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July 24 Summer is flying by!Hello Everyone!
The girls are doing so wonderful. They are outside enjoying their slip-n-slide as I sit here. They love the water. We went to the big pool today and it was closed down for an hour wait because there was an accident--poo in the pool I guess. This has happened to us twice now. So we opted to return home and play. They are completing their last week of summer school and are doing it with flying colors. They both are speaking English extremely well and they now know their months of the year, days of the week and recognize and write all of the alphabet and numbers through 50. They are very creative and love to sing and dance too. They truly are amazing and our special little angels. They eat like horses but each one has only gained a pound or so. Wish I could say the same for me. I look at the food and it goes to my waistline. Anyways everything is going very well here and I pray for all of you waiting families everyday! Keep your faith because miracles do come true!
Janie June 23 Summertime!Hello Everyone!
We are having alot of fun this summer. The girls started summer school and attend half days for the next 6 weeks. We felt this would help keep the girls going with the daily routine of school and the extra practice will do them wonders. They are doing so great it is truly amazing. Every day they impress us more and more. They are constantly asking if Kevin and I are proud and how could we not be. I have to say at times they are quite the handful and papa sometimes seems to be the instigator of that a wee bit too often. Sasha is still struggling with the sounds of the alphabet but she tries so hard and we are glad she is eager to learn. She tells everyone "I speak English now!" It is funny to hear her say it. I start back to work half days next week so there will be some more adjustments for all of us. Kevin especially since he will be in charge of getting the girls up and ready and off to school everyday. He is getting a bit nervous I think which is strange because he never worries about anything that is usually my job. He wishes I did not choose to work 5 days a week. I think he will do fine and besides it will be good for him to get going in the morning and have some more time with the girls. I just hope they don't give him too hard of a time especially Elena as she is not a morning person just like her papa. We have been going to the park and to the swimming pool. Both girls absolutley love the pool. They also love to go bike riding so we got a bike trailer and they sit back and enjoy. Well I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on how things are going in the Apfel household. June 05 3 more days til summer vacationIt's been a fast 8 1/2 weeks back in the USA. The girls continue to adjust very well and have kept Janie very busy to say the least. Alexandra is 3 days short of completing her 1st grade. Janie and I had a meeting with the school psychologist, her teacher and language specialist and all believe she is doing remarkable. Janie and I had our doubts as to whether we as parents were doing Alexandra justice in letting her go in to the 2nd grade, but the school thinks its in her best interest. The English seems to be her only barrier and that is going to be eased with a 6 week summer school program and more time in the states. By fall, they believe things will be much easier for her and soon there won't be any barrier. Elena on the other hand is continuing to progress even faster. Although she isn't in school for the meantime, she to is making strides. Summer school will be great for her too. She is probably the best challenge for Alexandra as she seems to be picking things up quicker as when she was in the Ukraine, we dont think she was exposed to the Russian language arts as Alexandra was. Lena seems to grasp the English letters so much faster while Sasha struggles a bit. Its great for them to lean on one another. Tomorrow Sasha visits the Madison zoo on a field trip. She is very excited. Lena and her preschool class had their field trip about 3 weeks ago. Janie chapperoned that trip but is not for Sasha's class. With Elena out of school for the time being, she thought it best to hang our with her. We don't want to overload the parents too much with watching them. Although I'm sure they would love it. My mom and dad had the chance to have the girls for a sleep-over on Saturday. I think by Sunday late morning they had their fill of grandchildren!
 Anyways, thought I'd update you all a bit on the latest action in the Apfel household. All is great, even the weather for a change. Will try to keep up on the blog soon.Kevin May 25 7 weeks in America!Hi Everyone
Just wanted to give a quick update on how the girls are doing. Tomorrow Elena graduates from pre-school and she is officially registered to start a full day of kindergarten in the fall. She loves school and is becoming alot more social. She learns very quickly and likes to outsmart Sasha in any way that she can. On the other hand, Sahsa is doing well but does struggle a bit. She is doing very well in school and will be advancing to second grade in the fall but we have alot of work to do this summer to try and help her catch up a bit. She gets very frustrated and her mind likes to wander to la-la land instead of concentrating. It helps alot when Elena challenges her. Their English is coming along very well. I am very proud of how hard the girls try. They really want to make us proud and they love America and their new family and friends. April 29 Everything is going GREAT!Hi Everyone!
