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

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Today is Michelle's Birthday and we had a fun time celebrating it with her this evening!
This morning Galina arrived and brought news that the court decision will not be until the 30th ( I guess they start the ten days the day after court). She had already made appointments for us in Kiev at the US Embassy for the 30th so we had to reschedule them. Thankfully, we were able to get two appointments for the 3rd of January at the US Embassy and are praying that both appointments will be quick. Especially, the medical one as it is at 10 o'clock and the other appointment will be at 11:30 so we would love to have prayers that both these will go smoothly so we will be able to get both completed on the 3rd. Our second prayer request is that we will be able to get a flight out of Kiev on the 4th. We have tried to call with the International numbers we were given from the Nortwest Airline people when we were in the states but we only got through to one and I don't think it is a KLM # . The other # isn't going through.
We will have much to do on Friday the 30th and it doesn't help that we won't have Viktor that day! Lela will return from the states and she will now need Viktor again. So a prayer also for a driver for us on Friday when we will be doing all of our running around. Tomorrow, we will have a party for Natasha's teachers at the Beckers and then attend her Christmas party in the evening. I am thankful that she will be able to go to this and celebrate with her friends one last time. We will leave for Kiev on the 30th at night. We couldn't get any appointments for the US Embassy for the 2nd because since the 1st fell on a Sunday, they are closed for the holidays on Monday. I guess this is how it is sometimes too in America with some stores and businesses.
We arrived at Michelles and the girls strung some bracelets and necklaces together while Michelle quickly went to the Orphanage to do a few things. She made us homemade pizza when she returned and used her special sauce that her mother sent her from the states. She enjoyed every bite! It was really good and reminded me of the kind that I make so it was a wonderful meal had by all. After dinner we had a Ukrainian cake(which looks like an American cake on the outside but is more like a torte on the inside)and ice cream. Michelle put 11 candles on the cake representing the 10 children who have been adopted and one for her. She said that she wishes that she will be able to add ten more to her cake next year. We pray her wish will come true. After cake and ice cream, she opened her gifts from us (we got her a pair of mittens and a rug for her room) and gifts from the states that her family sent over with us to her. She enjoyed everything, and the girls had fun playing a miniature Simon game. We were thankful that we were able to celebrate her birthday with her and were glad for the invitation. All these partys and get togethers have really made the time fly for us while we have been here and we have been so thankful for this. Now, we will have two partys to attend tomorrow and then a day filled with running around to get documents and such completed. Then we will be headed to Kiev on Friday evening. So Thursday will be our last Blog. We will try to get some e-mails sent out to Grandma to post through Galina's computer while we are in Kiev and we pray that the time will go quickly there for us. Thanks for all your continued prayers as we head down the homestretch! One more day until Natasha will be officially apart of our family, two more days until Kiev and then we pray that it is only 7 more days for us now until America!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures are of Michelle with a phone call from Mom; "Someone's in the kitchen with 'Michelle' "; special homemade pizza dinner; Michelle blowing out the candles and Michelle opening her gifts

Dolphin Show

Today we had a fun time at the Dolphin show. It was a really neat program and well worth the 6 bucks a piece we paid to get in plus, Ariana received a huge box of candy. We went early to pick up Natasha from the Internot and then went to get tickets for Ted, Ariana, Viktor and myself. The location of the building where the show was held is right next to the Black Sea so we were able to get some shots of that. It was really windy and the waves were coming in strongly. When you come from living right in the middle of a big land mass it is a very wonderful thing to behold. We then saw all the kids from the Internot coming down the walk way and joined up with them. Natasha went in with them since she had already a ticket with the Internot. Then once inside she sat with us right in the front row! I don't know how we managed seats like that. Usually, these would be the first ones taken. But then again they may be the worst seats since no one wants to get wet!. We had a big plastic sheet which went down the whole row we were sitting in to cover ourselves with if the dolphins splashed us. It worked well and we were thankful for it. In the end, however, Ariana failed to lift it up and was soaked! Natasha and I got a good laugh out of this :) The show had seal performances and dolphins doing tricks with their instructors and as I said early it was money well spent and the kids had a really good time.
After, we went to the Center and had some pan pizza. This stuff was thick! I couldn't even eat two whole pieces but Natasha and Ariana did plus they each had room for dessert afterwards! (I think were getting Natasha's stomach stretched out a bit to hold more food!) Viktor had on his Nebraska velour sweatshirt which we brought and gave him for Christmas. We told him he should have worn it tomorrow when the game is on! Bergers, Yuri had his Nebraska sweatshirt on today too. He is so sweet he came right up to the van to say hello to us when we had come to get Natasha from the Internot this morning. We also got a kick out of him and a little girl who kept pushing him and hitting him as they teased one another outside while we waited to get into the show. I could just picture that little girl being Christina. Not that she would be hitting anyone or anything like that! ; )
Tomorrow we will go to the market and see if we can find something for Michelle for her birthday tomorrow. We have been invited over for pizza and a small party at her apartment. It will be really fun too because this will be the first time we will have seen her new place. I know it will be a nice time and I remember how we spent it last year with her at her home when all the families who were headed toward or had gone down the adoption road were there. And now all but one of the families who was there have their children and I believe the last couple will be coming here next month! I also remember when she blew out her candles and she said that the ones left which were still lit, nine in all, indicated how many children she would like to see adopted in the next year. It seems this wish is coming true for her with Cole, Aloyna, Nina, Lena, Alla, Natasha, Vera(next month) and now two more families coming soon for a child each. Totaling nine children! I wonder how many candles she will have left this year, we hope many more.

Pictures are of the girls by the Black Sea; tickets to the show; Big Nastia(as Natasha calls her), Natasha and Little Nastia(also as Natasha calls her) enjoying the show; Dolphin performance; treats afterward and Viktor with his Big Red on.

Thank You

Thank you all so much for the well wishes and Merry Christmases you all sent us. We truly enjoyed all of them and loved reading each one (kind of like Christmas Cards). We didn't do much today and had to take Natasha back to the orphanage as our weekend extravaganza was over but it was a great one. : ) before we took Natasha back we took her to the airport store for her to buy some gifts with her allowance she has saved up during the year plus, a gift that will go into a gift exchange with all the kids at the Christmas party. There was so much for her to decide from that it took awhile but I think she was happy with the choices she made. Then Viktor dropped us off at the Center again. It was a bit warmer today so it was nice to be able to take our time to look at things. She has two more gifts to find for people then I think we will be done! She knows just what she has in mind for people and doesn't want to get anything else instead of it, which is just like her Mama : ) Tomorrow, I think we will be joining the kids in going to a dolphin show(at least this is what Ted tells me) So we will see what happens! Galina will join us on Wednesday as she is still not needed here for any paper work type things. We hope to get a good estimate from her of how long things will take for us after the court decision. We want to try and get our plane tickets booked ahead of time so we won't have to wait too many days after we are done with the US Embassy in Kiev. So we would love to have prayer for getting tickets for all of us on a date where we can leave right away when we are done with all of our appointments. Thanks again for all your well wishes and thoughts. We miss you all and can't wait to return home to you all.

No pictures, as we didn't take any today!

PS Miss Julie, you have gotten Ted, Lisa and even Natasha hooked on Soduku! Once Ted was always bored looking for something to do. Now he is always working on that book! It is neat to watch him and Natasha trying to work it out together : )

