April has been a busy month, and it has just flown by! Vika's birthday was on the 2nd and she had a bowling birthday party with a lot of family and friends. We do not think she has ever had a birthday party before and we wanted to make this one special.
In the middle of the month, Michelle and Paul Polotza took Vika, Anslee, Vika Love, Leana, and Marybeth Raabe to Revolve in Reading Pa. This is a christian retreat for teenage girls. They loved it! They stayed in a hotel and went to two concerts, one by Britt Nicole and the other was Dream On. Vika brought back a CD of both and plays them often.
On Palm Sunday we got together with some of the other children and they each did a Pysanky egg for Easter. Mick knows a lady named Francine who was nice enough to come to Tyrone and bring the eggs and equipment and show the children how to decorate the eggs. We also dyed eggs at home saturday before Easter but ours were not a fancy. Easter brought a new basket filled with candy, Uno cards and a cross necklace and earrings. After church we went to my parents home to visit and have ham. Vika was not to sure she wanted to go into my parents house. There were many relatives there and she did not know many of them. I told her it would be ok and would stay with her, and when she went into the house and met everyone she was good. Mick and I both have large families and she has not met all of them. It must be overwhelming to her, and I don't know what she must think everytime we tell her this is another cousin, aunt or uncle. We ended the day at Micks parents home with dinner and a game of Uno.
These are some of the highlights from our month. Vika is still taking English lessons from Lilly, and I can see improvement in her speech and she is understanding more. There are many day to day issues and we handle each one as they come. We pray everyday for guidence and wisdom and thank everyone who is praying for us. Most days I feel inadequate, that I need to be doing, saying, and giving more. We want to make sure Vika knows she is loved and nothing she can do will stop us from loving her, but she has boundries and certain things are expected of her. Some days you feel like saying - stop the ride I want to get off!! Then you see that smile, hear her singing and realize it is about her, not me. My heart has been broken more times than I can count, but I can not imagine my life without Vika. I am posting a few photos from the months events- enjoy!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
How are things going?
This is the question of the month. Don't get us wrong we are happy people are concerned and interested! So how are things going? Well, we take it day by day. Most days are good and some are challenging, but everytime it seems difficult we think of what it must be like for Vika. She is in a different country, does not speak the language that well, and can not understand everything we say. She has never been part of a family and does not know what unconditional love is or understand why someone would have love like that. We have had many challenges and anticipate many more. One thing Vika does like is school and her ESL teacher Mrs. Dugan. When she first started to school she would tell us school no, Mrs. Dugan yes. Vika is going to all her regular classes with the other students and all her teachers have been very good about helping her and understanding that her English is very limited. She has had some homework, but nothing she could not handle, Mick and I have both helped her so she knows she does not have to worry if she has questions.
We have been to a few gatherings with the other childeren that have come home to the US. Anslee, Vika Love, and Dema's parents had a welcome to America party, and Autyr's family had a welcome home party for him the following weekend. It is so nice to get the kids together to visit, and they love being able to converse in their own language.
We have been to a few gatherings with the other childeren that have come home to the US. Anslee, Vika Love, and Dema's parents had a welcome to America party, and Autyr's family had a welcome home party for him the following weekend. It is so nice to get the kids together to visit, and they love being able to converse in their own language.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
America!!!
We are back! After a long day of travel we our back in the USA! We left Ukraine thursday morning at 6:45 and flew to Amsterdam, we had a 5 hour layover there, thank goodness we could get Wifi on the computer, and then another 9 hour flight to Dulles. When we were getting on the plane in Amsterdam Vika ask me how long the flight would be, she was not happy when I told her 9 hours! Luckly our plane was not full and there was an empty seat in our row so she could lay down and sleep. She kept watching the monitor to see where the plane was on the map and showing me the distance we had to go was getting smaller. It never felt so good to land! It took us a while to get through customs, then my sister Michelle picked us up and took us to her house. Michelle and her husband Jeremy are kindly letting us stay with them, and are driving us to Breezwood today where my parents are going to meet us and take us the rest of the way home. Yesterday we took Vika shopping. In the morning we went with Michelle and Jeremy, after lunch my sister Renee took us to Target, then we went and picked up her daughter after school and went to the mall. Vika said to me 3 shopping! She could not believe that we went shopping three times in one day. Michelle and Jeremy had a very nice dinner for us, it was complete with balloons, flowers, and a welcome cake with Vika's name on it. Unfortunately, Mick Vika and I were very tired and by nine we were fighting to stay awake. Mick and I have never seen Vika sleeping in the evening, she usually tells us no sleep. That was not the case last night.