 We just wanted to let everyone know that things are going great with the girls! They started school this week (pre-k and 1st )and made it through the entire week with very little problems. We are so proud of them. Today Elena got her ears pierced as she had decided since big sister had them done 2 weeks ago that now she wanted to wear earrings too so we promised her to get them done if she did well at school. Their english is improving by the day. I think by this fall they will have a very good vocabulary down. They have both visited the doctors and passed with flying colors and Elena had her first dentist visit this week and everything went great with that too. No teeth problems for her. Whew! We have been attending church every week and they are doing very well behaving and listening during service too. Over all they are adjusting even better than we ever could have hoped for. Sasha had a bithday
 party this past Tuesday and now is the big "7". She got a new Princess tent from mama and papa and last night they both slept in their new sleeping bags and tent in the living room as a bonus for the good week and making us very proud. They love to be told how proud we are of them and how much we love them. If you ask if they want to go back to Ukraine they say Yuck! No Ukraine! They love their new family, pets, house and over all are enjoying being spoiled by all of their new family and friends. Everyone has been so welcoming and so supportive. We want everyone to know how much that means to us to have made this such a wonderful experience and such a blessed event! I will post some new pictures of the girls in the next few days. I do have to say they wear me out  and I am ready for bed every night by 9 or 9:30. So since it is already passed my bedtime I better cut this off since they are early risers. Take care!Janie  April 08 Everything is going great!Hello Everyone!
I am exhausted at the end of each day. Everything is going great. They love their grandparents and entire family and friends that they have already met. They are bonding so well it is amazing. They have slept in their own beds since the first night and have had not issues at all. They are very active little girls that always are on the go but it is great because maybe it will help me to lose the last 10 ounds I need to take off before summer gets here. Today we ventured to Walmart just the girls and I and it was interesting. They were actually better than I thought they would be but we do not have the same taste when it comes to shoe shopping. They wanted anything that sparkles in gold or any other bizarre color except the boring black like mom insisted they get for their church shoes. Alexandra was very brave today also because she got her ears pierced and did not whimper or anything. She had them pierced at one time but they had grown shut so Kevin and I gave her the option to have them redone and she really wanted it so we did it. Elena told me NO! when I asked if she wanted it done. I think Alexandra told her she was a whimp at least that is what I translated from their conversation afterwards especially when Elena got mad at her for whatever she said. The language barrier is quite difficult but we are managing. We are highly considering Alexandra go to school in a couple of weeks and then both girls will also enter a summer school program. They already count to 10, write their ABCs up to F and are working on some other things. It is a start. Well I guess I better go for now. Take care!
Janie April 07 I'm HomeWell I made it home tonight. Flight was for the most part uneventful. Slight delay in take off from Frankfort and thus arrival at O'Hare, but was through immigration and customs by 8:15- 8:30 p.m. Janie, my mom, dad, Janie's dad and Little Neal from the funeral home picked us up with the suburban. The girls are happy to be home and quite wound up with excitement in their new establishments. Had a ceremonial beer with the family upon arriving at the homestead and now to the computer. Been up for 25 hours now, so why try to sleep. Will get there eventually. Somebody's been in the house preparing for our arrival. Balloons, ribbons, signs all waiting for us inside. Quite a homecoming. The girls are a bit excited with the cat and dog, but I don't think there's reciprocity. LIttle too much energy. Their gonna get gray hair like papa from the past month. Guess that'll do it for now. Thanks for your extra prayers and support through this past month. From elation to sadness and back to elation. Emotional roller coaster all the way. You all are the best. Thanks. Kevin April 05 Homeward Bound!!I just want to let everyone know that Kevin called me this morning to let me know that he has everything done at the embassy and all the paperwork and visas are in hand and completed. Everything is officially done and he can fly home tomorrow. He is flying on Lufthansa. His flight is from Kiev to Frankfurt and then into Ohare Chicago at 7:10pm. His parents and I are going down to pick them up. Kevins mom is beyond excited. Kevins coworker is loading us up in the funeral home suburban so we can all fit and meet them when they arrive. He is extremely exhausted and can't wait to get home and sleep he said. I am very excited that they got a flight sooner than expected. I am so ready to get our new lives as a family started!
