Rough day for Vanya

Greetings again from Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. We are still in Ukraine, and still waiting for paperwork from the NAC. We didn't get it Friday, like we were hoping. Kostya will be in Kiev Monday AM, and try to get it from them. There were two American families at the same orphange as we are, and their paperwork took 5 and 10 days, respectively, from the NAC. So, we are hoping that we are closer 5 than 10! So, please continue to pray that the NAC will finish with our paperwork on Monday so we can head to court on Tuesday....

John and I have discovered that when we are bored, we become very lazy! We went to bed last night at 8:30 and John didn't get up until 8:30 this AM! Then, after a tiring breakfast, we both took a nap for 2 hours! Once we finally got up, we went to visit the kids, and then downtown for some shopping for kids, and the daily stop-in at the internet cafe. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we'll go to church in the AM. There is a large Baptist church between our apartment and the orphanage. John and Kostya went to it last weekend (I was home sick). So, as we have been saying, "that'll kill 2 hours!"

Well, let's see. Seeing the kids...it is going well, but I think we all are getting a little bored. You can only play ball so often without any changes. We are all ready to get home and get into the routine of being a family. Sasha asked us last night if he could just come to our house with us that night. The older ones are asking how many days, and although we said 4-6 days last weekend, we are still having to say 4-6 days. I think they understand somewhat that it isn't completely in our hands, and so seem to be ok with not knowing exactly when. Hopefully Monday we'll get our paperwork, and start getting a better timeline in place!

Our time with the kids has developed into a regular routine. We greet them with hugs and kisses and then give them their snack. Most of the time, they are the snacks that we brought with us from the States. We haven't hardly touched them ourselves, but they've been handy to share with the kids. We usually have a bottle of water for them to share, and then granola or cereal bars, fruit snacks, or crackers. Sometimes we have brought fresh fruit for them. Yesterday afternoon Mariyana requested oranges, so that is what we are bringing them this afternoon.

Anyways, this AM we brought fruit snacks, watermelon and kool-aid for the kids. I was feeling guilty giving my kids kool-aid, but I guess I don't need to worry - they really didn't like it that much, so we can go back to water! Vanya has a scabby sore on his ear, and his nose is all crusty with bloody scabs in it. We aren't really sure what it is, and what the cause is - we figured it was just a little boy picking at stuff until it started bleeding...Anyways, we gave Vanya a fruit snack bag, and Mariyana told us he shouldn't eat it because it made his ear and nose worse. Well, we aren't real positive that is the case (can't think of anything in them that would cause this!), but wanted to at least acknowledge her comments, and be respectful of what the different orphanage caregivers are thinking. So, we had to take the fruit snacks away. Well, that was a major ordeal. Vanya is the guy that inhales all the food we give him. If he finds a crumb on the ground, he picks it up and eats it. When he was eating the watermelon we brought, we weren't watching, and he ate the rind. I think he is really undernourished and hungry a good majority of the time. So, you can see, that taking away food from him, was a major problem. He looked so sad, and just pouted and cried the rest of the time we were there. Hopefully he'll be better this afternoon.

Now that we are talking about nutrition, let me share a little about what we have observed. The smells that come from the kitchen at the orphanage are wonderful, and from the few times that we have had Kostya or Ira with us to translate what the kids have eaten for different meals, sounds like they are getting good quality and variety of food. I think, however, there probably isn't much as far as quantity. There are probably 300 kids at this orphanage, so that is a lot of mouths to feed! So, we expect that when we get home, our kids will enjoy the opportunity to have seconds and even thirds, if they wish. But, for right now, we are bringing them nutritious snacks each time we see them...

The town of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky is quite busy construction-wise. The Prime Minister is coming on Independence Day, which is towards the end of August (the 25th, I think). They are actually installing gas lines, which will be active after his visit. So, the streets get torn up to put in the line, and then re-paved the next day to smooth them out again. In addition, many of the public buildings are being white-washed, repainted, cleaned, etc. The orphanage must be expecting a visit from either the Prime Minister or his wife, as they are busy repainting all the playground equipment.

