The Top Ten

A Little of This & A Little of That!

2011-09-18T15:46:00.000-07:00


Don't really know what Sasha is doing here...funny though!

We hiked to Stewart falls with my brother's and sister's families. We went on Labor Day. It seemed that everybody and their mother's uncle was there with us. It was really fun!

Andy was trying to hold Jason still for a picture.

This is Andy with a lot of the Scouts to complete Jason's Eagle project up on the G mountain. They cleared a new portion of the G hike so it won't be so steep at the end of the hike. They had a great time doing the project. Tyler and Sam found a lot of old, old cans and even a coke bottle that dated back to the 30's or 40's. They both want to go back for treasure hunting. They found Shasta cans, 7up cans and others. Some had the old pull tab on them but some you had to use a can opener to punch both sides in order to drink...I don't remember those kind of cans.

It was Homecoming on Saturday night. This is Michael with Megan getting ready to go. I miss being able to take pictures because I am the mom of the boy and all the pictures get taken at the girls house. Thanks to the girls parents for taking good pictures.

They look soooooo good!!!

Both the boys had really wonderful girls to take to the dance. I am grateful for great parents who raise wonderful daughters for my sons to date!

This is Tyler and his date, Lexi. This was Tyler's first date. They look really good together and everyone had a great time. They went out in group dates. There were twenty kids in Michael's group. Tyler had a big group also.

Left to right, Tiffany, Courtney and Lucy, Courtney's sister. They went on the "Dirty Dash". It was a 10K in Midway by Soilder Hollow. It is called the Dirty Dash because you run most of it in huge puddles of mud. They also went with their friend Josh. He must have taken this picture. He is in the next picture though. Tiffany works with Courtney and Josh at the care facility. She had such a great time. Wish we could have gone with her but we had soccer games and a lot of running around to do.

This was the after picture. They were covered in Mud! I am really glad Tiffany has good friends to hang out with. She needs that in her life right now. You got to be a good friend to do something like this, right?!

Vitaliy has an amazing gift at creating amazing things out of legos. This is a house he built. Now the pictures do not do it justice. He has built bookshelves with books on them, plank flooring, a microwave, cabinets, shelves, tables, chairs, computer desks, bathrooms....you name it, he came up with it. Now we have been buying Legos for years and we have these huge bins of Legos. He has organized them and keeps building amazing things. I can't even begin to list all the different things he has built. This was definitely the most impressive to me because there is such attention to detail. I would love anyone's input on others things I could encourage him to do with these talents that he has. He also has a great talent fixing and working with electronics. He can fix things and create things out of old phones and chargers, radios and thing like that. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

This is a close up of the kitchen. You can see the plank flooring, the countertops, chairs and cups on the table.

This is a side shot of the house along with the car that he made to go inside. Like I said, this is just one of many, many things he has built.

I just wanted to throw this one in. They are so cute together, Jenae and Jackson.

The days and weeks are moving faster than I can keep up with. It's Friday before I can blink an eye. The kids are growing up so fast. As school was starting I saw so many moms with their toddlers and car seats and realized that I was moving out of that after so many, many years of strollers, car seats, diapers, pacifiers. I still have one more sort of toddler at home and I try to enjoy every single minute with him because I feel those days slipping through my fingers. I love being a mom of teenagers and I think they are great. I have a soft spot for teenage boys because I have so many of them and they fill my life with fun and laughter. I guess I am starting to close the door to some stages and moving into others. I am just going to keep enjoying the journey.....I'm still hanging on as we go because it goes quickly and sometimes there are a few bumps in the road.....wouldn't trade my life for anything in the entire world!!!!!

I Love Schedules & Structure!

2011-08-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sasha had his first overnighter with his Scout troop and he earned his First Aid Merit Badge this month too! He absolutely loves scouting!

I spent a lot of time in the summer like this. Sad to say that this is probably the last summer I will carry a child on my back...Hey...that might not be so bad seeing that he weighs close to 40 pounds! Bittersweet though...I am getting old...ugh!

First day of school for the Elementary kids. I walked them to school, Cali didn't want me to come but then when it was time to go to 1st grade, she was glad I was there.

We were looking through old pictures. This is Tiffany on the left with her cousin Amy on the right....love this picture.

Oh my goodness!!!! This is Tyler when he was a baby (now 16). He was the SWEETEST baby!!!!

Jason & Vitaliy...a little older pic but I wanted to throw it in. These two can be so much alike...its scary! It also means that they butt heads now and again.

Okay...pulled out the two HUGE tubs of Legos we have and they built so many amazing things. I may have posted this before...can't remember but I was impressed. This was a fun summer on a hot day activity.

Jenae and Sasha...cute!!!

This is Michael and his "best friend" Megan. They are inseparable!

Can I just say I am so very glad school has started. I don’t mean that in a ‘I can’t stand to have my kids at home’ way. I mean it in a ‘I love structure in my life’ way. My kids do so much better with set schedules and structures. Let’s face it, during summer break do you really want to get up at 6:30 am if you don’t have to? Do you really want to structure your day if it is not necessary? Well, I don’t, so summer does serve some purpose. But, this summer seemed challenging to me. Having two new children in the house that, in my opinion, really require structure was challenging and a bit stressful.

Now that school is in, we have a better handle on chores, schedules and what is allowed in your spare time. For example, during the school year, video games are only allowed after school on Friday and a little on Saturday. Between the chores Andy gives and the ones I give, Saturday is busier and there is less time to play games. Which, in my opinion, is great….don’t even get me started on what I think about video games…ugh…a complete waste of time. However, I do allow a little. During the summer, there was a lot more freedom with that and I didn’t like it. But, when it is so stinking hot outside, and, I am not the most creative mom, you do what you can do with it.

So….school is in and everyone is enjoying it…well…as much as kids enjoy school. I really think that they enjoy the social part most, of course, who wouldn’t? I have only Jackson home with me which is wonderful and I am so loving it! My high school boys have unusual schedules so they come home once in a while and that works out just fine.

We have been working with Vitaliy to rely on his English for reading, writing and especially praying during family prayer. He is getting really good at English and it is very easy and comfortable to have a pretty normal conversation with him these days. I had some time alone with him recently and was able to talk about things that went on during the hosting and the time between then and the adoption and it was very enlightening. I can’t wait to have that kind of conversation with Sasha. He is doing very well on his English but still struggles quite a bit with the alphabet and things. His conversational English is really good though.

When I am a good mom…a patient mom….a mom that takes time to reflect on what just happened and how best to handle it, we can have some really good learning moments together. I really need to work on being that kind of mom…I am only a part-time good, patient, reflective mom right now. Anyway….Vitaliy likes to make everything a competition and doesn’t handle not winning very well. Well, I was headed in to talk with him and I was not happy, but the part-time good mom kicked in and we had a wonderful talk about how we have so little time together and how it is important for him to understand that I have more years under my belt…yada, yada, yada…and how what matters is how we play the game…how we live our lives, not who wins that matters. I told him that some day when we face our Heavenly Father, he isn’t going to ask us how many races we won or how much money we made…he is going to look at how we ‘played the game’ and judge us on that. It really was a great moment.

Every once in a while I see a little glimmer of all our efforts paying off. I really hold onto to those moments because it is going to take a lot more time than 4 ½ months to undo many years of their lives. Am I up for it….well, apparently my Heavenly parents think I am so I will just have to roll with that!

Our beautiful daughter, Tiffany, just passed her NCLEX and she is now a Registered Nurse!!! Yeah!!!! We are so proud of her. She will graduate with a Bachelors in Nursing in May and school will be done for her. Unfortunately, but in many ways, fortunately, all this was going on as she was in the process of a divorce after only two years of marriage. There is so much more to say about that but now is not the time. She has moved back home with us and seems happier than she has in a very long time. My mom says she is even glowing. It is nice to have the old Tiffany back again. Something is definitely said for being surrounded by people who love you! I feel for the younger generation that is getting married right now because there are so many difficult issues they have to deal with that we never did when we were their age. There are so many worldly and stupid distractions that can pull young husbands and even young wives away from what is most important in life. I look forward to the day when Tiffany can be married to someone who loves, honors and respects her as the beautiful daughter of God that she is.

Sorry for the long post…. Hopefully I won’t wait so long for the next.

Family Fun!

2011-08-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is Jackson and I. We all hiked from our house to the Battlecreek Waterfall. It is a great hike. A little tough with 40 pounds on your back...but I am always up for a work out!

It is a tradition for Andy to take pictures this way. He took a picture like this with his scouts last year just minutes before his accident and he has been doing it ever since.

Jackson and Jenae! Our campsite was like a really big house with vaulted ceilings. We had a sitting area down by the back of the van that I would classify as the Kitchen. We would all hang out there during the day and at night we headed up to the table and fire pit for an evening around the fire. I forgot to mention that the first day we had two thunder showers. The first one we managed to keep everything dry and we sat under our "porch" and waited it out. The other one...everything got soaked and muddy and we spent a long time drying chairs over the fire.

This was one of their tree houses in the making. Michael worked so long and hard on all those lashing that his hands were so sore. I carved sticks so long that my hands hurt too! How fun is that to get sore from whittling and not because you cut yourself!

They would keep rebuilding their crows nest to see how high up in the trees they could get it. It was fun to watch.

This is our nieces - Chantel on the left and Celeste on the right and Tiffany in the middle. They are all so beautiful...inside and out!

This is when we finally arrived at Stewart Falls. It is a favorite hike of our family.

Roasting Smo's by the fire!

Cleaning up the campsite

Andy relaxing for the first in forever!

One of the best things I learned in Ukraine...give the kids the camera and you get some really fun shots!

Relaxing and talking...good family fun!

This was Tyler's last crows nest and it was up there!

This was Jackson's birthday at the Creamery. We put candles in his ice cream and sang Happy Birthday to him. Good thing not too many people were around to hear us!

We were finally able to take a family vacation! Seeing that our old van can’t go too far this was probably the only real one we will have but boy was it G-R-E-A-T!!! I love camping! We went up the Provo Canyon to Aspen Grove. Well, the camp ground is actually called Timpanogos Camp Ground. It is so, so, so very beautiful there! We found a site that we thought was big enough for two tents. Turned out it was big enough for three. We borrowed two scout tents from our troop. Andy and I and the two littlest ones had a tent, Vitaliy, Sasha, Jason, Jenae and Dusty had our family tent and Michael and Tyler had one of the Scout tents. Tiffany was able to come up and spend one night with us so she slept in our tent. So…for one whole night we had our whole family together around the camp fire! Sniffle, sniffle…for a Mom that was an amazing night!

The boys spent much of their time lashing logs together and making tree houses and crow’s nest perches to sit in. It is a different world camping with teenage boys. They are very creative with ropes and trees! We also brought the BB guns and blow guns. Sasha was banned from both after several attempts to teach safety but while he did play with them he had fun. They killed many a large spider with the blow guns and had a lot of fun target shooting with the BB guns. We brought lots of junk food and ate ourselves crazy. That was fun too. You know, all that camping food….candy, cookies, pop tarts, jiffy pop pop corn (you have got to have that when camping). I love those little boxes of cereal to take camping. We always had those when I was growing up so we had to bring those. By the way…hard to find them…Macy’s sells them, in case anyone needs to know.

We invited my brother’s family to camp, too, and my mom even came up for an evening. We had my brother’s kids with us at our camp site and it was great to spend time with them. Our incredible niece, Chantel, leaves for her mission this Wednesday so it was a real treat to spend time with her.

