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We finally made it home last night after an exhausting day of travel!

In the Airport in Kiev at 4am ready to go

On a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany, we met another couple on their way home after adopting this little boy

On US soil rushing to make our connecting flight to the Noke

Re-united at Roanoke airport... many very happy tears

HOME!

A little Wii?

late into the night...

I guess this is our last post into this blog... what an incredible journey this has been. Thank you all for the prayers and support.. we couldn't have done this without you. We are going to put together a video of our journey so we can present it to our church so keep a lookout out for it on facebook.

Love Love

DONE!

We are finally finished and have everything we need to board the plane!!! As soon as we land and Stas steps on US soil, he officially becomes a US citizen!!!

Outside the US Embassy after we received Stas' US Visa

Flight leaves at 5:30am tomorrow morning then a 5 hour layover in Frankfort then a quick stop in Philly and finally home to the Noke at 7:15pm. Thanks for all the prayers and support - can't wait to get home!

Saying Goodbye to Grandparents

Wednesday night - We finished getting the final piece of the puzzle which was Stas' passport, and then we headed over to say goodbye to the grandparents.. not really looking forward to the visit as we were certain it would be an emotional night for all. We arrived to find grandma  waiting outside for us. She had been cooking all day. They have a small house with an outside area where they grow their own grapes and vegetables. Also had about a dozen chickens and a dog, cat and turtle.

this very mature grape vine covered the entrance into the home

puppy dog... very friendly

Me and Grandpa - although he looks sad, he was quite happy and proud to show me his house

turtle? maybe for turtle soup later??

fresh eggs every morning..

Allena and the kitty..

We were warmly greeted into their home and they were very happy to see us. Grandma had been cooking all day and quickly got us started into the first course of soup (Boursch). Then she brought out the fresh vegetables, potato dumplings, stuffed peppers, sausage etc... We've been eating in the "U" for almost 4 weeks now and this was by far the best meal wehave had.

Grandpa wanted to toast us and he pulled out the cognac and did three quick toasts to family, safe travel and health... apparently a Ukraine custom to toast three times. Darcy made the mistake of only taking half the shot on the first one and they quickly told her that if you leave any in the glass, it means tears. After we polished off the cognac, grandpa pulled out his homemade wine he made from his grapes.. this was a sweet wine I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked, but being the polite guest, I finished every glass grandpa poured for me.  The supply seemed endless!

For a man that says he doesn't drink, he sure fooled me...

We then met Stas's cousin Lena. She is at the University and 20 years old studying psychology and living at the grandparents house during the week while she attends classes. Her parents (Stas's aunt and uncle) live 30 minutes away, so Lena spends a lot of time at the grandparents. She is beautiful,very sweet and has a great relationship with Stas and Allena... 

All in all, it was an excellent meal and we felt very welcomed. They seemed very "Italian" to us as they continued to refill our plates and top off our wine .  They could not have bben more kind, hospitable or loving!

Our new 'extended' family

Once the meal was over,  the harder conversations began. Grandma wanted to know if we would come back for Allena and our interpreter tried to explain  just how that would work Allena would have to be put into the system for a year as an orphan but the grandparents could maintain custody of her until they were no longer able. At any point after that year, we could in theory, come back and adopt her. They also wanted to know if we would come back to Ukraine to see Stas...We said to pray for good fortune for us, and God-willing, we would love to come back for a visit.

Fortunately, it got too dark for us to go to the cemetery to visit the dad's grave. I'm pretty sure this was more for grandparents benefit anyway, and not for Stas', as he did not appear eager to go.

We then talked about Skype and how Stas and Allena  could keep in touch over the internet. After they observed our skype video chats with with Kayla and Ashley, they seemed excited to have such an opportunity to stay in touch...We are currently trying to figure out a way to help them get a laptop so we can make this happen,, it seems a little crazy to split these two up..

So after 5 hours of eating, drinking and talking, it was time for us to go. Unexpectedly, they wanted to go to the train station to say goodbye. 

at the train station waiting on the train... lots of tears

Stas had pretty much checked out while grandma and grandpa had tears running down their faces. I guess after so many tragedies in his life, this was the best way he knew how to deal with it.. 

A brutal goodbye, grandma and grandpa walking by the side of the train, waving, crying and certainly regretting their decision to ever let Stas go. As we later asked Stas about the difficulty of this day and who he will  miss, he never mentioned his grandparents or parents or even friends- but only his sister, Allena.

