Ukraine Adoption

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-01-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

Vitalik's received some presents from his grandparents and this airplane was one of them. What a great symbol of his new life and family.

Charles and I enjoying Christmas :)
Joshua 10th birthday
Lauren with her Piano teacher Laura Franks (my friend and prayer partner) along with some friends

This is the GT boys. They sang in our Christmas program at church. They were a big hit!
Joshua and Lauren being silly.
I think Vitalik liked the ping pong table.

Hello Everyone,

It was a lot of fun seeing Vitalik, Joshua and Lauren enjoy this Christmas. Vitalik really enjoyed getting the ping pong table and trampoline. He was so excited when he layed his eyes on the trampoline. He ran over to us and gave us a big hug. He helped put it together, it was a bit of a challenge for the boys, but they got the job done. They have a great time jumping and doing flips. Mom likes it to..... it's good exercise for me and them.

All of us have been ajusting to our new family. We have many laughs at the kitchen table. Vitalik loves making us laugh, he really gets Joshua and Lauren laughing. He's quit the entertainer. Of course, then Josh and Lauren start their comedy act. We have a house full on a regular basis. Vitalik had Yuri and Cole over this past weekend, if you don't know them, they are 2 boys that were adopted from the same internot in Odessa. They are Vitalik's age. He also, gets to spend time with his good friend Anastasia. She was adopted this past Spring. We have become friends with her parents Warren and Diana Nyffeler. They are really loving people.

We do have days where they are challenging. We have had to set limits on T.V. and video games. That hasn't been much fun, but very necessary. He really needs structure, as we all do, but more so I think for him. He is doing well in school. We is taking ESL at one of the local high

schools. He is learning how to study. He has never had to study like this. Every day studying his English. He complained at first, but now he knows what is expected of him. Vitalik is very smart and if he applies he himself will do real well. We see an improvement in his English on a weekly basis.

We are expecting God to do great things this year. We are excited in our spirits about what God is doing in us and through us. I will tell you more about this soon.

We send warm wishes to all our friends and family for a blessed 2008.

Blessings,

Jeri

Leslie... if you see this, I lost your blog address and email. Please give it to me. If you have my email, send it to me that way.

2007-11-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

Charles and Lauren taking a break from ice skating

Vitalik and Lauren having a little fun ice skating at Mohoney State park :)

Thanksgiving dinner with the family

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We did, but it was very busy. My dad and brother
came down from Grand Rapids, Michigan for a week. Vitalik enjoyed his first turkey leg. He was
so funny, he ate every bit of meat on the bone. There was nothing left on that turkey leg. He
tryed many new American dishes. He liked cranberry sauce, fruit salad, but turkey the best.
We all enjoyed our family time together.

Joshua and Lauren are getting better aquinted with Vitalik and a little more comfortable. You
know their bonding when they start a wrestling match on the floor. They are acting more and
more like brothers and sister.

Vitalik started school on Monday. He started the language program at our local high school. He will go there for a semester. He is already doing real well. He can read and understand more
than I thought. His English is improving every day. The only issue I have right now is getting
him out of the bed in the mornings. We are working on that one!! He is also able to take weight
lifting class and choir. He is enjoying those classes. His teacher is a straight shooter and makes
the students do their best. she communicates with me almost daily. I think that is important, especially in the beginning. He is learning very good work ethics.

I am amazed how God is changing our lives. What a great adventure :)

Blessings,
Jeri

2007-11-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

Our first family photo!
Vitalik, Joshua and Lauren having a fun day at the Omaha zoo.
Vitalik and Montie having some quality time.

Hello,

I thought it was time to blog again. It has been a quick 2 weeks.

Vitalik and I have been back 2 weeks tomorrow. The first 5 days was the jet lag and enjoying charles, Joshua and Lauren. As far as Vitalik, He is adjusting pretty well. He plays basketball, football and rides his bike a lot. He is also enjoying the Xbox games and computer. He laughs and jokes around with us on a regular basis. Josh and Lauren have been amazed at how athletic he is. The first day, they all immediately went outside and played together.

He will start school on Monday. We went to the Doctor and Dentist this week. He is ready to go. He will be learning English the first semester, after that, he should be in regular classes.

As you can imagine, I am very happy to be home :) I am looking forward to a little rest. I haven't stopped!

I am posting a few pictures.

