30 DAYS>>>>>

Time sure flies when you're having fun, working hard OR juggling a newly adopted daughter and two parents with illnesses and injuries. My mother went into the hospital on Sept 20 and has gone home yet. She injured her back early in Sept and through a series of misadventures is now rehabilitating in a an intermediate care facility. Bev's mom has been diagnosed with Kidney cancer. She will have surgery next week.
I also took a few days by myself and flew out to Denver to visit my granddaughter, Meredith. She SOOOOOOOOOOOO cute ! ! !

ON TOP OF THAT, we have a new DOG ! ! ! His name is Cash. He is a really a sweet and laid back dog (which is good).

Katya is doing good. We still struggle with a few issues, but a week ago we started a new system of rewards and consequences using a points system and monetary reward. It greatly reduced our two biggest struggles (going to bed and taking a bath everyday).

She is s sweet kid and I'm convinced she will turn out OK ! ! !

By for now...

Busch Gardens ! ! !

It has been more than a week since I posted anything. Sorry, but it has been a really crazy week. A week ago today my mother went into the hospital and has been on a roller coaster ride of her own. She left the hospital yesterday and went to an interim care facility for physical therapy. All of that has made for a very hectic week. Plus there is a lot that needs to be done at work. PLUS I leave this weekend to go and see my new granddaughter, Meredith Claire ! ! ! YAY ! ! !

Katya continues to adjust and "deal" with life her in the US of A. This past weekend was an easy adjustment for her, because we took her to Busch Gardens, and it was a complete surprise. Our friends Yulia and Avie invited us to go with them when they took two Ukrainian visitors.

Katya was fearless on all the rides and wanted to get on everyone more than once. She (we) rode the Griffin, Alpine Guiest (sp), Lochnest Monster, and Apollo's Chariot. She rode the AP four times ! ! ! Needless to say she didn't want to go home. She loved it, and had never seen anything like it before ! ! !

"Zhayne me house"

Wow, what a weekend and Monday it was ! ! !

First of all we went roller skating AGAIN and this time Katya took her friend Lillie. Then her Ukrainian friend Zhayne showed up. All three had a great time. Katya was kind of connecting with a few other kids. One was a BOY (I hope only because he was a good skater). She watched his style and a few things he did, especially when he did the Limbo game. She shortly thereafter began to squat down and skate on one skate.

That evening we went to a middle school church youth cookout. She was a little overwhelmed and wasn't her usual "people person". Some of it was because she MISUNDERSTOOD, and thought she was going directly to her sister Lisa's house to spend the night. Actually, we had tried to tell her she was going over to Lisa's after the cookout. After some pouting she eventually had a good time on the trampoline.

Sunday was her first time in MS youth ministry at church. It went better than her staying in adult worship, but only but so much because of the language thing. Speaking of the language thing, she is beginning to use new English words everyday. When she wanted Zhayne's mom to let him come over and ride bikes on Monday, she said, "Zhayne come ME house". The grammar wasn't great, but she is trying to use the English she is hearing.

On Saturday evening she did the sweetest thing. She told me she wanted to by a potato to cook. We went to the store and brought back a few potatoes. She wanted to fix them Ukrainian style. Before it was over, she was dragging me in to the preparation of a meal. She decided somewhere in the process to fix a meal for "Mama, Papa e Katya". She set the table filled glasses with water or juice and was so excited about doing it for us. She definitely has a heart to do for others. We need to nurture that ! ! !

Monday evening she wanted to do the same thing and cook. So we let her go for it. She had borrowed a Ukrainian music CD from Zhayne and she was playing that during the cooking and eating time. She had a ton of fun. Then Beverly taught her how to make marang (sp) like the topping on pies. She wants to take the marang cookies they made to school.

Speaking of school, I need to go to work...................

Last Day of школа ! ! !

Today is Friday and Katya already has planned on us going back to roller skate on Saturday. Only this time she invited Lillie ! ! !

I met Lillie and her dad yesterday. Katya and I went over to Lillie's house. Lillie is very sweet and her father is a really great guy. He came to the US as a refuge from Ukraine. Lillie didn't seem real excited about skating, because she said she hasn't done it much. It should be fun to teacher her. And it will be interesting to see if Katya takes on the role of teacher.

The school stuff seems to be getting better, kind of...

She enjoys showing us and our friend Yulia what she has done in school, so she must be a little proud of her work. There were a lot of tears Wednesday night, but the evening ended okay.

Well G2G.....

"Order of Operations"

This week at school began with a phone call at my office at 9:10am. Katya's homeroom teacher called asked if Katya was going to be in school today. I said yes, because Beverly had called me 15 minutes before that saying she had dropped her off. The teacher said Katya was in class and neither was Lillie. Lillie is a Russian speaking girl that is being paired with Katya so she can translate teacher instructions. The teacher said she would look for them and call me back.
Evidently, the two girls switched homerooms before Katya's teacher thought they would.
Last evening was filled with homework (a first). We had our dear friend Yulia explain to her on Monday night that we would begin doing HW on Tuesday. My thought was that we would do her civics project which consisted of cutting out pictures from magazines and creating a collage.
The evening started right before dinner. Yulia called and explained the project. We had dinner and as soon as we were finished eating, Katya said "Katya e Papa" and pointed toward her room. This was her way of saying "okay Pop let's get started".
The collage project took about 3/4 hour and went well. THEN > > > >
Katya pulls out TWO math worksheets that we were supposed to do. Okay, I was cool with that, but was worried we would run too close to her bedtime.
We started with the first problem, AND GUESS WHAT? Yeah, I could NOT do it. Now I like math and it was one of the only subjects I did well in high school. We called Lillie, and she said she couldn't get the right answer either. I didn't feel too bad at that point, because maybe it was one of those rare times when there was a messed up problem.
We continued on, AND then ran into more problems I couldn't solve correctly. OK by now most of you are thinking I'm just plain old and don't understand "new" math. Well, you're right. I called my good friend who is a Math teacher and he told me we needed to solve the equations using the "order of operations". I NEVER was taught the "PEMDAS" order. If you don't know what PEMDAS is then you weren't taught it either.
Math took a lot longer than I hoped, because I knew she was watching the clock and bedtime was approaching. I couldn't explain to her the PEMDAS so I just showed her how to solve the problems by walking her through them. She kept telling me over and over "Katya No Sleep". At first I thought she meant that she wasn't going to be able to sleep because we would be working on math all night. Actually, what she meant was "this is taking so long that I deserve to stay up as late as I want". She is a night person and can stay up late in the evening without any sign of being tired.
Well, we did finish homework, and we had about 15 minutes before bedtime. She proceeded to look around my office for things to play with. DUCT TAPE & PACKING TAPE ! ! !
Her idea of evening fun was to tie me up and tape my mouth shut. She laughed and laughed, and then had a bowl of Lucky Charms. She really didn't settle down in bed until 10:30pm, but I was okay with that, because she had worked hard and even cried through some of the math.
G2G to work....

