Hi
Well we were excited today because we got to have Madison from 10 - 6 today.. We waited for Oksanna and Dasha to get to the apartment then we left for the internet place. Our internet quit working sometime on Thursday...we could not figure it out...so we made our 5th trip in there with the laptop to find.....they had cut our service off...how funny...we went over the megabytes we bought...eventhough we thought they said unlimited...oh well we are back up and running. So after we left there we went to the orphanage and picked her up. Every morning we have been waking up to someone frying bacon so we decided we were on a bacon hunt we wanted to make Madison BLT's. So we went to this awesome market where we picked up bacon, bread, mayo and lettuce. We already had the tomatoes. When we got back to the apartment we invited Oksanna and Dasha up for lunch. Dasha is 2 and she loves Madison...Oksanna told her the other day that she was going to the market to get fruit and she said " I know where you are going, you are going to the Americans and then to Nina and I am going too". Ha she is so funny. Anyway they accepted. It is so nice to see how relaxed Madison is now at our apartment. She comes right in takes her shoes off and goes to her room gets her socks. Today with Dasha here she was pretty busy entertaining her. I fixed lunch...I do appreciate presliced bacon you get at home but I managed and we all ate. We havent found anything Madison truly wont try. Jeff is spoiling her by making her fresh squeezed lemonade everyday but she can use alittle spoiling. Jeff and Madison walked down to the market to get some minutes for the phone and came back with her favorite gum, cookies and soft drink. It is good for them to have daddy/daughter time. Anyway when our company left it was time to do hair. I brought color with me so I got it out and put the cap on and she looked like a professional...seriously she never missed a hole to pull my hair through. Then when that was done Jeff gave her a tshirt to put over her clothes, she donned the plastic gloves and Jeff mixed up the ingrediants. She is quite the perfectanist...she went strand by strand making sure each were covered...when she finished she sighed and fell back on the bed. It was time to take her back and my head still had a plastic bag on it. So we asked her if she wanted me to go also or just dad cause I didnt want to embarrass her in front of her friends and her eyes got big and she pointed to dad...ha...so I hugged her bye and off they went...with goodies in tow. We bought her new flipflops last week and when she got here today they are already so dirty so I asked her if she wanted me to wash them...she shoot her head yes and I was in the restroom running the water and she came in there and was pushing her bracelets up and I said no I will do it thats what moms do and she looked at me and smiled and hugged me and went back to watching tv...
The traffic was horrible today because the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was coming through town today headed for Sevastpol. There were more policemen and roadblocks than you can imagine. People were protesting at the parliment building. Finally at about 7pm we saw out our window the stream of police escorts and motorcade go down the street. Hopefully today will be better. Speaking of seeing things out our window. It was football (soccer) night again at the stadium and we were just reading and working on the computer when people stated parachuting down out of the sky...it was cool...pre game activities.
Still no real news except a meeting did occur between the SDA and Interpol and they are trying to resolve the situation quickly so we can get a court date. 4 other families are also affected. We will keep you informed right now we are going to try to enjoy the weekend.
Love
Donna and Jeff
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thursday July 30, 2009 Still waiting
Hi,
So the news is pretty much the same...nothing...this is our 6 day of not moving ahead at all...getting very frustrated and then the fact that we couldnt get Madison again until 3pm makes our days so long just waiting for everything. News and Madison. We picked her up and took her to see Ice Age 3 maybe still dont know...It was a great movie I think....It made her laugh and that is all that matters. She was dressed cute today and when she came up to hug us Jeff noticed how good her hair smelled and her face is already clearing up also. That made us feel better...After the movie we took her to buy her some tennis shoes so she would have something to walk in that had support..She has never had a pair...she picked out some cute ones. Then it was time to take her back. She sat and stared out the window in the car and our driver (Jeff Gordan) asked her what was wrong and she said " I dont want to go back I want to go to America now with mom and dad". This made it extra hard to take her back ...We told her it wont be long and she wont ever have to go back...She said she hasnt except for camp spent the night anywhere else in 5 years. That is so sad...but true. We dropped her off and ran to the market and then home. Jeff made us an awesome greek salad for dinner...he can cook anywhere..and I think I can live on it....
What I did think I would do tonight is give an insight on my experiences her in the Ukraine that I just will never get use too.
