Wensday August 19th

Hey Everyone

I am finally back on line, the computer guy came today and I have a new hard drive and this thing is like a Cadillac again. Sorry it has been so long since the last post, I have been to one internet cafe and it was misreable hot and all I did was check e-mail to make sure ther was nothing important and got out. As most know Donna went home Saturday morning (your friday night) and the first day or two was kind of a bummer being alone, I know I had Madison but her English is not the best and she will clam up and you start to feel alone. The time Donna and I had here was great, we have never been able to spend time together like we did here in twenty years of marriage, it was really nice. Since she has been gone I have been walking to the orphange instead of a cab, anybody that knows Donna know's she does not like to walk and not the 3 mile from here and back. I have been taking a lot of pictures along the way, whole lot more to see walking than riding. Madison has been great, with Donna gone it makes her interact with me more which has been a very positive thing. She has never know a father or a man for that matter in her entire life, she does'nt even remember her mother. Some where some one has put in her head that men are not good, men in this country are looked at diffrrently than in the U.S. or most other place's in the world. The women her are very strong and work hard and tend to take on the role that most men at home do in the family. I'm not saying all family's here but it seems like alot. She has really opened up and we are having a ball at the park and studying English. We have spent a litlle more time at the orphange lately because she was with us for eight day's straight from Sunday the 8th to Sunday the 15th and we had a good time. Well this Friday night will be the first football game I have missed in a long time. If anyone needs something to do go out to Western H.S. and root for the Colts for me. GO COLTS Well I have alot to catch up on and I promise to get back in the routine of doing the post, Thank all of you who read it and for all the prayers.
Love
Jeff & Madison

Sunday August 16...We have a daughter...

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay in posting. Jeff's computer crashed on Thursday. So we have been without any computer or internet...We had court on Friday and it went great...They granted us the adoption and now we have to wait until the 25th to pick up her new birth certificate and then apply for the passport. That will take around 7 days and then 2 day in Kiev and home.. Hopefully by the 1st of Sept. I had to come home. So many things going on and I felt as though I needed to get back to work..I hated leaving..it was awful on me and them..I spoke to Jeff and he sounds downs because he is alone as Madison had to go back to the orphanage today. I am looking for volunteers to go be with him...ha..actually he has plenty of room. I would love to go back with him but I was afraid to push my luck with work..Anyway we will post and Jeff will give you details if he gets his computer fixed but for now just know we are in the home stretch.
Love
Donna and Jeff

Wednesday August 8, 2009 Court Cancelled Again

Hi,
I was always taught if you don't have anything nice to say dont say anything at all. So I guess the title is as much as you get. We are supposed to go Friday at 4pm we are now hearing so we will be ready to be there. Madison and her friend are doing great. They are a joy to have around though I suspect we will be having to take her friend back soon. Madison was dispappointed about court as we all were...I guess it like the old saying goes...good things come to those who wait...well we are waiting....and trying to smile..honestly if she wasnt with us we would probaby be so stressed and depressed right now it would be hard to carry on..but watching her sleep and knowing she is safe and happy is keeping us going and Jeff and I are pulling off of each others strengths and somehow we are coping...I can remember a time when this sort of thing would have pushed us to our brink....but now we just shake our heads and try not to question. A funny story we decided to take the girls for lunch since we were all down and so we have been letting Madison just order and then we do ( it embarrasses her if she has to help us Americans) in public. So we got to the restaurant and the girls ordered and the little one was saying a whole lot but it seems like it takes alot of Russian words to make up ours so we werent concered...then Jeff and I ordered...well here comes the waiter and he sits down a huge plate in front of the little girl and it was pancakes with caviar...I thought Jeff and I was going to have a stroke..then Madison saw our faces and she started fussing..well then Oksanna took a bite and guess what??? Didnt like it so she attempted to scrape it off and only eat the pancakes...well we told her no she ordered it and so she had to eat it....it was funny...she is so cute...you cant even get mad at her...she and Madison tried to eat it but I was scared it was going to make them sick so we told them they didnt have to...then french fries and then a large pizza....I tell you we have been feeding teenage boys forever and this little girl can eat just like them...if her metabolism ever slows down she will weigh 300lbs...ha...Thats really all I have to say today or atleast right now..we will post later.
Love
Donna & Jeff