Last week ended GREAT ! ! !

Well, last week ended without any problems school-wise. The only thing we need to do is get our act together as parents. We need to get Katya into a routine of chores, some sort of homework, and better understanding that when we say no we mean no. Other than that, Katya is doing great.

Last Friday night started with bike riding and ended with rollerblading. She took to rollerblading like she does everything else, with great energy and persistence. It was rather unfortunate that she insisted on using my old roller blades, which in addition to being too big, the straps broke when I tried to tighten them around her ankle. Well, duct tape saved the day; at least for a while.

Saturday Katya slept in, because she stayed up late working on a early reading website (Starfall.com). She even took the laptop to bed with her and played with the interactive website.

After she got up on Saturday I took her to a roller skating rink. She wanted to use regular roller skates as opposed to roller blades. We skated the whole time (3 hours) with only a short break for a drink. She did really well. I have no clue if she has ever skated before or not.

Sunday we went for a long two-hour bike ride. She is definitely a physically active girl.

Parting words.... we never should have bought those Russian dubbed videos in Ukraine. She wants to watch those whenever she is not doing something physical. I guess we'll just have to take them away or insist that she only watch one a day.

Three Days of School ! ! !

Well, she has made it through 3 full days of school, and she seems to be doing fine. Although we did discover yesterday evening that the weight of the whole deal is affecting her. We had our friend Yulia translate the "school rules" and "classroom expectations" to her and had her sign them. After about three of them she broke down and cried. Yulia explained to her about homework requirements (she really hasn't had any assignments, because they can't assign her anything to do). I told her that she might have some homework in Math since that was numbers, and that's when the tears started to flow. She said she had never seen the kind of math they were doing in her class. It was a real let down to her, because she likes math more than any other school subject. I tried to comfort her and told her that I would help her with math and that she didn't have to worry about not understanding what they are doing in class.

I emailed her math teacher and she is going to try to get some suggestions from the ESL teacher. I hope we come up with something.

She has done some things at school and she seems kind of proud of it, because she pulls out her big binder and shows us what she's done. I think she wants us to be proud of her. Most of the work is just copying English stuff from the board. When I tell her it looks good and try to make a big deal out of it, she shrugs her shoulders and makes an expression that says "it really isn't that good". I hope she will let us help her at home. I haven't pushed to do school stuff at home in the evening. All the things I have read about adopted kids adjusting to an new family, new school and new country is that they shouldn't be pushed and that they need down time for them to deal with the huge amount of stress. It makes sense to me, so I'm going with that philosophy for now.

The reality of being a parent again is sinking in. I had to miss a church youth leaders meeting last night. Youth ministry has been a big part of my life for the last 18 years. I usually make every meeting and event unless out of town on business. I knew I did the right thing though when Katya broke down about the math and school stuff. I would have felt badly had I not been with her.

We went for a short bike ride this evening (at my request). It is getting dark so early now that it will be harder and harder to fit in those rides after I get home from work.

Oh, she had her first experience with Mexican-American food last night. She order chicken fingers and french fries, because she knew what they would taste like. After the food came, I gave her a taste of my chicken burrito and she liked it, so next time she can get that.

She is a sneaky little thing. She pulls this stuff of watching a video right up to a few minutes before 10:00pm (her bed time), and then goes to take a bath, AND THEN starts messing with stuff in her room. Getting her down for bed proves to be the hardest thing of every day.

Last night she was looking at pictures on my computer and found some of kids roller skating and she got excited and conveyed to me that she wanted to go skating. Now to some parents that would just be "okay so every kid likes to skate", but for me that is like one of the funnest things ever. I used to roller skate at roller rinks a lot when I was a kid. I like ice skating and roller blading, but roller skating is my favorite. I guess I have a good excuse now to go, even though I am 61 years old.

Katya Continues to Amaze Me ! ! !

We took Katya to school yesterday. She is soooooo.. amazing ! ! !
I would have been crying and whining; not to mention freaking out. But not Katya, she was pretty cool through it all. We had to get her schedule from the guidance office, because we registered her late. We then had to take her to her Home Room. None of her teachers were aware that they were going to have a non-English speaking student in their classes named Katya Schmitt. And to top it off we weren't going to be able (because of time) to tell any of them, except her Home Room teacher; who assured us that she would have someone help her get to each class. We had to trust that they would do what they said. When we hugged her and said good bye, she "kinda" smiled with this look that said "I'm scared, but it will be okay".
I went away from the school with a huge respect for her inner strength and self-confidence!!!
Beverly called me at work after she picked Katya up at 3:45pm. EVERYTHING WENT FINE ! ! ! There were a few things that went wrong; like two girls making fun of her because she can't speak English; she fell and broke one of her neckless chains; she got confused in the cafeteria and her teacher had to help her know where and what to do next. All in all, it went well and she was in a good mood.
Yesterday evening we had a bunch of paperwork to read and forms to sign; plus another trip to buy more supplies.
Our day ended just the way the previous one did; with a battle to get her in bed. She knew she needed to be in bed by 10:00pm, but went right up to the wire and hadn't even taken her bath by 9:55pm (daily baths were never a part of her orphanage life). It ended with us having to "tell" her to get to bed, which caused her to do her complaining in Russian and slamming her bedroom door. I can't figure out what is up with everything going just fine until the last minute of every day ! ! !
Well, our wonderful Ukrainian friend Yulia is coming over tonight and the evening will be fill with explaining to Katya the school "classroom expectations" and trying to set up house rules, and what behavior we expect from her. I hope it doesn't come off as a "dump on Katya" event.
I'll let ya know how it goes.