We sat around for a whole day on Friday doing nothing but carving walking sticks, talking and having fun. It is probably the first time in who knows how long Andy has had a whole day to do nothing…it was heavenly!!!

On our last day we hiked to Stewart Falls. It is a four mile round trip that takes two hours. For those of you who haven’t done that hike it is wonderful. It is a great hike for kids of all ages.

The last few weeks we have focused on spending more quality fun time with the kids. It seems life gets so busy that we don’t always take the time to do that. We have gone swimming quite a bit at our community pool, hiking, and walking. We have taken them to the BYU Creamery a few times. As much as we are Ute Fans, the Creamery is to die for! It is so reasonable to take a big family for ice cream. Another favorite pass time is to go to Rock Canyon Park just above the Provo Temple at night time and play on the playground and the big grassy hill. Don’t know why we always end up there at night, but it is really fun to play on the playground at night.

In the last two weeks Jackson has turned four and Tyler has turned sixteen. We will be getting his driver’s license tomorrow. Cali turns six this week.

The new boys are enjoying all the hiking and outdoor fun. We still have our share of problems to smooth out but for the most part all is going really well. Their English is improving all the time. They started saying their times to pray in English. That was hard for them because they didn’t feel too confident in it but they are doing really well with it.

This has been a fun summer for our family and again, the camping trip was just the best! A couple more weeks till school starts but we plan to go camping a couple more times before the weather goes bad.

Andy and I celebrated (or at least wished each other) a happy anniversary the Friday we were camping. All I can say is life is good! No matter what happens, life is always good!

What does 'Busy' really mean anyway?

2011-07-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

Michael and Jackson kick'in it!

Tyler just being goofy! Kudos to Tyler because this week he fixed my washing machine. He wasn't told to do it he thought he would just look at it and see what he could do and he fixed it! Love you Ty!

A famous Jenae self-portrait!

This is the fourth of July. I couldn't remember if I posted these pics or not but this one is really good of Vitaliy. He is starting to like the camera.

The boys went on their Entrada Scout camp. They rock climbed, biked, shot guns, white water rafted...you name it, they did it. Vitaliy was getting back into the boat after jumping into the water. He said the water was VERY cold!

This is a group of them on the boat. Tyler is on the left and Vitaliy sort-of in the middle.

Still at camp, setting up I think.

Vitaliy was able to shoot a real gun for the first time. He had brought a little money with him so he was able to shoot a 357. He loved it!

Andy finally got his permanent teeth! He looks great! I keep telling him how great he looks with his new teeth. He is so glad he finally got them!

We took the kids hiking on the G. This is not my favorite picture of myself but we don't get too many where we are together in the picture so I let vanity go and posted it anyway.

Jenae and Vitaliy enjoying the view.

These two look like twins... it's hard to believe that they are two years apart.

This is Cali on the Fourth with my niece, Celeste....Two beauties I'd say!

As the summer rolls on I have found that parenting can be a tiring job. It’s a good job…and I like it, but I feel pretty exhausted at the end of the night. You know…I was just rolling along in life. Things seemed rather simple. Everyone knew the routine and what was expected of them. Yes…there was always fighting and a somewhat semi-organized chaos about the house, but it was so routine that it really didn’t faze me. Just picture dinner time…kind of like the kitchen at Denny’s as everyone’s meal was being prepared. It is just easier to dish out each plate and hand them out…youngest to older. Occasionally, oldest to youngest…just to shake things up. Then, someone starts crying or screaming about something…still very normal for our house. Here comes our favorite private joke…Andy and I would just simple look at each other and very calmly say….”Do you hear someone crying?” Answer: “No, do you?”

Then, we thought, hey, two more….really…what’s two more when you already have eight. Well….let me tell you…..two more is exactly that….TWO more!

Okay…I am not complaining. I love my two more! I get all choked up when I go into Sasha’s room at night to check on him while he is sleeping. Why? Because, guess what? He has a mom who thinks about him before he falls asleep and wants to make sure he is alright. He doesn’t know I’m there doing that…but I am and it chokes me up…silly, but that’s the way I am. I love more than anything watching them settle into family life. They are truly happy and content and I love having them here.

Now, the tiring part. It really is tiring training or re-training someone to all of a sudden be in a family that has routine and daily practices…does that make sense. There seems to be a need for constant monitoring to guide and direct these boys. Again….I am soooo not complaining, it is amazing and wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I am just saying that it is definitely challenging and enlightening.

I am very pleased with my other children who have done such a wonderful job of being patient and loving with their new brothers. And, I am grateful to all my children for being patient with a mom who one minute is kind and loving and calm and the next minute is bug-eyed and a little less than relaxed. It really is amazing how resilient children can be….yet another thing to be grateful for.

Update on activities…. Lots of scouting, hiking, biking, scootering, movie watching, eating, video game playing, eating, backpacking and yet more eating. By the way…thanks to Wendy for her comment on buying frozen burritos (or not buying them anymore). I never knew about them and I bought them. The kids love them and it makes for a great and quick lunch! Thanks, Wendy for the tip from your blog!

Sometimes I really feel like I don’t have anything to keep me busy. People say to me all the time…in fact it is probably the comment I get more than anything…that, wow, you must be busy. But, I really don’t feel that way as the day goes on. Because, I could be cleaning, doing laundry or washing baseboards (do people really do that on a regular basis?) Or, I could clean my stove top instead of just wishing that I could buy a new one so I don’t have to scrub it like crazy. But no, all this stuff still needs to be done so how can I possible be busy? What am I doing all day? Well, when I figure that out I will let you know…but, what I do know is when I hit the pillow at night, I am sooooo done! I guess I must be busy.

I love my life, I love my kids, I am crazy about my amazing husband and….I look forward to the start of the new school year….what about you?

To Eternity!

2011-07-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

Just had to blog today to share with you that our family went to the Mt Timpanogos Temple last night and the boys were sealed to Andy and I. What a great night it was. All of our children were in the sealing room with us. I don't want to blog about the details but you have to imagine for a moment our ten children making their way through the temple to the sealing room all dressed in white! It was an awesome sight to see. What a great night it was!!!!

At one point it was mentioned all those who have helped us along our way through this adoption and to this point and I couldn't turn to look at those that were there because I knew it would be very emotional. But, I need to let you all know how much everyone has had a hand in this. There were many prayers and well wishers, there were those that helped financially, there were those that were sounding boards and shoulders to cry on and there were those that helped to push us along the way. Some of you did more than one of those things...you know who you are and we are forever grateful for your love and friendship.

We are, of course, still on this journey and have a long way to go but this was a monumental milestone and it feels GREAT!!!!

I had to throw this one in. Here we were in our beautiful temple whites wearing our black, blue and brown shoes. I cropped the shoes out of the first shot but thought this one was cute too!

This was after we went out for ice cream and came home. Vitaliy wanted this picture taken. He prefers to wear his Church clothes this way but understands that it wouldn't really work out. What a stud, huh?!?

I can't even tell you how many times Sasha said, "I love the temple". He told each of us individually and then he told us all over again. So, just to let you know, Sasha loves the temple.

I will blog again soon about the rest of our week because we did some fun stuff this week but I wanted this post to be all by itself. I am so glad my kids were able to go inside the temple not only to be with us (of course) but because the temples are the most beautiful man made places on Earth!

Baptism!!!

2011-07-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

Vitaliy and Andy in their whites...me...mostly white.

Sasha has such a sweet, sweet smile!

We had to get Michael in a picture too! They all look so good in white!

I had to take this shot. They pulled out all the aprons and they were trading wearing all of them around the house. I just love these guys!

This is Vitaliy bribing me for two pieces of gum. He said he would let me take his picture for two pieces of gum...I said two, he said three... I said one....he said, "okay, two!"

Okay, I just loved this shot...Jackson in his little short shorts with his apron on running around the house...he is sooooooooo cute. I still look at him and wonder how I left him for so long!

I was the photographer on the hike. I am always thinking ahead to the Scout slide shows so I want lots of pictures. This is part way up the hike. Vitaliy stayed in front for the hike until we passed our second rattle snake. Then, I wanted Sam to be in front because he has a better understanding of the dangers of snakes...even though that doesn't seem to stop him from trying to catch or kill them. At least he has more experience with poisonous snakes. Gotta love these boys...they were so good to me. They made a guard rail out of their bodies and arms so I could cross the bridge without being afraid.

This is at Indian Campground. From there is was two and a half miles back down without much light. As we got near the bottom, it was very dark. The boys didn't care, they manage themselves just fine.

This is the group that went hiking. I love the Scouting program. It is a great help in raising boys. They say it is easier to build a boy than to fix a man...Scouting is the way to go!

Vitaliy and I were heading out the door to help Andy on a job. We painted and cleaned and painted and cleaned so more. Vitaliy volunteered and didn't complain once....he didn't volunteer again, but he didn't complain once and I believe he even enjoyed helping out....great kid!

It has been a full week, especially this weekend. Yesterday was the big day! Vitaliy and Sasha were baptized last night. It was a great baptism ceremony. Elder Costa gave a beautiful talk on baptism in his broken English. He is a great missionary that we have from Brazil. He has a great spirit about him. Andy baptized Vitaliy first. Just as his whole body went underwater, his left foot popped up so Andy had to dunk him again. This time, to be doubly sure he did it right, he held him down just a bit longer. It made everyone laugh a little because it seemed he was holding him under water a little longer than he should have. Michael baptized Sasha after that. They got it right the first time. Sasha was so light for Michael that he just pushed him straight down.

It was really exciting to see them all dressed in white. As I was pulling out the white jumpsuits I wondered what they would think of them. They aren’t exactly stylish you know! They ended up thinking that they were pretty comfortable.

After the baptisms, my amazing friend, Angie, gave them a talk on the Holy Ghost in Russian. She did a beautiful job and ended with her testimony. It really doesn’t matter what language someone bears their testimony of the gospel in, the spirit of it is always discernable. I am so grateful to her for the many, many times she has translated for us. She has been translating for us since the boys came for their hosting last fall. I was so glad they were able to hear that talk in their own language. Because both the boys are over eight and it was a convert baptism, they were confirmed and received the Holy Ghost today in Sacrament meeting. My brother’s family, my Mom, and Tiffany and Jeff were able to be there. It was really beautiful to hear the prayers that Andy gave the boys as they received the Holy Ghost. After that, Vitaliy was sustained by our ward to the office of a Teacher. After Sacrament he was ordained to that office of the Priesthood.

Seeing that it was fast and testimony meeting today, both Andy and I bore our testimonies and so did Michael. You know when it is your turn to do it. Your heart beats so fast in your chest, if you don’t get up and do it you know you will regret it for sure!

What a great blessing these boys are to our family! They have changed our family dynamics for the better and I am grateful for that gift that we have been given.

We finished the evening on Saturday night with our good friends, Garth and Taffy and their family, by having our pre-fourth of July fireworks show. Everyone loved it! This year some aerial fireworks are legal. Our friends had bought a couple of those so we sat on our driveway with these huge and beautiful fireworks going off over our heads. The kids are all looking forward to another night of fireworks tomorrow night. It is fun to share these new holidays with them and explain to them what they are all about.

We should be headed to the temple this week to have the boys sealed to our family for time and all eternity. We just have to make sure the temple has a slot for us to do it and the other kids get their temple recommends. I can’t wait! The baptism was wonderful. I can’t even imagine what the temple sealing will be like. All my children get to come in the sealing room together….it will be…how should I say…Heavenly!!!

