We have been here for 5 weeks. Remember when Lucy would let Charlie Brown try to kick the football. She would assure him that this time she REALLY would let him kick it if he would only try - only to pull the ball at the last minute so he would miss and fall. Well, we feel like Charlie Brown. We have not had internet access for the last 3 days so, even though not alot has changed, let me catch everyone up on what is going on. Things are starting to move, just very slowly. You may recall that Zhenia was supposed to call the court on Thursday to see about our court date. When he called he was told that a date had been set and he needed to pick up the paperwork on Monday. The clerk who he spoke with did not know the date, but said Zhenia could call back on Friday to find out. Of course, he called twice on Friday only to be told that the judge had the paperwork, a date had been set, and we will have to wait until Monday to find out what it is. Zhenia was told to come pick up the paperwork and deliver the documents to the people required for court(orphanage director, social worker, etc). Now, supposedly, having to deliver the paperwork may be a sign that the date is too close for the documents to reach everyone by mail. It is nice to say "I'm trying not to get my hopes up", but of course they are high. We are praying the court date will be sometime next week - the sooner the better.
Friday evening we went to a party at the Canadian Embassy. We met many Canadian and American families currently living in Ukraine. We had a very good time speaking english to others for a few hours and even enjoyed American-style pizza.
The good news is that we finally saw Viktor!! As the orphanage director would not let Viktor come home from camp early, we had to wait until everyone returned. The kids from orphanage 21 returned today @11:00 by train. We were there to meet the train at the station. It was so good to see him again. We were hoping that we could finally have him stay with us, of course, Alla said "no". At 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, all the of kids who have graduated will leave for trade school and live at the hostel. Since we won't find out the court day until tomorrow he will have to go with the other "graduates" to trade school in the morning and, if we have the papers, he will be able to go with us then. UNREAL. At this point I know there is a possibility that the papers will not be ready when we go get them in the morning. Viktor was not happy to be left again and does not want to go to the trade school, I don't blame him, not too happy myself. Even though we had sent many messages to him at camp - even spoken to staff who were supposed to communicate with him, no one told him we were still here working on the adoption. Alla would rather him have to go to the trade school and hostel instead of spending the night with the American Family who have waited 5 week in Kyiv working on this adoption. We have been approved by the SDA and inspector, completed all our paperwork so I don't think we pose any real threat. The insensitivity of the way these kids are treated is heartbreaking. We have assured him we will not leave Kyiv without him. We did get to spend a few hours with him and took him to lunch. Coming back to the flat, childless again, was very depressing. As I have said, many, many times, hopefully tomorrow will hold some promise. Right now we are flat on our backs looking at Lucy holding the football above our heads - OUCH!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO- Phillip & Cassie
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
To Cassie and Phillip
Just a shameless shout out to Cassie and Phillip. We love you and miss you very much. Mom's birthday would be much better if she had you two to spend it with, regardless the locale. Mom's pre-birthday Chocolate cake I bought last night was awful as well as the birthday cake I bought her tonight. Both looked great but let us down in the taste category. I fixed her french toast with strawberry syrup for breakfast and went out and got her a boquet of yellow roses. I even managed to find her an English B-day card at the Halmark store in the local mini-mall.
Cassie: We eagerly await our nightly recorder concert. Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb never sounded so good. I hope you feel better after being sore from all of the busy weekend activities. Enjoy Horseback riding tomorrow.
Phillip: We loved hearing the report about the football game last night. You have to know its killing us not to be there to cheer you on. I wish I'd seen you recieve that Kick off and return it into Red Raider territory. Hope your thumb is better soon.
I forgot to add in the previous blog entry: xoxoxoxoxoCassie and Phillip
Cassie: We eagerly await our nightly recorder concert. Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb never sounded so good. I hope you feel better after being sore from all of the busy weekend activities. Enjoy Horseback riding tomorrow.
Phillip: We loved hearing the report about the football game last night. You have to know its killing us not to be there to cheer you on. I wish I'd seen you recieve that Kick off and return it into Red Raider territory. Hope your thumb is better soon.
