Another way to make your voice heard - Please Act TODAY!

I just emailed AskCI@state.gov with the following message, requesting action, and particularly requesting Ambassador Susan Jacob's involvement. (I did add a little more personal info than you see here, including mentioning my boys and attaching their picture). I urge you to send a similar message TODAY!! It's an email, and you can copy and paste. It will only take a couple of minutes.

Ambassador Jacobs was appointed earlier this year by Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the U.S. Special Advisor to the Office of Childrens Issues (the office responsible for intercountry adoption and international parental child abduction).

You can also call 1-888-407-4747 requesting that Ambassador Jacobs do everything in her power to urge Ukraine's officials to revisit this and not make a complete halt in adoptions. When you call, press 0, and ask to speak to Emily Ballas.

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I am writing to you today regarding an urgent situation. Many families in the US are currently in the process of adopting children from orphanages in Ukraine. Most of these children are older or disabled. American families adopting these children offer them what may be their only opportunity at a normal and productive life free of crime, prostitution, or institutionalization due to illnesses that are treatable in the United States.

I personally know several of these families.

On November 3, 2010, the Ukrainian parliament voted to proceed with voting on legislation that would halt all international adoptions until inter-country adoption agreements are in place (see the State Dept. announcement at http://adoption.state.gov/news/ukraine.html) . At this point, all that is needed for this to become law is one more vote in Ukrainian parliament and a signature by the Ukrainian president. This could happen any day. If it does, many families and innocent children will be greatly affected.

I personally know several of these families.

I am writing to you to urge you to act quickly on this matter:

1. Encourage and support Ambassador Susan Jacobs to be a strong voice and representative to work with Ukrainian officials to come to some sort of interim agreement
2. Contact any and all Ukrainian officials in your circle of influence and request that they consider a revision to the law, allowing adoptions to proceed while the agreement is being drafted (as was done in Russia) and
3. Work with the senate and congress to begin drafting this agreement so that it is ready to go in the event the law passes.

Thank you for your timely consideration of this urgent matter, 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ukraine by the numbers

Check out THIS BLOG POST for some interesting stats about Ukraine, its orphans, and the Christian movement.

Good news... for now anyway

The vote that was supposed to take place in Ukraine yesterday did not happen!!

The vote has been postponed. As far as we know, there is no established date for the next vote to take place. Many feel it will be several months. Some believe Ukraine is wanting to watch Russia and see what they do in the way of bi-lateral agreements, before moving forward with their own decision.

In any event, this is good news for families in process right, and for the children they're seeking to adopt.

But it's not over. It will most likely come back up. So please continue to pray for stability of this situation, and for the orphans of Ukraine.

Pray for Ukraine

Here we go again.

Ukraine’s Parliament is once again scheduled to vote on a possible moratorium on international adoptions. The vote is schedule for September 21st.

There are different speculations on exactly what this means, but it basically sounds like if this bill passes, it would place a hold on the SDA's acceptance of dossiers.

It's possible that 1) they want to restructure the program so they can better monitor the well-being of children that are adopted; 2) they want to enter the Hague convention; 3) they want to re-vamp the SDA.

Whatever the reason, I just wonder why they can't they work on it without halting everything. This same vote came up just before we travelled this summer. Thankfully, it fell short of the votes needed to pass.

Please pray that once again this bill doesn't get enough momentum to pass.

And pray for families who are in process right now. Some are already in country, others are waiting to travel, and still others are scheduled to submit their dossiers very soon. Pray that God will give them peace as they wait for answers.

(Much of this is copied from other blogs with permission - feel free to share on your blog as well.)

Sympathy versus Empathy

Since coming home with our newest little blessing, we've gotten lots of smiles and nods and "We're praying for you" from friends & family. We appreciate the sentiments, and definitely appreciate the prayers!

But if you haven't walked in our shoes, you can't fully understand what we've experienced or are experiencing. We can try to explain it, but words don't do justice to the reality of it all. (I can say this because as prepared as we thought we were for each adoption, reality made us realize we weren't!)

