Sweet Sunday

It was a sweet Sunday in Ukraine. I felt much better this morning and Mark and I woke up looking forward to being with our dear friends, Valya, Luda and Vika at church. We also looked forward to spending most of the day with the girls.

Church was pleasant this morning. Vika translated for us part of the time, and that was very helpful. It is amazing how much more you can stay engaged when you understand what's going on! The Sunday church experience here lasts the better part of the day. There is Bible class time, and then the sermon/worship/communion time. At the beginning of the worship time people stand and give testimonials about God's blessings "Slava Bog!" "Praise God!" At the end people stand and request prayers for specific needs (today we heard our names as the prayer was led for these requests. That made us feel covered by God in at least two languages!). The whole process takes about 3 hours. Then afterward everyone stays around and shares a simple meal of soup and bread together. They visit until well in the afternoon. The children play. The teenagers hang out. Then everyone goes home to rest for the remainder of the day.

Valya and her mom and Vika had to leave to catch their train before it was all over. It was hard to say good-bye to them. We didn't have enough time with them, but it was sweet, all the same. We appreciated them coming so much, and it was a blessing just to see them and hug them and be with them. They mean so much to us.

After church we stayed and visited for awhile while the girls played and Tanya took care of some other matters she had to deal with. While we were waiting we were trying to converse with some of the church ladies. We were failing miserably. We finally just had to say, "Yani pini myo" "I don't understand." Even that I think I messed up somehow, because one of the ladies repeated it and they all laughed! I don't think they meant to be rude, but I hope I didn't say anything bizarre! One of the girls from the TLC named Natasha came over and heard the entire conversation. Natasha is a beautiful blond girl, but has a funny, spitfire personality. She walked over, put her arms around Mark and my shoulders and said, (in the accent you would only imagine anyone named Natasha would use), "Mar-r-rka, Dawna, R-r-r-russian, Please!!!" Then she smiled. We keep trying to tell her that we're doing the best we can! But this will all help us to be much more sensitive when the roles are reversed somehow in the future.

When Tanya was ready, she, and Mark and I, and Zhanna and Ella, and Julia all drove to Amstore. There is a clothing store inside Amstore, and we promised to take the girls shopping. They were hesitant at first, but as we started looking at the tops and jeans they warmed up to the idea, and pretty soon we sent them all to the dressing rooms. We bought Zhanna and Ella two new outfits each and Julia a new outfit, too. Zhanna and Ella said they will wear their new clothes to the court tomorrow. We also shopped at the regular part of the Amstore for presents for their friends - all the other girls in their group. We bought things for Yana, and Kristina, and Vala, and Katrina, and Masha. I think our girls enjoyed the "big box" shopping experience very much.

We also ate at the cafe located inside Amstore. It is a small cafeteria style restaurant with ample seating. It is clean and light and airy with trays to carry your food and trash cans to throw away your trash. But they served great Ukrainian food - different selections of salad and cooked foods and the Verengy dumplings, and some good rolled up things that looked like large egg rolls, but they weren't fried and were served with sour cream. These were filled with your choice of sauteed mushrooms, or a meat filling, or apples, or potatoes. Mark was in heaven! So many choices! So much food! We all got what we wanted and Mark and I tried some new things, such as a cooked beet, carrot, pea and pickle salad, and a dish with egg plant and carrots (I know, sounds bad - but they were actually delicious!). We got the mushroom stuffed "rollup," and of course, some good Ukrainian pastry. Yu-u-u-m-m-m! (In English) "Kusna!" ("Tasty" in Russian) What did the girls get? Sandwiches and french fries! Already American!

After a great afternoon, Tanya drove us and the girls back to the orphanage. I couldn't help but notice the difference between where we had just been in the light, modern, airy Amstore, and the dark, drab, broken and crumbling orphanage. I don't know if the girls notice it or not, since it's all they know. The conditions at the orphanage aren't horrible. The children seem well-adjusted and happy. The teachers and attendants at the orphanage seem to have genuine concern for the kids. They are cared for, and their living conditions are acceptable. The kids are all very clean, in spite of meager facilities. It is just an institutional setting, without modern services, and not nearly enough money to repair the cracked cement floors, the broken windows, the peeling wallpaper and the chipped plaster walls. I guess it could be a whole lot worse, but it could be a whole lot better.

We spent some sweet time with Zhanna and Ella in their room as they gave their friends the gifts and as they held up their new clothes and looked over other things we bought. We looked at photo albums together, and then I found their English workbook that Tanya has been using to teach them. Ella and I started reading through it together, and pretty soon Zhanna came in. The two of them started fighting over who would speak first and whose legs were kicking the other, etc.,etc.,etc. I finally had to have one of them sit on one side of me and the other on the other side and take turns reading. Then it worked beautifully! We read through the entire book. They are doing a great job reading English. Their pronunciation is very cute, but we had to work on the "th" sound. They want to say "z." But I'm encouraged that they have the basics of reading English down. Now they will have to work hard on becoming more fluent and being able to read, not only for pronunciation, but for comprehension. It will come, with time.

Tomorrow is the big day at court. We understand that it will take about an hour, and the girls are not allowed to arrive with us, so someone from the orphanage will bring them. We are pretty confident that after today, Ella is fine, and ready to be our daughter. Annie sent many pictures on email of our home and our family and extended family on both sides, and we had a chance to let Zhanna and Ella see those today, as well. They were very interested. We tried to explain, as best we could, what their new life will be like. After our court date tomorrow, Zhanna and Ella will become Zhanna Hope McKenzie and Ella Joy McKenzie and their faces will forever have a place in our family photo albums. "Slava Bog!" "Praise God!"

Prayers and Blessings to all,
Dawn and Mark

Interesting Day

Today started out kind of rough. I wasn't feeling well. I had stomach problems and a headache. I couldn't go to the program at the orphanage this morning, but Mark went and videotaped most of it. He was able to spend time with the girls and enjoyed that.

After about two more hours of sleep and some medicine, I was feeling well enough to get up and get going, although still feeling pretty washed out. Mark came back to the TLC at about noon, and Tanya drove us back to the orphanage after 1:00 in order to meet Valya, her mom, Luda, and Vika.

What a sweet treat to be with all of them. We love these ladies. We knew Valya and Vika because they were translators for us at camp Yestrebok last year. We had never met Valya's mom before, but she is a beautiful woman, and so kind, just like her daughter. Valya and Vika have been helping us for a year to proceed with this adoption. They were the initial encouragers and communicators. Since last summer, they have made several trips to the orphanage in Mariupol (6 hours by train from Valya's home in Dnipropetrovsk). They have been a bridge between us and the girls and have also loved and encouraged the other orphans. They have brought gifts and held parties. They are simply angels. We will always consider them family.

After we had exchanged gifts and visited for awhile we were informed that Zhanna and Ella and Julia and another boy named Nicolai were going to be traveling to a large park in town to perform in a concert. News to us, but we were happy to get to go along. One of the administrators of the orphanage led the way, and Mark and I and Vika, Valya, Luda, Zhanna, Ella, Julia, Nicolai, and two other girls, Kristina and Yana went along. We took a lengthy bus ride (always an interesting experience in Ukraine), and then walked a ways to the park. When we arrived we were told the concert would begin within a half an hour, but it didn't begin until about an hour later (Ukrainian time!).

But once the concert began we thoroughly enjoyed it. We are getting used to Ukrainian music. It is really fun to listen to. Our girls and Julia sang two songs, Nicolai sang one, and then there was one large group of performers, dressed in Ukrainian style clothing, who sang several songs. There were also several indiviual singers, as well as one young lady who did a "butterfly" belly dance with the coolest silver cape that she spread out like wings. The concert was held on an open air stage with benches for the audience. It was pleasant weather and there were many families with children strolling around.