I forgot to add in the previous blog entry: xoxoxoxoxoCassie and Phillip
Birthday Blues and Other Ramblings
Today is Sharon's birthday. As such, I am handling the blogging duties today while she sits on the life raft and plays Zuma on her cell phone. I tell you so far today its been nothing but party, party, party. I got permission to tell all that we are celebrating her 42nd birthday. She is either very secure or has given up all hope of surviving our foray into international adoption so it doesn't matter who knows. We were both convinced that today was the day we would get our court date. What a wonderful B'day present that would be for Sharon. Wrong!!! Zhenia called a few minutes ago and told me that he was instructed to call back on Thursday. Sharon said that she definitely thinks her 43rd birthday will be much better. I have done a few things to try and make the day special, but we both realize its very much like scooping whip cream on top of a big pile of manure and calling it desert.
Back at the start of the adoption process, I began keeping a journal to record all of the events and experiences we encounter as we work to bring Viktor home. I have decided that since I am at the helm of the blogging tug today that I would subject the readers to an excerpt from the journal, or as I have taken to calling it "The Viktor Chronicals". The following excerpt is from the train trip Sharon, Zhenia and I took down to Viktor's camp located on the Black Sea. This is the same trip that Sharon wrote about in an earlier blog.
"The first leg of the trip down to the camp we rode in semi-Ukrainian luxury. This meaning that Zhenia had secured for us our own Cupla. A Cupla is designed to sit/sleep four people, four very small people. Keep in mind that Sharon and I tell people all the time that we are freakishly tall people. The sleeping racks are arranged bunk style on either side of the cupla, perpendicular to the train tracks. We boarded the train and sat down in our cupla. Man it was hot. Zhenia tried to keep our minds busy while we waited for the train to leave by showing us all the features of the cupla, which lasted about two minutes. The majority of the cabin features centered around the redundant locking mechanisms for the door, all of which are meant to ensure that no one comes into your cabin while you are sleeping on the increadibly slow moving train and takes your stuff. After a thourough breifing on where to and where not to put your stuff in the cupla to safegaurd against someone coming into the cabin while you are sleeping on the increadibly hot train and taking your stuff, the train finally left the station. Did I mention the heat? While the train was moving there was an ever so slight contitioning of air eminating from the ceiling of the cabin. To call it air conditioning would be going to far. It was more like the promise of air-conditioning really, just enough to take the edge off the heat thus changing the temp from unbearable to uncomfortable. But, we were finally off to see Viktor, and at this point the trip was still very young.
It was an 11hr overnight train ride to Kherson, where we would depart the train and find other transportation for the remainder of the journey to camp. I slept fitfully in a pool of sweat, on a bunk that was a foot to short for about as long as I could take it so I got up at 5 am and greeted the morning from the window of the train. The train was scheduled to arrive in Kherson at 7:40 am and after a quick breakfast at the local Kherson McDonalds we would get a shuttle bus to camp and Viktor. It's funny what one's mind will reach out and cling to in order to get through a particular situation. A difficult period at work can be buffered with the thoughts of an upcoming vacation for example. The thing that I clinged to this particular morning was an Egg McMuffin and maybe a hash round or two on the side. A small bit of what I felt to be normalcy to recover from what I believed to be a very non-normal travel experience. So we readied ourselves as best we could, grabbed our bags and departed the train. On the way out of the station on the way to McDonalds, Zhenia decided to to stop and check on trian tickets for the return trip that evening. He was told that there was nothing available on any of the evening trains back to Kiev. The clerk told Zhenia to show back up around 6:00 pm and check because people were always cancelling their reservations and tickets become available. OK, our return trip plan established, lets get to Mickey Dees and salvage the morning with a little taste of home. Well on the way to Mcdonalds this time, Zhenia decides to check on shuttle bus service to the camp. What, no shuttle bus directly to camp? OK, we will have to take a shuttle bus to Skidoesk and then get a taxi from there to the camp, but hey who's complaining at least we will be headed to see Viktor, and have I mentioned that we've been in country for two and a half weeks and we haven't seen him yet. Now, with that decision made, lets get to McDonalds for an egg Mcnormal and a little taste of home on the side. Zhenia says its right down this street here. Hmmm, I don't see a McDonalds down the street, and I can see a pretty good ways. Zhenia begins asking the locals where the McDonalds is and is told that there is no McDonalds in all of the city. What!!!No Egg McNormal to turn this morning around. No hash browns to make me feel like John Curry, priviledged American, again. This morning was not progressing as well as we wanted and it was about to get a whole lot worse."