As those of you readers who are in Idaho know, one thing we always complain about is the condition of the roads in Idaho. Well, no more! Our Ukrainian friends often told us how wonderful our roads were in Idaho, and we would laugh and say, "They're awful!" Now we understand. Taking a drive anywhere is indeed an experience. The taxi drivers should be better called off-road specialists, as they duck, dodge and drive around and through various holes and potholes. To give you an idea of the roads - Belgorod-Dnestrovsky is 71 km from Odessa. We have made that trip several times, in search of a notary. Anyways, the shortest we have ever had that trip take is 90 minutes, and believe me, it wasn't because the driver was dawdling! Granted, the road meanders through two small towns, so it means slowing down (slightly!) for those, but most of the time is because of the road conditions.

I realized I haven't shared with you where we are staying here in B-D. The first night, we stayed at a local hotel. I think there are only 2 in the entire town. The hotel room was very similar to a dorm room, as far as the furnishings and feel to it. Our particular room had three single beds and 2 nightstands. The bathroom had a toilet, sink and then a mount for the faucet for a shower. There was no "shower stall" perse, it was just a place to stand next to the toilet.

After that first night, we arranged to stay at the apartment of the secretary of the social worker. Apartments here are designated by how many rooms they are - when an apartment is built, they don't have closets in them, so there is no distinction between what rooms are considered bedrooms, and which rooms are considered living rooms. So, our apartment would be considered a 2 room apartment. You enter from the front door. To your immediate left are two small rooms. The first is the toilet room. The second room has the sink and bathrub, with handheld shower wand. Straight ahead from the door is where we are sleeping - it would be what we call a bedroom. Our bed is a sleeper couch - my side is quite comfortable, although John's isn't quite so! There is a small hallway. To the left off the hallway is the kitchen. It has a fridge/freezer, sink and two-burner hotplate. There is an oven in the kitchen that the hotplate sits on, but it isn't hooked up because there is no gas service (yet). There is a small table and stools in the kitchen where we sit. We haven't yet ever seen a dishwasher here in Ukraine - they are apparently even beyond a luxury item...Next to the kitchen is the 2nd room - it is set up like a living room. This is where Kostya or Ira have slept. The hostess set up a cot for them, but they have each elected to sleep on the floor instead. Off of the living room there is a small balcony. It isn't really wide enough to do much there except stand. But the windows open and there is a clothes line, which is quite important for drying clothes. Washing machines are luxury items, and our particular apartment doesn't have one. But, washing clothes by hand isn't that big of a deal, and right now is something we figure will "kill 30 minutes!". We have never seen a dryer here - everyone just hangs up their clothes; thus, every apartment we have seen has some sort of balcony for doing so. (Even our hotel room had one)

Our apartment is in a 5 or 6-story building. Each floor has 3 apartments. John feels quite at home because there is always construction going on! People often buy their apartments, although doing so can be quite difficult because mortgages are still almost unheard of (and the few that exist have 15-20% interest!). The apartment building is in an area that probably has 15-20 other apartment buildings of similar size. There is a "common area" between the buildings that at its infancy was quite nice. There are play areas for the kids, including bars, balance beams (metal), soccer field and basketball courts. The area hasn't seen any repair or work on it for many, many years so everything is overgrown, rusted and many things broken. Still, there are always children out playing on it when we walk by.

Our apartment is about 3/4 or 1 mile from the orphanage across an undeveloped field. There is nothing in the field except a lot of shrubbery, the occasional tree, well-worn paths, and sandy roads the width of our sidewalks that the taxi drivers love to drive on very fast. The soil here is completely sandy - that explains the delicious watermelons that can be bought on every corner.

Some of you have asked about coming to the airport in Lewiston when we come home. I think that would be great! It would really help the kids feel like they are coming home to a bigger Moscow-Pullman family that joyously welcomes them. I will keep you all posted about our flight details, if you wish to greet our family at the Lewiston airport.