1st - Restrooms. I will send a few pics to all that are interested but you should have been a fly on the wall the first time I had to use the restroom outside of my apartment. We had driven 2 hours to the town Aloyna was in school at and I drank tea on the way there. So I asked Oksanna to see if there was a restroom in the inspectors office in this town.. She did and directed me to it. You should have seen my face when I walked in...couldn't find the light ( they are all on the outside of the doors) it was so dark I almost fell in this hole in the floor. Finally I opened the door and looked outside and turned the light on...well I should have left it off...The hole I almost fell in someone expected me to pee in....I just stood there...staring...almost laughing and honestly talking to myself about this could not be possible I must be on candid camera. Now dont get me wrong I have used outhouses in my life but atleast you can sit if you can get the fear out of your head of something biting your bottom, but this I had to stand, stradle, aim and fire....all the while holding on to nothing except your pants....not easy for a 40 year old woman with a weak bladder...so I accomplished this and began to look around for the charmin....not....so now I am trying to stradle, hold my purse in my mouth, dig with one hand to find a tissue all the time trying not to drop my pants or fall in the hole...lesson learned...dehydratation cant be any worse....I got out of there and I told Jeff that I think I just used the bathroom somewhere I wasnt supposed to and he said " no that is where you where supposed to ". Whatever. The next trip to the town we stopped along the way for Jeff to take pictures and Oksanna and I choose the side of the road...1 chigger was better and I had a tree to lean against.
2nd Doorways. I guess because of the time when the building were built around here every door you go through or out has a threshold something another on the floor...it dont matter where...I dont have to tell you how many times I have managed to trip and almost fall going through every door in the Crimea...I just cant make myself understand...they will be there....pick up your feet...my big toe ( as if it isnt ugly enough) looks like a weeble wobble that just got back from the war zone....I have seen toes on 80 year old men look better than my toes from stumping it on the thresholds.
3rd Driving. I dont and will never understand how these people drive...there is no rhyme or reason...Jeff and I was bored the other day and I was like lets go rent a car and be crazy we can just drive like you always wanted to at home but no you will GO TO JAIL...these people drive on the sidewalks, get out in the middle of the road to work on their cars, honk, honk, honk, honk and honk the horn...they show no mercy on the horn you could be 2months or 100 years using a walker....get out of the way or you are getting honked at....seriously I feel sorry for some of the pedestrians...and walking is just taking your life in your own hands...you might be walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden here come a 1939 souped up station wagon on 2 wheels coming at you...move he is honking and you shouldnt be on the sidewalk....its crazy I just laugh now...I cant say anything I just pray I dont die and laugh
Well thats all for today I have many more...
Love
Donna and Jeff
So the news is pretty much the same...nothing...this is our 6 day of not moving ahead at all...getting very frustrated and then the fact that we couldnt get Madison again until 3pm makes our days so long just waiting for everything. News and Madison. We picked her up and took her to see Ice Age 3 maybe still dont know...It was a great movie I think....It made her laugh and that is all that matters. She was dressed cute today and when she came up to hug us Jeff noticed how good her hair smelled and her face is already clearing up also. That made us feel better...After the movie we took her to buy her some tennis shoes so she would have something to walk in that had support..She has never had a pair...she picked out some cute ones. Then it was time to take her back. She sat and stared out the window in the car and our driver (Jeff Gordan) asked her what was wrong and she said " I dont want to go back I want to go to America now with mom and dad". This made it extra hard to take her back ...We told her it wont be long and she wont ever have to go back...She said she hasnt except for camp spent the night anywhere else in 5 years. That is so sad...but true. We dropped her off and ran to the market and then home. Jeff made us an awesome greek salad for dinner...he can cook anywhere..and I think I can live on it....
What I did think I would do tonight is give an insight on my experiences her in the Ukraine that I just will never get use too.
1st - Restrooms. I will send a few pics to all that are interested but you should have been a fly on the wall the first time I had to use the restroom outside of my apartment. We had driven 2 hours to the town Aloyna was in school at and I drank tea on the way there. So I asked Oksanna to see if there was a restroom in the inspectors office in this town.. She did and directed me to it. You should have seen my face when I walked in...couldn't find the light ( they are all on the outside of the doors) it was so dark I almost fell in this hole in the floor. Finally I opened the door and looked outside and turned the light on...well I should have left it off...The hole I almost fell in someone expected me to pee in....I just stood there...staring...almost laughing and honestly talking to myself about this could not be possible I must be on candid camera. Now dont get me wrong I have used outhouses in my life but atleast you can sit if you can get the fear out of your head of something biting your bottom, but this I had to stand, stradle, aim and fire....all the while holding on to nothing except your pants....not easy for a 40 year old woman with a weak bladder...so I accomplished this and began to look around for the charmin....not....so now I am trying to stradle, hold my purse in my mouth, dig with one hand to find a tissue all the time trying not to drop my pants or fall in the hole...lesson learned...dehydratation cant be any worse....I got out of there and I told Jeff that I think I just used the bathroom somewhere I wasnt supposed to and he said " no that is where you where supposed to ". Whatever. The next trip to the town we stopped along the way for Jeff to take pictures and Oksanna and I choose the side of the road...1 chigger was better and I had a tree to lean against.