After another all night train ride, (our 4th!), we arrived in Kiev the next morning at 10am, ready to go to work.  We headed to the American Embassy for our adoption appointment  and the meeting went very smoothly. We have one more interview tomorrow at 2pm and a medical appointment for Stas and then we are released to come back to America. Flight leaves at 5am Saturday morning and arrives in Roanoke at 7:17pm Saturday night. This chapter is almost over, but certainly our story with our new son is just beginning...can't wait to get back to America.

WE HAVE STAS!!!

Another crazy day or two... it's now Thursday and we are in Kiev and I'll try to recap what has happened the last two days - quite the emotional roller coaster...


Tuesday night we had dinner with two other couples in the adoption process both finishing up there first visit here. We really enjoyed getting to know them as we have a special bond

Dinner Tuesday night in Kherson

Wednesday - We hit the ground running once again going from the passport office to the lawyers office to the courthouse back to the passport office then to the tax office and by 3pm, we still hadn't received the passport which was a little concerning because everything was hinging on this. We decided to try to save a little time and go pick up Stas at the orphanage and sign all the release papers and say our final goodbyes. We unfortunately only had an hour there, but did get a few pictures..

Stas and his buddies..

Our new buddies Jamie and Kelly with their soon to be daughter Masha

Roma and Kola

Vova Jacobsen

When Stas went to Italy this summer, he picked up a backpack and some clothes. The orphanage allowed him to bring that back to America with him... we thought he might have had Kola in there

In the car, leaving the orphanage

goodbye orphanage!

I did get to see Elyi and a couple of the other older boys but they were in the middle of soccer practice so we couldn't talk for long.. just a quick hug and hello.  It wasn't that sad leaving the orphanage as everyone seemed pretty happy for Stas and knew that he was heading for a better life.

Once we picked up Stas, we rushed back to the passport office, paid our $600 expediting fee (also known as a bribe) and got the passport just at 5:00 pm before the office closed.

Next up was dinner with the grandparents and that deserves it's own blog...

Round 2

Good day today. After a long train ride (better than the first, not as good as the second), we hit the ground running with Tonya. We went and got  Stas's original birth certificate, then to another office to have it changed, then to another office to get something else done to it... finally at the end of the day, made it to the passport office where they said we will be issued the "old" style passport and we can pick it up tomorrow!!! We then went to the train station to buy our tickets to get back to Kiev for tomorrow night.

Stas was very excited to see us again and happy to be running around with us getting all the paperwork filled out. We then took him to the grocery store and stocked up on candy, chips and coke so he could have a little celebration with his care group tonight as tonight will be his last night in the orphanage. 

Stas in his school uniform sporting a new hair cut and nice pair of italian shoes - looking good boy!

Tomorrow, after we pick up the passport, we are scheduled to have an early dinner with the grandparents. That will most likely be another sad day but hopefully, grandparents will be happy for Stas and his new life. We also will try to make sure we get the communication lined up with Skype so they understand how that works. We didn't spend anytime at the orphanage today so we didn't get to see our other favorites. Hopefully tomorrow we'll spend at least an hour or two so we can say our goodbyes...

On our way to dinner now with a couple from Atlanta and another one from California both with New Horizons adopting out of our orphanage...It has been great fun getting to have dinner with other couples (English!!) and hearing their stories. Please pray all goes as we expect and hope tomorrow.
Love

Travelling on 911

A little cautious about flying on 911 but coming out of Roanoke, it was fairly easy. Left the house at 4:00 am Sunday morning I was randomly selected in Roanoke for the full body pat down. Looking back, I may have been profiled. I later found out that wearing a T-shirt that says "Running Sucks" or any shirt that has a derogatory comment is a target for the TSA... lesson learned.

We had a 10 hour layover in Chicago that we were dreading but it turned out to be the best part of the trip. Kerry picked us up and took us back to Lake Forrest to hang out for the afternoon... thank you thank you Kennings.

Arrived in Kiev finally Monday around 4:00pm made it thru customs without incident. It certainly is a little easier and less threatening after being here once before. We then got dropped of with another couple that is on their second adoption and got to hear all their stories. It seems our timing was a bit off on our last trip as we were the only ones here. Tonight, we had dinner with 2 American families and we were able to meet the group that is here to interview for the hosting programs this winter.

Nicole from NC on the team interviewing orphans at 10 different orphanages

Brian and Mellisa from Northern Virginia and starting the second adoption. Brian wasn't big on opening his eyes..

The Stubs from Oklahoma that have been here for 2 weeks and still here...

On the first Class train now waiting to get rolling... it's almost 10:00 pm Monday night and have been traveling for the last 35 hours and we are a little worn out... We will find out tomorrow how long we stay here so we are hoping and praying for a smooth, quick expedited turn around... Love

Back to the "U"

We made it to Kiev finally... i think we pulled out of our driveway 30 hours ago and we jump on a 12 hour train ride tonight. Having dinner with another couple from Atlanta.. a little bumpy in the back seat of the car... more to follow..

