Never a Dull Moment

Another interesting day in Ukraine. Instead of frying toast and eggs again for breakfast we decided to walk across the street for some blinchikis. I don’t know why it is that in Birmingham, I have little to no desire to take an early morning walk. But I absolutley love early morning walks in the city. Maybe its because I actually have some destination in mind; I’m not just walking for exercise. But anyway, we enjoyed our blinchikis and coffee then headed out with Sergey to Starribilsk.





We stopped at the supermarket in Chastia to get some more meat and bread for the Bela kids. Those items were a hit on Saturday. I think we angered the lady in the meat section when we just refused to accept that she could not slice any of the “cooked” meats including bologna. “What about this one?”, we had Roman ask. “I told you, we do not slice the cooked meat.” So we ended up taking the hot dog type links.







We took our daily outing to the village, including lunch at the Tet-a-tet . We are finding eating out to be so inexpensive this time around. The dollar is worth 8 griven so it ends up that 7 of us can eat a nice meal for less than $20. We also had some success shopping. We joked that Sergey, our driver, must have been doing some internet research on shopping in Starribilsk because he had several new suggestions today. Gabrielle found three pair of shoes; one pair was a whopping 10 griven. Do the math! She is shy about asking for things but so were the boys a year ago. I’m sure she will come around just like they did. Gabe even found a jacket that he was needing since he forgot his and the weather is a little on the cool side.





We’ve been pulled over a couple of times for various traffic violations. We were sitting in the car during one such stop when Roman asked “Are they going to take me to Juvi?” Sergey had been in the militia car for what seemed like ages and I think Roman was seriously worried we might all be going to jail. They all stare at us funny in Starribilsk. I wonder if they have ever seen Americans. We are eyed suspicioulsy in stores. But we are getting more and more comfortable in our daily walks. Cars, pedestrians and bicycles share the bumpy roads.




There are a number of camps all lined up along the river, some of them in better condition than others. I don’t know much about the camps but I do know that every time we drive back in after our outings Gabrielle breathes a long, heavy sigh. If we tell the Director we will be gone until 5:00 and we come back and 4:30, she complains and wants to know why we came back early. She is ready to be with her family.




The Bela kids are warming up to us a little bit. It is a little bit awkward for everybody when you have come for one child. They are all happy for the one child and yet they want so badly to be the child that is being rescued. There are only about 30 of them at camp. I think some have gone to Italy or Spain. I pray that all of them would soon find families. It is so different for them here than at Shane’s camp. At Shane’s there are adults who have come to minister to them, to pay attention to them, to show them that they are loved. That they are important. Here, they are alone, except for each other.





We ended the day with dinner at Silver. Then Vitalik and Roman watched Country Bears in Russian and I blogged. We have had a little bit of pouting going on from various boys in the family but other than that, everybody is doing very well on this adventure. Never a dull moment.

A First for All of Us

We enjoyed our first night in our apartment. Nothing like waking up to a medley of various hits wafting up into your window from the Jumbo Tron below. Such interesting tunes as the Mission Impossible Theme Song and The First Noel. You just gotta love Ukraine! We slept in a little later than usual and after a breakfst of fried toast and fried eggs, we were picked up at 11:00 for our trip to camp.

We made a speical detour on the way to camp. In a small village called Chastia (Happiness),our friends Ira and Anton were married.The boys had never attended a wedding and the rest of us had never attended an Orthodox wedding. It was very beautiful. We were honored to be able to attend. Both Ira and Anton have served as translators at Camp Druzhba. For anyone not familiar with Camp Druzhba, it is a camp near Lugansk run by our friends Shane and Marilyn Duke who are serving as missionaries here. It is a beacon of light in this area.

After the wedding, we continued on our way to Starribilsk. We took Gabrielle into the village again and ate lunch then walked from one end of the village to the other. Not too many things to do in the village but Gabrielle loves getting away from camp. By the time we got back to camp a light rain had started. We went in the dorm and played a game of Trouble before calling it a day. After the drive back to Lugansk, we stopped off at Metro to shop, ate dinner at New York Street Pizza and are now watching The Country Bears, a family favorite for years. Our facilitator will be meeting with orphanage officials tomorrow to finalize paperwork then take the train back to Kyiv to get the papers to the SDA. We will spend another day in Starribilsk.

A Happy Anniversary

August 8, 2009

Today was mine and Gabe's 22nd wedding anniversary. I think that half of Ukraine will share our anniversary! We saw at least 10 brides today. They were outside of our hotel first thing this morning posing for pictures; they were in the park; they were coming out of churches; speeding down the highway with balloons tied to their cars.

And then when we got to Gabrielle's camp, she had a special surprise awaiting us. She and one of her friends had designed a beautiful tribute to us. It was made with pine cones, flower petals, and berries. It was beautiful. Notice all the detail!


I had told Gabrielle weeks ago that we would be celebrating our anniverary while we were here; I never dreamed she would remember, not just the date, but the number of years we had been married! What a special time to share with her!

We brought salami and bologna sandwiches to share with all the children from Bela that are staying at camp. All our kids, including Gabrielle, enjoyed serving the others.