2nd Doorways. I guess because of the time when the building were built around here every door you go through or out has a threshold something another on the floor...it dont matter where...I dont have to tell you how many times I have managed to trip and almost fall going through every door in the Crimea...I just cant make myself understand...they will be there....pick up your feet...my big toe ( as if it isnt ugly enough) looks like a weeble wobble that just got back from the war zone....I have seen toes on 80 year old men look better than my toes from stumping it on the thresholds.
3rd Driving. I dont and will never understand how these people drive...there is no rhyme or reason...Jeff and I was bored the other day and I was like lets go rent a car and be crazy we can just drive like you always wanted to at home but no you will GO TO JAIL...these people drive on the sidewalks, get out in the middle of the road to work on their cars, honk, honk, honk, honk and honk the horn...they show no mercy on the horn you could be 2months or 100 years using a walker....get out of the way or you are getting honked at....seriously I feel sorry for some of the pedestrians...and walking is just taking your life in your own hands...you might be walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden here come a 1939 souped up station wagon on 2 wheels coming at you...move he is honking and you shouldnt be on the sidewalk....its crazy I just laugh now...I cant say anything I just pray I dont die and laugh
Well thats all for today I have many more...
Love
Donna and Jeff
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday July 29..No news yet
Hello all,
Well it has been a pretty good day. Jeff started out by going to the electronic market with his new friend and our driver Alec aka Jeff Gordon. Then they came back to get me and Oksanna. We were going to the orphanage but we were told we couldn't see Madison until 3pm because they had an inspection for the next 2 days. Madison called asking where we were. She has gotten very use to us being there after breakfast to get her. She wasnt happy when we told her not today. So since the other families are leaving tomorrow one of them asked if they could store their clothes they brought for their daughters and another suitcase at our apartment until they came back and we said yes. So we went and picked those up and one of the suitcases was the size of the Kia itself but we somehow got it in. So we went back to the apartment and put my tennis shoes on. ( dont see many of those around, thats how they know we are American because Jeff wont go anywhere without his tennis shoes and levis shorts). We walked all over the Crimea I think. It felt like it for all of you who know how I absolutely depise walking. It was a nice day though and we walked and sight seen for a couple of hours. We havent really had a chance to do any of that because we have been so busy. Jeff got his little girl a single long stem pink rose and some cookies and a birthday gift since we were not here on her birthday. It is so funny because you cant get her to take anything as far as money from us. She actually dont like us to even spend money on her at the market I think she wants us to know this isnt about things we can buy her it is about family. We got to the orphanage at 3pm and they let us have her until 6pm. We got her to the car and gave her the gifts and she was really happy. Then we left there and went to look for her a homecoming outfit. I told her I wanted her in a dress and she told me a skirt yes a dress no. Ha...set me straight. Anyway we found one actually Jeff picked it out and it looks so cute on her. She told us this is the first time in her life she got to go to a store and pick out her own clothes and try them on to see if they fit. She looked like a doll. She has been breaking out on her nose with little bumps so we stopped at a store to get clearasil and I told her how and when to use it and she said she would. I asked if she needed anything else and she asked for shampoo and conditioner, soap and I asked her if she knew what deodrant was and she was confused so Oksanna explained and she said she would like some so we got her teen deodrant. She was very happy. We then went to get her something to eat and then back to the orphanage. Each day it is harder to take her back there. It is so depressing but I keep telling myself she doesnt know any different and its only for a short time longer. She told us the other girls that mother left yesterday because of the problems were in there beds last night crying that she probably wont come back and get them. We seen them today and they were both so so sad looking. Madison said she told them that she will be back dont cry. As we arrived back to the apartment Oksanna got a call from Aloyna asking her to ask us if she could have some money for groceries. We said yes I am trying to just do what is right in our hearts by helping a child who has no parents...thats the way I have to look at it. She just left and she really is a good girl. She thanked us for taking Nina and she told us Nina was happy and loves us and thats all she wants for her sister. I do believe her. Madison called while Aloyna was here and I think she was happy we were helping her sister. Well thats all for today. We are taking her to the market tomorrow to buy her some food and then we will get Madison at 3 again and she wants to see ICE AGE 2...that should be interesting in Russian...ha Jeff and I decided we would make up our own story line....glad no one can read our minds...ha...We are waiting on a call from Galya. The SDA in Kiev invited Interpol to meet with them today to develop a plan on how they are going to handle families already in country to complete their adoptions. We hope to hear soon so I will know if I am coming on home for a few weeks or finishing this pretty quick...we will let you know as soon as we do.