The rest of the week went like this…Michael and Tyler spent the week at Timberline Leadership training camp as staff members and of course, they had another injury this year. Our neighbor, David, was also staffing and fell and split his knee open. The boys took great care of him, got him to the hospital and all is well. Their family needs extra prayers this week as their oldest son, Devan will be having open heart surgery this week so please include him in your prayers.

I was able to go on a hike this week with the Varsity troop….that would be Tyler, Jason, Vitaliy and Andy’s group as they hiked up and behind the “G” mountain to Indian Camp. It is a constant straight up hike of five miles. I probably shouldn’t have started my hiking this year with that hike because I was pretty sore, but….it is an amazing hike and we have amazing youth in our ward. These are great young men that get better and better every year!

My prayers and thoughts go out to my friend, Steph, as her and her husband are back in Ukraine to get their boys…Steph…I am thinking of you always and pray that all will be well. You are an amazing person and I know things will work out just as they should!!!

Stake Youth Conference Week

2011-06-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Cali riding her bike. She likes to wear a baseball cap under her helmet because Sasha does. If it was up to her, she would be a boy!

Jenae is always... I mean always helping her younger brothers and sister. She is helping Jackson on a two wheeler with training wheels.

Dusty loves to ride bikes. He and Vitaliy will ride out of the canal and love every minute of it.

Here is Vitaliy outside the USCIS after receiving his Certificate of Citizenship. Sasha received his in the mail a few weeks ago. We had a fun afternoon getting this. Then we went out to eat and enjoyed good conversation. You can learn a lot about each other when you turn the radio off in the car.

Last week was a quieter week than usual. It was out Stake’s Stake Youth Conference. My son Michael was the youth in charge of it and I think he did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. It stressed him out quite a bit, but he did good!

Michael, Tyler and Vitaliy all attended. They started with a BBQ and swim party, the next day an outdoor fun day of games and rock climbing, a dance and ended with a service project of hard work in the hot sun and an evening fireside all of which was incorporated with spiritual enrichment. What a great few days! I am so grateful for the youth programs in our Stake that do so much for our kids. These boys came home happier each day they went…well with the exception of Jason not really enjoying the dance. Vitaliy absolutely loved the dance. He has been to a couple of dances but this one took the cake. One of the girls came up to Tyler and told him, “I just danced with your brother and his accent is dreamy!” Ugh!!! I didn’t know girls still talked like that. Anyway, it was so fun to see their countenances brighten each day! The more involved with Church and it’s activities Vitaliy gets, the more you can see his heart and spirit soften….I absolutely love it!

The younger kids and I just went about our normal week of trying to keep things picked up. I did stay home a lot which meant that I spent less money (yeah!) and got caught up on the laundry. I did a lot of house work too. It was a good week.

Michael and Tyler are off again this week. They are staffing at the Timberline Scout Camp in Mt. Pleasant. Tyler went on Saturday with the group but Michael had to be taken yesterday because he had to stay and finish up with Youth Conference. So…we drove our little VW Beetle, no problem with that except the last probably two miles was off road. We drove so slow because I didn’t want to damage my car. We are so used to big SUV’s and not worrying about those things until we got this Beetle. Oh, the world of smaller cars. Gotta love them though…if there isn’t room for them in the car…they can’t go. Too bad, that means mom has to go all by herself…what a shame! I only take the 15 passenger when I really need to.

Because Vitaliy was 14 when he was adopted he did not get his United States Citizen Certificate without having to go down to the USCIS office in Sandy. Did you even know there is a USCIS office in Sandy?!? I didn’t. Why in the world were we dealing with and overnighting, etc., all that stuff to the Midwest…really!!! Anyway, he had to read over the oath and he had to sign saying he would abide by it. I read it to him and explained the things he didn’t understand. Then I proceeded to help him spell his middle name as he signed because he didn’t know how. I thought that was kind of fun. I got a bit choked up as we read through the oath. Then I made him pose for a picture outside with his certificate. He didn’t want to at first then he did. I said, “don’t you realize what a golden ticket you have in your hand? Do you know how many people want what you are holding?” He, as you can see in the picture, happily posed for a picture.

Talk about getting choked up, we had the boy’s baptismal interview last night. I loved listening to Vitaliys’ answers to the questions. He is so happy to be getting baptized. You can see it in his face and you can feel it when he talks about it. Sasha was a bit silly during his interview but that is typical of him.

So, not a lot of pictures this week. Everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer. The kids are learning more English and I am learning more Russian. We have had more heart to heart talks lately and even some parent to son talks on serious issues. It is a fun to watch as the boys are really settling in to our house and our family. It really feels good!

A Lot of High Adventure!

2011-06-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

The boy's at camp, Jason, Tyler, Vitaliy

I just love this shot of Jason. He just has this great little boy look...in a good way!

Vitaliy....King of the Mountain!

Tyler (with a weird look on his face) showing us the sights. He was the photographer on the trip and did a great job!

Vitaliy repelling

See, what did I tell you...he always has a funny look on his face. I think he does it on purpose.

Climbing through the slot canyons

Jenae just had her hair re-cut and it is shorter. She took the camera and took so many, many, many, etc, etc, etc, pictures of herself. I threw this one in that we took together.

When I first did my blog so very long ago, I named our two new boys Thing 1 and Thing 2. This is Jackson....he must be Thing 3!

For some reason yesterday Sasha, Cali and Jackson pulled out the snow clothes and dressed up in them and played for a while in them. Here is Sasha!

Michael and I were doing Yoga...Royal Dancer Pose... but Michael decided to pose for a picture instead.

This is Jenae right after her hair was re-cut. I just love her new look!

Here is Dad. Happy Father's Day!!! Jenae was posing weird on purpose in this one!

My older boys had a fun filled week at Scout camp. Michael and the Ventures (16-17) went to Coyote Gulch and Lake Powell. They backpacked and water skied, not bad, huh?! Every year that boy gets stronger and stronger. His first real backpacking experience was when he was 14 and carried a pack that weighed over 40 pounds. He had a great time and assured me that there were many spiritual experiences. (That was a concern of mine)

Tyler, Vitaliy and Jason went with the Varsity’s (14-15) to the Entrada High Adventure BSA Camp. They hiked, free climbed, repelled, shot guns and a bunch of other things that boys like to do. They took some great pictures. One of the videos that they shot was of Tyler and Vitaliy and two other boys laying on the ground hanging over this ledge that went straight down….way down. They threw a rock down to show how far down it was. These are things that mom’s just don’t need to know about….at least not until they are all home safe, anyway! They had an amazing trip. They really loved the repelling. They repelled a 30 foot wall that Vitaliy was proud to say he repelled in 13 seconds and they repelled a 120 foot wall. I saw pictures and it was huge! The camp had bikes they could ride so they really liked riding out there. Entrada is in Moab and it is really beautiful there. They also had a shooting range there. (Just FYI, all their activities were run by experienced people who worked at the camp…just saying) Vitaliy had the opportunity to shoot a 350 magnum. The instructor told him to be careful because the gun would kick back. On his first shot his arm kicked back. He turned to the others with a smile on his face and said, “I like that!” He then shot several more rounds and hit the target perfectly. Apparently, he is a marksman. They also spent one day white water rafting. They said it was awesome.

The boys all came home tired but very excited about their trips. It is good to have them home. Each night the Varsity’s had a devotional. One night Vitaliy was called on to pray and he did it in Russian. Yesterday at church one of the boys in their group was asked to tell about their experience at camp during Sacrament meeting. He talked about how Vitaliy prayed and even though no one understood Russian, they understood and felt the spirit of his prayer. It was an awesome testimony to hear. It was obvious to me that the Spirit did touch and teach our boys during their campouts and I am grateful for that.

The younger family that stayed home had a busy week too. I was determined that they were going to have a campout in the backyard but my week started to fill up. I was trying to help Andy get one of his jobs done so he could go to camp with the Varsity’s so I went over there four days in a row to help with cleaning and painting. He never was able to go but the job is almost done. Meanwhile, Jenae did a lot of babysitting for the younger kids. I wasn’t too happy about being away from them each afternoon, but they managed. Finally, on Thursday night we pitched a tent in the backyard. We roasted marshmellows in the microwave and made smores with Ukrainian chocolate (thank you Stephanie for bringing us home chocolate). We brought the laptop outside and watched Despicable Me with everyone as we were sprawled out on our air mattresses. Andy asked me if WE were supposed to sleep in the tents, or just the kids. After all, he had worked so many, many hours all week and was tired. I told him that I really wanted to be out there with them to get the full experience. We did end up sleeping out there and it was pretty comfortable. It was a cold night though, but it was really fun! I would have loved to bottle the expression on Sasha’s face when he learned that he would be sleeping in the tent overnight. He was beyond thrilled!

Okay, I have got to mention the weird food item for the week. Last night, Sasha made a jam, mustard (and I mean a lot of mustard), ham, and cheese sandwich on toasted bread…and he ate the WHOLE thing! It was gross!!!

We had another missionary discussion. Before we set the baptism date I told the missionaries that I wasn’t sure because I had never heard how the boys really feel in their hearts about all that they have learned. I told Vitaliy that he needed to know in his heart that what the missionaries have taught him and what he feels and has learned at home and at church is true, that Heavenly Father has confirmed to him through prayer that it is true and right for him before he could commit to baptism. He then proceeded to express his feelings in Russian. I then felt what the boys felt at camp. I didn’t know exactly what he said, but the Spirit of it confirmed to me that he has a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then I turned to Sasha. Now Sasha doesn’t learn like everyone else might and he doesn’t necessarily express himself the same either. But, he is very receptive to the Spirit and I have seen that time and time again, especially with the primary music. So, I had him look right at me and I reminded him of the music he loves at Church and the times he and I have sung “I Am A Child Of God” in his room at night and asked him if he understood the missionaries and if he knew that he was a child of God. Well, I could see the softness of the Spirit come over his face and I knew that he knew he was a child of God. What a great moment that was for me to see! He understands as best he can right now and that is what was needed. The boys will be baptized a week from this Saturday. I am grateful for how the Gospel and the Spirit can soften hearts and enlighten minds…it works on me every day….as long as I allow it to.

Summer Vacation??? A Vacation???

2011-06-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

This Jenae and I at Summer Games right after the award ceremony

We went to Wingers for a late lunch after Summer Games. Every year Michael designs a shirt to wear which says he is Jenae's biggest fan. What a guy!!!

This is Vitaliy in his Class A and Andy in is Class B - they made the Class B shirts for their camp. Tyler designed the shirts.

Here he is posing for the picture! What a great smile. By the way, he and Sasha are now sporting the famous Golling haircut. Which, by the way, was not forced on them...they asked for it. Well, it was sort of forced on Sasha, but once he got it, he was happy. I am pretty sure he didn't think I was talented at cutting hair, but once I was done he realized, Wow, she didn't do half bad.

Please note Jackson's designer style...three ties and pajamas on his head....he pulls it off!!!

I gave the camera to Sasha and ten minutes later he had fifty pictures taken...here are a few of the good ones. Jason and Jenae out front.

Dusty loves Basketball

Jackson just kickin' it!

Sasha

Tyler in front of the computer. He is a wiz at helping me with the computer!

Did you know that the "G" in Pleasant Grove stands for "Gratitude" We sure picked the right place to live. By the way...this is the view from our porch! Oh, we live in a beautiful place!

The summer is going full force now. Jenae competed in Gymnastics at Summer Games in Cedar City last weekend. She received the Gold medal for the beam in her age division. It was really exciting. Michael, Jenae and I drove down Friday night and stayed in a hotel overnight. Okay, that really was a vacation. We went swimming until ten o’clock, along with at least thirty other kids, but it was fun and the pool was warm. We went out to eat and nothing was rushed. It was really fun. I really enjoyed having the time to spend with just two children alone together.

