Hi Everyone!! Yes, this is finally Kelly again. Jason has been doing the posting for the last few days, while mama stays home with Daniel. They are both home napping right now and I decided that it's my turn to sneak away to the internet cafe. I have been so blessed to go back through and catch up on all of your comments. We love getting them and it helps us feel a little closer to home.
Not close enough though. Can I just be honest and say that we are horribly homesick? We have had a wonderful time, loved our experiences in Ukraine, and love all of the new friends we have made but we miss good old Louisville and all of you. We are on the home stretch and just can't wait to bring Daniel home to meet you all and to settle in to our new lives as a family. These days of waiting have been the hardest. We are just waiting on that passport. As of right now, 3:00p on Tuesday, still no passport. If we don't get it today, Jason will probably go ahead and fly home tomorrow (and save $$ by not having to change his ticket) and Kelly and Daniel will follow ASAP!!
We went to the US Embassy today and filed our paperwork, so that if Jason leaves everything is ready to go. I will just go back to the Embassy with Daniel once we have the passport and do the final steps to apply for his visa. It usually takes 12 - 24 hours for them to process the visa. Everything hinges on that passport. It still could be ready today. Please say a prayer for us right now that it will happen!!! We loved being back on US soil. It's weird, I know, but it felt good at the Embassy. I just wanted to linger a bit and feel at home.
If we don't get the passport today, no worries. Kelly and Daniel can survive the trip home. Not that it wouldn't be better with papa, but we'll be OK. Jason has to return to work on Monday and we thought it would be too hard to fly home on Saturday or Sunday and go right back to work. If he comes tomorrow, he will have some time to re-adjust to the time zone and get a few things ready for us to arrive.
This is all in the Lord's perfect timing. He has led us every step of the way and He won't abandon us now. He brought our family together in this awesome, amazing way and we know that He will work out this little passport issue. We are trusting His plan. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he is watching me! (Darla - sorry we missed your special in church. I know it was great)
We did a bit more geocaching today around Kiev. Our little boy loves those treasure hunts! And did we tell you that we are still working on counting in English? We add a new number every day. So far we are up to 13! He is so smart. We can't wait for him to start speaking English. I know he is saying some amazingly cute things and we are just missing it. I love having Gayla with us because she tells me all of the sweet things he says.
We will post again soon to tell you what happens. Pray for that passport and pray for traveling safety. In the grand scheme of life - this is just a couple of days. It's all good. We are so blessed!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Making New Friends
Tonight we met with friends of some of our geocaching buddies. Emily suggested we get together with an old college buddy of hers and we sure are glad we did! We had dinner with Matt, Adriana, Philip, and Sophia at their apartment in downtown Kiev. We had some delicious fried fish, potato cakes, and all the fixin's. It was really great to have dinner in an actual home after our 37th day away. Our hosts were awesome and very, very friendly. Matt and Kelly have the same alma mater - UL - so they could console each other after last night's basketball loss. It was unfortunate, though, that we couldn't spend longer together - our hosts are flying out tomorrow for London and we figured we needed to get our little boy home. Hopefully our paths will cross again and we can spend more time together. Daniel and Philip became fast friends in spite of the language difference. It was a GREAT evening and something we really needed after not getting the passport again today. It was just too bad that Gayla couldn't join us as she was tied up with personal business.
It's looking more and more like Jason will be going home Wednesday without Kelly and Daniel who will follow shortly after. It's absolutely not what we want, but we're being forced into it...
Tomorrow, we're going to head to the US Embassy so Jason can sign off on his portion of the paperwork for the visa. We will also get Daniel's photo taken for the medical file and probably do a couple of more geocaches.
Please pray that the passport comes through tomorrow. This one paper has really thrown a wrench in the works. Know that everyone is in our thoughts and prayers - particularly Uncle Bob and Foffee.
It's looking more and more like Jason will be going home Wednesday without Kelly and Daniel who will follow shortly after. It's absolutely not what we want, but we're being forced into it...
Tomorrow, we're going to head to the US Embassy so Jason can sign off on his portion of the paperwork for the visa. We will also get Daniel's photo taken for the medical file and probably do a couple of more geocaches.
Please pray that the passport comes through tomorrow. This one paper has really thrown a wrench in the works. Know that everyone is in our thoughts and prayers - particularly Uncle Bob and Foffee.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Circus! Circus! Circus!
We elected to not go to church today. Galya's church service lasts 4 hours and we didn't think there's anyway that Daniel could make it through that. Instead we watched the 2004 SECC Easter service on DVD. It was a sermon by Bob Russell about Thomas the Apostle with a strong evangelistic message. I had forgotten how good that sermon was.
Afterwards, we headed out for a walk to the market and a nearby park. Daniel really enjoyed swinging, the teetertotter, and the balance beam. He also liked chasing all of the pigeons. There was a small carnival-like area so he got to "drive" the children's rollercoaster/train. He was quite thrilled. We also scouted out a few good locations for some geocaches. Galya said she would maintain them for us if there are maintenance issues. We'll try to hide them tomorrow.
In the evening we went to the Kiev Circus. The troupe is not a traveling group, but a permanent fixture in the city with performances every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and they even have their own venue. The skills of the performers were awesome and kept us enthralled. The animal acts were also really good and they had some out-of-the-ordinary critters such as raccoons, porcupines, a fox, and some HUGE rats (like 2 feet long without the tail huge). Daniel really enjoyed himself although he was a bit overloaded from the sights and sounds. We even got a group photo with the clowns - which was Daniel's favorite act.
Otherwise, I'm watching the Cards play for the first time in the post season. Our internet cafe has a high speed connection and the game is early enough that it isn't in the middle of the night. Kelly and Daniel are back at the apartment sleeping.
Ukraine finally observed daily savings so we jumped forward an hour today so we're back to 7 hours ahead of Louisville.
Tomorrow, we're going to start the visa paperwork and get Daniel's photo taken for the medical file. Everything hinges, though, on the passport. Whether we get it tomorrow or not will determine our travel arrangements. We're keeping our fingers crossed and saying prayers often.
Anyhow, hope all is well at home. Until tomorrow, dos vidanya!
Afterwards, we headed out for a walk to the market and a nearby park. Daniel really enjoyed swinging, the teetertotter, and the balance beam. He also liked chasing all of the pigeons. There was a small carnival-like area so he got to "drive" the children's rollercoaster/train. He was quite thrilled. We also scouted out a few good locations for some geocaches. Galya said she would maintain them for us if there are maintenance issues. We'll try to hide them tomorrow.
In the evening we went to the Kiev Circus. The troupe is not a traveling group, but a permanent fixture in the city with performances every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and they even have their own venue. The skills of the performers were awesome and kept us enthralled. The animal acts were also really good and they had some out-of-the-ordinary critters such as raccoons, porcupines, a fox, and some HUGE rats (like 2 feet long without the tail huge). Daniel really enjoyed himself although he was a bit overloaded from the sights and sounds. We even got a group photo with the clowns - which was Daniel's favorite act.
Otherwise, I'm watching the Cards play for the first time in the post season. Our internet cafe has a high speed connection and the game is early enough that it isn't in the middle of the night. Kelly and Daniel are back at the apartment sleeping.
Ukraine finally observed daily savings so we jumped forward an hour today so we're back to 7 hours ahead of Louisville.
Tomorrow, we're going to start the visa paperwork and get Daniel's photo taken for the medical file. Everything hinges, though, on the passport. Whether we get it tomorrow or not will determine our travel arrangements. We're keeping our fingers crossed and saying prayers often.
Anyhow, hope all is well at home. Until tomorrow, dos vidanya!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
More caching in Kiev
It's pretty apparent that Galya really enjoys caching - either that or she is incredibly gracious! We'll have to get her to Louisville so she can see that you don't have to travel miles and miles between caches. Anyhow, she has been an awesome guide and has been taking us to the cache sites via trolley, bus, taxi, train, and subway. Today we hit four more geocaches including one that was a nearly 4 mile roundtrip hike on an island in the Dneiper River. Throughout it all, Daniel has been exceptional and is quite excited to find his "treasure". As soon as Papa opens the container, he has both hands inside pulling out the loot.
One of the places we visited today was the National Botanical Gardens. It is quite impressive with beautiful plants, landscapes, and terrain. The place is very well maintained. With the great weather today (in the high 50s and sunny) and being Saturday, the place was packed with families strolling about.
Tomorrow night we're heading to the circus here in Kiev. Daniel has no idea what a circus is so he's in for a real treat. I think all of us are excited to go.
Otherwise, everything is pretty quiet here. We're just biding our time hoping for the call regarding Daniel's passport on Monday. Once we get that we will take Daniel to a medical checkup and then apply for the US visa. Then we're homefree.
We are very glad to see that the Cards won last night. Perhaps we'll catch the second half of the game tomorrow at the internet cafe after the circus.
All our love to our friends and family...
One of the places we visited today was the National Botanical Gardens. It is quite impressive with beautiful plants, landscapes, and terrain. The place is very well maintained. With the great weather today (in the high 50s and sunny) and being Saturday, the place was packed with families strolling about.
Tomorrow night we're heading to the circus here in Kiev. Daniel has no idea what a circus is so he's in for a real treat. I think all of us are excited to go.
Otherwise, everything is pretty quiet here. We're just biding our time hoping for the call regarding Daniel's passport on Monday. Once we get that we will take Daniel to a medical checkup and then apply for the US visa. Then we're homefree.
