was God's plan to deliver them into our loving and waiting arms. I thank Him everyday for giving them to us and I pray diligently for Rimma and Zina's eventual adoption. Zina's predicament is ever-present in my thoughts and prayers.

~ Felix ~

Weathering the Storm

We are hunkered down at home today, weathering the storm, both figuratively and physically. The post is late this week due to a family problem. Our oldest, Nadia, is in big trouble and we had a huge "come to Jesus" meeting this past Tuesday. Yes, the honeymoon is over and I am in super-dad mode. Although our kids have had a difficult past and one is mindful of their orphan past, they have a family now and we are in charge...a lesson that Nadia experienced this week when I had to bring forth the hammer, so to speak.

I won't go into great detail about it as this is a family issue and she has suffered great consequences as a result of her actions. Suffice it to say that she is extremely apologetic and we will be visiting several children this week so that she may express her apology and request forgiveness. She has realized that someone does care enough about her to correct her and show her the way to be a good person and to love and respect her friends, family, and God. Nadia is definitely a changed girl this week and she and both Heidi and I are closer than ever to her as a result of our corrections. It is as if she has been waiting for us to show her that we can administer punishment as good as we show her love. She knows that we are her forever parents and that we will always love her even if she does something to anger or hurt us. This is a new concept to her because every other adult in her life has hurt or mistreated her and trust is a hard thing to give over. She told me that she loves us and is so sorry to have temporarily lost our trust and to have disappointed us. She in turn trusts us and said that telling us that she loves us isn't so hard anymore. She always has, but it was difficult to say so. Nadia is a hurt child, but the healing has begun, starting with that first contact back in November

Now for the weather. We were forewarned about our first blizzard of the year around Monday or so. Well, it is here in full force! We are receiving snow at the rate of 2" per hour.

Here's Casa Rogé at the onset of the Spring blizzard. The kids have a snow day and school is closed as are most businesses. Mom went to work and I left right after this picture to try and put in a day at the office. Hard to believe that it has been in the 70's the past few weeks. Take note that the flowering pear tree in the front yard there was already in bloom.

About halfway to work, about 20 minutes later, I got the call that our company was closing the doors for the day. Heidi works at CU and her campus had already closed, but she remained at work to catch up on some projects. I went back home to enjoy a free day with the kids!

Around noon or so, it was snowing so hard that I couldn't see down the street! It stopped snowing around 2pm and I took the opportunity to shovel the two feet of snow off the drive so that Heidi could get into the garage. She was on her way home. The kids helped me shovel and they played in the snow a little, too. So what is there to do when you're snowed in and mom and dad is home? Family games, of course! Here's a picture of Heidi playing twister with the kids!

Not a fair match when you take into account the youthfulness and flexibility of the kids! But Heidi was a trooper! I do "papa-sandwich", she does twister.

Heidi wants me to tell you all that Kole used the word "hexagon" in a sentence the other day. He constantly amazes us with his vocabulary and he never forgets something you tell him. I often forget this sometimes and I wonder if he really understands what I am telling him. I'm convinced that he does know because he regularly recants the stories to his mom and sibs. I stand in awe when he does. He doesn't forget the details, either.

Julia is doing well in school, too and her English is coming along quite nicely now. We still are working with her OT and speech issues, but four weeks ago she turned a corner and it is like a light has come on in her brain. She is making remarkable strides and is quite funny, often cracking a joke and making us laugh. I am so happy for her, she is an amazing young lady. It will be a privilege to watch her grow and develop over the years.

~ Felix ~