Friday morning, the same day we drove to Cedar City, Vitaliy and I drove up to Weber State for Michael’s Boy’s State graduation. I have to say it was intimidating sitting in a room with 259 young men who you know were 99.5% Eagle Scouts and 99.5% with amazing grade point averages. Out of all the young men, 197 of them received scholarships. Michael did earn one of the scholarships and that was exciting as well. The majority of the graduation was focused on gratitude for our armed forces. The youth Lieutenant Governor was a young man named Andrew who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. He was absolutely amazing and incredibly motivating. I hung on his every word. He was elected to his position by his peers and I can certainly see why. He had my vote. The other boys loved him! Watching him made you appreciate life and strive to be a better person. By the way, thank you Stephanie for joining us at the graduation. It was amazing seeing you!

So…Michael came back from Boy’s State, Jenae competed in Utah Summer Games, Jason, Tyler and Vitaliy leave for their Varsity High Adventure Camp tomorrow, Andy joins them on Wednesday, Michael leaves for his Ventures High Adventure Camp on Tuesday and I will be home with our “younger” family consisting of Jackson, Cali, Dusty, Jenae and Sasha. I will only have five kids!!! Five young kids for that matter. This should be fun! There is a whole different set of activities you can do with just younger kids and I am looking forward to that. Maybe we will camp in the backyard…they would love that!

Vitaliy received his first class A Scout uniform today and he posed for a picture in it. Let me say that again, did you catch that…HE posed for a picture! He is very proud to be a Scout and I am really excited for him.

We should have some baptisms coming up soon. We found out today that when the boys are sealed to us in the temple, which can happy anytime after their baptism once Vitaliy receives the priesthood, that all of our children will be able to come into the sealing room to witness it! That is very, very cool!!!

I am anxious to share my testimony of the gospel with the boys. There have been many things I wish I could explain to them better. But, the most important thing I wish they knew is my love for my Father in Heaven. It is because of His relationship with me that helps me with my relationship with my children. I was sitting in Sacrament meeting today. I was asking forgiveness, yet again, for not being as good of a mom as I can be. I asked Heavenly Father, how does he love us but dislike the things that we do? What made me think that was I find it hard to find the likability of a child when I don’t like what they are doing. My husband asked me, so it’s not that he is being bad, it’s just that you know he can be so much better. Then I realized that I just received part of my answer. Heavenly Father must look at us, and in my case, often, and think, “She could be so much better than she is being right now”. That made me realize that if I look at it from his perspective, I can approach it positively. It was a mini-revelation and I needed it. Now I just need to apply it. It has changed my mood and I am grateful for that.

I want more than anything for the boys to have the gospel in their lives. Not just because we have it but because it brings me so much happiness, comfort and peace to know who I am and how I fit into my Heavenly Family. So, I look forward to sharing that with them as soon as I can.

I appreciate all who support our family in what we are doing and thank you for that support. It helps more than you know. I also really appreciate all those families who have adopted and share their stories with me because it helps me in so many ways.

Families…..It’s where it’s at!!!!

Summer!!!

2011-06-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Always a fantastic smile!!!!

Jenae had a hair cut for the first time and had enough cut off to donate to Locks for Love

This is our friend and hairdresser. Jenae babysat in exchange for a haircut. She will be going back next week because she wants it even shorter.

I had to throw this one in. This is Jackson sharing a snack with our neighbor Sadie. They have been spending a lot of time together. I want to save this picture when they are both like 17 to show them then!

Eating ice cream after a healthy walk. Sometimes this angle of a picture for him is the best that I can get.

On the other hand, Sasha and Jenae are always ready for pictures!

Andy finally gets his teeth at the end of this month. A whole year after his accident!

This is Sasha's birthday cake. The others were trying so hard to stop him from blowing out the candles until after we finished singing to him.

More ice cream!!! What!!!!

At first Vitaliy was slaughtering Sasha at soccer. I tried desperately to explain to him that it isn't just about winning. After all it is Sasha's birthday...don't you want him to have a good day. Finally, he thought he understood and then started giving his goals to Sasha's score...it really just isn't sinking in yet.

Birthday cake and ice cream and a great big smile!

It was supposed to be a picture of just me and Vitaliy but everyone saw the camera and jumped in!

Vitaliy thought the glasses were cool. I do think he needs to go to the eye doctor. I'm not sure he will be as enthusiastic with real glasses.

8th Grade Completion. If you look closely, Jason and Vitaliy are the two extremely bored young men on the right hand side second row down.

Completion again...Vitaliy is hold his certificate up-side-down on purpose. I didn't notice until I downloaded the picture. Jason received an award for perfect attendance and perfect citizenship. Vitaliy received an award for perfect attendance. After all, he had perfect attendance the whole month he attended!

The School year wrapped up nicely. It was really easy for the older boys and they kept reminding me that most kids are not going to school the last few days, especially not the last day of only an hour and a half. But, for me, it was my last hour and a half with just Jackson so I made them go...I am so mean!

We have had success with Sasha at school and his behavior has dramatically improved. I was very glad to hear that he was doing better. Whatever he was doing, whether good or bad, it seemed that all the kids knew first and they were very eager to let me know. They were all watching his every move.

Our city pool opened up and the kids are really enjoying spending time there. All but two of my kids can go without an adult so they get a lot more time there than they used to. We are a very outdoorsy family so we have been on a lot of bike rides and walks. Thanks to one of our neighbors I think we now have enough bikes for everyone. All we need is a trailer for those with little legs that can't go too far.

We celebrated Sasha's 11th birthday last week and it was really fun. He got his fingerless gloves that he has wanted for so long, dog tags and a V-tech laptop to name most of his gifts. The V-tech is pretty fun. It even has a function to learn Spanish, but I think we will hold off on that one.

We are big Scouters in our house so Vitaliy helped with flags on Memorial Day. It was raining pretty hard the morning we put them up but he didn't complain. He really enjoys going to Scouts. I think this summer with Scouts will be a blast! They will be leaving next week for a week-long High Adventure Camp in Moab. I can't wait to see how he likes it. It is really helpful that my husband is the Varsity Coach and two of our other boys will be going too. He came into a house with instant friends for Church and school. It has been really helpful.

Missionary discussions are going well. We had two of them without translators but they worked out okay. At one time I prayed for some sort of "gift of tongues" so I could communicate with the boys. Well...I had no major episode of speaking Russian but what I have had is an ability to communicate with the boys so they can understand. It really is pretty cool. I have also learned a few great Russian words which stand for...come here, listen, that is forbidden, and cool! The most important words in our house for them are "I love you" and they know those in English already.

The kids also played soccer with the missionaries on their "P" day and they all had a great time. One of our missionaries is being transferred to Orem and our interpreters are going home for the Summer but they are helping us to find someone who can fill in. We have a Book of Mormon Stories in Russian and in English so for our scripture reading each night Vitaliy and I take turns reading each caption under the picture. We are moving right through all those stories. I love the Spirit that surrounds these two as they are learning the gospel. They can really feel it also. After every discussion, they are really pumped and are in great moods.

Today was the first day of Summer Seminary and Michael and Tyler always like to go to that. They have it every Tuesday at 11:00. Michael is away this week at Boy's State up in Weber so Tyler was going. I asked him to take Jason and Vitaliy and they all really enjoyed it. I am so grateful for programs like that.

Life is good and going well. It is not without it's bumps and bruises though. This is a challenging time in our house. It is hard to be patient, a trait I already struggled with, but it has been worth it. So far the good times still out weigh the difficult or challenging times.

Let me give you an example of the difficult....

Sasha, come here.....Sasha, come here..... (many minutes pass).... Sasha! Come Here!!!!
I win, I win, I win (did you know that just about everything is a competition?)
I not hungry, I don't want to eat (but you will snack on a whole loaf of bread....I don't think so)
Why can't I (the rest of that doesn't matter....It gets old fast no matter what they want)

Now, an example of the good....

When they are asked to pray with out translator here, the number one thing they are grateful for is a family, a mama and papa
So many kisses on my cheeks that I need a bath (my other children have jumped on that band wagon, too!)
Very enthusiastic "I love you's" many times throughout the day
Wanting to spend time with family

The difficult is only difficult because I wish that I could have had these boys long ago so they could have grown up in a family and had the security that comes from that. The difficult is only difficult because life is busy and sometimes it doesn't feel like there is time to be patient. (a correction I need to make).

The good is good because they feel loved by their family and they are starting to feel the love of a Heavenly Father who is watching over them.

So....when you add it all up, Life is Good! It really is!

Quick Update!

2011-05-29T19:25:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to add to my earlier post.... we had another missionary discussion tonight and both boys want to be baptized! It is an exciting time!

2011-05-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

It was also Jason's 14th birthday this week.

We had dinner, snacks and soda at the falls before we went for our walk

I love this...see we have plenty of bars...we must be on the Family Plan!

Different angle. This is at the base of the Waterfall. It is so pretty in the Provo Canyon.

Another good shot. Nothing like a great pose!

What a fun group of kids. We really have the best time together!

Andy turned around and got this one of me. Just behind me is the raging Provo River. It is unbelievably high and unbelievably fast moving.

I turned to look at Vitaliy as we were walking and he had his shorts pulled up really high like a geek. So, of course, everyone had to do it!

Jackson took this picture today and I thought he did a really good job. Well, you didn't see the dozens that I had to delete and of course the cute pictures of his feet or the extreme close up of his face that I just have to keep because they are so cute. He is quite the little photographer!

We have had another Missionary Discussion and it went really well. We didn't end up having an interpreter show up so Angie, our amazing friend who is fluent in Russian, came at a moment's notice and did an amazing job interpreting for us. (Thanks Angie...we always appreciate you and think you are amazing!) The boys were very responsive and it was great. The missionaries talked about how the Church was off the Earth for a while after the disciples all were gone and how it was restored during the restoration by Joseph Smith. I get a little nervous during the discussions. I am so afraid that the boys are going to stand up and say, "Whatever!" but that doesn't happen. I shouldn't worry. I need to keep remembering that it is the Spirit that is there teaching them and it is through the Spirit, if they are listening, that will confirm the truth of it all to them.

Sasha had a difficult start to the week in school and had a few too many trips to the Principals office. Actually that may have been last week. I can't remember anymore. I do know that by mid to end of the week, he was doing much, much better. He is doing really well and his English is getting better everyday. He has been asking me questions in English and does his very best to always talk to me in English. I am very happy for him. He loves to eat. Andy and I bought two big bunches of bananas and by the afternoon, we were down to two bananas. I couldn't believe it. We kind of felt sorry for Sasha because that many bananas at once can do a number on your innerds!

Vitaliy is also doing well in school and does not have any behavioral problems. He doesn't say, "That's no fair" anymore because the last time he said it I about went through the roof. I was so tired of hearing it and I made that very clear. His attitude is more positive each day. I often ask him how he is doing and he would say things like, "Not good" or "I don't know". He was always kidding around but it was getting old. I talked to him about being more positive. I told him that a positive attitude attracts positive. So now he is answering "good" and other things like that. I like that. He has been doing chores without complaint. Although, honestly, I haven't given him full blown chores yet. I have been easing him into it, kind of like the frog in the pot of water. Works pretty good I must admit. Vitaliy's English is very good and there is only need of a translator during the missionary discussions. We could probably do those without an interpreter for him but they would take twice as long. Today during Sacrament meeting he and I had a quick lesson on the bread and water and what it represents. Of course, he already knew that, because you know he knows everything about Jesus. It was still a good review though.