Blessings,

Jeri and Charles

4:30 PM Friday

2007-11-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

Jeri just informed me that she is back in the US (Minneapolis) and waiting to go through customs! They will be back in Omaha tonight arriving @ 7:50 on Northwest. Finally!!!!

One Day Delay ;-(

2007-11-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Jeri got to the airport this morning and when checking in found out the travel agent had booked her return flight for Friday, not Thursday. After spending a few hours there seeing if there was any way to get on today's flights she could not, they were booked solid. She confirmed she is on tomorrow's flight, same time, so she and Vitaliy will be home Friday night instead of tonight. We are thankful that it is only a one day delay. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Charles

COMING HOME!!!!

2007-11-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

Everyone,

Sorry there have been no posts to the blog for over a week. Jeri was moving from place to place, the internet service where she was staying was not working, then she had passport issues and scheduling flights to Kiev, etc........ I just spoke to her this morning (Wednesday, 5 pm in Kiev). She arrived in Kiev Monday night after getting Vitaliy's passport late Monday afternoon. Apparently many of Vitaliy's friends from the orphanage all came to the airport to spend time with him before he flew to Kiev. Their flight was delayed so Jeri said they talked for almost two hours with them before they had to leave, I'm sure that was tough but Vitaliy must have felt very supported to know how much he means to his friends @ #4.

Yesterday she visited the embassy and then went to the doctor's to get the medical clearance. She went back to the embassy this afternoon and as of about 20 minutes ago got the visa she needs to return home tomorrow!!! She will be leaving Kiev first thing in the morning Thursday and flying back via Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Omaha on Northwest, I think she said her flight # is 6884 and arrive Omaha @ 7:52 PM. I know she is looking forward to being home with the kids, it will have been 7 weeks she has been away from them on Friday.

When we started this journey I had a lot of misconceptions about the adoption process in Ukraine. It is longer, more difficult, more expensive, more everything. It will test your faith beyond anything you can imagine. Be prepared!!! Having a good support system will mean more to you than you will ever know. Friends in Omaha made this possible for our family, without all of them (and the list is so long it says much about the people in this community) we could not have done this. A special thanks to Laura and Terry F. and their family, they blessed our kids with their guidance and support while we were gone. In Odessa we had help from many, including Michelle M. and Tanya and Paul B., to name a few. Everyone has been just teriffically supportive, and back here I know of many, many families and friends who kept us in their prayers - they really worked and were answered!

So, tomorrow we will end one journey and begin another as Vitaliy joins our family. I know Jeri will want to post when she gets back, so look for it in a couple of days. Also, I want to let other family's know that the support we got from our facilitator (Oleg's team) Natasha/Natalia was incredibly professional and supportive. We were truly blessed to have her as our advocate in Ukraine throughout all the challenges we faced. She is an amazing person.

Finally, Thanks God! You saw us through this like you said you would.

Charles

2007-10-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hello,

All is well here in Odessa.It is 11:30pm here and this is the first chance I've had for 3 days to post. I have been busy with Vitalik, The Becker family and just living. The internet has been down quit a bit lately.

I had vitalik's party for his class on Friday. For those of you who don't know, when a child is adopted most parents give the child a going away party. It consists of mostly food and drinks. Vitalik seem to enjoy himself. All the attention was on him. The supervisors (these are the women that take care of them during the day) gave him presents and said very nice things to him, they also gave him some advice. It was nice. I will try to post pictures soon.

The Becker's had the 10th grade class over today for lunch and a movie. Later on, Vitalik and I went to the beach. I don't remember the name of it. It was nice, there is a lot of development going on
near or on the beach. They are building large high rises. I let him play some video games and bought him a sandwich. We walked on the beach and the pier for awhile.

We are going to church tomorrow. Vitalik and some of the other boys are coming as well. It's a contemporary service. Please pray for their salvation, I don't think any of them know the Lord. They really need youth services here, they are bored in the main service.

Please pray this week, this is very important to when we get to return. Pray for no delays, pray that we get to leave Odessa by Next Sunday, October 4th. If we leave here on the 4th, We should be home on the 7th. That would be Great! Also pray for Vitalik, he is having a hard time communicating with me. Making conversation. Pray that the God would help him.

I hope everyone is doing well, I am thinking and praying for my family and friends. I am in good hands here. God has been so faithful, he has put some incredible people in my life. I am seeing the hand of God all of the place.

Please forgive me if I haven't returned your email. I havent had much time to do anything personal, and when I do, the internet keeps messing me up. so, I love you and miss you all.

