Wednesday gathering...

If you are interested in connecting with us on Wednesday, please call Mike / Paula on cell. We are meeting at 6 pm at the Uhrigs house.

Finally Home

Hello All,

Paula and the girls came in last night on the 11:39 flight from Chicago. There was quite a crew there waiting for them and it was AWESOME. Thanks to all who came to share in their homecoming. Everyone was taking pictures except for me so, I will have to collect some photos from others to post on the site.
We are trying to plan a get together at the Uhrigs' home for tonight, Wednesday. I will post the time and where as soon as I have more details. This is really great timing because we will get to spend the holiday with the girls and I don't have to work all of it. There are still things that need to be done at home to put everything where it goes but, we will press on.

Thanks again to everyone for their support. We look forward to letting the girls meet everyone. A funny thing about last night was that most all of our parents were there. My mom and stepdad, Paula's mom and stepdad, Paula's dad...I was telling the girls...and this is your grandpa, and this is your grandpa, and this is your grandma, and this is your grandma...I'll bet that was quite confusing to them and anyone else I am sure.

Again, I will post time and place for the gathering tonight. I am sure there will be many over the next months.

Thankful before Thanksgiving

I just talked to Paula in Chicago. Her new flight number is: United 7512 and arrives @ 11:39 PM. Remember that this is the NEW airport terminal and has a different exit. I haven't been there so, I will probably go a little early to be sure to be in the right spot.

See you there if you like and thanks for being a part of our journey.

Mike

Delayed...

If you are following for Paula's arrival - Her flight is delayed from Frankfurt to Chicago. A little thing like the rudder on the plane not working right caused them to return to Frankfurt after takeoff. Looking ahead at the United flights, this means that she will miss her connecting flight as well as the next scheduled flight to Indy. If all goes as it looks by the scheduled flights, I think it will be likely that she will be on a flight that will arrive closer to 10:00 PM.

I will update all as soon as I know. Paula is calling me from Chicago. I tried to call ahead to make the changes for her but, they wouldn't let me. Lufthansa didn't even know that their flight was delayed. I told her that not only did their web site tell me so but, I talked to a passenger...the wonder of technology but, some still miss the wave.

Almost there...

Hi All,

I am in the process of confirming Paula and the girls return flight home for TUESDAY!!! That's AWESOME that we get them home a day earlier than expected. It looks as though they will be arriving in Indy from Chicago @ 6:29 PM via United Airlines. We are very excited to get them back in time for Thanksgiving. I have talked to several that would like to greet them home at the airport and I will make sure that the word gets out.

Thanks for all you've done in your thoughts, prayers, and deeds,

Mike

7th Inning Stretch

Hello All,

Looks like we are in the final stretch. I received info today that Paula and the girls will be heading back to Kiev this weekend plan to be at the US Embassy on Monday. She said that they are sending some information ahead of them to the Embassy so that they have time to review in hopes of taking less time when they get there. Looks like we are on track to get them back on Wednesday night. I will update the time of arrival as soon as I have confirmation.

Want to come to meet them at the airport with us? Please email me at Mcoleman@integrity-ma.com and I will be sure to pass their information to you. I will post it on the blog but, will be sure that you get the info as well. We are VERY excited and can't wait to see them and hold them in our arms.

Blessings,

Mike

New Pics Added

Hello All,

I finally added more pictures. There are a few video's as well. I am working on adding the tags but, there are so many that it will take me a little while. The new link to the right should take you to a slideshow of all of the pics.

Enjoy,

Mike

A big apology from Paula

Ok. I feel that I owe a lot of you an apology. After eating lunch with the Greutman's a couple of days ago, I realize that some of you were waiting on a long horror story about the SDA appointment. The Greutman's informed me of their long and painful process during their first adoption in Ukraine. They said that it took them a week to complete everything and that they didn't want to give them the children that they were requesting and that even when they agreed to give them those children, that their files could not be found. Well, I have to tell you, that was not the case at all for our trip. We walked into the office, they had the files of our girls on the desk and ready to go, they asked us a few questions, and that was it. I am not kidding. That was it. They congratulated us and we were off and finished. We left on a train the same night for Zapporizhia. After hearing of the devistating journey that the Greutman's had last time, I felt so bad not to have included the information about our appointment in our blog. Now I realize why everyone was asking how everything was going. I had no idea that it was such a bad journey for so many of you.
P.S. Kristy Greutman said that she dreaded returning for this adoption because of the SDA, but she was SO relieved that the changes in the adoption process have improved. She said that she was sick to her stomach on the morning of the appointment. She could not believe how wonderful and easy the process is now. The reorganization had done wonders. See, there has been some progress. So, for any of you returning again, you should have a better trip the next time! ;)