Please remember to pray for Joe and Ginger, who are in Ukraine on their first trip, and Cheri and Russy who are leaving this sunday for the second trip to bring home their girls.
Please remember to pray for Joe and Ginger, who are in Ukraine on their first trip, and Cheri and Russy who are leaving this sunday for the second trip to bring home their girls.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Last day in Ukraine
Today is our last full day in Ukraine!! We can not believe it is finally here! Sorry about not posting the last few days, but Vika is using the computer for entertainment and learning English. Sunday we went to a huge open air market, it is about 10 minutes walk from our apartment. You can get anything there, toilets, car parts, cleaning supplies, clothing, shoes, fruit, vegetables, the only thing we could not find was bread, but we did not see the whole market.
Monday morning we went to the medical center for Vika's physical. She is not a morning person! We had to leave by 9 so we woke her at 7:30. The medical system here is very different, we are used to sitting in a waiting room and waiting for you named to be called, not here. They have a waiting hallway, but everyone that comes just knocks on the door they need to go into and sticks their head in, then they are told to wait or come in. There did not seem to be and order to the process, but things seem to get done and move along. Vika had to have some bloodwork and a chest x-ray. We were told that all the children at the home have had a TB vaccination, so when they have a TB test done it will read a false positive. They do an x-ray to show that there is no TB. We went back to the apartment after the medical exam, and Vika was much happier. She did not want to go anywhere so I walked to the market and Mick stayed with Vika.
Yesterday we had to leave by 8:30, so we woke the sleeping bear at 7 again, not happy:( Our first stop was the medical center again, they had me sign the wrong form the day before so we had to go back and resign, I then received my packet of medical information to take to the embassy. The traffic in Kiev in is horrendous! Like any big city you drive then sit, drive then sit, it has taken us over an hour each day to get to our destinations. I could tell from our drivers body lanaguage that we were late for our appoinment at the embassy. When we arrived there you had to go through security in an outer building, no cameras, cell phones, or computers. My purse was searched and x-rayed and you have to go through a metal detector, then you go outside and into another building. Mick talked to a gentleman and he told him what parts of different forms he had to complete, then they fingerprinted Vika and told us to come back today at 2. The weather here yesterday was beautiful! The sun was out, and it felt like it was near 40 degrees, the wind was blowing but it was not cold. It felt like a spring day, so we walked to the open air market. Vika got two shirts a pair of pants and a pair of earrings. We stopped at the grocery store an bought frozen pizza for dinner, they were not bad! Vika also had her first english lesson with her teacher Liliya. Mick and I were a little concerned that she would not like it, or get bored half way through, but this was not the case. She enjoyed it and told us that Liliya was a good teacher and ask if she was going to be her english teacher in America.
Today we are going to go back to the embassy and pack. We are ready to go home, but we are going to miss all the children from the orphange. It was difficult to leave them last friday, but it is a different feeling knowing that you will be half way around the world from them - instead of just in a different city. So many childern have taken our hearts we feel that we are leaving behind part of our family. One minute we are happy to leave and the next we are fighting tears for those that are left.
Thank you everyone who had made this journey possible for us! Thank you for your prayers, we know that without all the prayer we would not have been able to do this, See you soon!
Monday morning we went to the medical center for Vika's physical. She is not a morning person! We had to leave by 9 so we woke her at 7:30. The medical system here is very different, we are used to sitting in a waiting room and waiting for you named to be called, not here. They have a waiting hallway, but everyone that comes just knocks on the door they need to go into and sticks their head in, then they are told to wait or come in. There did not seem to be and order to the process, but things seem to get done and move along. Vika had to have some bloodwork and a chest x-ray. We were told that all the children at the home have had a TB vaccination, so when they have a TB test done it will read a false positive. They do an x-ray to show that there is no TB. We went back to the apartment after the medical exam, and Vika was much happier. She did not want to go anywhere so I walked to the market and Mick stayed with Vika.