Message for Joshua and Lauren: I am very proud of you both :) you are doing so great! thanks for helping dad. That means a lot to mom.
You both are very strong and courageous. I will see you soon. Pray that we come home quickly. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Blessings,
Jeri

2007-10-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends,

I have been surprised how busy I have been during these 10 days. I thought I would be bored with nothing much to do. Things just seem to come up. Eating alone is time consuming, I go to the market almost everyday. Today a new family came to Odessa to adopt a girl from the internot #4, the Laundrums. They stayed at my apartment for awhile they waited for their apartment. They are a nice couple. I hope all goes well for them.

Vitalik and Denise came for English lesson. It went very well. They are quick learners. It is fun teaching them. They are very enthusiastic learners.

The Ohara family left tonight. I am thrilled for them. They all had big smiles on their faces!
I pray they have a blessed trip home. It was nice getting to know them. They are generous people. i have been very fortunate to have met and gotten to know some wonderful people. God
has been very good to me.

I am planning on having Vitalik going away party on Friday. I have some planning to do tomorrow.

Prayer request: Please pray for all documents next week to be done quickly, pray for strength for charles. Pray that Vitalik will be strong and have peace as he prepares to leave the internot.

Blessings to you all,
Jeri

2007-10-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hello,

It was a long day today, Not to much to do. I visited with the O'Hare family a bit. They are
hopefully leaving any day now to go home. I did some laundry, walked the street for awhile to
get out of the apartment and to get some exercise. vitalik came to the apartment and we visited, played a card game and of course he played on the computer. He loves the computer.

I asked Michelle come and interrupt for me so I could explain a few things to Vitalik. We discussed our plans for the week. I will start him and Denise with some English lessons tomorrow. He is willing to learn, so that's good. Denise asked if he could come along for the lessons. I bought a few curriculum books here to work with them. They are in English and Russian. I am looking forward to working with them.

I will be up tonight until about 12:30 am. Joshua is going to call me on Skype. He is worth missing a little sleep. He is at a friends house that has skype and web cam. I spoke with Lauren Last night. She is missing her momma. I can't wait to get home.

Prayer request: No more problems with any paper work. Passports to arrive within 3 days. God would give Vitalik and I grace to communicate.

Thanks for praying,
Jeri

p.s. I am adding a few pictures from Sunday.

2007-10-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

The boys playing soccer at the internot

Vitalik showing off his gymnastic skills by doing flips off the bar.

I thought I would surprise Voucha and give a peck. also, Dima is here with us.

This is Poucha, he is the sweetest boy. He always runs up to you and gives lots of hugs. I would love to see him and his brothers adopted.

Me, Vitalik and Dima on the internot porch.

Denise, vitalik and charles playing a painful rock, paper scissors. If you lose, you get thumped in the head. They were having fun. Thats one way to bond!

Hello everyone,

Charles and I had Vitalik and Denise spend the night last night,then all day today. We had a good time, those boys sure do eat! we are glad to do it for them,It's our pleasure. We watched movies and played games, went to city center today. It was so cold today though we didnt want to stay outside. It was in the 40's.

Now I wait for the 10 days to be over. That will be a week from Tuesday. I think I finally decided to expedite Vitalik's passport. I have heard a lot about passports lately and paying the extra money to just get the job done sounds real good to me right now. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be. I have been watching another family go through the passport experience and it has already been a week tomorrow. They dont have them. I hope they get them soon. I have been told it would cost any where from $300.00 to $500.00.

Tomorrow, I will do some research on exchange students and what is required. We want to help Oxhana (sister) come to US as exchange student. We'll see what happens. she doesnt have many good options here and no family. she is a real sweet girl that deserves more than what she has.

Then, Vitalik will come here after school.

Prayer request: Joshua and Lauren for peace and contentment. the Lord will return charles home safely. pray that the Lord will give grace to us and Vitalik to blend as a family. Please pray as the Lord leads.

I can't thank everyone enough for all your support and prayers, you mean so much to us.

We love you all,
Jeri

Praise God we had court

2007-10-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

Vitalik with his teacher and best friend on the right, Denise. Vitalik is a favorite among the staff at #4.

Hello Everyone,

We had court yesterday and everything went fine. We are praising God that its over! It was a long road. Thanks to all of you for praying and supporting us. When you are going through this you need all the encouragement and prayer you can get.

Now we are in the 10 day waiting period.We are very happy that Charles can now go home next week after visiting the U.S Embassy.

