Day 4 entertainment

For this evening's entertainment, we will wash clothes:)
We have a washing machine from about 1980 (maybe older).

Kolia, Lena, and Yulia told us their best guess on how to work it, so I put soap in the "II" box, twisted the knobs, and nothing happened. Bummer. I twisted knobs in a different order, nothing, more twisting, fiddling, banging...nothing. I call Denton for help. He's an engineer and he can figure anything out! He's fixed our washer and dryer at home - very handy. He twisted, banged, fiddled, nothing. He kept at it for about 5 minutes & still nothing! We call our facilitator & she and her husband try to talk us through the process. Still no success. Ugh. We leave tomorrow at noon from the apartment & the clothes won't be dry it time if we don't get this moving! Finally, Denton has the right sequence of twists and the water comes on. YEA! I come back to the washer about an hour later. The cycle knob has not advanced AT ALL! It has just been tumbling for an hour. Back to fiddling. Another 10 minutes or so & Denton hears the knob clicking - he has gotten it to work properly & the cycle advances. By now it is after 9pm & I am wondering if these clothes will be dry by morning to pack. Doubtful. That is when a Mom goes to work. I have Denton light the oven (from about 1960) & crank it up. I find hangers all over the apartment & hang everything from the curtain rod in the kitchen. OSHA would have a fit.
I open the oven door and pray the clothes won't fall & catch fire. I set a trap for the oven door in case it falls open (an ironing board made of the asbestos-type counters found in a chemistry lab). The kitchen has a door, so I close the door & return to the living area. Denton (a little OCD) goes to the kitchen to check the clothes & it is a sauna! It is working! We turn the oven off & go to bed about midnight. That was fun and by morning everything was dry.

A Kiev Birthday - Day 5

What a treat to spend my birthday in Kiev! And to pick up our referral for Ola! Denton took me to a nice lunch, then Melanie and I left their (very nice) appartment to walk to SDA for exercise. The guys were to follow with the facilitator in the car & be there by about 4pm (you can only pick up the letters from 4-5pm). Melanie & I walked through Independence Square (see the photo of the monument) & into the underground mall - very cool! Sort of like Underground Atlanta, but more compact & nicer. Ola and I will have to visit that when we return to Kiev.
Mel & I got to SDA a little early & called the guys to see if they were on their way (by car, it would probably take twice as long as our15 min. walk to get through traffic). They were still waiting on the driver. Uh-oh. We called again at 4:30 - still waiting on the driver. Yikes! So we did what all ladies would do in a situation like this. We shopped! Just before 5pm, we walked into the building to wait. SDA wasn't ready, so everyone was there waiting. Guys still not here. Did I mention we have a flight to catch? Leaving at 7:50 from the airport about 45 minutes away (hour+ through traffic). Finally the men arrive - just in time for SDA to bring all our paperwork downstairs. We wait for everyone else in line, get our documents & get to the airport with time to spare. I think time is different here. God must be multiplying it when needed:)

Denton will explain his amazing race to the SDA by car:

OK. Bill and I were waiting for our facilitator who was supposed to pick us up with enough time to drive from the apartment to SDA. Traffic was horrible so we weren't picked up until 15 minutes before SDA closed. I asked if he thought we would make it and he said, "We see," with a big smile. We threw our bags in the car and the race began! Driving by independence square left turn are not permitted and traffic doesn't move much so facilitator takes a "short cut." This was amazing, I felt like we were playing "chicken" with pedestrians, parked cars, and barrier railings. You know how cats can squeeze through small openings. Well, somehow facilitator's car was able to transform to cat mode...it was quite thrilling. All this to get us on another rode that goes straight up to the rode that leads to SDA. We arrive at SDA about 15 mins later...this should have easily been a 40 min drive. :-)


We get on the plane, quick hour flight (that would have taken 15hours by train), then a 2 hour drive to Ola's city. Thankfully Sergei had just replaced the shocks on his car (must be done every 10K kilometers due to the terrible roads). Still a bumpy ride, but we saw a white fox! Sergei said he has only seen 2 others in his lifetime! Beautiful. We finally get to bed about 1am. Got to be up running in the morning to see officials to get the paperwork done to get permission to see Ola!

Day 4, SDA

Today was our SDA appointment. We walked in, sat down, and the lady asked us how we knew Ola and why we want to adopt her. We talked about meeting her, hosting her, and how our hearts love her and we wanted her to be a part of our family. She asked how our children felt about all of this & how they liked Ola. I smiled and said they can't wait for Ola to be home. We then saw Ola's file & she explained what was in the file - all that had happened to Ola since 2000 when she was taken to the orphanage by her mom (temporarily). She also explained that Ola's mom didn't come back for her, so in 2005 she was considered "missing" and Ola was considered abandoned. At this point parental rights were terminated. Nothing is known of Ola's father. The lady asked us if we still wanted to go see Ola & asked if we were still interested in adopting her (HELLO!). We said yes of course.


