Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Meeting with Judge!

Hello Everyone!

Today was a great day! We were greeted by a 7:00am phone call from all of our children and grandma Hughes back home. What a wonderful treat. We miss them so much and can't wait to get home to them. I don't know how Dan can do all his deployments away from the kids for so long.
The first order of business today was to schedule a meeting with the judge here in Berdyansk. At this meeting, we would discuss our case and request the earliest possible appointment for our court date. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Victor met the bus and retrieved our documents to then give them to Anya. Anya managed to juggle a doctor’s appointment for her baby, Julia, deal with constant phone calls from Berdyansk, submit our documents to the SDA and get us the court application, all by 2:30pm. We love Anya!!
Our next order of business was to meet with Lady #2 to obtain the rest of the documents that were used yesterday for the adoption conclusion paperwork. Needless to say, we were really looking forward to that one! However, she was semi-pleasant and gave us our documents. After a short trip to the market, Julie and I ventured, on our own, to the orphanage, communicating only by a notepad with phrases that we might n
eed written in Russian (Thanks to Pastor Kenny, MaryJo, and most importantly, Larissa). Anyway, we made it and were greeted, as usual by 3 shining, happy faces. The girls were as thrilled to see us as we were them.
Next, we hustled back into the taxi and proceeded to the courthouse where we met up with Larissa and the judge. She was very nice and smiled at us and the children when first coming back to her office. After discussing our paperwork, the judge told us that she would give us a court appointment on the same day that we get our documents back from Kyiv, praise God! She didn’t have to do this. Technically, she could make us wait 7 days after our documents have been submitted. We are praying that our documents in Kyiv will get finished early and we will be able to get them on Friday and possibly get a court appointment either on Friday or Monday to start our 10 days of waiting.

We took the girls for dinner at the pizza spot here and they loved it! They said it was 100X's better than the pizza they get at the orphanage. We will keep praying, and we appreciate all of your prayers.

God Bless,
Dan and Julie

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

God's wonders never end!



(To the right are pictures of some of the children at the orphanage playing and a picture of their cafeteria)
Hello everyone!
Unfortunately, due to all of our required running around, we did not get to see the girls today. We were able to text and speak to them through Larissa, our translator. Today the documents went back to Kyiv via bus, only with God’s intervention! The lady, who is in charge of writing the conclusion to agree to our adoption for the national adoption center back in Kyiv, wanted a supplement to her salary and made it clear we should pay for getting her job done today. Since we did not offer the money, she made sure our documents did not arrive in time. This might have cost us a week delay in the process since these documents could not be submitted again to Kyiv until Friday and push court date to the following Friday. But, all things are possible with God! He will find a person (the taxi driver) and a way (pushing a taxi) to make his plan succeed!!

At 07:50am this morning, Dan and Larissa went to the Juvenile center to have the supervisor (lady #1) start signing the three copies of each of the three sets of documents for the girls. She was pleasant and since this was going to take almost an hour and a half, told them to take one completed set to another lady (lady #2) to start writing her conclusion. Also, we still needed the completed medical forms signed by the 5 doctors and the orphanage director to submit to her. We could get this after 10:00am from the orphanage. Well, lady #2, who used to have the position of lady #1 before the adoption system was redesigned, was used to being given extra incentives for doing her job and making things flow well. This morning, she was horrible to Larissa. She angrily questioned Larissa about all of the documents over and over. In the end, she said she had a lot of work today and didn’t know if she could get to our documents when we left her office.

Next, we went to the notary and they didn’t have our documents completed that we left for them yesterday. They also requested additional information from the adoption center. We were told, once again, to come back after lunch around 2:30pm.

At 4:00pm we arrived at the Juvenile center to pick up our finished documents (Larissa called and they told her the conclusion was done), and lady #2 was no where to be found. Finally, she arrived at 4:28pm. But, the document still needed two other people to sign and register it. We left the center at 5:20pm to try and catch the 5pm bus. Dan and Larissa grabbed a taxi and headed to the bus station. When they arrived, they learned the bus had left 10 minutes earlier. However, the cab driver said he could “catch” the bus. They proceeded to chase after the bus at 100-140 km/hr with the fuel level near empty! The driver did pull over for fuel at one point, but only put in 1L. So, they ended up running out of gas further down the road anyway, and Dan had to push the cab!!! There were lights up in the distance and praise God, it was a fuel station ¼ mile ahead. An hour outside of Berdyansk they purchased gas again and caught the bus by flashing the headlights and honking the horn at the driver. When bus pulled over, the documents were handed over to the driver for delivery to Kyiv!!! (Below are pictures of artwork that some of the children at the orphanage completed)


Thank you for your prayers! They are making the difference in making our path straight! So, today we claim Habakkuk 2:3 “If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!”