Home!!!

Our last day in Kiev, we were fortunate enough to meet up with another couple from Atlanta who just arrived in Kiev on their way down to our orphanage. After being there for 3 weeks, we certainly felt like we had plenty to pass onto them...

Got into the taxi around 4am local time and headed to the airport. I knew when the taxi driver motioned to me to put on my seatbelt, it was going to be another fun ride. There is one new highway in the entire country and that is the highway to the airport... no pot holes and no speed limits. So the 4 cylinder tin can made it up to 150 kilometers per hour (about 95mph) on this new highway - it was awesome.

We finally made it back into Charlotte and then a long drive home... Hanging out with George watching old reruns of The Office - it is good to be home.

FYI...New Horizons Hosting Program

Many of you have asked how we began this journey...To tell you the truth, 10 months ago, we had absolutely NO idea we would be here. It all started with my sister Misty and her husband Jeff, hosting a boy, Sasha, through New Horizons.  W/in the year, they adopted- so we had observed them thru this process.  Their experience was rather painful, in that their orphanage was not pro-adoption, and caretakers and children in Ukraine insisted that Americans only want children for their body parts!!!!  Through their perserverance and love for Sasha, he is now part of the Nyman Clan!!

New Horizons is a Christian based Hosting program that places orphans w/ families 2 times a year, for 5 weeks-so kids can experience the love of a family.  They are not an adoption agency (because of very strict regulations placed by the Ukrainian gov't).  They are an incredible organization and their desire truly is for kids to have a way out of the "system."  Most of these kids are true orphans, or they have been taken away from their parents due to drugs, alcohol or poverty...  Each one has a story. The biggest problem, is that when they turn 16, they are let into the streets, (with the hopes of going to the University), but  90% of these kids end up homeless, imprisoned, sex-trafficked and with very little hope.  A huge amount of them commit suicide. 

So altho New Horizons is not an adoption agency, their hope and prayer is that you will advocate for these children in finding a forever home...

Here begins our story.  We were going to host Stas last Christmas, knowing full well that we could not adopt him.  We didn't have the financial resources, (2 kids in college and a struggling business), we didn't have the time, (3 active kids) and I had just returned to work full time, and beyond that-we felt complete (and busy) in our own family. 

God clearly had another plan for us!! W/in the first few moments that I met him- I fell in love!!  The rest of the family, took all of 2 more days to be completely in!!  We were not to speak of "keeping" him because this was not what this was about-but each of us couldn't imagine sending him back to what we knew his future would hold.  He was an amazing kid, and we no longer wanted to be the funky 5, but felt incomplete w/out being the funky 6!!!  (those in Roanoke get this more than the others!!)

Once we said our good byes and sent him back to Ukraine, ( a requirement), we all just prayed that this would be infact what God would want for us; but the obstacles, (financial, time) were still very real.  As we prayed, and desperately missed Him, God certainly began opening up doors for us.  People came along side of us financially in support of the adoption, My kids planned a pancake breakfast fundraiser and raised over $4500.  Our family, church and community got involved and blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.  God continued to move us forward and we simply continued to say "yes'!  This is what has finally brought us to Ukraine.

I want you all to understand that we are not that "special!"  It's not like this is something we can do and no one else can.  We simply opened our house to a child-then God took over and worked in our hearts and souls to the point where we knew this was absolutely where God had led us.  We had to trust that He knew what he was doing and forget about all these crazy obstacles we continued to throw in the way.  He had this-we just needed to follow His will.

We have been blessed in this process more than we could ever express. The journey has been long, but it has changed us for the better.  We are passionate about advocating and finding homes for these kids.

 Please check out the  NewHorizonsforchildren.org website.  The New Horizons Team are currently visiting the orphanages and identifying the kids that will be available to host for the Christmas season.  Pictures will be up w/in 3 weeks...maybe you could just pray and ask God if He would want to use you in this kingdom ministry?

  Dave and I would love to answer any questions you might have!  We look forward to and continue to be  in awe of His plan-

Love to all

On our way home

Made it into Kiev this morning and had an awesome train ride. First class on a new train is much better than our first experience and highly recommend the $40 upgrade if available. We slept most of the way overnight on the train and got into our apartment this morning. Getting ready to go have lunch with a couple from Atlanta who is adopting from the same orphanage and just starting the process... so excited to have a conversation in english!!

Kiev is a huge city and we really like it here. After lunch, we are going to explore the city on our last day and try to take some pics...