While I sit here in St. Petersburg, Russia (1:14am), I am feeling so many feelings. I am grateful that this process is nearly over. I am thankful for my friends and family that are so wonderful. I am humbled that so many of you are praying for us. I am relieved that the process has gone so smoothly. I am very aware that I have a lot of work ahead of me. I want each and every one of you to know how much I love you and am grateful for your thoughts, prayers, emails and comments. The longer that I am gone, the more aware I am of how much your friendships mean to me. Thank you all for being my friend. May God bless you all! I love you! :)

Till there is more for me to post, know that I am praying for you all!

With love, now and forever!
Paula K

Mike and the boys are home...yea...

Mike and the boys got home yesterday and have slept a lot and are trying to catch up. The funniest thing is trying to listen to Americans. I think I keep trying to listen through a Ukrainian accent but, it isn't there. I will have pictures going soon now that I am home.

Mike

This is my first chance to update in a while and I do not have much time. I am in Kiev now...I will be able to update more in a couple of days. I will let you know of all of our progress. I will be back in Zap on the 18th....love to you all. Thanks for your prayers.
Paula K

Perspective...

If there is one thing that this experience has given me, it is Perspective.

Look at our children:

I had this experience with Lake about a month ago in that one day I realized that he was growing into a young man.  I remember looking at him and thinking WOW..when did you get to be this young man sitting next to me.   Then, when you see your kids every day, you don't realize the changes as much I think but, I saw Vika for the first time in almost 3 years and WOW, she looks a lot different.  I remember this little girl that was kind of overweight but, now she is much taller and thinner.  Not that I would love her any differently but, what a change.  I will post more pics later of all of our adventures but, this is one of the things that sticks out to me.  It makes me appreciate the days that I have with my children and the future days to come with all of my children.  They are changing and growing so fast.  It is awesome to see them grow to become young men and women.

Look at our relationships:

When we began hosting exchange students a few years ago, we wanted to learn a little bit of the Russian language and culture while getting to know these kids from other countries.  I never expected that I would see them in their own homes and that their families would host us for a short period of time.  Daniel and Katya's family have shown us such hospitality that it is amazing to me.  This has been an amzaing experience of serendipity that God has blessed us with.  While these families are allowing us to stay with them we are literaly saving hundreds of dollars a day.  The drive from Zapporyzia was about 4-5 hours.  Katya's dad drove to get us and then turned around to take us back to his home.  While we can't do anything to further our process in adoption, we would have been sitting in an apartment in either Zap. or Kiev and paying about $100 / day for the apartment, let alone anything else we would have done like eat.
Today, we are in Katya's home and the boys are playing with her brother.  Her grandmother made us a wonderful breakfast and I am sure we will spend the entire weekend as if we are part of their family.  
What a blessing it has been to have these young people in our lives and in our homes.  As I said, I never expected such a return of hospitality.  This will be a reminder to me to keep my relationships close and give people the unexpected love and relationship that I am receiving from these families.

Look at our country:
Visiting Ukraine has given me a lot of perspective related to our country.  There are a lot of things that we can all think of to make better or that we think are wrong but, there is a lot right also.  Ukraine has some very rich history, and if you know me, I love history.  It also seems to be in the throws of a young democracy.  We have been taught that Communism is bad and socialism is bad but, there are several people here who believe they had a better life and that more people had a better life under communism and, if they had a choice, would go back to it.  Most people seem to live in apartment buildings here that I would call a flat I guess.  Single level dwelling with multiple rooms.  The amazing thing is that the outside of these buildings and the area around them is dirty and a little scary at night to the visitor.  There are two doors that go into the apartment.  First you have to go into the locked door to get into the building and then there is the outer door into the apartment.  Then, there is the inner door and it has multiple locks.  The inside can be whatever the family makes it to be.  The first apartment we were in wasn't s0 nice but, it was liveable.  The second one for just $10 more per night was much nicer.  Again, kind of scary on the outside but, pretty nice on the inside.  We have so many things that we take for granted.  I am sure that there are places in America that are like what I see here in the inner cities but, this seems to be everywhere and in every city that we have passed through.  There seems to be a lot of looking and funny faces at this huge American that people see but, everyone has been very nice to us.