I havent been able to post in a couple of days because we were busy with deatils of court and spending time with Vitalik.

Vitalik and Denise are coming over in a little while. We are going site seeing,then dinner and they will spend the night with us.

Joshua and Lauren: Hello guys! mom and dad miss and love you very
much. We cant wait to see you. We are very proud of you. You are brave and strong.

Prayer request: Charles arrives safely home. Grace for charles while he waits on our return home. That we would continue to bond with vitalik. I pray he would feel our love and feel safe.

Court delayed until Friday

2007-10-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Yesterday was a crazy day. We waited to hear what time we would go to court most of the day. Then we were waiting on a document to be signed by the inspector. She gave did not want to sign the document because she wanted us to adopt the sister (4 yrs. old) that wasn't even on Vitalik's documents. The SDA tried to convience her it was impossible for us to adopt her. she still refused. Natalya thinks maybe her boss wants something. in the mean time, the judge is waiting for us and we cant come before we have this document. The Director of the orphange is waiting on us, we are waiting on this document. After 3:00pm the judge decides he is going on vacation. He said we wont have court until Monday 10/22. Unbelievable!!

I think the SDA phoned him and he agreed to give us court on Friday. That was the best he could do.

Today, the inspector still didn't help us. The SDA tried to phone her boss, but he wasn't there. Tomorrow, SDA we try again with this inspector. If they don't cooperate then we will go to the region where the sister is and appeal to that director. This is a 2 hour drive from here.

We are standing and believing. WE WILL HAVE COURT! The Lord has given us many scriptures to stand on. We are standing!

PSalm 34:19 Many are the afflications of the Righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. Praise God :)

Prayer request: the inspector to agree and sign papers tomorrow.

Thank you for praying,

Jeri

Dinner at the Becker's

2007-10-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

Charles and Denise waiting for Vitalik to finish his haircut

This was a Paul's house after dinner. vitalik, Paul, Denise, Jeff and Charles

Greetings family and friends,

We enjoyed ourselves today. Charles and I went to church with Paul Becker at a local Evangelical church here in Odessa. It was in Russian, but we did have a nice member that

translated for us most of the time. It was a good service. After church, we had a pizza with Dr. Becker, his friend Jeff, Michelle, Vasha. It was in the Greek Square. The best pizza we had here in Odessa.

Later Vitalik and Denise met charles and I at the apartment. We fed them pizza. Yes, they ate a whole large pizza. The boys can eat! all the boys needed hair cuts, so we found a place and they

all got a hair cuts. They look very handsome I think. vitalik was sleepy so he feel asleep during his hair cut.

We were all invited for dinner by Dr. Becker. We had a great time visiting with one another. Dr. Becker and Tania has been with Vitalik's class since he was in the 1st grade. you can see the impact he has made on them. They are such a blessing to the school and especially the 2 classes they sponsor. They really love those kids. It inspires me to do more.

Tonight, we are preparing to go to court and for Charles to return home. Joshua and Lauren are

looking forward to seeing dad.

Prayer request:1) for God to prepare the way for court tomorrow. 2) Safe return for charles.

3) Pray for complete healing for Vitalik and Joshua they are trying come down with a cold.

blessings,

Jeri

We go to court on Monday

2007-10-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Yes, its true we do have court on Monday.Thanks for all the prayers.We are happy to report that Charles will be able to head back next week. Yah! I wish we were all leaving, but it won't be to long and we will all be home.Continue to pray that all goes well.

The last couple of days there hasn't been much to report. We've been waiting and spending time with Vitalik. Tomorrow the boys will get a much needed hair cut. Later in the evening we will go to
an English church service that Dr.Paul Becker told us about.I am looking forward to it. We will be busy this evening preparing for charles to go home and for me to be here by myself. I pray the 10 day goes by fast.

Have a great day!

Jeri

We received positive letter today

2007-10-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

Vitalik juggling for us. He was very good!

This picture was taken on Sunday when we had supper at our apartment. They were willing to help out with the chopping.

Hi Family and friends,

I hope you are doing well today. We are thinking and praying for you. we miss home.

Yesterday we received the positive letter we needed from the inspector. Praise God! Everything was sent to Kiev and now we wait for Date of court. We still think Monday, but praying for Friday. That would be a miracle, and I do believe in them. I believe God likes to show us what he is capable of doing on our behalf.

