The cookout

Hi everyone,

We were so fortunate to be invited to a cookout to honor families of children who have adopted from the Ukraine and to fellowship with the facilitator that has helped many of these families once they arrive in Kiev. It was a beautiful day and the food was wonderful..The best thing about the day was getting to talk to Luda...She is awesome...she arrived in the US in late December and her English is phenomenal...It was so nice to talk to her as Luda is close to her age. Luda knew her when she was in the orphanage and she told Jeff and I more than once that she was a very nice and a good girl...She said she thinks she will be happy to be in America but will still miss her friends....I am sure she will as they are all she has ever known.

The facilitator told us if we get our homestudy and power of attorney to her before she leaves on Tues then she will use it as a place holder in line as we wait for the rest of the paperwork in order to finish the dossier and get INS approval.. This excited us very much because she explained there are no waiting list right now so it should quicken our process....

We also met a beautiful little girl who gave us her birthday money and a lovely card to help in her adoption...She also was adopted and just wants to help other children come to America and have loving and safe homes.

Also because I didn't update on Friday....we got a email from Natasha ( English tutor) and she stated that she was "bright and beautiful, charming and very smart", she said that she was already learning the ABC's and very eager to learn....Gosh that is so nice to hear...

Well next we have to get her gifts and cards that we are sending to the Ukraine with Kathy and Brad...this time next week they will have seen her and told her that we are adopting her and will have given her the gifts we sent.

Well that's all folks

2nd Interview

Well the past couple of days have been busy trying to get everything ready for our home visit that occured this morning. The boys were wondering why we would schedule it so early on a Saturday morning (9:30), you can tell they don't have jobs. She arrived and started with Zach, he just breezed through it because he loves to talk like his dad...his only concern he told Becky (the social worker) was that Jeff and I told him he had to start bathing down stairs in his bathroom because the upstairs will be hers...he is still convinced he can talk her into not caring if he soaks in the tub occasionally...ha..he did tell her he was excited and he knew they would be close..Trevor's was longer as he had to explain his traffic record (which Jeff insists he gets his driving from me) but it was ok..he said when she left he thought she was nice. After she spoke to the boys then she interviewed Jeff and I for 2.5 hours and we filled out and signed all the appropriate paperwork...then she toured the house and the dogs flirted with her alittle and then ofcourse we PAID..and she was off...it was a very nice morning which in total took about 3.5 hours...thats ok because now all we have to do is wait...which will probably be the hardest part.

The other exciting thing that happend is that we got an email from the lady who has the friend that is teaching her English lessons. She exchanged emails with us and we hope to hear an update on how well she is doing very soon...

It is Thunder over Louisville tonight and hopefully next year we will be taking our beautiful blonde hair, blue eyed little girl.
Thanks for reading
Jeff and Donna

Interviews

We figure until we have something to post we will just update on a as needed schedule. Actually alot has happend in the past few days. We finally got a call from our social worker her name is Becky and we have our individual interviews Thurday Apr 16th. Very excited about that. Then on April 20th we will do the home interview. Today Trevor went downtown and got his fingerprints done. So we are offically finished with paperwork just waiting on the home study and the INS approval letter. We found out the interpreter that we will be using in the Ukraine is actually in town and we were invited to a cookout next Saturday to meet her and see everyone before they head out to the Ukraine and take our letter and gifts. We cant wait to hear how she is when they get back. Take care
Jeff and Donna

April 8,2009

So the day started with getting a email from the adoption agency and told us that Trevor has to be treated as an adult household member so even though we worked so hard to get all of our paper work in ...now we have more to do..but thanks to my mother in law/ secretary she got right on the reference letters and they were all written in about 2 hours and in the mail...We were also asked about which days are best for us to do our interviews. Ofcourse I told them as soon as possible and wherever and whenever and we would be there. Trevor's letter from the INS did not come again today so the earliest he could get fingerprinted in next Wed. On a good note Pam sent us pictures ofwhen she was young and a video...its posted...it is so nice to see her then and now...I got the letter done that is going over to her in April and now have to order her locket to put our picture in...Thats all for today...

Love to all
Jeff and Donna

April 7, 2009

Well we are 16 days into the adoption process and Jeff has dropped off the last of the paperwork that could be completed by us. The rest will come from the state, local and federal government. I also spoke to the adoption coach a moment ago and she informed me that the next adoption education class in May 15th and May 16th. UGH we can't make that because Trevor graduates that day so I guess we will do the online course. So we also want to thank everyone who is praying for the adoption and we will use this to keep you all posted.

Donna and Jeff