Afterward we headed to the village of Starribilsk, which we affectionately refer to as Starbucks, to do a little shopping. And I mean little. We found two clothes stores and one shoe store. We made it back to camp with the major purchase of fingernail polish and a blow dryer! But thats OK; the main purpose was just to get away from camp for a little while. We enjoyed the perfect weather, the ice cream, and, of course, the company!

Next was a game of UNO, which one should never leave home without when doing an adoption,and lots of silliness and laughter. We ended the day back in our newly found apartment. It is right in the center of Lugansk, near all the shopping and restaurants.Not that we will have much time for either; at least during the next 7 days as we wait for court. That long drive to "Starbucks" eats up much of the day. Tomorrow we get the honor of seeing two of our Ukrainian friends get married. Ira and Anton were actually officially married today (yet another one) but will have their church wedding tomorrow in a small village on the way to Starribilsk. Love is in the air!

Our first day with Gabrielle

We got into Lugansk last night about 10:30pm. Our drivers met us and took us to Hotel Druzhba where we stayed last year and where we have chosen to stay until we have time to look for an apartment that suits our needs.

We left our hotel around 8:15 this morning for the drive out to Litugino to meet with the Inspector. Here's a picture of Vitalik, Alexandra, and Roman playing Big Booty while they waited on us outisde the Notary.

After the Inspector and Notary we started the 2 hour drive to the camp where Gabrielle and the rest of the Bela kids are staying. Gabrielle ran out of the dorm to meet and greet us with smiles and hugs. She was hoping that she would be able to leave camp today but it was not meant to be. Thus we will be making this long drive daily at least until court. At this time, court is scheduled for Monday August 17th. There was one particular orphanage official who was on vacation and not able to sign the documents today. If she had been available, we probably would have been able to have court on Friday the 14th. The disadvantage of adoptions in August. But, still, we feel very blessed to have court set for the 17th. If all goes well, Gabe should be able to be home before Luke leaves for college.

I leave you with pictures of the day as we prepare to head out to look at an apartment.

Cool time at the SDA

We took Vitalik, ALexandra and Roman all with us to the SDA. By the time I got into the office from the rear of the line, the psychologist was already chatting with Vitalik. She remembered him from when he was first placed at Orphanage 21 in Kyiv. She remembered how stubborn he was and that he "refused" to have his photograph taken back then. She was also noticably thrilled at how much he had changed. After fawning over him a while, she turned her attention to Roman and they chatted about Gabrielle awhile. Then she showed us Gabrielle's file and said she would have our referral ready this afternoon. I am so proud of how my children conducted themselves and thankful for God's favor. We will fly to Lugansk tonight. We have an appointment at 8:30 am with the inspector. Hopefully we will be able to go to camp after that and see Gabrielle.

By Him, through Him, for Him and in Him

Colossians 1:16-17: For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

I have been pondering this verse all week. With so much going on in our lives, so many changes over the horizon, and so much weakness on my part, I find peace and courage in this verse. When I am feeling overwhelmed and fearful, uncertain of the calling, I remember I that I do not have to hold it all together. He does.

We will leave Tueday morning and drive to Atlanta for a 12:35 flight to JFK. We will leave JFK at 6:30pm and arrive in Kyiv at 11:00 am on Wednesday. Traveling with me and Gabe will be Alexandra, Vitalik and Roman. I hope we will be in Lugansk Friday.

Luke will leave home for his first year of college on August 22nd. I pray that God will miraculously allow us a quick court date so that Gabe can come home and help Luke get settled in at Belmont. I have a plan that includes cooperation by judges and other Ukrainian officials. My plan may fail, but its OK; for every authority in Ukraine was created by Him and for Him. Thus, I can be at peace, knowing His timing will be perfect.

Suitcases are packed. 3 checked, 3 carry-ons. I still have a long to-do list to tackle tomorrow. I don't feel prepared to leave home for an extended period. But I am ready to be with Gabrielle, ready to bring her home, ready for the next adventure. And thankful that He is before all things.

We have our appointment date!

Sasha texted me at 2AM to congratulate me on our appointment date; unfortunately my phone was turned off so I did not receive the message until 7AM; but what wonderful news to wake up to!!! We started trying to call Gabrielle but did not get through for several hours. I just hung up the phone after talking with her and wish I could have recorded the screams of delight and excitement when we told her we were coming in 2 weeks! She said it had been rainy at camp and she was in a bad mood but now all that has changed! You could hear the beautiful smile on her face!

I am so pleased that the SDA in Ukraine is now processing dossiers for older children very quickly. We recieved our I797 on July 9th; our dossier was submitted on July 16th; we received our invitation to travel on July 21st and we will have our appointment on August 5th. I praise God for these changes in how they are doing things. I also praise God for my facilitator, Sasha. He has advised me all along in getting my papers error-free so there would be no delays and patiently endured my questions and worries. He reminded me today of how all the details are being orchestrated by God, even the trials and troubles we face along the way. It is all for a purpose, he said.

I am also thankful for my husband, Gabe, who has such a heart for orphans and who has so willingly obeyed God's call in caring for them. I praise God for his willingness to open his heart and embrace each of these children whom God has given us. It is such a precious time as we contemplate and discuss Gabrielle's anticipated arrival.

May God continue to be magnified in our words and in our deeds through the coming weeks. Pray for us as we decide which children will be traveling with us and how to handle the situations of those who do not.