August 11 The day before the BIG DAY 2

Well here we are again with all the excitement and anxiety of what kind of craziness can they come up with next. We go back to court tomorrow and we are as ready as we can be, we have clearance from everyone but the Pope.... HAHA The judge has looked at all the paperwork yesterday and was pleased but she will have time to sleep on it and who know's the mood tomorrow. We have had a blast with the girls the last two days, we went to the park and they rode about every ride they had. They are averaging 2 baths a day and 6 meals, Oksanna's weight is about fifty pounds and eats about that a day also. Madison will eat whatever is on her plate and dont ask for much more but she is a hardy eater, she does like her snack food. They got up this morning made their beds, cleaned, swept and mopped the floor in Madison's room all before 9:00. I told Donna she could learn a thing or two from them......HAHA I can't publish her response but I will post the pictures of my black eye and her bruised knuckles....HAHA... If you don't have a sense of humor on week five you wont make it through this adventure. Thats what we keep telling ourselves anyway. Zach has his first football game in a week and a half and I know I wont be home for it. It will be the first in 5 years or better that I have missed, but he and I know its worth it in the end. It's hard to believe he only has two more years till graduation. Allison and Josh have a big day of there own coming up next week, we will find out if the next new member of the Dziedzic family is a Mr. or Miss Dziedzic. Then there is Trevor who all on his own registered for his freshman year of college and then on top of all 12 credit hours he is taking, he has a new job. We are very proud of them all. Then we can't leave out all the OLD peoples contribution, without them none of this would work. We have so many people that have helped us one way or another I dont know how we would ever think of trying this without them, so to all of you who are sending e-mails, comments on the blog and all the prayer keep it up it is working and it means alot to us.
Love
Jeff & Donna

Monday August 10 Second straight day with the girls.

Hello,
So we are now finishing are 2nd straight day of having Madison and her friend...Wow that little girl I thought was so quiet and shy...not....she has come to life...they have laughed, played, bathed, ate, watched tv, played cards with us, ate, listen to IPODS, shopped, ate and read...oh and bathed some more...ha...oh and ATE...I honestly dont know where it is going...Jeff said Madison is going to come home 40 lbs heavier than we met her...but thats not true..she always eats everything you put on her plate..and snacks in between...Jeff has a new little friend...I think it is funny...she watches everything he does...right now she is watching him cook...he calls her peppy le pew...it was an elevator incident...lol...she tried to blame him...he blamed her...Madison and I suffered....they cheated us in cards...ha...we were playing go fish and they were saying half in English the other in Russian ...guess who won??? They asked for macaroni for dinner tonight so Jeff is happily making it....We found out from Oksanna that we got all of our paperwork that the judge requested and she went to the judge and she agreed to see us Wed morning...yeah..so that means our 10 day wait should be up on Aug 24...weekends dont count...so by the last of Aug she should be hitting US soil...yeah.....We took them to the book store today and they bought birthday cards for a friend and 2 books and monopoly( which now they refuse to play with us) so Jeff and I are making up our own names of properties and railroads as we cant read and there is no JAIL...They slept till 9 this morning which is a real treat for them because they have to be up at 7am every morning even in the summer....they also had cold cereal Cocoa Puffs this morning and loved it...I gave them friut also.....Madison wants no part of the kitchen which I totally understand...ha...but her friend is interested...so that makes Jeff happy that he has company in there...I did start the laundry this morning and they were both watching every move I make they were amazed...I just heard Jeff say NEET...to many cooks spoil the stew and she just stormed out of the kitchen...ha...We have decided that our daughter can very much take care of herself...she is tough if she has to be and wow the temper...I have heard Russians have bad tempers but let me tell you...she will be fine around her brothers....I asked her if she missed school and she said no....she dont want to go back but I am afraid she will have to tomorrow...atleast her friend will...so we will see...Its been wonderful weather and the dogs must be on vacation because I have only had to contend with 300am phone calls and not the 517 dog fight...so thats nice...today at 1030 Jeff said "hey its time to call some people and wake them up,,who do you want to start with? We tried Zach but he didnt answer and neither did Josh". Jeff did wow the locals with their own recipe of stuffed peppers...he put his own touch on it and they were impressed...they wouldnt leave...ha..just kidding we love Oksanna and Jeff Gordan they are great....I do want to request that a few prayers are said for Dasha (oksanna's daughter) she is having some sores and swollen lymph nodes and 2 surgeons in the last 2 days dont know the problem so I am trying to research it myself and I gave her a name to ask the doctor to culture and see but she is very worried and Dasha is feeling bad..so just some prayers they figure out what is wrong and fix it because her mama is worrying and not sleeping and that worries me...Well thats all...except we again want to say a big thank you to Galya and Oksanna we could have never done this without them..they truly have a place in heaven..and they are wonderful to have working for you they do such a great job....we could not ask for better people...So I will close now and get back to the girls and see what they are into ...it has made the days go faster having them here all the time.
Love
Donna and Jeff