After the concert we had to take the long bus ride and walk back to the orphange, and then Mark and I walked back to the TLC. I hadn't had anything to eat all day because I was afraid to put anything on my stomach, but was feeing well enough to eat the rice and chicken that was served for supper. It tasted very good.

Ella seemed tired today, (and understandably so). They performed this morning, and again this afternoon. They really haven't had any down time at all. But she did seem very affectionate to us and held Mark's hand as we were walking. Zhanna is just overflowing with affection. She puts her arm around me and kisses me on the lips. She told me today that Julia said that I am a "cool" mom. (Okay, Nathan and Annie! There you go! I've been trying to tell you for years that I am a cool mom!)

Tomorrow Tanya is going to pick up Valya and her mom and Vika and Zhanna and Ella and Julia for church. We told Zhanna and Ella and Julia that we would take them out to eat for lunch and then go shopping and get some ice cream. I hope that will help them to relax and feel good about going to America and about the court hearing on Monday.

Thanks so much to all who have sent encouraging emails or messages on the blog. It means so much. Your words are from God and give us comfort and peace. Please pray for Valya and Luda and Vika as they travel back home tomorrow. Please pray for our court hearing on Monday, and please pray for the vote by the Ukrainian parliament about the moratorium on adoptions on Tuesday. May God be in it all.

Much love and blessings,
Dawn and Mark

A Bit of a Concern

This morning Tanya received a phone call from Zhanna. Zhanna said that Ella said she didn't want to go to America afterall. Whoa! What happened?

Obviously, we were all concerned. Tanya called Vanya and relayed the message to him. He was very reassurring and told us that this sometimes happens with the older kids. He told us not to lose heart, but to go to the orphanage as normal today and try to talk to her and find out what's going on.

When we arrived we were told that Zhanna and Ella were having a party with their group and we were to wait in the teacher's room. We waited for quite awhile and then they arrived with their friend, Julia. Julia has been to the U.S. several times and is about to be adopted, so she knows English pretty well. Ella came and gave me a hug, but was quiet and non-communicative. One of her teachers came in right after that and said something in Russian that we couldn't understand, and Ella left. This teacher tried to explain something to us, but we didn't understand at all, so Zhanna just told her that we didn't understand (or that we were extremely handicapped, or something to that effect?!).

We spent some time with just Zhanna, and Julia translating. We told Zhanna that we loved her and Ella so much and we want to give them a good home and a good family in America. But we can't take one without the other. That Ella had to decide to come to America, too, or we wouldn't be able to take Zhanna, either. We shed some tears, and Zhanna was so sweet. She just wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder.

Then all the children were called outside to practice for tomorrow morning's program. We enjoyed watching them practice. Zhanna and Ella and Julia sing a beautiful song together.

After the practice the girls came over to us and Ella immediately put her arm around me and held on. I hugged her and kissed her. Zhanna and Ella and their friends said they wanted to go up to their "group," or their living area. On the way through the dark hallways of the orphanage Ella held my hand. I asked her directly, "Ella, do you want to go to America?" She answered, "Yeah." I said, "Are you sure?" She said, "Yes." I hugged her and told her that I was SO happy. It brought Mark to tears.

The best we can figure about all this is that it has been a long week for the girls. It's the last week of school, and they've had the end of all their classes and tests. Then they've been practicing everyday for this performance. Plus, we've been coming every afternoon to hang out and play with them. Maybe Ella was just feeling a lot of stress about it all. Maybe some of her friends were trying to convince her not to leave. Perhaps she's just a little fearful of the unknown and leaving all her friends here. She did ask if they could sing and dance in America, and if we could come back to visit Ukraine. We assured her that yes, singing and dancing is allowed in America, and we will make every effort to come back to Ukraine.

After that, we spent a great couple of hours with the girls in their living area. They turned their favorite music up real loud and we all danced and got "crazy!" They had some balloons, so we kicked the balloons around like soccer. The girls confiscated our camera and video camera and took lots of pictures of their friends and their living area and bedrooms in the orphanage. I think it will mean a lot to them to have all those pictures later. Ella really relaxed and opened up. Several times she came over to show us pictures or to hug us. She wanted me to follow her into her room to see everything. She seemed happy and content.

We hope and pray that this was just an isolated event, and a fleeting emotional feeling. We do know that both girls will have to be certain of their decision by Monday when we go to court and meet with the judge. Please pray for Ella.

We did have a chance to reflect through all of this how it is the same with some people who have had every opportunity to come to know God and His hand of blessings and His plans for them, and yet they reject Him. It is so sad that some would not be willing to experience the love and peace and joy and hope that await them, but instead would continue to live life as they've come to know it, without understanding what they are giving up. We need to pray for people all over the world to understand how God longs to adopt each of us and how He longs to bless us beyond what we can see and imagine in this life.

We are walking by FAITH and not by SIGHT in this entire journey. May God be glorified. Tomorrow will be a good day, with the program in the morning and then Valya and Viki coming in the afternoon. We look forward to that.

Blessings and peace from God the Father, to all at home.
All our love,
Dawna and Marka (How they prounounce our names here in Ukraine!)

Reflections

This posting is a day late. Last night as I was working on my blog during a rain storm the electricity suddenly went out. I lost what I was working on. Bummer!

It was quite dark in the basement where we live at the TLC and the only light we had was the light from the cell phone. Mark and I took turns pressing the button on the cell phone to keep the light going as we brushed our teeth and got ready for bed. Once we got under the covers, voila! The lights came back on! By that time I didn't feel like typing anymore and besides that I didn't know Tanya's password to restart her computer.

This morning it has been a rainy and gray day. It is chilly outside, so it is a good morning for me to catch up on the computer. Tanya came and restarted it, and she is gone for the day, so here I am!

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny day and Mark and I walked to a beautiful Orthodox church that is not far from the orphanage. This is a more modern church than those in Kiev, but is ornate and huge all the same. It is built out of red brick and is a beautiful architectural style, with the traditional gold-topped, onion-shaped domes of most of the Eastern Orthodox churches here and in Russia. The church has elaborately carved wooden doorways and the lower section of the building is covered with polished brown marble, rather than brick. The church stands on a tall hill overlooking the sea, and at the back of the church stands a huge statue with arms outstretched. The statue is carved with traditional Eastern Orthodox clergy type clothing, so we were pretty certain it was a representation of some sainted person, rather than of Christ. The railing behind the statue is a wonderful place to look at both the sea and then back at the church. The view was spectacular!

Down below the hill are homes and gardens and a more rural neighborhood. It was fun to watch the people and the cars down below. We could see people wading in the sea, and we could also see ships far out in the distance. The Sea of Azov is a very small sea compared to all the others, but to us "inland, mountain people" it looks like an ocean. The temperate wind was soothing and the sun was shining on our faces.

The grounds around the church are lovely. There are so many flowers in bloom here now. The iris are still blooming (although they are starting to fade a bit now), but the peonies are just coming on. They smell heavenly! The pink peonies smell like roses. There were also aspen trees growing in church grounds, and blue spruce and other evergreens. There were small ground-cover flowers and mounds of 5 feet tall bushes with long branches covered in white flowers. I don't know what those are called. All through the town we see apricot trees bearing small, green apricots, and apple trees and lots of vegetables beginning to come up in people's small garden plots.

The Ukrainian people are intimately tied to the land and to agriculture. Vyacheslav Lypinsky, the Ukrainian historian and socialolgist, noted that, "love for one's land is the primary dynamic force for the Ukrainian." We've read that a quarter of the world's best, black soil, "chornozem" is in Ukraine. No wonder agriculture is so important here.

