Well, it seems that March has been coming in like a lion weather wise these past few days here in Omaha but here at home it has come in like a lamb. We have seen so much progress from Natasha in her English it's just amazing. We are reading every night and she is understanding a lot of what I read to her. Once in a while she'll stop and ask, " Mama, what's this word. " if she doesn't understand what it means. And I explain it to her her and she says, "Yeah I understand." She loves reading so much that one night she told her little brother in a little stern tone of voice to "Shhh! Be Quiet!" Which made me chuckle a little because she dotes on her littlest brother so much I thought that to her he could do no wrong! It was cute and after she gave hime a hug and a kiss.
She has had a few days where I felt I wish she would grow closer to the girls and we know this takes time. They have so much love to give her and it is alittle different being in a family. She has had no problems with getting along or anything but I just felt like she felt kind of like an outsider. These last few weeks however have been just amazing and it really seems like she feels like she is right at home here with us. She is so kind and caring to her sisters and brothers and jokes along with them and is excited when they come home from school. She is always sad when Ariana brings home homework(which she calls "gomework") because she wants to play with her right away.
She has gotten a library card and loves to visit the library. She has recently found books on tape and loves listening to them, another great way to help her to learn English. She really likes the Little House on the Prairie series which I wish we could find in Russian. She has already read "Heidi" one of her books we brought home from the Ukraine. I wish we had purchased more since it may take longer to master reading English.
I know there's so much more to share but time gets away from me when I write. I wish I was a better typer!

Ice Skating Party

We celebrated Ariana's birthday last Sunday with an ice skating party for her friends. It was a fun time to get out on the ice and try our hand at skating. We had taken the girls prior and they had had such a wonderful time that we thought it would be fun to have a skating party. Natasha did great for her third time skating and didn't fall once. She loves to skate and we plan on going more often.
Natasha has completed two weeks of school now and is doing wonderfully. She is getting all her work done at school and has even told me that she helps some of the other ESL students with things on the computer which they don't understand. Her English is just growing so much and I don't talk in short choppy English much anymore to her. Lena will translate for Natasha at church once in awhile and a lot of the times Natasha says I understand before Lena finishes. So she is just doing great with English. She is getting some close friends at school as well. There are a few that she talks about often and we are so glad that she has friends at school to talk to. There is even a friend, named Tanner, which sometimes when she talks about him I always thinks she is referring to her little brother because she always calls him silly. She enjoys school except, she says, for all the walking! Some of her classes are on the opposite side of the building so she has to walk back and forth to get to these classes. I know that she'll get the hang of it as she has show us in so many other things how quickly she picks up on things.
The Olympics start tonight and we are all excited to watch them together as a family. It will be fun to see who likes what competition the best. I have a feeling that the girls are going to love the ice skating competition!