That's why it is so refreshing and encouraging to connect with others who have experienced the day-in-day-out trials and triumphs of non-infant adoption.

I'm extremely thankful that we got to connect with other families while we were in Ukraine this time around. We didn't really get that the first time around. But as I've said so many times, God knows what we need, when we need it.

I'm especially thankful for the Loraine family. We met them on our first day in Ukraine back in June. We had ice cream with them the day before we left Kyiv to travel to Daniel's city. And we had dinner with them twice before coming home. They saw our pre-Daniel excitement, and our post-Daniel exhaustion. They know us in a way that few do!

So it was great to get to talk to Erin this past weekend. We chatted for probably an hour & a half, and could have gone on for hours longer I'm sure. We compared stories and kept it real. Erin is such an encouragement to me - someone I can be honest with about our struggles, and someone who will truly celebrate with me in our victories, however big or small. I pray that I do the same for her!

God knows what - and who - we need, at exactly the right time. I'm so thankful for our special adoption friends!

Larry & Erin, we thank God for both of you!!

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Philippians 1:3

Coming home soon!

Sorry it's been a while. To say we've been busy - and exhausted - since picking Elvis up from Graceland would be an extreme understatement.

Saturday was a long day. Left our apartment at 7:45 AM, arrived in Kyiv at our apartment just before 7 PM. LONG day. Elvis was extremely over-stimulated. Couldn't sit still. Couldn't contain his excitement. Couldn't stop talking. You cannot imagine how this boy talks. He doesn't care that we don't understand him. I think he might possibly have my niece Alli beaten for the most words spoken in a single day! We did have one 20-minute period where I convinced him to listen to my iPod (old Allies songs) and he almost fell asleep. But that was it.

Saturday night was rough. First bath was great - he'd probably take a bath every hour if we'd let him. Brushing teeth was also a big hit - he loves for mommy to help with the ones in the back. But he'd been in the car all day and didn't want to sleep. Was up early Sunday. We spent the morning at the park, hung around the apartment in the afternoon, and met the Loraines for dinner.

Sunday night was a little better. Sleep came a bit easier and lasted a bit longer.

Monday was even better. Went early for his medical exam - were there for about 1 1/2 hours. (There's a playroom there, yay!!!) Then to the embassy to apply for his visa - in & out in less than 20 minutes.

Monday lunch at McDonalds - the same McDonalds where William had his first Happy Meal experience! Elvis loved the french fries & ketchup, and tolerated 2 chicken nuggets.

Dinner at "Papa John" pizza - probably the best pizza we've had in Ukraine.

Tuesday has been our best day yet, overall. Morning walk to Independence Square. Visit from our facilitator, "S". Lunch at Puzhata Hata. Back to the embassy for 2 hours to get his visa. Shoppings for last minute souvenirs. Dinner with the Loraines and the Airharts at Il Patio.

The boys are in bed. L&L will be here in 3 1/2 hours to take us to the airport.

Wednesday will be a long day. Flight to Frankfurt, 5 hour layover, and @10 hour flight to Atlanta. Arriving in Atlant @4:30 PM!!!! Can't wait to be home.

Here are a few more pics from the last few days...

Matching pajamas

Hanging out at Independence Square

Standing outside the gates of the SDA, where we first laid eyes on each of them for the first time (well, their pictures anyway)

Kyiv Fire Department

At the playground

Mommy trying to entertain a boy who was feeling grumpy

Suds on his head helped, too!

World Cup

We've watched LOTS of World Cup action while we've been here, and are really enjoying it. We were of course disappointed when the U.S. failed to advance any further, but were proud of their effort.

Since our home team is no longer in, we are cheering for Germany to go all the way. I need to wash William's Deutschland jersey in case they make it to the final match (fingers crossed!).

We're watching the latest match right now - and William is enthusiastically cheering for "Your-a-goy," hoping they'll beat the "Nether-lings."

Monday, Monday

We had a great visit with Elvis this morning!