The small houses that we pass each day demonstrate that love for gardening and love for the land. According to one book we have read, Ukrainians say, "The "dacha" (garden) is not a hobby, it's a way of life."

And yet again, there is a disparity here in Ukraine between the love of the land and nature, and the Soviet mentality and new European way of life. We pass by all the small, lovingly cared for garden plots and there is trash thrown all along the way. We walk around liquor bottles and broken glass and numerous pieces of paper trash and wrappers and cigarette butts littering sidewalks and streets. To us this mentality seems as if it stems from the Soviet era when all the high rise apartments were built. The removal from the land and the lack of energy for making a difference in your own life or the lives of others is reflected in the lack of respect for your environment for yourself or others. It's a shame.

Well, I will close for now and write more this evening about the girls and how things are going. We will head out to the orphanage soon to see Zhanna and Ella. Tomorrow is their last day of school performance, so we look forward to seeing that in the morning. Our dear friends, Valya and Viki, and Valya's mom, Luda, are coming by train tomorrow and will arrive in the afternoon. We can't wait to see them and spend time with them.

So for now, "Pakah!" Bye!
Love,
Dawn and Mark

Waiting

Today was a day of waiting. And waiting. And waiting. It seems that now that we are in the midst of this process there will be a lot of that.

We waited at home today (the TLC) until about 1:30, when we walked to the orphanage to meet Tanya and the girls there. We all drove to the photo store for the girls to quickly have their photos made for their passports. It didn't take more than 10 minutes. Then we drove back to the orphanage.

Tanya had planned to have an English lesson with the girls but they were called to go to singing practice to prepare for the end of the school year program on Saturday. We were told to just wait for them in the teacher's room. Unfortunately, the teacher's room was being used by the teachers, who were obviously in the throes of the last week of school grading angst. (I'd recognize it in any language!) Mark and I pulled a couple of chairs out into the hallway so as not to disturb the teachers working, and we sat there for about two hours. We kept thinking the girls would be done practicing and would arrive any moment, but they never came and they never came.

Finally, the assistant director of the orphanage, who had observed us sitting there for quite some time, came and asked us in Russian where our girls were. We answered as best we could that they were in singing practice. So this woman assistant director promptly took matters into her own hands and motioned for us to follow her down to the music practice room. When we got there she went inside, but motioned for us to stay outside. Even through the closed door we could hear passionate and loud Russian conversation (it all sounds passionate and loud!). After a minute or two she came out and motioned for us to enter and have a seat on a bench. The girls ran through their song one more time, but I think by that time they figured they had had enough singing practice, and they were ready to go outside to throw the Frisbees! The singing teacher agreed that they could go, so out we went.

We did spend an hour and a half or so playing outside. We just enjoy being together, playing with the Frisbees and taking pictures. If other kids come along and look interested in the game we invite them to play, too. It's been fun.

We've seen most of the kids we met last year at camp Yestrebok in Svetegorsk. We've had fun hugging and playing with most of them. Both Slavics and Sergeis have seen us. They all come and hang all over Mark whenever they see him. They are so impressed with his muscles! We've played Frisbee with Vadeem and Vitya and Alona and Kristina and Anya and Sasha. We love all these kids a lot.

However, as much as we care for all the other orphans and will pray for them always, there is definately a different feeling for Zhanna and Ella. It's amazing that we feel the way we do after just having met them last year. We have talked about how we'd be feeling about adopting any of the others. While we long to help them, we don't feel the same about them as we do about our girls. It's love, and it's from God. Mark said it would be comparable to deciding to marry someone because you think you can help them, or deciding to marry someone for love. Deciding to marry just to try to help someone is really not for the right reasons.

Now, I'm sure there are wonderful people who have adopted children to help them and then have grown to love them, but we're thankful that God has given us the love experience at the first. It is beautiful, and helps us to know, without a doubt, this is the right thing to do. We have no doubts.

In the meantime, each day holds its share of waiting. We are trying to be patient and calm and approach each day as it comes. But we know that even the days we sit, our girls know we are there for them. Playing Frisbee with Zhanna and Ella and all the other kids is exactly where we should be for today - showing the love of God to orphans, and letting them know they are not alone. Our homesickness and desire to be done with the process and heading home is just a small piece of our lives, and we will be home soon. So we take each day as it comes.

Please continue to pray for our court hearing on Monday, June 1. If all goes well (and we expect that it will) the girls will be ours on Monday! Then we wait 10 more days and the adoption will be finalized.

Please also be praying for the decision by the Ukrainian parliament to be voted on Tuesday, June 2, whether or not to place a moratorium on foreign adoptions. There are hundreds of thousands of kids in the orphanages in Ukraine. They need the opportunity to be loved by a real family and taken to a real home. The moratorium would hurt a lot of children. Please pray.

We love and miss you all. May God bless you and us.
Love,
Dawn and Mark

Cleaning Day

On Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings the teenagers at the TLC clean. Everyone has a job or two to do and it all looks great afterward. They've been cleaning up after us, so Mark and I decided to get a jump on them and clean our own room and bathroom this morning. It didn't take us long.

Afterward, we walked to the Amstore to buy some colored pencils and paper for the girls so we could draw with them this afternoon. We also bought some snacks and other things we needed. The Amstore is a fun place to just browse. It is a huge store compared to all the other little corner markets. There is a section for appliances and housewares, and a section for clothes, in addition to all the food. But even though it is a huge store you still shop in the Ukrainian way. The vegetables and fruits are all piled high and you bag them yourself, but then you take them to a lady behind a desk and she weighs the bag and puts a label on it. If you don't do that before you check out you're in trouble and you won't be able to buy the produce! There is also a section with rows and rows of all different types of sausages hanging from hooks about 6 feet from the floor in a refrigerated dairy case. The milk is not refrigerated until after you open it, and it comes in a small box. The yogurt comes in a squishy pouch and so does the mayonnaise. You have to know what you're looking for! There are 4 aisles for alcoholic beverages - only 1 aisle for meat!

The Amstore has great parking, too. Much like an American parking lot. There isn't much parking anywhere else in town. People that do have cars usually just park anywhere along the curb of the streets and they sometimes even drive up onto the sidewalk and park there! Many people ride the buses, even though they are old. You can hear the rumble of the buses coming along way down the streets. (Of course, it's hard to tell if that's due to the age of the buses or the number of potholes in the street!)

This afternoon Tanya drove us to the orphanage because she had to do some business on our behalf there, too. We took a huge bag of suckers and a big tub of bubble gum we had brought with us from America. We gave those to Zhanna and Ella's teacher, Oksana. Later we saw kids blowing huge "bolshoi" bubbles which sometimes popped all over their faces. They enjoyed it.

Zhanna and Ella had a busy afternoon. They had singing practice at first to prepare for the end of the year program which will be held on Saturday morning. Then they had to go be fitted for new shoes in a small, little room down a dark corridor of the orphanage. We got to go with them to both of these locations. We finally got to go outside for a while and throw the Frisbees. Another group of children were outside throwing paper airplanes with their teacher, but of course, when they saw the Frisbees, they had to join in, too. We had fun with a huge group sending Frisbees flying "round robin" style. Then it began to rain so we went indoors and up to the teacher room. We let them draw and I drew a picture of each of the girls. They liked that and then they colored the pictures beautifully and artistically, complete with shading, etc. They are truly very artistically and musically gifted girls. I can't wait till we get home and see them and Annie together. They will have so much fun doing all those things they all three love.

Tomorrow we need to go with Tanya to take the girls to have their pictures made for the passports. That will be a fun outing. We don't know where we'll be going, but just to get out will be a nice change.