One more thing I just thought of. For those of you waiting your turn to come to Ukraine to find your forever children, you might be wondering about digital cameras, pictures, etc. I will just share with you what we have done, and it has worked wonderfully. Our online journal is through blogger (blogger.com). It is very easy to use, can be accessed from any computer, and is free! It also allows you to include pictures right within your journal postings, as we have done. It is very simple - it has a feature to allow you to upload your pictures to your server. We brought with us our digital camera (Sony Cybershot) which uses memory stick pro cards. Then we brought with us a SanDisk reader/writer that we bought at Wal-mart for $35 or so. We can plug the SanDisk reader/writer right into the USB ports on the internet cafe computer, put the memory stick in it, and the pictures show up just like an external drive. We don't need any specific software, nor do we have to worry about putting pictures onto the internet cafe computers. For us, it has been so easy! Just a note about memory - we brought a 512 MB, 256 MB and a 32 MB memory sticks with us. Our 512 card is full, and our 256 stick is 1/3 full. We also have burned probably 100 pictures onto a CD, and deleted them from our memory stick. Ok, hope that helps someone! I know we were at a loss as to how to deal with technology while we were here, so maybe someone else is in the same boat right now!

Well, that about covers everything I can think of for now. I will put up a few pictures that we took yesterday when we showed the kids what we bought for them. As soon as they see their new things, they of course have to try them on, and wear them until it is time for us to leave. So, that meant Oleysa spent yesterday afternoon running around in her new pink swimsuit!

One of the things that we have encouraged each time we are with our kids, is to have them interact with one another as siblings. We aren't sure how much of this they actually do in the orphanage. They are all in the same group together, but we think they tend to interact more with each other as someone else in the group. So, we have really enjoyed seeing them act like brothers and sisters - playing together, helping each other out, and of course, the occasional sibling fighting! Here are a few pictures of Oleysa and Sasha playing together, Mariyana, Oleysa and Vanya together, and Mariyana and Sasha looking at their new clothes....







A picture of each of the kids in their new clothes....aren't they cute??!!
Vanya


Oleysa


Mariyana


Sasha


That's it for today! Thanks for reading, praying and encouraging us! We miss you and can't wait to get home!

Motorcycles, shopping and on our own!

Yesterday afternoon when we arrived at the orphanage, the front drive was full of large men in leather and shiny huge motorcycles, and a crowd of very excited children! This group of probably 20 men and their bikes were from Germany, although many spoke Russian. Apparently they have some connection to the Odessa area. They came for a visit to the orphanage, and boy did they give the kids a treat! They brought stuffed animals, toys, snacks, candy, juice, and of course their shiny, fancy motorbikes!

Our two older kids were part of the group that was allowed to come out and see everything. Mariyana and Sasha made themselves quite at home, found a seat on the motorcycle, and wouldn't hardly move! Their mom and dad were praying that they didn't get too many ideas about wanting their own motorbike when they get older! We of course took pictures (after all, it may be the last time they ever ride one before they turn legal age!!).

Mariyana feeling quite comfortable on a motorcycle!


Mariyana and her friend Vika (Viktoria).


Sasha, the "gentle" biker!


For the last week, we have had Ira with us. She works with Kostya and helps him with his families. When Kostya went to Kiev with our paperwork, Ira came to be with us, and keep working on details here in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky (you have no idea how much work an adoption is here and how many details there are!!). Ira left this morning for Kiev to pick up paperwork from the National Adoption Center (we still aren't sure if it will be today (Friday) or Monday...). Kostya will come back here on Monday, so we are on our own this weekend. We are quite fine with it, and thinking it will be fun.

