Adoptive moms.

Being an adoptive mother is not for every woman. She must possess

not only the natural mother instinct but an understanding and

appreciation of the situation that brought a child into her arms

making her a mother. The adoptive family comes to be by choices

made, choices made by the first parents and by the adoptive parents.

This bond the adoptive mother has with her child grows over time,

like the child did within his first mother's womb.



Day by day, touch by touch, with each tear, kiss, and memory made

they became a family. Adoptive mothers have that special knack to

let love grow.



Adoptive mothers know that she's a mender of wounds, not just of the

physical skinned knees with a band-aid and a kiss, but of the heart.

She gives love, acceptance, and permission to ask and talk about the

day he was born and of his first parents.



Adoptive mothers are embracers, not only of the child with many hugs

and kisses, but of the child's heritage and history. She embraces

the facts of her child's past with strength for herself and the

child. She's not only a memory maker planning family vacations,

activities, and birthday parties, but also a memory keeper.



She's a tier of shoelaces and of hearts. She weaves lives together

into a tapestry of a new family, with many different brightly,

colored threads showcasing their individualities and family origins.

Together they create one unit attached to each other.



Adoptive mothers are experts at finding lost objects, but understand

and validate the profound, deep loss left by adoption. She allows

the tears to fall and grief to be felt, allowing the mourning of the

mom not there. She is secure in knowing that she's not a

replacement, but a finisher of a race for someone who, for whatever

reason, could not run any longer.



This role is not for the weak of spirit, or the easily wounded.

Loving a child not born to her but calling him her own, but this is

what she does, it is her calling. She is a mother.


This is the best poem. I have ever read. It sure sums it up. This is my purpose in life. To be a "MOTHER". I thank God that he has blessed me with 7 great children.

Big Storm in Sevastopol

Here are some pictures of some of the damage that the storm caused. We did not hear a thing. We did get so soaked one day while we were out. The water was coming down like buckets of water. It was running down the street like a mini river. We would step out into the street into the water and it would pour right over our shoes. It was an amazing thing to see.

The girls

WC/laundry/plants

Pictures of Sevastopol

We are home!!!!

Well, FINALLY!!! We are home. It has been the 2nd day. I think that we are almost back to are good ole USA clocks..... The last few days have gone by so fast. The girls are doing well. Playing outside/making new freinds. Olya's English is still very good and is progressing fast. Nadya is a little mocking bird, repeating all that we say.

I want to post some pictures. So I am making this short. :)

Last Night in Ukraine

It is currently 7:40pm and we are all excited to be flying home tomorrow. Gail talked to her sister and was told that everyone was very excited back home and can't wait to see us.

Today was a good day. We walked around the city of Kyiv and got to see some of the sights. It was cool to be able to get a close up look at the iron maiden statue they have here. It's a statue of a women holding a shield and sword, she was donated by the Russians and she faces Moscow. After seeing the statue, we were able to walk through some of the old churches, some from the 17th century. When we got back to our friends flat we had home made pizza for dinner.

Olya told Gail that she wants to go home (in America), Nadya is scared and says that she wants to go back to Desky Doma (the orphanage). It will be an interesting trip home due to this being the first time that Nadya has ever flown. Should be a fun time. We haven't told the girls yet but we have planned to have a limo pick us up at the airport in San Francisco to take us home. They should be pretty stoked about it, every time they see a limo here we have to stop so that they can stare at it.

So, our next post will be on U.S. soil and we will be posting pictures. We look forward to seeing everyone back home again, it's been a long haul for us. It's the longest we have ever been away from our other children and not something that we look forward to doing again.

Hugs and Kisses to our kids back home, we will see you tomorrow.

Embassy today

We definitely got to see the weather change during this visit to Ukraine. When we first arrived in Sevastopol we walked around in shorts and sandals and when we left we were bundled up and using umbrellas due to the rain just pouring down. The last full day we were there we lost power from 1pm until 9am the next day. We had a nice train ride from Simferopol to Kyiv even though we didn't see much due to it being dark outside. However it was soooo hot on the train it was hard to sleep. We made it back to our friends flat safe and sound.Today we had our embassy appointment. It was at 11am, and we were there for 2 1/2hrs. Tomorrow we go back and get their visas. Then all that's left is to wait until Saturday for our flight home. We are so excited that we finally get to go home!!!

We want to tell our kids back home that we love them and can't wait to see them on the 17th. Big Hugs and Kisses to all.

We will post our pictures when we get home. Well . . ., maybe the day after.

