We are Home

It is SO nice to sleep in one's own bed!  Which means, by the way, that we are home.  This trip was very similar to the last time.  Very little sleep the night before the trip.  I let Julia talk to her friends on the phone one last time before we left, and boy did she talk!  I think she started at 7:30 pm and finished up around mid-night.  I did not sleep much, if at all.  She brought me the phone when she finished, because the alarm to get Libby up at 12:30 was on the phone. I got up around 2:00 am, the taxi got there at 2:45, and off to the airport.  The flights were good again - we really like Lufthansa.  We arrived in Atlanta at about 4:40 pm, worked through the customs line, then had to go through a special line because of Julia's package.  I can at least say people were friendly, because they sure did not know what they were doing.  We had to explain a lot of it to them.  Strange.  Then, because we had a minor amount of food from Ukraine with us, we had to go through the agricultural check line.  Oh my goodness!  Sllloooooooowwwwwwwww!  But I can see the purpose.  The foreign folks in line in front of us had a ton of cooked meat in their suitcase.  When they opened it up . . . whew.  All we had were a few cookies and some buckwheat in a store-packaged container.  But we finally made it through, after two more hours of lines.  April Marion was there to pick us up, and drive us home.  Most of the kids were at the house to greet us, and the house looked great.  I hear Virginia was the house-cleaning nazi, but thanks to all of them.  And did I mention it was so nice to sleep in my own bed?  Now to get the house back in shape.  Virginia was showing me a light fixture this morning, that she had been worried about.  She turned on the light switch, and it starting hissing and popping and smoke came pouring out. I guess they were right.  That one is bad.
I will see if Libby has one last post in her, but if not, this is likely the last post for this blog.  It has been fun sharing our experience with you, and reading your posts and emails.  We are especially thankful for your prayers.  If any of you decide to go on a similar wild experience, let us know and we will help you in any way we can.   Andy

A few more details

We decided to be brave, or daring, or maybe just stupid this morning and get to the embassy on the metro. I studied the google map, so I was pretty sure I could manage it, but still . . . So we got up this morning, called the embassy, and no one answered.  I left a message, and was sitting on the sofa, pleading with God to let today be the day, when the phone rang.  It was the embassy.  They had scheduled us for 2:00 pm, but said we could come at 11:00 if we wanted to.  At this point, I don't wait for anything.  I rudely woke Julia up, told her to get dressed, started dancing around and jumping and singing (or as my kids would tell you, acting like I normally do in the morning).  We walked to the main metro station, rode to what I thought was the correct stop, headed up a street we had never walked up before, and whalla! There was the embassy big as life!  The only hiccup we almost had was the guard had us listed as a 2:00 pm appointment.  I reached across the counter, started slapping him down, handcuffed the rest of them, and ran for the front door.  Okay, not really.  But I told him with some amount of excitement in my voice that Lilia had changed it to 11:00, can you call her? (Buddy?) He looked skeptical, but called Lilia, and then somewhat surprised, smirked and said to go on in, the appointment was at 11:00.  (You better believe we are going in . . . Buddy!). Things ran smooth as clockwork on the inside, where I smiled almost the entire time knowing I was standing on US soil.  There was a brief interview, where Julia had to swear that she didn't lie on her visa application, a couple of papers to sign, and then a brief wait while they physically attached her visa to her passport, and put together a sealed package for us to give immigration as we enter the US.  The entire process, including the beat down of the guards, took less than an hour.  Now for final details.  I paid my apartment bill, confirmed a taxi for 3:00 am, emailed the travel agent to get the airline tickets, bought some special cookies we really like for the trip home, a few extra truffles for a few of you that Libby has special compassion for. We should probably go sight-seeing one more time, but we are wrung out.  Libby is napping, since she did not sleep well last night.  I keep wanting to pack my suitcase and head to the airport.  The word "home" has a whole new, fresh appeal to us right now.

Headed Home!

We are DONE!!!!!!  We have the visa, everything is finished!  

Inching Forward

Well, the good news is we have been told by our adoption agency that Officer Higgins processed our paperwork and sent it on.  But we have since learned there is another agency in-between her and the embassy, so we still do not have the visa.  I have resisted commentary up to this point, but if you think adding government bureaucracy to your healthcare process is going to make things better, you are out of your mind!  So here we wait.  We anticipate the embassy having what they need in the morning, and we will get ourselves to the embassy.  The last taxi ride cost $65. All three of us can ride the metro there and back for $1.50.  We just have to walk a bit more, which won't hurt us a bit.  We finally took Julia to St Sophia today.  It is a national treasure and something she will hopefully cherish in years to come.  Today, she was merely a teenager.  Another beautiful day today.  I have airplane reservations for Thursday morning.  Hopefully we get to use them.  Tomorrow might be the last blog from Ukraine. How exciting is that!  I have been tracking our calendar for this adoption.  Since the day we first got on an airplane to get Julia, it is now day 78.

Oh so close

We are so close, we can practically taste it.  This is the reason for Libby's blog.  We both are wanting to cry out, "are we there yet!" over and over, which of course, accomplishes nothing but to stir up discontent.  We completed the medical "exam" and went to the embassy to deliver all the documents they required.  So now, everything is done, other than immigration letting our daughter into the country.  We are praying, and pushing, hoping maybe tomorrow everything will be completed.  We will see.  Today was beautiful, for a change.  Mid 60's again and sunny.  I think we have two more days like this, before that storm that hit England makes its way over here.  It is not supposed to be bad, just cooling things off again, and some light rain.  There is really nothing to report.  We are just sitting here waiting.  As soon as we got back from the embassy, Julia's first question was, "when can we leave?"  We are eating down our food, planning for tomorrow to be our last full day.  If not, we will have to buy very carefully so we don't have to waste a bunch of food.

Helpful thoughts

This is an email my sweet Daddy sent us on October 16.  Everyday since then I have tried to remember to enjoy this time in Ukraine and stop asking "are we there yet?". When our family has taken long trips our kids would behave really well until the last half hour.  No matter how many hours the trip took, three or thirteen, when we were at the last half hour they would get antsy and whiny and cry and ask are we there yet?  That is how today is.  It is a beautiful day the Lord has made.  I should be rejoicing in it and enjoying what He has planned, but it feels like the last half hour and I want out of the car!  So the antidote to this feeling is a sacrifice of praise.  I want to thank Him for all the things I can remember that have shown his kindness along the way. 1. He let us meet Julia and decide to adopt her. 2. Our WHOLE family supported our decision and has encouraged us with their prayers, kind words, money and physical help. 3. Julia agreed to let us adopt her even though it meant leaving everything she has known, including friends she has had since first grade. 4. Virginia got to travel to Ukraine. 5. We have met people from Ukraine who live in Montgomery who are helpful and kind and have offered to help Julia when we return. 6. Our church family has supported us through prayers and financially and by taking care of Laura and Virginia while we are gone. 7. We have become a part of a special circle of people who have adopted kids. 8. Our friends have helped our kids by driving them places, feeding them and checking to make sure they are okay. 9. We have seen glowing sunsets and beautiful Ukrainian countryside on our many trips to Romny and Sumy. 10. God has provided friends that we met here, the Fox family and the Eides and Perkins in Kiev.  11.  We met some wonderful Ukrainian people, Svetlana, our facilitator, Konstantin, her boss, Andrew, Misha and Vova, Andrew's parents, the ladies at the reception desk of our hotel, the waitresses at the cafe in our hotel in Romny,and Lilya, a lady who came in from vacation to help with our paperwork in Romny. 12. We got to meet Julia's friends, so we have faces to go with names. 13. We finally got to visit Jill and David Martin in Odessa and see them in action at their school. 14. We got to fellowship with Jill and David's team and worship with them in their church.15. Because of this visit we know much better how to pray for them and we understand firsthand how vital prayer is to missionaries. 16. We got to host a pizza party for Julia and her friends and take lots of pictures for Julia to keep of fun memories.  17. Andy and I have had a LONG vacation together in a beautiful place that has included lots of walking and shopping (for food and chocolate!) and a chance to pray together and enjoy fellowship in the Lord. 18. We have had the chance to experience new culture and food and ways of thinking.  19. We have seen again that God is Lord over the whole earth and His people are over the whole earth, from every tribe and tongue. 20. We KNOW God has called us to do this whole thing and that He will enable us to do what He has called us to do.  21. We know in a deeper, richer way how much our 

Father loves us and the lengths He will go to show us-- all the way to the cross.  There... I feel better now.  Hope you do, too.