Pictures are of the skating party and Ariana's birthday

First Day of School

Today is Natasha's first day of school! She was excited and a little nervous but we praise God that she has a friend that she met before she went today. Sofie is our good friends daughter and has a little sister Emily who is close to Ariana. We have known Sofie for 5 years and she is such a sweet girl and will be able to help Natasha out through those first few hard weeks of school. The school that Natasha is going to has a "block" system and I'm not even really clear on how it all works yet since we are new at this middle school thing too! But basicaly she will have some classes on one day and other classes on other days. Today, she has an easy day where she will just be in her ESL (english second language) class. Tomorrow, she will have Math then Reading, then she will go to lunch and then have gym class and music. This day she will need to go to different classes so she will have someone help her with this until she feels comfortable doing so by herself. I am thankful that she has met Sofie and is familiar with her so she doesn't feel quit so overwhelmed. They will even share a locker too which is great since the combination thing may take a while to master. Natasha is so quick to pick up on things though that we know that in no time she will be a pro at this and this whole school thing. Which brings me to sharing on how she has been here these first few weeks in America.
She is doing great and is really, really happy. The first weeks here she has had phone calls, packages, well wishes and emails from friends and family all around the country welcoming her so warmly. This was so wonderful and she was just beaming with each call and letter. She has had a few tears as she is missing her family back home. Lena has told us that she has cried in the night for Nastia and we keep reassuring Natasha that we will continue to pray for Nastia every day and that God will take good care of Nastia and may someday find a family for her to be with. Natasha just loves her brothers and sisters and has fit in so well with her new siblings. She just really seems comfortable and doesn't hesitate to just jump right in and tease or hug her brothers and sisters. She helps out too and just is so observant that she doesn't even need to be asked to hang her coat up or make her bed or to help when she sees that there is something to be done. She just watches what the other children do and follows along so well.
She loves going to church and gets to see her friends there too and yesterday she told me that she even understood a little what the pastor was saying! She is such a smart girl and I know she is learning in leaps and bounds. We can't wait to see how much she will absorb at school in the remaining school year.
We also had a real treat for all of us when my sister Evy,who is from Chicago and who helped watched our other three children when we were in Ukraine, came back the weekend after we came home so she could meet Natasha. We were so excited about this and so thankful for all the wonderful things that she and our parents did for us while we were gone.
We also had a visit from Ted's brothers family (from Kansas City) this last weekend and had a wonderful visit with them as well. Natasha is slowly starting to realize the size of the family she has come into !("many, many"as she says) and we look forward to the "many, many" years that she will have to learn to get to know and grow close to them all.
Sorry, it's been a while since we updated you last on all our happenings and thanks for being so patient with us while we adjust to our new routine. Now that we will be getting into more of a routine with school having started I'll have some free time to sit down and type since it does take a while for me! : )
Pray requests would be for Natasha to have a smooth transition into schooling in America. That she won't feel so overwhelmed at such a big change but that she will adjust well and feel more comfortable each passing day.
I have posted some pictures of Evy and Natasha meeting at the airport, a picture of Natahsa and Miranda with newly pierced ears. (This was something Natasha was excited about doing when she first got here.) Natasha(with Tahner) in some new clothes from her Uncle Jeff and Aunt Val and cousins Ellen, Christian and Pete from Chicago, and Natasha starting a "BIG, BIG" (as she says) crossstitch from Dadrushka.

Having a problem posting the earring picture will try again later!

WE'RE HOME!

Sorry, that we kept everyone in suspense with the last few days in not knowing the outcome of the US Embassy! We did e-mail that Natasha's visa came through but didn't get a chance to get it up on the blog.
We've made it back safely and are home at last! We arrived in Omaha at 2:20pm yesterday afternoon to family and friends. It was SUCH a blessing to be back home and in the arms of so many loved ones. Natasha felt right at home and tried to give as many hugs and kisses as she could to her brothers as they would allow her to give. Miranda and Natasha have hit it of wonderfully too, as well. Natasha also got right back in the loop with her friends Lena and Alla and had a great talk with them while we were there. We were so thankful to Lena for helping introduce everyone to Natasha. I was trying to explain Will to Natasha(how do you explain Will? ; ) ) but Natasha just shook her head and said, "Yeah, church." and understood who he was and what he did because Lena had covered all the bases for Natasha. What a blessing she was for doing that for us. We had SO much to share with everyone and were late in getting our luggage. We wondered where it was when we finally made it down to the baggage claim. It was set off to the side because we were so late in coming to get it.
Babushka(Grandma) and Dadrushka(Grandpa) then took us to "IHOPer" as Tahner calls it and we enjoyed a nice dinner together. Natasha liked the pancakes and eggs she ordered and ate almost the whole thing.
We came home and were wonderfully surprised by ALL the home improvements we had done to the house while we were out. I said they could of done a TV show on it! We are still finding wonderful "surprises" here and there and hearing about all the extraordinary blessings (Eric T.!) that people have done for us while we have been gone. We are SO humbled by everything and by all you have done for us with well wishes, prayers and help that you have given to us and our family while we have been gone. We are SO blessed to know and have each and everyone of you in our lives. We can never thank you enough for all that you have done for us.
Natasha says we have a big home and loves everything. And to those who know the size of our house we are glad she thinks it's big! ; )
We are sorry we didn't get a chance to blog yesterday but had such a full day we were wiped out in the end. I will be able to post photos later but in the meantime you can look on the Van Putten's blog to see pics from the airport(I'll leave their addy at the end).
Natasha had a wonderful sleep last night and looked well rested in the morning. Papa however, will need time to adjust as he woke up at 2AM. I thought he was eager to get back to work when I heard him leave later on but he had just went to get some yogurt and juice from the store.
We did go and see where Papa worked and were SO warmly greeted by all our friends. What a wonderful welcome home that was. Natasha will come to know each and everyone one of the many many friends and family that we have and all the prayers that have been given for us. We know she will come to love each and everyone of you as we do.
Thanks again for EVERYTHING and we especially are grateful to God for ALL He has done for us in keeping our family safe and getting us through this wonderful, tremendous journey of adoption. We have been SO blessed and are especially blessed by our new daughter Natasha.
Thank you Jesus SO much for our precious gift.


http://vanputtenfamily.blog-city.com
(under Natasha's Homecoming)

She's Good to Go...but Not Yet in Writing...