Summer vacation from school is almost here and we are a bit concerned that the kids are going to eat us out of house and home. We had to set a few rules about food. For example, everyone has to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, a meal does not mean a half a loaf of bread. Make a sandwich, don't just eat the bread. Also, cereal is only a breakfast food and is not an all day grazing meal. Like I said, we are a little worried. I wish I had more cupboard space in the kitchen so I could hide a few things.

We finally sold our truck (we had payments on that) and our Denali. We had already bought an older 15-passenger van (ugh!!!). It really isn't too bad to ride in. It has a ton of miles on it but we are hoping to get some family trips out of it. Then we were able to buy a little VW Beetle for me to kick around in for all the errand running. Let me tell you, that car is way fun and oh so cute! It is also older, not the way old style, it is the New Beetle style, but we managed to get one that didn't have too many miles on it. Hopefully we can keep them all running good. But, I have to say that we are a favorite client of our mechanic. He told me once that he liked us so much that we are on his speed dial list. If anyone needs a good mechanic, I can give you a good reference.

I celebrated my birthday this week and we all went to Bridle Veil Falls and took a fun walk on the trial. It was nice to be able to go in one vehicle as a family somewhere together. The Provo River is crazy right now so I was a bit panicky on the walk. I pointed out the river to both Sasha and Vitaliy and then took my finger to my throat like I was slitting my throat. I just wanted them to know how dangerous the River could be. It was a great night and I enjoyed my birthday with everyone.

My favorite moment of the week this week was while driving in the car. I was in the passenger seat and Sasha was in the seat behind the driver. I turned around and smiled at him and he was all smiles back at me. In the moment I looked at him I felt so much love for him and I can totally feel that he knew how much I loved him and how happy it made him. All that in a moments glance. I absolutely loved that moment and it brought tears to my eyes.

Still working on rules of the house:

Again - we want you to not be hungry but you cannot constantly eat throughout the day.
You can ride your bike but when it is dark, you have to stop
Just because someone accidentally bumps or knocks into to you does not give you the right to attack
You need to eat what I give you because I know it is better than what you ate in Ukraine
and my favorite and the one that hasn't gotten better yet....it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing, just be concerned with yourself!

The boys are both very happy and it is obvious that they are both very glad to be part of a family that loves them so much. It has been a good week and I can see improvement in so many areas as time passes on. We appreciate all our family and friends who love and care for us so much. If it weren't for you guys, life would be a lot harder to get through!!!! We love you all!!!!

Missionary Discussions

2011-05-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Jackson is a character! He took my camera and he and Cali took pictures of all kinds of things around the house including a permanent marker, paper airplane and the conference center picture in the Ensign.

Vitaliy hates his picture taken and it drives me NUTS!

They were playing ring around the rosie and duck, duck goose and I took their picture.

Again, Sasha does many self portraits!

Jenae and Cali had their annual gymnastics recital on Saturday. It was awesome but Jenae hurt her heel and had to sit out for the rest of the day. She was supposed to repeat her routines for every recital throughout the day and couldn't. She was so disappointed.

This is bedtime at our house

He fell asleep before we could get a picture

See, Tyler doesn't mind having his picture taken even if I have hundreds and thousands of them already.

Dusty is obviously just giddy about his picture being taken!

But NOOOOOO, I had to fight tooth and nail to take this one! He may look happy in this picture but he did not want me to take his picture. Honestly, what is the big deal anyway!

I just wanted to make a quick update. We had our second Missionary Discussion tonight and it was awesome. Our Ward Mission leader found a resource through the language department at BYU and we have been able to get two different translators who recently served in Ukraine. Our translator tonight was absolutely amazing. He translated the Discussion to the boys and made sure to help them really understand. Sasha has a much harder time participating but our translator, Dallin, really worked with him. The boys were very receptive, especially Vitaliy. We asked him what he likes about going to Church and he said he liked it all. He said there was nothing he didn't like. Sasha was too shy to admit that he likes the singing time best. I know this because I still sing primary songs to him at night when I put him to bed and he absolutely loves it. Also, he doesn't always behave very well at Church. He does, however, behave best during singing time. It is not "manly" to sing in Ukraine so the boys will have to work into that one. I told them that I thought it was okay if they didn't like to sing at Church. I didn't like to for a very long time after joining the Church either.

Vitaliy knows a lot about the Bible stories. In fact, I will quote him that he knows everything about Jesus. Wow, he is humble, too! Seriously, he does have a lot of knowledge about God and Jesus and he interacted a lot during the discussion.

At the end of our discussion, Andy asked Vitaliy if he wanted to say the closing prayer and he did. After he decided that he would he immediately dropped to his knees and we all followed. He said a beautiful prayer. He sounded so sweet as I heard the word "spaceba" over and over during his prayer. Dallin told us afterward that he thanked Heavenly Father for his new family and he told Heavenly Father that he loved his new family because they loved him. It was really touching.

After the Missionaries left this time and the time before, Vitaliy's mood was really happy. He is normally happy, but it is definitely a special happy. So far so good! Dallin won't be able to translate for the next two times, we will have to use someone else for those. He made a GREAT connection with the boys so he will be coming back after Memorial Day weekend.

I was just so excited about how the discussions were going that I wanted to share that with everyone! Thanks for listening, caring and loving our family!!!

A wolf in sheep's clothing or the other way around!?!

2011-05-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Still always happy! (well, not when I tell him no, which can be often)

Just hanging out!

This is my mom, daughter Tiffany and me!

Andy and Vitaliy have the same birthday. We had fifteen candles on Vitaliy's side and not enough on Andy's

This is my Mother's Day picture. We really need to have a family picture taken.

We went to Hope of American. Jenae was in it...see, she is the one wearing white!

So, so, so very cute!

So, so, so cute in a teenager sort of way!

This was at the end of Hope of America. I thought about leaving some kids home because Andy was working and I would be taking nine kids to a huge stadium for a long performance - you know what I am talking about - but hey, I have done harder things than this, it was a piece of cake! (Jackson was a little tired here)

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but honestly, it doesn’t feel like it. Time is going by faster than I can keep up with. Let me try to catch up on things.

Sasha started school a couple weeks ago. I was working with him at home and taking him to school for computer work on Imagine Learning, but could tell he really needed to go to school. Seeing that he has no real formal education and his behavior can match that, I felt like I was sending him to the wolves or vice versa depending on how you look at it. I felt like I was sending a kindergartner into fourth grade. At the same time, I felt like I was sending a slightly wild child into a somewhat calm and organized classroom…and so it was!

It has turned out to be a great thing though. I have been working with the teacher and principal to find the best ways to help him learn how to behave in school. After two weeks, he is starting to come around. The other kids really like him and he is somewhat of a celebrity at school. Even I have increased in popularity with the kids. For some reason when I walk around the school the kids seem to know that I am Sasha’s mom. It’s fun. Hopefully it is just as much fun for him. He seems to enjoy school and loves to walk to school in the morning with the other kids.

Vitaliy is really enjoying school and still comes home happy every day. Now that the weather is mostly better all the kids play outside a lot and bike ride a lot. That is a favorite pastime for sure.

We are coming across interesting teaching moments and behavior that drives me crazy. Our first big crisis was when we gave all the older boys yard work to do. They all have their jobs. Vitaliy was the first to point out to me (like it should be a surprise to me) that Sasha was not doing as much as he was doing. Go figure…a ten-year-old’s work is easier than a 15-year-old?! Well, he plopped himself down on the couch when he thought he was done and said that it wasn’t fair. Well, by this time I had held back several annoying behavior traits and that was really the last straw. Well, Vitaliy came face to face with the “Mom Finger” as I ‘passionately’ explained to him that he is not the parent and life is not fair. There are ten-year-old chores and there are fifteen-year-old chores and he better knock it off and just go to work. He pouted for most of the afternoon. I did have a talk about an hour later with him that included that ‘love after discipline’ stuff but the pouting continued. Ugh!!! I didn’t like it and I know he didn’t either. I thought, okay here we go, here is all that stuff people talked about.

About an hour or so later we were headed out on a family walk when he walked passed me and hesitated. There was my in… I told him that he needed to be happy and that chores were a part of our lives and that I loved him. He came over to me, gave me a kiss and told me that he loved me very much. Whew, it was over.

We have had other issues like, “he hit me first”. Well, “it doesn’t matter who hit first, what matters is that you come to tell me, you don’t hit or kick him back”. For some reason that is a new concept for a kid in any country.

We are all learning. Some of us are learning “rules of the house” and “rules on behavior” and believe it or not, gratitude (which honestly you would think would be easy for them but it is not). Others of us are learning patience, tolerance and I have to throw in there – long suffering.

Things really are going good though. Vitaliy’s English is very good and it is fairly easy to have a conversation with him. Sasha is learning English a little slower but he is learning it. He is learning a lot of English by mimicking. It is fun to hear the phrases that he loves to say, “Cali, Jackson – stop it” – things like that. Sometimes it is an eye opener to me to hear what he says and then I think, “do I really sound like that?”

They are slowly learning to do the simple things that we take for granted. For example, change your socks every day, shower more than once a week, there is no need to keep food in my pocket, not everything belongs to me, everything I do is not a contest to see who can win (well, that haven’t really learned that one yet).

MOMENT OF THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS – There are a few (well it has been a few weeks):

1 – We had our first family night lesson on faith and it was mostly understood…that was cool.

2 – The phone rang and it was actually for Vitaliy, it was strange, but cool.

3 – I still get love, hugs and kisses every day, throughout the day, and lots of “I Love You’s”!

STRANGEST FOOD – (well, besides oatmeal and catsup) – Sasha made himself an American cheese sandwich with grape jam….and….came back for seconds.

The boys also went to the Father’s and Son’s campout and had a blast. They did a Fear Factor activity and Vitaliy put three snakes down his shirt and did jumping jacks….he won! The next thing was to eat this very, very salted fish. Well, need I say more? I saw what they ate in Ukraine and that was nothing. They both ate it and Sasha actually really liked it!

Life is still good….busy…..very busy…..incredibly busy…..like I can get nothing accomplished busy… but it’s still good!!!!!

First Week of School

2011-04-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

This was our Easter Egg hunt.

Cali got the shiny egg...she was pretty happy about that

I'm not sure what we were doing here but he is almost always smiling and I love it!

You have no idea how many pictures I delete from my camera every time he takes it for pictures. This is a self portrait and I think he did a great job on this one.

This is Tiffany's nursing graduation with her husband Jeff.

I had to throw this one in....She is soooooo cute!

I finally feel rested this week. Vitaliy started 8th grade on Monday and was thrown into a full day of school. Luckily Monday's are early out day so it was short. The school assigns a "buddy" for the first day of school for a new student. His buddy gets to leave his classes early and get to them late because he walks Vitaliy to all of his classes and picks him up. I was interested to pick the boys up on Monday. There are five boys in my carpool including my kids. When they got to the car they were talking about Vitaliy's first day and how some people didn't believe that he was Jason's brother. They were all happy and Vitaliy said he had a great day. He was in a great mood all afternoon, too. The rest of the week followed the same way. He has had a good day everyday and likes to be going to school. The first day of school he came home with a notebook filled with writing in English. It looked like he copied everything he could from the board in his classes. I thought that was a good sign.