We are very glad to see that the Cards won last night. Perhaps we'll catch the second half of the game tomorrow at the internet cafe after the circus.
All our love to our friends and family...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Great Patriotic War Museum
It's official - this internet cafe doesn't allow uploads so no pictures for the foreseeable future.
Well, we didn't get Daniel's passport today so our Wednesday departure is now in jeopardy. I guess that's just the breaks. If we get it on Monday, we'll all move our flights to Thursday. Otherwise, Jason will probably come back Wednesday and Kelly with Daniel either Sunday or Monday. It is not what we wanted for sure, but Jason really feels that he can't miss more work. We're in capable hands, of course, with Galya so our minds are at ease with whatever happens.
Anyhow, on to cheerier news... One of the things we definitely wanted to see while we were in Kiev was the "Great Patriotic War" (WWII) Museum. It didn't disappoint whatsoever... The bronzes at the entryway were mammoth and inspiring as was the towering Mother Russia statue above the museum. As for artifacts, there were many, many personal stories told about individual soldiers and battlefield-dug artifacts were plentiful. The highlight, though, was the last room of the museum -it featured many, many thousands of photographs of soldiers who died in the conflict. Also in the center of the cavernous room was a very long dining table that was set with mess kits. Under glass on the table were thousands of actual death notices from the war. It was quite moving.
We also got Daniel a few more clothes with the help of Gayla and Daniel got his first-ever slice of pizza at CBAPPO - that would be SBARRO's to you westerners... We also got two more geocaches near the WWII museum and the nearby Lavra (see earlier post regarding the dead monks in the caves).
Another highlight of the night was an unexpected call from our driver in Belgogrod Simone!!! We became quite good friends during our weeks together despite the language barrier. It was so nice to hear from him.
We have decided to bypass the UL game tonight. I don't think there's anyway our little one could hang in there due to the late hour. Thus, we'll be cheering on the Cards in our dreams. GO CARDS!
Tomorrow, Galya is coming over at 930 for more touristy activities. Hopefully all will go well! Until then...
Well, we didn't get Daniel's passport today so our Wednesday departure is now in jeopardy. I guess that's just the breaks. If we get it on Monday, we'll all move our flights to Thursday. Otherwise, Jason will probably come back Wednesday and Kelly with Daniel either Sunday or Monday. It is not what we wanted for sure, but Jason really feels that he can't miss more work. We're in capable hands, of course, with Galya so our minds are at ease with whatever happens.
Anyhow, on to cheerier news... One of the things we definitely wanted to see while we were in Kiev was the "Great Patriotic War" (WWII) Museum. It didn't disappoint whatsoever... The bronzes at the entryway were mammoth and inspiring as was the towering Mother Russia statue above the museum. As for artifacts, there were many, many personal stories told about individual soldiers and battlefield-dug artifacts were plentiful. The highlight, though, was the last room of the museum -it featured many, many thousands of photographs of soldiers who died in the conflict. Also in the center of the cavernous room was a very long dining table that was set with mess kits. Under glass on the table were thousands of actual death notices from the war. It was quite moving.
We also got Daniel a few more clothes with the help of Gayla and Daniel got his first-ever slice of pizza at CBAPPO - that would be SBARRO's to you westerners... We also got two more geocaches near the WWII museum and the nearby Lavra (see earlier post regarding the dead monks in the caves).
Another highlight of the night was an unexpected call from our driver in Belgogrod Simone!!! We became quite good friends during our weeks together despite the language barrier. It was so nice to hear from him.
We have decided to bypass the UL game tonight. I don't think there's anyway our little one could hang in there due to the late hour. Thus, we'll be cheering on the Cards in our dreams. GO CARDS!
Tomorrow, Galya is coming over at 930 for more touristy activities. Hopefully all will go well! Until then...
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Odessa and back to Kiev
Sorry it's been so long since our last post, but we've been incredibly busy and there's really been no time at all to go to the internet cafes. Unfortunately there will be no pictures this time as the cafe I'm at apparently doesn't allow uploads (or I can't figure it out). So here's the update on our activities since Monday...
We rushed off to Odessa to pick up his new birth certificate and certificate of adoption. Fortunately we had the first appointment of the day as the place was packed out by the time we left - 2 hours later. The lady in charge was really very, very nice and said lots of nice things to us. Then we were off to have the birth certificate authorized for international travels which was at an office on the other side of the city. While we waited for it to be done, we went to a Mexican restaurant that Oksana knew of. Kelly has been craving Mexican for weeks and it was nice to have some familiar food. Afterwards, we picked up the papers and hurried off back to the orphanage which was about 1.5 hours away. We cut across a very small section of Moldova so we can mark another country off on the way.
Once we got to the orphanage, there was more paperwork. After having a nice final meeting with the orphanage pyschologist (super nice lady), we headed downstairs for Daniel's farewell "party" with his group. We had fruit juice and cookies and the kids were really wound up. The caregivers were all very sweet and gave us lots of advice about our new boy. Afterwards we changed Daniel into his new clothes, loaded up in the car, and went back to the clinic where we spent our first night together as a family.
We didn't know how Daniel would respond to his first night away from the orphanage and there were no issues whatsoever. After about an hour of tossing, turning, and whispering to his teddy bear, he fell asleep and lasted the whole night.
Yesterday morning we got up and headed back to Odessa to start the paperwork on his passport. After getting that done, we had the rest of the day to ourselves until our evening train to Kiev. Odessa is a beautiful city - lots of nice restaurants, stores, museums, parks, etc. Daniel got his first taste of "American" food when we went to McDonald's for lunch. He seemed to really like it - particularly the fries (surprise, surprise). There is one geocache in Odessa so we went to get it and "Sergeant Squash" (Daniel's geocaching name), got his first ever find! He was so excited and grabbed several foreign coins out of the container. He did well with the short hike and managed the last big hill all by himself. We then went to an archaeological museum which was fascinating; they have many artifacts from Ukraine where the Greeks, Romans, etc. set up colonies. Unfortunately Daniel was not very interested at all so we had to walk through pretty quickly.
Oksana got us to the train station and we departed Odessa for Kiev for the last leg of our journey. While we are very ready to wind up our trip, we were sad to leave Oksana, Simone, the Czeropski's, and the other folks we met while in Belgorod. Daniel slept the whole night through on the train while the parents didn't fair as well. It was all bananas to them.
Anyhow, at about 6:40a Galya met us at the train station. We've really missed her in the last several weeks and it was awesome seeing her again. She took us to our new apartment in Kiev and showed us around the local area. We have a market, internet cafe (where I'm at now of course), a McDonald's, a playground, and a grocery store all very close. We've settled in and getting accustomed to our new surroundings. EVERYTHING is so new to Daniel - he's mesmerized by all of the new sights, sounds, and smells. Galya was tied up with other obligations today. We're hoping to get together with her tomorrow so we can do a little siteseeing.
We're praying that our passport comes through tomorrow - which is a slim chance it seems. If so, we can have Daniel's medical appointment Monday and head home on Wednesday as planned. We really hope the timing doesn't slip as we are quite anxious to head back to Kentucky to our friends and family.
So... we ask that your continue to pray for us so we can get home expeditiously. We love and miss all ya'll (how's that for Southern?). Thanks to everyone for your support.
We rushed off to Odessa to pick up his new birth certificate and certificate of adoption. Fortunately we had the first appointment of the day as the place was packed out by the time we left - 2 hours later. The lady in charge was really very, very nice and said lots of nice things to us. Then we were off to have the birth certificate authorized for international travels which was at an office on the other side of the city. While we waited for it to be done, we went to a Mexican restaurant that Oksana knew of. Kelly has been craving Mexican for weeks and it was nice to have some familiar food. Afterwards, we picked up the papers and hurried off back to the orphanage which was about 1.5 hours away. We cut across a very small section of Moldova so we can mark another country off on the way.
Once we got to the orphanage, there was more paperwork. After having a nice final meeting with the orphanage pyschologist (super nice lady), we headed downstairs for Daniel's farewell "party" with his group. We had fruit juice and cookies and the kids were really wound up. The caregivers were all very sweet and gave us lots of advice about our new boy. Afterwards we changed Daniel into his new clothes, loaded up in the car, and went back to the clinic where we spent our first night together as a family.
We didn't know how Daniel would respond to his first night away from the orphanage and there were no issues whatsoever. After about an hour of tossing, turning, and whispering to his teddy bear, he fell asleep and lasted the whole night.
Yesterday morning we got up and headed back to Odessa to start the paperwork on his passport. After getting that done, we had the rest of the day to ourselves until our evening train to Kiev. Odessa is a beautiful city - lots of nice restaurants, stores, museums, parks, etc. Daniel got his first taste of "American" food when we went to McDonald's for lunch. He seemed to really like it - particularly the fries (surprise, surprise). There is one geocache in Odessa so we went to get it and "Sergeant Squash" (Daniel's geocaching name), got his first ever find! He was so excited and grabbed several foreign coins out of the container. He did well with the short hike and managed the last big hill all by himself. We then went to an archaeological museum which was fascinating; they have many artifacts from Ukraine where the Greeks, Romans, etc. set up colonies. Unfortunately Daniel was not very interested at all so we had to walk through pretty quickly.
Oksana got us to the train station and we departed Odessa for Kiev for the last leg of our journey. While we are very ready to wind up our trip, we were sad to leave Oksana, Simone, the Czeropski's, and the other folks we met while in Belgorod. Daniel slept the whole night through on the train while the parents didn't fair as well. It was all bananas to them.