This morning after Ira left, we visited the kids for awhile and then took the minibus into town to go shopping. I think we have finished shopping for the kids, for now. We managed to get them each 2 pairs of underwear, a pair of shoes, backpack, 2 outfits, PJs, swimsuits and hats - all for about $100. We were pleased. We'd love to do more, of course, for them, but right now we are thinking about making sure we have enough money to buy them plane tickets home.

After spending some time here at the internet cafe, we'll go home, eat lunch, take a nap (a regular part of our days!) and then go visit the kids for awhile.

I also was able to call NWA/KLM today here in Ukraine, to change our plane tickets, and to check on the availability of kids' tickets. Ira and Kostya are thinking that we will likely still be done (as long as we go to court Monday or Tuesday) and ready to go home by Saturday the 21st. Well, the cheapest tickets for the kids were $1024 each! The lady was able to find tickets on the 23rd for $887 each, so that was a little better. We have those reserved right now, but are still hoping to find something better - we'll see! But, for right now, we will be flying from Kiev to Amseterdam on the 23rd (spending the night in Amsterdam) and then Amsterdam to Seattle and Seattle to Lewiston on the 24th. I think we get in around 6:30 PM on the 24th. We are quite anxious to get home. It was 4 weeks ago today when we left. It has been a fun time, and we have really enjoyed pretty much everything about the trip, but we are ready to just get home and start our lives as a family...So, if everything gets done on Friday like Kostya and Ira are hoping for, we may still try to find cheaper seats on the Saturday or Sunday flights...We'll keep you posted!

So, now to some more pictures....

My three little tree climbers (the only reason Mariyana wasn't also climbing trees was because she was painting some of the playground equipment!)...








So, that's all for today. We'll probably be back sometime this weekend. On one hand, we are happy to have our shopping done, but on the other hand, that was something we could do during the late morning when we can't be with the kids. So, we aren't too sure what we'll be doing this weekend!

Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes!

Love to all! Kristen, John, Mariyana, Sasha, Vanya and Oleysa

Notes from home....

This afternoon when we checked our email, we had a great email from my parents, who are currently watching the girls. We thought we'd share some stories from home, from our two little ones waiting for their new brothers and sisters, and their mom and dad...

Three cute stories to keep you updated on your girls back here......At
breakfast we were talking about the
new brother/sistas and Lillia said, "When Mommy/Daddy get home they will
say, 'Where is my little girl?" and I will say, you do not have a little
girl because now I am a big girl...I am Lillia!".

And......Joanne and Richard did not send back the top to the two piece
bathing suit and Joanne said Lillia was constantly telling her the one piece
was hers and not Anabella's (although they had worn the opposite when they
were here before). So we had a talk and said maybe we should buy a new suit
and the truth came out........Lillia did not want her tummy to show and that
is why she did not like the two piece suit. She said the one piece suit was
"actually Anabella's". She picked one out (one piece of course) at Costco
with a pretty Hawaiian print and if I let her she would be wearing it 24
hours a day. So.......when Joanne sent the top of the other suit along with
some other things she had not brought over before, Lillia ignored it and is
happy to wear her new suit, life jacket and flop flops all day.....her
uniform.

Anabella is hanging in there.......wanting everything Lillia has so the best
solution is to divide and conquer. Dad takes her outside in the AM while
Lillia and I play......then at morning naptime, Lillia goes out to help Pops
for a while so I can take a shower (the quietest part of my day). Then
Lillia comes in for a snack, we 'sew' and then to the park, lunch, and
naptime. I usually am down for a power nap as well.

Oh-another good one. Joanne taught Lillia to read the clock and morning
time was at 6:30AM. Well, that worked the first day (HURRAH) but the next
day Lillia figured out where the clock was plugged in (on the serge
protector in the living room with the cord coming into the bedroom......)
and so she 'turned it off' by switching the serge protector off. Well, we
had a talk about that and she said she would not do it again........the last
two mornings she just turned the clock face down so she could not tell the
time.......quite a girl you have. SO our day is starting early.....Anabella
starts stirring at 5......we move her porta crib out to the living room
before we go to bed so they will not wake each other up......that sort of
works......Anabella points to all the boats going by in the lake and says
"boaaaaaasssss".