We picked up vitalik from the orphanage and to him shopping. We went to Provos (not sure on the spelling) we found what we needed for him at a good price. He was very grateful and I loved doing it for him. That's about all for yesterday. We are in the waiting stage so not alot to do. We are planning to have a driver pick up Vitalik and bring him to the apartment to talk with Joshua and Lauren on Skype and web cam today. They really want to talk to him. So, we are surprising them this morning. I can't wait to see how this goes :)

Its a beautiful day here. Mid 60's and sunny. I am in a restaurant close to the apartment. They have free wireless internet access. I ordered some soup and water.

Prayer request:

1) court date for Friday.

2) Charles and I continue to bound with Vitalik

3) blessings over Joshua and Lauren

4) peace for Oksana (sister)

Thank you,

Jeri

The Weekend!

2007-10-08T12:18:00.001-07:00

from left to right, Denise, Okana,Vitalik, Jeri, Charles

Okana, Vitalik, Jeri

Hello,

I just realized I havent blogged all weekend. We were pretty busy. On Saturday we went with Michelle to the orphanage to pick up vitalik and oksana to go have lunch at the local pan pizza restaurant. It was nice that Oksana could join us for the afternoon. We walk a good ways to get pizza. Then we went back to the orphanage to play some board games. It was rainy here so we were limited in what we could do. We took lots of pictures and had a good time visiting.We ended up having to leave and it was still raining, without a umbrella. We road the bus back to the apartment. we were soaked by the time we got back. It was worth it though. We were pretty tired, we went to bed early.

Sunday, we took the bus back to the orphanage to pick up vitalik and Oksana to do some site seeing in the city. We got tired of that after a little while. We decided to make dinner and play some games at our apartment. I made spaghetti and fruit salad. Everyone pitched in to help with all the chopping. We had a nice afternoon.We really like Vikalik very much, he is such a nice kid, he is very funny, he makes us laugh.

Today, we were up early to take care of documents and meet with the Director of the orphanage. All went very well. the Director was very kind and helpful. The social worker gave us some back ground info. on Vitalik and said many good things about Vitalik's character and personality. In the afternoon we went back to the apartment to do some work. Charles did his work for work, and I did laundry and chores around the apartment. We had leftover spaghetti, so Sean and Tracey came over for some dinner and laughs. We had a good time. We will miss them when they leave. Our faciliatator thinks that there is a good chance that we will go to court on Monday. so hopefully charles can head home sometime next week. That will be so nice. I guess it will be me and Vitalik for a while here in Odessa.

We plan to pick up Vitalik tomorrow and take him shopping for a few things. Shopping for clothes isn't easy. All the shopes by us are very expensive. We will have to go to the market by the train station and try to find something.

Prayer reques: inspector to give us positive decision tomorrow. quick court date. Peace and blessings for Joshua and Lauren.

Thanks for your prayers,
Jeri

We had a great day!

2007-10-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

Hello,

We had a very busy day yesterday. We met with the inspector. It went well. we received our paper work. We went to the orphanage to talk to Dina (the social worker) she was nice to us. she said she would do whatever she could for us. She said she was glad we were adopting vitalik because she likes him. Then, we spent the afternoon with vitalik.

The students put on a talent show for the teachers and we were able to go. What a blessing this was. Vitalik and his friend ( denise, I think) did some special dance with acrobats and flips. I was quit impressed. The whole show was fun. vitalik sister showed up for the talent show. So we were able to talk with her. she gave the consent for Vitalik to be adopted. It wasn't easy for her, she wanted to do what he wanted. she was very nice.
We plan to keep in touch and see her whenever we can. she is coming to the orphanage today and we will all go have pizza together.

Thank you all for the prayers, God came through in a big way, we are so happy. Vitalik is a great young man, very personable and engaging. He is a lot of fun.

I will post pictures later, we are headed back to the orphanage.

Blessings to you,

Jeri

Great News!

2007-10-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Shawn and Tracey

Tracey, Charles and I at the Black Sea port.

We just found out that we don't need to travel back to Kiev. Our facilitator is coming in the morning with our paper work. We are praising God. He worked above and beyond what I imaged. We will meet with inspector tomorrow morning and than later go to the orphanage to see social worker and Vitalik.

Thank you all so much for praying for our situation. I am very grateful.I also want to thank our friends Terry and Laura for taking such good care of Joshua and Lauren. I also want to thank all our friends and family who have prayed, given and encouraged us along the way. We love you all.

I just wanted to share the good news, have a great day!

