Not so hot news...

Sorry that I have not written to give everyone an update on what happened in court, however Dave and are still reeling from the outcome. Many of you may have already heard, but if not here is an update.

            We got up early on Friday morning and made the trek to the courthouse, the kids were already there and they were bright, smiling, laughing, and drawing pictures. We sat with them for a few minutes and then we headed into the courtroom. Everything was going well, the inspector sang our praises, the orphanage’s attorney did too, we answered some questions for the court and then they called in the kids. Jacob was very enthusiastic and eager to be adopted and said yes without batting an eye, Taiya on the other hand was a completely different story. She broke down into tears and just sobbed that she didn’t want to be adopted. The court asked Jacob if he knew what was wrong and why she had changed her mind, and he did not have a clue, poor kid he was dumbstruck. He just looked at Taiya as if to say, “are you serious?” The court was unable to get Taiya to explain why she did not want to be adopted, so the kids were escorted out of the room, of course Dave and I were devastated, it felt like we had been hit by a truck. The attorney, the assistant district attorney, the inspector, and Viktor were flabbergasted, none of them expected this, and frankly neither did we. The judge rescheduled the court date for Friday November 5^th, and gave us the week to come to the root of Taiya’s issue.

            After court we were able to see the kids, Jacob hugged us, but Taiya would not even look at us and when she did she just sobbed and sobbed, poor thing I really think that she is torn between two worlds. She wants to be with us, but doesn’t want to leave her safety zone.           

Dave and I were emotionally distraught and were really unsure as to how to proceed from there or what we needed to do. The inspector and the orphanage’s attorney said that we did not have anything to worry about and that the judge would rule in the best interest of the children, but Dave and I can’t help but worry that things will turn out in our favor…it is going to make for a very stressful week. So say a prayer and keep your fingers crossed that everything will turn out fine, and Taiya will change her mind and the judge will rule in our favor.

            Once the kids back to the orphanage they were able to discover some of Taiya’s issues, one was rather disturbing, which I won’t go into over the blog, but the other two were certainly understandable. She said that there were so many people in the court room (10 not including the kids) and that she got scared, and the second reason is that her friends did not want her to leave them. Taiya is a very social child and has a lot of friends, so I can see why that would be intimidating. So we have decided to spend a lot of time with the kids this week with just them and no one else. Make them begin to trust us more and let them know that we want them to come home with us and be a part of our family.

            On a good note, Taiya wanted to see us after the court, although I think that she thought that we would be upset with her. Jacob is always glad to see and always wants to spend time with us, I must admit that I do feel sorry for him, he is so excited about riding on a plane and going to America and I think that he was truly upset and hurt that Taiya said no. I also think that he did not think that we would come back to see them once court was over, and let me tell you that was one excited boy when he saw us Friday after court and on Saturday afternoon. All we can do from here is to continue to build our relationship with the kids this week and hope for the best on Friday, that Taiya will willing change her mind and that the judge will rule in our favor.

            On a good note, the Rahns court hearing went extremely well and they have begun their 10 day count down, Rita Rose Rahn will soon be the newest member of their family and I am so happy for them. Well until next time…

Yahooooooo!!!!! We have a court date...

     YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! We have a court date! Dave and I go to court on Friday October 29^th at 8:30, now of course this is pending that our paperwork at the SDA is ready to be picked up Wednesday afternoon so Viktor can catch the bus or train back to Berdyansk to be here in time for court. So far it has been fairly smooth sailing so everyone keep their fingers crossed for calm waters. Since we have court on a Friday Dave and Rick would not be able to fill out their paperwork at the embassy until the following Monday, so Dave and Rick decided to go to Kiev a week early and fill out their paperwork, that way once court is complete they can catch the next train back to Kiev and the next plane back home. So when Dave and Rick leave Monday evening (the train back to Kiev is an overnighter), I am going to go and have a sleepover with Fran and Kola for two nights, and Rick and Dave will be back on Wednesday morning.

     Once the court date is complete Fran and I will play the sit and wait game for 10 days. It will be like ground hog day, but each day that passes is a day closer to coming home. Well that is all of the good news for now, stay tuned for updates and more pictures. Until next time…

Tai's Birthday

     Tai’s birthday was yesterday and we decided to throw her a party with her 4^th grade class. Dave and I brought in cake, cookies, Capri Suns, and bananas, and the kids had a blast. The kids sang Tai happy birthday and instead of spankings they teachers pulls their ears to help them grow and instead of gifts her classmates give her compliments (what a cool idea). Over the past 2 weeks she has been asking for shoes (which poor thing she needed, her little toes were crammed into the ones that she had), so we got her new tennis shoes and a Barbie for her birthday. So as not to leave Jacob out, we got him a small set of legos, of which he, Dave, and about 3 other boys settled in to put together the lego set. Fran and Rick gave her a really cool book that helps kids learn how to speak English, so Tai piled in my lap and we started working our way through the book. Tai is eager to learn and reads really well, she can read English, however she has obviously not mastered the comprehension part yet. Jacob is the typical boy and shows no interest in sitting down to learn anything, much less English…unless it suits something that he wants or needs.