I want to tell our boys and family we love you all and we miss you all and thank you for keeping it all together when we are unable to...we wont do this to you again.
Love
Mom and Dad
Well it has been a pretty good day. Jeff started out by going to the electronic market with his new friend and our driver Alec aka Jeff Gordon. Then they came back to get me and Oksanna. We were going to the orphanage but we were told we couldn't see Madison until 3pm because they had an inspection for the next 2 days. Madison called asking where we were. She has gotten very use to us being there after breakfast to get her. She wasnt happy when we told her not today. So since the other families are leaving tomorrow one of them asked if they could store their clothes they brought for their daughters and another suitcase at our apartment until they came back and we said yes. So we went and picked those up and one of the suitcases was the size of the Kia itself but we somehow got it in. So we went back to the apartment and put my tennis shoes on. ( dont see many of those around, thats how they know we are American because Jeff wont go anywhere without his tennis shoes and levis shorts). We walked all over the Crimea I think. It felt like it for all of you who know how I absolutely depise walking. It was a nice day though and we walked and sight seen for a couple of hours. We havent really had a chance to do any of that because we have been so busy. Jeff got his little girl a single long stem pink rose and some cookies and a birthday gift since we were not here on her birthday. It is so funny because you cant get her to take anything as far as money from us. She actually dont like us to even spend money on her at the market I think she wants us to know this isnt about things we can buy her it is about family. We got to the orphanage at 3pm and they let us have her until 6pm. We got her to the car and gave her the gifts and she was really happy. Then we left there and went to look for her a homecoming outfit. I told her I wanted her in a dress and she told me a skirt yes a dress no. Ha...set me straight. Anyway we found one actually Jeff picked it out and it looks so cute on her. She told us this is the first time in her life she got to go to a store and pick out her own clothes and try them on to see if they fit. She looked like a doll. She has been breaking out on her nose with little bumps so we stopped at a store to get clearasil and I told her how and when to use it and she said she would. I asked if she needed anything else and she asked for shampoo and conditioner, soap and I asked her if she knew what deodrant was and she was confused so Oksanna explained and she said she would like some so we got her teen deodrant. She was very happy. We then went to get her something to eat and then back to the orphanage. Each day it is harder to take her back there. It is so depressing but I keep telling myself she doesnt know any different and its only for a short time longer. She told us the other girls that mother left yesterday because of the problems were in there beds last night crying that she probably wont come back and get them. We seen them today and they were both so so sad looking. Madison said she told them that she will be back dont cry. As we arrived back to the apartment Oksanna got a call from Aloyna asking her to ask us if she could have some money for groceries. We said yes I am trying to just do what is right in our hearts by helping a child who has no parents...thats the way I have to look at it. She just left and she really is a good girl. She thanked us for taking Nina and she told us Nina was happy and loves us and thats all she wants for her sister. I do believe her. Madison called while Aloyna was here and I think she was happy we were helping her sister. Well thats all for today. We are taking her to the market tomorrow to buy her some food and then we will get Madison at 3 again and she wants to see ICE AGE 2...that should be interesting in Russian...ha Jeff and I decided we would make up our own story line....glad no one can read our minds...ha...We are waiting on a call from Galya. The SDA in Kiev invited Interpol to meet with them today to develop a plan on how they are going to handle families already in country to complete their adoptions. We hope to hear soon so I will know if I am coming on home for a few weeks or finishing this pretty quick...we will let you know as soon as we do.
I want to tell our boys and family we love you all and we miss you all and thank you for keeping it all together when we are unable to...we wont do this to you again.