Anyhow, at about 6:40a Galya met us at the train station. We've really missed her in the last several weeks and it was awesome seeing her again. She took us to our new apartment in Kiev and showed us around the local area. We have a market, internet cafe (where I'm at now of course), a McDonald's, a playground, and a grocery store all very close. We've settled in and getting accustomed to our new surroundings. EVERYTHING is so new to Daniel - he's mesmerized by all of the new sights, sounds, and smells. Galya was tied up with other obligations today. We're hoping to get together with her tomorrow so we can do a little siteseeing.
We're praying that our passport comes through tomorrow - which is a slim chance it seems. If so, we can have Daniel's medical appointment Monday and head home on Wednesday as planned. We really hope the timing doesn't slip as we are quite anxious to head back to Kentucky to our friends and family.
So... we ask that your continue to pray for us so we can get home expeditiously. We love and miss all ya'll (how's that for Southern?). Thanks to everyone for your support.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Finally......pictures!!!!!
The moment you have all been waiting for is finally here. We pick up the court decree tomorrow, so we felt it would be safe to go ahead and post photos of our boy.
Fashion show.....
Building sand castles.....
Standing next to my bed....
Wearing the hat Laurie made.....
'Driving' Simone's car.....
Just like papa, our boy loves his guns......
These pictures don't really do his big personality justice. To see more, head on over to www.youtube.com where we have posted some precious videos. (and one totally embarrassing video of mama - funniest home videos here I come!) Just search for Jason's youtube login which is agobc594. All of the videos are there. You can see him say 'please', read a story, loving his 'Go Cards' hat, puzzling, speaking English, counting and all kinds of fun!
The reason we picked the name Daniel is because, just like Daniel in the Bible, Daniel Anatoly is going to be taken from his homeland to live in a foreign country. Our prayer is that, like his namesake, Daniel will come to know Christ and be a strong witness for Him in a new homeland. Please pray for Daniel as we take him away from everything he has ever known. Sure, we believe we are taking him to a better life but it will still be scary and unnerving to leave the security of what's known and go where everything is new. We know God brought our family together and we embark on the next chapter of this journey believing that He will guide our steps.
And now, presenting Daniel Anatoly Karlen.......
Fashion show.....
Building sand castles.....
Standing next to my bed....
Wearing the hat Laurie made.....
'Driving' Simone's car.....Getting ready to go outside to play.......
First bike ride.......
Just like papa, our boy loves his guns......
These pictures don't really do his big personality justice. To see more, head on over to www.youtube.com where we have posted some precious videos. (and one totally embarrassing video of mama - funniest home videos here I come!) Just search for Jason's youtube login which is agobc594. All of the videos are there. You can see him say 'please', read a story, loving his 'Go Cards' hat, puzzling, speaking English, counting and all kinds of fun!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Driving rules and guidelines
We're just counting down the days now... Tuesday we pick up Daniel from the Orphange and then we're off to Kiev! We are SO READY!
Papa replaced the training wheel on the bike today - which wouldn't be a big deal if he actually had his tools. Anyhow... we love the bike shop man here in town. He has been so generous and nice to us. He knows that we're doing all of this for the orphanage and has given us price breaks, etc. He charged me about 60 cents for the new wheel and bracket for example. As a result, we've been sure to fully support the toy store he also owns around the corner.
We also went to the 3-lane bowling alley today. The place is very nice - everything looks brand-new including the shoes and balls. The attendant even gave us brand-new socks to wear. For Ukraine, the prices are a bit high which could explain the lack of use. For an hour's use of a lane, the price is about $12 (which includes the shoes and socks by the way). Anyhow, it's been over five years since we've been bowling and it showed. Whoa. We are NOT ready for the PBA!
Tomorrow is church, of course, and we're supposed to go out to lunch with the pastor, the pastor's wife, and the Czeropski's afterwards. That'll be very nice I'm sure.
Kelly and I have been batting around the idea of going to the internet cafe tomorrow night to watch the Cards game. Who knows? It's going to be late (1130pm tipoff).
Oksana arrives back here on Monday. We're so glad that she had the opportunity to visit with her family and help them through the flu. It will be nice to have her here too, although we've managed well and Simone has taken great care of us.
Driving in Ukraine is a bit different (not necessarily worse nor better) than the US. Here is a brief list of the differences we've seen:
1) Parking on the sidewalks is not only okay, but encouraged.
2) Driving on the sidewalks is apparently okay also.
3) Pedestrians often walk down the middle of the street even though there are sidewalks. This rule doesn't apply in Kiev, though.
4) If you want to thank the driver behind you (for letting you in, etc.), you briefly flash your hazard lights.
5) You NEVER run a yellow light because...
6) It is completely expected that you will IMMEDIATELY go when the light turns green
7) It is okay to pass multiple cars in a row - particularly if there is a line of Ladas and Soviet-era trucks. Ladas are far-and-away the predominant make of car in Ukraine. Most of them putt around at about 20mph or so.
8) "Lanes" are purely used as guidelines. You go wherever the smoothest route presents itself. Potholes are huge and numerous and drivers take great pains to avoid them if possible. Often we have been facing oncoming traffic head-on and they go into "our" lane to avoid hitting us - so briefly we know what it's like to drive in England.
9) Seatbelts are not required and seem to be taboo. Child safety seats do not exist.
10) There no emission standards apparently - see the note about the Soviet-era trucks and Ladas. Whew!
11) If you see a car with a white triangle sticker with a "y" in it on the rear window, it is a student driver. I don't think I've seen one on the road going over 10mph.
12) While all of the driving seems a bit chaotic, we have yet to see a traffic accident. The only thing we've seen is a tractor-trailer that cut a turn too sharply and creamed a parked car.
13) Scooters aren't very common, but almost everytime we've seen one there has been a toddler riding on it in front of the adult.
14) Unlike western Europe, you needn't be concerned with cyclists. They are quite uncommon.
15) While stray cats and dogs are everywhere, they really seem to be aware of cars and are careful to avoid them. We were told today that the ones in Odessa actually can tell if a light is green or red. That could be an urban legend, but I guess we'll see for ourselves on Tuesday when we go get Daniel's birth certificate.
16) Traffic is never bad - there are few cars per capita and most folks use mass transit or walk. Once again - this doesn't apply to Kiev where we've sat in gridlock for about 45 minutes.
Anyhow, I'm sure there's more than the list above, but I'm remembering these off the top of my head.
Papa replaced the training wheel on the bike today - which wouldn't be a big deal if he actually had his tools. Anyhow... we love the bike shop man here in town. He has been so generous and nice to us. He knows that we're doing all of this for the orphanage and has given us price breaks, etc. He charged me about 60 cents for the new wheel and bracket for example. As a result, we've been sure to fully support the toy store he also owns around the corner.
We also went to the 3-lane bowling alley today. The place is very nice - everything looks brand-new including the shoes and balls. The attendant even gave us brand-new socks to wear. For Ukraine, the prices are a bit high which could explain the lack of use. For an hour's use of a lane, the price is about $12 (which includes the shoes and socks by the way). Anyhow, it's been over five years since we've been bowling and it showed. Whoa. We are NOT ready for the PBA!
Tomorrow is church, of course, and we're supposed to go out to lunch with the pastor, the pastor's wife, and the Czeropski's afterwards. That'll be very nice I'm sure.
Kelly and I have been batting around the idea of going to the internet cafe tomorrow night to watch the Cards game. Who knows? It's going to be late (1130pm tipoff).
Oksana arrives back here on Monday. We're so glad that she had the opportunity to visit with her family and help them through the flu. It will be nice to have her here too, although we've managed well and Simone has taken great care of us.
Driving in Ukraine is a bit different (not necessarily worse nor better) than the US. Here is a brief list of the differences we've seen:
1) Parking on the sidewalks is not only okay, but encouraged.
2) Driving on the sidewalks is apparently okay also.
3) Pedestrians often walk down the middle of the street even though there are sidewalks. This rule doesn't apply in Kiev, though.
4) If you want to thank the driver behind you (for letting you in, etc.), you briefly flash your hazard lights.
5) You NEVER run a yellow light because...
6) It is completely expected that you will IMMEDIATELY go when the light turns green
7) It is okay to pass multiple cars in a row - particularly if there is a line of Ladas and Soviet-era trucks. Ladas are far-and-away the predominant make of car in Ukraine. Most of them putt around at about 20mph or so.
8) "Lanes" are purely used as guidelines. You go wherever the smoothest route presents itself. Potholes are huge and numerous and drivers take great pains to avoid them if possible. Often we have been facing oncoming traffic head-on and they go into "our" lane to avoid hitting us - so briefly we know what it's like to drive in England.
9) Seatbelts are not required and seem to be taboo. Child safety seats do not exist.
10) There no emission standards apparently - see the note about the Soviet-era trucks and Ladas. Whew!
11) If you see a car with a white triangle sticker with a "y" in it on the rear window, it is a student driver. I don't think I've seen one on the road going over 10mph.
12) While all of the driving seems a bit chaotic, we have yet to see a traffic accident. The only thing we've seen is a tractor-trailer that cut a turn too sharply and creamed a parked car.
13) Scooters aren't very common, but almost everytime we've seen one there has been a toddler riding on it in front of the adult.
14) Unlike western Europe, you needn't be concerned with cyclists. They are quite uncommon.
