On The Road Again

Well, we have had another busy day. We had to travel to Micah's birth city. It was about 2 hours away. The drives are pretty stressful. At times we are going about 120 mph. There is a lot of traffic and we had at least one close call. I'm sure that angel got his wing clipped. I don't think we've ever prayed this much for God's protection as we have during this time. Between the cab rides and the road trips our angels have been on overtime. I think they work in shifts.

The picture of the septic truck may not seem funny unless you can read Russian. Someone wrote honey on it and drew a picture of a bee. That's Ukrainian humor. Ha ha

There are several pictures above of our road trip. When we got to the government office we were asked several questions and then received some information that threw another glitch in the process. We prefer not to say what it is but all is going to work out. (Jana please call us and we will explain everything)

We were at the government office for about 15 minutes and then got right back in the car and drove back to our region. We had to go back by the Inspector's office and pick up our dossier to make another copy. Natalia and her husband drove us and when we got all the needed paperwork they drove back to the region where Micah was born.
Please pray that this does not delay us getting a court date. We are hoping to get one next week. You would not believe all the paperwork that it takes to go thru for an adoption. I don't think anyone in this country has a fax machine. We don't realize what a wonderful invention it is.

After we got back we went to visit with the boys. Their English is getting much better. Today Luke started calling his brother Micah. They are repeating a lot more English today. The picture of Luke with his finger over his mouth is because he and Papa had a secret. Papa let him drink out of our water bottle after he had finished his juice. They would look at each other and put their finger over their mouth and say "shhh".

The boys play very well together and Luke watches out for Micah. They both love grape juice and always race to see who will finish their juice 1st. We will definitely have to put pull ups on them coming home since they are not used to drinking so much. The picture of Micah's shoe is to show everyone the type of shoes the children have to wear. His toe sticks out the end of it. We can't wait to put them in their new clothes and shoes. Just think they will never have to wear shoes with holes in them again once we pick them up. Also, all the toys in the orphanage are bits and pieces of toys. They look like the land of misfit toys. Luke came out today with 1/2 of a motorcycle and was very proud of it. The tricycles need WD40 and the handlebars are twisted and need tightening but they can't be fixed.

When we went to leave today we smacked our lips and Micah gave us both a kiss and ran back into his room. We took Luke to his room and he changed his shirt and shoes and he started to back up to James to let him hug him. James turned him around and showed him how to put his arms around our neck. He then came to me and put his arms around my neck and hugged me. We truly love our boys.

We appreciate all comments, they keep us going! For those who don't know how (Pastor)
just click on comments at the end of each blog and a screen will come up for you to leave your comments.

Allison- I love the book you gave me. I have really enjoyed reading it while I'm here. James is really missing his Route44 fix.

Mom- give Big Jake a kiss and a hug from Aunt Penny, Uncle James, Luke and Micah. I know the boys will love their new things and love their Meme.

Chris G- Thank you for being Betty's substitute son while James is gone. Thank you for helping out at the house. We can't wait for the boys to meet their Godfather.

Betty- thanks for giving Eli (FE FE) hugs and kisses and holding him. Also, thanks for all you are doing we appreciate it. We can't wait for you to meet your new granchildren.


Love to Everyone!!

War Eagle Jon!!! From Penny not James
James says Go Noles (whatever)

Busy Day

We had a really busy day but a productive day. We went to Kiev this morning and had some paperwork notarized. We drove back to our region and went to the orphanage to pick up paperwork from the Director. We took that paperwork over to the inspector's office. The Asst. Inspector said the main Inspector was still on vacation. She would call and try to get her to come by tomorrow to sign the paperwork.

We went to eat then back to the orphanage to visit with the boys. They had a blast playing with each other and wrestling with their Papa. Luke stayed by me most of the time because I brought Teddy Grahams today. He nearly ate the whole Ziploc bag full. I would say Teddy Bear and he would repeat it. His personality is so much like mine it is unbelievable. He is sensitive, independent, mature, and humble oh yeah and good looking. (ha ha)

Micah is just like his Papa energetic, humorous, silly, outgoing and full of personality. Oh, and cute as a cuddly teddy bear. He kept getting under James shirt and hiding today. There is a picture above of Natalia explaining to Micah not to run and grab everything that we brought it for them to play with and also to eat and drink.

When it came time to leave, Micah's caregiver told him to give us a kiss and he ran up and kissed me right on the lips and James too. We went to say goodbye to Luke and he will let us hug and kiss him but he turns his back to us. They do not get hugs and kisses so this is new to them.

Natalia received a phone call that the inspector found out that Micah was not born in the city of Kiev but just outside it so we have to go there to pick up more paperwork. We hope to be going tomorrow. Please pray that we go and get the paperwork needed so everything can get processed and we can get a court date.

As you all know, James never meets a stranger. He introduced himself to a man at dinner tonight. the man speaks no English but he came outside and showed James a fishing rod and that's all it took. We went down to the river and fished with him for about an hour. He was so sweet and even though he could not speak English we did pretty good communicating. He uses dough ball; earthworms;live maggots; popcorn; and cereal to fish for carp. Very interesting! He also put a clothespin on his line to tighten the line.

Natalia came down to the river and helped interpret. We also found out that he was a soldier during Chernobyl and he comes to the health resort for treatment from the radiation. While he is here he will rest and fish. I think James has a new fishing buddy. He gave James a lure and James gave him a new $1 bill. Natalia said James needs to sign his name to it so he will find him tomorrow and sign it.

It is getting late and we need to rest. We love you and will update tomorrow. Remember to pray we get the paperwork for Micah tomorrow so we can get a court date soon.

Pics from Tuesday and Wednesday

Good Evening,

We have had 2 busy days. Yesterday we visted with the boys twice. Natalia measured them so would could go buy some clothes. Micah picked up some glass from a broken beer bottle and we had to administer some 1st aid. He will pick up anything and everything.

Luke got in trouble today for the 1st time. He picked up an empty beer bottle and was hitting it on the ground. James told him no but he ran so he got in trouble. He is so tender-hearted. He cried and cried when James got on to him. After sitting with Mama for a while he got over it and went back to play with Papa.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for me. Pastor-thanks for calling and praying for me last night. I'm feeling much better today.

We went to an open market outside today and bought the boys some clothes. When we pick them up from the orphanage they cannot take anything with them. You can exchange if you want to. We did pretty good. We got 2 pair of shorts, 4 t-shirts, 2 long sleeve tops, 2 pair of tennis shoes, sock and underwear all for around $60. You know me Mom, I'm a bargain shopper like you.

We will go to the orphanage in the morning to pick up the paperwork from the Director. Natalia's husband is coming to pick us up and drive us to Kiev. We will look for a notary and file the paperwork for a court date.

Please pray that we will get one very soon. Once we have our hearing we have a 10 day wait and on the 11th day the boys are ours. That is when we get their passports, medical exam etc.

Enjoy the pictures- those are hand carved dwarfs from snowwhite and the 7 dwarfs. There are pictures of some of Luke's friends. Also, there is a picture of Micah holding his caregivers hand going into the building to get his finger doctored. They put some kind of green medicine on it. The grapevine is beautiful that they are walking under and is full of grapes.

We found out today that Micah's birthday is December 18, 2003 and Luke is December 25, 2002. They are not even a full year apart. Can you believe we have 2 boys and both birthdays are in December and one on Christmas. We love them so much and continue to bond more and more each day.

I don't know if I will get to blog tomorrow. It depends on when we return from Kiev.