Pray for a safe arrival and we will let you all know when they are home!
Janie April 04 Kevin and the Girls are safe in Kiev!Hi Everyone!
Kevin and the girls arrived safely to Kiev after about 14+ hours in the car. He said it was way too long of a ride but the girls were very good. He started out this morning around 7:30 and headed to the orphanage. When he got there the girls were waiting and more than willing to strip off all of their clothes and put on their new ones. He said they were in such a hurry to leave they walked right out the doors and wanted to head to the van. They did not cry or even want to say goodbye to anyone. One of the caretakers made them come back in and say their goodbyes to the other children. He said there was no turning back they wanted to get to America to see mama. He has quite the tales to tell about his journey with being a first time father. He said at one point they were riding in the car and all of a sudden there was a terrible smell. He thought it was Costa and Costa thought it was Kevin. It turned out to be Elena. He was talking with his mom and dad at that time but had to cut it short because they needed to poop and fast. He was just worried that she had an accident. He was so funny telling me this story. He said the only restroom they could find was disgusting and was a hole in the ground so here he is holding her over the hole, trying not to get anything on her pants, letting her do her thing and the only thing he had to wipe with was a kleenex in his pocket. He said he was concentrating so hard not to let her slip into the hole or himself. He is really becoming a father and fast. It builds his character I told him. After he got done with one then the other one needed to go. At least he had the routine down. I am terrible as all I could do was laugh and joke with him that I was glad that it was him not me. He also informed me that the 2 DVDs that he had bought, which were Cinderella and another Disney one would not play in either DVD player because of a region code so instead he picked a couple movies that he had brought. So needless to say my girls first american movie was Dumb and Dumber. Great. He said they laughed alot and it kept them entertained. What next? He said they have their doctors appt at 8am and then their embassy visit. They will have everything done by 3 so he claims. He was a little angry that Lot airlines could not get him and both girls on the same flight so he is going to have to start over with airfare just like I had to. He is quite confident that he will get his airfare booked tomorrow and be flying home on Friday sometime. I hope that it works out for him. He needs to be home and get some rest before heading back to work right away. I think I have told pretty much everything for todays adventures. If he is stuck in Kiev over night tomorrow he may try to post to everyone and give an update and if not you will all have to put up with my boring dictations from him. Thanks again to everyone who is following through with his journey and keep them in your prayers that they can return home safely by the end of the week!
Janie April 02 We've got our own van!!Yes it is true. The boys are back in action and on the prowl. Oh.. the girls are fine too. Did I mention that on Friday Costa and I were able to drive again? Hee hee. Anyways, sorry for the long pause in postings. We've been busy with Costa's mother visiting and bringing his documents on Friday and seeing the girls twice a day now. Once in a.m. and once in p.m. We have been stealing the girls in the afternoon to get them out of the orphanage. We like to visit this dessert cafe in the "city" and have some cake and juice. The girls got balloons and Papa bought each of them a stuffed toy as well. They seem to be in their glory with such simple things. It has been such a treat to read all of your comments. Hard to believe that the blog has made it far and wide. Funny thing this internet and all. Today is a sad day for me as this afternoon is Janies mom's visitation. Wish I were there to support the family, but I know that they are happy I'm taking care of my girls. I also know all of you are taking care of Janie and her family for me. If you do get to the visitation or funeral tomorrow, please give them a hug for me. Thanks. On a better note is was great to hear my Badgers are headed to the Frozen Four. Not sure who they will be there with, but hoping the Gophers are home for the season. Kessel's such a poop! :) Hey Toodles, if you're in Milwaukee for the games, make sure you sieve for me. Last week or so have been taking toll on me. Sleep is non-existant. Last night was best sleep in days and that was only 5 hours. Beer doesn't help much either, tho I did try on Friday night pretty hard. Saturday morning was not so good as you may well imagine. I'm not saying I was hungover, but the Kevmeister was not functioning properly for sure. Saturday night was dry! :) Olga my faciiltator is due in Donetsk at 7:00 a.m. Monday. Costa and I will be there to pick her up. Hoping we can have all paperwork in order so that Tuesday we can file the new birth certificates with Janie and I as parents and then to Donetsk for the girl's passports. If all is smooth (theres and oxymoron for you) we will abscond with the girls and hit the road to Kiev in the afternoon. If not, then Wed. a.m. to Kiev and hopefully tie up loose ends on Thursday so we can fly out Friday. If not Friday then Saturday. Lets pray for the smooth route. Weather is back to crappy. Guess it hasn't been picture perfect home either. Wish I could have been there to golf with the boys. But better they have few rounds practice. Let them feel good about themselves before I begin the pummeling. Guess I'd better sign off. Will try to update tommorow on progress and plan of attack. Thanks for checking in on me.
