Moore Family Adoption

Need to recognize some people who have helped us so much...sorry if this embarrasses anyone.  Our translators:  Alina, Sonya, Zina - we've spoken to our kids through you...huge thanks!! Our messengers:  Dave and Jeanne Ritzman, who spoke with our kids face to face and passed such an important message. Our instructors:  Chris and Alesia, Roman and Jennifer...huge, huge thanks.  I feel we know our way around Kiev and we're not even there yet. The bloggers:  too many to mention...so good, and so interesting to follow The Guides and Helpers:  Amber, Judy and Zina (ECAS) The Dossier Heroes:  Dr. Reichel, Dr. Riley, Dana at Edina Realty, Don (Dave's Boss), John (our accountant) The USCIS:  fastest turnaround time I've seen in blogs The introducers:  Jeff (long time closed friend), and Petra from ECAS.  This whole program was not even on our radar until we got an email from Jeff last summer.  Petra for being so helpful with g...

Nellie and I did a dry run pack last night, to effectively pack all we need in four suitcases.   Now packed, we're not unpacking them, which is good.  Nice to have some of our stuff done.  We are fortunate in that three other families will be in Kiev when we are, so we are bringing some board games, such as Dominion and Stone Age.  Stone age is very visual and could be played with non-English speakers.  We are also bringing our Wii. We are busy gathering a huge medicine chest, most of which I'm sure we won't use.    After learning from the Haak's about the amount of walking, all four of the Moore Kiev travelers got new shoes.  We also bought new shoes for Anya and Artium, as well as clothes.  I've learned from other blogs that shoes in Kiev are very expensive, north of $100.00 a pair.  They need Target in Kiev. Nellie and I each have three novels to read.  We are anticipating some downtime.  We are loading up on movies...

Thanks to Chris Haak on the referral to Golden Rule Travel in Kansas.  A firm of believers who really deliver service and expertise.  I called Shawna in Kansas and they understood all the concerns about iffy return dates, concerns about changing ticket fees, etc.  So on Shawna's recommendation, based on something they do all the time now, we booked one way tickets to Kiev, and Shawna will handle all of our return bookings, one way, for fares that are less than 1/2 of the round trip fares I've been seeing on Expeida, Orbitz, etc.  I feel really well taken care of.  They also encourage you to call back anytime with questions or concerns.  Even the fees for the adopted children will be less than 1/2 the cost of the fees on expedia.  It feels good having someone who works with this all the time handle the unknown.  Great service so far. Golden Rule travel is for missionary organizations, adoptions, and other humanitarian reasons for travel....

Praise the Lord!!!  Just got the call from Judy.  Our appointment is set for April 6th, 2011.  Nellie and I are flying very high right now.  We will soon see our children!!  Lots of stuff to plan now, but thanks to the advice of other families, we feel we are in a good place and ready for travel. 

Before Anya visited, I ordered Pimsleur's Ukrainian, a 16 part verbal learning course that I caught onto pretty good.  I was ready for Anya, who spoke, mostly Russian.  Doh!  But she knew some of the Ukrainian terms, which we used interactively.  So anticipating Russian as the common language, I ordered a highly recommended book with 2 CD set.  Wrong decision.  It is not simple, starts you right out with verb and noun tenses, etc.  I did learn Cyrillic nicely, though, so I can sound out the words, even though I won't know what most mean.  However, I will be able to spot Rostik's sign when I see it, so that may justify the expense of the book.  I'll use my Ukrainian to ask if people speak any English, and lean on the translators for the rest.  I've given up on the book, and will instead focus on learning simple Russian phrases ECAS gave to us. Speaking of ECAS, I find myself battling calling them, wondering what is up with the d...

I really thank God for work, because if I didn't have a lot of work to do, the excitement of what is coming would be overwhelming.  It is a comfort knowing a family is already in Kiev, seeing our children along with children other families are waiting to adopt.  The waiting for the call from SDA is very tough, though.  It is hard not to compare someone else's timeline with your timeline.  You expect the wait is nearly over, but it could take longer for your call to come.  But we continue to pray and hope for that call to come, because knowing is so much easier than not knowing.  My employer and our daycare parents are stuck with us in this limbo, not knowing.  So it is tough, but God gives grace and patience.

I have been reading Parenting the Hurt Child by Gregory Keck and Regina Kupecky. As Dave mentioned in an earlier blog, we have learned that parenting an adopted (hurt) child will not be the same as parenting biological children. There will be hurts that will take a great deal of patience and time to heal. Some of the hurts we may not even know about for some time. The healing for our children will be a process that could take years. With God's grace and help we will love them through the good and difficult times. With prayer we will overcome the pain and challenges that we will all face. I am thankful for the wisdom of these authors and the experiences that have been shared through their books. I am so glad to have read this book ahead of time, so that I can pray more specifically for the needs of our children. It is good to know what kinds of things to expect. I look so forward to bringing them home and beginning the loving process. I am currently making them afghans th...

I found in one of our comments another family is pursuing adoption from the orphanage Anya and Artium are at, and the fact that their timeline is so similar to ours it is, well pretty interesting.  I just read on their blog of another family that hosted two children that found out another family in Ukraine adopted the children.  We can relate.  Nellie and I and ECAS (they are wonderful) pushed every sane boundary known to man, and the USCIS, via prayer from many, got us a very quick turnaround.  We then got our dossier in by breakneck speed....why?  Because Anya and Artium have been open for adoption in Ukraine all this time.  I do think Anya and Artium are coming home, though, regardless.  The photo's I've posted are but a sample of the kind of fun Anya had here.  She meshed with us...she also drove us nuts, but the odd thing was, even in that, I found her endearing.  She has moments I was totally  unprepared for.  Well, good boo...