Love
Mom and Dad
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday July 28...Hard day
Hello everyone,
I guess I will do the blog today since neither of us feels up to it. So bear with me if it is not upbeat as usual. Jeff is having a really rough day and has already laid down for the evening...he said he was not tired but he isnt talking much.
We are having some long days. Not so much in hours as in stress levels. There have recently been some changes to the laws and there are requests for paperwork that we are trying to obtain in order to get a court date. There are several families over here right now and one had already gone to court and was on thier 10th day and 23rd hour after court and ready to leave for home when the adoption was protested by the prosecutor, plus the other 2 couples that had court date for Thurs and Friday of this week were cancelled and they will give no more court dates until we meet these requirements. Galya, Oksanna and SDA are all trying to figure it out but it seems like a dead end everywhere we turn. The other 3 families are leaving this week but they have a different facilitator who has advised them to do this. With hopes of coming back in the next 20 days or so. The word is SDA will have a plan by Friday so at that time we will decide who is coming home or if there will be a quick court date since our 10 days before court will be already served. I just dont know...
Then to make a bad day worse....we had to tell Madison's sister this morning our decision about her adoption. We wanted to do it away from Madison but by the time we got done at the court house she was already with Madison at the orphanage. We know it was the right decision but it is so hard to disappoint and hurt children who have had a lifetime of disappointment. Madison cried and that was heart wrenching to us. She just laid her little head on her sisters back and they cried and we cried and nothing we said right then sounded like a good enough excuse to hurt these children. Again we were and are at peace with our decision it was still hard and depressing. So now that we have brought everyone down I will sign off.
Please keep praying and emails and comment make days like this alittle more bearable.
Love
Donna and Jeff
I guess I will do the blog today since neither of us feels up to it. So bear with me if it is not upbeat as usual. Jeff is having a really rough day and has already laid down for the evening...he said he was not tired but he isnt talking much.
We are having some long days. Not so much in hours as in stress levels. There have recently been some changes to the laws and there are requests for paperwork that we are trying to obtain in order to get a court date. There are several families over here right now and one had already gone to court and was on thier 10th day and 23rd hour after court and ready to leave for home when the adoption was protested by the prosecutor, plus the other 2 couples that had court date for Thurs and Friday of this week were cancelled and they will give no more court dates until we meet these requirements. Galya, Oksanna and SDA are all trying to figure it out but it seems like a dead end everywhere we turn. The other 3 families are leaving this week but they have a different facilitator who has advised them to do this. With hopes of coming back in the next 20 days or so. The word is SDA will have a plan by Friday so at that time we will decide who is coming home or if there will be a quick court date since our 10 days before court will be already served. I just dont know...
Then to make a bad day worse....we had to tell Madison's sister this morning our decision about her adoption. We wanted to do it away from Madison but by the time we got done at the court house she was already with Madison at the orphanage. We know it was the right decision but it is so hard to disappoint and hurt children who have had a lifetime of disappointment. Madison cried and that was heart wrenching to us. She just laid her little head on her sisters back and they cried and we cried and nothing we said right then sounded like a good enough excuse to hurt these children. Again we were and are at peace with our decision it was still hard and depressing. So now that we have brought everyone down I will sign off.
Please keep praying and emails and comment make days like this alittle more bearable.