15) While stray cats and dogs are everywhere, they really seem to be aware of cars and are careful to avoid them. We were told today that the ones in Odessa actually can tell if a light is green or red. That could be an urban legend, but I guess we'll see for ourselves on Tuesday when we go get Daniel's birth certificate.
16) Traffic is never bad - there are few cars per capita and most folks use mass transit or walk. Once again - this doesn't apply to Kiev where we've sat in gridlock for about 45 minutes.
Anyhow, I'm sure there's more than the list above, but I'm remembering these off the top of my head.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Cheerin' on the Cards in Ukraine...
While we won't be able to watch the Louisville Cardinal's first round game tonight since it airs at 3am local time, we'll still be cheering them on in our dreams. We would love nothing more than to have Impellizzeri's Pizza with Dave and Dahbee and then watch the game. Hopefully we'll be able to do that if the Cards are still in the Final 4; I'm sure Daniel would be up for it. We keep holding out hopes that if UL wins tonight, that Sunday's game will be in the early afternoon. If so, we're going to try to watch it live at the internet cafe. Anyhow, congrats to Nina and the other Hilltoppers on their win yesterday.We spent the lion's share of our visits today with Daniel riding the bike. He's like the Energizer Bunny and rides and rides and rides... So much so that we need to replace one of the training wheels already! Since he's gotten into the NASCAR frame of mind (apparently) - always wanting to go counterclockwise around the circle - the right side wheel is nearly gone. He has really improved his steering and is continually working on building his speed it seems. He is so focused on the bike that he didn't chase that many cats and dogs today - just rode on past them once Papa stepped between him and them.
Speaking of cats, Papa petted one of the cats in the playground today. It had a collar so he figured it was probably somewhat tame. Daniel was quite intrigued and Papa got him within about 3 feet of the critter without him yelling at it or throwing rocks and sticks at it. There was no way the boy was going to pet the kitty but it's progress...
Daniel continually amazes us with his increasing knowledge of English. He completely shocked us today when he spontaneously counted to 5 - in English. Who knows where that came from!?! To make sure he actually understood what he was saying we did a couple of tests and, sure enough, he fully understands that one, two, three, four, and five are digits. Also, today he mastered "puppy", "cat", "bird", "fish", and "bunny". Two days ago he said, "Bye, bye" with no coaxing. Also, "thank-you" and "please" are regularly in his vocabulary. Smart kid!
We're going to try to go to the bowling alley tomorrow afternoon. Yes - there is, in fact, a bowling alley here. Our goal is always to break 100; we'll see - it's been a LONG time since we've thrown balls down a lane.
Otherwise we've been keeping busy with our Bible studies. It's ironic that the topic of Jason's Discipleship study this past week was on being a father. How timely!
Another interesting tidbit of this city's roads - as mentioned before there are massive potholes in the roads. A couple of days ago, there was a work crew filling the holes - with dirt. They had one fellow shoveling in the dirt and another stomping the dirt down. Needless to say, the first rain took care of that "repair". Our driver, Simone, thought it was completely silly and had a good laugh at it.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tidbits from Belgorod-Dnestrovsky
As mentioned in an earlier post, Daniel has been trained to really dislike dogs and cats. Everytime he sees one of the strays in the playground, he immediately stops what he's doing and takes off after it - usually yelling and brandishing a stick. Whenever it's a bigger dog, Papa goes after him to prevent an "incident". Without failure, the strays have run away. That is - until today... There was a really cute, tiny puppy in the playground who wanted to play with the boy. When Daniel came after him, the puppy thought it was a game and ran after Daniel. Apparently this hasn't ever happened before and Daniel freaked out. He was scared to death since the puppy was right there near him. Papa tried his best to convey that the puppy was okay, but Daniel was having none of it. Mama took him inside and he watched through the glass door while Papa played with the little doggy. It was actually a bit humorous and sad at the same time. We're going to have to figure out how to break him in when we get home. Maybe we'll expose him to Louie since he's so friendly and playful.
Last night, Mama introduced Daniel to bubbles. It doesn't seem like he had ever played with them before and immediately took to them. He LOVED them and we'll need to buy some more at the "Walmart" here in town (actually "TAV-ree-ah").
We also bought him some toy pistols that shoot suction-cup darts so Papa and him could be equally matched (in the past, Daniel ALWAYS had the gun and Papa ALWAYS got shot). He also was thrilled with these new toys and we played for a long, long time with them. Mama served as Daniel's fort and protector.
Our clinic-mates, the Czeropski's, have gotten their referral for their little boy. Ironically, he's a boy we now from Daniel's "groupa". I say it's ironic since there are only 11 kids there out of the orphanage of 150+, and our orphanage is only 1 of 4 we know of in this town. Thus, the odds of him being in Daniel's group are pretty small. Anyhow, Sasha (soon to be known as "Caleb") is a sweet boy. He was so excited this morning when we saw him and wanted to tell us all about his "Mama" and "Papa"!
Since the Karlen family loves fish, I thought folks might want to see what the seafood counter looks like at the "Walmart". The golden-yellow fish are actually smoked and pretty tasty. Most of the others are actually eaten raw - the salmon and trout in particular are quite good.
Last night, Mama introduced Daniel to bubbles. It doesn't seem like he had ever played with them before and immediately took to them. He LOVED them and we'll need to buy some more at the "Walmart" here in town (actually "TAV-ree-ah").
We also bought him some toy pistols that shoot suction-cup darts so Papa and him could be equally matched (in the past, Daniel ALWAYS had the gun and Papa ALWAYS got shot). He also was thrilled with these new toys and we played for a long, long time with them. Mama served as Daniel's fort and protector.
Our clinic-mates, the Czeropski's, have gotten their referral for their little boy. Ironically, he's a boy we now from Daniel's "groupa". I say it's ironic since there are only 11 kids there out of the orphanage of 150+, and our orphanage is only 1 of 4 we know of in this town. Thus, the odds of him being in Daniel's group are pretty small. Anyhow, Sasha (soon to be known as "Caleb") is a sweet boy. He was so excited this morning when we saw him and wanted to tell us all about his "Mama" and "Papa"!
Since the Karlen family loves fish, I thought folks might want to see what the seafood counter looks like at the "Walmart". The golden-yellow fish are actually smoked and pretty tasty. Most of the others are actually eaten raw - the salmon and trout in particular are quite good.
While there are, in fact, manhole covers in Ukraine, our town often uses tires and huge concrete slabs to cover the holes. I would really hate to hit one of the slabs - they are about 8 inches tall. None of them are painted so night driving can be a bit tricky. Of course, you generally drive quite slow since the potholes are mammoth. Uncle Bob would have a field day driving here!
Most of the toilets we've encountered here are fairly western - except that you can't put toilet paper in them. That goes in the trash can in the stall. Anyhow, we've run across quite a few of these varieties in restaurants. Papa keeps daring Mama to use one, but she refuses!
Most of the toilets we've encountered here are fairly western - except that you can't put toilet paper in them. That goes in the trash can in the stall. Anyhow, we've run across quite a few of these varieties in restaurants. Papa keeps daring Mama to use one, but she refuses!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
First Solo Bike Ride!!
Woo hoo! It's a red letter day in Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky. Daniel Karlen rode his bike on the driveway in front of the orphanage!! I don't think mama and papa could have been more proud. We figured out the missing ingredient and that was someone to tell him how to do it. That language barrier is tricky! We had the old bike from the orphanage in the trunk of Simone's car. (we had taken it to the bike shop to have it repaired and new tires put on) Every day he goes out to say 'Hi' to Simone and ask if we are leaving yet. While outside, we got the bike out and put him on it. Simone took over and explained to him how to push the pedals and how to steer. That made all the difference. He still had to work at it (he needs to build up those leg muscles) but he definitely rode by himself. We were just busting we were so proud. We will post pictures soon!
Many people have been asking for measurements. I was guessing when I said he is size 5 or 6. I don't really know and the sizes here are totally different. His shoe size is 29. Here are his measurements, and a photo of his wardrobe after our big shopping spree.....
Arm (shoulder to wrist) 13"
Pant (I forgot to do the inseam, this is waist to ankle) 20"
Waist 22"
Today we went to see more volleyball. It seems to be a tournament. The finals are tomorrow. We are glad for something new and different to do! Believe it or not, the 2000 piece puzzle is almost complete. We got Daniel a suitcase and backpack at the market to bring all of his goodies home. We are counting the days!! Once we pick him up (hopefully Monday or Tuesday) then we will take the night train back to Kiev. We will probably be there 5 days waiting for his visa and passport to be ready. We are really hoping to be home in time to catch the tail end of March Madness! (especially if the Cards are still hanging on!)
In addition to counting the days, we are counting our blessings. The Lord has been so good to us and we are so thankful. We could not have asked for a better trip. Everything has just come together so great - from our fabulous facilitators, a great place to stay, a great driver (we now call him our 'man of affairs'. He takes great care of us), and Daniel is such a sweet little boy. We know without a doubt that he was waiting here for us to come get him and he is going to fit in perfectly with our family. God is so good!
Many people have been asking for measurements. I was guessing when I said he is size 5 or 6. I don't really know and the sizes here are totally different. His shoe size is 29. Here are his measurements, and a photo of his wardrobe after our big shopping spree.....