Off to SCHOOL ! %&((_*&$$#

This past weekend has been a good one. Katya is adjusting to family life here in the US. She is also making a circle of friends. There are some awesome young girls (ladies actually) that have made Katya feel so welcome and loved. There is Tori, whose house she stayed at Saturday night with two of Tori's friends; Hannah and Jackie. She had a great time.

Then there is our granddaughter, Mariah (almost 14). She spent Sunday night with Mariah and her younger brother Josh.

On Friday when we registered Katya in Middle School, Ana came and translated for Katya and me. She has such a sweet and gentle spirit about her that Katya felt at ease. Katya didn't want Ana to go when we dropped Ana off at her house.

Last night things went well preparing for school. When Katya saw the supplies and other things we bought for school she actually started getting "into" it ! ! ! She started sorting pencils and pens and packing them in her backpack. She took a shower and let Beverly blow dry her hair.

Everything went well UNTIL she had to go to bed (I think it was nerves actually).

She was up on her own this morning and even cooked her own eggs and meat (hot dog).

We are sitting here waiting for the time to roll-out.

I'll post again about how the first day went.

Oh I forgot to mention sweet Paulina. She translated on the phone yesterday about what the school rules are and what to expect. Paulina has one of those sweet calming natures too.

Out for now.....

High School or Middle School, that's the question!

Things are going really well so far with Katya. I haven't gotten much sleep and have been in constant motion, but it has been great. The real test comes next week when school starts. Katya already is saying "no" to school. She tells me that, but I can tell she knows there is no choice. That's where the question begins. She is 14 so we have a choice of sending her to HS or MS. After back and forth and weighing all the pros and cons, we have decided to send her to MS. It is a much less risky choice. At least that's what we have decided for the moment. We have to decide today, because school starts Tuesday. I am set to leave this morning to register her. I have to break the appointment I have with the HS and try and get one with the MS. I'll blog later and say how it turned out.
Back to Katya. Her first week has been a whirlwind. She swam at a pool and her sister Lisa's house (4 hours straight). Shopped for and bought a new bike. Played video "Cars" racing games. Eaten different food (she tried and likes lasagna). Went to church. Had her friend Paulina and Lisa's stepdaughter, Mariah, spend the night. Learned how to play the board game "Sorry", and is good at it.
I can't help to think all the time how the whole course of her life has changed. I just hope Beverly and I have it in us to raise her to be the women she can be to meet her full potential.
She is an awesomely sweet girl. She loves riding a bike and we have done tons of that this past week. She makes friends so easily and doesn't seem to shy away from hanging out or playing with kids she just met.
Well, gotta go and convince her to take a shower before we leaave..........

They're Home ! ! ! (and life begins anew for us)

Beverly and Katya arrived safely Friday night. This picture shows Katya with four of her friends that also were adopted this past year from Uglegorsk. They all were there to greet her at the airport. Katya cried a lot ! ! !

It has been a crazy three days so I haven't been able to post until this morning.

I need to go to work, but will hopefully post more real soon. There is lots to tell. Katya is doing well, and Beverly is recovering from being away from home for a month.

IN ROUTE PICTURE ! ! !

This was downloaded from Delta's website at 8:30am EST. Very cool....

YAY ! ! ! They are on their way HOME!!!

Beverly called me around 11:15pm EST tonight from the airport, and said they had tickets and were going to board the plane for the first of 3 legs home. First they fly to Paris France, then on to Atlanta, and finally on to Norfolk; HOME ! ! !
Beverly says that Katya doesn't show any sign of being afraid of flying. Beverly thinks Katya is fearless ! ! ! And she likes to be IN CONTROL ! ! ! Oh boy, Beverly isn't going to like that if it continues here in the USA. Even after getting their tickets, Katya was looking them over to determine where they were supposed to be (i.e. gate). I think some of it (at least my thought) is that Katya knows Beverly can't speak Russian and Katya feels like she has to take care of Beverly. What do you think? Oh well, we'll see how in control she feels in Virginia Beach ! ! !
I'm up late, because I needed to clean the house and grocery shop. It has been a long time since I bought that many groceries. Usually buying for Beverly and I is fairly minimal and one day at a time. Things are DIFFERENT NOW! ! ! I even bought ice cream ! ! ! I haven't bought ice cream just to have in the house in I so long I can't remember when it was. I think I'm going to gain weight ! ! !
I made an appointment with the guidance counselor at Cox HS for next Monday. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling we aren't going to have all the paper work they will want. At least all of it translated into English. It would be nice to get her registered so she can start the first day of school, but if it doesn't happen, the world won't stop rotating.
Well, I'm fading again, and I do have to work tomorrow (YUK).
TOMORROW ! ! ! !; they will be HOME TOMORROW ! ! !

Counting hours now instead of days ! ! !

48 more hours ! ! ! Yeah..................
Beverly called this morning and said they went to the US Embassy. She accomplished some of the work, but not all. It turns out that the facilitators in Kyiv didn't realize Beverly and Katya are booked on an early morning flight Friday. They didn't have all the paper work translated yet, so she has to go back tomorrow.
They are staying in the same apartment I stayed in my last days there. It isn't in a convenient location and you have to walk a fairly long way to get to the underground mall or Friday's restaurant. Getting to either of those places requires going underground, because there are no pedestrian crosswalks at the street intersections. I did alright myself, but I'm an architect and kept my bearings underground. Hopefully Katya will keep Beverly from getting lost. Beverly worried about going down in the mall, because there is an Internet place on the lowest level, and she was afraid Katya would seee it and want to stay there for hours.
I took today off from work and worked on getting Katya's room ready. I started last night rearranging furniture and didn't get to bed until 1:00am. I also took time to call the school to make an appointment to meet with a guidance counselor. They told me I would have to wait and call tomorrow, because they haven't started making appointments for next week yet.
I'm starting to fade.... so I'm closing for now, but please pray for a smooth exit from Ukraine and safe and timely flights ! ! !

Monday Was a Better Day ! ! !