Dear Andy, Libby and Julia,  It is hard for  us to imagine the frustration and disappointments that you must be experiencing in your quest to do God's will.  The many obstacles that have been, and continue to be place in your path under the guise of government bureaucracy are really tests that are being placed there, perhaps by satan, or maybe God himself, not necessarily to prepare you for the future life on earth but rather to let you understand how much better your eternal life with Him will be.  You are on a wonderful trip that has been planned for years by a loving father whose only interest is to make the destination one of joy and happiness, so sit back and relax and quit asking "are we there yet".  He will let you know when we get there.  We love you kids,  Poppie  

Beautiful Sunday

We decided to be adventurous, and see if we could navigate the metro and find the church we attended last week.  I thought I knew the way, but listening to Russian announcements on a full, noisy train car makes it a little more interesting.  We went to the main metro station near us, bought our tokens, and headed for the escalator.  This is a very deep station.  It's hard to estimate, but you could barely see the bottom from the top, so I'm guessing it is 150-200' deep.  We boarded the correct train, headed in the correct direction, and made it to church right on time.  I was really going for Julia's benefit, expecting a total Russian service, but there was a Scottish preacher there, who was in town for a mini-conference, so he spoke.  That meant english and russian. Good singing, good challenging message, and then we headed home.  The main boulevard on which the metro is located, was blocked off so people were wandering all over the place.  And it was gorgeous today.  Mid 60's and sunny.  Julia wasn't feeling well so we went straight home.  It turns out she had a seizure this afternoon and needed to sleep.  That makes 2 in 3 days.  Perhaps Friday wore on her more than we noticed.  Libby and I went out alone to find some supper for us, and still very pleasant tonight.  We looked online and apparently there is a 3-day Jazz festival in town, so we are guessing that is what the relaxed atmosphere is about.  I found a TV station that is replaying college football, but they are showing S Car vs Missouri.  Good game, except I don't care about it.  We are hoping to go to the embassy and/or medical exam tomorrow.  The embassy web page just said to send them an email to schedule an appointment.  Can it really be that easy with a government agency?  The email went to the same people I have been communicating with all along, so maybe it will be.

The street in this photo is the one blocked off today, except further down.

Saturday - the end of our 6th straight week

What an anniversary.  I did not realize it was really 6 weeks that we have been here.  Plus the 2 weeks we were here the first time, so our 30-35 day trip is now at around 56 days.  And we still don't have a return date!

Libby debriefed me on their trip yesterday.  It was fairly uneventful, other than being long, and she had a bad headache for most of the trip.  I had to rub her head for almost an hour last night, before she could relax enough to go to sleep.  This driver drove more slowly, which is what we wanted, although it did make the trip longer.  Libby had either rain, or extremely heavy fog, to contend with the entire trip.  I don't think I have mentioned this, but the temperature does not vary much over the course of the day here.  It is not unusual for the high and low to be less than 10 degrees different.  It is frequently overcast, and there just isn't enough temperature rise during the day to burn off the moisture.

We forced ourselves to go out and walk around today.  You just can't sit in a small apartment starring at the walls all day.  Well, I guess you can, but how awful.  We walked up by the river, and it was nice.  There were a lot of people who had the same idea today.  We heard from the Foxes.  Their passport process went much more smoothly than ours, so they are already in Kiev.  They should get their passport toward the end of next week.

I almost forgot.  Just to the right of where we were standing in the second picture, there was a zip-line that went all the way across the river.  A guy jumped on it and went across while were watching.  I immediately thought of Timothy Marion when I saw this. I'll try to post the video on my facebook page.

Waiting

Not much to report.  Libby and Julia left at 8:00 this morning, and as of 9:30pm local time, they still are not back.  Hope they get home soon!  Today had a dreary start, but around mid-day the sun popped out, so I went for a short walk.  Good timing, since it got cloudy again.  By the way, I discovered the veggie peeler works fine.  There was a protective strip on it that Libby didn't take off.  I will have to tease her about that, but probably not tonight.  I laid around all day, surfing the net, listened to a sermon, read some.  That's about it.  Wish I had brought another book with me.

More Musings

I read 2 Timothy slowly today.  I have the time since Libby and Julia have headed to Sumy, and I am here alone.  I never really noticed how strongly the theme of suffering is emphasized, not to mention ideas such as "times of difficulty" or "persecution".  Libby and I talk frequently about how little we are called upon to suffer for Christ. Are we somehow dodging the opportunities being placed before us?  Are we sitting on the sidelines?  Is God just being merciful to us and allowing us to enjoy a quiet and peaceful life?  

So now, here we in Ukraine, doing a work of mercy commanded by God, and things haven't gone according to my vision of efficiency.  I knew going in that this would cost a good bit of time and money, and I had been warned to be patient with the changing directions of the process.  Why, then, have I been so easily annoyed (okay, that is a euphemism - angry and upset) when things have not gone according to my ideal of how this trip should unfold?  

Here are some thoughts that came out of my reading today.  Thought #1 - In order to suffer for Christ, you actually have to suffer!  You can't theoretically suffer - you have to actually feel the pain a bit.  Two of the bigger idols in my life are: a desire to have control over my circumstances (time), and an easy life (money).  Both of these idols are being seriously attacked on this trip.  Thought #2 - suffering doesn't come without an antagonist.  Someone must oppose you for you to suffer.  If everything goes right, and you are surrounded only by people who love you, that is called a party.  A party may be fun, but it is not the environment in which one suffers.  So then, what should I think of the person opposing me?  Should I hate him?  Libby has rightly encouraged us to pray for the person who is slowing us down.  But even more, I need to understand that that person is an instrument in God's hand to effect change in my life, and to carry out God's purposes.  I could easily find myself railing against the very thing God is using for my good.  Thought #3 - suffering involves loss.  It is not true suffering if it does not cost you something.  It could be physical, or material, or whatever, but it must be real and tangible.  Consider the things Paul was suffering - physical abuse, loss of freedom, loss of status.  These were real, and yet he enjoined Timothy to "share in suffering for the gospel".   Thought #4 - I need to learn to rejoice in the face of suffering.  One of my favorite passages, because it is so challenging, is the second half of Acts chapter 5.  The apostles are told not to preach, they do anyway, they are dragged in before the Sanhedrin, and are beaten and released.  What do they do next?  Do they go to their friends and whine about how unfair the mean old Pharisees are?  Do they take to their blog seeking sympathy for their plight?  How about this?  They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.  So here is my epiphany from this morning.  God is granting me the opportunity, by taking over my time, and taking away more of my money than I had anticipated or desired, to suffer for Him. My response should be to rejoice and be thankful.  I get to participate in His plan, and I get to join Paul in his injunction to suffer for the gospel's sake.

Progress on the Horizon

Libby and I got up out of bed and walked over to the market this morning.  We got stocked up on fruits and vegetables, and even purchased some meat there.  They had remarkable looking fish, but I don't know what we would do with it.  Walked all the way home.  Then Libby decided she needed a vegetable peeler.  We asked someone in the office of the place we are staying, and it was supposed to be in the next building past the market.  I strapped on my trusty tennis shoes (I sure hope they last the entire trip) and walked back to the entrance to which I was instructed to enter.  This was not a kitchen ware place.  It was a five story way-upper end mall.  As I worked my way up, floor after floor, I was quickly assessed by every shop employee I passed as someone who clearly was not going to have nearly enough money to even enter their store.  But it was fun wandering around where the upper 5% would shop.  Back out on the street, wandering around, and I spied a possibility.  The story could get long here, but I will abbreviate.  I found another huge underground mall, which normal people were allowed to frequent, but it was very maze-like.  Somehow, at the end of the last hallway I was going to  search, I found a veggie peeler. (As it turns out, after all that, not a very good one).  We prepared supper and had the missionary family over (the Eides).  It was fun, and they did a good job of translating things so Julia was included.  In the middle of supper, a great phone call.  Julia's passport is ready, so Libby and Julia are going to Sumy to pick it up.  I am skipping this trip.  The last wild ride hurt my back some, so I don't want to aggravate it any more.  Nothing bad, I just don't want to give it 8-10 hours of pounding in one shot.