     Dave has been getting daily Russian lessons from the kids in Tai and Jacob’s class, they are so funny they pile in all around him and point to different words in the dictionary and they get Dave to say them. He does not do half bad, all the kids think that it is funny, plus he is teaching them a bit of English too, tit for tat, he says a word in Russian and they say a word in English. At some points during the day Dave will have 6 or 8 kids surrounding him to play this little game. I wish that we could take a few more home with us, there are a couple of really nice, sweet, and cute kids here that could desperately use a good home. So if anyone knows anybody who is interested please let us know, we can help you out with that.

     After we left the orphanage, we went over to Fran and Ricks and celebrated Rick’s birthday, it was very nice to sit down and have dinner and dessert with everyone. Viktor came over as well as 2 missionaries from the church where Rick and Fran were staying. It was really nice to have some other company other than our own.

     Not a lot has been going on this week, we have been making our daily trips to the market and to the orphanage, and Viktor has been running around like a chicken with his head cut off to get both sets of paperwork complete. We are hoping to find out when our court date is today, the court date will essentially dictate the rest of our stay here, so keep your fingers crossed for a date as soon as possible so that we can come home soon. Well that is all for now, until next time…

A bit of catching up to do...

     We have been rather busy since my last update. On Friday Dave and I met up with Fran, Rick, and Kola, we actually caught up with them at the orphanage and they had the opportunity to meet our kids and we had the opportunity to meet Rita. She is a quiet but beautiful girl; I think that she will make a wonderful addition to the Rahn household. On Friday we spent another day outside, we played soccer and basketball again, had a snack, and just enjoyed each other’s company. These two are full of energy, for the 3 hours that we were there with them they went full steam ahead the entire time. I think that when we get home I am going to try and figure out a way to bottle up their energy and sell it; we could make a pretty penny off of it.

     On Friday we also determined what the names of the kids are going to be and how they will appear on their new birth certificates. Yakiv will be Jacob David Robertson, yes everyone there will be another David in the world, however I am not sure that I can handle two of them. Currently Jacob goes by the name Yashi, it is his nickname sort of like the Russian version of Jake. Tai’s name is going to be Taisiya Renee Robertson, her first name is pronounced Tie e see ya, but she goes by the nickname Tai (Tie ya). Dave and I tried to come up with another name for her, with thought about Teresa or Trisha, something that was similar to her name but different than her own, but we kept coming back to her original name. It is different and original, so we just changed the spelling from Russian to English and gave her my middle name.

     Saturday was much of the same, Dave and I slept in Saturday morning, spent the morning and early part of the afternoon being lazy. We went to the orphanage in the afternoon, and when we got there, we discovered that we were playing soccer again except this time Tai had assembled an entire team. When all was said and done there were about 8 kids and the 3 of us, Viktor included, we played soccer and volleyball until their happy heart’s content. We also had our first melt down of sorts, or rather a mix up in communication, Yashi and Tai have fallen in love with chewing gum. The only problem is that when the flavor is gone they spit it out and immediately want another piece, and on Saturday Dave told them no, that they could have another piece later…well that did not satisfy them and they got upset. Fortunately it only lasted about 20 minutes and with Viktor’s help they got over it. As a reward we gave them each a piece right before we left, I guess that when you never get chewing gum, it is quite the commodity when you do. Guess I know what to ask Santa for as stocking stuffers…

     Sunday I got up and made the daily trip to the market, we picked up a couple of small puzzles and a board game to play. Dave’s ankle needed a break so we decided to keep the kids inside, so we spent the day working puzzles, coloring, drawing, and playing a game similar to America’s Shoots and Ladders. The kids also discovered Dave’s lemonade in the backback, so Dave gave them his lemonade (he had put 2 of the crysal light lemonade packet in his water to make it extra tart, which is the way that he likes it). We fully expected to get the bitter sour face that most people get when consuming something that sour…nope not our kids, they loved it and drank the entire 20 oz bottle and asked for more. But I would rather it be crystal light lemonade than Coke or Pepsi.