I spoke to Beverly the middle of the day yesterday (Monday) and she said things went better with Katya. My gut tells me (although I am not a very intuitive person) that she is a sweet sensitive girl inside and when things settle down our relationships will get even better.
3 more days ! ! ! I have a ton of stuff to do to be ready for their arrival. I need to shop for a bedspread and linens. The bed, dresser and night stand for Katya's room will be delivered tomorrow. That means I have to get rid of a futon and old broken down dresser and relocate some other things. We are going to wait for Katya's input before we repaint the room (she likes pink, but I'm hoping not for walls!!!), and decorate it.
Please pray that Beverly will use wisdom and give herself a few days to readjust and relax before she goes back to work (she usually pushes herself right back into the grind). Also pray about school for Katya. She is 14 and could end up in High School, but possibly Middle School (have I mentioned all this in another post?). We think MS would be best.
Off to work......

The Home Stretch ! ! !

5 more days until the girls arrive home. Some people have asked about greeting them at the airport. Anyone who wants to be there when the two weary travels arrive are welcome to do so. Beverly and I have been at the airport for several adoptive home comings. They are fun ! ! ! I'm sure Katya won't know what to expect and will be surprised by a crowd of people, but it seems to me that having a bunch of people there to meet you has got to top having just me there.
Their flight info is: Fri 24AUG -DELTA Flight 973 from ATLANTA arriving NORFOLK at 7:27PM. As can be expected with summer afternoon travel, the flight could arrive later due to weather delays, so check the Internet for updates before leaving home.
Please pray for Beverly and Katya. It has been a very l o n g hard summer for Beverly. It seems like she has been away from home more this summer than she has been here. She left the end of June on the church's two week long mission trip. Came back to a full appointment book and worked her head off for two weeks; then got on a plane for the adoption. She has now been there a total of five weeks ! ! ! She is my hero ! ! !
Katya is a teen and in spite of being an orphan (who you would think would be grateful), comes with regular teen "issues" and emotions and doesn't always act appreciatively. Add those on top of traveling all over Ukraine staying in multiple places and leaving behind the only life she has known from age 9 to 14, and trying to comprehend what life will be like for her here in the USA, has got to put Katya on a major overload ! ! ! She has been difficult to deal with the last 24-36 hours and Beverly is tired, which isn't the best scenario.
They are back in Donetsk today and should be finalizing the paper work there, and will get on a train (or plane) and travel to Kyiv to deal with the US Embassy and visa stuff.
Well, I have to go to work . . . . I sure do miss Beverly and am so anxious to get Katya home and settled in ! ! !

All's Well ! ! !

Beverly reports that she, Katya, Zania, and Karol are doing well. They have continued to enjoy themselves in Sevastopol. They went to a dolphin show the other day and they loved it. They were tempted to let the two kids swim with them. Yes, that's right, swim with dolphins ! ! ! The only problem was the cost. It cost $40 USD each, but realizing that since many people in Ukraine don't make much more than that in an entire month, it seemed "excessive".
There was a hair crisis today. Zania was messing with Beverly's hair cutting scissors, and was thinking about cutting off the "bangs" hanging down on his forehead. Karol suggested that Zania let Beverly cut it. He did, but kept telling her "choot choot", which means "very little". Well, at the end of the trim, Zania looked in the mirror and broke out crying. That caused Beverly to cry, and then caused Katya to cry. The good thing is that Zania noticed how badly Beverly felt and he stopped his crying and told Beverly that it was "okay, and not to cry".
It revealed that both Katya and Zania are sensitive to other peoples feelings.
Only 7 more days until they are HOME ! ! ! ! I'm excited and can hardly wait ! ! ! !

I'm HOME ! ! ! But my Heart is in Ukraine :o(

Well, I had a real experience getting home. My luggage got lost and trying to find it in New York caused me to miss my flight (and last flight) to Norfolk. I now know how to get around JFK airport, after spending the night there. Sleeping on a concrete bench in a Food Court wasn't any worse that sleeping on a moving train in Ukraine.

Beverly called and said things are going well there in Ukraine with her, Katya, Karol and Zania (sp?). They have had to deny the two kids doing fun things because they have acted up (trying to find the boundaries). The great thing is that it seems to have worked. The kids have better attitudes.

Katya rode a horse the other day for her first time. She rode one of the spinning rides at the bumper car place. You know the kind that spins a million miles an hour and then turns on its side. Most people throw up, but Beverly said Katya got off and took a bite of something Beverly was eating and then wanted to ride another ride. Beverly said Katya slept with her the last two nights. The first night was because she was because she had a bad headache and felt sick. The second night was because she wanted to ! ! !Beverly is very pleased that Katya seems to be so teachable and takes correction well ! ! !

The picture below is a picture of my new grand daughter, Meredith ! ! ! Isn't she sweet?

Gotta go to work . . . .

I don't know east from west it seems like ! ! !

In case anyone caught me on this, (contrary to my last post) I went west and Beverly and Katya went east.
This morning I went to the US Embassy to turn in the Imagrant Visa paperwork. I thought I would finally be on familiar territory there, but I found it to be somewhat of a foreign experience until the very last. I had to go through a security trailer (kinda like a airport screening). Once I went through that I found myself on the other side of the trailer in an area between the trailer and a building in front of me. There were no signs to direct me where to go. Oh, I forgot to mention the screener guy was Ukrianian and didn't speak English (if he did, it wasn't understandable) ! ! !
Once in the courtyard, I looked around and saw on my right a tent with people sitting in it. Lots of people ! ! ! I thought to myself, I hope I don't have to wait with all of them. I had an appointment, so I thought it wasn't the place I should go. I went back into the security trailer and fortunately there was a woman who just stepped in for a minute who, although Ukrainian, spoke English. She told me to go into the building and go down the hall to my right. Well, I ran into another security check point where I had to explain to a Ukrianian guard that I was there for an appointment. I showed him my Passport and he "buzzed" me in. Then I went to window 13 like the lady outside told me. The Ukrainian woman there said I had to go to the last window at the end of the hall for Imagrant Visas.
I know I sound like I have something against Ukrainians, but I DON'T !!!!!!!!!!!!! I just didn't expect to find so many in the US Embassy. After thinking about it, it makes sense to employ local citizens, and I didn't really experience any problems.
The lady that helped me at window 14 was very helpful and processed my paperwork quickly. The whole deal was over in 15 to 20 minutes. I was told that it will take Beverly and Katya about 1 hour (2 at the max).
I spoke to Beverly this morning and she and Karol Saner took the two kids to the beach today. I know Katya was happy. She loves the water ! ! ! (probably almost as much as ice cream)
I spend several hours today in an underground shopping mall in Kyiv. It looks a lot like a modern mall, except the corridors were smaller. I bought a couple DVD movies for Katya. It will be interesting to watch Superman and Spiderman in Russian ! ! !
I came back to the mall this evening to use the internet place here and grab some ice cream ! ! ! I think Katya's craving for ice cream has rekindled my love for it. I guess I'll have to go up to a size 33 paints ! ! !
Tomorrow I'l fly home Some I'm out for now