Blessing! Dan and Julie

Monday, November 27, 2006

What a Day!

Hello everyone,
Another day of slight frustration at a pace that would cause a tortoise to yawn. For the second day the girls medical forms were not completed, even though the appointments were finihsed up (the doctor left work at 3pm and they arrived at 3:20 to get the documents finished). We did however, get many documents notarized just before the notary closed and the task involved as many as 50 documents spread all over the notary's desk. We need three sets of each of the girls files for the adoption process. Adding to the frustration was the fact that the notary apparently opened at 0900 this morning but according to the sign on the door they opened at 1300. When we got there at 1255 (to be early), we were told they were about to go to lunch from 1300-1400. Oh well, all in God’s time. We expect to get all of our documents signed/notarized tomorrow and God willing will have them on a bus to Kyiv for submission on Wednesday morning. If all of that goes well, then we should get the documents back in time for submission and hopefully get our court date on Monday.



(Children at the orphanage. Girls at dance lessons.)
On a much less tedious note, we were able to get the girls today after their last medical appointments. We went to the outdoor market for an hour and then went back to the room for sandwiches, soup, fruit, and chocolate cake. We bought some Christmas lights and ornaments and hung them in the room after more English flash card lessons. Afterwards, the girls started drawing and coloring beautiful pictures. Finally, we took them back to the orphanage and will see them again tomorrow. As always, we appreciate all of your prayers and support.
God bless,
Dan and Julie


Sunday, November 26, 2006

What a Beautiful Day!!!


Hello Everyone,
Today was another God-filled and glorious day! Praise God for the opportunity to affect little lives like we are over here in Ukraine. Today began with a breakfast of fish and rice at the hotel, followed with a short taxi ride to the orphanage. Upon arriving at the orphanage, we were anxiously greeted by 3 angelic and smiling faces, eager to pack into an over-crowded, small, 4-door sedan. Packed like sardines, we departed for the Berdyansk department store, where we bought hat & scarf sets and coats for the girls. Larissa was making copies of our documents for tomorrows procedures, so our Luda was our translator. She did a wonderful job of telling us how much we owed at each station. In the 5 floors of this store, you can even shop for designer clothing for adults to newborns, as well as grocery shop on the first floor. Today was a gorgeous day, so we decided to walk back to the hotel. It was the best weather we have had yet.




Once we got back to the hotel, the girls ate yogurt, fresh fruit, and soup. Later, they all got baths in the garden bath tub in the room. It seemed to be quite a luxury to them. We sure do take a lot of things for granted in the U.S. They all even loved using the hair dryer. Next, Julie began painting fingernails. Myself and Larissa headed out to the outdoor market for dishes and other incidentals. Julie and the girls played board games we brought from home to learn the English colors & numbers (Candy Land, Sorry, Hi Ho Cherry O). They also went through boxes of flash cards over and over. Nastia really wanted to learn today unlike yesterday when she would not try to pronounce in English. Later, Luda, Galina, and myself worked with the Rosetta Stone Russian to English software that Natalyia and Yuriy gave us, thank you Khomyaks.


We took the girls back to the orphanage at 6pm and will pick them up tomorrow about 2:15pm after school. In the morning, we will try to catch one of the ladies to submit documents to even though she will be heading to another region. We would like our documents completed for this step by Tues. night to go on the overnight train to Kyiv back to the SDA. We are still praying for a court date next Monday and then we would begin our 10 day wait.
The girls are happy and sweet, but still act just like our kids at home when they don’t get their way!! They all get along just like they were all 3 sisters, praise God. Julie, Larissa, and myself just finished a great dinner at the hotel restaurant, where we continue to improve/build our Borsch taste buds. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We appreciate everything the Lord has entrusted to us.

God bless,
Dan and Julie

Saturday, November 25, 2006

First Whole Day with the Girls!