     Today (Monday) we were up and at ‘em early. Viktor needed us to fill out some paperwork, hit the bank, the court house, and several other places. So we did not make it to the orphanage today, I know that the kids will be disappointed, but after all of the running around that we have done we are exhausted, and we want to make sure that the kids will have all of our energy and attention when we see them. So needless to say we will make it up to them tomorrow. We did get some of the paperwork started to get the kids passports, our Interpol checks have already come back and we have been cleared through them, and the committee meets tomorrow to determine if they will split up the family. Tai and Yashi are 2 of 7 children, and before anyone asks NO we are not coming home with all 7. They have 2 siblings that have aged out of the orphanage, 1 that is in another orphanage, then Tai and Yashi are numbers 4 and 5, and then they have 2 younger siblings that are still with their mother. The committee must meet to determine whether or not they will split Tai and Yashi up from the rest of the family, however considering the circumstances Viktor, nor the director of the orphanage think that it will be a problem. So things are moving along rather quickly, keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for a speedy process.

Well that is all for now, I will keep everyone up to speed as new information becomes available.

Love,

Dave, Heather, Tai, and Yashi

A day of running around and soccer!

Sorry that it has been a couple of days since I have written. We ran around like mad men yesterday trying to get paperwork notarized and filed with the appropriate individuals and since we do not have internet in our apartment it has been difficult to log on and keep everyone updated. We met the kids for the first on Wednesday and I am not sure who was more nervous...us or them, but once the formality of the meeting was over all of us settled down. When we left the orphanage Wednesday night Dave and I both said that we hope that they do not change their minds and we both agreed that we were more nervous about going back on Thursday than we were to meet them on Wednesday. After the morning and part of the afternoon was spent running around we went to the orphanage about 3 and all nervousness disappeared when we walked through the orphanage doors and Yakiv was yelling Papa and waving his arms emphatically before he bagan barreling down the hallway at full speed, he almost knocked over Dave, I am not sure who was more excited us or him. Yakiv led us upstairs, where they were having some sort of celebrations in which is and Taisiya were participating, they were excited to have us there and showed us off to everyone. When we were done there, we went back downstairs and showed the kids more pictures, had a snack, and then went outside for over an hour and played basketball and soccer...it felt really good to see the two of them smile. We played soccer, girls against the boys, with Viktor as the Keeper...and of course the girls won! It really felt good to play for no real reason at all except to play, I think that we as adults forget how to do that.

Taiya learned very quickly how to operate the camera and took pictures of EVERYTHING, we got photographs of everything from all of their friends to the sky (thank goodness for a digital camera!), but as long as they had fun that is all that matters. The tow of them have already started picking up on some English. On our first day there Taiya and Yakiv both showed us that they could count to ten in English and knew some other words like mother, father, brother, sister. But yesterday they picked up on thank you, your welcome, good bye, and tomorrow (I wish that I could pick up on Russian that quickly, I have only learned to say yes, no, hello and thank you). Rick, Fran, and Kola will be here around lunch time today and I am assuming that we will be headed to the orphanage sometime this afternoon. Can't wait to see what this afternon holds!

On the funnier side of things, there have been several new additions to the lessons that I have learned so far on this journey...coffee here is really gross, oh how I long for a cup of starbucks, the food has been fantastic and if Viktor keeps feeding me like he has been I will not be able to fit on the airplane for the ride home. I also know European women do not shave their legs...it is a pain in the neck to attempt to shave your legs in these showers! I think that I may need to take a weed wacker to my legs when I get home! Things here are also alot cheaper than they are back home, I am eyeing a new pair of Copa's, they are only $50 bucks here!
Well I think that is all for now, until next time!

We Meet The Kids

Dave and I had a day to ourselves, so we slept in late and they got up and went to St. Sophia’s, it is a beautiful 1,000 year old church. The frescoes inside were amazing, but they would not let you take pictures of them because it would destroy the integrity of the paintings, but I highly recommend to anyone visiting Kiev to make a trip to St. Sophia’s. After that we had lunch and waited on Viktor so that we could go and pick up our referral from the SDA. Soon after we headed to the train station.

Riding the train was a rather unique experience…it wasn’t bad minus the bathroom, and of course I forgot how Laura told me to turn on the water in the sink, so needless to stay I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to figure it out before I finally went and asked Viktor, then I remembered how Laura told me to turn it on.