Love
Donna and Jeff
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday July 27
Well its been another wild day of running all over. We have been to every corner of this town trying to get our paperwork finalized. Still no court date. Oksana & Galya are working their tail off trying to get all this worked out. If there were two people who can get it done I know they will. We need lots of pryers for us, Oksanna, Galya, and Nina (Madison). Donna needs extra she has been BAD lately.HAHA Madison rode her first escalater today and her eyes got real big, she liked it once we got off. Well its been a rough one and maybe there will be more and better news tomorrow. The good news is it has finally cooled off the bad news is when Donna was doing her last minute packing and unpacking at the airport in front of the whole world the jeans got left at home. Good night and God Bless
Love
Jeff & Donna
Love
Jeff & Donna
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday July 26 Relaxing Sunday in Ukraine
Hi all,
Well I had some bad dreams last night I guess in the back of my mind i was worrying if after Madison slept on the news about her sister would she still greet us like always. So we had a cab come and get us this morning so Oksanna could have a day off. She deserves it. We arrived at the orphanage at about 10:30 and went inside to check her out. One of the children went upstairs to get her and she came running down ready to go and ran up to Jeff and gave him his usual morning hug and mine followed. We called Oksanna to tell her we were going to the open market to shop for dinner and then we were spending the day at the apartment. The market is CRAZY on Sundays. Jeff had his first experience at almost getting pic pocketed. We were buying a magazine that Madison picked out and he said he felt the cellphone being taken out of his back pocket, he swung his elbow and hit this old lady that had her hand in his pants. She was not happy and even though we couldnt understand the cursing in Russian we are sure that is what was being said and she was ticked off and Madison's eyes were big. Madison was not impressed with the crowd at the market and just picked a magazine and a pair of earrings and was ready to go home. We walked home and she sat down and started reading ( as usual) her magazine. Then we worked on the computer a little and she decided she wanted a shower and for me to fix her hair. So she went into her room and picked a new complete outfit and to the bathroom she went. Well any of you that know Zach knows how he loves his bath time....competion has arrived. The water ran for atleast 20-25 minutes before the princess emerged. Then I introduced the hair dryer to her and she acted as though she had never seen one and asked me to do it. After the girlie stuff she was ready to watch a movie and eat some of her dad's lunch he prepared. She loves pasta and dad's cooking. I asked her if she liked to cook and she is my daughter. She snarled her nose. HA. We took her how to play UNO and she likes it. We had to have her back at 1800 so we decided we would go get a pizza before the cab arrived and we typed out on the computer and had it translated what kind of salad we wanted. When we arrived at the restaurant she grabbed the menu and started looking at it. Jeff made his fingers in the motion of typing and said " Remember we typed it at home" and she said " I DONT KNOW" LOL our first experience with a pre teen attitude. We shut up and let her order our dinner and we got Pizza with shrimp, fish and mussels on it and you better believe we ate it with the fear of backlash if we didnt. No joke it was good but it cracked us up. She definetly knows English if she wants to. She asked yesterday if she could have cookies to keep under her pillow because at night before bed she and her friends sit and talk and they would like something to snack on. So we let her pick out some at the store. When we got her back to the orphanage she gave us our usual hugs and kisses and her and her midnight snack disappeared to go hide them. We decided we would walk back to the apartment approx 2.5 -3 miles as the day ended up being very nice temperature wise. It was nice except the mussels, shrimp and fish pizza made the nice stroll a gallop for 2.3 miles. LOL...we made it though with no mishaps. Hope all is well and we love the comments and emails so please keep it up it is nice to have that connection to home. We are very blessed to have this experience and opportunity to be where we are at and to have people at home helping us take care of our love ones there. We miss you all and cant wait to bring this special little girl home. She is amazing. God has truly blessed us so many times in the last 20 years.
Love
Jeff and Donna
Well I had some bad dreams last night I guess in the back of my mind i was worrying if after Madison slept on the news about her sister would she still greet us like always. So we had a cab come and get us this morning so Oksanna could have a day off. She deserves it. We arrived at the orphanage at about 10:30 and went inside to check her out. One of the children went upstairs to get her and she came running down ready to go and ran up to Jeff and gave him his usual morning hug and mine followed. We called Oksanna to tell her we were going to the open market to shop for dinner and then we were spending the day at the apartment. The market is CRAZY on Sundays. Jeff had his first experience at almost getting pic pocketed. We were buying a magazine that Madison picked out and he said he felt the cellphone being taken out of his back pocket, he swung his elbow and hit this old lady that had her hand in his pants. She was not happy and even though we couldnt understand the cursing in Russian we are sure that is what was being said and she was ticked off and Madison's eyes were big. Madison was not impressed with the crowd at the market and just picked a magazine and a pair of earrings and was ready to go home. We walked home and she sat down and started reading ( as usual) her magazine. Then we worked on the computer a little and she decided she wanted a shower and for me to fix her hair. So she went into her room and picked a new complete outfit and to the bathroom she went. Well any of you that know Zach knows how he loves his bath time....competion has arrived. The water ran for atleast 20-25 minutes before the princess emerged. Then I introduced the hair dryer to her and she acted as though she had never seen one and asked me to do it. After the girlie stuff she was ready to watch a movie and eat some of her dad's lunch he prepared. She loves pasta and dad's cooking. I asked her if she liked to cook and she is my daughter. She snarled her nose. HA. We took her how to play UNO and she likes it. We had to have her back at 1800 so we decided we would go get a pizza before the cab arrived and we typed out on the computer and had it translated what kind of salad we wanted. When we arrived at the restaurant she grabbed the menu and started looking at it. Jeff made his fingers in the motion of typing and said " Remember we typed it at home" and she said " I DONT KNOW" LOL our first experience with a pre teen attitude. We shut up and let her order our dinner and we got Pizza with shrimp, fish and mussels on it and you better believe we ate it with the fear of backlash if we didnt. No joke it was good but it cracked us up. She definetly knows English if she wants to. She asked yesterday if she could have cookies to keep under her pillow because at night before bed she and her friends sit and talk and they would like something to snack on. So we let her pick out some at the store. When we got her back to the orphanage she gave us our usual hugs and kisses and her and her midnight snack disappeared to go hide them. We decided we would walk back to the apartment approx 2.5 -3 miles as the day ended up being very nice temperature wise. It was nice except the mussels, shrimp and fish pizza made the nice stroll a gallop for 2.3 miles. LOL...we made it though with no mishaps. Hope all is well and we love the comments and emails so please keep it up it is nice to have that connection to home. We are very blessed to have this experience and opportunity to be where we are at and to have people at home helping us take care of our love ones there. We miss you all and cant wait to bring this special little girl home. She is amazing. God has truly blessed us so many times in the last 20 years.