Jeri

we visited the port yesterday

2007-10-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends,

I pray all is well with you. I am behind on posting because Charles has been working a lot
on the computer. charles and I joined the O'Hare's down to the Black Sea port yesterday. It is in walking distance from where we are staying. Maybe 10 to 12 blocks. As you can see by the picture, Charles had his picture taken with a monkey. I was surprised at how clean the port was.
This quite a nice port. We really don't have a lot to report, we are waiting for our phone call to tell us when to go back to Kiev. We were told by Friday. I have been reading and praying and Charles is working. I am praising God for our SDA Appoint.

Does anyone have any advice or opinions for us?

Prayer request: keep believing with us for appoint. and a quick turn around back to Odessa. Pray for Joshua and Lauren. I pray the weekends for them are fun and not long.

Thanks for you prayers, they make a big difference.

We love you,
Jeri

The waiting Game

2007-10-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

A local bread truck
our new friends Shawn and Tracey O'Hara
here is Charles orderin his street meat
here is Charles lovin the street meat :)
The train station in Odessa

Good evening,

This was one of those days where we just waited and prayed. At the end of the day, we received news that we would deffiently have appointment by the end of the week. That was good news for us.

We visited with our friends Shawn and Tracey today. We had lunch at a local Ukrainian restaurant. It reminded me of a Dutch restaurant. I had some chicken soup and bread, and Charles had borsch soup. The soups were pretty good. They use mostly fresh ingredients in all the restaurants. There is very little packaged foods here. They make everything fresh. We have had some real good food here. The cost is very low because of the exchange rate.

We will probably go to the beach tomorrow to kill some time. I heard its pretty nice. We also move to a bigger apartment tomorrow, we've been in a studio. Its in the same hotel, that will be nice and a change of scenery.

Charles is reading his book and we are waiting to have some bugers with the Shawn and Tracey
at there apartment. We are cooking in tonight.

We have really apprecited all the encouragment that we have received while we are over here. God is so faithful to send such good people in to our lives. We are truly blessed.

Prayer Request:

- continue to pray for the SDA appointment and for Vitalik sister.

- peace and strength for Charles and I, also for Josh and Lauren.

- Peace for Vitalik as he prepares to be adopted.

We love you,

Jeri

For Lauren

2007-10-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Lauren,

How is my sweet pea? I love and miss you very much.
Did you have a good day today?

We are a little bored today because we are just waiting.

Mom and dad are very proud of you and Joshua. Keep up the good work.

I am sending you a kiss.

I'll talk to you soon,

Love Mom :)

To Joshua

2007-10-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Joshua,

Mom wanted to say "HI".
Did you have a good day? did you do anything fun or special? Tell Ms. Amy and Nate Hello, and Tommy.
We are just waiting. We are either real busy or waiting on something.

give Dakota a hug for me when you see him.

I'll talk to you soon, Mom loves you,

Mom :)

2007-09-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Vitalik and another boy from the orphange at the Becker apartment.

how do you like her broom? it seems to do the job!
This was the orchestra at the park downtown Odessa

We are walking with some of the boys from 10th grade to the Becker's apartment.

Greetings,

A few people had problems with being able to comment. I believe I fixed the problem. so you can try again if you want.
We had a busy day today. We went church with Michelle, The O'Hare couple and Dr. Paul and
Tania were there. Tania was nice enough to translate for us. We enjoyed the service, the pastor had a good message. We met some of the 10th grade class at internot #4 that the Becker's brought with them to church. They were a great bunch of children. We were invited to lunch at the Becker's with the other couple and the children from the internot. All of the children helped in the kitchen, they served and helped clean up. They were very respectful and fun to be around.
We then went to the park were there was a live orchestra to listen to and enjoy.

Have a great week everyone,
Jeri

Laid back day

2007-09-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

The park near our apartment in dowtown Odessa.

It's Saturday here and we have the day off. We relaxed, took in some sites, visited with our new friends the O'Hares. We are enjoying the weather here. It is low 70's and sunny. They have elections tomorrow for a new parliament. They had a very loud live concert in the square last night.There was a motor cycle rally in the street this afternoon. It is very busy here in the downtown area. Tomorrow we will go to church with Michelle in the morning and be able to meet some of the orphans that will be attending with the Becker's.

Prayer: please keep praying for Vitalik's sister to agree with the adoption, a quick appointment for us next week, Joshua and Lauren that they are at peace,content and for protection over all the families adopting and our families back in the States.