We've been here at the TLC for one week now, and it is good. We are starting to feel like family now, even though we struggle with the language. But the kids and the housemoms and Tanya take good care of us. For example, tonight, as we were lingering at the dinner table, a couple of the girls came downstairs and cleaned our bathroom. I didn't have the heart to tell them I just cleaned it this morning. They are so great to us!

It looks like we'll be here at the TLC at least 2 more weeks, and then several more days in Kiev. So, possibly 3 weeks from now we'll be coming home. It's hard not to get anxious. We are enjoying ourselves in one regard, but feel displaced and a bit lonely at the same time. People all around us speak a different language than we do. We are foreigners. We've decided that this is a microcosmic look at our lives on Earth. "This world is not my home!" We are not to anticipate or complain, just take it as it comes and try to share Jesus along the way. There is a purpose for each day. If we look ahead too much we become anxious. If we look back too much we become melancholy. We must live in the moment in order to experience the joy God has planned just for this day. So, with God's help, that's what we will do. We will continue to live this adventure and know that it is God's plan for us that it all be carried out in exactly this way. We will joyously spend time each and everyday getting to know Zhanna and Ella better and better until the time comes to bring them home as our daughters. Praise God!

Thank you for your wonderful prayers. The peace of God is upon us. We pray for you, too.

Much love,
Dawn and Mark

The Sea

This morning we left the TLC about 10:00 and were determined to find our way to the Sea of Azov, after our disastrous first attempt last week. We made it! The route was great - down a steep tree-lined walkway that ended up on a sandy beach with benches and the cutest (albeit old) little "changing" boxes that you could enter to change into your swimming suit. I think I'd still feel very uncomfortable doing that because your feet and your head are still showing, and everyone knows what you're doing, but I guess people here don't care. Mark and I sat on a bench and soaked up the sun when it came out from behind the clouds. The sea was soothing with the waves coming up over the sand and seagulls flying overhead. The water was not very clear and was greyish in color, but we saw people wading out far, so I guess it wasn't too cold or too dirty. We enjoyed our time there.

As we left the Sea we were a bit hungry and still had quite a bit of time before we promised the girls we'd be at the orphanage, so we stopped at a cafe located just on the other side of the road from the beach. We asked for a menu, but even looking at the pictures didn't help us much. We decided we would just ask for Borscht (beet soup) and Verengya (the dumplings we love so much). The waitress said "Nyet" to the Borscht, but they did have "kartoushka verengya" - potato dumplings, so that's what we ordered. They were delicious, drenched in melted butter, with bread on the side. We also had Coca-cola, which was a treat and was fun because it came in bottles with Russian words on it, except for the words Coca-cola! The entire meal cost only $25 Hrivna (greevna), which is the equivalent of about $3.50 in American dollars. We'd pay more than that for the two cokes back home!

Food here is very inexpensive. Other items are comparable in price to items in America, but food is inexpensive. We went shopping with Tanya last week and bought an overflowing basket of food to last a week here at the TLC, and the whole thing cost about $900 Hrivna, which is only about $135 dollars. Nothing when you consider that that feeds about 17 people for an entire week. They eat a lot of cabbage here and other vegetables, such as radishes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and potatoes. They eat very little meat, so when it is served it's a treat. They eat barley and macaroni as side dishes. Meals are served on small plates already dished out for you. There are normally no seconds, but bread is always served along with the meal. It's a simpler, but probably much healthier way of eating.

Before we went to the sea this morning we made a small detour to walk through the open market in the town. There are small, metal booths that can be locked shut at night, but opened during the daytime. These held the most unbelievable variety of goods. There was a booth that held all kitchen utensils, and another that had toys, another had electronics and cell phones (very popular here). There were booths that held plumbing parapernilia and booths with auto supplies. Then there were tables set up under a canopy and along the outer edge of the booths where the vegetable and produce venders hawked their goods. There were mounds of cabbages and potatoes and eggs stacked precariously into perfect pyramids. Someone was selling "Salo" which is a traditional delicacy in Ukraine. Basically it is pig fat which they spread on bread. We don't intend to try that! We also passed one old "Babushka" selling hog snouts and ears. I'm afraid to ask what people use those for! It is an interesting mixture of goods and people and everyone who is anyone is there, carrying their own bags to cart the stuff home. It is a different way of life than ours in America.

Our walk to the orphanage each day reminds us of those differences, too. We pass by many older, square Ukrainian homes with steep roofs covered in metal sheeting. These were probably built in the 1920's or '30's. The nicest of these have been painted within the last 10 years or so, and have well-kept and tidy, little miniscule gardens behind the fence or in the space of ground between the broken and uneven sidewalk and the street. Surrounding these small houses on all sides are towering and decaying high rise apartment buildings that were probably built in the 1940's or 50's during the Soviet era. Most people own their own apartment, and we've been told they are very expensive, and pretty small. There are a few newer brick homes that have been built along the way, but they are wedged in among the older homes. They have probably replaced an older home that was torn down. Many people are out walking and carrying bags, no matter what time it is. That is the way of life here. Not too many people own cars.

Alcoholism is also a problem here. There are liquor stores or booths every block or two, and it is not uncommon to see people carrying an open beer bottle or other alcoholic beverage with them as they walk down the street, no matter the time of day. We haven't seen any public drunkeness yet, however, so they must reserve that for at home.

This afternoon we arrived at the orphanage at about 2:00 and spent another sweet four hours with our girls and some friends. The Frisbees are very popular and we just made our own fun. When we told them we needed to leave soon they kept saying, "No, stay till 6:00 or 7:00 or 12:00 or until the morning!" We told them it wouldn't be long till we could be together all the time.

We received a phone call from Vanya today and he informed us that he submitted our paperwork to the SDA in Kiev today, but learned that the vote to pronounce a moratorium on foreign adoptions would be held on Tuesday, June 2, the day after our court date. It probably won't affect us, but he asked that we spread the word and ask for prayers on behalf of all the orphans in Ukraine and on behalf of all the families trying to adopt. This law would really hurt the children.

I've given too much information today. I'm sorry I'm such a "wordy" writer. It is fun to share our experiences and observations about life here. We feel God's presence strongly each and every day. It is hard to be patient, but we see that it truly is a necessary part of this process. Thank you for your prayers.

Much Love,
Dawn and Mark

Sunday in Ukraine

I am writing this after 9:30 pm Ukraine time when it's only about 12:30 (after noon) back home. We are nine hours ahead. I know everyone at Riverside is just getting out of church and I wonder how it went today. We've been praying for all our friends and loved ones back home.

Our Sunday here went well. Tanya picked up the girls for church this morning, and we were really looking forward to sitting with them. But as it turns out, they do things differently here. The children are in a separate class from the adults and in a separate worship service until the very end when they come to the auditorium, but sit in a special "children's" section during the communion. So we didn't really get to be with them during church at all, and we were a little disappointed. But we were thankful they were there. They said they liked it. I guess we'll have to wait until we're back at Riverside to all attend church together as a family!

The people at the church were very welcoming and friendly and we enjoyed being with them, even though it is difficult for us because of the language. The preacher, Alexander (nicknamed Sasha), seems to be a very good speaker. He is animated and passionate, and interacts with the audience (kind of reminded me of Mark!). I wish I could understand more of the lesson, but I picked up words here and there, and could understand when he gave a Bible reference, so I would turn to that and read for awhile. Mark said he was able to get a lot of the main idea, so it wasn't too bad for him. The words, "Slova Gospadah" were used a lot. This means "The word of the Lord." I got that every time! They played some really neat Russian accapella Christian music before class and in between class and assembly. Mark was visiting with the man who was running the sound system, and told him he liked the music, so the man made him a copy of the CD! Fun!