Christmas Day

Wow! What a Christmas we had! If it wasn't for the fact that all our family wasn't here with us it would have been a perfect day. Surprisingly, the girls didn't wake up until almost 10 o'clock and so we all had a good rest. Santa came and left a few presents for us all and it was a nice relaxing morning with no rushing around. Viktor came to pick us up and he arrived early bringing a fresh cut Christmas tree with him! What a surprise for us! After we would come home from the party we would decorate the tree and the girls were so excited about this. So off we went to the Freeland's (Butch and Dawn's) and on the way there it started to snow! What a special thing for us to make it seem a little more like it was really Christmas. We were dropped off near the Center to pick up some cookies and chocolates and bread to bring to the party. And what a wonderful walk we had with it snowing the whole way. We arrived at Butch and Dawns' and were welcomed SO warmly by everyone there. It was just a beautiful apartment and a wonderful atmosphere and we felt like we were surrounded by old friends even though we just met. The Becker's came as well and I know Natasha was thrilled with this by all the smiles she had for them and I know she was happy there would be someone else to talk to at the party. We sang a few Christmas carols and played a fun game then had a wonderful Christmas meal. It hasn't been since the Becker's dinner that we have had a home cooked meal and it was such a blessing. After dinner there were presents for all! And the girls received new socks which were stuffed with candy and hair clips. They also got beautiful mittens and a puzzle. What a special blessing Butch and Dawn are. They made us feel so at home and all the things they did for us and the children were just so wonderful we could never thank them enough!
We then said our goodbyes and headed back to Lela's and picked up some construction paper and phone cards on the way. When we got to Lela's the girls eagerly waited while Papa tried to poor rocks into a bucket for the tree to hold it up. This took awhile as the rocks had been sitting outside in a bucket and the bucket accumulated water in it and the rocks had become all frozen together! Papa got the job done, however, and the decorating begun. I was so thankful for this time because before we left for Ukraine we put up our tree but I was wishing we could have had Natasha with us to help and this was just another added blessing for us today in decorating the tree together with her. Natasha had so much fun with the tree that she decided to decorated Papa as well! He looked very pretty when she was finished with him and even had a candy cane placed in his mouth. We then made some ornaments of our own from the construction paper we picked up on the way home. It gave the tree just the right touch and was fun to add a remembrance for Lela.
Then the best part of the day came at 8 o'clock when we were able to use Michelle's phone to call home. We called Babushka Lennard's and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Natasha even got to talk to a few of her new relatives and did quite well understanding them all! It was a blessing to hear all their voices and a great present for us to end the day with. The girls are up watching a movie with Michelle and Lisa and then it will be time to turn in for another busy day tomorrow.
Another added blessing today as we wrapped up the day. Tonight was the first time Natasha prayed out loud during bed time prayers : ) She was SO excited tonight and was bouncing off the walls we have never seen her quite like this and how wonderful it was for us to see her SO excited about everything. She told Michelle she needed to get to bed so she could pray for Nastia and her friends; her brothers and sisters and her babuskas and dodrushka(sp?) and that's just what she did! She said it all in Russian and we understood every beautiful word. Thank You Jesus for this blessed day You have given to us who are so far from home. We had such a wonderful day and this ending was the icing on the cake.
We had a great Christmas and were so blessed by everyone who was a part of our day near and far. We hope you all have just as blessed a Christmas day as we have had here.
MERRY CHRISTMAS : )

Pictures are of the girls with their stockings; view from the Freeland's balcony of the wonderful snowy day; decorating Papa; making ornaments; calling home and a family photo

Farewell Party

What a day we had! Being in Ukraine and not having Christmas advertised everywhere really makes it hard to feel like tomorrow is really Christmas Day. It is nice, in away, to get away from all the stores and things that are just "screaming" Christmas at you. Not what the true meaning of Christmas is but Christmas as most people look at it, presents and gifts and forgetting Jesus amongst all the hububub. We are starting to see a few ornaments and twinkling lights in some of the stores. And we're seeing little Christmas trees here and there about town. They even have fresh cut trees out now and they are very tiny compared to the sizes of them in America. Actually, most everything, especially portions, are much smaller here. Ted has found this out when he went to buy a bag of potato chips. No Big Size bags here just average size bags that most homes in America never buy because there too small. The milk comes in quarts(we are always getting milk ever other day) and ice cream mainly comes in bags or ½ quart sizes. The fruit is smaller and more ripe or bruised looking. BUT the food is better tasting(in my opinion) because it is much more natural and not so processed as in America. Cheese and meats are wonderful(they have SO many different salamis and sausages) Fruits are much more sweeter and have more flavor to them. Breads are baked fresh. But I'm getting off the subject of how our day went. We did go to the store to pick up treats for Natasha's party. We needed to get enough food for a class of 25 children and any teachers who may happen to be there. We left it up to Natasha to get what she wanted for the class. At first we thought we made a mistake in doing this the way she was loading up the cart!(Plus we thought we'd end up making the class sick with all the sweets she was getting!) We limited her on some of the quantity on things but other than that she ended up doing a great job in getting all different varieties of food without getting too much of one thing. Our cart was really full and we were wondering how much this party was going to end up costing us! But again, we were pleasantly surprised that the whole cart full of groceries ended being a mere 30 dollars and 80 cents! This is another thing I like about the food in Ukraine very inexpensive.
We headed to the Internot with our stash of food and Natasha and Luda (her supervisor who is such a sweet dear!) helped us get all the plates and drinks and the food situated around the table. As Michelle was telling me, parties in Ukraine are a bit different than parties in America. Instead of taking your plate of food and going and finding a place to sit, you put all the plates on the table and everyone sits and gathers around no matter how many people or how small the table is! And this is what we did. It was a lovely party and Viktor taped the whole thing. Each of the children got up and said something to Natasha and said their good byes to her on tape. Lena VP, Inna has a long schpeel(sp?) for you to see when we get back. I hope the tape in the camcorder Viktor used will be compatible with our systems in America. It was a very sweet farewell from all of her friends. After we cleaned up we played some games and Michelle went and got some of the children who we brought Pen Pal letters and presents for. Katia, Babushka Lennard's pen pal, wasn't there as she is currently in America on a 3 week visit that an organization plans out every year around Christmas. So Michelle will give her her things later when she returns. Sasha was there and enjoyed her letters and only wanted to open one of the gifts to her. Michelle told us later, that Sasha was probably too shy to open her gifts in front of us but that she was excited about her things and was showing all her friends upstairs the letters that she had received.
We then said our good byes and headed out for dinner. Berger's, we saw Yuri again and said "Hello". He is such a gentleman! So sweet: ) We ended up going to the Greek Mall's cafeteria again(the one with all the paintings, Natasha's choice, she enjoys it!) And afterwards we headed to a little Baskin Robbins that was close to the mall. It is probably the only time as a family that we'd be able to get Baskin Robbins ice cream! Again, it was very inexpensive 8 dollars for us all and a wonderful treat to end the day.
And now tonight on Christmas Eve we will watch Miracle on 34th Street and then put the children to bed in hopes of Santa arriving tonight. We will spend Christmas at Michelle's friends, Butch and Dawn, who have graciously asked us to come and celebrate Christmas with them all. Then we will come back to Lela's house, which will be the best part of the day because we will get to call home to wish our family there a Merry Christmas.
We hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow and we thank you for all your gifts of prayers and notes to us along our adoption journey.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love from
The Carrizales'

Pictures are of beautiful Nastia(Natasha's best friend) with her compelted knitting work; Natasha, Luda and Ariana helping to distribute all the food; all the kids gathered round the table(and some were off to the side because there was no more room!); a display for Christmas of some of the needlework that the children have worked on(VERY wonderful work by these children!); Pen Pal Sasha, and us enjoying our Baskin Robbins! (we even got Viktor to join us in a scoop)

Aqua Park

Today we had much fun swimming indoors(well at least the kids and Ted did). The Aqua Park was a lot of fun for the girls and when we walked in I could see why. Gigantic water slides and warm pools. (Except, Natasha thought only one of the pools really felt warm enough to swim in!) But she was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. She loves to swim and is pretty good at it. Ariana didn't want to leave and wants to go back after Christmas. We did end up finding Ted a swimsuit and "slippers" as they call them.(which are really like flip flops but without the thin straps, more like crocs in sandal form) This was a rule that we all had to have some on while walking around in the pool area. Ted went down one of the really big slides that whips you around a spaceship looking type of deal and drops you out the bottom at the end of the slide.(It reminded me of a big drain or a giant garbage disposal!) He said it was fast and fun but didn't go again! The girls were too cold to want to be out of the water and walk up the three flights of stairs it took to get to the top of the slide. I jumped into the pool when we first got there and quickly got out after about a minute.(too cold for Mama) I was glad to take photos of everyone having a good time. : )
After the park, we went to a mall type of store that had a big grocery store in it as well. We order two large pizzas and 4 drinks for only 11 dollars. I said we should eat here more often! The kids then went and played some video games they had in the store and we all had fun with this. Especially, with watching the girls try to drive the motorcycle games and the car games. Viktor suggested maybe we get a tank at first when Natasha learns to drive! The poor dear could barely get the car to drive forward. I told Viktor once her brothers get her on the Playstation at home she'll be a pro in no time. Then I thought that she turns 15 next year, hmm?? but Viktor said that they don't drive here until they are 18. We may have to stick with that plan! Viktor also got a kick out of us by suggesting we play a video game called Jurassic Park. It was a game where you sit down on a seat that is suppose to be like you are in a Jeep. So he says, "Here you can sit by your daughter." Well, when the game started the seat moves as if you are driving over rough terrain. Of course we all were startled by it when it started up while Viktor watched on chuckling the whole time! But Ted retaliated and said it reminded him of riding in the back of Viktor's van. Viktor got a laugh out of that one too.
That's about all we did but the girls had a blast and didn't want to leave the video games either. We then headed back to Lela's "doma" home and worked on our cross stitching. Natasha and Ariana helped Mama make spaghetti for dinner. Thankfully, I now have someone else in the family who loves garlic as much as I do : ) We can both have bad breath together. Thanks for your continued prayers as it is hard to read the previous blog and not miss our children even more. Their personalities being described to a "T". We look forward though to all the time we will get to spend with them when we get home. And by that time Ted will have used up all his vacation for the year and we won't be leaving anywhere soon : )

Pictures are of the Aqua Park(outside), the fun we had inside, the giant contraption which Ted went through, Ted at the top of the slide and Ted being dumped out of the slide and of Natasha at the mall trying her best to make a lap around the track.