Back at the start of the adoption process, I began keeping a journal to record all of the events and experiences we encounter as we work to bring Viktor home. I have decided that since I am at the helm of the blogging tug today that I would subject the readers to an excerpt from the journal, or as I have taken to calling it "The Viktor Chronicals". The following excerpt is from the train trip Sharon, Zhenia and I took down to Viktor's camp located on the Black Sea. This is the same trip that Sharon wrote about in an earlier blog.
"The first leg of the trip down to the camp we rode in semi-Ukrainian luxury. This meaning that Zhenia had secured for us our own Cupla. A Cupla is designed to sit/sleep four people, four very small people. Keep in mind that Sharon and I tell people all the time that we are freakishly tall people. The sleeping racks are arranged bunk style on either side of the cupla, perpendicular to the train tracks. We boarded the train and sat down in our cupla. Man it was hot. Zhenia tried to keep our minds busy while we waited for the train to leave by showing us all the features of the cupla, which lasted about two minutes. The majority of the cabin features centered around the redundant locking mechanisms for the door, all of which are meant to ensure that no one comes into your cabin while you are sleeping on the increadibly slow moving train and takes your stuff. After a thourough breifing on where to and where not to put your stuff in the cupla to safegaurd against someone coming into the cabin while you are sleeping on the increadibly hot train and taking your stuff, the train finally left the station. Did I mention the heat? While the train was moving there was an ever so slight contitioning of air eminating from the ceiling of the cabin. To call it air conditioning would be going to far. It was more like the promise of air-conditioning really, just enough to take the edge off the heat thus changing the temp from unbearable to uncomfortable. But, we were finally off to see Viktor, and at this point the trip was still very young.
It was an 11hr overnight train ride to Kherson, where we would depart the train and find other transportation for the remainder of the journey to camp. I slept fitfully in a pool of sweat, on a bunk that was a foot to short for about as long as I could take it so I got up at 5 am and greeted the morning from the window of the train. The train was scheduled to arrive in Kherson at 7:40 am and after a quick breakfast at the local Kherson McDonalds we would get a shuttle bus to camp and Viktor. It's funny what one's mind will reach out and cling to in order to get through a particular situation. A difficult period at work can be buffered with the thoughts of an upcoming vacation for example. The thing that I clinged to this particular morning was an Egg McMuffin and maybe a hash round or two on the side. A small bit of what I felt to be normalcy to recover from what I believed to be a very non-normal travel experience. So we readied ourselves as best we could, grabbed our bags and departed the train. On the way out of the station on the way to McDonalds, Zhenia decided to to stop and check on trian tickets for the return trip that evening. He was told that there was nothing available on any of the evening trains back to Kiev. The clerk told Zhenia to show back up around 6:00 pm and check because people were always cancelling their reservations and tickets become available. OK, our return trip plan established, lets get to Mickey Dees and salvage the morning with a little taste of home. Well on the way to Mcdonalds this time, Zhenia decides to check on shuttle bus service to the camp. What, no shuttle bus directly to camp? OK, we will have to take a shuttle bus to Skidoesk and then get a taxi from there to the camp, but hey who's complaining at least we will be headed to see Viktor, and have I mentioned that we've been in country for two and a half weeks and we haven't seen him yet. Now, with that decision made, lets get to McDonalds for an egg Mcnormal and a little taste of home on the side. Zhenia says its right down this street here. Hmmm, I don't see a McDonalds down the street, and I can see a pretty good ways. Zhenia begins asking the locals where the McDonalds is and is told that there is no McDonalds in all of the city. What!!!No Egg McNormal to turn this morning around. No hash browns to make me feel like John Curry, priviledged American, again. This morning was not progressing as well as we wanted and it was about to get a whole lot worse."
