Home!!!!!!

We made it home into Newport News Airport at 9:38 pm, Friday. Ohhhhhhh, what a wonderful site to see. Tim and Charlene Quiram along with our youngest Abby and their youngest Ethan standing there with balloon and flowers. God is Good!

On 08 Nov, we were able to get Erin's passport completed in Zaporizhzhya and caught the 7:30 pm train to Kiev. We arrived in Kiev at 6:00 am a little tired but excited to be almost finished. We were greeted by the Sense driver who took us, along with Victor, to a little apartment in downtown Kiev. We said our goodbyes to Victor and he headed home. Yulia, our project manager, stopped by at 9:00 am and we hit the road for Erin's med exam. It went smoothly at a local medical center. Erin had to get a Hep B shot which cost $75 usd. Bev recommends that families give their child some motrin or pain reliever prior to the med appointment in case they have to receive shots. Erin's arm hurt for a while. We got the med forms done then stopped by the Sense Offices for a few minutes. Then we were off to the Embassy. Yulia marched us right up to front of a very long line at the security gate since we had US passports. We went right in (Point: they do not allow cell phones inside so just leave it with your driver or project manager).

At the Embassy, we went to the "American Citizens Service Center" window and told them who we where. Yulia had already made our appointment so they were ready for us. We had already filled out most of the forms that Yuri gave us when we first got to Ukraine but some things we didn't know how to answer. The Embassy people where very nice and helped us as needed. We finished the paperwork and where out in about 45 minutes. We then had to wait for them to tell us our visa was ready from Erin. The reason you do not get it immediately is that Erin's picture had to be run through the national data base for approval. This could take only 4 hours but we were told it could take a day. So we where off to check on airline tickets during the wait.

Well, to make a long story longer, we waited with a lot of prayer and sure enough Yulia called to say the driver was on his way to pick us up to get Erin's visa. Gary arrived at the Embassy at 5:10 pm. They closed at 5:00 pm....But, he checked with security and the lady managing our package was still there and she let him in to pick it up. Good thing too as they where closed on Friday due to the US holiday. The embassy gave him the passport and a big envelope that must remain sealed and given to US customs upon arrival to America. Gary then headed to the travel agency and was able to get tickets via Ukraine Airlines through London Gatewick and Atlanta to home. We got up at 5:15 am in Kiev on Friday and hit the road for the airport.

At the airport, we checked in with passport control. They asked to see the court decree then stamped our passports and we were off. The flight was relatively pleasant but long (of course). We got into Atlanta to check into US customs at around 5:30 pm est. We must say that is was a very nice experience. Gary was very proud of is fellow Homeland Security employees as the Customs officers where very nice. The first gentleman at passport control was great and told Erin, "Welcome to the United States of America Erin. You are now a US citizen". She understood completely and just gave a great big smile. We were then directed to the main USCIS desk. We put Erin's envelope on one of 3 desks then waited about 15 minutes to be called forward. The officer was very nice. He told us that we needed to get Erin's social security number as soon as possible and that the formal USCIS approval package would get to us within 45 days. He then stamped a few things on Erin's passport/visa and congratulated Erin on becoming a US citizen and we where off to our connection. We would recommend that you have a minimum of a 2 hour layover at the airport where you check into customs. It took us about 75 minutes to get our luggage, through customs, recheck baggage and to our connecting flight. All while absolutely worn out.

Anyway, we all slept like rocks last night and are planning a little catch up rest today before starting the next phase of our lives with our new family.

We will continue to update on Erin's progress periodically.

To All: From the very bottom of our hearts we thank you all for your kind notes of encouragement, thoughts, and most of all your prayers. God's hand was so very evident during this entire process which start with the visit of 2 little girls last December. All of your help has been crucial to making this all happen.

Thank You!!!!

Miracle of Lights

Today we finished the process in the oblast of finalizing the birth certificate and getting Erin's passport. We are now at an internet cafe awaiting to take the overnight train to Kiev at 7:30pm. We weren't looking forward to the train ride but after thinking that we might have to take a 12hr. bus ride back, the train sounds wonderful! Yesterday was an awesome day of experiencing God's hand in our journey.
We left around 7:50am for the 21/2 hr. drive to the oblast in Zaporizhzhya yesterday and arrived to find out the director of the Vital Statistics wasn't in. Victor asked if we could go ahead and fill out the paper work and wait for her return. She was supposed to come by 1:00 but didn't arrive until almost 2:00. If we didn't have our signed permission to obtain a new birth certificate, then we would upset our whole schedule due to the American Embassey being closed on Friday. We finally were handed the paper work and ran to the taxi to ask if Vova could get us back to Berdanysk in time to get to their Vital Statistics before closing at 5:00pm. Vova didn't let us down and we arrived just after 4:00 but as we walked in we realized something was wrong. There were no lights on and the person in charge of helping us had a candle and told Victor that the lights weren't to come back on for 3 Hours! (this could have delayed us 3-5 days) Immediately, the lights turned on. As the lady looked, Beverly put her hands together as in prayer, looked up and said, thank you Lord! Victor then told us to keep praying because she said that if they didn't stay on she would not finish the birth certificate. We sat in the lobby and prayed for the Lord to KEEP THE LIGHTS ON. HE DID! We were able to get the new birth certificate and called the director to ask her to wait for us to come to the orphange to get our daughter. She said she would stay as long as we needed her to. It was an emotional goodbye for all of us. Erin, Vica, classmates, teachers and the director. The director gave us her awards and her transcripts. She also gave her a gift of a Ukrainian cookbook so that Erin could cook Ukrainain foods for us.
We haven't been successful in getting a flight out over the weekend but will definitely be heading home no latter than Monday afternoon.
Thank you again for your continued prayers.