Here is some of our haul from the market.

Chilly Wednesday

I got up early today (well, relatively early) and walked down to the purported market location.  And there it was, big as life.  It must just be a morning thing.  I hit rush hour on the way - not of cars but of people.  They were streaming out of the metro station headed toward all the various streets that finger off from Independence Square.  I was going against the flow for a while.  Then as I walked down the broad boulevard that runs to the market, I passed a large demonstration forming up.  This was at the Mayors office or Presidents office, or some place important.  There were police arrayed all the way across the front of the building, shoulder to shoulder, in some places three deep.  The front row was in full riot gear.  In front of them were several hundred people with three different sets of flags, playing what sounded like patriot music.  Across the boulevard (the side I stayed on) was a small group holding Ukrainian flags.  I assumed they were counter demonstrators, but they were all standing quietly.  There were all the requisite TV camera and even a satellite truck, etc.  I don't know what the protest was about, but the next block down, there is a big banner protesting the imprisonment of some political figure, so maybe that was it.  The market was fabulous!  All sorts of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat counters, flowers, spices, fish and caviar.  Everything was super nice and fresh.  Later today, we took Julia to St Michael's cathedral. (The scene of my earlier ejection for illegal photography).  We made it in and out safely, with no incidences, that is until we got out in front of the cathedral.  Think of the scary animal creature who assaulted me when Virginia was here, but this time it was a gang of bird people.  First one, than another, then a third.  They kept grabbing us, putting pigeons on our hands and head, took my Ipad to take pictures, and then the extortion began.  They wanted 200 hryvnia for taking our picture! ($25).  I said no way!  They were earnest.  I had visions of sitting in a cold Russian train car headed to the gulag.  I gave them a 50 hryvnia note, rounded up my girls and left, before they called the police (which are everywhere, by the way).  We walked up the road to take some pictures at St. Sophias, but then went home because it was getting cold quickly.  Svetlana talked to Julia today and told her the passport had been completed and should be ready to be picked up Thursday or Friday.  I am trying to find out what happens next.  I am learning, but still having trouble adjusting to, a Ukrainian trait.  They do one thing at a time.  They don't plan out the whole process.  They are so used to things changing, they just don't even bother thinking about tomorrow.  It is just today.  For those who know me, you may imagine how difficult this is for me patiently accept.  But I'm trying . . .

Quiet Tuesday

Very quiet today.  We went out food shopping, and worked on English some, but that is all.  I got creative this morning and made french toast, and we had grilled salami and cheese sandwiches for lunch.  Finished off the day with sausages, boiled potatoes, mixed veggies, and grapes.  This is the true mark of boredom - giving you the full menu for today.  I do have one observation about something I have not appreciated until now.  Most tubs have a flat bottom.  Have you noticed that?  The bathtub here does not.  There is nowhere to stand that is level.  That is weird enough, but if you close your eyes, say to wash your face, standing on a curved bottom, one quickly gets dizzy and wobbly.  An added adventure to the morning ritual.  Let's see . . . . Hmmmmmm . . . I watched the first half of the Auburn - A & M game.  Talked to three of my girls at home.  Read some.  I guess that is all.  I hope for more excitement tomorrow, if for no other reason, than that i have something to write about.

Bombs Away

I may as well get right to the point.  I called the embassy this morning to discuss the recent email I received from the Immigration Officer.  Their suggestion to me was to contact my Senators and Representative.  So I finally took the restraints off of my faithful friends and family to make these calls.  We hope that will help oil the gears of the massive bureaucracy that has such trouble granting a child who has been legally our daughter for over a month, access to her new country.  

Today was sunny and the warmest we have had in while.  I think we got to 61 today.  We went on a trek to try and find fresh fruit and vegetables.  The stuff in the stores is junk.  We headed on a pretty long walk to what was supposed to be a large market, but all the entrances were blocked, and the person I asked for entrance said "nyet!"  Perhaps this is something one needs to get to early in the morning, so I might hike down there in the morning.  We also finally discovered the reason for Julia's reluctance to take a shower.  She left the orphanage with no underwear and was too shy to tell us.  So on our hike for vegetables, we stopped and purchased teenage girl underwear.  I tried to act nonchalant during this exercise, but I doubt I was successful.  How cool can a 53 year old man look while surrounded by brazilian cut panties and pink and purple bras?  On the way back to the apartment, while we in the underground shop area, we realized it was way past lunch.  fortunately for us, Julia speaks the native language (imagine that!) and we ordered what turned out to be a hotdog cooked in a bread roll.  It was good, and inexpensive.  All three of us ate for $2.  After we got back, I remembered seeing good produce by the historic Golden Gate, so we headed out in the opposite direction.  I remembered correctly.  We hit the mother load, getting fresh carrots, potatoes, peppers, onions, grapes, apples.  Tonight, we finally felt like we had the ingredients to prepare a good meal.  It was nothing fancy, but really good.  

(I don't know why these pictures are upside down.  Sorry if it makes you seasick)

Sunday

A few interesting things after I posted my blog last night.  It seemed Julia just got tired of being sad.  She and Libby were under a blanket together, and she seemed to finally just relax a little.  Also, Jon Eide, a local Mission to the World missionary called us and arranged for us to go to the church plant they are working with.  So that was the plan today.  We got up and started the day with no hot water.  It teased us - it wasn't freezing cold, but it would not get warm . . forget hot!  At least we were awake after our shower!  It wasn't really that bad. It was just a tad above the temperature that would make you shiver (can you really get clean if all your pores are puckered shut into goosebumps?). Jon sent a taxi for us, who took us out near where the church meets.  As it turns out, we were standing near a casino with a man-market going on while we were there.  We had flashbacks to our trip to Odessa.  We were just standing by the side of the road, we didn't know where we were going, and we didn't know how to get back to our apartment.  Fortunately, Jon's daughter walked up and took us to church.  We had a great lunch - we bought a chicken yesterday, so we cooked that, had mashed potatoes and salad.  Not bad, considering we never know what half the stuff is that we buy.  I had a mini-celebration seeing that Auburn beat A&M.  I was hoping, but would not have bet on it.  Today was much better with Julia, until I went and acted all fatherly and made Julia cry.  A necessary conversation, but also difficult.  As I'm sure you all know, it is not the first time I have made one of my girls cry.  But she and Libby are snuggling under the blanket again (an advantage to cool temperatures at night) and she seems to be okay.  

Saturday in Kiev

That sounds like an exciting title, doesn't it?  Sorry if I misled you.  Today was a difficult day.  Julia is deeply mourning leaving her friends, and spent too much time conversing with them on the Ukrainian version of facebook.  It is very hard to make time pass - there is simply nothing to do.  It was too chilly to just wander around outside, and not being able to talk to Julia greatly handicaps the fun these adventures might otherwise be for her. We went shopping for food a couple of times, so we can cook in the apartment and try to save some money.  Supper wasn't quite as good as it could have been since the jar we thought was spaghetti sauce was really only tomato paste.  We ate it anyway.  We had to go find a few items for Julia (she came away from the orphanage with only one pair of socks!), no hair brush, no tooth brush.  It is all a mystery.  We found them in the underground shops in the tunnels under the major roads.  At least I knew where to go to look for things.  We made a few very small steps at working on English today, but she was just so sad, her heart wasn't in it.  Our apartment is nice, with separate bedrooms, so we can have some small amount of privacy.  We have a washing machine again (yeah!), so we have both the drying rack, and my rope loaded up with damp clothes, with the hope of clean underwear tomorrow!  Still issues with immigration.  I have written the embassy again, but of course cannot talk to them until Monday.  I will see what they can do, but then I think it is time to unleash the big guns.  It will be Senator Sessions and Congresswoman Roby time.

