Random Pictures with Random Stories

I am a visual person.  I learn better by seeing something.  I become more engaged in a story if I can see the people involved or the places spoken about.  I understand instructions better if I can see them in writing.  

This also translates into other things in life... I usually put on makeup first thing in the morning even if I do not plan on heading out the door, if one of my boys puts on something that doesn't match I have a hard time not saying something that convinces them to change, and I would find it very difficult to invite friends over without first making sure everything is clean and tidy and looks good.  Some may call the latter examples a result of vanity.

And maybe in part they are right.  Regardless, I am a visual person.

Hence, I really do appreciate a great picture!

That is why I find it strange that I have never picked up photography as a hobby.
Now I'm sure at this point many family members are raising eyebrows because I am usually the one person in the family that consistently forgets to take out her camera at any given gathering.  And the camera I usually have at my disposal is either a borrowed one or a family hand-me-down. Never have I invested in a good camera.  My brother and my sister on the other hand both have very good cameras with the extra lenses etc.  And they take beautiful pictures!  So what genetic defect causes this inconsistency in me... truly appreciating the visual yet never investing in the time or tools to create the perfect picture?  I'm not really sure!  I welcome any insights.

All this rambling to say... don't judge these pictures!  They were taken with a small digital (borrowed) camera.  Often they were taken while I was still walking or in the midst of a busy city, and most of them were taken with numb fingers because of the bleepity bleep cold.

Nevertheless, despite all this they have a story to tell.  Or maybe they simply fill in the gaps to our story, here across the world.  In any case I found them interesting and I hope you will too.

These beautiful flowers would rival any in our tropical Florida climate but can be also found on any given blistery winter day in the underground metros of Kyiv.  Merchant after merchant lines the walls with everything you can imagine... pastries, sweaters, souvenirs, groceries, undergarments, raw meat... you need it and it is probably here.

Kyiv, like most large cities cannot escape the problem of heavy traffic.  Add snow and ice into this mix (which came later) and you better hope you are not in a hurry.

My favorite pizza ever!!!  Those are thinly sliced pieces of salmon, some kind of green, and a drizzle of sour cream.  Yum!

And while on the topic of interesting food... here was a unique but delicious dessert.  Lightly fried pineapple with sesame seeds and honey to dip it in.  Another Yum!

So here's a funny story... the night before court I showed my two teenage daughters what I was planning to wear.  It was a long, flowy, brown skirt, with brown high heeled boots and a flattering brown shirt.  To which they both responded with a giggle and in their Russian accents said, "You like this???"  I replied with a tentative, "yes... at least I thought I did."  Long story short they took me to their closet and dressed me in what they thought made me look much younger... and this was the result.  When I later asked Ty if he liked my brown skirt he said, "it's not your most flattering."  Thanks Honey!!!  So much for thinking I was a "hip Mom." 

You cannot walk very far in Kyiv or even in Pertrivske without seeing one of these.  It is so unlike the architecture or even the colors that we are use to seeing in America.  It speaks of an older time and is hard not to be drawn to.

Speaking of color... after 6 weeks of being here the grey hairs started to get unruly.  In fact a black Sharpie Marker became my new best friend every morning.  Yes I really did color the greys every morning with a Sharpie Marker... kind of proud of my creativity.  Or maybe it's vanity.  I don't know, anyways after awhile Ty convinced me to be brave and get my hair colored here.  A new friend recommended a very nice salon in walking distance.  So here is the result of my appointment.  Went for some reddish highlights... told at the salon that the dark black made me look older... that's becoming a theme.  Ty loves it, I'm getting use to it. 

This bed of dogs was on a busy corner in the middle of Kyiv.  An old woman was standing nearby and had food that she was feeding them.  We were told that this in fact was her bed and no one messed with it because of all the dogs she had with her.  It's hard to see clearly but there were probably about 10 - 12 dogs on her "bed".  It looks like either she or someone else had taped off the area so that all the passer-bys would not disturb her home.  Today the temperature was 14 degrees fahrenheit... that is without the wind chill.  I guess I can't blame her for wanting all those dogs around her... good for body heat.