Arm (shoulder to wrist) 13"
Pant (I forgot to do the inseam, this is waist to ankle) 20"
Waist 22"
Today we went to see more volleyball. It seems to be a tournament. The finals are tomorrow. We are glad for something new and different to do! Believe it or not, the 2000 piece puzzle is almost complete. We got Daniel a suitcase and backpack at the market to bring all of his goodies home. We are counting the days!! Once we pick him up (hopefully Monday or Tuesday) then we will take the night train back to Kiev. We will probably be there 5 days waiting for his visa and passport to be ready. We are really hoping to be home in time to catch the tail end of March Madness! (especially if the Cards are still hanging on!)
In addition to counting the days, we are counting our blessings. The Lord has been so good to us and we are so thankful. We could not have asked for a better trip. Everything has just come together so great - from our fabulous facilitators, a great place to stay, a great driver (we now call him our 'man of affairs'. He takes great care of us), and Daniel is such a sweet little boy. We know without a doubt that he was waiting here for us to come get him and he is going to fit in perfectly with our family. God is so good!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St Patty's Day!
Happy St Patrick's Day from Ukraine! Kelly bounded out of bed (OK - not really "bounded") and said, "You gotta wear green today since it's St Patty's Day." I'm pretty sure we're a couple of only a handful that celebrated the day over here. Anyhow, we're a bit sad that we missed the annual parade down Baxter with George, Lori, Edward, and Auggie. We're WAY OK, though, that we're not in Jake's shoes and dealing with the crazy crowds in the alley behind our house tonight.
On the Daniel front, today was a day of firsts...
One week from today is our "Gotcha Day" when we can finally pick up Daniel from the orphanage! We can't wait and neither can our little guy. Twice a day, he runs out to see Simone to ask him if this is the day we're leaving. Today was super-special, though, as Daniel got his first-ever car ride. Simone took Daniel around the little circle driveway at the orphanage and even let Daniel sit in the driver's seat after the "ride". He was so excited.
Today was also a first for us - the first time we were actually involved in a Daniel-injury, albeit quite minor. He tripped on a slide platform and scraped his cheek a little. He's one tough cookie, though, and jumped right up and started playing again. The caregivers put iodine on the scrape which made it look worse than it is.
Another first was Daniel's first English sentence - "Mama slide". His vocabulary has really grown in the last couple of days and he knows probably 35-40 English words now. He's even responding to us when we just say "Daniel" now instead of "Daniel Tolic". Tonight he also said "Bye, bye" for the first time instead of "PAW-kah" like usual.
In the Daniel-kiss department, Papa is up 7-2 on Mama. It's good thing we're not keeping track or anything. Of course, Papa had an advantage by getting to spend a whole day with him while Mama was ill.
Aside from spending time at the orphanage, we went to the open-air market today to buy Daniel some luggage for his clothes, some souveniers for home, etc. Papa was pretty excited when he found a toy diecast Ford Explorer at one of the toy vendors for the boy. He's been on the hunt for one since he got here and finally struck paydirt. We also went to the bike shop and picked up the orphanage's bike that was a complete mess. It's now in perfect working order so the "groupa" now has 2 bikes and a tricycle.
Between visits we also went to a series of volleyball games. As best we could tell, it was a high-school girls' tournament of some sort. They must use seding as the two matches we saw had good teams paired against pretty bad teams. Regardless it was nice to do something else for a change. Here's an action shot...
Anyhow, hope all is well with everyone back home. We really miss our friends and family and are anxious to get back to the States. Until our next post, please keep us in your prayers.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Puzzling
The weather has turned really cold here! We are still playing outside a bit with Daniel, but more inside play. When we are not at the orphanage, we are at the clinic trying to keep busy. We read a lot, cook dinner, watch movies and we worked this big puzzle.....
We finished it in about 3 days, so we thought we needed a bigger challenge. We bought a 2000 piece puzzle and are furiously trying to finish it before we leave the clinic next week.
There are no clother dryers here, so everyone hangs their wash to dry outside. I got this cute picture at the orphanage of all the little things hanging out.....
My eye is better. The mystery potion worked! We visited with our boy once Sunday and twice today. We are running out of new things to do and are really looking forward to next week when we can pick him up and hop on the train to Kiev. We are ready to bring him home!
More tomorrow.....
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Papa is "da man" - well, sorta
With Kelly being under the weather, I headed over to the orphanage on my own. He was quite concerned that Mama wasn't there, but he figured out she was ill.
I gotta admit that the dynamic with Daniel is different when it's just me with him instead of the pair of us. Kelly, of course, is more nurturing and has a seemingly inexhaustible amount of ideas of what to do with our boy. I winged it the best I could and was pretty successful.
Our "clinic-mates" (http://www.czeropski.blogspot.com/) gave me a mini-soccer ball (how nice!) and we spent quite a bit of time kicking it back and forth. Kelly and I have been trying to tell if Daniel is right- or left-handed as he colors with both hands, etc. For about a half-hour tonight, we tossed the ball and he is WAY more accurate with his right hand. Also, he definitely defers to his right foot when kicking so we're leaning that way.
Big news of the day (okay, not that big) - I found out what makes him more focused than when he sees a stray cat or dog... While we were outside playing, it started to slightly drizzle. Daniel was oblivious since he was more interested in throwing the ball and watching Papa go after it. When I pointed out to him that it was, in fact, raining, he IMMEDIATELY called out, "Groupa" and took off for the inside. He even passed within about 10 feet of a stray cat and didn't give it a second look. Folks here, understandably, are very, very concerned about illnesses. Obviously, they've impressed upon the children that they must immediately get out of the rain.
Another thing about the boy - he takes after his dad when he was Daniel's age in that he loves toy armymen. We gave him a set of cowboys and Indians to play with and he loves them. He doesn't quite get the idea of the cowboys actually fighting the Indians - it's a free-for-all where his favorites (the yellow-shirted cowboy and the blue-pantsed Indian with a tomahawk and knife) always seem to win. He's in for a real surprise when he inherits all of my toy armymen (about 1000 of them) from when I was a kid!
I was hoping that we'd be able to see a soccer game while we were in town (there's a semi-pro team in the city), but there's no games scheduled in the immediate future. There's a chance we're going to see some college volleyball on Tuesday, though. Perhaps when we head back to Kiev, we'll be able to see one.
Otherwise, we're trying to keep busy. We have watched a couple of movies with the Czeropski's. Last night was "Death Race" and tonight we watched the first episode of "Band of Brothers". We're also doing our Bible studies, of course. Kelly is doing a Beth Moore study and I'm working on my Discipleship Curriculum. We've also done a 1000 piece puzzle and are getting ready to tackle a 2000 piece.
I noticed on the map that we're fairly closed to Moldova. I checked Geocaching.com and there are 4 caches in that country. I plugged them into my GPS this afternoon and, unfortunately, the nearest one is over 100 miles from us so we won't be able to add another country to our list of finds.
Anyhow, Kelly is getting better. She slept all afternoon which helped her out. We'll see in the morning if she's up to going to church or not.
We hope that everyone is doing well at home. We truly miss everyone. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts!
Oh yeah - Go Cards in the Big East Championship game!
I gotta admit that the dynamic with Daniel is different when it's just me with him instead of the pair of us. Kelly, of course, is more nurturing and has a seemingly inexhaustible amount of ideas of what to do with our boy. I winged it the best I could and was pretty successful.
Our "clinic-mates" (http://www.czeropski.blogspot.com/) gave me a mini-soccer ball (how nice!) and we spent quite a bit of time kicking it back and forth. Kelly and I have been trying to tell if Daniel is right- or left-handed as he colors with both hands, etc. For about a half-hour tonight, we tossed the ball and he is WAY more accurate with his right hand. Also, he definitely defers to his right foot when kicking so we're leaning that way.
Big news of the day (okay, not that big) - I found out what makes him more focused than when he sees a stray cat or dog... While we were outside playing, it started to slightly drizzle. Daniel was oblivious since he was more interested in throwing the ball and watching Papa go after it. When I pointed out to him that it was, in fact, raining, he IMMEDIATELY called out, "Groupa" and took off for the inside. He even passed within about 10 feet of a stray cat and didn't give it a second look. Folks here, understandably, are very, very concerned about illnesses. Obviously, they've impressed upon the children that they must immediately get out of the rain.
Another thing about the boy - he takes after his dad when he was Daniel's age in that he loves toy armymen. We gave him a set of cowboys and Indians to play with and he loves them. He doesn't quite get the idea of the cowboys actually fighting the Indians - it's a free-for-all where his favorites (the yellow-shirted cowboy and the blue-pantsed Indian with a tomahawk and knife) always seem to win. He's in for a real surprise when he inherits all of my toy armymen (about 1000 of them) from when I was a kid!
I was hoping that we'd be able to see a soccer game while we were in town (there's a semi-pro team in the city), but there's no games scheduled in the immediate future. There's a chance we're going to see some college volleyball on Tuesday, though. Perhaps when we head back to Kiev, we'll be able to see one.
Otherwise, we're trying to keep busy. We have watched a couple of movies with the Czeropski's. Last night was "Death Race" and tonight we watched the first episode of "Band of Brothers". We're also doing our Bible studies, of course. Kelly is doing a Beth Moore study and I'm working on my Discipleship Curriculum. We've also done a 1000 piece puzzle and are getting ready to tackle a 2000 piece.
I noticed on the map that we're fairly closed to Moldova. I checked Geocaching.com and there are 4 caches in that country. I plugged them into my GPS this afternoon and, unfortunately, the nearest one is over 100 miles from us so we won't be able to add another country to our list of finds.