Here is Libby and Julia cooking supper together.

Musings

Sometimes having too much time is a bad thing.  When you have burdens on your mind, and nothing to otherwise occupy you, you think thoughts that can stir fears and doubts.  The slow motion day yesterday was one of those times.  What are we really doing? Why are we here?  Is this really the best thing for Julia?  Sitting at the table at the pizza place and watching her having fun with her friends, and knowing that in just a few minutes she would get in a car and never see them again, I wondered at the meaning of adoption.  What did God know before He adopted His children? ( I know God knows all things - that's not what I mean).  Did He expect me to be grateful? Would I grasp the significance of what He saved me from, and the potential of the path He set me on?  Would I wish for the old way of life and old friends, or would I be happy knowing that what lay before me was much better? (Would I be like the Israelites and long for Egypt instead of the promised land?)  So what does Julia know?  Does she know that in just a couple of years, all of her friends would scatter anyway, and she would have to make her way in life (just as happens in the US when kids leave high school and head off to college)?  Does she know the statistics that of graduating female orphans in Ukraine, 75% will wind up as prostitutes or dragged into the sex slave trade?  And what about me?  What do I expect?  Will she love me?  Or thank me?  Will she even learn English?  I DON'T know all things, neither can I control the future, or "cause all things to work for the good for those who love me".  The price I am paying is time and money, and some frustration thrown in.  Libby and I have decided to love our new daughter, not for anything she has done or will do, but because we have set our mind and heart to do so.  God has shown His love to us in this way: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  So how intense was God's love for us?  "For God so loved [me] that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life."  I only have to spend money.  My adoption cost the Son of God his LIFE.  The confidence we have, that we must have, is that God knows all these things, he DOES know our future, and the plans He has for us and for Julia.  We keep pressing forward, not with clear vision, but with hope that God hears and acts and will cause all things to work for our good and His glory, because we love him and are called according to his purposes.

Back in Kiev

Today was emotionally draining.  It was like knowing a dark secret that was to be sprung on someone, even though the day should have been pure joy.  We knew it would it be sad for Julia, to leave all her friends, and we knew the timing.  It would be right after the pizza party.  So the day unfolded in slow motion.  We packed everything and took it to the lobby to wait until Stas appeared.  We then went by the orphanage to get Julia's medicine, and give presents to the Director and assistant director (neither of them were there), then we went to say goodbye to Cosette and the kids.  Sean was out with Svetlana on his first day pursuing a birth certificate and passport.  Then back to the orphanage at 2:00 to track down Julia, only to be told she was not there.  She had run off (ahhhh . . that's what WE were thinking, too) she had run off to say goodbye to her brother and sister.  So we killed some time and came back closer to 3:00. She had returned, thank goodness, and brought down her belongings, whatever they might be (we did not look in her bag) in a suitcase which is not the one we gave her last year.  I think that is just how things work in the orphanage.  It took a while to round up all the kids who were going, but we eventually wound up with about ten teenagers.  The pizza party was fun, but then the awful surprise.  The kids were returning to the orphanage, but Julia was not.  And the realization hit all the kids at once.  This was it.  And the tears and hugs commenced.  It was a sad ride to Kiev, not to mention fast and very rough.  I was sure a few vertebrae in my lower back would be cracked.  I cannot count the number of times the car bottomed out hard at 80 mph.  But we got settled in to a nice apartment, but only for one night.  We will have to move tomorrow.

Finally . . . Progress!

Can you hear us screaming?  I have Sean properly trained, and he actually said to me "Touchdown, Auburn!"  We drove to Sumy (again), got to the right office to get the correct piece of paper, then Svetlana took that critical piece of paper to another office that absolutely had to have that piece of paper, and we headed to a different building 10-15 minutes away where the passport photo would be taken.  Svetlana banged on a door, which eventually opened, only to find out that on Thursdays, that office did not open until 2:00 pm.  It was only 10:30.  So we set out for the DHL office, and found it with no problem.  We went in, trying to figure out how to print the final translation I needed of the original birth certificate.  The lady was very helpful, and just let me sit at her computer and get into my email, and print it.  Easy!  So the critical package to immigration is now in the hands of DHL, set to be delivered in Missouri on Monday.  However, DHL did not take a credit card, so between the hotel bill, DHL, and the taxi fare, my hryvnias were wiped out.  No problem.  We still had plenty of time, so we found a local bank.  This was a funny experience.  Mine was either the first American passport they had ever seen, or it was a new women helping me, or both, or even a third option, but it was painful waiting for them to do all the paperwork and computer entry they did to change out my money.  But eventually, they handed it over.  Still more time to kill, so we went to lunch.  We ate at a Ukrainian restaurant (which had an American West theme).  It was very good.  We lounged around for a bit and finally it was time to go back for the photos.  This was more torture.  Svetlana would disappear in a door for a while, then reappear and go to a different door, etc.  But eventually she returned, and right as she got to the car, she started smiling and said we were done!  Tomorrow, we check out of the hotel that has been our home for about three weeks, have Julia's pizza party, and head to Kiev.  To help celebrate, the Foxes invited us over for dinner.  It is like a relay race.  We have finished our leg, and they start the whole process tomorrow.

Small steps forward

We didn't do much of anything all day.  It was rainy in the morning, turning to heavy mist as the day wore on.  By afternoon the rain had stopped, but remained heavy overcast and cool.  I emailed the embassy and copied the adoption staff, trying to develop a comprehensive list of all the documents I needed to send to immigration.  There were two I missed, so I called Andrew, and even though he was out of town, he called his parents to tell them to let me in.  I hiked down to his apartment, printed the two documents I needed, and hiked back.  We visited with the Foxes a little bit, then saw Julia for a couple of hours, and then finally caught up with Svetlana.  She had been to Sumy all day, still trying to break the log jam free.  She is hopeful that the final document will be ready at 9:00 am, so we are leaving here at 7:30 am to arrive in Sumy on time. We reviewed the package of documents, and realized that we were missing two english translations of documents.  So back on the phine, called Andrew, Libby and I hiked in the dark and wet back to the apartment, and I printed two more documents.  Women are amazing creatures.  Libby and Mrs. Andrew's mom sat on the side of the bed and looked at pictures and chatted like old friends, with hardly any comprehension at all, and yet they communicated just fine.  We hiked back home, but realized we had nothing for breakfast, so we stopped at one of the many small stores on the way, and found something to eat.  Back to our room, down to the cafe for supper finally, at 8:30 pm, and now almost to bed.  And of course, because this paperwork exercise has been snake-bit, one of the two documents I printed is the wrong document.  Svetlana said to get the translation of the new birth certificate, but I really needed the translation of the old birth certificate.  We will have to try and deal with this tomorrow.

One funny observation, at least to me.  Modern strollers in the United States are pretty fancy gizmos, but in Ukraine, they are Cadillac versions.  It seems to be a cultural thing that it is a healthy practice to make sure your kids get out in the fresh air, no matter the temperature, even from a young age.  So these strollers are built like winter fortresses.  Quilted sides and bottoms, cocoon enclosures with a warm top cover.  When it is chilly, all you see is a pudgy face peeking out with a stocking cap pulled down to the eyebrows.  Strollers and moms are everywhere, everyday.

(Libby)

Today was a day of rejoicing and choosing gratitude after a day of failure.  When we think of all the myriad ways God has blessed us it is shameful that we got so discouraged yesterday.  Many of you prayed for us, many of you emailed us, many of you are helping us in various ways.  We thank you and we thank our amazing God!  I finally had the privilege of meeting Andrew's parents.  His father was gracious and gentlemanly, like Andrew.  His mother welcomed me like an old friend even though conversation was impossible.  We were able to communicate in spite of everything.  It is humbling to receive so many kindnesses and not be able to even thank people adequately.  We certainly owe many debts of love.  When we left, Andrew's father brought a lovely plate of apples for us.  Then his mother brought a bag for us to take them in.  We also had a great visit with Julia today.  She used more English and we laughed and had fun together.  She is very affectionate and seems to be happy to have parents, even when we must set limits or tell her no about some things.  Today was a good day.  We also got a picture with the girls from the cafe who have endured our lack of Ukrainian language and have helped us order our food so many times.  We hope to be traveling to Kiev on Friday!  Prayers please!