Holding Down the Fort

Grandma is adding a few words regarding those who are "holding down the fort" awaiting the arrival of their new sister...niece and granddaughter.

The adventure started out to be that...an exciting and expecting adventure. As the days turned into weeks...and weeks...the exciting began turning into a slowed down NEW routine, which with Grandpa and Grandma manning the fort wasn't quite as fun as when Dad and Mom are around. Ahh-h, but then a new troop...Tia Evy arrived from Chicago and she DID "step it up a notch" with a more ideas and a lot more fun stuff...foods and activities.

And yet, the boys and Miranda are hanging in there...getting a bit quieter...needing those special arms to cuddle them, to reassure them, to give that peace that only Mom and Dad have to give. They are true troopers, however, and great at helping the temporary authority figures...keeping us on our toes.

How PATIENT Ty has been in teaching Grandma PlayStation...okay, it finally got him to the point where HE wanted to put it up...mission accomplished. Grandma's made from scratch macaroni and cheese did not get rave reviews, however, Ty ate most of it along with lots of carrots and dipping sauce (salad dressing.) What a bright guy Ty is...he is always in deep thought and figures things out extremely precise...and when you explain anything to him, he wants it down to the smallest detail or he'll ask you about what you've left out. Ty is a source of joy...he keeps us smiling that's for sure.

Tahner tells it like it is...he doesn't let us get by with anything! If he notices things aren't JUST like they should be, we'll hear about it from Tahner. And, he WON'T eat his macaroni and cheese if it doesn't taste good. He lets Grandma know that she isn't playing the PlayStation right but when I give the controller to him, he'll run my football player the opposite way and make a touchdown for the opposing team! Thanks a lot buddy... Tahner tells me how Mommy puts him to bed at night and gives him kisses and loves...and his little face just squints up w/the greatest smile. I hope and am sure Mom is storing up those kisses and loves because he'll be ready to collect them all...and then some.

Miranda...what can I say...she is something MORE than special. What a blessing to have her in our lives, especially at this time...knows the household routine as if she's established it...keeps us running smoothly. Her head must be tired with all the additional thinking for us she has been doing. She would have loved to have been in Ukraine, welcoming her new sister along with Ariana, but she is wanting everything at home to be special for when Natasha arrives. BLESSINGS TO YOU MIRANDA...over and over again. Your reward is coming...for this God, now and eternally, has blessings ready and waiting for you. We thank God for you and we thank you for being the joy you are to us!

And, yes, we all look forward to when Mom, Dad and Ariana return bringing w/them our new family member...sister, niece, and granddaughter, Natasha Joy Carrizales. We are SO ready to welcome you Natasha!

We thank God for adding ANOTHER precious child to our family...first Cole Matthew, now Natasha Joy. Wow...when God builds, He does a perfect job. Thank you God!

Two Fun Days

We've had a good two days here and have gotten some things for Natasha to take home with her for if she starts feeling overwhelmed with English and such. We were able to find a Christian bookstore which Michelle had known of. Thankfully, we ran into Aloyna, who is Lela's interpreter, at the Internot. She came with us and helped us translate to the clerk which books we were looking for. We were hoping to find the Narnia books which are so popular now in America and they did have them. I could have been looking right at them and wouldn't have figured it out! I'm so glad that Aloyna was able to come along with us. I also asked if they had any other classics like Heidi (which was just an example I threw out there) and she said here it is! And so we purchased Heidi as well. Natasha picked out another book that had short stories in it and we found a little framed picture with Jesus standing at a door and knocking with the Revelation verse underneath. So we ended up with four hardback books(we only wanted to get The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe from the Narnia series but the lady there said the books came as a set) and a paperback and a framed picture. I braced myself for the total and was pleasantly surprised to find out that everything came to under 20 US dollars! You could never buy four hardback books for under 20 dollars in the US yet alone even one for that matter. I said if we had time later we'd come back and get some more books for her if they were that inexpensive. She can also loan them out to her Ukrainian friends in Omaha who would be able to read them. I explained to Aloyna that we are big readers in our family and not so much the kids reading books by themselves but that I always read to the children at night. Aloyna explained this to Natasha and she said that Natasha told her that she loves being read to. She just fits our family so perfectly! Each day we find out more and more about her that we are just so thankful and in awe of God for placing her with us. He has known all along how right she was for us and I pray that we will be right for her. We headed out to a Chinese restaurant down the way and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is much the same as in America except for the french fries they served with the meal! They also looked at us funny when we asked if they had fortune cookies. But at least Natasha enjoyed her sweet and sour chicken and we know that this will be something we can all enjoy together when in America.
Today we went to a sewing store where we picked out some cross stitching patterns to work on for the ride home and some that Natasha wanted to do and give as gifts. I picked out some for myself as well, ones which were Ukrainian in style so I could hang them up later in the house for her to remember her homeland. I have never cross stitched before but I am thankful I have a daughter who knows how to do so VERY well (and very fast I might add). It will be fun for us to sew together when we get home. I am just looking forward so much to all the time we will spend together doing things. She says she also likes to cook which all our children enjoy(especially the boys because they like to lick the spoons!) So we will all have things to do together. Natasha has even said that she loves to play Gameboy and has done so everytime she has been to Lela's with us. I know her brothers will be MORE than happy to show her a few moves on the PlayStation when she gets home!
Tomorrow, we will go to the famous indoor Aqua Park. We will first need to go out and find a suit for Papa. Hopefully we will be able to find something here even with it being Winter now. The girls are very excited about this but not as excited as we are because Viktor has told us that Natasha will be able to spend the whole weekend with us and she can even stay Sunday evening! So we will be able to have her on Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day and not have to worry about bringing her back to the Internot at 5. We also are going to have her going away party for her class on Saturday afternoon. This will be a fun occasion for her since she will be picking out all the treats she will have for her party and just having a grand time with her friends. We will get lots of pictures for her as well, to put in her memory book to have when she is in America.
We are all holding up well and are glad that we can say that will be home in less than two weeks. And I know next week (Monday) when Galina returns things will really speed up for us in getting the rest of our documents and passport things done for Natasha. And then before we know it, it will be less than a week before we will be home and it will be like counting down the days before Christmas! Miranda has e-mailed that the boys are excited that we are staying on longer because then they will get to celebrate Christmas twice!(go figure) I told them it would be fun to celebrate our family Christmas on the 7th of January when the Ukrainians do and since it falls on a Saturday it will be just as exciting getting up early to see if there have been presents left under the tree.

Pictures are of Natasha and Ariana and Viktor and Aloyna when we were at the Chinese restaurant. And of us today at the Greek Mall in a cafeteria in the basement. It had tons of wonderful oil paintings all around and this is a picture of one of the paintings which was hanging in the dining area.

