Quick Update

We received an email from Edward on Sunday that he was going to Kharkov on Monday and maybe (hopefully!) on to Russia. Nothing since, so we are praying that means he is in Russia and getting the birth certificate!

Update 11/30/2009

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We did – went to Blue Ridge Georgia with our extended family for the week and had a great time playing in the mountains. It was really nice to take a break and catch up with our family.

One of the fun things that we did was call the girls while we were there. We’ve been able to talk to Irra almost every week, but have not been able to reach Vika since late September, in spite of trying regularly. The people at the Sanitarium where she is staying are just not very cooperative. However, we did manage to get her on the phone for a very few minutes on Wednesday. She said that she is doing fine, and of course she asked when we are coming for her. I think she regrets her decision to stay. She doesn’t like being at the Sanitarium, and I don’t blame her, it’s not very nice there, and none of her friends from the orphanage are there with her. Still, it could be worse, and it won’t be forever.

We also spoke to Irra and had a great conversation. She loves to talk – sometimes we have trouble getting off the phone with her! She said to tell everyone here a “big hello” and then we took turns passing the microphone around to some of the family and she got to say “big hello” to the boys and my parents and some of her cousins. I had her part on speaker, and everyone stood around and listened to the conversation – it was a blast! The children are fascinated with the Ukrainian/Russian language so it was cool for them to hear her and Anya talk.

Of course, the big question is always “when are you coming”. Not only are the girls asking this, but the teachers too. The phones are obviously answered by adults, who send for the girls, but then the adults talk to us before they will let the girls talk. Evidently the police have been around several times making trouble, so the director and the teachers are anxious for us to come and bring the girls home. We think this is why they sent Vika to the Sanitarium, to hide her from the police, since all her paperwork is technically completed. The director seems calm, but the teachers are almost frantic, and are pushing us very, very hard to come. Which we’d love to do, of course, but we are still waiting!!

The court decision in Russia was final on November 20^th, but Edward had them mail the paperwork to his house and to the office of Vital Records in Russia. As of today, we still don’t know what the decision is. We assume that it is favorable, because no one has told us otherwise, but we don’t know for sure. Edward emailed us today that he was going to Kharkov tomorrow, and maybe then on to Russia. Not sure why he is going to Kharkov, maybe he needed to get some more documents from the court there? Who knows. We are very frustrated that he did not go to Russia on the 20^th to pick up the papers in person and try for the birth certificate. Because of this, we have lost a week’s time waiting for the mail. Part of the problem is the timing of this. Ukraine celebrates Christmas January 6^th, and we have been told by several people that they simply shut down most of the country and the business offices from about December 20^th and on. First they have New Years, then Christmas, and evidently there are a couple of important holidays in January, so they just close up shop for the month! What that means to us is that if I can’t go and get the girls and be home before December 20^th, then I won’t be able to get them until things start moving again in February. There is no point to going after December 20^th because I wouldn’t be able to get the documents needed to travel home. So losing a week at this point to wait for the mail is extremely frustrating!!

So, that’s our update. We are still knocking on all the doors we can knock on to try to speed things up, but right now all we have are bloody knuckles. And we are still praying for patience and for God’s perfect will to be done in His timing. That’s the hardest part, remembering that He is still in control and that things will work out in His timing. I know this in my heart, it’s just hard to remember that “in the moment” when we don’t’ see any movement at all. I can’t wait for the day when this is finished and we can enjoy our girls and this will all be over!

10/23/09 Update

We received word from Edward that after 5 weeks, the documents have finally arrived at the court in Russia!! I don’t know the details of the delay, but I know he had a terrible time getting the necessary paperwork from the court in Kharkov. They continue to be extremely difficult to deal with!

The paperwork went to the Chief Justice at that court, and Edward has confirmed that the case has been assigned to a judge. What we have not been able to find out is how long the process will take. They originally told us that the court would take around 30 days, but now they are saying that it will be processed “within the time frame allowed by the law”, but no one will tell Edward how long that is. At this point, I just don’t know who to call who might be able to motivate them to speed things up. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!!

The other new development is that we received an email from the US Embassy in Kiev earlier this week. They said that they had been contacted by the SDA wanting to know why we haven’t “picked up” our children and that the law required us to pick them up as soon as the court decision is final! So we emailed them back (I was nice, I promise!), explained our situation, and asked them if they could help us. They replied that they were sorry we were frustrated and having trouble, but no, they could not help. I wrote back again and asked them if they had ANY advice for us, and they never responded.

Then, the next morning, we received and email from Edward asking us to please contact the girls at the orphanage ASAP, and that the local prosecutor was “going after” the director of the orphanage, saying the girls should not be there. Evidently the SDA or the local child services office had called them and told them we had abandoned the girls. Why can’t these people be this efficient and communicate between agencies this well when we need them to help us get the girls home?