Well, off to our daily visit to the Bayview Park and then lunch. The other
day we took a picnic there and that was fun. Lillia has learned to hang on
the monkey bars and swing her feet up on the bar and hold them there! But
yesterday she go all worn out so I told her she had to go to the muscle shop
and buy some more muscles, which she did (the picnic table was the shop),
and was right back on it. Anabella can climb up the side bar ladder, step
across and has gone done the big slide twice. Love You, Mom and Dad

Thank you all for your prayers for the grandparents who have been watching our girls - it is no easy job! Also, thanks for the prayers for our girls, and their parents who are missing them terribly!

Prayer requests

We have been so touched reading our guestbook entries these past few days. People we had no idea were reading, or even cared, have sent prayers, joys and encouragement our way here in Ukraine. Thank you! God has used each of you to bless us and our children while we patiently (or not!) wait to come home.

I realized that I ended the last entry without listing out our prayer requests. God has answered prayers throughout our entire process, and we know He is faithful to continue doing so, all the way home (and beyond, of course!).

So, here are our prayer requests. As God brings our family to mind, please pray for:

* That our paperwork gets processed quickly by the National Adoption Center. This is the first thing that has to happen before we begin a litany of various steps (court, birth certificates, passports, medical exams, visas...).

* When it is time to come home, we can find 6 seats together on ONE plane (preferably together!) and the prices are reasonable. Looking on the internet, the cheapest flights we found were $1400 each, and that was only to Seattle!

* That God will handle our vehicle transportation needs in Moscow, if that is His plan. We feel very blessed to have two vehicles that we can use; however, would be blessed to have one vehicle that would fit our entire family!

* That God will continue to bless and comfort Lillia and Anabella who have been away from mom and dad for 1 month now. They apparently are doing quite fine, and Lillia is reportedly very excited about her "2 brothers and 2 sisters from Ukraine". My mother-in-law told me the first night we sent pictures of the kids, she wanted them printed out, and slept with them that night! Anabella is really too young to completely understand. Also, prayers for my parents as they watch the girls until we arrive home.

* That God will begin teaching and preparing us for having boys (!!) and a pre-teen daughter. We have already been very blessed to be in contact with several families that have Christian, homeschooled peers her age in Moscow!

* Finally, as we look forward to coming home, that God will prepare all of us for adjusting to having a LARGE family, and to moving slowly into the school year. We have prayerfully considered our educational options for the children, and for many, many reasons, we feel that homeschooling is the right option for our children, at this particular time. This will allow all the children to bond together and with us as parents, without being away from home 8 hours a day. It will also give them the opportunity to slowly learn English and catch up academically in a loving, family environment. In talking with other homeschoolers, we have heard the first year can be the hardest. We would so appreciate your prayers, because not only will this be our first year, but we will be doing so with 6 children, 4 of which are learning English!

Back online again

Hello!

Sorry for the quick absence over the past few days. We were so excited to find an internet cafe, we thought surely there would be no reason we couldn't post a quick update everyday. Well, it is actually a funny story.

Tuesday afternoon we came downtown, while the kids were napping and we couldn't visit with them anyway, and all the windows and doors of the internet cafe were closed tight. It looked like the business had completely shut their doors! Hmmm...interesting. We had other errands to do with our paperwork, and then decided to look around for another internet cafe. We finally found out that every internet cafe that day would be closed because the tax police were in town!!! They were supposedly "in repair" during the time the tax police were here.

So, Wednesday, we went downtown, hopefully also to get into the internet cafe, unsure of how long the tax police would be here. Well, the taxi driver told our translator that they were still here, and he wasn't sure how much would be open at the market. Sure enough, only about 10% of the stalls were open for business. A few that were open, were quickly being packed up for the day when we walked by! And, of course, the internet cafe was still closed for repairs.