Anyhow, Kelly is getting better. She slept all afternoon which helped her out. We'll see in the morning if she's up to going to church or not.
We hope that everyone is doing well at home. We truly miss everyone. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts!
Oh yeah - Go Cards in the Big East Championship game!
Saturday blahs
I woke up this morning with pink eye! Can you believe it? Well, I am not sure if it's pink eye or a cold in my eye. I am definitely coming down with a cold too. I was worried about passing it on to Daniel, so I didn't go for today's visit. Papa was flying solo! It's good practice for him, right?
Once we dropped him off at the orphanage, I was trying to get Simone to take me to a pharamacy. I didn't have that on my list of handy phrases, so we were stumbling a little. I got Oksana on the phone and she explained. He tried to take me to an eye doctor that he knows, but they weren't in on Saturday. So, instead he took me to a real pharamacy (not just the grocery store, which is what I was trying for). If I wouldn't have been distressed I would have enjoyed checking it out. It was like an old fashioned pharamacy there - nothing but drugs - and 2 ladies behind the counter. They looked me over, Simone had a long conversation with them, and we walked out with some type of eye drops. I can't read the bottle, I have no idea what they are, but I am putting them in 3 times a day and hope to have a miraculous recovery by tomorrow so that I can visit Daniel. Simone has once again proven to be God sent. We are so thankful for him!
By the way - Go Cards!!! Jason and I have tried to find a 24 hour internet cafe so we could watch the game, but no luck (and now I am sick so forget it). We will be cheering them on from here! If we make it to the Final 4 we are definitely going to find a place to watch. By then we should be back in Kiev so maybe it will be easier. Daniel will get a taste of his first basketball game - wearing the U of L hat that pappaw sent.
Once we dropped him off at the orphanage, I was trying to get Simone to take me to a pharamacy. I didn't have that on my list of handy phrases, so we were stumbling a little. I got Oksana on the phone and she explained. He tried to take me to an eye doctor that he knows, but they weren't in on Saturday. So, instead he took me to a real pharamacy (not just the grocery store, which is what I was trying for). If I wouldn't have been distressed I would have enjoyed checking it out. It was like an old fashioned pharamacy there - nothing but drugs - and 2 ladies behind the counter. They looked me over, Simone had a long conversation with them, and we walked out with some type of eye drops. I can't read the bottle, I have no idea what they are, but I am putting them in 3 times a day and hope to have a miraculous recovery by tomorrow so that I can visit Daniel. Simone has once again proven to be God sent. We are so thankful for him!
By the way - Go Cards!!! Jason and I have tried to find a 24 hour internet cafe so we could watch the game, but no luck (and now I am sick so forget it). We will be cheering them on from here! If we make it to the Final 4 we are definitely going to find a place to watch. By then we should be back in Kiev so maybe it will be easier. Daniel will get a taste of his first basketball game - wearing the U of L hat that pappaw sent.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Pictures to catch you up
Still having some internet issues. We will head back to the internet cafe and post more tomorrow....
Our celebration hamburgers......there are 3 different kinds. One has a hard boiled egg in it, one has cheese (the best) and one has mushrooms and onions.
We also had this amazing mushroom and cheese appetizer. We laughed at the fancy bowl it came in and were calling it a mushroom sundae.
Ha, Ha! It is a mini can of coke!
Our celebration hamburgers......there are 3 different kinds. One has a hard boiled egg in it, one has cheese (the best) and one has mushrooms and onions.
We also had this amazing mushroom and cheese appetizer. We laughed at the fancy bowl it came in and were calling it a mushroom sundae.
Ha, Ha! It is a mini can of coke!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Daniel Anatoly Karlen
It's official!! We are parents!!!!! Sorry no post yesterday. The internet at the clinic is down and we knew you all would be dying to find out so we stopped at an internet cafe to give you the news.
We felt totally covered in prayer yesterday and court was a breeze. We both stood up and spoke our intentions. We requested to adopt this boy, have his birth certificate updated to list us as his mother and father, and change his name to Daniel Anatoly Karlen. (we are retaining his given name for his middle name) Once all of the petitions and legalese are read in court, then they send us out to deliberate (there were 2 jurors present). They called us back in, and read the decision.......Jason Richard Karlen and Kelly Ann Karlen are now the parents of Daniel Anatoly Karlen. I have to tell you, we both choked up when the judge said it. At that very moment we became parents. WOW!! Praise God for all of His wonderful blessings. We are so humbled to see His hand moving in our lives and feel so blessed to have this little boy.
I turned to Jason and said, 'Well, you're a papa now!' They all understood that, and then there were laughs, hugs, handshakes and congratulations all around. What a day! The whole proceeding was over in about 45 minutes.
I know you are scrolling down and feeling gyped right now. Where are the pictures?? Well, we need to wait until he is ours - just to make sure nothing can go wrong. (I know - worried mama) We will definitely post at the end of the waiting period! (2 weeks) Just trust us when we say - he is a cutie! We are such proud parents.
After court, we went out to celebrate. We tried a new restaurant by the bowling alley. (yes - we are planning to try our hand at bowling later) It was kind of a bar and grille type of place. Jason and I were both in the mood for a burger and fries. They don't really have the same thing as a hamburger here (except at McDonalds) but we got something similar. I don't have my card reader with me, so I will post a photo tomorrow.
Due to court, we missed our morning visit. When we went at 4:00, we had Oksana tell Daniel that we went to see the judge this morning and he said that we are now his mama and papa forever! He said, 'good' and then ran off to the playground. Not quite the excitement that we had. We think he already thought that we were his mama and papa - so what's the big deal? And what's a judge anyway?
Oksana went home to be with her family for the next 2 weeks so we are flying solo. We only had to call her 3 times today for translations. Not too bad! I am speaking more and more Ukrainian - it's kinda scary!
So, what do you think of the new name? His nickname is 'Tolic' so we have been calling him Daniel Tolic, to get him used to it. (and sometimes just Daniel - to see if he will answer) Today I asked him, ' Coch Tibeya Zavoot?' (what's your name?) and he said, Daniel Tolic. We were so proud. (we haven't told him about the Karlen yet - one name change at a time!)
Jason is chomping at the bit for me to tell you what happened today..... When we arrived at the orphanage this morning, he came running - all smiles as usual. He always gives us BIG hugs, which we love. First mama and then papa. We cover him with kisses and he laughs. Today he actually kissed Jason on the cheek first. How about that? What a sweetie! No, mama didn't get a kiss, but I fully expect it tomorrow!!
We are hoping that the internet at the clinic will be back up soon and we can post with regularity and share some more pictures of our adventures. If we are silent for awhile - you will know what's going on.....
THANK YOU for all of your prayers and encouragement. We are having a great time and are so excited about our new son. We can't wait to share him with you all. We love and miss you!
We felt totally covered in prayer yesterday and court was a breeze. We both stood up and spoke our intentions. We requested to adopt this boy, have his birth certificate updated to list us as his mother and father, and change his name to Daniel Anatoly Karlen. (we are retaining his given name for his middle name) Once all of the petitions and legalese are read in court, then they send us out to deliberate (there were 2 jurors present). They called us back in, and read the decision.......Jason Richard Karlen and Kelly Ann Karlen are now the parents of Daniel Anatoly Karlen. I have to tell you, we both choked up when the judge said it. At that very moment we became parents. WOW!! Praise God for all of His wonderful blessings. We are so humbled to see His hand moving in our lives and feel so blessed to have this little boy.
I turned to Jason and said, 'Well, you're a papa now!' They all understood that, and then there were laughs, hugs, handshakes and congratulations all around. What a day! The whole proceeding was over in about 45 minutes.
I know you are scrolling down and feeling gyped right now. Where are the pictures?? Well, we need to wait until he is ours - just to make sure nothing can go wrong. (I know - worried mama) We will definitely post at the end of the waiting period! (2 weeks) Just trust us when we say - he is a cutie! We are such proud parents.
After court, we went out to celebrate. We tried a new restaurant by the bowling alley. (yes - we are planning to try our hand at bowling later) It was kind of a bar and grille type of place. Jason and I were both in the mood for a burger and fries. They don't really have the same thing as a hamburger here (except at McDonalds) but we got something similar. I don't have my card reader with me, so I will post a photo tomorrow.
Due to court, we missed our morning visit. When we went at 4:00, we had Oksana tell Daniel that we went to see the judge this morning and he said that we are now his mama and papa forever! He said, 'good' and then ran off to the playground. Not quite the excitement that we had. We think he already thought that we were his mama and papa - so what's the big deal? And what's a judge anyway?
Oksana went home to be with her family for the next 2 weeks so we are flying solo. We only had to call her 3 times today for translations. Not too bad! I am speaking more and more Ukrainian - it's kinda scary!
So, what do you think of the new name? His nickname is 'Tolic' so we have been calling him Daniel Tolic, to get him used to it. (and sometimes just Daniel - to see if he will answer) Today I asked him, ' Coch Tibeya Zavoot?' (what's your name?) and he said, Daniel Tolic. We were so proud. (we haven't told him about the Karlen yet - one name change at a time!)
Jason is chomping at the bit for me to tell you what happened today..... When we arrived at the orphanage this morning, he came running - all smiles as usual. He always gives us BIG hugs, which we love. First mama and then papa. We cover him with kisses and he laughs. Today he actually kissed Jason on the cheek first. How about that? What a sweetie! No, mama didn't get a kiss, but I fully expect it tomorrow!!