So I just go off the phone with Irra and the assistant director of the orphanage (the director is on vacation – these people seem to go on vacation a lot!) My new friend Anya translated for us – Thank you Anya! It was great to speak with Irra. She seems to be well and was glad to hear from me. She said to tell everyone here hello, especially her friend Erika, but I could tell she was a little worried, too. The assistant director was pretty strong about the situation regarding the prosecutor and said that they were threatening to undo the adoption. Edward has spoken to the prosecutor, the SDA and child services, so hopefully things will settle down now. I tried to call Edward on Skype, but he was on a train and we got cut off.

I was not able to speak to Vika because they said she was at the sanitarium. Everyone assured me she is fine, so I’m not really sure why she is there. We called and they said that the kids were on a walk, and so we are going to try again Monday morning my time. We did leave a message that we had tried to call, and hopefully she will get that message and know that we are thinking about her.

Irra had lots of questions for Anya, and we set it up that our friends’ new Ukranian children, both girls of the same age – will call her tomorrow morning. Maybe they can help answer some of her concerns, and form the basis of a friendship that will continue once they arrive home.

So, that is longer than I thought! Please keep us in your prayers. I really, really don’t want to have to make TWO more trips, but if things with the prosecutor get too difficult, I might have to travel and get Vika and then go back for Irra when her paperwork is ready. It would be nice if the Russian court would hurry!

Blessings,

Sheri

September 21, 2009

I’m sorry it has been so long since my last post. I’m back home again – hurray!! – but unfortunately, without either girl. When I last wrote, it was a Sunday and we had planned to go to the passport agency on Monday to apply for Vika’s passport. When we got there, they asked us for lots and lots of extra documents that Edward said were very unusual. Most of it was stuff we had already filed at the court for the court case, and so we had to go back to the courthouse and get them to give us copies of their documents. It was almost as if they wanted to re-try the case! Our judge and secretary were on vacation, but they were in and out of the courthouse, so we were able to get what we needed. Then, when we went to the notary to draw up the document to apply for the passport, the notary would not prepare the document because Greg was not there. I had a power of attorney for Greg, but they said that applying for a passport was “too important” for a power of attorney. We went to three notaries and they all said the same thing. Edward was very frustrated because the notaries in other cities all accept a power of attorney in this situation and he had never had this problem before. Finally, someone suggested that we apply for the passport in my name only and see if the passport agency would accept that, and they did.

The passport agency also required that the girls do new consent forms – in front of a notary, this time. So we had to go back to the orphanage and get them and bring them back to town. Of course, this all took place over the course of four days – with waiting for our turn at the notary and passport offices, and trying to reach the judge’s secretary, and just the general amount of time it takes to travel from one place to the other, we started the process and did not officially complete the application for the passport until Thursday morning! It was extremely frustrating!! Here we are on Thursday, and I’m scheduled to fly home on Saturday, and we have just now finished the passport application. It took us two weeks to get Vika’s birth certificate, so some research on Irra’s birth certificate, and apply for one passport! And we worked hard! It was unbelievable!

So anyway, on Thursday when we finally completed Vika’s passport application, they said that it would be another two weeks before the passport came back. Also, we had hoped that I could sign the papers for Irra’s passport while we were there so that I when I return for Irra I would not have to wait, but they said no to that as well. That meant that I would have had to wait another two weeks for Vika’s passport, and two weeks when I return for Irra, and that was too much time away from home. So we decided that I would go ahead and return on Saturday and pick up both girls when Irra’s birth certificate is ready.

About Irra’s birth certificate – Edward spoke to the vital records lady in Russia several times, and then to the chief justice at the court for that region, and the plan is that he will take our documents to the court there. They will “review” them, and then they will give permission for the vital records to issue a new Birth Certificate and a Certificate of Adoption. They said the process would take about 30 days, but we found out last week that one of the documents we needed from our court in Kharkov will not be ready until today (when our judge returns from vacation) so that 30 day clock doesn’t start until Edward goes to Russia (hopefully this week) and officially submits our documents. I really hope this works. The story keeps changing; first the vital records office said there would be no problem, now we have to be “reviewed” by the court. This process makes me very nervous. I don’t understand why the original court decree is not sufficient for all of these people, including the passport agency. It just seems to me that they are messing with things they have no right to mess with. Everyone wants to get into the act - I keep expecting the taxi drivers to ask to see my home study or something! Also, I’m also not sure if that is 30 days in US time, or 30 days in Ukraine time – remember that it took us 4 days to apply for a passport! Time moves very, very slowly there. I have heard stories of people waiting 6 months for their children in this situation, and others who spend thousands of dollars to get birth certificates. Edward assures me that he can take care of it this way, but I’m still nervous. So if we get the girls before Thanksgiving, I’ll be ecstatic, but I’m not holding my breath!

