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

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 ;-(

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!!!!

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

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

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

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.