Today, Thursday, apparently the tax police have left the town. Everything is back up and running again, so here I am! I won't make any promises about my frequency coming back, as I have no idea how often the tax police check on things in town!

Let's see, where to start. First of all - more delays. As I mentioned in my last post, our paperwork had gone to Kiev to the National Adoption Center with Kostya. We were a little concerned because the lawyer that we are working with here in town warned us that the previous 2 American couples had waited 5 and 10 days for their paperwork to be processed at the NAC instead of the 3 days they are supposed to do things in. We heard from Kostya last night that the NAC was back-logged, and were predicting that our paperwork wouldn't be available until Friday or Monday. We are still praying for a miracle, that it will be done today still, but it isn't looking good. Not having that paperwork means we can't go to court tomorrow, as we had planned. And, so once again, we wait. Right now, not exactly knowing when we'll get the paperwork from the NAC, we can't predict our timeline. If we get the paperwork Friday, we'll be in court Monday. If we get it Monday, we'll be in court Tuesday. The problem, however, is that the Embassy only processes visas Monday-Thursday in Kiev. So, with a court date early in the week, and birth certificates to get (in two different towns, two different oblasts (states)) we have a lot of work to do before the embassy appointment. We are currently predicting we'll be flying home around the 25th, but that is simply a guess at this point.

The kids have been asking us everyday when they can leave with us, and when we're going home. They are getting quite excited I think. One of the American couples that has been here had their court appointment yesterday, and left with the kids yesterday afternoon. Our kids were really interested and excited to see their friends go, because they knew that very soon it would be their turns!

So, this post will simply be a bunch of details and information about our last few days here....(with of course some pictures!)

As some of you know, we are members of FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption). They sent $75 with us to purchase requested supplies for the orphanage where our kids are from. The director of the orphanage requested toilet paper, soap and shampoo, so the other day we went shopping. It is amazing how much $75 can buy here - we ended up with 150 rolls of toilet paper, 200 bars of soap, 2 bags of laundry detergent, 10 bottles of regular shampoo and 47 bottles of kids' no tears shampoo! It was quite the heavy load to bring into the orphanage. We hope it blesses the kids still waiting for their forever families! Thank you FRUA!


Thank you FRUA! Here we are with our huge pile of donations we were able to present to the orphanage director.

Over the past few days we have found out a little more about our children's biological parents. They are both from Moldova (Moldavia). There are also 2 additional siblings, both of which are not available for adoption. Jakov is 18 and actually getting married soon. Anna is 14 and lives with her aunt in a nearby town. We had to travel to that town to pick up some paperwork that verified that they were not only not involved with our kids, but also weren't available for adoption themselves. The NAC is very careful not to split apart siblings, which we are happy to hear. Anyways, our trip to this town in Ukraine meant we actually had to drive through Moldova! So, we've been to Moldova! It was interesting at the border crossings - the police just looked in the car to see how many of us there were, gave us a piece of paper that had that number written on it, and then flagged us through. However, several cars were stopped and thoroughly searched. As we were driving through Moldova, there were armed soldiers in the fields along the road. I'm not sure if we were allowed to get out of the car, but we didn't!

Two days ago we went to the Medieval Fortress here in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. Belgorod-Dnestrovsky is 2500 years old! It was founded by people from the Middle Eastern town of Milet. They built the city on the mouth of the Tiras river (now called the Dniester) and called it Tira. At the fortress grounds you can see the excavations from ancient Tira dating from the 6th century BC! In the 13th and 14th centuries a fortress was erected under the Princes of the Moldovan Principality. There was originally a Turkish mosque on the grounds. Since then, the town has been occupied by Romans, Crimean Khan and Soviets. The fortress was an amazing thing to see - we were there probably 2 hours and could have spent more time. The fortress is built on the mouth of the river, and on the other 3 sides, is surrounded by a moat 20m deep and 13.5m wide! The total length of the defense walls is 2.5 km. The height of the walls and towers is up to 15m and the walls are up to 5m thick! The walls of the fortress were strengthened by 34 towers - probably about 6-7 of those towers still surive.