Court

Thanks for Grandma blogging again for us! We have learned that Internet is not free to use for the whole time when paid for. We have been e-mailing many pictures back home and I guess it costs Internet time to do this. We ate up all that time which we paid for the week before by sending pictures out. But thankfully wondeful Viktor went and paid to get the Internet back on again for us.
We had another long day yesterday, which didn't seem so long at first, but by the end of the day we were thankful to be back at Lela's. We arrived at the court house at a little after 12. We waited in one of the hallways as the room was prepared for us for the hearing. We then were asked to go in and have a seat in the room. We were all a bit nervous as we didn't know who the judge would be. He finally arrived and I was relieved to see he was a young judge with a kind face. He still had a serious look on his face however, but it wasn't mean just showing us that this was official business. Galina translated all that he said and he asked us both our full names and what Ted and I did for a living, how big our house was and why we wanted to adopt. He asked us twice if we were serious in persuing this adoption to completion and we both said yes. Then he had some questions for Natasha, if she wanted to come and live with us and why. She said yes, because they are so good to me. I tried not to look at her during this as I didn't want the judge to think I was influecing her answers. But then he said that he would then change her name and it would no longer be Natasha Rashkian but would now be Natasha Joy Carrizales and I had to look up at her then and she had such a big smile upon her face, I knew he could tell she was truly happy with this. Then he said who is this princess? looking at Ariana. He asked her what her name was. So she stood up(this is what we all had to do when we spoke to the judge) to her fullest and very boldly and loudly gave her full name ARIANA ASHELEY CARRIZALES! I think he was only looking for her first name but everyone in the court room started laughing even the judge. She is such a blessing to us. After a few more questions the judge left with the two people who sat by him to make a decision. When he was gone hugs were given to us all around by Dina, Svetlana, and Galina. Dina said it was like Natasha had won the lottery but I said it is like we have won, getting her as our daughter. It was overwhelming how happy they all were for us. We have been truly blessed by everyone we have met here in Ukraine. When the judge came back in he officially stated that he was in favor for this adoption and that after 10 days he would make it official. And some other things were said but it was just a blur to me and I can't remember it all. When the hearing was done he came over and shook our hands and congratulated us. This is when he asked who was taking care of our children back home. He was so kind and I wish we could have gotten some pictures but I didn't know if it would have been appropriate. Maybe when we go back on the 29th when it will be official.
After this we left to take Dina back to the Internot while Galina finished up things there at the court house. This was, I think, when she tried to see if the judge would reduce the time. When we came back to get her she said the judge allowed us to start the process of getting the birth certificate ready without having to wait until the official ruling on the 29th. We could also get started on the passport for Natasha. We left for the place where we would get the birth certificate in and have it started working on. Galina and Viktor said that this lady was very tuff and may not start it even if the judge said it was ok. Well, this is where we waited in the van for 3 hours! It was 2:15 when we first checked the time after they had been gone for a while and 5:15 when they finally returned. It wouldn't have been so bad but Viktor did not leave his keys this time as he usually does and it was cold outside so we just huddled together for the last hours. It gets dark here at 4:30, so when the sun went down it was worse. It took a few hours after we got home for our feet to get the feeling back into them. I felt bad for the girls because they had on skirts and tights. Papa gave them his coat to lay over their laps and we all squished together and took a little nap which helped pass the time towards the end. Finally, Galina and Viktor returned and said they were trying to find sometype of loophole to get us out of here quicker but could find none. Everyone they asked didn't want to help speed things up because it was a law and they weren't willing to bend the rules. We are ok with this and are thankful for all Galina has done to try and reduce our time. We know that this is what God has planned all along for us and we will remain here until God tells us when it is time for our return home. We just ask for prayers for our little ones at home who it will be much harder for while they wait. That their time will be so occupied that they won't even have much time to dwell upon this. That they will remain focused on God and know inside that these are His plans for them, plans to grow them through this experience and that this time for them has been planned for good and not to hurt them.
Thank you as well for all of your prayers for our health. We are all staring to feel better and I am finally able to hear a little better. Ariana woke up this morning without being sick as well for the first time in four days. Natasha didn't even need a tissue yesterday as well. Sorry this is such a long post but there was so much to cover and I know these next ten days won't be as detailed.
We now start to plan for Natasha's parties. The Becker's have graciously offered to have the teachers' party at their house. We will have the children's party at the Internot, probably toward the end of this week as Michelle has said that the kids' break starts on the 28th and some of the children go to their relative's homes to visit for a few weeks. Thanks for all your comments and verses they mean so much to us and we love to know people are interested in what is going on here. And thanks also for those taking our children and doing fun things with them we so much appreciate all that you are doing for them in helping them pass the time while we are away. You are all such a blessing to us.

Proverbs 16:9 " In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Pictures are of the court house, us waiting in the hallway outside the courtroom(Svetlana is in the photo with us), passing the time in the van with cross stitching, trying on Mama's sunglasses and Ariana trying to immitate Cole for Natasha. We also got a picture of a small boy getting a free ride on one of the many trolleys(which they call trains) He knew Ted was taking his picture and waved at us.

Our Court Happening

Our court experience went well. We had a very kind judge. He even asked who was watching after our children while we were away.

Galina tried everything she could to get the judge to waive the 10 day waiting time. She couldn't even get her "Plan B"...the judge to agree to waive until the 28th as she had hoped. She and Viktor searched three hours (as we waited outside in the car, freezing the whole time), through many books to try and find a loop hole in hopes of reducing the wait time but they could find nothing.

Patience

Today was a day of patience for all of us. We were to be ready to leave from Lela's today at 9:30 AM to be at the Internot at 10:30 to pick up Dina so she could drop off some documents at court. We arrived at the Internot on time and Viktor went in to get her. He came back with a disappointed look on his face. He told us that Dina said we were to come back at 12:30 PM and then she would be ready to go. So not knowing what to do, since yesterday we had just been shopping at the Center AND the day before that, Viktor took us to a mall that was in the area. This is where Viktor's patience kicked in as he doesn't like to shop! I asked him if he knew of a store in the mall that sold tea sets and he said, "I don't know...my wife may know but I don't know." I was hoping, maybe, there would be a directory of some sort he could take us to look at, but we ended up going up an escalator, walking around each floor trying to find a shop which might have something of which I was looking. We ended up finding nothing much but clothing stores at this mall and besides, everything looked expensive. We left and went back to the Internot as it was close to our 12:30 pick-up time for Dina. We arrived, and once again Viktor went in. While he was inside the usual group of dogs were waiting patiently by the Internot's door for someone to open it so they could go in. They aren't really suppose to go in, they just do sometimes. Well, Viktor came back and told us we needed to wait a bit. So we did and were entertained by the dogs outside. One little boy from the Internot who had come outside opened the door and allowed the dogs to go in. We all got a chuckle out of this because he had to push one of the dogs from behind as that dog didn't want to go in. Later we again noticed the door open and all the dogs were shooed out. Viktor received a call on his cell phone. It was Dina and apparently she wasn't coming. We would need to come back at 4:00 PM. Dina told Viktor for us to wait 15 minutes and she would send Natasha out. At 2:00 PM we saw Natasha come out and "boy" was she a sight for sore eyes!

We all went and ate at the famous Elvis McDonald's and wanted to get a picture of the girls next to him but it was extremely busy when we were there so we opted to do it another time (plus the look on Natasha's face was priceless, which indicated "no way" when I told her we wanted to take a picture of all of them together with Elvis.) After eating, we went to the store and picked up some things we needed at Lela's. When we got back to the Internot Dina was finally ready to go and we said goodbye to Natasha and were on our way to the court house. Viktor and Dina went in and were out quickly. We then dropped Dina off at her home. The whole process took maybe 20 minutes, yet we had to wait a whole day in order to have it accomplished. So we are growing and learning to be patient as we head toward the finish of this adoption process.

The good news is that we DO have court tomorrow...it will be at 12 noon instead of 10 AM. Galina called us tonight and said that court would probably last an hour and then she would be on her way back to Kiev. She said she is going to try and ask for the date of the 28th for the court's final decision (if they don't waive the 10 day waiting fee) so that we can get through the US Embassy processes before the holidays begin. This would work out well if we can get in the US Embassy the 29th and 30th, we then could leave for home the 31st. This is the date of our return flight which was originally booked. We wouldn't need to reschedule the return flight. The thing is we will still need to book an extra seat for Natasha. Also, to find a place to stay overnight in New York City on New Years Eve! It will be interesting to see what God has planned for us.

Thanks for your continued prayers as we are feeling a bit more rested. Hopefully, we all will be over these colds in the next few days. Galina goes back to Kiev at 6 PM so she won't be around long in chance of catching our colds. We are hoping, if we end up waiting, that we will be able to get some things done here in Odessa.

We request prayers for booked seats for the plane, doctor and other appointments needed at the US Embassy for when we need them...this would be great.

In the meantime we wait patiently for Natasha to legally become ours. She has already become ours in our hearts. It is SO difficult to send her back and not have her with us. We think she is feeling the same way as she always wants to stay longer than she is allowed. When we were out shopping on a really cold day, she didn't want to return early even though we could tell she was freezing. Michelle told us she didn't care and just wanted to stay with her Mama and Papa...bless her heart!

Pictures of the Internot dogs and Lela's sugar bowl (this is what I was trying to find at the mall. We have been using a lot of sugar for our coffee and Natasha's tea. One similar would be a nice remembrance to have at our home in recalling our time of getting to know one another while at Lela's.)