When we sang songs they used a hymn book that only has words - no music, but it has the English words on the left side and the Russian words on the right, so we could sing along to most of the songs. This morning one song the song leader led was "Anywhere with Jesus." We thought that was totally appropriate for our situation, and thought it must have been a gift of God and a reminder just from Him!

After church Tanya drove the girls and some other children back to the orphanage, but we told the girls we'd come later in the afternoon to see them. It rained today, but at about 4:00 it cleared, so we set out on foot to the orphanage. Everyone was kind of just "hanging out" when we arrived there. It seems that Sunday afternoons are really considered a time of rest. We found the girls upstairs in the living area that their bedrooms open onto. The orphanage is a huge, old building, probably built in the '40's or '50's. It has long, meandering hallways with patched and cracked cement floors and narrow stairways leading up to the living quarters. Mark and I said it reminded us of the descriptions of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books!

So we found Zhanna and Ella watching TV in the "commons room" with other kids and the caregivers from their group. We came in and asked if they'd like to stay or go. They immediately said they wanted to go with us, and promptly ran to put on their shoes!

We brought them Frisbees today that Mark found in a store, so we went outside to play. That was a blast. We also brought them a digital camera that Pete and Diane, the family in Canada, who hosted them at Christmas, had sent to us after the girls left it there. The girls loved looking over the pictures on the camera from their stay in Canada, and then began taking pictures of us and their surroundings, and that led to funny pictures of themselves. It wasn't long before Zhanna was giving orders - "Mark, give me camera!" "Now, Mark and Dawn, you stand here!" "Now, Ella, you take picture of me!" It was amazing how much Zhanna's English improved when she started giving orders! She's got the "older sister" gene. Yay! (I'm not alone!) She also started teasing with Mark as they were playing Frisbee, and of course, he teased back. Then she started talking about "our crazy family!" But the interesting thing was she was including herself in that description. It was wonderful.

At about 6:30 it was time for us to go, and the girls, once again, walked us to the gate and hugged us and kissed us and told us they loved us. It's such a sweet time right now with them. We can hardly believe it's been less than a week since we were reunited. It seems that huge hurdles are being crossed every day, and each day our connection to them and our love for them grows deeper. I think they feel the same with us. We are becoming much more relaxed with each other, and are comfortable with one another. We're really becoming family now(maybe even a "crazy" family!).

As Mark and I walked back to the TLC from the orphanage we had a chance to talk and reflect about all that is happening. It is a blessing from God that He has given us this chance to see things from His point of view, as the "adopting" parent. He continually comes to us, longing to see us and hear from us. He is so thrilled when we jump at the chance to spend time with Him. It makes Him so happy when we express our love for Him, and He longs for us to call Him "Father" or "Daddy."

Another thing God wants to do for us is give us a new name - that of "Christian" or "Christ follower." We also wanted to give Zhanna and Ella additions to their names. In Ukraine they don't give middle names. We thought it would be unfair to change their first names, and besides that, we love their names. But several months ago God gave me the names we should give to our new children - Zhanna Hope and Evelina (Ella) Joy. We shared those names with the girls yesterday and wrote their full new names down for them. They carefully copied them and smiled. They like them. So now, just for fun, we say, "Hi, Zhanna Hope!" "Hi, Ella Joy!" I think they feel special knowing that we've picked out these names just for them.

God continues to provide everything we need. We are so grateful. Thank you for prayers.
Much love,
Dawn and Mark

Take a walk/ Play some games

We don't have much in the way of "new" news to share today, but our day was blessed and simple. We got up leisurely this morning and after breakfast Mark and I took a long walk. Our goal was to walk to the Sea of Azov and back, but we kept walking and never found it, so we turned around and went back to the TLC. We asked Tanya about directions and learned we had been walking the wrong way! Oh well! We enjoyed our walk and we'll look forward to going to the Sea another day.

This afternoon we walked to the orphanage (only about a half an hour walk from the TLC). We arrived there about 1:30. The kids were eating lunch, so we waited for Zhanna and Ella to come. Meals are served on a different schedule here than they are in the U.S. Breakfast is usually around 9:00, lunch is at 1:30 or 2:00 and dinner is at 7:00 or 7:30. They will have tea in the afternoon sometimes and that might include a snack.

When Zhanna and Ella came they were surrounded by their friends, and they all wanted to go outside and play. The orphanage doesn't have much of a playground - really just a few old metal climbing structures and an old metal basketball goal - so we had to be inventive. We taught them how to play "Red light, Green light," and "Mother May I?," and "Duck, Duck, Goose." These games had little language barriers, but helped a little with learning new words at the same time. It was fun to play with the kids. We enjoyed being with Zhanna and Ella and Masha, Kristina, Vala, Andre, Ruslan, and Julia.

After we had played for quite a while everyone was ready to quit, except for Mark (the energizer bunny!), but he agreed to give everyone else a break. Then Zhanna and Ella and Mark and I went inside to the teacher's room at the orphanage - just a meeting room with a table and chairs in the middle and some sofas against the walls. We've been allowed to go there to visit with the girls.

We talked about lots of stuff - family and home and likes and dislikes. If we didn't know a word for something Mark would look it up in the Russian/English dictionary and we communicated what we needed to. Then we shared some chocolate we brought with us - the international language! We're glad Zhanna and Ella both like chocolate as much as we do. We gave the girls necklaces that Mark's mom and dad had given us to give to them, and we talked about "Babushka" and "Didushka" - Gammy and Grandaddy. Mark also tried to propagandize our poor, new little daughters by showing them his cap with the Bronco symbol on it and telling them it was very important for them to learn the words, "I like the Denver Broncos!" The girls figured out pretty quickly what he was up to and then we had lots of fun talking about "crazy daddy!"

We showed them the video we took of them dancing and singing in the performance yesterday, and it was wonderful to hear their giggles as they laughed at themselves and pointed to each other and their friends.

At 4:30 it was time for us to say goodbye and walk back to the TLC. The girls walked us out to the orphanage gate and hugged and kissed us, then we waited as they walked a ways back into the orphanage. They kept turning around to wave and blow kisses. Sweet stuff!

We're now waiting for dinner to be ready here at the TLC. We are so grateful to be able to stay here. They have been more than hospitable. The kids and the housemoms cook every night and we eat with them here. Then they all clean up. We're spoiled! We have our own private bedroom in the basement, right beside Tanya's office. We use the bathroom in the hallway next to her office, and it includes a shower. It's also fun to interact with the kids here. Most don't know much English, but they really are great kids, and they are fun to be with. We bought ice cream treats for everyone on our walk home from the orphanage today. We will share the surprise after dinner!

Much love to all. Our prayers are with you.
Dawn and Mark

Court Date is Set

This morning Mark and I and Tanya picked up Arkadi at his office and we drove to the judge's office. Tanya and Arkadi told us to wait in the hallway and they went in to submit our paperwork and talk to the judge. It only took them a few minutes, and they came out and said the court date has been set for June 1, the earliest possible date. Praise God!

Vanya traveled to Mariupol today and met with Arkadi and the social worker. He also came to collect the papers from Tanya that had been generated here - the approval from the orphanage, the statement from the social worker, and medical reports, etc. He is traveling to his home in Gorlovka tonight and on to Kiev on Sunday, in order to present the papers at the SDA on Monday. The SDA will hopefully give all approval by Friday, just in time for the court date on Monday, June 1. Yay!