This will be Short

Have you ever had a day, after which, it is better just not to talk about it?  Well, it was "one of those days".  We are going backwards.  We spent 7 hours in the car today, either driving to Sumy, or sitting outside a government building waiting for Svetlana.  We went there today to take passport photos, and never even got to the photographer.  I can't write about it . . . I might put my fingers through the Ipad.  And immigration is no better.  They have placed me in a Catch 22.  I basically have to do two different things separately, and together, at the same time, but not all at once.  Make sense?  Not to me either.

I better stop now.  I feel the effects of the truffle and cookie wearing off rapidly.

So close and yet so far

Today shook out just about the way I should have expected it to.  We picked up Julia and got to the grey door on time.  Svetlana and Irina (asst orphanage director) were already there.  They huddled together for a few minutes, told us to wait, and disappeared into the police station.  After a while, Svetlana came out and grabbed Julia, and went back in.  Julia came back out and the three of us were together again.  We just stood on the sidewalk for two hours, trying not to feel to cold or be too bored.  Libby would not let me dance, but i did sing some.  Then we headed to the notary in Romny and you will never guess what happened when we got there.  Or maybe you can.  The notary computer system was down again.  Arrggghhh.  Svetlana called the nice notary in Sumy, who helped us last time, and she agreed to do what she could for us.  Because of the number of us, we had to go in two taxis.  I was a little worried about that, but since Irina was doing some of her own business, too, she paid for one of the taxis.  Started at the notary, and all of us signed an official piece of paper.  Then off to other destinations, for which I never did understand the purpose.  All we did was sit in the car, or when I couldn't sit anymore, stand out in the cold.  After about an hour and a half, Svetlana reappeared saying she got two out of three things done, but the third would have to be done tomorrow.  So we will be traveling back to Sumy in the morning, hopefully for the last time.  (Well, not really the last time.  In 5 days, we have to pick up her passport.  If things go right, just Svetlana will have to make that trip) It is so hard to be with Julia and not be able to communicate.  We really need to get her away from here, so we can have her undivided attention, and start pouring English into her.

The drive to Sumy was gorgeous today.  I should have brought the camera.  The fields are mostly harvested now, and being plowed.  Some have already been planted with winter wheat or rye, and are richly green.  The trees are all golden yellow or light orange, with a few still green.  Very, very peaceful and nice.

Nearing the End?

Today was a nice Sunday.  Our friend, Sean, was allowed to preach at the Baptist church this morning, along with two other men.  So a pleasant 2 hour service.  Everyone there is very kind and friendly toward us.  After church, the Ukrainian guys took us to a buffet sort of place, with genuine Ukrainian food ( what else would they have here?  This is hardly a tourist destination). Came home for a restful afternoon.  On our walk home, we were called by Svetlana and she is planning to come over tomorrow.  She had funny instructions for us - meet her by the grey door downtown, you know the one?  Fortunately, i know which grey door to meet her by.  So maybe at 9:45 tomorrow morning, the grinding wheels of progress will begin to turn again.  We went back to the Foxes for the evening, as this might be our last time to see them (ever?).  So we are now anxious to get home/sad to leave good friends.  Andrew, Vova, a new person Tanya, Misha and Inna for a while, were at the Foxes.  Vova brought his guitar and we discovered Andrew has more talents - he is quite good at playing and singing.  They made us sing the American National Anthem, and we talked them into singing the Ukrainian hymn.  Now we are trying to shift gears mentally, now that we may finally be leaving Romny.  We are so used to being disappointed, it is not sinking in that we may actually be on our way.  If it is a "go", much will happen in the next 48 hours.  We will try to keep you posted.

This was a quick picture as people were starting to get up from lunch today.

Autumn Day

Just hangin' out in beautiful historic Romny.  The day started off a little shaky - woke up early, discouraged, etc.  We had delayed washing clothes, thinking we would be in Kiev this weekend, but the clothes situation had grown desperate.  We had too many to do in one day ( my rope in the room can only hold so much).  So I took an arm load over to where the Foxes live and pled with the laundry lady there to wash a load for me.  She was willing to do them (thank goodness!), which left us with just underwear and socks, a manageable load for our tin tub and rope.  Beside being discouraged, Libby also didn't sleep well, so she was pretty down.  Sean came by and prayed with us, and he and I went downtown to see if he could figure out an ATM machine.  While we were there, some group had set up signs (political?) and were looking for trouble.  Another group of men were willing to oblige them.  We watched two scuffles the police had to separate.  With the number of people loitering, it looked like there would be more scuffling to come.  It seemed confined to just the "pro" group and the "con" group, though.  Everyone else just walked by, going about their business.  Back home and ate lunch.  The sun only popped out for about an hour today, so we went strolling through the leaves and went to the store.  I don't remember if I told you that Misha took us to a place that had fresh bread.  So now two "wows" for Romny - truffles and fresh bread.  This was just ordinary white bread, but don't think Wonder Bread or you totally miss the picture.  This has the perfect chewy crust, with soft, moist substantive inside.  Yum yum.  Then we had Julia for about 1-1/2 hours.  We will not get to see her tomorrow.  It is apparently her class's day to sweep and clean the grounds.  Sean is getting to preach at the Baptist church, so we will go there again tomorrow.  Sean ended our day by bringing our laundry and claiming it was "free Perry Laundry Day".  We have been playing this game all along, but now it is official!  He has thrown down the gauntlet of good deeds.  We will find a way to pay him back.  After all, he has kids here.  How hard can this be?

Libby's yellow tunnel

(Libby)

Yesterday was a fun day despite our sadness over another delay. I got to spend most of the day with Cosette and the kids.  They are so much fun and have been a real blessing.  Through knowing the Fox family we have met a few Ukrainians,too. While walking to the store yesterday, Andy and I met Misha on the street!  It was so fun to see a familiar face.  He offered to accompany us to the store and helped us buy things that require more language skills than we have.  He also showed us some Ukrainian foods to try.  We invited him to have lunch with us and he accepted.  It was so nice to be able to offer hospitality.  The Foxes have been so hospitable and we have benefited greatly from it.  We are handicapped here because we have no way to cook in our room.  We have a fridge, but no microwave or stove, so all we can serve are cookies and tea and sandwiches and fruit.  We also have only two plates, and three plastic knives, forks and spoons, so we are limited in ability.  It was very fun to serve a sandwich to Misha with the food he helped us buy.  The bread Andy mentioned is wonderful! After  our visit with Julia i walked with Cosette and the kids to a playground.  Moriah made two friends with some kind and friendly girls who were there.  One of them said hello in perfect English. She could not say much more, but it was enough for the girls to play together.  While the boys watched football at Andrew's house Cosette and I fellowshipped and played with the kids.  They entertained us by performing commercials for all the products they could find in their mom's purse.  We had to end that game after a few items when Elijah (2) came out with lipstick.

Today started off with a bout of homesickness.  The gloomy skies matched my gloomy mood.  When Sean came and prayed for us it was such a blessing.  We also got some emails from home and that always helps.  The sun came out and the day ended up being pleasant, although I really missed Cosette and the kids.  When we took Julia home she told us she loved us (as usual, in English!) and as we were walking away we heard a noise behind us.  It was Julia's roommate, Kristina, who was running to give us a big hug and kisses.

Flower vendors near the stores

Screeeeccchhhh!

Yes, you heard correctly.  That's the sound of our passport progress coming to a halt.  We had hoped today would be the big day, but still no movement.  So the earliest we have a chance for progress will be Monday.  Today was very pleasant after a rainy start.  The sun came out, the temperatures got up to the upper 50's, the trees are autumn colors.  We met Julia on time today, and spent some nice time together.  I have been pressing her to ask us hard questions, which has helped our conversations.  She asked today what our life will be like right after we return to the USA.  We told her, although that was a rather dry conversation.  Then she asked, "What did i think of her?"  How's that for a bold question?  But this gave us more chance to have meaningful dialogue.  We really enjoy these times.  I showed her some of English apps i got, and she thought they were too easy.  That is good!  Perhaps she has more vocabulary stored up than i know.  I went with Sean to Andrew's house tonight and we finally watched the replay of the Ohio St vs Northwestern game.  Now Sean finally knows that OSU is still undefeated.