We got to Berdyansk this morning. We had a great ride on the train, myself, Dave, and Viktor stayed up til midnight playing rummy…it was a nice way to pass the time, plus it was fun…minus the fact that Dave kept cheating. Once we got settled into the apartment we went over to the orphange and met Yakov and Taisya (I hope that I am spelling that correctly). In all honesty we were both nervous and apprehensive, we had no idea what to expect and we had no idea how the kids would react to us or how we would react to the kids, however it only took all of 5 minutes to decide that we would adopt them. Yakiv is 9 and loves to play soccer and he is quite the ham and Taisiya is 10 and loves to do ballet and play soccer as well. They are both in the 4^th grade and appear to happy healthy kids. The two of them were eager to look at the pictures that we brought and they were excited to show us the pictures that they had of themselves with their friends. Dave and I spent about 2 hours with the kids today and had a blast, we promised that we would go back tomorrow and this time bring a soccer ball so we can go outside and play, although I have a feeling that Dave and I are going to get beat by a 9 and 10 year old. We are eager to proceed from here and we hope that they agree to let us adopt them, but I can’t help but wonder how scared and nervous they must be, I know that if I were in their shoes I would be petrified. The two have been in the orphanage since they were 3 and 5 and we are the first family to meet them and it amazes me as to why, they are absolutely adorable and so full of life. We can’t wait to go back tomorrow!

We Have Heat!!

Today was a very good day, we got up early and met Viktor and walked to the State Department of Adoptions Building (SDA). The way there was quite the adventure, especially for someone who does not wear high heeled shoes. I discovered today that true cobblestone roads are designed to be walked on in anything else than flat soled shoes, but the good news is that I only did the weebly wobbly dance once (stop laughing Alisha), and I only twisted my ankle once. All in all I thought that it was a successful walk, however once we left the SDA I put my Crocs on and walked back to the apartment...I have filled my high heel wearing quota for the month.
At our meeting this morning with the SDA, we were there about an hour perusing through the different files. We found a brother and sister that we chose to meet in Berdyansk, they are 9 and 10 respectfully, and their names are Yakov and Taisia (I am not sure if that is the correct spelling, but it is close). So we will pick up our referal tomorrow afternoon and leave tomorrow evening to make the trek to Berdyansk via the train and we will meet the kids probably sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.
After our meeting we came back to the apartment and chilled out for several hours. Dave walked down and got McDonald's french fries, and believe it or not they were the best McDonald's fries that I have had in years...it was either that or I was just starving and didn't recognize the fact that they were gross. Rick says it is because they were fried in real beef fat and not the stuff that we have in the U.S., who knows but they were good.
We met up with Fran, Rick, Kola, and Viktor for dinner, of which I ate too much AGAIN...and to top it off I ate dessert, I tried some of Viktor's dessert and I ate most of mine. I have no idea what I ate but it was good. Then the five of us (Viktor went home) walked around Kiev for the ever elusive coffee pot for Rick, we still did not find one. We took some good pictures today and even got a self portrait of Rick (he was attempting to take our picture in front of the fountain, but instead got one of himself) that picture will be posted on Facebook later this week.
When we finally made it back to the apartment I was excited to discover that we have HEAT!!!! Whooohooo lets hear it for me not freezing my butt off tonight! Then to top off our evening Dave went for scenic tour of Kiev in search of toilet paper...he came back empty handed, but did happen to find 2 rolls that I overlooked in the cabinet...oops...he needed the excercise;-) Well until tomorrow...

We have made it!

Whoohoooo we have safely landed in the Ukraine!
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have made it to Kiev, and thankfully the journey was uneventful. I slept like the dead on the plane, but poor Dave was not so lucky. So needless to say he is currently passed out taking a nap while I am checking emails and writing the blog. We met up with Viktor and he was fantastic, got us to our apartment, discussed the process with us, and then took us on a short tour of the city. Luckily we are very close to downtown, so we are within walking distance of everything. He even took us to a great place to eat, the food was really good...and yes I ate chicken Kiev! Our apartment is on the 3 floor, so I told Dave that I have stairs that I can run on and burn off this excess energy AND to burn off what I ate for dinner.
The trip so far has been a good one, but I have learned a valuable lesson. Never, ever, ever, ever, put the crystal light packets into a bottle of carbonated water...it makes for a volcanic like eruption, everyone turns their head, and it makes a big mess. Lesson learned, I won't be doing that again.
After we go to the SDA in the morning I will give everyone an update. Until then:
See ya later alligator!

and the adventure begins...

Well as many of you may know, Dave and I started this journey a year ago. Although we hit a couple of speed bumps along the way, the road has finally lead to use leaving for the Ukraine. So after a very rough week, the house is clean, the furry children have been taken care of, the bags have been packed, and we have kissed our friends and family good-bye, now our journey to Ukraine has begun.
Dave and I are sitting in the airport and surprisingly he is behaving (I keep waiting for the pestering to begin, but I guess he is not bored enough yet). From here we head to JFK and then tonight we leave for the Ukraine...Thank goodness for things like Ambien and ear plugs, maybe with this two items I can tune him out...Love you Honey! Well until my next update...