Well had to represent for all the cat lovers out there.  Here is a lone kitty watching all the traffic go by.

A cyclist getting ready to ride!  I found a cyclist!!!

The snow is NOT stopping this avid cyclist!

Every house in Pertrivske stands behind a wall of some sort...

... here are a couple of the prettier ones.

And some in need of repair.

Old apartment buildings...

Monuments and cathedrals.

Ready to head out for a day of souvenir shopping... only to find out hours later that I should have had on two pairs of jeans, not just some leggings... This Florida girl still learning how to dress for bitter cold.  I did have on two pairs of socks but it didn't make much of a difference.

And finally... Ty and I snuggled up in bed yesterday as we listened to and watched our Mosaic church service 6000 miles away via livestream feed.

Blessings!!!

6 Weeks Later...

Six weeks ago today we got on a plane with a very minimal knowledge of the journey that lay ahead.  We were given no promises as to the amount of time we would have to be gone... in fact our own experience and the experiences of others told us to expect delays.

Now when you are in the comfort of your own home, with your family close by, delays can be quite irritating!

But when you are 6000 miles away from home AND family, delays are no longer just irritating.
They become a little more threatening to an inner struggle that for me is always felt.
It's that struggle between wanting to make something happen because I am so very TIRED of waiting or even giving into despair because I am UNABLE to make something happen.

Or CHOOSING to trust in a Sovereign God who sees the greater masterpiece - not the little speck that I am focused on.

With six weeks behind us we can see that there is an end to the tunnel and it is fast approaching.  But we still do not have any definitive departure date ... and we have a few more hurdles before us.

In the interest of being transparent... it IS getting harder to be patient.  Our first trip to Ukraine, almost 6 years ago lasted 5 weeks.  I struggled so much on that trip.  My kids were younger, our faith was smaller, and my strength was definitely weaker.

But during those 5 weeks God was writing a beautiful story of rescue and redemption that our family got to play a part in... a story that featured a little boy now named Nicholas... which incidentally means Victorious.
Being able to look back on lessons from that trip, has allowed us to experience this trip with eyes wide opened.  Open to see the many blessings that God has surrounded us with during these 6 weeks (which will likely be 7 - 8 when all is said and done.)

As I have mentioned in a past post, Ty and I consider it quite a gift to have been able to meet and spend some time with Katya's and Mariana's family.  Today was yet another gift (blessing).  We were able to spend the day with Andrey (their brother) and his sweet girlfriend Lena.  It was actually just the four of us and we spent the day in Kyiv shopping and sightseeing.  Despite the absolutely bitter cold... so cold in fact that Ty finally broke down and bought a hat, after six weeks... we had a WONDERFUL day with heartfelt and sincere conversation, successful souvenir shopping and a great meal.

We hope that you will join us in prayer for a successful week of obtaining visas, passports, and airline tickets!

 

Celebration of Adoption

Last night we had the privilege to attend a very special celebration.  Marsha and Sergai, the houseparents for Katya and Mariana (for the last four years) put on a going away party for the girls.  This is often done for the children when they get adopted.

The couple on the left of Ty, are Marsha and Sergai (houseparents).  The pretty lady right next to me is Raya, the director of Father's House.  And the couple on the far right are the founders of Father's House, Natasha and Roman.

Roman addressed all the kids, reminding them to be grateful for all that they have.  He also specifically spoke to Katya and Mariana, telling them that God has a mission for them to be a blessing to their new family and that all of this was orchestrated by God.  

Marsha, also spoke through many tears to the girls, exhorting them to stay close to God.  Sergai was too choked up to add anything.  It was an emotional night as many of these people have invested 4 years of their lives into our girls.  It was obvious that they are happy that the girls are getting a family but that they will also miss them very much.

Ty and I took some time to let them know how appreciative we are for everything they have done for Katya and Mariana and for everything they continue to do at Father's House... and how very impressed we are with this ministry.