We are hoping that the internet at the clinic will be back up soon and we can post with regularity and share some more pictures of our adventures. If we are silent for awhile - you will know what's going on.....
THANK YOU for all of your prayers and encouragement. We are having a great time and are so excited about our new son. We can't wait to share him with you all. We love and miss you!
Monday, March 9, 2009
March 8th - Happy Women's Day
Thank you for all of your sweet comments and continued prayers. We feel so blessed to have you all sharing this journey with us!
Yesterday was National Women's Day. I think we've discussed it in previous posts, but it is like Mother's Day to the extreme. All women are celebrated with flowers and candy. Even our driver, Simone, had a flower for both Oksana and me. The greatest part to me was that I received my first refrigerator art from my boy. His class had a party and they made these flowers and he gave it to me when we arrived. He was so excited and I was too. I am sure there are many masterpieces to come, but this was the first and so special.
We continue to visit with our boy twice a day. What a bundle of energy! We kick the ball, slide down the slide, swing, dig in the sand, throw sticks, pick berries and all things boy. We are loving this time to focus on him. Today he was so sweet - we were outside walking around the orphanage and passed another caregiver with a group of children. He ran up to her and (in Ukrainian) told her, 'Look - parents came for me!' Oksana said they told her that he has been waiting a long time for parents to come. We were waiting for him too. All in God's perfect timing!
We are looking ahead to our court hearing tomorrow. It is at 10:30am (which is 4:30a in Louisville). We would appreciate your prayers that it will all go smoothly. Our paperwork is in order (our driver met the bus from Kiev at 3:30am this morning to get the last piece) and we are ready to go. We will formally request to adopt this sweet little guy, change his name (to be revealed soon!), and change his birth certificate to have us listed as the parents.
After the hearing and decision, then we have a 10 day waiting period. Due to the 10th day falling on a weekend and they don't issue birth certificates on Monday, it's actually going to be a 2 week waiting period for us. That's OK - more time to play and bond with him! So, 2 weeks after court we will go get his new birth certificate and then we are allowed to pick him up - he's ours!! A new Karlen is born! Then we can finally share pictures with you. Don't worry - we are taking a lot!
Oksana is going home to see her family for our waiting period (which we fully support) and we will be on our own! (with her available by cell phone) We are learning the necessary Ukrainian phrases to get us through while she is gone. You guys would be so impressed. Pretty soon I will be bilingual (not!). So for now we say Dobre Noche and Dzafstra! (spelling doesn't count - that means Good Night and see you tomorrow!)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Fashion show and holy water
We had a BIG day of shopping in the open air market today. The place was packed with folks doing their last minute shopping for Women's Day. We were undaunted, though, and plunged right in with the locals.
We got our little guy a bunch of clothes which he will need once he leaves the orphanage - the place keeps the clothes he's wearing. He now has a coat, shoes, slippers, socks, underwear, pajamas, 4 shirts, a turtleneck, a sweater, and 2 pairs of britches. Thanks Rich and Carol for funding our shopping spree! We also went a little crazy at the toy store/booth and got army men, a big Spider Man, cowboys and Indians, and a "super panzer".
For those wanting sizes, it looks like he's either a size 5 or 6...
When we came back for our afternoon visit, we had a fashion show and our little feller was very excited about trying on all of the new clothes (with the exception of the sweater, that is). He looks pretty darn cute in his new duds. We wish that we could post pictures...
Yesterday our driver asked if we wanted to visit a holy spring near the orphanage. Of course, we're always ready to see new things so off we went. As the history goes, St John the New set foot at this site and the spring erupted from the ground. It has since been considered a holy place and folks come here to be baptized, dip in the water for healing, go through ceremonial baptisms to commemorate Christ's baptism, etc. Here are a few photos. The first is the site of the original spring where we lit a candle (as is customary and expected at Eastern Orthodox holy sites)...
We got our little guy a bunch of clothes which he will need once he leaves the orphanage - the place keeps the clothes he's wearing. He now has a coat, shoes, slippers, socks, underwear, pajamas, 4 shirts, a turtleneck, a sweater, and 2 pairs of britches. Thanks Rich and Carol for funding our shopping spree! We also went a little crazy at the toy store/booth and got army men, a big Spider Man, cowboys and Indians, and a "super panzer".
For those wanting sizes, it looks like he's either a size 5 or 6...
When we came back for our afternoon visit, we had a fashion show and our little feller was very excited about trying on all of the new clothes (with the exception of the sweater, that is). He looks pretty darn cute in his new duds. We wish that we could post pictures...
Yesterday our driver asked if we wanted to visit a holy spring near the orphanage. Of course, we're always ready to see new things so off we went. As the history goes, St John the New set foot at this site and the spring erupted from the ground. It has since been considered a holy place and folks come here to be baptized, dip in the water for healing, go through ceremonial baptisms to commemorate Christ's baptism, etc. Here are a few photos. The first is the site of the original spring where we lit a candle (as is customary and expected at Eastern Orthodox holy sites)...
This shows the pool that is currently used for the baptisms - the water is pumped from the cavelike area shown above...
Another recent development is that we now have new roomies of sorts. Paul and Darla are from Minnesota and are here to adopt two siblings - an 8 year old girl and her 5 year old brother. They're staying with us at the Clinic. It's nice to have others to talk to and with whom to compare notes.
Borscht
March 8th is a national holiday in Ukraine - Women's Day! (doesn't that sound like a great idea?) The fun part is, since the 8th falls on a Sunday Monday is the holiday off work and they start having parties on Friday. (the last work day) So they had a celebration at the orphanage Friday for the class to honor the workers. It was in the morning, so we came after the party for our morning visit. They made cards with flowers on them and handed out bunches of pussy willows to the women - it was sweet.
It seemed like they were eating non stop all day Friday. Right after the party (where they had apples and candy) it was lunch time. Then when we came in the afternoon he was having a snack of a cheese biscuit and a big glass of buttermilk. The kids were funny. They ate the cheese off of the biscuits and then started throwing them at each other! Then it was dinner time and the ladies were bringing in the pots of soup for dinner. It was a day of eating and we could really tell the difference in our boy. He was WIRED UP! All that sugar, I guess. He was a bundle of energy and it was a rainy day here so we had to play inside. It was crazy!
Yesterday Oksana was nice enough to teach me how to make borscht. It was so exciting for me. I figured that I need to know how to make some familiar food for this boy when we come home. We had picked up all of the ingredients at the market - beets, carrots, onions, cabbage, tomato paste, beef and potatoes. I wrote the recipe down in great detail so it can be re-created.
We also got fish at the market. Fish is really big here and there are rows and rows of it at the market. We will have to get some pictures for you next time we go. We got some salmon, trout and another type of smoked fish (unkown) and had that raw last night for dinner. It was yummy!! (see pictures below) Oksana also made a beet and carrot salad (cold salad). It was very tasty.....
It seemed like they were eating non stop all day Friday. Right after the party (where they had apples and candy) it was lunch time. Then when we came in the afternoon he was having a snack of a cheese biscuit and a big glass of buttermilk. The kids were funny. They ate the cheese off of the biscuits and then started throwing them at each other! Then it was dinner time and the ladies were bringing in the pots of soup for dinner. It was a day of eating and we could really tell the difference in our boy. He was WIRED UP! All that sugar, I guess. He was a bundle of energy and it was a rainy day here so we had to play inside. It was crazy!
Yesterday Oksana was nice enough to teach me how to make borscht. It was so exciting for me. I figured that I need to know how to make some familiar food for this boy when we come home. We had picked up all of the ingredients at the market - beets, carrots, onions, cabbage, tomato paste, beef and potatoes. I wrote the recipe down in great detail so it can be re-created.
We also got fish at the market. Fish is really big here and there are rows and rows of it at the market. We will have to get some pictures for you next time we go. We got some salmon, trout and another type of smoked fish (unkown) and had that raw last night for dinner. It was yummy!! (see pictures below) Oksana also made a beet and carrot salad (cold salad). It was very tasty.....
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Bilgorod Christian Clinic
The weather turned a bit colder here today so we are bundling up! It's still not as cold as Kiev though. We are visiting our little boy twice a day and learning more about each other. Today we really had high expectations. We bought him a little bicycle. It is red and black with training wheels and a cool bell. We really thought it would be a big hit. Well, it started out that way - big excitement! But, when we took it out to actually ride it we were deflated. He is struggling a bit with pushing on the pedals. He may have never had a tricycle or a big wheel. He doesn't seem to know how to work the pedals. We worked on it a bit, but he quickly lost interest and ran off to the slide. Oh well! We got it for ALL of the kids, not just him. So we thought maybe when he sees the others ride he would learn. When his class came out, there was an excited swarm of kids on the bike and no one knows how to ride. It will take some time. We worked on it again in our afternoon visit. He seems to be picking it up. Hopefully it will warm up and we can go back outside for another lesson.
We are continually touched by how sweet he is. He gives us BIG hugs every time we come and when it's time to leave. He has a sweet nature and doesn't stay down long - even when he doesn't get his way. Today when we were leaving, after goodbye hugs - he was headed into his room and ran back out and said (in Ukrainian), 'I will love you!'. Doesn't that just make you melt? What a cutie! We can't wait for the day when he actually gets to leave with us!
We thought we would tell you a little bit about the place we are staying. The Lord has really watched over us through this entire process and provided a great place for us to stay. If we were at a hotel it would be more expensive, we wouldn't have a kitchen or the internet or a washing machine. It's been great.