Thanks for praying and blessings to all our friends and family,

Jeri

God had a different plan!

2007-09-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

Vitalik is the boy on the right.

Hello,

Well, its hard to know what to say in this blog. We received shocking news from Vladik
yesterday. We are a day behind in our blog. I couldn't bring myself to share the news.
We met Vladik at the school yesterday to go get his medical forms. When he got there he told
our interpreter he wanted to share something with us. at this point he shared that he didn't want to be adopted. He was concerned for his grandmother and didn't want to leave her. As you can imagine we were totally shocked, the day before he wrote out a letter saying he did want to
be adopted. ( we think the grandmother is behind his decision) we told him that would have to be the final answer and that we respected his decision. We only want the best for him. We hugged him and told him we would keep in touch and we would keep him our prayers. We were very upset with the news, but we think its for the best in the long run.

We are attempting to adopt another boy named Vitalik. He is in orpahange #4. the boy in the picture at the top. We have heard very good things about him. He is the leader in his class, very athletic, very popular, smart. He knows some English. We know he wants to be adopted very much. The only challenge we see is that he has a older sister 17 years. She must give her okay. We know that most sibling do give consent. We are trying to contact her to see what she says. We will welcome her to visit us anytime and we encourage them to keep in contact. We will do what we can for her. we are not able to adopt more than one. Please pray for her consent.

Today was much better than yesterday. we still feel this sting but not as much. We will probably be going to Kiev on Monday for a new appointment.

Prayer request: Vladik for protection and that he would give his life to the Lord. Pray for the sister to consent. A quick appointment next weeks for the new boy. Pray as you feel lead.

Thank you for praying and blessings to you,

Jeri

We had a very busy day

2007-09-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We had a very busy day today. We met with the inspector today, we had a situation were we
had to have proper paper work from Vladik school, giving us permission to take him out
of school. That went very well. The director of the school was very helpful, she worked very hard to get our documents within an hour. We also met the main director of the school and he was interested in what Vladik's future would hold. He also said he was a good boy. We were glad that he seemed to care about him. we had to also go to the notary and have our documents made official. We did see Vladik today at the school and then for a few minutes at our apartment. His stomach was upset, so he went home to lay down.

Michelle invited Charles and I to join her and the O'Hare's couple ( the other couple staying 2 doors down from us that are adopting) to church. Charles was tired, so he stayed to rest and I joined Michelle. It was a nice service. It was nice to worship God.

Tomorrow we will be at the medical office getting the documents for medical clearance.

Prayer request: Vladik local passport. It needs to come quickly. Pray for his stomach to feel better. We thank god that everything is going very well. Thank you for your prayers.

Jeri

Staying in Odessa

2007-09-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

I cannot recommend Odessa Executive Apartments highly enough, especially if you are adopting and need a home base in Odessa for several weeks. http://www.theodessagroup.net/

The owner Scott is an American who has built first class facilities in the center of the city activities. The rooms are excellent, the rates very reasonable, you feel safe, and you have included a washer, nice shower, satellite TV, high speed Internet, kitchenette w/microwave, stove and refrigerator. He is expanding the facilities to include more rooms and a cafe. You are a 1 minute walk from McDonalds (they open at 8am , and their coffee with steamed/frothed milk is a poor mans Starbucks :-) one note, they only serve hamburgers and fries for breakfast, so no Egg McMuffins!), several major shopping malls, restaurants (many with English menu's or English speaking staff), supermarkets, and nightlife. The world famous and magnificently renovated opera house here is 5 minutes walk away. The staff @ OEA speaks fluent English and make you feel at home. After our stay in Kiev, this sanctuary is a very pleasant surprise and is one less thing to worry about when you are in the midst of the stressful adoption process...

Odessa is charming one minute, and depressing the next. Face lifts are occuring on many buildings that are very old. There are many new shopping centers. There is apparently low crime, and an emerging middle class to spend money on technology and many things we take for granted. Infrastructure is a challenge, the govt. bureaucracy here is established and I will not complain again for waiting for 3o minutes for a drivers license in the states. Most of the streets here were built when only 1 in 100 had a car. Now they are clogged with congestion that the roads were never built for. It can resemble Manhattan like traffic during the Odessa rush hour. But the people are very nice once you get to know them. We like Odessa, and our facilitator Natalya / Natasha is very professional and knowledgeable. We have been very pleased with our progress to date given some of the challenges we have faced and she seems to handle each challenge with skill and determination. Today was a good day. Vladik, our new son to be, is warming up to us and I have taught him a cool handshake that Joshua (my son) taught me. Vladik seemed to lighten up when I showed it to him. Thanks Josh!... And speaking of my kids, I really miss Joshua and Lauren. I know what a sacrifice they are making for this to happen and am looking forward to Skyping with them on our web cam. And I am very thankful for the many friends back home who are caring for them..... Our best to to you all.