I'm going east; Beverly and Katya are going west :o(

Today Beverly and Katya got on a train with Karol Saner and her new son Zane. They are heading back to Sevastopol for a week. I wish I was going with them. I know Beverly does too. I am flying to Kyiv today at 6:30pm. I will be there for two days. One day will be spent doing US Embassy stuff pertaining to the adoption.
I stood out side the train car and waved, and say "Paka paka" to them (bye bye in Russian). Katya didn't seem too concerned that I was going. She did give me a big hug before she got on the train. She is definitely not a "needy" kid, in the sense of clinging to either Beverly or me. That is good, I think, because she will need to fend for herself in a strange country and school system that is totally different than she has ever experienced.
Beverly is "hanging in there" even though she has two more weeks to go. She feels like she has spent the last two months away from home.
Katya in many ways is the kind of kid we expected, but in other ways she is different. Like any teenager, or adult for that matter, she has a selfish streak to her. Especially when it comes to food and ICE CREAM !!!!

She and I had a little "test of wills" yesterday. I think I won, but with the language barrior, it is hard to say. I know I mentioned this before, but she does get over things quickly and doesn't seem to get in a funk. Our taxi driver, Sasha, heard her complain about having to wait for something (I think it was ice cream), and he said if she would like, he could drive her back to the Uglegorsk orphanage. She kind of laughed because she knew he was teasing, but I think she got his point. Beverly and I are are determined not to ever even mention sending her back. We want her to know that we are committed to her for the long haul.

I think it has finally sunk in to Beverly and I exactly what we have gotten ourselves into. I told Beverly that we can't get hung up on "making" her into anything, but to do the best we can at giving her a life of love and support to launch her into the life ahead of her.

I asked Shasha at lunch today if he has seen what happens to the kids that "age out" of the orphanage, and he said most boys end up in jail and most girls in prostitution. We had heard this from websites and other sources, but I wanted to hear it from a local who lives near the orphanage and has gotten to know some of the kids in the last two years.
Below are some pictures of some of the last 2 weeks. The last two are my favorites, because she is sitting on a bed sorting out little gifts she bought for friends at the orphanage. She even gave away things we bought for her ! ! ! The other one is outside the court building where the adoption was approved ! ! ! Some of you will recognize Avie Carlisle in the 4th picture. The lady sitting next to her is Ira, a friend in the Sevastopol church.

She has experienced so much in the last two weeks because we have had the opportunity to take her with us during the process and been able to actualy have a fun vacation with site seeing, swimming, eating out in restaurants, riding bumper cars, riding in a boat, etc.

I am so anxious for her to learn english so that we can communicate. I know she gets frustrated when we don't understand what she tries to tell us something, and I would just love to be able to know how she feels about her new life with us and what is going on inside her head.

In the last two days, she has started trying to say some English words. We bought a book in the book market the other day that has Russina and English words with Russian phonetics. She prounounced a few words on her own and came very close in most cases.

Well, I guess I'll close for now.

We miss everyone back home. Beverly and Katya's arrival in Norfolk is scheduled for 7:27pm August 24 on Delta Flight 973 from Atlanta.

COURT WENT WELL TODAY ! ! !

We went to court today and obtained approval to adopt Katya Ann Schmitt. The Judge asked her if she wanted to be adopted by us and for us to be her parents and to move to America, AND she said YES ! ! ! That seems on face value to be a no brainer, but it isn't. After spendin the last nine days with us, she wants us to be her parents. I know I have mentione dit numerous times, but it has to be hugely scary for her. Several people have asked her how much she knows about America and she says she really doesn't know anything.
Several of our Ukrainian friends have told her it is a good thing to be adopted and move to the us, but she surely has no clue what it is going to be like.
We have had lots of fun together. She is very outgoing. Every place we have gone, she goes up to kids she doesn't know and strikes up a conversation. She is very comfortable around adults.
Her love for ice cream has proven to be a source of "opportunity". she will eat it for breakfast if we let her, and she ASKS for it all the time. She is sitting beside me right now playing a video car racing game on a computer. She catches on to technology quickly. Some one gave her an old cell phone and she figured out how to make it play games, and I caught her reading the operating manual ! ! !
I have tons of pictures to post and will put them up when I return to USA on August 14. Trying to do it at the internet places is a pain in the rear end ! ! !
thanks to everyone for your prayers............

We're Still Here !!! And we got great news Sunday !!!

My daughter Casey had her baby Sunday ! ! !   7lbs 15 oz.  Her name is Merrith Claire (I think I misspelled Merridth).  Anyway we are as happy as can be to be new grandparents, and wish we were there in Colorado !!!!

We have had very full days with Katya and the friends her in Sevastopol.  We have seen lots of sites and swam in the Black Sea each of the last three days.  I'm running out of time, so I need to close for now.

Love everyone.............

Wow, what a ride ! ! !