Pics to come soon....

Mike

The Day After

Well, that was fun (not really, but I lack other words).  Our court time was supposed to be at 2:30pm, but we received a phone call at 8:30am and were told that our time had been moved up to 10am.  Now, let's just give you a picture of what this looked like: I was sitting and eating a warm breakfast and everyone else was sleeping in to be well rested for the day that was to come, the phone call comes and it turns my day from total peace and calm to "holy cow, how are we gonna accomplish everything that we need to do in only 1 1/2 hours".  I quickly woke everyone up.  We all threw on clothes and brushed out teeth and ran around the apartment like crazed people trying to get something to eat and look amazing for the judge.  Now, let me add to the that our translator, also named Natasha, was at the train station trying to obtain tickets for her trip back to Kiev later that day.  So, she was scrambling around tying to get a taxi and get back to the apartment so that she could change her clothes and pick up all of the paperwork that she need for the courts.  So, then we had to get to the orphanage and get all three girls ready.  Larissa, the orphanage director had to go to court with us.  This messed up her schedule too, so we had to wait on her for 20 minutes to be ready to leave....grrr...but all worked out fine and we were at the court at 9:59ish....time to spare ;)

Court was a unique experience that I will never forget (though I think that I would like to).  I'll let Mike talk more about that in another addition to the blog ;)  He was finding it interesting to get asked pressing questions from two people at once, oh yeah, in a foreign language.  Anyway, the short version of the stoy is this: WE WERE APPROVED!  YEAH!!!!  :)  :)  :)  Now there is a mandatory waiting period so that we can change our minds if we want to (yeah, right!) and the court can change their minds too....anyway, with all of that done, we traveled back to the orphange and ate lunch with the girls before we left for our next part of the journey.  

Last night we drove to Nikoliev, Ukraine for the weekend.  We are visiting with Katya (our exchange student from last year).  There is nothing we can do regarding the adoption till next week, so we decided to spend the weekend with her.  That should be a bit more relaxing than what we have done the past couple of weeks, huh!

So, next week it is back to Kiev.  We have to travel to the embassy to finish a bit more paperwork then the boys will all be returning home on the 6th of November (speaking as a wife and mom, I believe that will be a happy day for them...this country functions a lot differently than ours...and we have all grown to appreciate the motto "Keep America Beautiful" in a whole new way!)

Ok...two more pressing subjects.  I keep getting requests for two things: how to join and comment on the blog, and clothing sizes for the girls.

So, first off, the blog thing:
to comment on the blog, you must first join it.  You have to look on the right side panel for the link "join this blog".  It will ask for your email and a password (I think)...after you join, you can comment by clicking the link "comment on this blog".  I think that is all that it takes.  If that doesn't work for any of you, just let me know and I will find out more specifics.   (I am not a computer efficianato, so I will have to ask someone smarter than me at computers, hint to Mike, to give you all more detail)

And, the second matter of clothing:
The most pressing is shoes.  We purchased one pair of shoes for all of the girls to travel home in.  Their sizes are 29, 35, and 36 which convert to the following
Anya wears a girls size 11 1/2
Vika wears a ladies size 6
Natasha wears a girls size 3 or ladies 5 (same size)

Thank you so much to all of your for your support and prayers.  We are feeling them!  

Now, we are going to try and add pictures...wish me luck ;)

Love to all of you!!!!

The day before court

The last few days have been quite interesting. Today is the first day that I have been able to get to the internet. I hope to inform you of all of the important details and then I will give you more information in 2 days once we are at a better computer.

