4/6/07 - Some more flies in the ointment!

As you might expect, when all seems to be heading in the right direction, something comes along to get your attention. When going to the Notary to petition for the adoption, Sergey noted a typo!! Well it is more than a typo. There is a "one" letter difference in Irina's last name from the paperwork and her birth certificate. Her birth certificate has a letter in it that is Russian and all the rest of her documents have the letter translated to Ukranian. Now we have to go to the town where she was born and and get it changed. Sounds simple but they want a court decree and who knows what else, then on to the Region to get them to change it, etc. In between we have 4 - 5 days delay because of the Easter Holiday. We have no idea of how long the delay or the procedures that have to be followed to move on to getting a court date. All we can do is keep on praying. We cannot leave and come back as Irina is getting more attached each day and we can't break her heart. We will see her tomorrow and then bring Russian versions of American movies to her orphanage and have all her classmates join us in watching them and we will supply the soda, cookies and candy. Her classmates are the greatest, well disciplined, attentive and so sweet you just want to bring more home with you Monday we get Irina for the day and will shop with for some new clothes and a bubble bath and "make over".... Please keep us in your prayers.

4/5/07 - Met with Irina's Grandfather

Another long day but worth it!!! We woke early, headed to the orphanage, picked up Ira, pronounced (ee-ra, rolling the r). We then went to Ira's school and picked up her teacher and headed out to meet Ira's grandfather. We had to stop the car 3 times so Ira could relieve her upset stomach (bad case of car sickness.. doesn't ride in cars much and nervous). About an hour and a half later we arrived in his village (very humbling) . He was not there (in the forest cutting wood to make more wood craft items). 10 minutes later he came into view with his bicycle with a load of wood tied to the back. Ira appeared a little nervous and of course her grandfather was trying to figure out what the 4 strangers were all about. Introductions were made and Sergey explained our purpose. Her grandfather, Victor, took it all in and did not want to stand in the way if this was what Ira wanted. She said it was and he felt strongly that he would miss her but did not want to have Ira come back to him in the future because he held her back and make her resent him. He was clear that he want to have her call and write and visit, possibly within a year. We agreed and let him know how important it was to us to have her stay in touch with her only family. He asked us to send him an available single women and I showed our neighbor (no names) and he gave a thumbs up!!! Victor and I embraced upon leaving and he added that he now he had more family! We plan to see him again before leaving the region. Much more yet to do before we can head back to Kyiv and the Embassy and head back home. It looks like we will be here about 3 more weeks due to holidays and delays. We will spend as much time with Irina as possible to bond and get closer. Her new full American name will be Irina Christine Richards - DOB: 11/27/95

Pic. 1 - Irina & Victor; Pic. 2 - Sergey, Ira, Ira's teacher, Tatiana; Pic. 3 - The gang!

4/4/07 (2) - Meeting Irina (Ira) for the first time

After the formalities and comfort setting discussion, the Director asked for Ira's teacher to come in and talk to us. We went through our album with the Director and teacher over viewing our family. They were impressed and were all smiles and felt more comfortable as all went well and then the defining moment... in walked Irina. She looked so cute although very serious and somewhat nervous. We tried to talk a bit with interpreting going of in both direction and then brought her up to speed on our family through the album again. Irina was most intent on each and every picture assessing what could be potential her new family. We found the Irina will have been in the orphanage 2 years this summer and spent 1 year prior in a shelter prior. She seemed very intent, in told control when asked questions and acted very mature for her age. Each moment caused her to grow on us more and more. She is very pretty and a delight to be around. She was put on the spot rather quickly by the Director in asking how she felt about becoming a part of our family, since there was an eagerness to get paperwork started quickly because of the long holiday weekend (Easter) . She was not 100% but felt more positive than negative. At that time I interceded and asked that it be made clear to her above all else that her decision was more important than anyone else's and she didn't need to lock herself in now and be so nervous. Also, that even though we wanted to move ahead on the paperwork she could withdraw at anytime over the next several days. Then an obstacle was brought up that had to be overcome and written off prior to proceeding. Although she had no siblings and her parents had lost all rights, she has a grandfather who visits a couple time a year and needed his acceptance in order for the orphanage to sign off. Sergey, Debbie, an orphanage representative, Irina & I will be off at 9:00 AM tomorrow to find her grandfather and provide reasons why it is in his granddaughter's best interest to be adopted by us. We spent the rest of the day touring the facility first with the director herself and then by Irina. We then played UNO for an hour or so and ended our day. All that time appeared to have created a stronger bond. We are very much in pursuit of breaking down any barriers to adopt this child...

Pic. 1 - Irina; Pic. 2 - Ira looking at family album; Pic. 3 - Ira & Orphanage Director

4/4/07 (1) - Met Irina (Ira) today!!!