We understand that if all goes well on June 1 the adoption will be approved, but then there is a 10 day waiting period before it is finalized. At the end of the 10 days we will go back to the village/town where the girls were born to get new birth certificates with their new names on them, and then we'll get their new passports. When those tasks are done we will go back to Kiev for a couple of days to get medical tests for the girls, then get the visas from the Ukrainian Embassy and register the girls with the American Embassy. Then they'll be ours and we'll be heading home! If all goes well, it may be as early as June 16! That would be great!

So for the next couple of weeks things will slow down a bit. We must be patient and wait. But that will give us time to relax and explore the city of Mariupol and to spend time with the girls every afternoon after school. Mariupol is located right on the Sea of Azov. The sea is only about a 15 minute walk from the TLC, so Mark and I plan to take some long walks and see what we can find. We hope to be able to get out with the girls some, too. Mark has already promised ice cream at our earliest possible outing. This next week is their last week of school, so we should have more opportunities after that to take them places. The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, praise God! We're hoping that continues and we can have lots of adventures together outdoors.

We're doing okay with communication here. Mark has learned enough Russian that he is usually able to find the words to say what we want to say in a round about way. I am not able to speak much Russian, but I find myself understanding the jist of what people are saying (sometimes), and have even been able to give some insights to Mark when people are speaking to us. So, I guess we make a good team. We're asking Tanya and others this question a lot, "Koks Cazet, pah Ruski?" "How do you say that in Russian?" Or we have to say, "Ni pinye myo." "I don't understand."

One of the housemoms at the TLC, Sveta, lived in Argentina for a time, so she speaks Spanish and Russian, but no English. You should hear her and Mark talking! It is great! They are creating a new language - Spanssian! They say words in Spanish and in Russian in the same sentence, but the communication happens! It's fun!

We went to the performance at the orphanage this afternoon, and it was wonderful! The girls did a superb job and we were very proud of them, but we were reminded that we are bringing two preteen girls into our home. We were waiting for them and the others in their group as they changed into their costumes and did their hair. Some of the other girls didn't like the flowers they were required to wear around their heads as part of the costume, and were in tears before they went down to perform. Zhanna and Ella didn't have a meltdown, for which we were grateful, but after the performance they both seemed down and insisted they didn't do a good job, even after our reassurances that we loved it! Oh well! It's life ahead of us with daughters, right? Can't be helped ~ so we'll just deal with it!

Thank you to those who are reading our blog and for your prayers. Thank you for those who've left a message on the blog or have emailed us a message. Those are priceless to us. They help us feel connected to home. It's very hard to find time to respond to each one, but please know that your support and messages to us mean the world. It's such a blessing to know that you all are there behind us. We miss you all and pray for you daily as you pray for us. God bless you all!

Much love,
Dawn and Mark

A Sweet Day

Today was not as "action packed" as the previous days, but it was sweet. We were scheduled to take paperwork to the judge this morning in order to receive a court date. However, the paperwork did not get finished because of further medical testing needed by the girls, so Mark and I ended up "hanging loose" until about 2:00 this afternoon.

Our downtime felt strange because we've been going so hard the last several days . . . weeks . . . months! But we were able to take a nice walk in the neighborhood around the TLC. There are several small stores nearby, and we also enjoyed seeing the flowers, especially the irises. Then we came "home" and sat on a sofa together and read. It has been ages since we've sat down and read together for any length of time! It was wonderful!

At 2:00 Tanya drove us to the orphanage and we met Zhanna and Ella there and sat and visited with them in a private room for more than an hour. It was fantastic! We talked and talked - just the four of us. Mark pulled out the English-Russian dictionary and we were able to cover several topics of conversation that way. We laughed together and ate candy and played with the official orphanage pet - a rat named Lareesa! (It's not as bad as it sounds - it's a very small domesticated and very tame brown and black rat with at least some hair on its tail!).

At about 3:30 the teacher, Oksana, came to get the girls to go rehearse for a performance they are in tomorrow afternoon. We were invited to go watch. What a special treat! It was the first time we were able to sit in an audience as proud parents and watch these two children perform. We were WOWED! I can honestly tell you that Zhanna and Ella are coming into the right family. They are every bit as talented and dynamic on stage as their older brother and sister, Nathan and Annie! Zhanna and Ella have the lead roles in all the dancing and singing numbers in the show, and truthfully, they are amazingly talented young ladies! (I'm not just saying that because I'm their mother, either!). The show is in Russian, of course, but it doesn't matter. The elegance and playfulness of the dancing and the quality of their singing voices is mesmerizing. Tomorrow we will go to the actual performance and will take our video camera. Our first video of our new children!

When we left the orphanage we went to the grocery store with Tanya. They have a large grocery store close by called the "Amstore." It rivals Wal-mart! (Okay, almost, but not quite!). We had fun helping Tanya shop for the family at the TLC. We insisted on buying chocolate for everyone, and it was enjoyed tonight after a good dinner of cabbage, radish and onion slaw and pasta and chicken. What a great day!

Tomorrow morning we will wait until the medical tests are completed and then take all the paperwork to the judge. Hopefully we will be given a court date soon. Vanya is traveling here tomorrow. He will pick up all our paperwork and personally carry it to Kiev where he will deliver it to the SDA on Monday morning. What an amazing week! Last Monday we just met before the SDA and were able to come to Mariupol, meet with the girls, receive permission to adopt the girls, go before the judge, and have all the paperwork returned by next Monday! Whew! God is so good, and Vanya and Tanya and Arkadi are all working so hard on our behalf. We have so much to be grateful for.

One more piece of good news. Tanya asked the director of the orphanage if Zhanna and Ella could come to church with us on Sunday. The director gave her permission. Yes! It will be the first time we go to church together as a family! We are looking forward to that.

We are feeling happy and peaceful and blessed. It is all good and it is all in God's timing. Thank you for your prayers.
Love,
Dawn and Mark

What an Anniversary!

I posted one blog earlier today, but mostly told about what happened yesterday. We went to church tonight (all in Russian, but very lively!). It's after dinner now (we had Verengy again, and cabbage and radish and dill slaw. Yum!), so I'm writing once more to tell about the wonderful events of today!

Today is our 31st wedding anniversary, and God blessed it! We had to be up and ready to go by 8:00 in order to get to the orphanage by 8:15 to meet with the director. Zhanna and Ella were with us as we arrived this morning. Their hair was in braids with big bows and they both had on red sweaters and blue skirts. They hugged us and held on to us as we walked inside. As the other children walked by the girls held on to us very possessively.

The other kids from camp came and gave us hugs, too, which was sweet and special. I'm feeling guilt toward the other kids. So many of them touched our hearts last summer - Alona, Yana, Sergai and Slavik, Anya, etc., etc., etc. I wish we could take them all home, but it's not possible. I'm so happy that Zhanna and Ella will be our girls, but I will always pray for the others.

After our initial greeting we went to the Director's office. She is an attractive woman, but we understand that she can be moody. She seemed pleasant enough this morning, however. She talked to Tanya and Arkadi and then asked us some questions, such as how much money we make, how we met the girls, information about Nathan and Annie and where they were living and what they were doing. Then she brought the girls in and had them sit and asked them questions about how we met and if they wanted to go with us to America. The girls both said, "Yes," enthusiastically. The director asked if anything was wrong with the orphanage. The girls said no, but they still wanted to go with us. I was proud of their wise answers and the poise they displayed in the process. Then the orphanage doctor came in and gave us a brief medical history of the girls. She asked if we still wanted them or wanted time to think it over. We said of course we still wanted them! (There are no problems, but even if there were, we've already decided they are ours!)

After this "grilling" Tanya and the girls and Mark and I were escorted upstairs so we could visit in another room while Arkadi and the Director's secretary finished the paperwork. When it was time to go we were asked to sign a paper stating that we want to adopt Zhanna and Ella. It felt so good to do that on our anniversary! What a gift!