Here are a few blurry pictures from today.

More running around

For those who like to get to the bottom line right away, we still do not know if the passport hangup is resolved yet, and I still don't have the immigration paperwork issue fixed.  Svetlana is coming back over here on Friday morning to see if she can shake things loose.  If she is successful, we will run over to Sumy and try to get everything turned in.  Then we need to come back and have Julia's pizza party.  So tomorrow could be (hopefully is) a busy day.  I walked over to Andrew's house again today to scan another document, and then sent it to the embassy.  Then the Foxes and we had lunch with two ladies who are here setting up the hosting program for Christmas time.  This is the same group that got us attached to Julia, so we have a special affection for them.  We almost missed seeing Julia again today.  We did not see her at all yesterday.  We checked her place, our place, then I discovered I had no minutes on my phone so I made an emergency run to take care of that, then back to our place, then her place again.  Still no Julia.  We walked downtown to look for her there, stopped in the store quickly for more water, then back to the orphanage.  We were going to stake-out the front door so we could see her as she came in.  But I decided to check her room once more, and there she was, asleep.  So we at least got to hug her a little bit and we made sure of our meeting time tomorrow.  Two of the boys there who know a little bit of English came in and helped us talk T her.  On the way back home, we had an impromptu meeting of the hosting women, Sean, Libby and me, Andrew, then one of the guys from the orphanage, and then another guy who has graduated from the orphanage.  As Andrew would say, who would have thought there would be so many Americans in Romny?  Back to the Foxes for leftovers for supper and finally home.  A least I got to have some truffles today.  The wind is not quite so cold when truffles are on the menu.

In other exciting news, one of the women I work with had her first child today, and I had a great nephew born today!  Or maybe yesterday . . . I don't even know what day it is anymore.

(Libby) 

While still in a state of undressed, drying my hair and some socks, I heard a knock at the door.  I was so glad it was not housekeeping, since I can't speak Ukrainian and they can't speak English.  It was Cosette, moriah, josiah and Elijah.  After I threw on some clothes they came in and we had a fun visit while Cosette checked her messages and the kids watched tv and I put on my make-up.  Moriah made me laugh when she said, very sweetly, "Miss Libby, you do not look like Miss Libby."  I told her to give me a few minutes and Miss Libby will return."  When the paint job was finished, she said,"now you look like Miss Libby!"  So Virginia, make-up is a necessity to your mother!

Then we all walked to the pink store and bought the food for lunch.  Along the way we walked through a beautiful tunnel of yellow leaves.  The ground was covered and the trees reached over us forming a lovely fall tunnel.  We got home, cooked the food and our guests arrived.  We had such a great time of catching up, encouraging prayer and sweet fellowship.  Andrew was amazed that the Fox family and we had only known each other a short time.  I tried to explain the reason we enjoyed each other and loved each other is because the Spirit of Jesus lives in us and causes the love.  I hope he understands what i was trying to say.  He helped us all day long with a genuine smile on his face.  He is so humble and loves for us to correct his English.  He is a treasure.  God just keeps pouring out His blessings despite our stuckness.  We are so ready to come home, but we see God using our time here for good and He is using all our loved ones at home to show us His goodness, too, as you care for each other and pray for us.

At home in Romny

While this has been a disappointing day as far as getting ourselves and Julia out of here, it has also been a day that I felt at home here.  I do appreciate so many things about this pretty town.  First, the walking.  I love walking to all the little stores where we buy groceries and chocolate--another thing I love here--and the peace and quiet.  You do not hear sirens blaring or boom boxes rattling our windows.  People dress very nicely --no saggy pants can be seen here!  I do not know how the ladies walk in the shoes they wear-- high heels on bumpy sidewalks or roads with holes or patches-- but they look nice! I enjoy watching the children walk past our window that looks out on a school across the street.  Today I saw two cute little girls gathering big yellow leaves which are falling from the trees and skipping down the street while their mothers walked a little ahead of them.  Even though the weather is mild today, all the children are bundled up in hats and coats. The fun things that happened today are that I read a sign in Ukrainian!  It said Kievstar, which is the name of a phone company.  The other fun thing is that we recognized someone we know from here on the street and we greeted each other in Ukrainian.  The person we met is the adorable waitress at the cafe in our hotel.  She has been patient and kind and always welcoming despite not being able to understand what we are saying.  Smiles go a long way.  She reminds us of Andrea Fretts, so that is another nice thing.  We also have something to look forward to tonight:  the Foxes have invited Andrew, Vova and some other men to watch Ohio State vs. Northwestern and they included us, too.  We love any chance we get to be with the Fabulous Fox Family and Andrew.

We are having Way too much Fun!

Suppose you lived in a different town from me and I had a purple crayon.  You wanted me to prove that my crayon was purple, so i scribbled on a piece of paper and mailed it to you.  You then called me up and asked me if the purple was made with a red and blue crayon, and I said "no", it was made with a purple crayon.  You replied that only purple made with red and blue crayons was truly purple.  I have no way of knowing this, so you suggest that I contact the crayon manufacturer and have them certify that the purple I sent you was made from red and blue crayons.  Also, the certified letter (on company letterhead, of course) must be notarized, apostilled, and delivered within 5 working days, by a certified courier.  Without going into anymore details than my fable, this is what we are dealing with right now.  And sadly, there is very little exaggeration to my story.

Today was busy and interesting.  I started by going to Andrew's house to print, review, correct, and email the translation of the court resolution back to Svetlana.  Then Sean appeared (with some really good pastries)  and then all three of us walked to the bus station to meet two arriving Americans and help them get to their destination.  Sean and I knew one of the ladies, so it was a mini reunion in Romny.  Six adults smashed into a small taxi, back to the Foxes, and we all had lunch together.  While the guys were doing this, Libby, Cosette and the kids walked to the market to buy cucumbers and collect ladybugs, and then made lunch.  Andrew remarked he had never seen so many Americans in Romny before in his life!  Everyone split to go in different directions.  We had Julia from 3-5 this afternoon and had a really great time with her.  We had good, open sweet conversation, and she told us how much she looked forward to being in America with us.  After not seeing much of her the last couple of days, this was uplifting to us, particularly Libby.  I needed to call the immigration office in the US, but needed to use Sean's phone, but we had to add minutes to it, so off to the phone place, bought some minutes (lots of hand gestures and scribbling on paper), loaded it up and made my call.  (At this point, refer to fable above).  Cosette insisted we eat their food again!  Maybe she has adopted us in this process and i just missed it!  And finally home, to be greeted with a message we have a child with a health issue.  Fortunately, Sam and MB are taking care of everything.  Whew!  What a day.

Here, finally, is an authorized photo of Andrew (local hero, at least to the Foxes and Perrys), and Katherine (peace corp teacher).

2 steps forward, 3 steps back

Yesterday was a nice, quiet Sunday.  We "did church" in our room yesterday morning.  It turned out to be very interesting.  We listened to two sermons, one by John McArthur and one by Tim Keller, both sermons having to do with the Holy Spirit.  (We tried to listen to Pastor Bart, but my IPad did not like quick time or flash something or whatever, so we could not hear it.). It was fascinating to listen to two really smart guys come at the same topic, and agree in all the important aspects, but approach the subject from different angles.  We didn't do much else.  I read the entire book, The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis.  

Today was a different story.  The short version is the passport office in Sumy wants more documentation on Julia's deceased mother.  We think they want her old passport, but who knows why.  Very frustrating.  This sets us back maybe two days minimum, but possibly more.  But some good news, sort of.  I do, in fact, have to send a raft of paperwork back to the immigration office in Missouri (instead of the embassy in Kiev), so I went to Andrew's house and printed the rest of the documents.  I gave this to Svetlana to mail from Kiev.  I got to meet Andrew's parents in the process, and show them pictures of our family. We also started the online process for the visa with the US embassy, so that is underway.