(Luda and Friends to the right) Today was our first day to have the girls from 10a-6p. We took the orphanage computer paper because they were low from printing all our documents yesterday.

Then, we all happily packed into one small cab and headed to the outdoor market for fruit and bread. We went back to the apartment for lunch. The girls were excited to eat fresh fruit and even begged to wash dishes!! (alright Helen, you always wanted less chores).

We also decided it was best to move today. This took the help of Dima from CBN Berdyansk, Misha (Nataliya from CBN VaBch's cousin) and two very packed cabs.


We also bagan our English lessons with games and books we brought. The girls were excited to learn. Tonight we enjoyed a wonderful Ukrainian dinner prepared by Luda, Misha's wife. During the exchange in testimonies we kept Larissa, our translator, very busy. She even turned to us at one point and sincerely spoke a long point in Russian before realizing she should have switched back to English.

We miss our children so much at home and can't wait to talk to them. Hopefully they will call us soon! We love you and appreciate the wonderful blessings of being here! Dan and Julie

Friday, November 24, 2006

Thanksgiving Blessings!



(A view of Berdyansk from our apartment)
Today was a day of blessing! For the woman, you can relate by remembering your 7th month of pregnancy (if you have been) and wondering if you will ever give birth!! For the men, you can relate by remembering your wife's pregnancy by the 2nd month and wondering if she'd ever give birth. Either way in the end the humble feeling that God has graced your life with a magnificent precious gift and responsibility just leave you astounded when you hold the child and realize you are not worthy of this blessing but by the goodness of God. This was our feeling as we held our new girls in our arms and saw in their faces the desperate relief that we were there to take them home!


After many tears of joy & relief and long awaited hugs & pictures, we settled down to the orphanage director's desk. The two ladies from the Juvenile center who accompanied us today questioned the girls and us. They asked the girls if they wanted to be adopted by us. Even Nastia who we had not met smiled longingly and said with mama and papa. Luda was asked about her older siblings in their twenties who live in Berdyansk. After determining there was no established relationship with them, we were told the siblings DO NOT have to sign off on the adoption giving permission!! Praise God! The bible study today included Mark 10:27 "...with man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." We had been told this would be a necessary step we could not avoid and were concerned.
(some kids from Nastia's group)
(girls coming back from getting coats to go to medical apt.s)

After the interview was completed, the girls were off for the five necessary medical checkups. Many other documents were needed to be prepared and we learned Monday would be another day some people would not be available. We are praying for the documents to be ready Tuesday to go back to Kyiv for Wed to the SDA to prepare the court papers. Then possibly a Monday court date before starting the 10 day wait. This still would put us on track for coming home on time. We also learned we have some extra steps necessary to do for the court decrees making the children orphans. Will do these during waiting times.

We will have the children over the weekend from 10a-6p each day. We had to sign for the permission stating we would not give them cold drinks and ice cream though to keep them in good health!! Luda, from Father's House, headed back to Kyiv. Larissa our new translator (thank you Pastor Kenny and Mary Jo, this was their translator 1 1/2 yrs ago) arrived today!!

Love and blessing!! Dan and Julie

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving tomorrow instead.


Hi everyone!

We arrived in Berdyansk around 10am, a bit earlier than planned, and went straight to the Juvenile Center to obtain approval to visit the orphanage. We thought this was a simple process. However, it turned out to be the stumbling block for today. The new law now requires several people to sign off for this permission and possibly up to two people to accompany you to the orphanage to establish the relationship with the children. The 2nd person was not available today for approval and we were not allowed to go to the orphanage. So, we were told to come back tomorrow at 9am. We have checked into our apartment we are renting and it over looks the Azov Sea and it is going to be a comfortable place to stay. We also had a nice pizza lunch and walked around the open market today with the direction of our translator Luda. It was the first day we have not had Mc Donald's thanks to Luda. So, tomorrow we will actually celebrate Thanksgiving by meeting up with Luda (14), Galina (9), and Nastia (6)! It will be the first time to meet Nastia and the first time to see Luda and Galina since Dec 05 when they came on a CBN trip for Christmas.

Thank you for the prayers and support. Love Dan and Julie

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Off to Berdyansk!