We enjoyed great conversation and food.  Many of the kids were there from two of the FH families (there were several other families not there).  We took lots of pics.  Some of these children need homes while a few of them have parents working on adoption paperwork.  If you see a child that you are curious about please email us as we can get you more information about them.

This is the girls with their singing teacher.

It was really a wonderful night!  We feel very blessed to have been able to spend so much time here, getting a peek into what the girls' life has looked like at Father's House. 

2 Days Down!

We awoke to another winter wonderland this morning... and  living in Florida, this is more of a treat than an inconvenience for us.  It has pretty much snowed non-stop for four days now, making it pretty slick on the roads and on the sidewalks.  So when Ty headed out this morning to take out our trash, I started to worry when he was not back after 10 minutes.  I had visions of him sprawled out on his back somewhere in the snow ... imagining that he had slipped on the ice and had seriously hurt his back and was unable to get up... yes my imagination can get away from me.

But upon looking out the window I saw that he had joined two of the young boys in shoveling the walkways, that needed to be cleared  for everyone to be able to get out to church.

 
I smiled to myself cause I knew that Ty was TOTALLY enjoying this and that the two boys were also very glad for his experienced-snow-shoveling help!

Yesterday we had a wonderful afternoon meeting Katya's and Mariana's Aunt Lena and her family.  Andrey, their brother and his girlfriend also joined us.  We met at a cozy and neatly decorated restaurant and shared a meal while we got to know each other.  Lena speaks English, beautifully so we had some great conversation.

Ty and I have felt that it has been such a gift to get to meet the girls' aunt, brother, and mother.  This does not usually happen in adoptions but has allowed us to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge of our girls.  Our intention and hope is that we will all be able to keep in touch despite the great distance.  And I know that it is their family's desire as well.

Two days of our mandatory 10 day wait are now behind us!!!  The countdown continues...

Snowstorms, Nerves, and Court Proceedings!

Ty and I woke up to the worse weather we have had in Ukraine in our 34 days since leaving sunny Florida.  Having grown up in New Hampshire we are well aware of blizzard conditions and what that means on the roads.  So when are driver was stuck in traffic on his way to pick us up for court, the nerves we already were experiencing elevated slightly.

My white knuckled grip on the door handle as we headed into Kyiv spoke volumes about my anxious thoughts as I realized we were probably going to arrive late.  I wondered whether any grace was given to people who showed up late for court when all along the roadways cars were slipping and sliding.  Somehow we managed to arrive right at 10am - our scheduled time to appear in court.  But scanning the dark hallway I was not able to see our facilitator/translator, Olga.
This cannot be good, I thought.  However as we sat and waited in the dark hallway no one seemed to be calling out our name.  Perhaps the judge was late too.

Eventually Olga came, she too effected by the horrible driving conditions.  Still no judge.  We were told that she was listening to another case.  Finally after sitting for two hours we were ushered into a small, cold, court room.  The judge asked Ty and I questions about why we wanted to adopt these girls, could we in fact afford to take care of them etc.  Then she asked Katya to stand and asked her many questions about her parents.  Prior to court we had heard that the judge will sometimes deny the application to adopt if biological family is involved at any level with the kids.  This was our major concern coming into this day.  The judge seemed to really press Katya and we waited holding our breath not being able to help her at all.  The judge then asked Mariana some questions.  Finally the lawyer, representing Father's House stood and stated the reasons that they were in favor of this union.

The judge was expressionless and silently stared out the window for what seemed like an eternity.  I searched her face to see if I could guess at her thoughts, but to no avail.
Finally we were dismissed from the courtroom.

As we were on our way out, she said, "I will grant it."

And it was over!  Just like that!!!

 It was hard to believe as it had been told to us about as unceremoniously as possible.  But that did not matter.

Finally in the eyes of Ukraine, we were now the forever family of Katya and Mariana.
PRAISE THE LORD!!!