We are in Sevastopol right now. Literally, it has been a real ride. We spent 9 hours on a train ! ! ! Then an hour ride from the train station to Sevastopol. We have been here for several days. We went to the Black Sea yesterday and swam. It was fun especially for Katya. She loves the water ! ! !
Oh yeah, Katya. That has been another real ride. She is as fun as she can be. We had great fun playing UNO on the train. There is a couple from Connecticut traveling with us while they wait for their ten day wait to end. Katya even went down to their train car and played cards with them. She is a very self-confident young lady. She will lead the way when we go anywhere, and handle our transactions when we eat out or buy in the market. BUT, she has shown another side to herself the last two days and has pouted some when she hasn't gotten her way. She does get over things quickly though and seems still to be happy with her new Mom and Papa (as she calls us).
I have so many things I could tell about our ADVENTURE! ! But I'm a slow typist, and it is getting late and we are at Avie Carlisile's flat using her computer.
Before we left for Sevastopol, the adoption inspector wanted to meet with Katya to make sure she wanted to be adopted. She convinced them she does. That was two days ago and may answer differently today. She didn't like spending two hours in church.
We have about four more days to spend here and then we get back on the train and ride another 9 hours back to have our court hearing on Friday the 10th. The court date is sooner than we were originally expecting, which is really good, because Beverly and Katya can travel back to USA on August 24 ! ! ! That's about a week sooner than expected.
I could go on and on... but better go for now. Hopefully I can post more often. Traveling makes Internet access difficult.
Love to everyone, and please pray for Katya and what must be going through her head! ! !

Katya is WITH us !!!!

Wow, it has been a crazy two days. We traveled overnight to Donetsk (not much sleep). We went from train station to Inspector's office without showers or change of clothes and then to the orphanage. We did more paperwork (orr at least we watched Victor do paperwork while we watched). THEN KATYA showed up and came into the office and gave us both HUGS ! ! ! She is such a sweetheart ! ! ! We found out that she thought we were supposed to be there the day before, and other kids told her that maybe we died while traveling. We are told she cried all day. :o(
Her new official name is Katya Ann (without and "e") Schmitt. In the Ukrainian adoption process way of doing business, we had to decide in 10 minutes, without consulting her. She seems okay with it.
Our first day together was fun. She shares my love for ice cream and had 3 ! ! ! And she has already had one this morning and asked for more after lunch! ! ! I think we will need to get this under control some how.
Trying to communicate has proved VERY interesting, but we are making due. She spoke on the phone last night to our friend in USA, Yulia. I think they connected, because she asked to call her this morning. We had to explain that she will have to wait until tonight.
She took her first elevator ride yesterday. She cried this morning because she had to have blood drawn for tests.

Step 1 OVER !!!

We had the meeting this morning with SDA. We PASSED !!! Sooooo,,

now we get on a train this evening to head toward Donetsk. Then tomorrow we meet with the orphanage's social worker AND Katya ! ! ! There will be more paperwork to do in Donetsk. Once that is done, we will be allowed to take Katya with us to Sevastopol for a few days until it is time to go to court.

Everything is going really well so far. Our adoption facilitator, Yuri, has done a great job for us. He would like for us to be done with adoption by the last week in August. That would be very cool. Maybe Beverly and Katya would be home before September 1. Yea ! ! !

Beverly says hi to everyone ! ! !

More in the next day or so.........(picture from our apartment balcony)

We're HERE !!!!

Yes, we arrived today around 9:30am Ukraine time. That's around 2:30am EST.
We are in our apartment and have an appointment at SDA at 11:30 tomorrow. We won't know until tomorrow if we will leave Kyiv tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully it is tomorrow.

We came all the way around the world to have lunch at McDonald's. And I NEVER eat at McD's.
This comupter is really bad. The space bar doesn't work.

There were a bunch ofUkrainian orphans on the plane from NY. They were cute and stayed up almost all night.

I want to post a picture, but I'm not familiar with the Russian language commands on this computers or how to upload the files.

By for now....

Katya, ...ready or not here we come ! ! !

Well, we leave tomorrow morning at 10:30am ! ! ! I can hardly believe it.
We still have to pack! Yes, we wait until the last minute. Actually, we have most everything laid out so we know what we're taking. I haven't gotten my normal rest at night, because I wake up thinking, thinking, thinking.... and more thinking. Thinking about the process in Ukraine. Thinking about bringing Katya home. Thinking about what it is going to be like for her and for us.
I'm excited ! ! ! For us and for her ! ! !
Poor Beverly has been working like crazy since she came back from the Ukraine two weeks ago. All her customers know that she is leaving for a month, and they all want to be "fit in". We know the upcoming time in Ukraine won't be any "walk in the park", but she is actually looking forward to leaving so she can rest.
My daughter, Casey has only two more weeks to her due date for delivery of our new granddaughter. As I mentioned before, I'm am not very happy about having to leave the country this close to her time. She says she doing really well (or good, which ever is correct), but is ready for the pregancy to be OVER ! ! !
As far as Ukraine is concerned, everything is "GO", so hopefully there won't be any new government laws or changes in existing ones. New parliamentary elections are schedule for the end of September, so the politicians will be too busy trying to get reelected.
One thing we are certain about is how much time we are going to be able to spend with Katya before the court date, because she is at camp with other kids from the orphanage. We have been told that she will be allowed to leave camp to come see us as long is we pay for her transportation. We hope she can also come with us to Sevastopol for a few days before the court date.
Well if I have learned anything from other adopting parents who went through the process, we must be prepared to be flexible and expect changes.
I'll be updating this blog while in Ukraine. My apologies to those who I gave the wrong URL to. I kept telling people it was mikebevadoption@blogspot.com that is wrong. The "@" should have been a period.
Hopefully, the next blog post you read will be news from Ukraine.
Out for now...

10 More Days Until We Leave for Ukraine

Wow, the time for us to leave is rapidly approaching ! ! !
It almost seems like a dream in many ways. We have been planning for and looking forward to finalizing the adoption for what seems like forever, and it is almost too hard to believe it is so close to a reality ! ! !

Beverly brought back a "bunch" of pictures from her trip a week ago. Many of them were taken by Katya of her friends. I have enjoyed so much looking at them and trying to get a sense of who she is and what she is like. That is like so impossible to do, but I can't help trying.

This is going to be such a huge thing for her, us and our extended family. I hope and pray we are successful in providing a loving home AND family for her, and that she grows to love us. I thought it was cute that my sweet 87 year old mother went to the library to check on tapes to learn how to speak Russian. She said to make sure I told her when she was officially going to be a grandmother again. She is such an awesome woman and mother ! ! !

Well, g2g...........

Beverly's on Her Way Home ! ! !

