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.