Now Libby's turn. Today Cosette invited me over to learn how to make borsch.  Every Ukrainian MUST know how to make this soup.  We have been here so long that I am feeling Ukrainian.  Andrew came to teach us, so i told them about Connie Bea Hope and Estelle.  Andrew was Connie Bea and oversaw the dicing and grating of many vegetables.  If Julia agrees, we will all go over tonight and eat it at the Fox's spacious apartment.  If I can find beets in Montgomery we will have it there, too.  It is so delicious, beautiful and nutritious.  Harosha!  (That means all is well.)

Libby's turn

We just watched our weekly fireworks show out the window.  A fun tradition here is to have fireworks at the end of the wedding reception.  The hotel where we are staying has a large room for parties and it has been in use every weekend we have been here, sometimes with mid-week celebrations,too, like birthday parties.  Ukrainians love to dance and sing and shoot fireworks.

When we walked down to the orphanage today to see Julia there was a group of teen-aged boys standing by the door.  They were so proud of themselves for saying hello in English . That was fun.  I feel like we are getting to know some people here in town.  I recognize a few of the kids from the orphanage and the guys the Foxes have introduced to us, Andrew and Vova .  It is starting to feel not so foreign now that it is almost time to leave.

Julia seems to be happy about coming home with us and is opening up more and is braving her English speaking more and more.  She can read it much more than I thought but I am not sure she understands what she reads.  But just being able to know the abc's is a big deal.  I wish I knew the Ukrainian/Russian abc's .  Then I would not feel so helpless and out of place.

Andy just brought me something that I love in Ukraine:  chocolate!  They have great chocolate.  Tonight we did not feel like going out into the cold for dinner, so we had a cozy meal of crackers with Laughing Cow cheese and instant soup.  We had salami and cheese sandwiches for lunch.  We are blessed to be able to buy food and have a warm room and a fun, nice place to stay.  The people in the hotel are very friendly,too.  There are two waitresses who are really nice to us and help us figure out how to order.  They probably call us the cabbage family because we order the coleslaw every time we eat there, which is often.  It reminds us of Linda McDaniel's amazing slaw.

While we are very anxious to get home and can get discouraged when things get bogged down and take longer than we thought they would we have had a very pleasant experience here and lots of fun.  We have had great fellowship with the Martins and the team they serve with in Odessa and with the Fox family and with the people at the baptist church where we worshiped last Sunday. We have enjoyed getting emails from folks at home.  We love that we can stay in touch most of the time and some of you have been so kind to write to us newsy updates from the home front . Yesterday on our way home from Sumy the sky was ablaze with the glory of God.  We watched the sun set for most of the trip and the sky got more and more beautiful as we watched.  Julia signed her new name for the first time and she said in English, "my name is Julia." We are so blessed!

Saturday Night

The party is cranking up downstairs in the cafe.  But up on the second floor, all is quiet.  Svetlana was not successful in getting the Romny passport office to come to work today, so she has headed back to Kiev for the weekend.  We have established the schedule, but I think this is very optimistic (ie, everything has to go right from here on out to meet this schedule).  Passport work Monday and Tuesday morning. Go to Kiev Tuesday afternoon.  Work on embassy paperwork and wait five days for passport.  This gets us out to the following Tuesday.  Wednesday, medical exam, Thursday and Friday embassy, then find the nearest exit and depart.  So even optimistically, we have two more weeks.  Pretty quiet day.  We did laundry, so it is hanging all over the room again, met with Svetlana, did some vital grocery shopping, saw Julia for 1-1/2 hours, messaged the kids, and got on FaceTime with Laura and Kate.

This is Libby dodging laundry to put on makeup.

Riding the rollercoaster

The weather forecasters had it right today - this was a cold one!  High was in the mid 30s, but wind chill was mid 20s.  Brrrrrrr.  The Foxes had their court date today, so we were going to watch the youngest while the older two went with their parents. Svetlana called saying the computers were working again,  and after court was done, Libby and I and Julia would go to Sumy.  Before very long, Sean called in a panic.  The judge would not let the children in court - could I come get them? So I walked across town, found the kids being watched by some office lady, walked them home in a very brisk wind.  Court seemed to take a while, and instead of giving the Foxes the decision on the spot, they had to come back at 2:00.  This delayed our Sumy plans, since Svetlana had to be at court.  We threw together some lunch, I picked up Julia at 1:00, back to the Foxes to watch the kids, court was completed (yeah - the Foxes win!), and it is approaching 3:00 before we get out of town.  We went back to the Registration building, where literally all that was required was for me to sign my name in one location, to the notary office again, for Julia to officially change her name ( I think), and then we headed to the Tax office ( a new step in the process).  I believe everyone has a tax number, and Julia has to have hers updated with her new name.  This is an essential part of getting her new passport (the one she doesn't need ever again once she leaves the country).  And guess what?  The tax office computers are down!  We cannot take this next step, the office is closed on the weekend, of course, and no telling if the computers will work on Monday.  So back in the taxi and head for home.  These multiple trips to Sumy are particularly irksome to me, since each taxi ride costs $125.  I'm never sure how many more trips are required.  I guess we'll see.  So . . . The 5 days to process the passport still have not started.  We are still trying to sort out the immigration paperwork confusion.  Sounds like I will be calling the embassy on Monday to see what is really required.  Hopefully this will be much ado about nothing.  There is a funny clash of Ukrainian culture happening tonight.  There has been an invasion of the hotel by a group of big wheel Orthodox priests and their entourage, at the same time as a loud and (we suspect) alcohol imbibing party going on in the cafe.  We are pleased to report that we set no fires today.  During lunch, just to kill time, I started writing out the alphabet and going over the sounds each letter makes with Julia.  She already has a good grasp of the letters and sounds, so that is very helpful.  On the trip, Libby prompted her to say, and she was able to say very clearly, "My name is Julia Elizabeth Perry."

Fire away!

As it turns out, we did not watch the Fox children last night.  Some Ukrainian men the Foxes have met found a heater for them, so they all slept well and warm and all at their apartment.  This proved to be a good thing, given the events of the morning.  I was first to go take a shower this morning.  Just as I was getting ready to get in, I heard Libby say, oh dear . . . . Oh Dear! . . . . ANDY!!!!  The tone of her voice was more urgent than her words, so I burst out of the bathroom in all my glory, and saw smoke rising from the corner of the room where she was standing.  Just as I got there, the towel she was standing over started burning.  Libby was not quite awake when she started to make her coffee today. She put water in the pot, plugged in the heating element, but left the element under the towel.  It apparently heats up pretty fast.  I took the water and dumped it on the fire, trying not to ruin the television which was right next to the fire.  We successfully saved everyone's life in the building and kept the inferno from spreading to the next city block.  I wish I had taken a picture of the towel.  It was neatly folded into fourths, so there were 4 burn holes in each quadrant of the towel.  We are fortunate we did not generate enough smoke to set off the fire alarm - it was cold today and I'm sure people would not have appreciated the crazy Americans forcing them outside early in the morning.  

We are now in the third day of the national notary computer shutdown, so we are at a dead standstill.  I am trying to work through another paperwork glitch with my immigration documents.  Andrew invited us to his apartment to use his computer, printer and scanner.  It was a huge help in moving us in the right direction.  Libby was excited to visit a real Ukrainian home.  Apartment complexes here are funny - the stairwell and entrance can be pretty ratty, but the homes are nice.  This apartment was very pleasant, spacious, and nicely taken care of.  Andrew graciously made us tea and served homemade cake his mother had made.  We saw Julia for about 1-1/2 hours today, with Svetlana, and explained what is going on and what is about to happen.  The stress of leaving her friends is starting to get to her, and she had a seizure today.  It would be real helpful if we could get through this current stage and get on to Kiev and then home.  To end the day, Svetlana and we had dinner with the Foxes.  We had Ukrainian fish prepared for all of us in a very small kitchen, and everything turned out great. Tomorrow is their big day in court, so they are both nervous and excited.  We are watching their youngest for them during court.