Sasha didn't start a regular day, he started with a computer class called Imagine Learning. The first several days were a bit rough. This program is supposed to be an ESL (English as a Second Language) program but it only gave a little instruction in Russian. So, honestly, he didn't understand it. He also has very little education under his belt and he struggled quite a bit. It does a pretest on the student and then assesses what grade level it should place him in. He obviously "accidentally" clicked on several right answers because it started him on reading. Seeing that he doesn't know the alphabet yet, that seemed a problem...don't you think! Anyway, it wasn't until Thursday that he started showing signs of following the program. (it was put down to a 1st grade level...still challenging when the instruction is in English). After that, I had hope that it might be helpful. In the meantime, we are working at home on the alphabet doing workbooks, computer games and other board games. He does enjoy learning and that really is half the battle. By Thursday he actually said two different sentences in English. That was awesome to hear.

The weeks activities included a lot of bike riding and playing mixed in with chores. It is a little challenging because I am used to my kids knowing what I expect them to do and trying to incorporate that into kids I have only had in my scope of influence for just a couple of weeks. When I say everybody has to pick up, it doesn't mean you sit there until I specifically call your name and tell you to pick up! We all have learning to do.

Tuesday night was mutual night. Some people asked if Vitaliy wanted to go. My answer was, my other kids don't "ask" to go...he went. He did end up having a good time. I took the kids to a play put on by our local group, Center Stage. The play was the musical, "Beauty & the Beast". Sasha loved it. He was mesmerized the whole time. Vitaliy didn't like parts, the romantic singing parts, I could tell. He said he didn't like it but I watched him and I think he did but didn't want to admit it. Why do young men think they need to be tough all the time. Honestly, it is stupid and when they behave that way, it looks stupid, too! Wish I knew how to say that in Russian...well probably not quite like that.

Andy and I went to our oldest daughter, Tiffany's, graduation from nursing school at UVU on Thursday night. It was really enjoyable. Watching her accomplish such a great thing was a amazing coming from the perspective of remember the years put toward that moment. It was pretty cool. I could remember all the melt downs and near "death" experiences of last minute assignments and what not. It was fun.

When we left that night, Sasha really wanted to go. He always wants to go everywhere with me. But, this time he couldn't. He stood at the window and watched me driving away. His teacher told him before he left the orphanage that after 18 days, his family would throw him out. I didn't realize that last night was the 18th night he has been in my custody. Well, my MOMENT OF THE WEEK was when we came home, kind of late, and he ran down the stairs, saw me and yelled...Mama! He was so excited. He gave me a hug and a kiss and was genuinely excited to see me. It wasn't until later that I counted out the days and realized what day it was.

It has been a good week...tiring...but good. By the way...Do banana trees grow in Utah? I buy big bunches of bananas bounteously! I am so not kidding!!!!

Settling In

2011-04-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

He looks pretty happy.

During the party Vitaliy road his bike around while everyone played. He also ate like six or seven donuts!

Sasha played a lot of soccer during the party

This was the banner that was made for the boys.

Video games are only allowed on Friday afternoon and Saturday at our house so they are taking full advantage of that.

The kids were finally able to decorate eggs at 9 pm just before Easter. We are so on top of it!!! - Not!!!

It has been a busy week. We talked with both schools to get the boys set up in school but had to have a TB test first along with some vacinations. We headed down to the Health Department and had all that done. Sasha had two shots and a TB test (which is a shot in itself) and poor Vitaliy had six shots and a TB test. Well, as I watched them over the next several days it was apparent to me that those TB tests were not looking so good. My daughter, Tiffany, is almost - just 30 days away - from being a nurse and agreed with me that their arms did not look so good. We were back on Wednesday to read the tests and sure enough they had a positive reaction. They sent us over to the hospital for chest xrays and then back to the health department to turn them in. There was no rush to get an appointment after that. I thought, wow, for being so concerned about such a contagious disease, they were in no rush to have the doctor read the xray and let us know what was going on. Well, they were able to squeeze us in the next day and told us that their results showed that they had been exposed to TB at some point but neither one of them had an active case. This then meant that when they got old (when their immune system was compromised due to old age), they would run a 10% chance of contracting TB. Or, we could put them on a medication for 9 months and it would drop their chances to 1%. So, that is what we chose to do and will report to the Health Department one a month for nine months. Needless to say, we were driving to Provo almost every day this week.

When all that was cleared up we got both boys registered for school. Vitaliy starts classes this coming monday. I can tell he is a bit nervous, but he is a trooper. Sasha, needing much more personalized attention, will start a language program at his school on Monday. I will be working with our school district's language specialist to plan a home program that will enhance what they are both doing at school to help them learn the language and get them up to speed. I am looking forward to them starting school because I think they, especially Vitaliy, were getting a little bored at home all week. Vitaliy was placed in almost all of Jason's classes because they are in the same grade. It will be good for him to have his lunch period with his brother.

It took a few days to get accustomed to being home and the time change but everything feels normal now. Vitaliy is picking up English so quickly and it is easy to carry on a conversation with him. He often helps me in translating to Sasha. Sasha is still very much in the mine, mine, mine and me, me, me stage and I assume that will take a while to undo. I look forward to having him learn more English.

The boys enjoy church for the most part and we will be starting the missionary discussions with them this coming week. The missionaries will come and we will have a translator here to relay what the missionaries are saying. I look forward to this. Right now they are going through all the motions but really don't know what the motions are all about.

We are loving our big family. I have found, though, that I seem to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, either cooking or doing dishes. Boy, can they eat! I am glad though.

Our ward had a "baby shower" potluck bash for us and it was great. I think we have completed both wardrobes and have swimsuits and towels to boot. The primary presidency also gave both boys their first set of scriptures and scripture totes to carry them in. Both of their birthdays are in May, so we will be working on that next. Now we have five birthdays in May! Those include Andy's and my birthdays so I am sure that we won't count as much.

Right now all is smooth sailing. I have been holding my breath for things to go wrong but they haven't yet. It has only been a week though. (I know things will get bumpy so I will enjoy this while it lasts) Right now the boys have adjusted quite well to their new home. When Sasha is not pouting for not getting what he wants, he is very happy to be here. Vitaliy is also very happy and always comes upstairs in the morning and wishes me a "Good Morning". He also makes sure that Sasha does too.

My "Moment of the Week" was when Sasha was pouting before bed because I made him wear PJ's to bed - how could I do such a thing! I wasn't quite sure what to do because I didn't want him to go to bed like that. I asked him if he wanted me to sing him a song (I had done that on a walk with him and he liked it). He said yes and I sang "I Am A Child of God" to him. He immediately calmed down and just stared into my eyes as I sang. When I was done, he gave me a kiss and a hug and told me he loved me and went happily to bed. It really doesn't get much better than that. I will hold tight to those special moments.

Best wishes to all my friends!

Arrival - Day 35 1/2

2011-04-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is our whole family!

This is all the family that was able to come to the airport.

This is everyone that came to the airport. Erica is taking the picture so she's not in it.

These two are two peas in a pod.

Sasha was a little tired. Must have been all that sleep.

A picture with Vern and Nanette

If it were not for these two wonderful people, we would never have our boys. I am so grateful for all that they have done for us.

Well we finally made it home!!!!! The flight from Paris to Salt Lake City was long...11 hours long. They played four movies and they decided to play the most boring one last. It made the last part of the trip a bit slow.

Sasha slept for the majority of the trip and for his sake I was grateful. Vitaliy and I were not so lucky. I maybe slept a total of one hour but Vitaliy was able to sleep a bit longer. There is definately a difference between Delta (Paris to Salt Lake) and Ukraine Airlines. Everything was better on the Delta flight - the food, the service...everything.

When we arrived there was a long line for customs. It went pretty quick though. I gave them all of our passports and the documents from the Embassy. He did a few things, asked a couple simple questions and told us to take a seat. He was very nice. A big difference from customs in Kiev. The other guards there saw us and told us we could get our luggage while we waited. The luggage pick up was right there within the customs check point. We found our luggage and then they took us in another office area. The customs agent in there was so very, very nice to us. He asked if we were doing okay. I said we were fine but I was just really tired because I had barely slept in two days. He told me to go and rest, showed me where the bathroom was and said he would get us out of there as soon as he could. He took us in the back and fingerprinted the boys. Again he was so great to them. We sat down for a bit longer then we were done. They directed us to these very large sliding doors. I thought we would have a long way to walk to where everyone was waiting. But, they were right outside those doors. I had thought I heard Andy's voice while I was waiting earlier but thought it was just my imagination.

I was very surprised that everyone was right there and it caught me off guard. I was so very, very tired so it was difficult to focus on everyone. I immediately searched for my baby Jackson and he came running to me. I really didn't put him down until we were later at the car. It was so great to see everyone. There were lots of hugs and kisses and visiting going on and then we took pictures.

It was such an unusual feeling to be home. It felt that way off and on even today. I had fallen asleep on the couch last night for a short time and when I woke up I had this really strange feeling that I wasn't at home yet and I needed to find and get home. Then, I realized that i was at home. That happened to me again this morning when I woke up. Wendy was so right when she said that soon this would all just be a memory. I realized that when I was on the plane. It had already felt that way before we ever landed. It was over and now it was all just a memory. It still feels strange to be home. Sometimes it feels like I have never been gone at all. I am so very, very happy to be home.

After we got home the kids went straight for the bicycles. They love to ride bikes. We played for the rest of the day. Andy's mom, Sue, had bought us a bunk bed for Sasha and Jackson to share and Andy had built a top bunk to Tyler's bed for Vitaliy. Andy and the boys put together the new bunk bed and we arranged the rooms as best we could. Well, they did...that is when I was sleeping.

When it was time for bed we said a family prayer, read our scriptures and headed off to bed. This time the boys came to us for a hug and kiss after prayer, we didn't need to track them down.

I have to tell you that one of the memorable moments we experienced yesterday was when Sasha went to bed. He was beyond elated when he got into bed. He loves his bed so much. He called me into his bedroom. I went in to see what he wanted and he wanted me to see him in bed. Then he gave me another kiss and hug and told me he loved me. That was such a special moment. They are both so happy to be home.

Today when they were riding bikes I had a flash back to when we hosted them and I would watch them ride bikes. This time though, I realized that they were here to stay and that felt great.

When we first heard about the hosting and then about the adoption process, the two things that scared us almost out of the whole thing were the cost of adoption and the time we would have to spend in Ukraine. I came to the realization that money is just that...money. It comes and it goes. Then I realized that even if I ended up in Ukraine for six weeks or more, it was only a speck of time in my life compared to eternity. Now I know, more than ever before, that those two things pale in comparison to the feelings we have for these children. There is nothing we wouldn't do for them. The money came and its gone. The time spent is now over. But, the memories of the journey, the smiles on their faces, the love we have for them and the love they feel from us are things that will last for all eternity.

As always, I love you all. I have felt and been strengthened by your love and support and thank you all for being there when I needed you. Now the real journey begins. I plan to keep blogging as we go through this next phase of our lives and their individually and as a family. Love to you all!!!!

Day 35

2011-04-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

We went to bed very late last night, just after midnight. I planned on getting up at 3 am so I could shower before leaving. So, I didn’t fall asleep until between one and two so I basically got about an hour of sleep. I was showered, packed and we were out the door at 3:55 am. I rented a van so Lucy, Sasha and Yulia could come to the airport with us. I really had to fight back worried feelings that something was going to stop me from leaving Ukraine. We got to the airport right at 4:30 and went to check in.