The dark hallway inside and the horrible weather outside hampered our attempts to get a good celebratory picture, but here we are right after court standing at the front door to the courthouse.
Thank you to the two ladies in the picture who spoke in favor of the adoption.

And of course a huge thank you to all of our family and friends all over the planet that prayed for success in court.  We could not have accomplished this without you.
Thank you to our Lord and Savior, Jesus who has sovereignly orchestrated every moment of this journey.

We Have a Date!!!

Almost 6 years ago we took this picture of our sweet Nicholas.  We had just recently returned home with him and we honestly believed that our adoption journey was finished.  Little did we know at the time the impact that trip would have on our future... way beyond finding our precious son.  

Ty and I were forever changed by the "face of the orphan" in ways that we did not even comprehend.  

Well if you have been following our story you understand some of the far reaching effects of that change.

Fast forward to present day... tomorrow January 20th at 10 am we will once again stand before a Ukrainian judge to seek permission to legally join Katya and Mariana to our family... forever.  Our hearts have known for some time that they are our daughters but Ukaine law will officially catch up to that fact tomorrow.

After court, a mandatory 10 day wait period will begin that will bring us to January 30th.  On the 31st we hope to get our court decree which will allow us to get new birth certificates, visas, and passports for the girls.  That may take between 4 -7 days.  

Then we will finally be able to begin our long journey home!!!

Please continue to pray for a smooth process and favor before the judge tomorrow (3am Friday morning your time).  We also ask for prayer for our girls, as leaving everything they know will be challenging at best.  

Praise God for His continued goodness in our lives!!!

Christmas Plays and Snowballs

I know in the States most of the Christmas decorations have been tucked away in attics, basements, and closets, to wait out another year; which inevitably will fly by as quickly as this last year did.  Children's Church leaders have already had a couple weeks worth of rest from their work involved in putting together successful Christmas programs.  In fact they are more than likely already looking at summer Vacation Bible School and all that is required in making it come together.  Most families have officially ended the Christmas break with the start of school and regular work weeks.
For all intents and purposes Christmas 2011 is finished.

Here in Ukraine however, it seems that the Christmas story continues to be played out.  As you may remember Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7th.  But Ty and I have continued to see the Christmas story told in play form several times since then.  In fact I think we have seen probably 6 Christmas play productions in all.  These productions rival any that we have seen in the US, with many talented singers/singing groups, elaborately made costumes and of course unsuspecting toddlers being included as cute little barn animals.

Our most favorite production took place this past Saturday and included many of the Father's House kids that we have come to know and love.  But even more exciting to us was that our girls were part of it and we got to see them perform their singing talents (many of you have probably heard the clips I posted on facebook).  So being the proud parents we took many pictures and want to share them with you.

The girls' singing group and teacher.

Some of the kids insisted that we take pictures with just them.

Hanging out in between scenes.

Beautiful Costumes!

Picture Perfect!

Incidentally, these same kids all left bright and early this morning to perform in front of the President of Ukraine!

After the production Saturday afternoon we left to find that it had starting snowing!  For us Floridians that is a treat!  Well, that snow continued off and on all of Sunday and we woke up to more of it this morning.  This was the view from our window on Sunday morning.

When we got out of church service it had picked up again, making me very glad that my great friend, Debbie Titus, had let me borrow her beautiful coat with a much needed, warm hood.  Thanks Deb!

The younger kids spent the entire day outside, pulling each other around the yard on sleds and having more snowball fights than I could count.

The big kids (including the Biggest) got in on the action after dinner.  The minute Ty stepped out of our apartment he became the target for every snowball made.  It was so cute hearing the kids yell, "Ty" in their Russian accents... only to be followed up with a snowball sailing through the air towards Ty's head.  He was a good sport and it seemed that the rougher he got, the more the boys loved it.  It was a great time!

An attempt at a pyramid.  Notice the biggest kid at the bottom.

Adoption news:  No news :(

PS... Yesterday was 4 weeks since we left our family at home.  We are hoping that we are more than half way through our stay in Ukraine.  So in honor of that I thought I would change up the look of the blog... hope you like it.