The Weekend

Hello everyone,
Well Saturday started out by Jeff going and picking Madison up at the orphanage because we over slept and our ride was here 5 minutes after we woke up..So for the sake of not scaring the driver and Madison to death I sent Jeff...When they got back Jeff came in and said we have a happy little girl today and he was right she followed him in and she was all smiles...All day she was happy and joking and talking just like we turned a corner. We went out walking for a while and to the grocery to get stuff for dinner and then back to the apartment to relax. We watched TV and played solitaire and she stole Jeff's pillow and thought it was funny...Its nice to hear her laugh. We told her that if she wanted we would take her bowling tomorrow and she could invite a friend if the director at the orphanage will let us have another child. She said she would really like that and so we said ok....We had to have her back at 700pm and when we pulled up there were so many kids there and she told us that the rest of the kids had come back from camp on Saturday...so she got out and was greeted by some friends we have never met. We told her bye and that we would be back on Sunday at 12 to get her and her friend. She said ok.

This morning we were woke by Oksanna she was already at the orphanage and called to let us know that they were allowing us to keep Madison for 2 nights..So we picked her and her friend up and went bowling...They were so cute. Neither had bowled before and her friend probably only weighs 65 lbs soaking wet and she is 11. Much smaller than Madison...she is also being adopted...She picked up a bowling ball that weighed 16 lbs ha...it was funny....anyway Madison has a competive nature about her...she did good...she got 2 strikes...she also made it hard on papa...thats what she calls Jeff.....He ordered them french fries and cokes and ice cream...Its funny because we will say something and Madison's friend looks at her and Madison tells her what we are saying so it just goes to show she knows what we are saying...ha...so we brought them to our apartment and they got their baths and put clean clothes on and Jeff is making dinner and the girls are just chatty Cathy's...we havent heard Madison talk this much in a month...so we are going to try to talk them into putting on a show or dance for us later but Madison is refusing....as usual...but her friend...thats a different story...so we will see which one wins....we are excited about having 2 days of not going back to the orphanage we think it will be good for her and us and her English...We are also excited that she can sleep in tomorrow and not be woke at 700...we plan on having her a nice breakfast for her when she wakes up...As I type the music is blaring in her room and possibly the teenager is coming out...ha...She did give Jeff the please can I have it look with sad eyes and head cocked to one side...lol....I am sure all you dad of girls know the look...putty in her hand....it is SAD.....She is also singing now and she sings great....really great..she has a beautiful voice...so I am sure we will have plenty to write about in the next few days so we will just blog every so often so you dont miss anything...it will be nice to sleep knowing she is safe with us......Thanks and keep praying because we will be running around getting paperwork the next few days so we can get to court Wednesday....

Friday August 7, 2009 Court Postponed

Hi,
We got to court waited 2 hours and found out the judge who has never done international adoption wanted more paperwork from Madison's hometown. The inspector tried to reason as did Oksanna but the ruling stood. We have a tenative date for either next Wed or Fri...We are all disappointed here and our kids at home...we are all ready to be back together...Thanks for the prayers.
Love
Jeff and Donna