It turns out there was a problem, or you could say a very stressful moment. I was told that we were all on the same flight to Paris but the computer did not show that my connecting flight was changed from the original 18^th to the 15^th. I could feel the stress building and I, as patiently as I was capable of at that time, said to the woman, “What do I have to do to get on that flight?” She talked with the ticking agent, of course this was all in another language so I didn’t know anything for a while, and told me to go to the ticketing window. I did, not knowing what for. That woman knew I was coming and gave me a print out and told me to go back to the woman at check in. I did, and YEAH, she found my flight and all was well. Whew! What a moment. I had stood there during all of this thinking, no….I cannot stay another day….oh, please fix the problem!

This airport is different than what I am used to at Salt Lake. (Not that I ever fly) You walk up to a partitioned off area which is the security check. I might add that there security check was not as thorough as some. We said goodbyes and didn’t draw them out too long, which is probably better. I will miss Lucy and I am so grateful to have met her and become such good friends. She is amazing and is more than willing to help others that come to adopt. I am also really grateful to have had the chance for Vitaliy, Sasha and I to have spent so much time with Sasha and Yulia. They came in on the train on Tuesday night and stayed with us all the way to the airport. Some moments were a bit difficult but the overall result was worth it. The good thing about the partition is that you really can’t see beyond it. I think it is easier on the goodbyes.

Security check was easy but the customs check was a little more complicated. This man with absolutely no personality and the inability to speak to a woman so he directed all his conversation to Vitaliy, asked for my court decree and proceeded to read it, at the rate he did, all the way through. We waited and waited and waited. He asked Vitaliy a couple of questions, which of course I had no way of knowing what they were, then finally, I mean finally, he let us through. That was the last stressful moment I had on the journey.

The first flight seemed fast even though it was almost three hours long. We even got to see the Eifel Tower from the window of the plane. I am such a dork because all I could think is that “I saw the Eifel Tower with my own two eyes!” The plane landed in Paris. We followed the signs to a shuttle that would take us to our next terminal. The shuttle is actually a very large bus.

Side note- At the Kiev airport they board you onto a large bus just outside the gate, leave the door open so the freezing air comes in and you sit there until everyone has checked through while the exhaust from the bus filters into the bus. Then everyone gets in and you think you are in for this long haul but they basically drive down the road, make a u-turn and drop you just across the street from where you stood in the bus. Now if this had happened to me on my arrival I would have thought it weird. But seeing that I have spent a month in Ukraine it seems perfectly natural.

Back to France…the shuttle dropped us off (a long way from where we started) at our terminal. We had to go through another security check. When they saw me with children they pulled us to the front of the line. They were amazingly nice and wonderful to us. Then we headed to our gate. There was actually someone there pleasant and happy to help. I gave him our stuff and said that we were not seated together could he help? He did his thing, handed me new boarding passes and told me to have a great flight. We were given the bulk head seats all together just past first class. The seats are spacious and comfortable. Next stop Salt Lake City. If I have a problem at customs, I don’t care because I will be in America and that is all that matters.

I am still in incredible shock about coming home. I sat in the airport in Paris and just kept thinking, I am really going home. I can’t even find the right word to describe it. Maybe just “unreal”.

We are now 2+ hours into our flight and have almost 9 more to go. I can’t wait to see everyone and I know how excited the boys are. They are both very happy to be going home. Love you all! See you soon!

Another side note.....We are home. I will post my blog for day 35 1/2 tomorrow when I hopefully can think straight!!!

Day 34

2011-04-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

We were on our walk to the pizza place

Sasha & Myck were walking with the Ipod. Each had a headphone in one ear and they were singing Lady Gaga! Very entertaining!

We were getting ready to order.

These two were fun to watch. They are always trying to avoid the camera. Got them this time.

This kid can eat! He had a great time.

I Love Lucy!!!!

This is our waiter...I wish his name tag came out in the picture.

This is like baby's first hair cut.

There goes the back!

Turned out great....just like his brothers.

Little Sasha wanted Big Sasha in the picture. Little Sasha wants his name changed to Benjamin Thomas. We have been trying to call him Benji all day.

Brother & Sister

Two peas in a pod. Gotta watch out when these two are together.

Last night in Kiev. It was a beautiful night out on the town.

Last day in Kiev! Better be anyway. I tried to get up late so the day would be shorter but that didn’t work. The Cooks showed up at our apartment and we all walked to that same pizza parlor by the SDA. There we met up with Natasha and Renee and Myck. I think we took up half the place. It was fun to go there one last time. The kids had a great time because there were seven of them from the same orphanage. It really was fun. Then our family, along with Vitaliy’s brother and sister, and also Renee and Myck went to get Vitaliy’s hair cut…..Yeah!!! He looks great. After that we went in search of a suitcase for us. We did not have enough space in our luggage for everything and after we found one and I packed, I filled it completely. We then came home for a while to recoup and let Renee use the computer to contact her family. She hasn’t had a computer since her husband left and needed to respond to a ton of emails. After a while at home we headed out to dinner and a walk to the Billa market to buy all the chocolate my family has been asking for. While we went to the market, Lucy helped Renee and Myck find their apartment and we met up a little later. We had a nice stroll through the beautiful lit up Kiev. It was actually really nice. Now back at the apartment we are making the final preparations for tomorrow morning. We have to leave a 4 am. I don’t care how early it is…..I am so excited.

I look forward to seeing everyone and miss you all so much. I have found that these last few days are easier if I don’t have much contact from home because life has been challenging these last few days. Please continue to pray that we get home safely. I have had many moments through this whole adventure where I start to get worried or nervous. Whenever that happens the Spirit reminds me by saying…Trust Me… I do trust Him. I have complete trust in Him…if I didn’t I would never have made it through. Thank you for following our adventure and thank you for your love and support. I look forward to thanking you in person very soon!

Day 33

2011-04-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is Yulia on the escalator going down to the subway.

Sasha and Vitaliy on the escalator

Sasha is always reaching for the camera. I am lucky if I get it for a minute.

The is lunch at the mall food court.

Sightseeing

Still sight-seeing

That is Sasha up there. He wanted his picture taken

We are officially DONE!!!!!

We were up early today. Lucy had to meet a friend traveling through Kiev at the train station at 6:00 am and Sasha and Yulia were scheduled to arrive at the same time. So she visited with her friend until she had to catch the next train and brought Sasha and Yulia home. It worked out really well. It is a bit awkward to communicate but we make it work. Of course, it only works because of Lucy. I needed to get to Lucy’s brother’s work to buy the boys’ tickets so we took the “metro”, which is the subway across town. It took three stops. I really think the subway is fun. Yulia and her purse got stuck in the doors as they closed so Vitaliy had to spread them apart to get her unstuck. As I walked through the underground tunnels I just don’t see how anyone finds their way unless they are with someone that has done it before. From the metro station across town we walked to his work. I had all the documents I needed with me but needed to call Natasha to get the passport numbers because they still had those with them and would need them later today. Then when I ran my credit card, it didn’t take. Well, Andy and I had worked it out with our credit card company already that they knew I was traveling and would make purchases here. Turns out it wasn’t my bank. The Ukraine bank had to enter a special code when running the card and all turned out well. We had to purchase them by noon to get that price and this was all happening at five minutes to noon so there was a bit of stress involved.

We walked from there back to the subway and came back to our side of town. The boys and I were being picked up to go to our Embassy appointment so we had a half an hour to eat at the food court at the mall and then head back to the apartment. Elaina had already picked up the medical paperwork and gave it to me along with the passports and other documents. She dropped us at the Embassy and took us to the door. I could have gone myself though because today I was feeling confident with my environment. I have gotten much more comfortable here compared to when I first came. I can go into a store by myself and figure it all out. Anyway… I made it through security check with only nail clippers in my purse this time. I was really trying not to have that problem but I missed those. I went right back to the window at adoptions and we were helped right away. I had been told that this could take up to a couple of hours but it went quickly. As I sat there waiting, I realized that I was sitting in a little piece of the United States. That felt good. They have this video playing and it plays our national athem and there are people, including George Bush, speaking about being American. That felt even better. I realized that all we had worked to do was being completed in just a short time and it would be over. That felt the best. I actually felt the tears coming and had to fight them away. Last thing I needed was to walk up to the window to get the visas and start crying like a baby.

He asked for the missing paperwork, checked the passports and asked us to have a seat until we were called to the other window. We were called right away and I had to raise my right hand and swear that all information I presented was accurate, which I did. He said hello to the boys, asked their age and that was it. He said if we were lucky he would double check everything and have the Visa’s done in an hour. We had them in 10-15 minutes and we were done! He gave me everything I needed. I was legally and lawfully ready to leave the country!

Once we got back to the apartment we went out for a short sight-seeing tour and headed to the market. Sasha and Yulia wanted to make us borsch for dinner. I still have never had it. When we got back from the market they started dinner. I didn’t have to help but I took notes so I could make it at home. They presented us a beautiful dinner and it was great! I mean it was really great!

We are all pretty tired and will be going to bed soon. There are many questions I have for his brother and sister but I am really not sure about asking them yet. We will see.

I love you all!!!! Our flight will be landing in Salt Lake City this Friday, the 15^th at 2:10 pm. We are leaving Kiev Friday morning at 6:30 am and flying through Paris. We only have an hour and 50 minute layover and should make our connecting flight without a problem.

Day 32

2011-04-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

This was on the train so it is a little dark and blurry.

Also on the train. It was fun.

Lucy and Sasha in our room

Kick'in it! He used up the whole battery on the Ipod in that position today. It really was great to relax a little.

This is our media center.

The view of the front door and entry way.

The washing machine (yeah I finally have one again) in the bathroom - Can I just repeat that this shower ROCKS!

The toilet, in case you didn't know. Hanging from the sink is a kind of Boday. Natasha showed me how it works, but I will pass, that you very much!

Our little kitchen.

Our dining room area...quite the space for entertaining don't you think?

The refrigerator. It is pretty big for frig's around here.

Okay, if you thought teenagers ate a lot of food. I took this because it was his second trip through the food line. He was woofing it down tonight.

Here is a very well nourished Sasha!

We passed this on our way home from dinner.

These men were up really high about ready to unroll a banner of some sort.

Lucy and the boys in our entertaining area/bedroom.

This is us playing Monopoly. I always, always without fail, loose at this game.

Sasha was practicing counting in English today.

Kiev is still a beautiful place. The train arrives in Kiev at 5:55 am so at 5:00 am they come by and knock on your door to give you a wake-up call. I sat up, opened the door, said “da”, closed the door and crashed back down on the bed. I always wake up often during the night on the train. It is always a good night though, even if I don’t sleep enough because the train is fun. Plus, riding the train usually means progress.

You know I miss my husband for many, many reasons, but this morning I really missed him as I had to lug that very heavy suitcase, with a backpack and shoulder bag up and down many flights of stairs.

We met up with our ride and headed to our apartment. The apartment is the best apartment I have been in so far. I mean on a scale of bad to best…it is the bestest! After 30+ days I actually had a shower with real water pressure….it was AMAZING! The apartment is very updated and comfortable. There is a couch in the family room that lays flat to make a bed. The boys will share that bed and Lucy and I will share the bed in the bedroom.