Wonderful Sunday

We had such a wonderful Sunday today because we got to go to church and it was SO much like First Covenant in it's style of service I just kept welling up with tears it felt so much like home. It was such a blessing for us. Ted and I just kept smiling at each other because of the uncanny way that it was so much like First Cov. It is an Evangelical church that meets at the Christian University. The Pastor is a graduate from the seminary where Tanya Becker works. Tanya invited us along on Thursday and we are so glad that she did. We walked in and their praise band was practicing some songs and the tunes were familiar! The words were in Russian but it was such a blessing to hear the familiar praise music. They even had a screen where they displayed the songs. We sang songs first and smiled big when the person working the Power Point lost their place in the song and had to flip back and forth through some of the stanzas to get to the right one just like our guys do at home sometimes : ) Then one of the leaders, he reminded us of what Will does, came forward in welcome and asked if there was anyone who had never attended their service before to stand up and introduce ourselves. Of course, I was the one who had to stand up since Ted wouldn't budge. I introduced myself and introduced them to my husband and two daughters. Then he asked if anyone would like to share anything that happened to them this week that was moving to them and two people shared wonderful stories. We prayed and sang some more songs(even Natasha was singing!) then the children were prayed for as they left for Sunday School. The pastor then proceeded with the sermon and wonderful Tanya, who is 8 months pregnant, sat behind us and leaned forward the whole time to translate the entire sermon to us and she did this so eloquently and so beautifully. I just felt we were sitting among all our friends and family at home. Like I said tears just kept welling up in my eyes. It was very overwhelming but so so comforting. Such a needed thing for us since we hadn't been to church for two weeks. After service they had cookies and "chai" which is tea. A cute little boy kept grabbing handfuls of cookies and distributing them out to everyone he went up to. I should have taken a picture, it was so sweet. I highly recommend trying to attend service here for those who come to Odessa. You'll love it.
We then left and walked about 15 minutes to go and eat at an authentic Ukrainian restaurant near the Center. It was quite cold out and poor Natasha who wanted to wear her skirt today had on only tights to cover her legs but she didn't complain one bit and had a smile on her face the whole time. The girls even stopped a bit on the way to feed a cat and some birds with an extra roll we had from a restaurant we had ate at yesterday and had forgotten in a coat pocket! The restaurant was beautifully decorated in a traditional Ukrainian style. The hostess and waiters were dressed in traditional Ukrainian clothes. The restaurant was decorated for the holiday and was so pretty. We took a picture outside and tried to get in these stuffed goats which were on display in one of the windows. (Ariana really liked those) You can sort of see them in the left window in the posted picture. The food was really good even though we really didn't know what to get. Natasha and Michelle split some chicken, which was wrapped around some type of fruit but which both thought tasted wonderful, and mashed potatoes which weren't whipped but roughly mashed and looked and smelled wonderful. Lisa and Ariana ordered some borscht(which I wish I would have ended up ordering) and it was quite different than what I had thought borscht would be(just beets). It was mainly meat(shredded beef) with some cabbage and a few beans in a beet type of broth. It was served with sour cream and pieces of wonderful garlic bread. I don't even think I saw any pieces of beet in the soup it was just a type of beet broth. I tried some of Ariana's and it was wonderful. It tasted like a vegetable beef soup. I'll be ordering this the next time! I wish I would have taken pictures of the meal, like the other families who came have done, because everything that was served was beautifully displayed on the plates with all different kind of vegetables cut in wonderful displays.
After lunch it was getting to the time where we needed to bring Natasha backto the Internot(where did the time go!) So we walked around the Center for a little bit and picked up a few more souvenirs. Then it was time to head back.
We will plan to pick up Galina at 9AM on Tuesday morning to go to court. We need to be there by 10 and today Viktor said we may not even be able to get in on Tuesday, that we may have to wait until Wednesday. We are praying for Tuesday and would love to have prayer for getting in on Tuesday as well as the waving of the 10 day wait. Even though we didn't have much to do this weekend we feel drained as we are all coming down with colds, even Natasha. So prayers for improved health would be wonderful as well. But we were truly blessed today by the time spent with our daughters and friends.
Pictures are of the building where we went to service this morning, the room we had service in and some cute children who were there. Then of the restaurant where we had lunch this afternoon.

Quick Blog

Hello all and a short blog for you today. Michelle and Lisa are staying with us at Lela's tonight and they have been without Internet for two days. And since we know how long two days can really be being out of touch with family and friends we let them have as long as they needed. We had fun today, shopping at the Center where they have souviners and I wish we would have gotten some photos at the stands we shopped at but they probably would have made us pay them for taking a picture of them. Plus it was so cold we just didn't think about it.(The only two days we have been out shopping here have been the two coldest and windiest!) Ariana was thrilled to finally get to hold a chinchilla and get her picture taken with it. She hasn't stopped talking about the chinchilla since we left the Center last week. We know for sure that Natasha has learned at least one English word so far "chinchilla"! We had a fun afternoon and evening at Lela's wrapping Natasha's teachers' gifts and teaching Natasha to play Phase 10. We told her that this was something she would need to learn eventually with all the Phase 10 players we know!(Julia Hanson! Pastor Phil, Miss Julie and the Alpha Gang) She loved it and her favorite part was always skipping Papa when she had a skip card to play. Michelle let us use her phone to call home and touch base and Natsasha got to talk to Miranda for a bit and they both understood what each other was saying: ) Miranda thought Natasha sounded like Lena VP on the phone. Afterwards, the girls curled up to a movie, Pollyanna, and are now fast asleep as I write. It is funny how when Natasha comes to stay she always picks out the exact same movie that Ariana has picked out the night before! Ana doesn't mind as she never gets to watch a movie everynight when she is at home.
Thanks for all your posts we love reading them and we will be thinking about the wonderful program the kids will have tomorrow and wishing we could be there to see it.

Airport Store

Today we were able to go and get some clothes for Natasha for when she comes home with us. We needed to find another pair of jeans for her as she only has the one pair which are too long for her anyway. There is a store near the Internot that we went to that Michelle calls "The Airport Store" The kids from the Internot sometimes go there when they have allowance saved up and are able to get things for themselves. It is really like a department store which has more groceries than other products. It had a cafe in it as well and we had pizza again. This time it had the sauce on it. Patient Viktor helped us find the clothes and showed us where Natasha could try them on. I was thankful there was a place for her to do this this time unlike at the other market we had previously went to. It was hard to find what size she needed since the numbers for sizes are so different here but we managed to figure out that she is a size 36. Natasha was thrilled with her new purchases and just kept hugging and kissing Ted and I. She also shyly asked if she could pick up some more sugar and candies for her friends. She is always thinking of others before herself. We are also finding out that she may not be as picky of an eater as we thought. She does like ice cream and has eaten every meal we have had together without any dislikes. She is a bit like her new brother Ty, however, in that she isn't a big fruit eater which surprised us. She doesn't like apples, grapes, oranges or pears. So far all we know she likes is bananas and pineapple. She loves Orange juice however.
It was another short day for us and we went back to the Internot for a short while and sat in on a small meeting that Tanya held with the children. They talked about their uniforms and other various things. Some of the teachers sat in on this meeting as well and it was neat to here their discussions even though we didn't understand anything unless someone filled us in on it. At one point Natasha tapped me and said,"Mama, Nastia and me no smoke." I guess there was a discussion about this. I said "kha-RO-shi" which means "good" in Russian. During the meeting we also noticed that the beads from the craft we did yesterday with them had been made into bracelets and other trinkets. Michelle says they love the beads and like to makes things from them. I'm glad they were able to reuse them for things that they enjoy. We were able to get some more pictures of Natasha's teachers who were sitting in on the meeting and a few more of some children. Two girls from Natasha's class, Inna and Alla, are just so sweet. They are always saying hello to Ariana and asking how she is and including her with them when they are playing games. I always catch them looking at us and smiling at us. When we left for the Internot this evening Alla came racing down the hall after us and said to us "All the best!" Wishing us a good night. Lena, Inna says "Hi" she is so sweet she even wanted to know what Natasha's babushka's name was so we told her Carolyn.
Tomorrow we will have Natasha for most of the day : ) and she will be able to stay overnight with us then we will go to church with Tanya on Sunday. Michelle has graciously accepted to come along and spend the day with us even when she is so busy with moving into her new apartment. What would we do without her!? I also forgot to mention a neat fact about where Michelle has moved. The street name that her apartment is located on is"Joy Street"!
We will be able to have Natasha with us more after court on Tuesday(Amy VP). Then Viktor said she will be staying more with us and less at the Internot which will be wonderful. We are still praying that the judge will reduce the 10 day wait so we will be home sooner but we will see what the Lord has for us.
We didn't take too many pictures today since we just went to the store and were only at the Internot for 45 minutes but we hope to get more of the city when we are out and about on Saturday and Sunday. The new photos are of two more of Natasha's teachers and some more friends. With Inna(in pink next to Natasha) and Alla(tall one on the far left in the gray sweater) in one of the photos.
Thanks for all your continued prayers for us. We feel them everyday.
All the best!
Ted Amy Natasha and Ariana

A Fast Day

Today went really fast for two reasons. First we didn't have to be up at any certain time so we all slept in until about 10 o'clock. (Ted may have gotten up earlier) Also, because we left Lela's house in the afternoon to go to the Orphanage. Aloyna, Lela's translator, was there and we were able to meet her and have lunch with her this afternoon.(Cole, we weren't able to give her your present because we didn't know we were going to run into her today but she said you were greatly missed among your friends.) She said Cole was the class' entertainer. We were also able to see some of the fourth grade class today while we waited for Natasha to come out. We took some pictures of the orphanage, as well, for you to see. One of the directors came out while we were taking pictures so we stopped and couldn't get as many as we wanted to of all the children but I know we will have other opportunities. I don't think the director minded that we were taking pictures. I think she was just wanting the children who were outside to go in and get a coat on. One of the girls Vica G.(I think) was holding one of the many dogs that hang around the orphanage. I was wishing I could have gotten a picture of her (It was so cute because the dog was almost as big as her!) but this was around the time the director had first come out.
natasha came out and we all piled into Viktor's van and we went to a restaurant and ordered pizza. The pizza is basically the same here but there was no tomato sauce on it. They gave us a really tiny side dish of ketchup if we wanted to put that on the pizza. It was a nice lunch and we were lucky to have gone at the time we did because at the end of the meal all the power in the restaurant went out and we were left sitting in the dark until we left.
We then returned to the Internot to do some crafts with the kids. Ty, your snowflake crafts were a hit! The kids started out making snowflakes and then came up with other wonderful ideas. Trees,flowers, hearts etc. I made a candycane but no one seemed to know what it was! Viktor came to take us back to Lela's at 5 because this is when the children at the Internot go and do their homework. We were able to get some pictures of one of Natasha's teachers. I am so bad with remembering names so I can't say who it was sorry! But I know that Natasha is very close to her. She is so sweet as well. She wanted to have Ariana in the picture and she made Natasha climb up these compartment shelves that are in the playroom to get down this Christmas decoration for Ariana to hold. It was funny.
Amy, we asked Inna about Lena's books. She didn't know which books you meant so if you could get us some names we'll ask her again. It was a fast day but we are hoping to spend more time with Natasha this weekend and maybe do some shopping. Berger's we saw Yuri again on the way out and he waved and said hello and to have a good night. I wish we could have gotten another picture but he was on his way upstairs to do his homework when we saw him. I'm glad we were able to spend more time with the other children they are all really sweet kids and it is SO nice to have Michelle there to help us communicate with them all.