We have our official court date tomorrow. This was unbelievable fast! So, please pray for us at 2:30 this time. The kids will need your prayers too, as I have heard that it is quite an interesting affair in the courts for them...the judge can get a bit scary and mean :(

Well, the girls are doing great. I am sure that they are highly confused right now (much like their parents) about this adventure. It is hard to tell what they are feeling. I just know that I get REALLY big hugs each time I enter the orphanage. Anya was sitting on my lap two days ago in a taxi, when we returned to the orphanage, she refused to get off of my lap saying that she wanted to stay with her Mama....HOW CUTE!!!!! (P.S. today when I saw her, she had little pig tails in her hair...oh, that stole my heart!)

We will be leaving for Nikoliev tomorrow night for the weekend since business doesn't progress on the weekends. We are going to visit Katya's family and then be in Kiev EARLY on Tuesday morning to finalize all of the paperwork that Mike needs to complete at the embassy before he and the boys leave on the 6th.

P.S. I believe that our boys, Lake and Chase, are beginning to appreciate home ;) They have been wonderful and I am sure that they are glad that they got to experience this, but there is no place like home!

Again, please keep us in your prayers...tomorrow is the hardest day that we will have through all of this. We are thinking of you all often. We covet your prayers!!!!!

I will update the site with pictures in a couple of days...thank you for your patience!

Much love to you all.

GO GO GO FAST FAST FAST....

Hello to all. This is Mike with another installment of our journey. We arrived in Kiev and had a wonderful adventure in the airport. You can see me for details when I get home in a few weeks but, some souveniers should be mailed and NOT put in your checked bag. I am a very fortunate individual needless to say.

Other than that we have had some bad news. We had our appointment with the SDA yesterday and all went very quickly. Jenya, the 10 year old boy, isn't available for adoption until the end of January. We were told that he was immediatley available but, when they looked for his file, they discovered that he wasn't. We were given the wrong information concerning him and everyone was shocked that this was the case. We, of course, are trying to do everything we can but, there are rules to follow and speeding up his process, even for only a few months of waiting would be considered criminal to them. TRUST ME, I don't want to go anywhere near that issue.

Good news: We travelled by train thru the night last night to arrive in Zapporyzia (SP?) this morning at 6:30 am. We got to our flat and quickly went to the orphanage. It was awesome...as we were walking in Vika spotted us as we were walking thru the courtyard. I wish I would have had my camera on to see her runnning to Paula yelling "Ma Ma"...It was quite awesome. We were able to spend a little time with all 3 of the girls today and then off to get notaries and inspectors, and paperwork and ....HURRY...Fast...Fast....Drive REALLY FAST...(They park on sidewalks, drive the wrong way down streets, drive really fast, speak a totally different and strange language...) I hope to go back to the orphanage tomorrow and see the kids more and find Jenya to spend time with him.

We are really tired but, VERY EXCITED. We are off to get some rest. As always, we may not be able to check email very often but, look forward to sharing the next installment of our adventure.

The Journey Continues...

Hello to all,

We will be in Keiv tomorrow, Wednesday, at approximately 1:30 PM (Ukraine time) with our first meeting with the Ukrainian SDA on Thursday. Then, we will travel to see the girls on a very long train ride. How exciting...and tiring at the same time. I haven´t fully adjusted to the time difference but, all in good stride.

More later,

Mike

The Night Before we Leave

Tonight is the last night that I can get stuff done before I leave. Hmmmm...I think I've decided that it's just not all going to get done :( But, it's okay. These are the times when we figure out what is really important.

Our plane leave tomorrow morning around 11am, so please pray for our travel safety. We will be in Spain visiting Daniel (our exchange student from the year before last). We will try to add some pictures from that part of the trip too.

We will arrive in Ukraine on the 22nd of October and our first official meeting is on the 23rd. We will not actually get to see the girls until around Oct. 27th. Hopefully we can upload the video of when they actually see us for the first time.

We are so excited about this adventure and thank all of you for your ongoing support and prayers. We could not do this without your love and encouragement! Your the best :)

More later!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Well, we are T minus 3 days and counting...I can't believe it. After all of this time (over 2 1/2 years) we are finally getting ready to go get our daughters.

I will blog more as the time grows near...and as often as I can through all of the travels that we are about to undertake.

Please pray for our family's safety and that God travels before us with His infinite provisions.

Thanks for your support!

From our growing family,
Paula K Coleman