Kev April 01 Kevin is doing Fine!I just wanted to let everyone know that Kevin is doing fine and he wanted me to post something to let you know he has just been busy with the girls and has not been able to get to the internet cafe in the past couple of days. He is hoping to update you all tomorrow. So sorry that I am boring and don't have any jazz to my posts. I am sure he will be back in full force tomorrow so be prepared. Who knows what he will come up with. You just never know with him! Thanks for keeping in touch with him and helping him get through this.
Janie March 29 Hump DayHello. Its Wednesday here in Gorlovka. The weather is absolutely fantastic today. In the 60's and sunny. Quite a change from most days here. Wish I was home with this weather. Hoping the golf course is open when I get back. Not that there will be much time for golf. Costa and I got another kick in the can today tho. His papers are still in Nikolayev awaiting re-authorization and their computers are down. Not sure when they will arrive here. We were optomistic for Today or even tomorrow, but the way things are going it will be probably over the weekend or maybe Monday. Lets hope, cuz I'm counting on gettin out of here Tuesday or Wednesday the latest for our drive back to Kiev and final processing. I'm feeling better today. Costa and I used the sauna last night and played pool. The "hot-tub" isn't quite so "hot" either. Its actually (use your imagination here) a huge like wine barrel thing a ma jiggy. Cut the end off and fill it with cold water. Ice cold water that is! It stands 4ft tall and you immerse yourself in it after each time in the sauna. Can you say shrinkage! I probably shouldn't have typed that, but Janie's not here to slap me. Hee hee. I have been editing myself rather well tho. I find it fairly amusing to see what I really type. Trust me here... I'm hearing this for the first time myself. Elena was at the hospital today. Don't worry though, she was only getting a check-up and innculations or something according to the tranlator. She was with 5 or 10 other kids. She'll be back at the orphanage this afternoon. Alexandra wasn't quite herself today either. We played outside in the nice weather. But the rest of the kids in her group came out to and they had their phy-ed session. I let her go join her group so she didn't feel left out. I just watched them exercise and later observe one of the caretakers try to teach them how to play hopscotch. Not sure I'll ever be the same seeing a 75 year old lady in full dress and stockings (slightly large on top too if you get my drift here) jumping up and down on one leg. Nice to have a chuckle. Otherwise all is well. Costa and I are killing time until the cafe opens at 2:00 p.m. for lunch. Not going to attempt to forward pictures today either. Maybe Janie has a few of the psycho pictures to upload from the disc she took home. I never see the photos on the blog because the computer isn't fast enough or lacking memory or something to show them. Its weird. Oh well. Thanks for checking in on me. Oh hey Janie... send the blog to laurels e-mail for me. This computer is so slow I don't want to access our e-mail today. Hope everyone is happy and safe. I am. Remind my Mom that I'm a big boy. (more ways than one i know) Costa and I are out of trouble and I'll be fine. If she wants to fly here and join me thats fine. Hee hee.