Love
Jeff and Donna
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Saturday July 25 Invitation for dinner ( Ukrainian Style)
Hi everyone,
We started the day off by going to the orphanage to see if we can have Madison. The lady was nice enough to go ahead and tell us today that we can have her today and tomorrow all day. We were then invited to dinner at a friends and her husbands house Ukranian Style. We had the best stuffed peppers I have ever tasted and pork over open fire, with grilled veggies and salad..It was awesome. We sat around and talked and ate until it was time to have her back at 1800. We got her back and checked her in and now we are going to try to watch a movie again tonight but as full as our bellies are it could be a 3 part series. LOL.
We found out how strong Madison is today when we had to have our first serious talk with her. Throughout this process we have met and spent time with Madison's sister. She wanted to be adopted and we actually started the process but along the way we ran into obstacles that even through prayer we couldnt overcome. We had to tell her today that we had decided not to adopt her sister and it just about killed us and Oksanna but Madison understood and said nothing has changed for her and she stilled wanted to be our daughter. I hope after she goes to bed and thinks about it she will still feel this way but it is the best decision for us, our family and as her parents the best decision for Madison. We prayed alot and didnt sleep much but we are at peace with our decision. She is a tough little cookie and more mature than most 16-17 year olds I know. I guess she has had to be and thats ok because with the right tools and lots of love she will go far in life. In 2 days she has read over 264 pages in her 2nd book and she probably hasnt had more than 6 hours alone to do that all together. Tomorrow we are letting her choose if she wants to go to the zoo in Yalta or the beach but I think she is leaning toward the beach ....it is her age... Hope all is well and thanks for following along on the roller coaster of emotions.
Love
Jeff and Donna
We started the day off by going to the orphanage to see if we can have Madison. The lady was nice enough to go ahead and tell us today that we can have her today and tomorrow all day. We were then invited to dinner at a friends and her husbands house Ukranian Style. We had the best stuffed peppers I have ever tasted and pork over open fire, with grilled veggies and salad..It was awesome. We sat around and talked and ate until it was time to have her back at 1800. We got her back and checked her in and now we are going to try to watch a movie again tonight but as full as our bellies are it could be a 3 part series. LOL.
We found out how strong Madison is today when we had to have our first serious talk with her. Throughout this process we have met and spent time with Madison's sister. She wanted to be adopted and we actually started the process but along the way we ran into obstacles that even through prayer we couldnt overcome. We had to tell her today that we had decided not to adopt her sister and it just about killed us and Oksanna but Madison understood and said nothing has changed for her and she stilled wanted to be our daughter. I hope after she goes to bed and thinks about it she will still feel this way but it is the best decision for us, our family and as her parents the best decision for Madison. We prayed alot and didnt sleep much but we are at peace with our decision. She is a tough little cookie and more mature than most 16-17 year olds I know. I guess she has had to be and thats ok because with the right tools and lots of love she will go far in life. In 2 days she has read over 264 pages in her 2nd book and she probably hasnt had more than 6 hours alone to do that all together. Tomorrow we are letting her choose if she wants to go to the zoo in Yalta or the beach but I think she is leaning toward the beach ....it is her age... Hope all is well and thanks for following along on the roller coaster of emotions.
Love
Jeff and Donna
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