Early Birthday Celebration for Victoria

(L to R: Dave, Kathie, Vika, Erin, Gary, Beverly, Nicky, Elliott, & Oles the facilitator)



We spent Friday climbing stairs at the hotel as the power was out from 8-4. Evidently this was a city shut down for some reason. We even spied a generator running outside a local shop so they were prepared. Being on the 11th floor of the hotel has given us a wonderful view of the Sea of Azov and of a lighthouse on a hill beside which sits the orphanage. On Friday, by the 2nd trip up the stairs, we might have considered trading the view. It did give us some exercise after all the great food we are eating and thankful for the small dark elevator when it’s working.

Our taxi driver, Vova has been wonderful and at his suggestion we are now sending the 4 children in the taxi each way instead of paying round trip. Elliot who turns 16 tomorrow is very responsible and they all seem to have the skills to get around town on their own. Actually, we have told Erin what we need and she either translates when Vova picks us up or she calls him for us. She has also helped us shop and order our meals.

We were invited to lunch with the director of the orphanage on Saturday and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Afterward she gave us a tour of the classrooms and shared with us areas she would like to get help improving. We saw the rooms were very clean and orderly yet sparse in their content. There is an Internet room that one prior family who adopted has kept running although due to some boys getting in without permission and using all the minutes up for the month, the Internet is only used under supervision. Other concerns were broken windows, a leaky roof and mold in the auditorium, lack of chalkboards that were usable and of course the toilets. (Holes in the ground with footmarks on which to stand) We also discussed things that could be done to help with the English class such as sending games to help teach facts about the US and English as well as other teaching aides. We promised to get the word to others and to see what we could each do to help. The donation that we gave with the help of our friends will be used to improve the medical area. They will take a storage area and open it up into the medical area and use it to give the children treatments that build up their immunities.

Today we celebrated Victoria’s 13th birthday early (December 16th). We surprised her with a cake and gifts at the café during our afternoon meal. Later the children were treated to a movie with Oles. We think it was an American movie, which most are. It will be funny for them to hear the real actor’s voices when they come to the states instead of the dubbed Russian ones.

Victor returns tomorrow after an all night bus ride from Kiev. We will be meeting at 7:30 am and then off and running to get the birth certificate and passport completed and on our way to Kiev if everything goes well by Wednesday. We have an appointment with the American Embassy on Thursday so the schedule might make it hard for us to blog. Gary also noticed today that all his emails where gone off the Cox server. Might be that someone at home opened up his Outlook and downloaded it by mistake or something is going on with the Cox system. Who knows? So once again, if you sent an email recently (03-05 Nov) and didn’t get a response from him please send it again. Thanks.

We covet your continued prayers through the days that follow and we once again give thanks for the Lords protection and care through this remarkable experience. (Erin has faith. Her suitcase has been packed for the last two days!)

Studying English

On Tuesday we received permission to allow the girls to have a night away and to stay with us at the hotel. (We would recommend bringing PJ’s as they are difficult to find for the children. - You can purchase shoes, coats, jeans, warm-up suits, and sweaters here.)
They made up the sofa sleeper in our suite (Erin showed us how it worked) and we watched a purchased movie in Russian with English subtitles. We munched on sunflower-seeds (very available here as you are surrounded by fields on your drive in.) The girl’s favorite things here at the hotel are eating in the café (they love the ice-cream) and taking bubble baths in our over-sized bathtub.

After breakfast on Wednesday, we ventured to a local bookstore to find English books for the girls. Erin was able to work with the store clerk to determine which books would be helpful for her. She is able to read from her school English 8 book to us but we aren’t sure how much comprehension follows the reading. She does very well at ordering and communicating for her parents whenever we need her help. She is one smart cookie! She and Victoria found several books to help them and we also purchased a couple of posters for her. One of the posters has the National Anthem of Ukraine and the other is a detailed map of the country with facts included. We spent much of the afternoon working on the new workbooks. The one problem they have to work on is the addition of articles- they aren’t used in speaking Russian so when and where to add them is confusing. We were impressed on how long and how hard they chose to work on the new books. We hope this determination will help Erin as she adjust to her new life.

For those who will follow us here is a list of items to include in your packing that have been helpful to us:
• Bring a candle. The air quality is very difficult to get used to here with smoking common and strange odors coming from the vent in the bathroom.
• Toilet paper is available of varying degrees of quality but bringing some Charmin to go has been helpful. The typical paper is the quality of crate paper. (There is a 24-hour grocery on the first floor of the mall here) Women’s supplies and other necessities are available there. We commonly pick up a couple 5-7 liter bottles of water which last the two of us about 5 days- (even the locals don’t drink the water here). Snacks- fruit and sweets are very available. Juice is also plentiful with many great choices. Cheese and sausage and yogurt make great snacks as well.
• Books to read, a DVD-or computer that plays them, easy to teach games for the children. (UNO, cards, BINGO…)
• Jeans are good to wear but all dark colors. Men especially wear dark colors. Wearing layers if it’s cold- sweaters, (men and women) with T-shirts under them.
• Tennis shoes are ok- but comfortable black slip-ons for men and boots for women are very common. Hats are available and commonly worn. (not ball caps)
• Bring hand sanitizer; it isn’t available here.

Hope these suggestions help.

Thank you again for your encouragement and prayers as we continue towards the final steps of our journey.