We had to say good-bye to the girls then, but promised to see them later in the day. It was about 11:30 by that time, and Mark and I and Tanya were on a mission! We had to go to a small village/town in a distant part of the Donetsk region where Zhanna and Ella had been born. We had to retrieve a document saying that all the other adoptable siblings had already been adopted.

So, we set out on this journey on totally unknown roads through farming community after farming community. It was an absolutely beautiful day! The sun was shining and it was warm. The purple lilacs and red tulips and purple and white irises and chestnut trees are all in full bloom all at once here and grew lavishly all along the journey. There were milk cows and goats tied up beside the roads through every village we drove through. I guess the new spring grass needs to be eaten! There were old men sitting in the yard, while old women were working in the garden. We saw baby geese and even a man on a bicyle, steering with one hand and holding a bird cage containing a live parakeet in the other! Ah, Spring in Ukraine!

We saw Ukraine today in a totally different way. Up to now we had been mostly in the cities, but the country is beautiful - so green and lush, with field after field of fertile soil, plowed and waiting,or already bursting with the promise of a new crop. We could see clearly why Ukraine is called "The Breadbasket of Europe." Many crops are grown here such as wheat and potatoes and sunflowers for oil. The old Ukrainian ramshackle houses have a beauty all their own. Some were painted old world style with bright colors surrounding the windows and doors while the rest of the house is drab brown or grey. What tranquility! What a pastoral scene!

Until we hit a pothole - which was every 3 - 5 seconds, unless you were an expert swerver - which, thankfully, most of the time, Tanya was. She also expertly dodged the dogs, chickens and other farm animals that could have easily become roadkill under our tires. Also, there was the small issue of no signs on the road to tell you where you are going, and no highway numbers. Then, in driving through small villages, often the road would fork or split suddenly, and you had to guess as to which small, unlined fork was the main highway, and which was just the cow path through the town. We kept praying for God to give us a "sign!" We've decided that we think the Ukrainian government should put more money into its Transportation Department. Da!

Miraculously, after 2 hours, we arrived (in one piece - mind, body and soul!) in the larger village which is home to the district records office. This town was like taking a step back in time into an old Soviet village. There were buildings that are now vacant that had obviously once been Soviet offices. In order to get to the correct building we had to walk through an old park and around some old apartments. The office building we were looking for was entered through a heavy steel door and over a cracked and broken cement floor. We entered the actual office through an initial steel door off the hallway and then opened another wooden door within a square cubical area. There were about 5 women working inside within 2 extremely small rooms. I don't know how they kept from stepping on each other all the time! But they were very friendly. It didn't take long to get the document and they congratulated us and we left.

We then found a small market in the village to purchase some lunch. The lady shopkeeper didn't use a cash register. Instead, she had a large, old abacus attached to the counter, which she methodically used to keep track of our purchases. She seemed amused that we couldn't understand how much everything cost. We bought a hunk of Swiss cheese and a hunk of Muenster cheese, some bread, some chocolate and some juice. A great Ukrainian lunch! We ate in the car on the bumpy and swervy and picturesque 2 hour drive back to Mariupol!

We got to see the girls for just a few minutes when we returned. It was too late for us to spend much time with them, but tomorrow afternoon, Tanya has promised that we'll get to go with her to an English lesson with Zhanna and Ella.

Tomorrow we will be up and out the door at 8:00 again. We must take all our paperwork to the judge tomorrow morning. We have no idea how this will go. We must present our case and then in a day or two we will be given a court date. This could be as much as two weeks from now. Once we go to court everything is put on hold for 10 days. At that time, if no one has come forward to protest, the adoption is finalized here, and we get new birth certificates and new passports for the girls. (They can get passports in one day here for adoptions! Wow!) We do all that here in Mariupol. Once those things are all done we pack up the girls and take the train back to Kiev. We'll stay another few days in Kiev as we have to have medical tests on the girls there and register them with the American Embassy. Then we get to come home!

We're really not sure about how long all this will take at this point. But we've been told we have a good chance to be able to come home before July 1, maybe even as early as June 20, if all goes well. We'll pray.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying. God is good and He provides. Happy Ukrainian Anniversary to us!
Love,
Dawn and Mark

We Saw the Girls!

Yesterday after we had eaten at the TLC (finally) we went to the Social Worker's office. Tanya has a car, so she drove us there and she asked us to stay in the car while she went inside to talk to him about what needed to be done. We were in the car for more than an hour. Finally, Tanya and the social worker (his name is Arkadi)came out to the car and we drove to the orphanage. We went in and were shown to the director's reception room. The door was open to the hallway and we could watch the children passing. We saw many kids we met at the camp last year and they looked surprised to see us, but then waved happily. Then, lo and behold, Zhanna and Ella passed by, looked in and saw us, and both ran to give us big hugs! It was an amazing experience! Mark and I were both in tears and couldn't stop hugging and holding them. We all sat down on the sofa and waited for the director to come.

As it turned out, the director never showed up yesterday afternoon, as she had scheduled. Finally Tanya called her and she told us she could meet us at 8:15 in the morning. But Mark and I and the girls didn't mind. It gave us a good hour together to visit and catch up. Tanya helped with translation when necessary, but the rest of the time we just "winged it." We'll be okay as we begin the communication process. It will just take time for Zhanna and Ella to learn English and for us to learn more Russian. We reluctantly said our good-byes, with the assurance that we would meet again in the morning.

We spent the evening at the TLC with the older kids there. The TLC is a great Christian facility for kids who choose to be there and apply and are accepted. They have regular home duties and responsibilities as they live here and continue to go to school or get job training. They must attend church (it is connected to the TLC building) and maintain good grades and/or good behavior. The kids were all very polite to us and they prepared a great dinner of shredded cabbage and cooked barley and sausage. It was very good.

Well I must go for now. We had a wonderful day today, but it is almost 6:00pm and Wednesday night, so they have church service. Mark and I will go and then I'll write more later.
Blessings,
Dawn

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles!

We arrived safely in Ukraine on Sunday afternoon, and were greeted at the airport by Vanya. What a nice, young, Christian man he is! We enjoyed being with him. We went from the airport by taxi to the apartment Vanya rented for us. It was located right in the heart of Kiev, within a block of Kiev square, which is the hangout location of the city, surrounded by statues and fountains, and is on top of a large underground shopping mall. Our apartment was small, but quite nice by Ukrainian standards, and was very comfortable for us for the one night we stayed there.

We really enjoyed our short stay in Kiev. It is a beautiful city - full of history and culture. There were grand gold-topped cathedrals all around us. There are also statues and war memorials on every corner. We went walking a little on Sunday night after Vanya left us for the evening. What fun! The city has that old European feel - similar to Paris, but with a lot more military history. We'll come back to Kiev with the girls at the end of the adoption process. Then we'll get to shop at the many booths in the open air market.

Yesterday was a hurry up and wait kind of day. Vanya met us at 9:00 and we went to breakfast. We enjoyed Verengya (not sure about the spelling, but they are cheese or meat filled dumplings), along with potato pancakes with sour cream (latkes). It was a good breakfast, which was a good thing, because we didn't know it was going to be our only meal for a day and a half! We were at the SDA (State Department of Adoption) long before our 11:00 appointment, which didn't take very long at all. We were readily given approval, but then the race was on. When we left the office we had to go to the copy center where Vany made copies of our entire dossier. We then returned the original dossier to the SDA so they could combine it into book form and get the last approval there - hopefully by the afternoon. Meanwhile we walked blocks in order to go to the notary's office (notaries here are more like attorneys than in the U.S.). We then presented the documents and waited and waited and waited for them to be signed. If we had known it would take so long there we might have left and returned later, but we didn't want to miss it when the documents were ready. When they were finally signed we took a cab to the apartment to hurriedly pack, and Mark walked back to the SDA with Vanya to sign the finalized documents. When they returned we raced to the train station in a cab, headed for Mariupol, and the girls!