The girls were great about the whole thing. They want to come, but Vika was actually getting pretty nervous about coming without Irra, so she was happy to find out she would wait until Irra’s paperwork was ready. This next trip – can you believe this will be my 4th trip to Ukraine!! – should be about 2-3 weeks, and there should be no reason I won’t come home with both girls this time!!

In the meantime, I did a lot of blogging at the camp that I have never posted. I’ll work on editing it some since Greg has filled you in on the court and stuff, and then post it if anyone would like to read it. The time at the camp was the best part of the whole trip. I had lots of fun getting to know the girls and their friends at the camp, and there was no pressure – we were just waiting and that was all. I’m encouraged by the girls’ attitude towards me at the camp, and the way they treated me, which was not always evident once we left the camp and moved to the orphanage. So enjoy, there are some funny stories!

Also, about my dad. They are still testing, but the news is good – it appears that the cancer has not spread and is contained in the prostrate. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and encouragement. Our friends, both old and new, are very important to us, and some days your comments and support were the only things that kept me going, especially in the last two weeks I was in Ukraine. I came under some heavy spiritual attack, and even began to have suicidal thoughts. It was very intense, but God is faithful and He will see us through to the end!

Blessings,

Sheri & Greg

PS – I’ll try to post comments with my photos soon as well!

Pictures from Ukraine Trip #2

Checking In

Things are moving along here, but slowly. We have been working on paperwork here, and have run into a snag with Irra's Russian birth certificate. We had contacted the proper office in Russia by phone before we came back this time, and they told us they would honor the court decision and issue the birth certificate with out any problem, but now they say they need another document we can't get here in Ukraine. So we are working on this from a couple of angles, but it's not looking good so far. I'm scheduled to fly out next weekend, and right now it looks as if Vika and I may have to leave Irra until they get the paperwork settled. We hope to find out for sure tomorrow. It is still possible they might get it worked out, but if that happens I will probably have to stay another week. That's fine with me - it beats having to leave Irra and come back again. This is my 3rd trip to Ukraine for this adoption, and it's getting old.

Other than that, things are going well. The girls have moved from the camp back to the internaut, and I'm staying in a Sanitorium that is within walking distance. The concept of a Sanitorium still escapes me somewhat, but it's clean and quiet and includes all my meals, all for about $12/day. This one is for pregnant women, so I'm sort of out of place here, but it's nice to eat with other women, even if we can't communicate very well. I'm seeing the girls at least once a day; not as much as at camp, but it works for now.

Had a funny experience on the train the other day. This is not the night train, where you sleep, but rather more like a bus. There was a lady who sat next to me who started talking away in Russian, and when she found out that I was American, she had to get up and tell her husband, who was seated several rows away (the train was crowded, which is why Edward wasn't handy) that there was an American on the train. Of course, she said it loud enough for everyone in the next few rows to hear, so they all turned around to stare at this strange creature. I kind of waved "hello" and wanted to crawl under my seat from all of the attention. But everyone is very nice and the few times (like now) that I have ventured out without Edward people have been very helpful.

I need to run. Not sure what time the bus stops running on Sunday, but don't want to get stranded in town. Thanks for everyone's prayers and comments. You guys are great and I can't wait to get home!!

Love,
Sheri

The Home Stretch

I'm in Kharkov today and we're running around doing all of the paperwork so we can come home. Edward arrived at the camp yesterday - much to my surprise. I was not expecting him until today. So I packed as quickly as I could and we have moved into a hotel here for the next few days. We went to the court first thing this morning to get the final paperwork, and the judge said it won't be ready until noon. Have I mentioned how much I dislike this judge?? So we came back into Kharkov to try to do some other things until the papers are ready.

Edward will go to Russia tonight to try to get Irra's birth certificate, and I will stay at the hotel alone. Not really thrilled about that plan, as there is not much in the way of stores or restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, and I'm not about to try the bus alone. I think we will go to the market tonight and pick up a few things and I'll just stay in the room and read. With luck he will be back tomorrow night, but if not, then Thursday night. Then we will finish the paperwork on Thursday or Friday, and hopefully, hopefully, we will travel to Kiev this weekend.

I had a great time at the camp and I was a little upset that I didn't get to say good bye to any of the other children I have met there. Vika and Irra are still at camp, too, but they will be fine for a few more days. It's the other kids that are tearing me up at this point. I seriously doubt that we will ever do this again, and of course, even if we did, we can't take them all. There are some really good kids there and I'm going to miss them.

I got some bad news yesterday. My dad had cancer a few years ago, and things have been fine ever since his treatment, but evidently the cancer is trying to comeback. He is going in later this week for more testing, but the doctor is not optimistic. I would appreciate your prayers for him and our family.

I think Edward is about finished with his work here to I will say good bye for now. I have been keeping a more detailed log of the camp and I'll try to send it later. Hopefully I will have internet access later this week....

Can't wait to get home!
Sheri