Well today was an eventful last day in Kyiv. We met Karen this morning and went to the CBN office in the center of the city. We were able to attend their chapel, and Steve Weber, the regional director here, told the employees a bit about us and the three girls we are adopting, and the whole staff prayed for us and our adoption process. After that we had a lovely lunch in a great Ukrainian restaurant in the city with Steve and his wife Kristi. Anya spent the day changing our train tickets for us, as we realized our train wouldn't be getting in until noon tomorrow, and that's just too much lost time. We went back to the SDA to pick up our referral, got a quick bite to eat at McDonald's (can I mention that this is the 3rd trip there in 3 days-- our boys would be jealous!) and then went to Georgia's apartment (the wonderful woman we've been staying with)to grab our bags and head to the train station.

Karen, Anya and Victor saw us off in our train wagon and Luda, our facilitator, will continue down with us to Berdyansk to begin the process. We will arrive at 6:45 in the morning to Zaporozhzha and then make the drive to Berdyansk. We are so eager to see the girls...what a memorable Thanksgiving it will be.
Thank you for your prayers,
Dan and Julie (posted by Karen)
(Yes, Julie, Karen and Anya bought matching hats! Trying to make a fasion statement!)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Trip to SDA (State Department Adoptions) in downtown Kyiv


Hello Everyone!

We are so excited!!! Today we met with the SDA translator and psychologist for our interview to proceed with the adoption and get permission to go to the Berdyansk orphanage(10 hour train ride overnight tomorrow & 3 hour car ride). The interview questions went very well. We were asked how we met the children, how we communicated with them until now, if they wanted us to adopt them, how our children would react to them and what we would do if they said they did not want us to adopt them once we arrived at the orphanage. After seeming to successfully answer the questions and showing them our children's pictures from our wallets, the girls profile pages were taken out and we were told we would get our permission to travel tomorrow between 5-6p. The SDA employees were so very nice to us and happily answered all of our questions.


After the interview we celebrated with lunch at McDonald's with the help of the translator to get the food ordered, and then continued our walk around Kyiv. Wow- we can see why they stay in shape around here!! We spent some time in the outdoor market where all of us bought a hat today. Now we are getting ready to have our Ukrainian pizza for dinner. Tomorrow we will tour CBN Kyiv and head at 11p to Berdyansk!! Love you all and thank you for the prayers! We really continue see the wonderful things of God and how good he is- even in just the few days we've been here.
Dan and Julie

Monday, November 20, 2006

Welcome to Kyiv!



We made it to Kyiv safely last night about 1045pm. Anya, Victor, and Karen were there to greet us. The flight, all in all, was pretty good. We were fortunate enough to have an American missionary by the name of Georgia, to offer us a place to stay while in Kyiv for three nights. After getting a good night's sleep, we met Karen this morning at 1030am. After getting a quick familiarization with Ukrainian public transportation, we made our way over to Anya's. After taking care of some paperwork, we went to Anya's apartment where we were greeted by Victor, Julia, and Anya's grandmother. Anya and Victor prepared a wonderful meal for us as we visited and held the baby. After dessert and many photos, we are now able to log on and update the Blog. We will keep everyone posted in the days to come. Tomorrow is our appointment with the SDA where we should recieve our paperwork to go down and visit Berdyansk, and God willing, see the girls. Thank you all for all of your prayers.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Off to the airport!

The gifts are wrapped, the stockings filled (literally) and grandma is here! So, we are off to the airport after packing up. Jacob wanted to come with in our suitcase. Wow, how do those things fly with all that weight??? We just won't think about that. We will concentrate on our wonderful friends we have had for just over two years now and never met in person!! Yes, we finally get to meet our wonderful Anya and Karen in Kyiv!! We have documents to work on Monday, and our appointment is noon on Tuesday. Thank you God for a wonderful family and friends!!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Last minute organization!

Hello everyone!

Well, we are in the rush mode to finish up things here at home before heading to the Ukraine Saturday! We fly from Fresno to San Francisco to Germany to Kiev (now officially spelled Kyiv). We will spend a couple of days in Kyiv before heading down to Berdiansk to hopefully see the girls on Thanksgiving day. We praise God for this appointment and the chance to expand our family. Please pray for us, our children and mothers here at home and the girls in Kyiv as we start this journey!

Love and blessings,

Dan and Julie