The main entrance of the fortress. The entrance fee for the fortress was 1 grivna - about 20 cents!


One of the many towers of the fortress.


Looking through one of the doorways of the fortress out onto the huge field.

The previous two days we have had fun at the local market buying items for the children. When we finally get to pick them up from the orphanage for good, they can't take anything with them. We are buying each of them backpacks, shoes, underwear, hats and clothing. It has been like Christmas, I am sure, for the kids the past two days when we arrive with our purchases. They have been so excited, and it is a little bit of a struggle to convince them that they can't keep the items right now. They do understand, however, they can have them very soon, and are quite anxious to come home!


This afternoon, our two oldest kids are on an orphanage outing for older children - they are riding dirt bikes at some mountain nearby. Needless to say, their mother isn't overly thrilled with this idea, and thinking it will take some time to get used to all these big kid things! John also keep reminding me that I need to get used to having boys around - boys that will collect grimy, creepy, crawly things - boys that will run, jump, climb anything!!! Whew - I think I'll need to start watching for gray hairs!

Mariyana and Oleysa


My almost-teenager! (pictures taken by Oleysa!)




Oleysa playing ball with Mama. She is wearing her new backpack that we bought for her - it was quite the negotiation to get it off when it was time to go!


The kids enjoying bananas and juice boxes we brought for snack.


Vanya "flying" with Papa.


Vanya playing with a balloon we brought for each of the kids.


Sasha can be pretty shy, and likes to play by himself at times. He will often draw and write while we are there with the kids.


Sasha is also a little climber. The other day, while we were playing ball, it ended on the roof of the shelter. He shimmied his way up the pole, climbed on the roof and got it down without a second thought. Needless to say, his mother's heart was pounding a little!


Well, - that's all for today! Hope you enjoyed it! We'll see you again soon! Thanks for signing our guestbook - we love reading the entries from you all!

Love, Kristen, John, Mariyana, Sasha, Vanya and Oleysa

1,2 or 3? Actually - 4!!

We finally found an internet cafe today in the little town of Belgorod-Dnestrovksy. So, we know you have all been waiting with baited breath, and the grand revealing of our children is finally here!

The mysterious sibling group that we have been talking about for 2 weeks are definitely our kids. It was a long wait to finally see them, but it took only about 5 seconds to agree that not only are these the perfect kids for our family, but it was definitely worth the wait!

So- let the introductions begin.

The oldest is Mariyana Faith. She is 11 years old, and her birthday is in December. She seems to be a real tomboy, and has enjoyed playing ball with us. I think she will be the next great volleyball player for the Marble family! Mariyana stands to my shoulder and her feet are almost as big as mine, and definitely bigger than her Aunt Kathy's and her grandmother's. We have been joking that we don't know if feet size is an indicator of future growth, as it is for puppies, but if that is indeed the case, then she will be pretty tall. Maybe the Marble-Bennett family will have some tall genes finally introduced!


Mariyana blowing bubbles the first day we met her.

The next oldest is Alexandr Bennett. Since he is the first grandson, and the Bennett name is dying out with Kathy and myself, we thought it would be an appropriate middle name for the grandson. Alexandr actually goes by Sasha - a common nickname for Alexandr here in Ukraine. Sasha is 9 years old, has a birthday in April, and is quite shy. But, don't let that fool you - he is quite the charmer. All the pictures we have of him have an adorable smile, that we'll have to watch out for in a few years!


Our little charmer, Sasha!

The next child is Ivan Richard. Ivan goes by Vanya (rhymes with Tanya) - again a common nickname for Ivan here in Ukraine. Vanya is 7 years old. His birthday is in May. He, of all the kids, seems to understand the most English right now. He is skinny, skinny, and we fully expect him to gain a bunch of weight once we get home. When we bring the kids snacks everytime we see them, Vanya's is always the first to be gobbled up.