Sunday, August 24, 2008
More from the military parade (for Phillip)
Phillip, As a father, this was an experience I would have would have loved to share with you. This stuff was right up your alley. I did my best to capture as much of the action as possible so that I could share it with you. Hopefully this can help you feel as though you were here with us enjoying the sights and sounds if only for a little while. I miss you like crazy (I miss Cassie like crazy as well) You're a great son, enjoy the pictures and videos.
At the beginning of the parade the "Prime Minister" rode down the street stoping in front of each company of soldiers. He would administer some type of oath at each stop and the soldiers would respond. I'll get Zhenia to translate.
As the Prime Minister made his way back up Khreschatyk, the companys of soldiers responded in waves that sounded like they were saying "Slaw,Slaw,Slaw".
Each company of soldiers marched a different way. Notice the "Goose Stepper", very cool.
Heavy equipment on the move. You could feel it in your feet when they came by. Almost as impressive as a fleet of Heil RCV's going by. (Shout out to my Heil friends. Can't wait to get back to Ft. Payne, truly God's country.)
Independence Day
And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
Galations 6:9 (thanks Cindy)
Okay, I believe my last blog entry certainly indicated I was "losing heart". One should probably not blog while distressed (hence the bus comment). Certainly things are not going as we had hoped, but they are still going. I would in no way, however, wish to convey that just because things aren't going our way, we think we have been abandoned. We know God is still in control of this situation and many prayers have already been answered. I also don't want to make it sound like it is not a worthy journey nor discourage others who might answer this call of international adoption.
Phillip and Cassie sounded really good when we talked yesterday and, I admit, that has alot to do with how I cope here. Cassie got a recorder this year in music class and we have been treated to "hot cross buns" and "mary had a little lamb" from 3,000 miles away (sounded perfect to us). Lucky, Lucky, Mema that she gets to enjoy the music ALL DAY!! Lisa & Bart got Phillip on Friday and they will spend the weekend with the kids again - we are so grateful as the kids love them and always seem to have a great time. It is a relief to know they are doing fun things to help keep their minds off our absence. Viktor knows we are still here, but I'm sure he is wondering what is taking so long. Hopefully, knowing he will be leaving, he is enjoying this time with the kids he has grown up with and won't see for a long, long time. I'm trying to think in this vein as it breaks my heart to imagine he thinks we might have changed our minds. We have reassured him, but he really has no reason to trust us yet.
Today John and I attended the military parade to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day. The parade was VERY well attended and we crammed ourselves between thousands of Ukrainian to witness a impressive display of military power. The Ukrainian President presided over the parade. It would have been great if Viktor could have witnessed this as his last Independence Day (at least for a while) in Ukraine. John did take alot of pictures. It's a good thing he is so tall, because by the end of the parade, so many people had pushed themselves in front of us we could barely see. Phillip would have enjoyed this and John was able to get some great video of the soldiers goose-stepping and responding to the President. We will have to get Zhenia to translate what the soldiers were saying. It sound like "SLAAW", and we thought maybe he was asking what they would like with their BBQ - but probably not. I know I have said this before, but thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have sent encouragement and prayer our way. Please pray for an answer for a court date on Tuesday - that's alot of prayer power coming this way!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO- Cassie & Phillip
Galations 6:9 (thanks Cindy)
Okay, I believe my last blog entry certainly indicated I was "losing heart". One should probably not blog while distressed (hence the bus comment). Certainly things are not going as we had hoped, but they are still going. I would in no way, however, wish to convey that just because things aren't going our way, we think we have been abandoned. We know God is still in control of this situation and many prayers have already been answered. I also don't want to make it sound like it is not a worthy journey nor discourage others who might answer this call of international adoption.
Phillip and Cassie sounded really good when we talked yesterday and, I admit, that has alot to do with how I cope here. Cassie got a recorder this year in music class and we have been treated to "hot cross buns" and "mary had a little lamb" from 3,000 miles away (sounded perfect to us). Lucky, Lucky, Mema that she gets to enjoy the music ALL DAY!! Lisa & Bart got Phillip on Friday and they will spend the weekend with the kids again - we are so grateful as the kids love them and always seem to have a great time. It is a relief to know they are doing fun things to help keep their minds off our absence. Viktor knows we are still here, but I'm sure he is wondering what is taking so long. Hopefully, knowing he will be leaving, he is enjoying this time with the kids he has grown up with and won't see for a long, long time. I'm trying to think in this vein as it breaks my heart to imagine he thinks we might have changed our minds. We have reassured him, but he really has no reason to trust us yet.