Kev March 28 I am safe and back in the USA!Hello Everyone
I am glad but sad once again. I am happy to be home back in the good old USA but I am very sad to have to be seperated from Kevin and my two new precious angels and to know that I need to say goodbye to my mom and have closure with her funeral. I got back to Janesville late last night and was going to post to everyone and my computer blew its power supply. So my handy dandy Dad came to my rescue once again and fixed it this morning for me. I have alot of issues to deal with here at home. My moms visitation is Sunday from 1-4 and her funeral is Monday at 11:00. I saw her today for the first time and she looks very peaceful. It was very emotional for me to know she is gone in this present life but I know deep in my heart she was suffering and someday we will be together again. She is looking down on us and admiring her two beautiful angels that were chosen to become ours. It is truly Gods blessing that takes and gives. I know that I had to give up my time with mom to be blessed with these two girls. My only hope had been that she would be here to see them and hold them but I know she is able to see them from where she is at. I know that my dad is so happy that I am home. I need to give him and Zach alot of support. I also want to thank all of you who keep responding to Kevin. It is a miserable city to be stuck in and he needs any support he can get. I miss him so much already and we still have almost 2 weeks until him and the girls can come home and we can begin family life. I am going to post a few pictures that I have. I just want to tell everyone how much I appreciate your support and thank you all so much for your friendships! Janie God has a sense of Humor. I'm proof!Warning... This may be total babble....Well it just took 35 minutes to load this page. I was going to send a few photos but have since put that idea to the curb. Just an update for everyone. Janie made it safely home (at least to Ohare anyways) I spoke with her around 6:45p.m. your time Monday. It was 3:45 a.m. here. yet another night of very little sleep. I have decided to take a few tylenol pm's tonight to get some z's. Since Saturday night have had 5 hours of sleep. not quite enough I'm afraid. Have also been sneezing, stuffy head, runny nose, all that good stuff. Been drug doping, but little helps. I miss my Nyquil. Nothing helps you sleep like a couple swigs of Nyquil. Anyways, the girls and I played for a couple hours Monday and couple more today. They're enjoying Papa very much. In other words, they have him wrapped around their fingers. I have some photos for everyone, but you'll have to wait until the system speeds up here. I have taught the girls the art of self portraits with the digital camera! Papa is so proud! Haven't had a normal photo in two days now. Guess I had it coming. The girls and I were able to play outside for a while today. Teeter totter, swings, slide, hide and seek and Papa jungle gym were the big hits. They have so much fun flipping over my shoulders and having me give them rides on my shoulders. With the growth of my Gotee these past few weeks, I take great pleasure in rubbing the whiskers on their bellies and hearing them giggle. Costa and I have put at least 25 kilometers on our shoes the past few days. Some of you know, my driver had to forward his registration papers to the city of his residence for renewal. Things are strange here. So... without papers, no driving. Taxi 0r Walk. We take taxi to orphanage in a.m. then part way home. We eat and try to get to this internet cafe, and then to the grocery store and on home. We hope to have them back by Thursday at latest. So far weather has been good for walking, but things are changing. Today the temp is falling and starting to mist. Not good for my cold/ allergies or for walking. FOund out that the place we stay at has a hot tub and sauna. Woo hoo!! But you have to reserve it. So its the 1st thing on agenda when we get home tonight. That and have a beer. I think I'm in withdrawl. With that though I'm signing off. I'm thirsty all of a sudden. Thanks for keeping tabs on me. Dasvidanya from the smelliest and dirtiest part of the planet. Kev March 26 Hi from KievHello Everyone! I am in Kiev. Things are going ok here. I made the long train ride and got to meet Peter and Annette today. I was so excited to see them. I am actually here at the internet cafe with them and their driver and facilitator. I have a new apartment and it is not that great. I am kind of scared to stay there. It is very run down and old. If I light the stove I think the old thing would blow the place right off of its foundation. I wish I was in the same building as Annette and Peter but hopefully after tonight I will be on my way home. Tomorrow I visit the embassy at 9 and then I am going to the airport to book a flight. If at all possible I will try and leave tomorrow because I am ready to head home. I miss everyone especially my dad! I know he needs me more than ever and I am ready to be back in good old Janesville. I really miss the girls but I know that Kevin and Costa will take good care of them. Actually I think the girls will where them out but it will keep them out of trouble. I will try and let everyone know when I get a flight. Take care and thanks for the support!