An Afternoon With Friends

This afternoon we spent at the Internot with Natasha and some of her classmates. We finally got Nastia to smile for the pictures. She is so beautiful and she is quiet and sweet just like Natasha. I love the picture we got of Natasha and Nastia together. You can just see how gentle Natasha is in trying to get her friend to smile for the picture. They are such good friends. We played Old Maid and looked at photos of the children that were on the wall. There was a photo of the 4th and 8th grade class together that was on a calender that had a picture of Santa on it. Nastia was so funny because when we were pointing out children in the picture Inna was trying to be funny by saying that Santa was her brother and Nastia said "Yes, because you both have red noses."(Inna's nose gets red very easily I guess as she was worried about how it would look when we first took her picture when she came in from outside). We were all laughing so hard and Inna the hardest of all of us. It was just so unexpected that Nastia said that because we hadn't barely heard a peep out of her the whole time.(Val, she reminds me of you). The children also have displays of their needlework and knitting. I have put a picture of Natasha's on the blog. Miranda Natasha said she will help you learn to knit, crosstitch and sew when we come home. She is very excited about this. Ariana and Natasha have been working on the crossstitch we brought until mama accidently broke the needle! So we will have to find a new one. Natasha is so funny when we play games together. She loves to tease Papa and holds her cards really tightly when he trys to take a card from her when we play Old Maid. We just love hearing her little expressions that she has like, "Oi!" "Ooh"(sounds like eww) and "Oh Mama!" And she is so sweet she is always tweeking Ariana's cheeks and giving her kisses. We had fun with her friends today and she was happy to get pictures for her class book.

Cole's Class

Here are some pictures of Cole's friends. Bergers, we were able to see Yuri again. Michelle showed us some of his drawings and he is an excellent artist! Ariana really liked the picture of the horse he drew. She loves drawing horses and was very inspired by his drawing. She hopes to follow in Yuri's footsteps : ). Dima S. wanted to know if Cole was still the same and if he was doing well in America. We gave him your message Cole, about him having such long hair. It was nice to take pictures of the children. The picture of the little boy is Vladik. He is in the 3rd grade but was so cute we couldn't pass up getting a picture of him.
The last picture is of Dima and our wonderful driver Victor. We were in a small accident today as the driving here is so different. The lines have no meaning and you basically go where you think you can get through. Well, I guess a driver thought he could squeeze between Victor and a median while we were turning but he didn't quite make it so Victor's van was damaged on the side. I guess there is no insurance here and we hope that the damage won't be too expensive to repair. Thankfully, no one is hurt and since we were turning it was more of a scraping against each other than an actual collision. We would love prayers on saftey while driving too as there are no seatbelts either! These would be very much appreciated.
Miss Julie we can't thank you enough for all your prayers for the children. It is working wonders! And oddly enough I haven't had any time yet to do Sudoku! Since we brought Ariana I have been helping her with her homework and haven't had any free time even while waiting in hallways! We have been blessed by bringing her in this way as while we wait we do homework and the time just flies!

Praise The Lord!

Praise the Lord we have Internet access again! It was so hard not to be able to see the blog and especially e-mails from friends and family. We missed the contact with our children even if it was only by a simple e-mail everyday. We have had a quiet two days with out any running around with documents to notorize or papers to be signed. We had a wonderful VERY short meeting with Svetlana's boss(the guy with the glasses, Jeff and Amy). It was actually a little funny as Michelle briefly informed you about Svetlana taking Ariana without us into this man's office(thinking Ariana was Natasha) and then coming back out a bit embarrased. We went in after she brought Ariana out we introduced ourselves and sat down. The man said something about how there was much documentation. We really didn't understand what he said. Then he said something to Galina and she spoke and then he stood up and said thank-you and we said thank-you and then we left! We weren't in there for more than 3 minutes tops. We were so relieved! We weren't sure what to expect and we were'nt able to ask for prayer from you because the night before we had lost Internet contact. God has just continued to show us His faithfulness through this whole adoption. He had shown us several verses in Ezekiel before we left of how He was softening hearts and it has been so evident to us in many ways. We have also seen so many reasons why He wanted us to bring Ariana with us. We are just in awe of how He has been helping us and continues to help us here.
I just prayed so hard that God would get access going again to the Internet and blessed Victor got in touch with the company yesterday for us and sat down at Lela's computer and went through the steps with the company on the phone today to get this thing going again.
We were able to have Natasha over last night and she spent the night as well. It was fun trying to communicate with her and it would have been nice if the Internet was up so we could have translated online. She is so patient with her Mama. She is smarter than the three of us here put together! She understood us easier than we (or I should say I)understood what she was trying to say. She was so patient with us all and was all smiles while she was here. Ariana taught her to play Solitare on the computer and she learned quickly. Miranda you'll be able to play Solitare with her when she gets home : ).
Michelle's roomate Lisa came in from Maryland this afternoon and Michelle and Lisa are staying here at Lela's with us tonight. It was nice to have a meal all together except we weren't able to have Natasha with us. We weren't able to have Natasha overnight again but we did see her today and got a lot of pictures with her friends. She has gotten a book where she can put her friends' photos in and where they can write comments in it for her before she leaves.
We hope to leave Odessa the 30th and this is longer than we wanted but it works great in that Natasha's Christmas Party with her friends is the 29th and I think it would be good for her to have on last 'hurrah' with her friends before she goes. But we're hoping with the new year and it being the weekend it won't take us longer to get out of Kiev. We'll see what God has planned for us. Thanks for your continued prayers and patience with us as we haven't posted or had a chance to put up pictures.
We also got to see Cole's class and gave Dima S. the Lennard's family picture that we had brought with us. We asked Victor to tell Dima that we would bring back letters for Cole from Dima if he wants to write Cole. So hopefully, we'll have some for him when we return. We gave Dima a big long hug from all the Lennards. We also gave Inna a big long hug from all the VP's. You'll notice Inna has Lena VP's picture in the picture we took of Natasha's friends. Inna wanted to have Lena in the picture before we took it. We also have a note to bring back for Lena from her.
Sorry so long but we had to catch up on a couple of days. Enjoy the photos!
These are of our wonderful meal we had with the Becker's Sunday evening.

Hopeful Court Date

Information again from Michelle. Ted & Amy are still trying to get the internet problem fixed...

The last signature needed was obtained and Galina was able to get back to Kiev. The court date will be next Tuesday, December 20th...and 10 days later they will obtain the papers...which will be December 30th. After that, they go to Kiev and hope to be home on the 3rd or 4th of January.

Today was a day for staying home, at Lela's. Victor brought Natasha to them there...and she was also allowed to spend the night, about which she was really excited. She will go back to the orphanage early tomorrow for school. Amy, Ted and Ariana will go to the orphanage tomorrow afternoon, in hopes of being able to take Natasha home again for another over-night...but we'll see.

Natasha keeps asking about her grandparents. A picture of Grandpa & Grandma Lennard has been sent so she will see her one set of grandparents.

I am hoping to stay overnight tomorrow at Lela's w/Ted, Amy, Ariana & hopefully Natasha!

Maybe the internet will be in service by then...let's hope!

Love,
Michelle (for Amy, Ted, Ariana & Natasha)

Events from Sunday 12-11

These words are from Michelle, as Amy/Ted are unable to use the internet again...they wanted me to send a post so you can know about what is happening here in Odessa. They hope to be back online again soon and said they have lots of pictures, including some of Cole's class that they took today (Monday.)

Yesterday (Sunday) was a great day. The meeting with Natasha's brother went really well. Praise the Lord! They met him in the morning and went out for lunch. Her brother just wanted to know that Natasha would be taken care of and he wanted her to have a better life in America w/a family. Ted said the brother even offered to pay for his lunch. In the afternoon everyone got to walk around downtown and buy some souvenirs. Natasha was also excited to pick out gifts for her teachers. In the evening we had a nice dinner with the Beckers and had time to talk more.

This morning Ted, Amy and Ariana went to visit Svetiana and her boss. When they first got there, Svetiana took Ariana by the hand and took her into the boss's office thinking that Ariana was Natasha. A few minutes later they came back out and Svetiana was smiling because she realized the mix up. The boss signed the papers quickly and with no problems.