Today John and I attended the military parade to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day. The parade was VERY well attended and we crammed ourselves between thousands of Ukrainian to witness a impressive display of military power. The Ukrainian President presided over the parade. It would have been great if Viktor could have witnessed this as his last Independence Day (at least for a while) in Ukraine. John did take alot of pictures. It's a good thing he is so tall, because by the end of the parade, so many people had pushed themselves in front of us we could barely see. Phillip would have enjoyed this and John was able to get some great video of the soldiers goose-stepping and responding to the President. We will have to get Zhenia to translate what the soldiers were saying. It sound like "SLAAW", and we thought maybe he was asking what they would like with their BBQ - but probably not. I know I have said this before, but thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have sent encouragement and prayer our way. Please pray for an answer for a court date on Tuesday - that's alot of prayer power coming this way!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO- Cassie & Phillip
Company after company of souldiers were line up down Khreschatyk. We could not tell the branch of service however they all looked quite impressive in their class A uniforms.
Some of the rolling hardware. We got a look at just about everything their military has to offer. There were Humvees obviously bought from the US in the parade as well.
More hardware, Laser guided missle transporters from what I can tell. Any of you out there that know your Eastern Block military equipment better than I can set me straight on this one.
A couple of Sukois (jet fighters) and a refueler.
Four attack helicopters in formation. We couldn't tell what the announcer was saying so we just paid attention to the crowd. When they looked up we looked up, when they looked down the street, we looked down the street. When they left, we left as well.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Not yet
Please continue to pray to soften this judges' heart (or that she will get run over by a bus :) ). We completed our form and signed it today and Zhenia took it to the judge to see if she would give us a court date. She made him wait until the very end of business - 6:00. Today makes the 7th time she has told Zhenia to come back the next business day. In this case, the next business day is Tuesday, August 26th as Monday is a holiday. Our Appointment with the SDA was July 28th (30 days and counting). When she finally decides to grant us a court date we don't know how far out that will be. We do not have the resources or desires to stay in Ukraine indefinately.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
DAY 26 of hostage situation
Still waiting. Yesterday when Zhenia went to court to check on a court date, the judge handed him the form he had prepared last week (remember said form from embassy) Well, turns out, she now wants it notarized and apostilled from the Office of Foreign Affairs. Would have been really nice if she had requested this or said so last week. So . . . still no court date, still no Viktor. The helplessness and frustration is not fun or funny. Initially we had expected to be in our 10-day waiting period by now. Morale is low and WE WANT TO COME HOME!!!!! We will go today and present the form which hopefully will be ready by 4:00, then it has to be interpreted (? it is already in english on one side and Ukrainian on the other) Tomorrow Zhenia will take it to court. I'm tired of waiting all day for THE phone call only to be thwarted again. At this point we are hoping for a date next week. Monday is a holiday - courts closed. There is a reason for this wait and frustration, but so far it has not been revealed to us. Cassie and Phillip have been so great. We love and miss them tremendously, I don't like missing one day of their lives - time goes so quickly. And the reason we are here - have only gotten to see him once - unbelievable!! Instead of living one day at a time, right now I am trying one-hour at a time.
On a positive note - the couple who came in on the 18th to find a child has been referred a 18-month old boy in Lugansk (sp?). We are so happy for them and enjoyed having another couple to hand around with for a few days. They are on a train now to go meet him, we can't wait to hear all about their family.
Please keep praying, we appreciate all of the encouragement and support you have been, and continue, giving. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO - Cassie & Phillip
On a positive note - the couple who came in on the 18th to find a child has been referred a 18-month old boy in Lugansk (sp?). We are so happy for them and enjoyed having another couple to hand around with for a few days. They are on a train now to go meet him, we can't wait to hear all about their family.
Please keep praying, we appreciate all of the encouragement and support you have been, and continue, giving. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO - Cassie & Phillip
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