Janie First day alone :(Hello everyone! Well I'm on my own! Janie and our facilitator left on the 7:30 p.m. train on Saturday for Kiev. It's just Costa (my driver) and me. Two handsome fellas with 12 liters, no.... make that 8 liters of beer on the porch chillin'. Last night was difficult to see Janie off. I never thought it would be so hard. Guess I have to stay positive. 2 days down, probably 13 days to go before coming home. :) Janie and Olga made it to Kiev this a.m. and tomorrow will take care of Embassy and Notary papers before leaving town. Flights are still up in the air as ticket offices are closed til monday a.m. The airlines we flew to Ukraine were booked til Thursday, so we will forfeit those and just get her a one way ticket home on another airline. Not very happy, but what can you do. Olga, Ilona and Alex will take good care of her while she waits and will help her get the tickets and to the airport. Just spent my first hour alone with the girls. Normally we have 2 hours in a.m. and 2 later in the day, but Costa and I forgot about time change. Lost and hour overnight! BEER HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!! The weather here today is awesome. Nearing mid 50's and total sun. I am going to try to bribe the computer geek here at the cafe to send a few more photos of the girls, especially a single of Alexander. Let me tell ya, she's ablsolutely beautiful, but... is 7 going on 16, and already has Papa right where she wants him. Elena is going to follow right behind her. She's not stupid! Did I mention its going to be a long 13 days! For #$%# sake! Someone save me. Well I better sign off. Costa and I have to walk to the restaurant for some lunch/ dinner. Have a great week. Dasvidanya
Kevin March 23 good newshello everyone! Its Thursday and we just got some great news. We have a court date. Believe it or not, Olga has pulled some strings with the judge, lawyer and the court to let us proceed with a date tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. In the Ukraine, elections are on sunday, and normally all court activity is potsponed after Thursday until Monday. But... she got it done for us. Janie and Olga will leave Costa and I here in Gorlovka on the weekend and finish things in Kiev on Monday morning. Janie should then fly out later Monday, ot most likely early Tuesday. If flights are same she should be in Chicago on Tuesday 3:00 -3:30 p.m. Her moms services will be able to happen Thursday/Friday. I will wait here in Ukraine, visit the girls everyday, and continue to work on my Beer and Vodka tolerance levels! :) Haven't had hangover yet! hee hee. Anyways. Hopefully after this post the computer guru here will help me send some photos to Janie's dad that he will have easier time posting for all to view. Thanks for thinking of us.
Kevin March 22 Hello to Everyone!Hello Everyone! I have a short amount of time to email. We are trying a new internet cafe as we have finally found our second one and it is a smidge faster. We will not be able to post any pictures because it is far too slow of service. What a bummer. I am hanging in there but yesterday was a very tough day for Kevin. We were told we will not be getting our 10 days waved because no one is as this point no matter what region and our region is a tough one from the sounds of it. We were hoping for court Friday but with elections they think it will be granted for Monday so that upset Kevin too that things are going to take even longer. We have decided that if court is on Monday Kevin will remain here and visit and bond with the girls and I will fly from Donetsk airport to Kiev and sign over guardianship and POA to Kevin and return home to my family because I truly know how badly my family especially my dad is hurting over my moms passing. It has been extremely difficult being over here for me. I can't express how emotional this has been for both Kevin and I. It is so hard to be happy and sad all at the same time. Kevin will have to spend a minimal of 2 more weeks over here before heading back to Kiev to finalize everything and start our to head home with our 2 beautiful girls. Elena Ann whose birth name was Olena and Alexandra Maree who only preferrs to be called Sasha but I am not crazy with that name so for now she can be called that but she will go by Alexandra if I have any say. Papa needs to quit giving in to her. She is going to be our wild one. Elena is a sweet little girl with brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. She is quite little for a 5 year old. Size 4 are sometimes even a little big for her. She loves mama and is going to have some adjusting to do with only having papa around when I leave. Alexandra is beautiful with the darkest brown eyes I have ever seen with brown hair also. Already have a funny story about her. On Saturday at the hospital which she is still at just for precaution due to her asthma, I thought I noticed her hair was cut and looked awful. When our facilitator asker her if she got a haircut she replied no. She asked well why does your hair look different and she replied I cut it myself because I wanted bangs like mama. I sure hope mine don't look that bad and where on earth is she getting scissors from? Papas little girl! Anyways today we took both girls and got their passport photos done. Yesterday we flew all of our paperwork to Kiev to get our official letter to apply for court. It is so much paperwork, notorizing and driving around from here to there it is crazy but it will be all worth it. Well I think I have to go for now. Sorry to cut this short but this is all the time I have for today. I will try again in a day or 2 to let you know about court and so forth. Thanks for the messages and the support.