We arrived and the caregivers had everyone outside playing games again today. After a weekend without visits, our boy seemed very happy to see us. He came and sat with us and asked if we could go to our usual play area. He refused to join in on a group picture - just wanted to be with us :)

It was really hot today. William took off his jersey, so Elvis tried it on. He also confiscated William's sunglasses (some that we bought at the market a week or two ago when William's went missing in the ocean).














Our two muscle men










What a cutie!










Like I've said before, William is a great helper. Well last night, we introduced him to hand-washing dishes.

So tonight as we finished dinner, Zack said, "I think William's washing dishes tonight," and waited for a reaction. William was so excited and couldn't wait to get started!















After dinner, we usually sign on to Skype and talk to some of our parents.









After our Skype calls tonight, God provided quite the light show for us!

International Truths

Some things are the same, no matter where you go.

Take for instance, the fact that we watched all the kids from Elvis' orphanage doing the chicken dance, exactly how kids throughout America do it.

I noticed another one of the international norms today.

Have you ever been at a church youth convention (middle school, high school, college, doesn't matter), and one kid in the lobby or outside breaks out the acoustic guitar? And as they play, the crowd grows, people join in singing, and a few start belting out some (often off-key & really loud) harmonies?

We witnessed that exact same thing outside of the church this afternoon. The young worship leader had his guitar. He started strumming, and by the time we left, there was a crowd of about 10 young people standing around and singing.

Slava Bogu! Praise God!

We had the awesome opportunity this morning to attend church. We met Tanya on Friday - she's the administrator for the Jeremiah's Hope Transitional Living Center here in Mariupol. She invited us (or maybe we invited ourselves?) to attend church and then hang out with them for the afternoon.

The worship service lasted from 11:00 until about 12:30. In all honesty, I understand practically non eo fit. But knowing that God's name was being prclaimed was enough for me. And right after the music, they had a time for people to stand up and praise God. We heard "Slava Bogu" (praise God) throughout this time, and as each person finished, the congregation of about 60 - 75 people would respond with an enthusiastic "Slava Bogu!"

How wonderful to hear our God's name here in the city where we found both of our sons.

Want to hear something else awesome? Tanya knows the director and staff of Elvis' orphanage and they do work with them on a regular basis. We prayed that someone had exposed Elvis to the name of Jesus, and we thank God that these people have.

Here's a picture of where the church meets, as well as the transitional home.

The door on the right end is for the church - the other door is for the living center. This home takes in children that have aged out of the orphanages, and provides them with a place to live while they get vocational training.













Here's a picture of the worship service.










After church, Tanya served us some delicious borscht, garlic rolls, and cake.









We also enjoyed these yummy chocolates.









And after that, William played futbol with some of the boys from the transitional living center, as well as a few of the boys from the church.

Saturday: to market

Saturday we got up and walked down to the Central Market on Metalurg Street. It's probably the biggest outdoor market here in Mariupol. Lots of people, lots of vendor, lots of fun to be had!

Here are a few pictures from our walk.

Apparently airlines are different here, because I've NEVER seen a flight attended like this one!

We thought this little car was really cool!

And Zack really likes this Lada SUV....

At the market, we intended to buy some produce - and we did (eggplant, cherries, bananas, apples, and garlic). But the majority of what filled our bag was Bricks - the knock-off Legos we can buy so cheaply here.

In addition to toys, food, and clothes, there was also an aisle for birds, fish and reptiles. You can buy pretty much anything here!

On the way back, we stopped at McPizza & Chicken for some lunch. We've seen this place several times and figured it was worth a try.

We ordered chicken fingers and french fries. They looked good.

And they WERE good!

After we got back, William spent most of the afternoon working on one of the large Bricks sets he bought. This set cost less than $10. Can't imagine what a Lego set this size would run us.

We had a yummy dinner Saturday night.

I created a baked eggplant dish that turned out really well (so long as you don't ask William his opinion on it)...

We also had a little pasta, some potatoes, and some homemade bruchetta. I know, lots of starches. I don't care - it was GOOD!