A busy day

We made our mad dash over to Sumy to work on several important documents.  If you are a citizen of Ukraine, you have to have an internal passport as well as an international passport.  The internal passport has things like your home address, vocation, where you are licensed, etc.  We have to redo Julia's because her name is changing, so even though she will only be Julia Perry for a few days in Ukraine, she still needs a new internal passport.  This is a 5-day or so process when things are working.  We also went to generate a new birth certificate with her new name, and Libby and me listed as her parents.  There was also some document which needed the services of a notary, plus both of the above actions have to be notarized.  Unfortunately, everything is NOT working.  It seems there is a national notarizing computer system that has been down all of yesterday and today.  No one knows when it will be fixed.  Nothing we need can be processed until the system comes back up.  So while our trip was successful in that we met everyone we needed to meet, we came back empty-handed.  The trip itself was a hoot.  We rode in a taxi, so there were 5 adults in a car that could not have been bigger than a civic.  Driving style was both similar and different than Stas.  We did not go nearly as fast, which was a relief, but he took a much more relaxed and casual approach to passing vehicles.  He just went whenever he wanted, whether something was coming or not.  So it was not uncommon for us to be three across - the car we were passing, the oncoming car, and us.  It's a good thing our car was small!  We did not take up much room.

Tonight will be a new adventure.  The Fox's two older kids are sleeping here tonight.  Their new apartment is not working well for sleeping arrangements (not enough beds, and no heat) so we will keep the two oldest kids so they can focus on their youngest.  We'll see how it goes.  I need to remember to not be a grandpa (not feeding them sugar before bedtime, and definitely not sticking a suction cup toy to my head, but that's another story) and get back into daddy mode in a big hurry.

Back on the clock . . . Almost

Today turned into a busy day.  The exciting news is the hotel turned on the heat.  I guess October 1st is the magical day.  It was so warm, I had to turn the valves off to the radiators.  As evening approached, the heat got turned back off, so I need to learn the schedule to make sure we get heat when it is available.  The Foxes came over this morning just a little cold and weary.  The kids didn't sleep well, so they weren't their usual cheery selves.  But we warmed them up, and tried to amuse the kids.  We shared lunch with them today - Cosette made homemade soup.  What a treat!  We went to see Julia at 3:00 but she had to wash clothes.  It seemed a lot of kids were having to do work, so we only spoke to her for a few minutes.  Then we had this big, spontaneous party in our room.  The Foxes came back over, and brought an American Peace Corp English teacher, who is 24, then Andrew came and marveled at all the Americans in Romny.  As we were getting ready to go to supper, Svetlana showed up, so we had quite a group headed to the cafe.  One other side note.  I finally got Sean Fox to take me to the store that sells individually wrapped truffles.  Oh my goodness!  You cannot BELIEVE how good these are!  If you are very nice to me, and bribe me with obscene amounts of money, I might consider sharing a piece of one with you.  You really ought to fly over here and get a bag of them.

Libby's turn

Please pray for the Fabulous Fox family.  They have been here for more than a month and have been a great blessing to us.  We have watched them face trials without complaint, always trusting The Lord .  They have the gift of hospitality and welcome people so easily.  Today Cosette magically prepared a wonderful lunch in a tiny kitchen with crazy appliances and made it look so easy.  They need our prayers for the rest of the adoption to go smoothly.  Their kids are amazing, too.  In the month they have been here they have moved 5 times!!!! But they are happy and do not complain.  They are loving and giving and display the gospel well.  Praise The Lord .

Treading water day 6

Sunday turned into an interesting day.  We got home from church, ate lunch, chilled for a bit, and then went to the Foxes.  Andrew was there, and another guy named Vova (I think).  Inna came over, too.  We stayed there for a few hours and then went to eat at the Ukrainian barbeque place.  Sean Fox did a good job of engaging the guys in profitable discussions.  Vova wanted to talk world politics, and both of them just wanted to speak in English and discuss difficult things.  Sean asked this nice discussion opener: what is the reason for suffering in the world?  We discussed if man was basically good or bad, the origins of the universe, and what does "love" mean.  Sean was very good at using these topics to present the gospel and get them thinking about things they had never pondered before.  It was fun to be a part of this.  We did not see Julia today, because she was going somewhere, but as it turned out, she came by our room in the afternoon and we weren't here.  This morning, I helped the Foxes load all their stuff into a van so they could move to a new apartment.  Libby watched all three kids in our room.  Between those two things, we wiped out the morning.  I had to make a high speed run to the store, since we were out of water.  Julia and a friend, Anya, came by this afternoon for a short visit, we walked them home, then out for bananas, and back to our room.  I know what you are thinking: it just doesn't get much more exciting than that!

Libby's turn

This morning was so fun with Moriah, Josiah and Elijah.  They brought some art supplies with them and made lots of sweet and beautiful artwork for me to bring home and put on my refrigerator .  It was fun talking to them and seeing how smart and creative each one of them are.  We got to visit a little with Cosette, too, and Andy got to hang out with Sean some.  Our time with Julia was so short.  We are trying to plan a pizza outing for her and her friends and half-siblings, but we need our facilitator to make the arrangements with the foster family and the orphanage, so she is feeling antsy that the plans are not in place.  We have not been able to communicate well enough with her that this is something we are planning to do for sure.  But we still have fun with her and laugh a lot.  We enjoyed meeting her friend Anya .  She seems like a fun girl and is very cute.  We heard from Cosette that there is a home for girls that graduate from the orphanage about an hour away in Sumy .  We were so happy to hear of Ukrainians having a heart to care for the orphans.  The sun was out during our walk this afternoon and that made all the world seem more cheery.  We miss our family and friends so much and are so grateful to many of you for sending us emails.  We don't feel so far away then.

Treading water, day 4&5

Not much happening on Saturday.  Just enduring the cold weather.  We got to see Julia for about 1-1/2 hours.  We had both some serious conversation and playful.  We are continuing to try to break down barriers between us.  Language is such a huge barrier, though.  There were times when I really wanted to be able to convey an idea, but couldn't seem to do it.  Sunday morning, we went to a local Baptist church service, that last about 1 hr and 40 minutes.  It had a good format for being long.  We started by singing, then one man spoke, then singing and prayer and another man spoke, then singing and prayer and another man spoke, then singing, a time of prayer requests, prayer, and we were done.  Many people came to greet us and were very friendly.  Some spoke a few words of English, and two or three spoke enough that we could communicate.  We met a very unusual family - they had four biological children and three adopted children.  I told them we also were about to have seven children, so we had a fun connection with them.  Most families in Ukraine are only 1-2 children.

I was happy to see that LSU was beaten by Georgia.  CBS needs to step it up and get highlights posted a little bit faster, though. Mr. Fox is a big Ohio St fan, so I am forbidden to tell him the score until he gets a chance to watch the game tomorrow.  That's it from the chilly NE of Ukraine.

Libby's post

The Fox family have been a great blessing and encouragement to us.  They have been like a Welcome Wagon to us.  They invite us to join them whenever they can and we have enjoyed their hospitality very much.  They are so enthusiastic about meeting people and trying new things and new experiences.  They are lots of fun.  Of course we love being with their adorable children,too.  Their six year old, Moriah, told me she wanted to come to my house when she grows up and stay two days.  While she was there she would cook mushrooms and onions for me that I would love.  Her four year old brother piped up that he wanted to come, too.  Moriah told him he could pull up my weeds!  They keep us entertained and charmed. The family has introduced us to so many people, but our favorite is a young man, Andrew, who just graduated university with a degree in physics.  He is gentle and kind and quietly helpful.  I wish we could bring him home with us!  God has made our paths straight and we see His blessing and care for us all day long, every day, in these kinds of details.  We know we are not alone.  His people are everywhere and His glory IS over the whole earth!  One fun detail about the worship service--the first two songs we were able to sing because they were familiar in America!  First they sang "Count Your Blessings" and then "In His Time".  The rest of the songs were beautiful, but in Ukrainian .  It was good to be in God's house on His day with His people.