Tomorrow they need to get one more signature and then Galina will take a van back to Kiev to turn in some papers. Please pray that she will be able to make it back to Kiev in time to go to the NAC before they close.

This afternoon Natasha was allowed to be with Ted, Amy and Ariana for awhile. They went out to eat and then to the store. Amy told Natasha that she could pick out some foods that she would like to eat, but Natasha chose some candy and a bag of sugar for her classmates to have w/their tea! She is always thinking of others.

It is so sweet to hear Natasha talk about her mama and papa and to watch the way that she is always hold Ariana's hand. I don't think that Natasha has stopped smiling this whole week :) She is so happy to have a family and she loves them very much. She is also very excited to meet the rest of her family at home!

Love,
Michelle (from Amy/Ted)

Some More Pictures

Here are some more pictures that we took when we were with Natasha at the orphanage the other day. We got to see Yuri, Berger's! He is SO quiet,kind and sweet a real gentlemen.We also wanted to tell you that we saw him in the books at the NAC. He had such a sweet smile on his face. Michelle also told us that he received his package from you and was thrilled. He has already drawn pictures for you. We also saw Sasha very briefly the other day. We were on the way out the door and Ariana stopped. I turned to say let's go and she was looking at a group of three girls and there was Sasha in the middle. All we could do is say hello and wave and she said hi and waved back. Maybe next time we'll be able to give her our pen pal letters.
The photos of the girls on the couch are of Natashas best friend Nastia(another girl we were thinking on) I wish she was smiling she usually is and is so pretty. Michelle said she is just as sweet as Natasha and she reallly is. She is smaller than Natasha and is only 12 but looks like she is 10(hint, hint Bowlbys; ) ) The Becker's told us that when Natasha and Nastia heard that Tanya was expecting they gathered all the baby clothes off the dolls and gave them to the Becker's for the baby. Both are very sweet kind girls. It will be hard for them when we go. Inna is the blonde in the picture and is very sweet as well. Lena Van Putten, you were all she talked about, "Does Miranda know Lena?" Look at what Lena drew when she was here. Lena this, Lena that, and she showed me Lena's e-mail as well. : ) I didn't catch the dark haired girls' name who is playing cards with them on the floor. But they were all kind and we had fun spending time with them. We hope to get some more photos of the children when we return. Maybe tomorrow.

Our Day Out

Today was a great day for many reasons first because we heard from Victor that Lela said we could use the computer to post! Plus we finally get to add pictures too! What I know you all have been patiently waiting for. We also got to go and pick up Natasha and take her out of the orphanage to find her a few things to wear and to have some lunch. She had to borrow everything she was wearing out from other children and had shoes on that were too small for her and a thin coat and no gloves. Luckily, we were mainly driving the whole time. First we drove past the Black Sea to get to a small market. It was interesting to see people on the side of the road selling fish out of the trunks of their car! One man had the trunk filled to the top with fish. On the way Ariana showed Natasha different pictures on cards we had and had her say them in English. Then Ariana took out her note book and would draw a picture and Natasha would try and remember what it was in English. They are both so sweet and patient with each other. We arrived at the market and thankfully didn't have to walk too far to find some shoes for Natasha. Her favorite color is pink, so I was trying to show her these cute pink suede like tennis shoes(like your old Addidas Miranda) for her. The lady working there however pointed to these pairs of white tennis shoes that had some color on them and came in 4 different colors. She said they were better because they would keep her feet warmer. So Natasha didn't even have a chance to decide excpet to pick a color out of the four they had, which luckily there was a pink one. I even think the shoes are a bit long but the lady kept insisting that she would have heavy socks on to keep her feet warm and that would make up the difference. Then she was trying to get us to by these insoles which she said would keep her feet warm too! Oh brother! I asked Galina to ask Natasha if those were the shoes that she wanted. And Natasha said yes but I don't really know if she knew she could decide out of all the shoes they had and not just the four the lady picked out. I guess she was just so excited to get a new pair of shoes it didn't matter to her. She was happy and that's all we wanted. Then we quickly went to pick out a sweater(Victor does not like to shop) We were trying to decide what kind and color and you can't try anything on you just hold up the clothing next to you and see if it looks like it will fit. So she chose (this time) a cute salmon colored sweater with a butterfly on it and it fits wonderfully on her. She looks like a doll : )
We went to McDonalds and went through the McDrive and then went to Lela's to sit down and eat. It was a nice lunch and the girls enjoyed playing with their prizes. We found out Natasha doesn't like a variety of foods even ice cream! So I'm sure I'll need your help on this one when we get home Cathy. : ) Or I'll have to invest in an Ukrainian cookbook!
We had Natasha try on her coat which we brought for her and thankfully it fit well. We only had one pair of jeans to give her(which were too long but fit well at the top) because the other clothes we brought were smaller. Maybe we'll have to borrow some of those size 0 jeans when we get home from the VPs' girls if they've out grown them yet.
Afterwards the girls were going to play a game but it was then time to go take Natasha back to the orphanage. There was no one there when we got back because the children had a field trip to a factory of some sort so we had to drop Natasha off where the sick children stay. She didn't seem to mind as she was all smiles when she last waved good-bye to us at the door. She is so sweet! She always said, "Thank You mama, thank you" after each thing we had got for her and would hug me so hard. One time she practically lifted me off the ground!
It was a nice day out for us. We will meet with Natsha's brother tomorrow. We are praying it will go well and he won't want to get anything out of Natasha being adopted but to just be meeting with us because he cares about his sister. Thanks for your patientce with us on the pictures and a great big thanks to Grandma and Michelle for helping us out so wonderfully in typing up the blogs and sending e-mails.

By Faith and Not By Sight

This entry is about the past few days...rather long.

I find it so amazing how God has perfect timing in everything. On the first day that we had gone to the NAC to pick out a child I hadn't been able to do my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) lessons...I was a day behind. The lesson I did was on Abraham and Lot and how Abraham gave Lot the first choice of the land, as they chose to separate, because their groups were not getting along. Through the questions we came to find that Abraham gave Lot the first choice, which seemed to be that Abraham would then end up with the lesser, however, he listened to God and let Lot choose first, thus, Abraham was actually letting God choose for him. It looked like Lot was getting the better land, but God knew that looks aren't what should determine our steps.

This is how we saw that day when we were at NAC. We were letting God pry our fingers open and letting go of Sasha, our intended, so that we would not make her our first choice. We let Him choose for us. If we would have went for what "looked" to be right for us, we would have chosen Sasha. Because, through her pictures and description, I imagined this child as sweet, obedient, loving and all of the characteristics that we were so desiring. God knew my heart's desire for a child who would want to be a part of our family. One who would want to be loved and who would have a heart for Him. God knew the desires of our hearts and He knew those desires were all found in Natasha. But we could not know that when we were so focused on Sasha. It is odd how we become so focused on the thing that we think seems to be the best for us, yet God knows that sight only touches the surface. We just felt like Abraham. We stood by and let God choose for us because we knew that if we would be been given the choice between Natasha and Sasha, we, most likely would have chosen Sasha thinking she would have been that perfect child for our family. But God knows all of our hearts' desires lie within Natasha and she is everything and more than we could have ever imagined!

Oh how we praise God for His love for us! Wanting only to give His children the best if they would just allow Him to do this for them! Oh how great Thou art! Delight thyself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

It is so interesting that our precious Sasha's name means "helper of mankind." Her sweet face helped us to start this adoption, which, in turn, helped Natasha to find a family.

BSF ladies:
As we left the NAC on Wednesday evening I asked Ted what time it was and he said, "5:10 PM...9:10 AM Omaha time" (I'm always asking what time it is in Omaha.) Exactly the time you would have been meeting for class. It was so nice for me to think of you all the way home and of all the wonderful prayers that you have given to me and my family!

Again, our thanks and love,
Ted, Amy, Natasha & Ariana

In Response to Your Thoughts, Prayers and Comments

When we first told people we were hoping to adopt, some people were happy for us and some were like, "Wow, five kids!" We realized this choice would cut out a lot of "things" for us...like, new car, after school activities (sports, music lessons, etc.)...no fun extra "things" for the kids. It would also mean staying a few more years in our present small home. However, we decided to go where God was calling us to go, to give up these "things" reaching out for His provisions for our family.
When we think of all the things we have given up here on earth to proceed w/this adoption, these "things" are nothing close to the worth of the treasures that we are receiving from all of you and especially the absolutely priceless treasure received from God in having another beautiful daughter, Natasha. We praise God for all of this and give Him all the glory!