Little Vanya.

Finally, the last one is Oleysa Joy. Oleysa's birthday is in June and she just turned 5. She is a little chatterbox and her middle name really reflects her personality (unless she is pouting, which she can also do with great fortitude!). Oleysa is quite a little hugger and just keeps on talking to us non-stop even though we have no clue what in the world she is saying. She is apparently the orphanage favorite here in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky.


Oleysa Joy posing for pictures at the orphanage.

So, that's the kids. We have had so much fun getting to know them. The orphanage is very open to having us come visit, as long as we work around the kids' eating and sleeping schedules. Typically we have been going in the morning for a few hours, and then again after naptime for awhile before dinner.

Our schedule is starting to shape up as well. Kostya is heading to Kiev tonight on the overnight train to bring all the paperwork back to the National Adoption Center. They have 3 days to process and approve all the paperwork, so everything for court will be headed back our way on the Thursday night train. We are hoping to be in court Friday, have immediate execution granted (ie 30 days waived), go to get the kids' new birth certificates on Saturday and Monday, passports on Tuesday in Odessa, overnight train to Kiev on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday will be medical examinations and embassy appointment for visas. So, with any luck, we will be flying home on Friday. That is, of course, if we can find tickets. Finding 6 airline tickets on the same airplane may be no easy task - so we might have to just be patient waiting until the right time.

We are so excited to get home, and start our family of now 8!! Wow - that sounds pretty big!

For all of you bargain shoppers out there, keep your eyes open for either a 8-passenger, or better yet- as 12-passenger van that is for sale for a reasonable amount! Somehow our little 7-passenger villager just won't hold our new family! Right now, that is the least of our worries - we figure we can take 2 cars when it is time to go grocery shopping and to church!

One more note about names:
We've decided to keep the children's original Ukrainian names, as we really like all of them. Mariyana (we thought it was Maria initially, but it is Mariyana, and she doesn't like Maria!) was my great-grandmother's name, and has been on our name list each time for children. Mariyana's middle name is going to be Faith. She is the definite leader of these children, and it will be a very big change for her. We thought Faith really fit her, us, this entire experience and her journey she will take to become a Marble!

A few more pictures....(because we know that is really what you want to see - not a bunch of words!!)


The four kids with "Mama"


The four kids with "Papa"


Sasha and Mariyana the first day we met them - they loved blowing bubbles! I think we have used up 4 containers of bubbles!


The two little ones at the orphanage. They absolutely love playing with and wearing sunglasses. We need to find each of them their own pair!


Our big girl, Mariyana. John keeps "reminding" me of all the different milestones that are quickly coming up with our new 11 year old daughter - you know, things like driver's licenses, playing club volleyball, college! All sorts of things I figured were a long ways off just a few weeks ago! But, in many regards, it is awesome to look back over the past few months and realize how God has been preparing our hearts for not only a larger sibling group, but also for older children. We feel so blessed to have already discussed and "figured out" so many things that having older children entails. There will of course be a large learning curve, but we look excitedly forward to those different opportunities!


The orphanage grounds. They are quite beautiful and very well kept. The building itself is quite large - we are guessing there are probably around 300 children in the orphanage. Everytime we are there visiting our children, there are several other families also visiting their children. There have been 3 other American couples and 2 French families here in the week we have been here. Only the French families are adopting single children. The other American couples have 2 children, 2 children and 3 children, and then us! We are amazed how busy this particular orphanage is!


Hey, how'd that one get in there??!!? Well, our adoption adventure has been far from anything tough and boring now that we are finally here in Belgorod-Dnestrovksy. We are on the Black Sea, and so this weekend, in between visiting the kids, we roughed it on the sandy Black Sea beaches, complete with water that was 79 degrees! Even John went swimming several times and was in the water for 30+ minutes at a time!

That's all for today. With any luck, we'll be able to update again tomorrow!

Love to all, John and Kristen