Charles

We met Vladik today

2007-09-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

sorry it took awhile to start blogging, we have problems accessing the blog. We had a great day
today. We went to see the inspector, than Natalya took us to meet with Vladik. We were surprised because we didn't think we would see him this soon. We were very glad to finally meet him. He is a very polite young man. we stayed together all afternoon. Michelle joined us later. She showed us around town for awhile than we had dinner with the family that is also adopting at this time. They are staying at the same hotel as we are. We had good fellowship and a good pizza. Joshua and Lauren we miss you and love you. No Josh, I didn't get your blog. keep trying.

Prayer request: pray for Vladik to have strength and peace. Pray for Charles and I for wisdom and strength.

This picture is the port of Odessa on the Black Sea. The view from our perspective was beautiful.

Thank you for praying for us,
Jeri

Ukraine - Kiev to Odessa - Monday 9 -24, What a day!

2007-09-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Monday was a long day. We had to meet with the SDA in the early afternoon. Oleg met us for our meeting with the SDA after lunch, and our meeting went fine. We were given permission to submit our paperwork to the regional director in Odessa where Vladik attends secondary school. After our meeting we decided to take a hired car with our facilitator Natasha for the 300 mile journey to Odessa. (The overnight train did not leave until 10 pm or so, and we were ready to proceed with the next part of our journey and get to Odessa). The five hour car ride was interesting, as once you leave the city you are stepping back in time 40-50 years. The roads were fairly decent, but the futher you got away from the city the more rural it became, with houses not more than huts in many cases, with many places without electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, etc. Paying 20 grivna to use the "facilities" along the way was interesting to say the least. We were fortunate that Dima had secured a very good driver, with a minivan in excellent condition, for the journey to Odessa. I have been very impressed so far with the professionalism of Oleg's team and their desire to answer our questions and help us in any way possible. Additionally, the people of Ukraine, while reserved and cautious, seem very nice and personable once they get to know you.

Ukraine - Kiev - Saturday / Sunday Sept. 22 - 23rd

2007-09-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Kiev early Saturday evening after traveling from Omaha through Cincinnati through London (Gatwick). Note - if you are traveling through Gatwick and have to change terminals, you are only allowed 1 carry on. This created a bit of a problem as we had laptop bags and backpacks. Somehow, we managed to shove all our stuff (laptop bags) into our backpacks. dont ask me how we accomplished this, but it got done.

Kiev was in the midst of some sort of festival and we stayed downtown in an apartment adjacent to the main square. Great location, but our apartment required some adjustments.... Hot water took 10 minutes or longer to warm up, and our electricity was limited to 3-4 lights or appliances at a time or the breaker would trip. Glad I had seen the breaker box near the door and didnt get electrocuted. Our apartment is the top balcony on the right.

Sunday morning was an excellent time to be in Kiev, there was an organized street festival of sorts and a lot of political demonstrations, apparently elections here are within the next couple of weeks. Many families were out enjoying a beautiful fall day with temperatures in the mid 60's.

Finally we have our appointment date

2007-09-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

After a long summer waiting for the news, we have our appointment date. September 24th.
Charles and I are busy with our plans to leave very soon. There are so many things not to forget.
We couldn't be more excited, we are so looking forward to meeting Vladik.

Our journey started a year ago last September and what an adventure it has been.
All the prayers, paper work, leg work, e-mails, phone calls. Wow! God has been so faithful through the process, he met us where we were. What a wonderful God we serve. I must also
mention that we had good friends along the way. We have added some new ones too. I really have appreciated the support from our adoption families. We do need each other.

Jeri

Vladik Christmas 2006

2007-09-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

This was one of the gifts that Vladik received last Christmas.We understand that he loves playing the game SORRY, can't wait to play a game.

The Roberson's

2007-09-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

The Roberson Family in late summer 2007 from left to right, Joshua, Jeri, Charles and Lauren (and Montana, or Monte for short). We are looking forward to bringing Vladik home and adding him to our family photo.