Yesterday we had to leave by 8:30, so we woke the sleeping bear at 7 again, not happy:( Our first stop was the medical center again, they had me sign the wrong form the day before so we had to go back and resign, I then received my packet of medical information to take to the embassy. The traffic in Kiev in is horrendous! Like any big city you drive then sit, drive then sit, it has taken us over an hour each day to get to our destinations. I could tell from our drivers body lanaguage that we were late for our appoinment at the embassy. When we arrived there you had to go through security in an outer building, no cameras, cell phones, or computers. My purse was searched and x-rayed and you have to go through a metal detector, then you go outside and into another building. Mick talked to a gentleman and he told him what parts of different forms he had to complete, then they fingerprinted Vika and told us to come back today at 2. The weather here yesterday was beautiful! The sun was out, and it felt like it was near 40 degrees, the wind was blowing but it was not cold. It felt like a spring day, so we walked to the open air market. Vika got two shirts a pair of pants and a pair of earrings. We stopped at the grocery store an bought frozen pizza for dinner, they were not bad! Vika also had her first english lesson with her teacher Liliya. Mick and I were a little concerned that she would not like it, or get bored half way through, but this was not the case. She enjoyed it and told us that Liliya was a good teacher and ask if she was going to be her english teacher in America.
Today we are going to go back to the embassy and pack. We are ready to go home, but we are going to miss all the children from the orphange. It was difficult to leave them last friday, but it is a different feeling knowing that you will be half way around the world from them - instead of just in a different city. So many childern have taken our hearts we feel that we are leaving behind part of our family. One minute we are happy to leave and the next we are fighting tears for those that are left.
Thank you everyone who had made this journey possible for us! Thank you for your prayers, we know that without all the prayer we would not have been able to do this, See you soon!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
First day in Kiev
When we arrived yesterday morning, Sveta took us to a market so we could get food and water for the next couple days. It was nice because there were not many people in the market at that time of the moring. While in the check out line a gentleman behind us ask if he could go in front of us, he only had one item, and we let him. When he was finished checking out he removed his hat and with a sweeping gester he preformed a bow, it made us all laugh and smile. After we were settled in the apartment Vika called Olya, and Rusa on skype, she misses her friends. Later when we were all showered and ready we took a short walk outside, and when we got back to the apartment Sasha called and ask if Vika wanted to go ice skating. He drove us to a new mall with three floors, the top floor had an ice rink, roller rink, movie theater, bumper cars, and a large area for small children to play in. It was very clean and bright, most of the stores were clothing stores for adults. We walked around for a while and then Mick and Vika skated. Mick said the rink was very smooth and had a better surface than the one in Krivey Rig but was more crowded. Vika liked this rink also, she only fell once and was skating backwards and trying to pick up one leg and put it out behind her.
We had to walk back from the mall, it took about half and hour, Vika was not pleased about this, but we stopped at the open air market and got her a DVD so that made the trip better. Mick and I do not mind walking, we enjoy knowing different places we can go by walking. There is no snow here, just mud, and the wind was blowing yesterday but the tempreture was not bad.
We are not sure what we are we are going to do today we are hoping to have fun. Vika mentioned ice skating again, I we would like to walk through the open air market.
We had to walk back from the mall, it took about half and hour, Vika was not pleased about this, but we stopped at the open air market and got her a DVD so that made the trip better. Mick and I do not mind walking, we enjoy knowing different places we can go by walking. There is no snow here, just mud, and the wind was blowing yesterday but the tempreture was not bad.
We are not sure what we are we are going to do today we are hoping to have fun. Vika mentioned ice skating again, I we would like to walk through the open air market.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Kiev
We are back in Kiev we took the overnight train and arrived about 5:40 am. Once agian there is no sleeping on the train, at least not for Mick and I Vika said she slept and by the energy she has I would say she did.
Last night was a difficult evening. We met with the orphanage director for tea, they have a tea with every family on the childs last day at the home, that went well. It was when we went upstairs for Vika to change into her new clothes that it started getting hard. Vika's teacher was waiting for her in the hall, and then the girls from her group started to come in to say goodbye. The tears were flowing from everyone, we cried because Vika was crying, she cried because she was going to miss her friends, and they cried because they would miss her, and they all want a family also. It was so hard to say good bye to several of the girls, and a couple of them hugged me so hard I did not think that they would let go. We made it from the group room to the art room where Joe and Ginger were visiting with their son Autur, and a group of children. They were playing cards and eating candy, it lightened the mood for a while, then the cars came to take us, including Vika, back to the apartment. It took us 20 minutes to make itinto the car, then Anslee,Vika Love, and Olya got in with me. It took another 5 minutes to get them our and our Vika in, it was heartbreaking.