Beverly is taking a train from Donetsk to Kyiv, and should arrive around the time I'm writing this post. She said they had a good visit with Avie and Pastor Igor in Sevastopol. She also said she is tired and ready to be home. I know I will be glad when she is back. It has been lonesome here without her.

Before she left Ooglegorsk today she had a chance to see Katya. She was touch by what she did. Katya gathered up what few personal belongings she has (small stuffed animal and a few photos) and asked that Beverly bring them to VA and put them in HER ROOM ! ! ! It sounds like to me that she has really committed to the adoption. That is so.... good. We would hate it if she became reluctant or refused to let us be her parents.

Beverly should be home Friday afternoon. Maybe I can get some new photos posted before we go to NC with Beverly's sister and her husband for a few days. I am anxious to see new pictures of Katya.

Out for now....

Katya Turned 14 on July 6 ! ! !

Beverly traveled with three other church members to Sevastopol on Thursday, so she missed being with Katya on her birthday. Actually, it was okay because it is difficult to celebrate one orphan's birthday without singling them out and making the others feel less fortunate; even if we did a party for all her classmates. Beverly did leave a birthday card and a few small gifts (hair stuff like barrettes, a brush, etc., which is exactly what she wanted). We also told her that the 3 of us would celebrate her birthday away from the orphanage when we return in August for the adoption. I made the B-day card that Beverly left for her (something I like doing). It was kinda goofy so she may not understand it. I took a picture of a few figurines from my office shelf, and added a cartoon cloud that said "с днем рождения, Катуа", which is "Happy Birthday Katya" in Russian. On the inside and on the back it had pictures of the rest of our family (soon to be her family too) ! ! !

Speaking of adoption, I have been laying awake at night thinking how really CLOSE our appointment date is (just 3 weeks!!!). There is much to be done and I know we won't get it all done. But that's okay, because what matters is providing a family for Katya.

No, the picture above is not our family, it is the figurines!

She called Beverly Mama Today ! ! !

Beverly and I spoke on the phone today. Things are going well with her and Katya. Katya followed her around as she did her work. Beverly describes her as a "real sweetie" and very cute. She started calling Beverly Mama today!!! This is turning out to be the opposite of what we were expecting. Two months ago we were expecting her to reject being adopted. Now Beverly says she is really excited about having us as parents (at least Beverly anyway; she hasn't met me yet). We aren't sure about her change of heart, but we are happy; really happy ! ! !

When the church team left the orphanage today, Katya had gone off for a few minutes. But Beverly said Katya chased behind the van to wave good bye to her!!!
Katya asked the director if she could stay overnight with Beverly in her hotel. The director said yes, but Beverly is concerned about the "mixing" of the adoption with the church's trip. She is going to discuss it with our church's team leader. It would be very cool if they could have the one on one time.
While Beverly is in Ukraine, I am busy here in the US making airline reservations for our adoption trip on July 29. It seems really close now. I'm also getting Katya's room ready. We are going to do much if any "decorating", because we want her to help with that.
August 2007 is going to be an August for us to remember. Not only will we be "in the process" of adopting Katya, but we will become new grandparents. My wonderful daughter, Casey, and her super husband, Drew, are expecting the delivery of their baby girl on or around August 10. I am bummed that I will be in Ukraine when she has my new granddaughter, but it can't be helped. With the way the Ukraine government has been trying to "monkey" with the adoption laws, we are afraid to ask SDA to change the appointment date. I am excited about being a grandad, and wish we weren't in VA and them in Denver. We'll just have to do a lot of flying; I guess.
I forgot to mention that the other day when Beverly called, she put Katya on the phone, and that was a hoot. All the Russian I have been trying to learn went right out of my head, except "dobre den" (good afternoon). Oh well, it was fun at least hearing her on the other end of the phone.
"Paka paka" (bye bye) for now.

Adoption Schedule While in Ukraine

Some of our friends have asked about the adoption process while in the Ukraine. The following is a schedule posted on our adoption service's website. We can't rely on things working out exactly as indicated, but it will give an idea of what happens and how long it MIGHT take.
Day 1- Arrive Kyiv airport. Driver & facilitator meet you at airport. Check into a hotel. Facilitator gives you short orientation tour
Day 2- Visit Adoption Center with facilitator. Look at files, select child/ren to visit.
Day 3- Travel by train overnight to orphanage city with facilitator
Day 4- Visit orphanage, select child/ren (or return to Adoption Center if you prefer to visit other children, wait 3-10 days for new appointment)
Day 5-8- Prepare paperwork for court hearing, set court date (Local permission to adopt child may take 3-5 days)
Day 16- Receive approval papers for court (may take 5-10 days to get permission for court)
Day 17- Court Hearing
Days 18-30- 10-day waiting period (may be slightly longer depending on weekends and holidays)
Day 31- Apply for new birth certificate, and receive same day or next day
Day 32- Apply for new passport. Pick up child/ren!
Day 33- Pick up new passport Return to Kyiv by overnight train with facilitator
Day 34- Visit medical center, (legalize documents)
Day 35- Visit American Embassy
Day 36- Fly back to US

First Day at Ooglegorsk Orphanage

Beverly was able to call today. Katya came looking for her when she first arrived at the orphanage. She didn't get to spend but just a few minutes with her however. Someone came to get Katya and Beverly didn't see her the remainder of the day. She is going to try to seek out Katya tomorrow and get her to help with some of the work they are doing. I think is sorting clothes and other stuff the team brought with them.
Beverly did say that Katya was all smiles, so that is a good sign. We are still concerned that she won't want to be adopted. There is another couple from our church there now to adopt a brother and sister. The mother has seen these two kids on numerous trips and they were excited about being adopted; UNTIL NOW. The girl is evidentially very afraid and is resisting the idea of going to the United States. It would be a shame for these two kids to miss this opportunity. The boy wants to be adopted and come to the US, and he is mad at his sister. Please pray for them.

Grace Bible Church's Team Arrived Safely!!!

Matt (second from right) with the team sent the email below. I also got a short one from Beverly. She hasn't been to the orphanage to see Katya yet. The whole team is going tomorrow. The word is "anxious". I'm anxious to see how Beverly's and Katya's time together goes. The church's trip isn't supposed to be "about adoption", so Beverly will have to be somewhat subtle about her time with Katya.