We walked around the vendors & saw St. Andrews church which they were rebuilding the foundation. Our facilitator explained that St. Andrew was the first apostle to come to Ukraine and he stood atop this hill & saw a vision that Ukraine would be the center of Christianity. So they built this magnificent church atop the hill & named it for St. Andrew's.
We met up with 2 other families adopting and along with our facilitator and her husband, we went to a great lunch. Hot herbal tea, Macchiatto, Coke, pizza, bacon and cheese omelet, cherry crepe/pancake - all for about $10. wow. On our way back to the apartment we posed for a photo in front of St Sophia's. A bit of rest, then eat, then rest.

Ukrainian Worship - Day 3

Today was spent with our Ukrainian Church – we celebrated Thanksgiving! Denton gave a sermon, beautiful singing (which we recognized!), and Pastor Kolia delivered his sermon. It was a wonderful service – we had a great feast of authentic Ukrainian food afterward. I just realized – I forgot my cake! Everyone welcomed us & we got lots of hugs & smiles. The children even gave us a poem in English! They did a great job! After the festivities, Pastor Kolia, Lena (his wife) and Yulia (his eldest daughter) took us to a beautiful and historic Ukrainian village. Amazing! Beautiful rolling hills, windmills, homes, a market, and lots of people! The weather was probably in the 60s with a light breeze – I think this is a special gift from God just for me (kidding, but I sure am thankful!)! This excellent weather is atypical – usually by now there is snow & ice falling from the sky.

Kolia and his family then drove us to the market and Yulia helped us shop for a few necessities. Really neat mall. Inside was a market with items similar to what you would find at Dollar General & a Farmer’s Market. There was a huge area of cheese, a whole row of sausages hanging & bulk bins of fresh fruit for you to scoop out for yourself, and the bakery of course. We got some of each & some yogurt which was THE BEST EVER! I do not know what is different, but it was so creamy & sweet, but not sugary. YUMMY! Everything I have seen hints that they do not use artificial anything. Did I mention the butter isle? There were so many *types* of butter – different fat content, different brands, wow. And there were attendants everywhere watching.

After the market, we returned to the apartment & I asked if Yulia and Lena could help me figure out the washing machine. They toiled over it for about 5 minutes, even Kolia gave his input. The final outcome…? Put clothes in here, soap in there, set the dial to this & see what happens. Can’t wait!

I am truly thankful to be here, blessed beyond measure, and having the time of my life!
I wish our children were here to share it with us.
Our appointment is tomorrow at 9am. We are praying that we do exactly what God has for us to do.

Travel, Days 1-2

Travel – Days 1-2

What a wonderful few days we have had! Our journey began about 7am Friday morning; getting up and ready, saying good-bye to the children & my Mom, driving to the airport & watching Robert & Kathy drive away. All incredibly difficult, but the Peace of God which passes all understanding was overwhelming! I do not worry, I do not fret. I am so thankful God has answered prayers for us to have a good & safe trip and for peace. While in flight I looked out into the great expanse and saw God’s beautiful creation. What a mighty God we serve! Our flights were uneventful; we had a quiet trip for the most part. When we got to Germany I realized how tiny of a box I have lived in. I so wish I could speak to these people! The flight attendants spoke to me in German (I look very German I suppose) and I really was disappointed that I couldn’t talk to them. When we landed in Kiev, it was the same. I really wish I knew Russian! And I forgot my Russian notebook which has all the helpful conversational stuff.

We have an apartment just off the downtown Independence Square in Kiev. It is beautiful here (if you look). I was sad to see an old lady sitting on the steps begging for money. I realized too that this is everywhere – even America. Everyone here dresses very trendy – much different than the town in GA where folks go to Wal-Mart in their PJs and slippers. Up to the knee (or higher) boots with 4 inch heels or so on these rough streets is amazing to watch. Skinny jeans, blingy tops, and leather coats (even though the weather is GREAT – sixtys or so)! Now I can understand why Ola was a little bored with the t-shirts and tennis shoes...

Denton was my entertainment for this evening. He had bad jet lag, so he took a pill for sleeping. My amusement began. He was leaving the kitchen and said, "Whoa, I have got to go sit down" I then heard shuffling of feet and banging against the wall. When I got out of the bathroom, I found Denton passed out in the bed with his sermon notes on his belly. He was snoring. This is about 6:30pm. Normally a light sleeper, he didn't budge when I walked across the floors that squeek with each step. He was still snoozing when I removed his pen and papers from his chest. More squeeking & sleeping husband. Wow, that is powerful stuff. To my delight Denton woke up for a few minutes to entertain me. He was like a drunk college kid. Stumbling around, slurred speech, the whole bit. He had been hallucinating he told me. He though he was talking to his Mom and Dad about his sermon. He bumped along the wall in the living area, talked crazy sentences; I begged him to go to bed before he hurt himself. He said he was fine (I was laughing so hard). Finally he went back to bed. I'll try to get video next time:)

Thanks for the laughs!