Mick, Vika and I went back to the apartment and waited for Sveta to come and then we all took the train together. When we were on the train Vika said, I miss the group. Meaning her group of girls. I told her we missed them to.
We are now in Kiev and watching a movie. I would like a nap but I don't know if it will happen today.
Last night was a difficult evening. We met with the orphanage director for tea, they have a tea with every family on the childs last day at the home, that went well. It was when we went upstairs for Vika to change into her new clothes that it started getting hard. Vika's teacher was waiting for her in the hall, and then the girls from her group started to come in to say goodbye. The tears were flowing from everyone, we cried because Vika was crying, she cried because she was going to miss her friends, and they cried because they would miss her, and they all want a family also. It was so hard to say good bye to several of the girls, and a couple of them hugged me so hard I did not think that they would let go. We made it from the group room to the art room where Joe and Ginger were visiting with their son Autur, and a group of children. They were playing cards and eating candy, it lightened the mood for a while, then the cars came to take us, including Vika, back to the apartment. It took us 20 minutes to make itinto the car, then Anslee,Vika Love, and Olya got in with me. It took another 5 minutes to get them our and our Vika in, it was heartbreaking.
Mick, Vika and I went back to the apartment and waited for Sveta to come and then we all took the train together. When we were on the train Vika said, I miss the group. Meaning her group of girls. I told her we missed them to.
We are now in Kiev and watching a movie. I would like a nap but I don't know if it will happen today.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
PARTY
Our next to last day in Krivoy Rig and it snowed! When we walk to the market this moring it was snowing pretty hard it was sticking on our faces and covering our coats. We had a mission at the market today, we had Vika's going away party this evening and we had a list of things we wanted to get. We also wanted to have some breakfast for tomorrow because Joe and Ginger Rose are going to be here around 7am and we want to have something prepared for them. For the party we had chips, juice, two cakes, and 6 pizzas from the pizza shop. ( we ordered the pizza ahead of time, then stopped for them on our way to the home.)
When we arrived at the childrens home the girls had the group room decorated with ballons and angles, hanging from the ceiling, it was very nice. Anslee helped me get the plates out and pour the drinks, she made sure everyone had a pizza and a drink and put the chips on plates. Before we ate all the girls said something nice about Vika and the teacher gave a speach that made Vika cry, I was crying to and I could not understand a word she said, but the teacher had tears in her eyes while she was speaking. The one girl told Vika she was the best of best. After that we all did a cheers with our cups and ate.
The girls in this group are like sisters, and before we left Vika said to us good girls and pointed to her group. We can not disagree, there are so many wonderful talented and smart girls. We can only imagine how hard it is going to be for Vika to leave her family, because this has been her family for as long as she can remember. There will be tears, we are crying and we have only know the girls for a month, and most of them we have not seen every day. Pray that we have a good departure tomorrow, and that Vika will begin to look to us as her family, as she has looked to the girls in the past.
When we arrived at the childrens home the girls had the group room decorated with ballons and angles, hanging from the ceiling, it was very nice. Anslee helped me get the plates out and pour the drinks, she made sure everyone had a pizza and a drink and put the chips on plates. Before we ate all the girls said something nice about Vika and the teacher gave a speach that made Vika cry, I was crying to and I could not understand a word she said, but the teacher had tears in her eyes while she was speaking. The one girl told Vika she was the best of best. After that we all did a cheers with our cups and ate.
The girls in this group are like sisters, and before we left Vika said to us good girls and pointed to her group. We can not disagree, there are so many wonderful talented and smart girls. We can only imagine how hard it is going to be for Vika to leave her family, because this has been her family for as long as she can remember. There will be tears, we are crying and we have only know the girls for a month, and most of them we have not seen every day. Pray that we have a good departure tomorrow, and that Vika will begin to look to us as her family, as she has looked to the girls in the past.
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