Been busy

Hello everyone. Sorry that it's taken so long to write. We won't put all the details as it would bore you.

However, we were able to pick up the girls on Tuesday the 6th. A day later than we had planned due to a new rule stating that you need to have their new birth certificates as well as the court decree. We had to drive 40min out of Sevastopol to get Nadya's birth certificate from the town where she was born (Balaklava(?)), Olya's was easier as she was born in Sevastopol. When we got both certificates we had to get them certified/notarized. Later that same day after we got back and had the girls we had to run back from the orphanage to the passport office in order to have their pictures taken so we could begin the passport process. They have a new system here where they take down all of your info attach your photo to it and then send it to Kyiv for verification. This wasn't done the last time we were here. We should have the girl's passports on Monday due to the weekend. We hope to be able to travel back to Kyiv the same day by train. That should be an adventure, it's supposed to be a 16-18 hour ride.

The last couple of days we have been running around getting a new printer and some paper for the orphanage. We also left some Ukrianian money with the Director so she could get the internet hooked up to her secretary's office computer. They just recently had a new roof installed and are in the process of installing new windows, they need all the help they can get. They are doing their best to keep the orphange nice for the children with whatever funds they get.

We met a great couple Jamiee and Andy from So-Cal who are here to help plant a church/be missionaries. They were youth pastors at Safe Harbor church in Orange County and are currently involved with a youth outreach program here. They introduced us to a pastors wife Adrienne. She and her husband have been living here for 15yrs. They are in the process of building a church/Bible school. Adrienne has been holding Bible studies in her home every Sunday even while her husband is away to the States. We had a great time of fellowship with her and the group she meets with last Sunday.

The weather has changed alot since we got here in Sevastopol. It went from sunny days to having snow flurries. It's still too warm for the snow to stick around, but it's neat to see it coming down.

Our next post will be from Kyiv :), as the cafe here will be too busy this weekend for us to get in.

Can't wait, we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We are actually looking forward to the long flight back home on the 17th. The girls are both just as excited as we are. Olya can't stop smiling whenever she thinks about getting home. Nadya is a little scared about the flight because she has never flown before, should be interesting.

We want to send Hugs and Kisses to our kids and family back home. We will be home in 8 days from today. Yippppeeeee!!!!!! Can't wait to see you all.

Love Mike and Gail

Party Day

Today we get to go to the orphanage and have an adoption celebration for the girls with their group. For the girls, this is a happy and a sad time. The reason is they get to leave.

However, while we are celebrating here, we are going to miss out on another celebration. Our youngest son is turning 12yrs today. We are sad to miss his B-Day, but he knows it's for a really good reason.

Jacob:

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Jacob, Happy Birthday to you. You'll get your B-Day love taps when we get home. :) LOL. Hope you have a great day with the family, let us know how it goes and please take lots of pictures. This is a day that we don't want to miss even though we are not there.

Love to all,
Mike and Gail

Day 10

This picture is from our day at court. We were finally able to download one picture, we had to go thru the main server.

As of 17:00 today, no one will be able to contest the court decision. However we won't be able to bring the girls home with us due to not being able to get the court decree until Monday morning at 09:00. Then the girls are ours forever.

It's raining here again today, wish we remembered to pack umbrellas. They want to much for them here. Almost $20 USD for a cheap one. Right now its 10:50 here, as soon as we are done here we're of to see the girls.

Big HUGS and KISSES to all our families. Talk to you all later.

Day 9

Well we should have been home 2 days ago, but are waiting to see what God has in store for us. We met two American missionaries yesterday that are from So-Cal that are here to plant a church and help out the orphans. We plan on going to church with them on Sunday. The girls are starting to get anxious about leaving. They are still asking, "How many days are left till we get to go?" Even though we have been here longer than expected, when it's time to go it will be hard to leave. We still love Ukraine, it would be easier if we had all of our children here.

Yesterday, we got to go with the kids to watch a seal and dolphin show. We had alot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. It was great, because we did not get to go last year due to it being closed.

This morning as we are surfing the web, our two daughters surprised us by showing up at the internet cafe, they both had Drs. appointments and decided to surprise us. Boy did they ever. :)

We still are amazed how far the American dollar goes here. For a 20oz. soda and a 1/2 liter of juice it only cost $1.20 USD. It cost us 80rph for the dolphin show which is only $16 USD for both of us to go. They let all the orphans in for free. :).

We want to send our love to everyone back home in Cali., Oregon, and Oklahoma. We pray that God keeps you all safe and rested.

Love,
M&G and O&N