Love to you all!! Miss everyone! Love Janie March 19 We're still here!Hello to all. Thank you for your prayers as we continue this journey. Janie and I are taking each day one day at a time. We are currently in a city in far eastern Ukraine called Gorlovka. It is a mining town that is EXTREMELY dirty and potholes. When i say potholes, i mean craters!!! I will take pictures to emphasize this. About what we're here for.... the girls. Wow. We are blessed to be bringing home 2 wonderful sisters. Alexandra (almost 7 years) and Elena (almost 5 and 1/2). They are a true joy to play with and to call our own! Janie's girl is Lena and mine is Alexandra. Alexandra has been in the hospital with bronchitis, but all the kids seem to have a sniffle or cough. As i mentioned earlier, this region is all mining. The air quality is probably comparible or even worse than Gary, IN. The sun has finally peeked out for the first time since our arrival. The sky is still blue! We are going to try to post a few pictures at the end of this update, but this computer is very slow. This is the only internet caffe in town. Sorry its been so long since our last post. we will try to get here more often now that we know where it is. We hope to have a court date by the latter part of this upcoming week.
Thanks for thinking of us.
Kevin and Janie March 14 Sad Day and Happy DayHi Everyone
Things have not gone quite as planned. Early this morning I received the worse news possible. My mom passed away. I have been an emotional basket case today. I had feelings of guilt at first but then I had to remember that before I left on Friday she made me promise to bring home 2 healthy children that we could love forever. She told me so many times how much she wanted Kevin and I to have the opportunity to become parents because we have waited so long for this. We did not know where to start. Do I go home? Do I stay? Our problem was we were suppose to have a court date yesterday and the NAC director was her same old self-Nasty!!! She decided Saturday night that any expired documents needed to be updated before the appointment and you needed to turn them in before your court date to be reviewed and not the day of your appointment like normal. Well that was our problem. They could not find our homestudy update so we needed it translated this weekend which was no big deal. We got that done and went immediately to notary on Monday am before the appt. But not good enough for her. She turned all 17 families away yesterday. Did not want to deal with any of us. We were so upset as we had sat there the entire day and were so disappointed. We had our appt letter in hand but it meant nothing to her. We waited until 8 pm last night because she posts the schedule for the next day and we were not on that either. We were upset again but Alex and the team were great. They said don't worry we will get it done and get you an appt today. Then the bad news about mom came. So this morning our team pulled so many strings to make sure they were aware of moms passing and that we needed this appt today and get things moving because we need to make it home for the funeral. Both parents need to be present for the first court date then we could leave for our 10 day wait and return to pick up the children. Well we waited and we waited and we waited today almost ready to give up again and then everyone on our team and at the NAC more or less pushed her buttons to give us an appt and finally at 4 we got to go inside the NAC but when we got there they had lost our new medicals. What a nightmare. I had a new original for this too just like the prior documents but they were not translated so she was going to turn us aaway again. Then I don't know what the team said or did but they worked magic and she let us see some referrals. We are going to be the proud parents of 2 little girls. They are full blown sisters. They are 5 and 7? Their ages may be a little younger we are not 100 percent certain yet. They are very cute but the pictures we saw did not do them justice I am sure as they had very short almost shaved hair. They will be perfect. We had anticipated younger children but we told ourselves these girls deserve a good home just like all children do and they are very healthy. We know we can love them like our own! We are very excited but at the same time very sad about mom. It is so hard. Tomorrow we will be leaving at 7 am to travel to the region. It is near Donetesk but a little different area. It is about an 8 hour drive in good weather. We hope that if everything goes as planned we should see the girls by Thurs at the latest. Our facilitator is suppose to be great and knows this region well and has good connections so with some hope we can pray that our first court date will be fast and then I probably will return home to be with my dad and rest of the family. If our 10 days is waived I may stay. My dad is such a strong man and I love him so much. He told me tonight that we need to get things done here and then we will deal with the sadness at home. I have a wonderful family. I am going to need lots of help when I get home especially emotionally. I have to go for now. Thanks to all for your support and I will try and post again in a day or 2 and try to get some pictures if possible. Love Janie |
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