We have not yet looked at the blog site but have heard that many people are responding w/encouragement, support and PRAYERS! This is SO overwhelming and humbling for us that so many have written.
(After this was written, Ted and Amy WERE able to read the comments and are greatly uplifted by your comments...keep them coming)! We think about these messages filled w/words of love and encouragement and are in awe. We are thankful for you all! We could not be doing this w/o God and your support. Nothing this world could ever give compares to the priceless love of our Lord that is shining through you. We are wealthy right now...nothing for us can ever come close to having as much wealth or worth as in the precious love of our God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Ted and Amy

NATASHA JOY CARRIZALES

Friday, December 9, 2005
Today we went to the administrators where Galina dropped off some documents. Then, on to the orphanage so Galina could type up some papers for us, as we are unable to use Lela's computer. We were able to spend some time w/our precious daughter and try to talk to one another using the dictionary, sign language and patience. Ariana and Natasha started to work on the cross stitch picture we brought. Wow...Natasha is quick! The way she moves the needle up and down the fabric is amazing! She sat there so patiently waiting for her sister, who is new at this, to finish her row of stitches.

Galina called Natasha in to write her consent, that she would like to be our daughter and we are all thrilled as she said "yes." Her new name will be Natasha Joy Carrizales. We chose "Joy" to be her middle name. After reading about Lienna Hanson's name being Lienna "Joy" Hanson, I felt that if we ever adopted I would like that to be our daughter's middle name as well. Why? I don't know...the meaning just fits. Then we found out that "Joy" is Michelle's middle name and I know this is another reason it so rightly fits.

This afternoon Galina was able to meet w/Natasha's brother and he gave his consent for her to be adopted...thank you Galina! Please pray, as it looks like we may be meeting w/Natasha's brother again on Sunday morning. Pray that in this meeting God will give us wisdom and peace. Thank you.

Love,
Ted, Amy, Natasha Joy & Ariana

We have met Natasha!

We met our new daughter and sister today! Oh how lovely, tiny and sweet she is!

We were standing in the hall waiting to see the director for our meeting w/her. Several of the children from the orphanage passed by and we kept hearing them whisper Natasha's last name "Rashkian, Rashkian", knowing that we were here to adopt her. Then I felt a tiny little arm wrap around my waist and I turned and saw it was Natasha smiling at me and giving me a hug. Oh how wonderful and sweet it was! She kept hugging me and hugging me. Then she ran to Ted and hugged him and then to Ariana and hugged her. She was hugging and smiling the whole time. She kept going to each of us and hugging us and hugging us.

Natasha is SO tiny. Miranda, she is probably only a little bit taller than you...she is very little and petite. She looks like she is only 12 years old, rather than the 14 she is. Several people would look at Ariana and point to her eyes and then point to Natasha's eyes indicating how similar they look.

All the children wanted to see the pictures we brought and asked how the Ukrainian kids (in Omaha) were. The director and Dina loved the pictures of all the children we had brought. And they both enjoyed Ariana and her name. Before we left the director's office, she said that she just loved our daughter and our new daughter as well. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about Natasha.

I am so glad that we brought Ariana with us and I wish so much that we could have brought Miranda too. Natasha is very excited and wants to know everything about her new brothers and sisters.

We only got to spend a little time with Natasha but we were able to give her our bracelet and Ariana gave her one of the chocolates Galina had given to her. Natasha kept touching Ariana's scarf and admiring it. I tried to tell Natasha by hand motions that I would make one for her...then Ariana took her scarf off to let Natasha try it on and Natasha thought that she was giving it to her. Then I told Ariana I would make her another one when we got home.

It was time to go, we hugged each other all around. I just couldn't let go of her and tears were welling up in my eyes. (Amy VP, Ted told me later that when Lena's friend Inna saw me doing this, she grabbed Natasha's best friend Nastia and gave her a hug and squeezed her, imitating me, and it reminded me of what you said she did when you couldn't stop hold Lena.)

When we started to leave, all the children followed us out. Ted had to get the bags out of the car for Michelle and bring them into the orphanage and the children said to Natasha, "Natasha, were is your papa?" It was SO nice to hear them say that.

We will get to see Natasha again tomorrow. We were unable to blog at Lela's because her computer is locked. I was hoping to give you more descriptions about our past few days but this will have to wait.

We were able to see Michelle today for the first time too. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We are thankful that she will be able to help us talk to our new daughter.

Thanks for all of your constant prayers...and thank you Miranda for all of your verses for Mommy and Daddy.

The picture of Natasha was taken a few days ago. We will try to include more pictures soon.

Love...Ted, Amy, Ariana & Natasha

PS Can you find Lena VP in Natasha and Ted's picture?

Odessa...here we come!

Today we went to the NAC to sign our names and show them out passport numbers.

Ariana was then given a big stack of papers and they said to her, "Here is your sister." Ariana and we broke out in big grins!

We are leaving at 11 PM to go to Odessa. We will arrive at 9 AM and go to the administrators. We won't have to make any copies of our documents, as Galina has done this in Kiev. We aren't sure whether or not we will see Natasha tomorrow but we hope we will. I am a little nervous and hope she will like us. Michelle just phoned and said Natasha was SO excited and kept asking Michelle all about us and especially about her "sisters and brothers." She wanted to know what the girls liked to do and what her room would look like and many other things. I was so happy to hear this. Please pray that we will have a good meeting and that we all will feel comfortable w/each other.

I haven't added many details about Natasha...her age and grade. However she is 14 years of age and is in the 8th grade here.

We are excited for tomorrow and hope to get some rest on the train...or maybe not...

Praises and grateful thanks to all you prayer warriors, as my ear has been getting better and feels almost as good as new! YES...thank you God!

We keep you posted as events occur.

Love,
Ted, Amy & Ariana

We're off to see our daughter and sister!

We've been to NAC!

We have picked two girls, Natasha and Inna...

to try in adopting one of them.

Natasha has an older brother who has not visited for six months. So she may be able to be adopted if this is okay with him. However, we don't know if we will need to find him or not since it has been a while since he last visited. There is another little girl named Inna who is seven and not from Odessa but very close and (close enough to stay in Odessa and drive from there) plus Galina says that it is an easy region from which to adopt. She has two siblings so we don't know if she is really available because we don't know about the siblings' situations. She looks just like Ariana, except with blue eyes.

So our prayers for Natasha to be willing to be adopted. We are praying that Michelle will get a hold of Natasha and let her know that her friends also live here...that she will be able to do this before 11 AM, Kiev time, tomorrow. That is when we need to replay to NAC. If Natasha says "no" then prayers that Inna would be available to us w/o complications w/her siblings.

Prayers, please, as I am starting to get what feels like the start of an ear infection (I think from the plan rides)...that it will lessen and heal before getting worse. Thank you...

THANK YOU for your prayers. They mean SO MUCH to us! We love you all so much for being here with us. Will write as information develops.

Love,
Ted, Amy & Ariana

We've Arrived in Kiev!

We've arrived safely...thank you all for the prayers!

December looks to be a month of "shutting down" times for legal offices and schools. Please pray we will have our documenations go quickly and smoothly as we begin the process.

Tomorrow, in Kiev, we will be at the National Adoption Center (NAC) in searching for our child which God intends for our family. Pray for wisdom and discerning on our part...to KNOW His intentions.

Will add more as God opens this adventure to us...as "He knows the way I take..."

Love,
Ted, Amy & Ariana

We're Off!

Today we leave for Ukraine and God has faithfully shows us His evidence of Him working and moving in our lives with a verse He gave me the night after I last posted with prayer for guidance. It was:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go: I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8.

And we are so thankful to God for His evidence in our lives. He also has shown us this verse for our travels today:

"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."
Psalm 139:9-10

Oh, we thank you Lord Jesus for your ever present presence with us no matter where you lead us!

We will post again when we get to Odessa which will be later this week. We will also be able to receive e-mails through Ted's e-mail address on line. My Mom will have this if anyone is interested(My dear Julie H. from BSF you can contact my parents for this address by calling the emergency contact number I have written down for BSF)
My Mom will post for us while we are in Kiev.

Hebrews 11:1

God's Footprints

"Where the footprints of God lead you, the grace of God can keep you."

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding" Psalm 111:10

This was our quote and verse on our Daybreak calendar (which my good friend Kathleen R. gave me) It has always provided a great message for what we are encountering for that day.
And this is what we we are trying to achieve, is to follow in those footprints and to stay under the shadow of His wing. To gain wisdom and understanding from Him because we do not know what is the best way for us.
We are so thankful to ALL of you who have been praying for us. Your prayers are truly priceless to us and we can't imagine how we could have gotten through(or will get through) things without them. It is very very humbling to us when we think about all of you who take that time for us. And to those who we haven't seen us in a while and come up to us and ask us how the adoption is going and that they have kept us in their prayers. It is so humbling to be remembered like that. Thank You, we can never express how much you all mean to us and how much all your encouragements, caring and love mean to us. They are truly part of His strength which holds us up and which will get us through this journey we are about to take.
We ask now for prayers of wisdom, understanding and discernment for our trip and for the time that we are there in the Ukraine. That we can see others how Christ sees them and that we have patience, patience and more patience! And while we are with the children to give them the wonderful love of Our Lord Jesus Christ and shower them with hugs and kisses and prayers for their future which we know He holds in His hands.