HI,

We have just returned from the US Embassy. We have everything done with the Visa and papers except that something was wrong with the computers in Washington and the staff at the embassy could not get Natasha's Visa printed. So we need prayer that it will be printed out by tomorrow before we leave. We need to be at the airport by 1:50- 2pm for the flight. We talked to the man there and said sometimes this problem doesn't get resolved for two days. He said he feels confident that it should be ready before two. He said the machine is working in Washinton it is just the matter of getting the rest of the world back to working.
Please pray that this will get done in or by the morning or we can't leave and will have to arrange flights for another day and I don't know when we can get the next flight out..

We hope everything is going smoothly and the kids are doing well with being back in school.

We love you all and miss you much.
Love Ted AMy Natasha and Ariana

In Kiev...Again

Hello,

We have arrived in Kiev. We have been here for awhile and have rested and now will celebrate New Years watching tv and seeing all the other celbrations all over the world. Galina says that here in Ukraine they celebrate until 4 am. I don't think we will stay up that late but maybe until 12. We may have no gas supply to the building tomorrow as Russia has declared they will be shutting down the gas supply to Ukraine on the first of Jan. So it will be interesting to see how the next three days go. Just a quick e-mail to let you know we have arrived safely.

Natasha is doing well and very happy here with us. She is excited to get to America. We love you all and miss you all.
Love
Ted Amy Natasha and Ariana

Answered Prayer

We can not Praise God enough for this day and this time and everything that He has done for us on this journey of ours. I just can't keep the tears from coming and I know in the morning my eyes will be swollen shut from crying so much. We are just in awe of how God works and moves in our lives and how much He truly loves us.
Galina was a bit worried when she saw me crying. She said usually when American women cry it is because of frustration that things aren't going well for them. But I reassured her these were all tears of JOY! Joy for all that the Lord has done for us. Joy, for all that our family has done for us. Joy, for all that our friends have done for us and most of all Joy for our Natasha Joy!
Praise God! Grandpa and Grandma have gotten us plane tickets to leave Kiev on the fourth. And with seats together! ( Answer to prayer number one) Praise God! We were able to get Natasha's birth certificate in in time to be prepared. If we hadn't gotten it in today Galina said they close everything up until the 12th because of the holidays. (Answer to prayer number two) Praise God! We were able to get Natasha to her Christmas party tonight to celebrate with all her friends and to say good bye. It was SO hard but we know God has plans for her, Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you,"declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." A wonderful answer to prayer number three.
There are a few more prayer requests for tomorrow and in Kiev. Galina says there is one more lady we need to go through to get Natasha's birth certificate complete and they call her, "the tuff lady". I guess she is very difficult and can delay things for us. Since it is the holidays here people don't really want to stick around and help out, they would rather be off celebrating. So prayers that she will be cooperative (we need to see her twice) and that everything will be completed tomorrow so we can leave for Kiev tomorrow night. Prayers for us in Kiev, that the time will go by quickly and we will be able to get all of our US Embassy things done on the 3rd so we will be able to leave on the 4th. And now we will be off to Kiev tomorrow night and we will not be able to blog except maybe through Grandma.

My daughter Miranda, who has been so faithful in sending us our daily verses through all of this, sent us our last verse we will receive while we are here in Ukraine. And it is definately a God thing. It is just such a complete and absolute confirmation to us of the plans that God had for us with this adoption. We leave you with it as we say thank you SO much for your faithfulness to us in your prayers, comments and support for us during this adoption. And we know this faithfulness is a reflection of His faithfulness that He has shown to all of us.

The Verse:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left , your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,

" This is the way; walk in it."

Isaiah 30:21