Here is a picture of the front of the clinic and you can see Jason with the dog:
We are continually touched by how sweet he is. He gives us BIG hugs every time we come and when it's time to leave. He has a sweet nature and doesn't stay down long - even when he doesn't get his way. Today when we were leaving, after goodbye hugs - he was headed into his room and ran back out and said (in Ukrainian), 'I will love you!'. Doesn't that just make you melt? What a cutie! We can't wait for the day when he actually gets to leave with us!
We thought we would tell you a little bit about the place we are staying. The Lord has really watched over us through this entire process and provided a great place for us to stay. If we were at a hotel it would be more expensive, we wouldn't have a kitchen or the internet or a washing machine. It's been great.
This is a Christian clinic. I am not really sure what services they provide to the community, but they are busy every day. It is a 3 story building and the 3rd floor was finished off with rooms for visiting missionaries to stay in. The missionaries are here in the summer and in the winter they allow adopting families to stay. We feel right at home here and some of the folks even speak English. When we went to church on Sunday, we saw a lot of familiar faces from around here - it was great! There is a scruffy little dog out front that barks at all of the passing cars. He is protecting us. He no longer barks at us and Simone, he knows we belong here. He is a cute little thing and we bring him scraps from the table.
Here is a picture of the front of the clinic and you can see Jason with the dog:
This is our bedroom
This is the kitchen...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Berry picking
Today was a long paperwork day. We had to meet with the assistant to the Mayor. He interviewed us and then signed some papers. Tonight Oksana will put them on the bus to Kiev. Our facilitator in Kiev will meet the bus in the morning and get the papers and turn them in for us. Whew! This all needs to happen before court on Tuesday.
We spent the morning on the playground, as usual. He always seems to find a new interest to occupy himself with. Today it was pulling all of the berries off of the bushes. We cleaned out all of the bushes surrounding the playground and filled a blue bucket with berries, only to promptly dump them down the slide. Big Fun!!
Here in Ukraine there are many stray cats and dogs. They aren't aggressive (that we have seen), just prowling around everywhere. The funny thing is - our little one hates them! As soon as a cat or dog approaches the playground, he drops whatever he is doing and takes off running at them and yelling in Ukrainian. We can't figure out if this is from him, or if they teach them this at the orphanage so they will stay away from these strays. We take turns chasing after him. He will go far in his pursuit to run them off! We will have to break him of this habit once we get home.
This is the statue outside the mayor's office. He is Shevchenko - a Ukrainian writer and 'the voice of the people'. There were quite a few flowers left there for him.
This is a picture of the restaurant we ate at yesterday. We decided to celebrate getting our petition turned in by eating at a real restaurant, not just a cafeteria. This place actually had menus with English subtitles. We had fun reading through the extensive menu. Of course Kelly had to try the Borscht and also had fish kebobs with rice. It was catfish and salmon and very tasty. Jason had stuffed mushrooms (with cheese and meat) and deep fried perch, with a side of fried potatoes and mushrooms. As you can tell, we are eating well. So far we haven't tried anything we didn't like.
More tomorrow. Thanks for all of your comments. We anxiously check each night to see what you have left. It makes us feel a little closer to home!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Things are moving right along
We had a big day today! We filed the petition at the court for the adoption. Our court date is set for Tuesday, March 10th. (my mom's birthday!) There are many papers to be collected before the hearing can happen, but we are on our way! The petition includes the new name we selected for him. We will share it with you soon! (Hint - it's a hero and prophet of the Bible)
Due to our time at the courthouse this morning, we were late arriving at the orphanage for our visit. The class was outside playing and when they came around the bend and spotted us - he took off running to us, straight into my arms. Yeah - I melted! He saw our driver with us and asked (in Ukrainian), "Is it time? Are we going?" It can't be soon enough for us either!
He met with the psychologist today. He won't go to court with us, so she interviews him and provides a summary for the judge. She asked if he wants us for his momma and poppa - he said Da!! (YES!) I have a photo album of family pictures. He went right to my bag and pulled it out to show her. He flipped to the page with all of the grandparents' pictures and told her, "They love me." What a sweetie!
This is our driver, Simone. He takes good care of us. We call him 'Uncle Ron'. He has the same big personality and reminds us of our friend.
More later......we love and miss you!
Due to our time at the courthouse this morning, we were late arriving at the orphanage for our visit. The class was outside playing and when they came around the bend and spotted us - he took off running to us, straight into my arms. Yeah - I melted! He saw our driver with us and asked (in Ukrainian), "Is it time? Are we going?" It can't be soon enough for us either!
He met with the psychologist today. He won't go to court with us, so she interviews him and provides a summary for the judge. She asked if he wants us for his momma and poppa - he said Da!! (YES!) I have a photo album of family pictures. He went right to my bag and pulled it out to show her. He flipped to the page with all of the grandparents' pictures and told her, "They love me." What a sweetie!
This is our driver, Simone. He takes good care of us. We call him 'Uncle Ron'. He has the same big personality and reminds us of our friend.
More later......we love and miss you!Monday, March 2, 2009
Chicken Soup
While we were at the market, our facilitator said that we should get a fresh chicken and we would make soup. That sounded like a great idea! We had been eating out far too much and were happy to stay home and cook. We had no idea exactly how 'fresh' the chicken would really be. No, we didn't have to pluck feathers (just a few) but check it out.....
I would have had no idea what to do with this, but Oksana knew! She chopped the head off (we saved it to feed to the dog here at the clinic) and sliced it open. She cut out the kidneys, heart, stomach, eggs and other various assorted parts. It was really a good cooking lesson for me! Then we put it in a pot with water and boiled for 1.5 hours. Then she added salt, potatoes, onions, and some noodles and boiled longer. What turned out was an EXCELLENT dinner.....
It was really delicious and we ate on this 2 nights for dinner. We also had sliced cucumbers (from the market) and a bowl of shredded carrots that had been marinated with garlic and we don't know what else that we bought from a Korean lady at the market. She told us tonight that chicken prepared in this manner is a traditional dish served after a funeral. We loved it! I am not sure where I could get a fresh chicken at home, but I am hoping to be able to replicate funeral chicken. Yummy!!
Of course, the highlights of our days are the visits with our little one. We are allowed to see him twice a day. We can't tell you too much about him until the process is final, but we can brag a little and tell you how smart he is! He is doing a great job repeating English words, working on sticker books, coloring, and tonight he put together a 35 piece puzzle! We were impressed! Of course we also spend a lot of time outside - swinging, kicking a ball, digging in the sand. He is all boy! Jason is pleased to see how much he LOVES cars! His first request was for a red truck and we were happy to oblige. He has already run the wheels completely off!! He doesn't realize all of the car racing that is in his future! He is so sweet. We got our first real hugs yesterday and they were precious! [Everyone is asking about sizes.....that's a tough one! The sizes here are totally different. We will tell you once we have an idea!]
The paperwork is moving forward. The petition for adoption will get filed tomorrow and we are hopeful to have a court date soon! We are enjoying this time to focus on him and really get to play, play, play together. We so appreciate your prayers. You have no idea how much paperwork still has to be completed for this adoption. Please pray that everything will go smoothly! We will keep you posted!!! We miss and love you all!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Market
Today we went to church. The clinic where we are staying is run by a local church so we visited there, which is in a separate building from the clinic. I will try to get a picture later. We really enjoyed the service. Even though the language is different, we are all worshipping the same great God. We even recognized a few of the hymns and sang along in English.
After church, we went to the open air market and wandered around. It was great fun seeing all of the booths and the many different items for sale. Everything from clothes, shoes, books, personal care items, tools, and food - fish, chickens, vegetables, cheeses, milk, etc. We had fun taking it all in. Unfortunately there weren't as many prepared-food vendors as we anticipated so our choices were sparse. We bought "meat" pies from one of the vendors for lunch. It was kind of like a very oily funnel cake with indescribable meat and onions. We saw the orphanage inspector immediately after this photo was taken and she was amazed at how "brave" we were - her words, not ours.
After church, we went to the open air market and wandered around. It was great fun seeing all of the booths and the many different items for sale. Everything from clothes, shoes, books, personal care items, tools, and food - fish, chickens, vegetables, cheeses, milk, etc. We had fun taking it all in. Unfortunately there weren't as many prepared-food vendors as we anticipated so our choices were sparse. We bought "meat" pies from one of the vendors for lunch. It was kind of like a very oily funnel cake with indescribable meat and onions. We saw the orphanage inspector immediately after this photo was taken and she was amazed at how "brave" we were - her words, not ours.
Jason did try the dried squid today and said it was actually VERY tasty - not at all salty and a bit sweet. It was definitely better than the dried fish mentioned in yesterday's post.
This picture is for our sis-in-law, Jennifer. She would love to go boot shopping here. The selection is amazing!! Especially in Kiev, most of the women in Ukraine wear knee-high leather boots. It's quite the fashion statement. Jason keeps trying to convince me to get a pair, but it hasn't worked yet. Today at the market he tried to talk me into getting a hat to match his. I tried them all on and settled on a mink hat, but then promptly talked myself out of it. Maybe later......
We missed our visiting time at the orphanage this morning to attend church. We are anxious to get over there this afternoon and visit with that boy some more. Hopefully he didn't forget about us. It's amazing how quickly you bond. It's hard to believe we have only known him 3 days. It seems like a lot longer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)