From: Matt


Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2007 7:13 AM


To: Mike


Subject: We're Here And Safe

Hey Friends, We're all here and safe, we arrived yesterday and wanted ya'll to know that we are excited about all that God has before us. We'd love your prayers that God would continue to lead and guide us. We praise Him for bringing us here safely with great flights. We love you all and will be in touch with our specific prayer requests later. As for now it would be great if you could aid us in our prayers for unity, patience and getting over jetlag. Tomorrow we will be meeting with the director at the orphanage and discussing the plans for the projects we will be doing. Also we will be shopping for all the necessary materials for the week. Please pray for us and that all this goes smoothly. Finally we ask that you pray with us that we would be able to impact the lives of those around us, the kids at the orphanage and the people we meet on our day to day basis. We really appreciate your involvement in this mission through your prayers. In Him, The Team

Last Sunday

Last Sunday we went to a pool party that our Va Beach adoption service hosted for families that have adopted in recent years. Most of the children were from Ukraine, but several were from Guatemala. At least five of the kids were from Katya's orphanage and are close friends of hers. We took pictures and will take them to Ukraine (which will be very soon, at least for Beverly). A team of 11 adults from our church leave this Friday for a two week service related mission trip at the orphanage in Uglegorsk. Beverly will have some time to spend with Katya. So this coming Saturday or Sunday she will be able to show Katya the pictures. I would post some of them, but don't have permission from the parents, so I won't just in case they might object.

I wish I was able to go this Friday, but I can't because I need to take off from work now and then again in August when we go for the adoption. I am really happy that Beverly can go, because at least one of us needs to spend some time with Katya. She seems somewhat reluctant to leave Ukraine, especially without her friend Anya. We would have adopted them both, but Anya is not registered (i.e. available for adoption). And she won't be for about 10 more months.

It has to be so very scary for a 14 year old girl to think about what her life would be like away from the country and friends she has known all her life, and move to a country with two essentially strange adults, where she doesn't speak the language. BUT..... Beverly is such a wonderful person and I know Katya will warm up to her right away.

Hopefully, seeing recent pictures of happy friends here will help relieve her fears of coming to the US. Her friends have their struggles with their new parents, but they are all happy and well cared for (loved and supported). It is amazing how quickly they are learning English. One of the young girls that arrived last November already speaks really well. We are hoping that Katya picks up the language quickly without a lot of frustration.

That brings me to school. That will a be huge adjustment for her since she hasn't even been to public school in her own country. All the children at Uglegorsk are taught in the orphanage. Katya will be going to a public school here in Va Beach. They will start her in an age appropriate class (9th grade), which means high school. Middle school would be scary enough, but HS will even be more scary. The cool thing is that we have a young girl that lives right next door that will be starting 9th grade also. She is a wonderfully sweet young lady, so I'm sure she will help Katya get acclimated and watch out for her. There are also kids from our church youth group that also go to the same high school.

Well, g2g and help Beverly get ready to leave on Friday.

Sad News While We Wait :o(

One of the joys we hoped for Katya was for her to meet our wonderful dog Alley. But sadly she contracted bone cancer and we had to have her put to sleep last Friday. We are extremely sad, and disappointed for Katya. Alley was absolutely the most wonderful dog in the world.

So now we just wait for our travel date. It seems like time is crawling by at a snail's pace.

We Have an Appointment Date

We received a registration number and a date of July 31, and we confirmed it with a phone call today June 8.
Now we wait some more ! ! ! ! But this time it is a good kind of wait, because we feel more optimistic and hopeful now than ever before in this process.
Thanks everyone for your prayers ! ! ! Please keep praying, because Katya isn't here yet.
Beverly will be traveling again to Ukraine the end of June on another mission trip to the orphange where Katya lives. This will be a great opportunity for she and Katya to start building a relationship. I was supposed to go, but I can't take off two weeks from work in early July and then turn around the end of July and take off for another two and a half weeks. I am sad about that because I wanted to meet this young lady that has now become (in our hearts at least) part of our family.

"Elderly Foreigners"

Well, the adoption law that the Ukraine parliment had been trying to pass went through its second reading and was passed to the president for signing. This bill would make me (Michael) too old to adopt Katya or any other orphan in Ukraine.
We wouldn't have felt so bad about this, but our dossier had not been approved and we had not been given an appointment date at SDA. There were many rumors about if it had been signed and how it would be implemented.
SO......... we prayed and we asked our church family to pray.
We heard from our facilitator in Ukraine that they were expecting we would be given an appointment date May 31, but May 31 came and went and none was received.
BUT ! ! ! ! ! ! ! On June 5 we received an appointment date ! ! ! ! !
And even better news came two days later that the president HAD NOT signed the bill and wasn't going to sign it because he didn't recognize the parliament as being legitimate since he had fired them all on April 2.

Paper Work Complete

After months of filling out forms, obtaining birth certificates, personal references, etc. we finally had our paper work complete including homestudy. That was in March. Our paper work made it to Ukraine just in time for SDA to stop accepting dossiers, because of a loss in staff that was the result of political wrangling between the President and Prime Minister.
They finally began accepting dossiers again on April 16, but lines were long and SDA was only accepting about 5 per week and US applicants were only accepted on Mondays.
Surprise, surprise, we receieved a call from our US adoption services that our dossier was accepted on April 30 ! ! ! !
Now we wait some more..........

The Journey Began

[the short version]
Several years ago, thinking we were too old to adopt, we entertained the idea of trying to help a young man in an orphanage in Ukraine who was ready to "age out" when he turned 16. Even though we tried to help, it didn't work.
Beverly visited an orphanage in the eastern region of Ukraine on a mission trip our church organized. When she returned I expected her to say "I found this young person and want to adopt". She didn't even mention any such thing. So I told her I expected a pleading from her to adopt. She said she thought I wouldn't even entertain such an idea. I told he that I thought we could help an orphan and that I saw no reason why God wouldn't be pleased that we would. Well.......... that's where it started.
Unfortunately for us Ukraine shut down their international adoptions shortly after that decision. We then had to wait (one of the things international adoption is full of); wait, wait and more waiting ! ! !