It was a traveling experience we'll never forget. We took an old Soviet-era sleeper train on an overnight 12-hour journey. The train itself was quite a different experience - creaking and swaying through the night as we slept in the clothes we'd been wearing all day in a small compartment with Kostya (Vanya's partner, whom we'd just met), and another Ukrainian woman who just happened to buy a seat in the same compartment (she snored loudly, by the way!). We hadn't eaten lunch yesterday because it was rush, rush, rush all day trying to get all the documents approved and ready for us to bring here. Then we had to run to catch the train and didn't have time to buy dinner, so the only food available was potato chips and cookies. That was our supper last night on the train. When we arrived at our destination this morning we were picked up at the train station by Vanya's brother, Slava, who doesn't speak any English. So we couldn't ask if we could stop anywhere for breakfast, so no food then, either! It took 2 1/2 hours to drive to Mariupol. Slava has a modern, very fast car, but a large part of the trip we couldn't go very fast because of all the enormous potholes in the road, which Slava carefully drove around - even into oncoming traffic. The rest of the time he made up for the pothole slowdown by driving extremely fast and passing as many other vehicles as possible. We saw several cars with 3 or 4 50-lb. bags of vegetables (cabbages, radishes and cucumbers) strapped to the tops of the cars. It was an interesting sight! A couple of times I was afraid Slava was going to collide with one of those cars and we'd all be waist deep in cabbages! At other times there were Soviet-style military trucks on the road that we swerved around. In the towns we drove through we passed the old busses full of people going to work - many babushkas in scarves tied under their chins, as well as young women or men dressed in very tantalizing, and sometimes revealing fashions. Ukraine is a study in contrasts between the old Soviet and the new modern Europe. It is sometimes hard to juxtopose the two.

When we arrived at Mariupol, Slava drove us to the TLC (transitional living center) where Tanya greeted us warmly. She asked if we'd like some tea or something and we explained we hadn't had anything to eat and she and another woman (Sveta) pulled out all kinds of wonderful leftovers. It was one of the best meals we've ever eaten!

We are still wearing the same clothes we had on yesterday, but we have an appointment shortly here in Mariupol with the next authority in line in the adoption process. We have no idea how many steps this will take, although Tanya and Vanya seem to clearly understand the process, so we just trust them to get us where we need to go and see whomever we need to see. Tanya is taking care of us here, because Vanya had to travel to Odessa with another couple adopting from the orphanage there.

We don't know yet when we'll see the girls, but we can't wait. Tanya says they are ready and excited to see us.

We are so appreciative of the prayers! I felt the presence of God especially strongly this morning at about 7:00 am here as we were sitting on the train before our exit stop. I wondered if some back home were praying for us before they went to bed. God has certainly sustained us, with energy and strength - despite strange sleeping conditions and sometimes no food. He is giving us everything and more than we need.

We'll be able to use the computer here at the TLC in Tanya's office for the next few weeks, so I can check my email and write in the blog. Thanks to all who are praying. God is good, and HIs presence is very evident now that we are here in Ukraine. We've waited so long to be here. We'll be with our girls soon!

Love,
Dawn and Mark

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

We leave for Ukraine tomorrow at 6:30 am! Yippee! (I never thought I'd be so excited about sleep deprivation!) We are ready to do this. God has been so good to us. His leading has been perfect. We had no idea when we received the word two weeks ago how we were going to possibly get everything done in time to go. But He has worked through everything and has provided the time, money and energy that has been required every day.

The girls' room is ready for them to come home. I posted pictures for you to see. We invited our dear church family over to see the girls' room and to pray there for them. Other loving friends have come over at different times, as well. The blessings have meant so much to us. We pray that Zhanna and Ella will walk into that room and feel love like they've never known before and that they'll feel God's presence giving them peace.

We're ready to go, but we know there will be challenges ahead. The six weeks in Ukraine may not be a picnic. There are some issues ahead that may need to be dealt with. We hear there's a possibility that some people we meet with may be expecting "gifts" of money in order to move things along speedily. That is often the way things are done in Ukraine, and you can't blame the people. The incomes there are low and inflation is high, and they struggle financially. It seems to be just the way things are done.

Well, we're not really surprised by this, but we're not sure what else we will encounter along those lines. I was feeling a bit anxious when we heard about this. We had estimated the amount of money needed pretty exactly. We were told we had to carry a large sum of money with us in new American bills in order to make certain transactions. Mark had to make special arrangements at the bank for the new bills. We were concerned that we wouldn't have enough money for this and other things that will come up. However, God has shown himself mightily! In the past two days we have been given a total of $1700 by several different people - just out of the blue! God provides before we even need it! He is so good!

The journey is just beginning, but the journey has been ongoing for 9 months now. We are about to give birth to a new family dynamic and welcome two new members. This journey is a physical journey, but it has also been a spiritual journey for everyone involved. We've been so blessed to feel used by God in this endeavor, but to also witness how it is affecting those around us. The generosity and support of faith has been amazing. The way God muliplies one situation to bring about a greater understanding of Him and a greater love for all mankind is astounding. We are humbled to be at the hub of this venture, and we know that we'll never see where all the ripple effects will go. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Our faith has grown this year. Someone handed me a little book marker the other day that had these words on it: "Radical Christianity. There's safety in complacency, but God is calling us out of our comfort zone into a life of complete surrender to the cross. To live dangerously is not to live recklessly, but righteously, and it is because of God's radical grace for us that we can risk living a life of radical obedience for Hm." We feel that is the journey we have been on with Christ, and what a GRAND adventure it has been! And there is more to come! Hallelujah!

So for now, God be with you till we meet again. Hopefully we'll be able to blog a little from Ukraine, but if not, we look forward to sharing when we return home. Remember, "The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose hearts are completely His." II Chronicles 16:9

Dasveedanya! Goodbye for now. We'll be home soon and so will Zhanna and Ella!
Much love,
Dawn and Mark

We're Going to Ukraine!

Our appointment date in Ukraine is set for May 18 in Kiev at 11:00 am! We received the word on Wednesday while we were in Texas with my 8th graders on a mission trip. We were living and working in a homeless shelter there, so the whole experience was rather surreal!

Our first response was to panic because of the suddeness of the appointment. But then Mark and I cried and prayed together. We have been waiting so long for this!

The next two weeks will be an absolute whirlwind. We have been gone this entire last week, so we have lots to catch up on here. We'll be in Texas again next weekend for Nathan's graduation from Abilene Christian University (we're so thankful we won't have to miss that!). Then 4 or 5 days after that we'll be on a plane to Kiev. Mark will have much to do to leave all the demands of preaching and ministry to others while we'll be gone for up to 6 weeks. I will have to scramble like crazy to get all my important projects and grading for report cards done before I leave. In addition, I'll have to leave lesson plans for a sub for the last week to week and a half of school and I'll have to get my classroom all packed up and stored away before I leave. Whew!

Yes, it will be incredibly overwhelming, so we appreciate all prayers you can offer on our behalf. God is so good, and we know He will provide everything we need. We can't wait to bring Zhanna and Ella home, and for all our friends and loved ones to meet our beautiful Ukrainian daughters!

I'll try to write more, as time allows, before we leave. May God bless us, every one!
Dawn and Mark