Had to wait all day yesterday to get our paperwork back from the SDA (5 - 6 PM) so we could head out to Kharkiv. We spent the day going through the was museum (fabulous site) and the Monastery and went though the catacombs where monks have been being buried for hundreds of years (quite an adventure). Moved out of our apartment and took a 10:30 PM train to Kharkiv that arrived at 6:30 AM today. We all got very little sleep if any and then were met by Sergey and we checked into our apartment (arranged by Sergey). Unpacked, took showers and then off to Lyubotin (10 miles or so out of the city). We had to stop in the village central office for permission from the Inspector to go on to the orphanage to see Ira. We arrived at the orphanage about 10:30 - 11:00 AM. The place looked deserted at that particular time. We parked in front of what looked like the main office and a woman came out of nowhere across the courtyard and greeted us. She was the director of the orphanage. She was most enthusiastic and over viewed the grounds and buildings and told us that at one time there were over 1000 orphans residing there (according to the Web approx. 250 orphans reside there now). The orphanage is 45 years old.

Pic. 1: Front of SDA; Pic. 2: Sovereign hunting with the "Wild One"; Pic. 3: One of the buildings at the orphanage --- See 4/4/07 (2) for the rest of today's news.........

4/3/07 - Referral from SDA

We tried to post an entry yesterday, but for some reason it got wiped out just prior to

posting??? We had our meeting at the SDA yesterday at 4:00 PM. No one was allowed to join us under the latest procedures. We were presented 2 young ladies (10 and 12) initially and there was a lull that became a little uncomfortable. We showed our album and the entire mood rapidly changed with more warm and happy faces for the remainder of our time. We then were presented another 10 year old. It looked as there was another referral, however, we both felt strongly about the 11 years old (Irina). She will be 12 on 11/27. As a result, we felt the Lord was leading our hearts toward Irina. We were at the SDA for 1 hour but it looked like we could have stayed longer (no real pressure to leave). There was another appointment listed after ours! Irina is located in a "boarding school" (as told to us) in the Kharkiv region (eastern most region, adjacent to Russia). We will be traveling via overnight train this evening. We are nervously anticipating our first meeting tomorrow. Having Sharon with us has been very helpful. Although she is not offering herself as a personal guide in the future I told her to consider the potential (all expenses paid plus a consulting fee of $10,000 or so!!!). We didn't have any suggestions in handling here kids!!! Dale
We are so excited to meet Irina! What we know about her so far is that she was born in the same region as her orphanage, has no siblings and is "healthy". She's been in the orphanage since 2005 and parental rights were terminated at that time. As soon as we left the SDA, SRC went into action with the paperwork to designate acceptance of the referral and delivered it back to the SDA before they closed. The SDA told us our referral paperwork will be ready today between 5-6 pm. Sergey will meet us in Kharkiv and be our facilitator/driver. Sharon and SRC were wondering what might be wrong, since we were in the SDA for an hour! But the meeting overall, went very well, we had good referrals and Zurina (SDA) shook our hands and was happy about our pending adoption.
Thank you for your prayers, they are felt....God bless you all!! Debbie

Left pic. (Dale, Debbie & Sergey - facilitator) - Right pic. (eating the American way!!!!)

4/2/07 - Arrival in Kiev, Ukraine

Saturday, 3/31/07 - Well, we've finally arrived to our initial destination! We had a safe and comfortable long flight, arriving 9 am Saturday, 3/31/07. Julia met us at the airport and told us our apt with the SDA is 4 pm today. We packed our bags into a van and were taken to our apartment in Kiev, a comfortable one bedroom apartment. We met Yuri, had lunch at TGI Fridays and had a tour of Kiev. We also met Sergey, our facilitator. Sharon (Liddle, who is traveling with us) was invited to Sergey's for dinner and to spend the night with his family, which gave us the opportunity to post our our blog....only to find out the Internet cafe was closed! So we watched a movie and crashed! We slept for 9.5 hours. Would have slept longer but had to get up early (8:30) since Sharon promised to be back at that time. Finally, at 11:45, Sharon arrived and we went to church!

Sunday, 4/1/07 - Happy Palm Sunday! We went to St. Vladimir's (Greek Orthodox) for church. Unbelievable crowd, which was a pleasant surprise. Since palms are not available in this part of the world, willow branches were used instead. We had lunch at a Ukrainian restaurant, the food was excellent! The waiters and waitresses wore their native garb.
The large square (Independence Square) and main drive were blocked off to traffic to allow everyone to walk freely about. We enjoyed walking through the underground shopping mall, we visited St. Michael's church which was beautiful with gold domes and blue exterior. Inside fresco's were on the walls and ceilings throughout. We spent the evening at the Kiev opera house and saw Swan Lake. The tickets were arranged by Julia who got us special seating in the middle front of the theatre. After leaving the opera, at Independence Square, there was a fire show which was pretty to see but difficult to explain. We had a late evening snack at McDonald's, not Ukrainian, but familiar!
Thanks for your prayers. We are off to the SDA for our 4:00 Appointment today!!!!!!

3/19/07 - Final preparations for our trip to Ukraine

We are compiling the numerous items that will be needed for a 4 to 5 week trip to the Ukraine and trying to find ways to pack them into 1 roller duffle bag suitcase each... Sounds like fun. We know that we will have to wash clothes while there so we can keep our wardrobes to a minimum. Enclosed is a picture of the our current Williamsburg family. Unfortunately the last time a picture was taken with just the three of us was while we were in Italy during July of 2005, so please ignore the ruins and the wine bottles.