They picked the boys and I up at 9:30ish to head to the US Embassy. Honestly, there is not a single thing fancy about the embassy. There was a very long line outside. Now, that is a Ukrainian line which means there was a crowd of people that did not resemble a line at all outside. Because I am a US Citizen, I was taken right to the door and allowed in. We first checked in at a security check. Now, Natasha warned me to leave all electronic devices in the car…so I left my phone. Well, remember, I was extremely tired and not thinking very clearly, so as I got through the security check, this is what I missed in my purse: a camera, portable air card for the computer, nail file and a pair of scissors! A pair of scissors!!!! Can you believe I could be that stupid! Anyhow, I basically emptied the contents of my purse onto the table and into a little bin for them to store. We were directed through an outdoor foyer area and into another building and onto the adoption department. The room was small with two windows, each with a slot for sliding documents under the window, and several chairs lined the edges of the room for waiting. There were just a few people in seats and there was a woman at each window being helped by a man at each window. Almost everyone in that room spoke English…nice! When it was our turn, the man reviewed our documents, pulled out a checklist and checked items off for each boy. He gave me a paper which showed how much money I owed and directed me to window 9 to pay. I might add that after the trip to the Embassy I no longer have to wear a money belt. That is good and bad. It is good because my middle doesn’t need to look any bigger and bad because it means I don’t have enough cash to need to hide it. I did and returned to the man with the receipts as instructed. Because Vitaliy is 14 he had to have his fingerprints taken. We were out of there probably within 30 minutes.

Next, we were onto the medical exams. Here is the scene. We walked into another slightly decrepit building and into a corridor filled with people and crying babies…right out of a movie, huh!?! We had Elaina (don’t know the spelling) with us. I can’t really talk to her much because she knows very little English, but if you what someone to push her way to the front and get you in, she is definitely the one to do that. We still had to wait at least an hour, but we did get in. The doctor gave a quick scout-like exam to each boy and asked them some questions and that was it. We will be able to pick up the sealed envelopes for the Embassy tomorrow and then head to the Embassy to pick up the Visa’s. At that point, we are 100% DONE!

There was a bit of drama and on my part, trauma, working through getting our flights but hopefully by tomorrow morning that will be done also. If all works out, we will be flying home on Friday and arriving in Salt Lake City at 2:10 pm in the international terminal. I will make sure to post the finals on that project. There was nothing available for us on Thursday.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. We did go out to get a bite for dinner but then headed back and played Monopoly. We are all ready to crash a little early tonight. Vitaliy’s brother and sister come first thing in the morning tomorrow. Lucy is going to visit a friend at the train station tomorrow morning and will pick them up and get them here. So, we should be able to sleep in long enough to be ready by 8:00 am. We are looking forward to their visit.

As always, I love you all so much and I am VERY excited to come home. Please continue to pray all the way to the end for me as I know I still need your prayers. Love to all and goodnight!!!

Day 31

2011-04-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

This is a view crossing a bridge. I thought it was a great shot with the bus coming the other direction.

This is a region of Zap that Vitaliy is from.

This is the marriage office where we got one of the birth certificates.

Just an apartment building in that region. It was about 20 minutes away from where we were staying. Sasha region was the region we were in...convenient for both actually!

Lucy took over the camera at the orphanage because I was very busy signing papers. It was really a complete rush and now kind of a blur leaving there. This is a picture of the director's office.

This is Vitaliy and his friends packing.

He was giving them some of his things.

This is Ruslan with a shirt from him and Alex with the Monopoly game.

The bed in the corner is his and they are huddled getting his things ready.

Fuzzy picture but I still like it.

Good friends I am sure he will miss.

Still packing...how come he has so much stuff!

The director, Larissa and Sasha!

Larissa and Vitaliy

Heading out to the van. The woman in front is Luba, our incredible facilitator!

Some of his friends called over to him and he went and shook their hands and gave one of those half hugs. It was a pretty cool scene.

Loading up

Sasha finally gets to go, not wait at the gate...Yeah!!!

Dimitri was hanging on the gate waving goodbye. When he saw that we were almost gone he ran out to see us off. I will really miss all those kids!

In the train compartment with Yulia, Vitaliy and Sasha...beautiful family.

Here's the new family.

There were some very tender moments.

What a whirlwind of a day! I was told I could rest until 9 am and then I would get a phone call. Good thing I got up early and ready because at 9 I was told that I would be picked up in 15 minutes. I was ready to go to work…so ready! I was surprised at how smoothly and quickly we were getting things done. I was still under the impression that we would not be out of Zap until later that week and I was emotionally gearing up for that. What I was not prepared to hear was we were going to be done that day and on the train to Kiev that night! I cannot begin to express in words what I felt at that moment. I had planned on composing myself when I heard the news that we would stay in Zap for the week, I had not planned on how I would handle hearing we were leaving so soon…I worked hard to not cry but I still cried a little bit. Oh My Goodness!!!!! We are headed out of here!

The rest of the day was very busy. We finished part of the paperwork and went to get the boys. They had been told over and over that we were not leaving until at least the end of the week so they had no idea. I was SO excited to tell them. We met up with them in the hall and gave them the good news. You should have seen the look on their faces. They were thrilled beyond words. Literally with a spring in his step Vitaliy headed to his room to pack. As he passed his friends in the hall he shook their hands and told them that he was leaving to go to America. You have to try and picture the excitement on everyone’s faces. They followed him to his room and Sasha headed to his room. Sasha was the first one down with two little bags of clothes and things. Vitaliy followed next with the same bag we sent him back with and a backpack.

The director, Larissa, was there and we took pictures with both the boys. She had told me in her office that Vitaliy was very ready to go. I told her how much I appreciated all that she does for the kids. I also told her that I thought she was the hardest working woman I have ever met but she denied that and reminded me that I have 8 more children at home. She proceeded to tell me for the second time that I needed to be firm with the boys and make them work. I really like her quite a bit.

The big moment, we walked out to the van never to return again. When we got to the van I looked back and saw Dimitri hanging on the gate waving goodbye. We were leaving so unexpectedly and so fast that I didn’t have a chance to see any of the kids. It’s probably better that way, really. Although I was so happy that I got to go over to Dimitri and give him a big hug. He gave me a great hug back. Oh how I love all those kids!

Once again I had to pack and move out of another apartment in record speed. I had to lay across my suitcase to shut it. Lucy came with us to Kiev, lucky me!!! We were packed in about 15 minutes or less. One more notary and we headed to the Intourist Hotel to buy our train tickets. We had to buy first class unless we wanted to sleep on top bunks in random compartments separated from each other. Doesn’t sound appealing, does it? I have only taken first class on the train. There are only two beds instead of four and usually the first class car is not as busy, less smoking. I highly recommend it to anyone. It is worth the extra money. We stopped at a restaurant to eat dinner. Again the food was amazing.

When we got to the platform at the train station I saw Sasha, Vitaliy’s brother. I was very glad to see him. I had asked Vitaliy if he had had a chance to contact his brother. Everything was happening at record speed. When I walked near Sasha, I noticed a girl that looked familiar and it turned out to be his sister, Yulia. She is very blonde and very pretty. I had never met her before. Again, thank goodness Lucy was there with us. We gave each other hugs but they had only minutes to say goodbye. I was so sad about that. He hadn’t seen his sister in a while. We took pictures in the train and back out on the platform. Then the crying really started. I had Lucy ask if they wanted to come to Kiev and spend time with us while we were here. We were literally asking them this from the door of the train as they stood on the platform and tossing money down to them so they could come. Buying a train ticket for them would be out of the question and too expensive. I was thrilled that they wanted to come and they were very happy and grateful for it. His sister, through her tears, kept saying thank you, thank you so much! His brother and sister gave me huge hugs. I love these people. I feel so connected to them and I truly hope this is not the last time we see them. I would love to have them come out for a visit. Can’t say I would want to go back and visit them though.

We had an easy time on the train. Lucy and Luba get along really well. Sasha bunked with Lucy and Vitaliy bunked with me. We watched through the window as we said goodbye to Zaporozhye forever. I really enjoy sleeping on the train. The rocking motion makes you sleepy. It was quiet and comfortable. I could tell the boys were really happy to be on the way home.

I have started my 32^nd day in Kiev but you will have to wait until later to hear about it. Love you all and can’t wait to come home. Hopefully we will find a flight Thursday, otherwise we have tickets reserved for Friday…CAN”T WAIT!!!!!!!!!

WE ARE DONE.... ALMOST!!!

2011-04-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

So this is Kim's son and she is on the night train to Kiev today so that she can come home! She has the boys with her on the train. They got everything done in Zap and they need to just finish getting Visas and they could be home on Thursday if everything goes well and if they can find them a flight home. hopefully they can find a flight home on this short notice.

Day 30

2011-04-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

This is a statue at a memorial park. It is just past the overpass that I previously posted on the way to Church.

See...There is a big Tide box sticking out of the wall...I wasn't kidding! The wooden doors are the doors to our Church and there is a sign you can barely see next to the doors that says "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Welcome"

From left to right - Sister Smirnova from Moscow, Sister Lacy from Washington State, Sister Clark from Logan, Utah. They are as beautiful on the inside as on the outside...Love their sweet Spirits!

From left to right - Elder Rowe from Thousand Oaks, California, Elder Mills from Kaysville, Utah, Elder Condie from Boise, Idaho and Elder Snow from Draper, Utah. Don't they look like fun guys!

This is Elder Condie's tag

This is Elder Snow's tag

I love this...see the Church is the same everywhere...Charity Never Faileth!

How soon they forget...out on a mission and already forgot how to use the television. Just goes to show you that they are spending their free time on the Lord's errand and not the TV.

They haven't quite figured it out yet. I really enjoyed being at Church today. It is great when I can find moments so far from home that I am happy and content with where I am.

This is our protective friend, April. An Unusual name for a male dog but he can't complain. The name was Lucy's idea. I was thinking of names like Benji, Slick or Gunner because he looks like the Warburton's dog, Gunner.

This is the welcoming and inviting view of the entrance into our apartment. Complete with beautiful neighborhood art work...hey... I'm just trying to be positive here. There are eight buttons just above the handle that are number and there are three numbered buttons you have to push all at the same time to release the lock. The door is already open 50% of the time anyway. Oh well.

Looking up from the entrance to our building. The blue siding enclosed balcony is our apartment. Those balcony's double as a clothes drying area and smoking section.

A close up of our building's door and the artwork. Quite inviting if I don't say so myself.

Here April has followed us upstairs. He's cute, but its not working on me!

I love Sundays wherever I am in the world! We had to get up earlier (for us anyway) because we have to walk and it takes almost an hour. Early is hard because we stay up so late. We were lucky that it was not raining on the way to Church. Well, it’s not luck because it started raining after we got there and it stopped long enough for us to walk home. Now it is raining again, pretty hard actually.

Being an adult convert to the Church, I have a huge soft spot in my heart for missionaries. I suppose we all do, but it is so refreshing to be around them. I took their pictures and told them that they were going to be posted on my blog. I wish I had taken the next picture which was when they all pulled out their little notebooks and wrote down the blog so they could send it to their moms in their emails tomorrow! Just want you missionary moms to know that you were the first thing that came to their minds! They bring a wonderful spirit to their little Branch. There is a lot of work for them to do and they have amazing attitudes. They are all so concerned about the members and people in the area. They were really a highlight in the day for me.

We were watching the Sunday sessions of General Conference today. We had already watched the Saturday sessions on the internet last week. We had an hour break between sessions and everyone met in the kitchen for some food. We had bread with a slice of cheese and a hot dog cut length wise along with some juice. A sister in the Branch tried to give me another one. I took the juice but told her I was full. I hope she was not offended. There was a young woman there who spoke very good English. Her name is Katie. She has spent some time in America on a work program and I enjoyed talking with her.

Of course Conference was wonderful. The music was uplifting and, of course, the Spirit is strong here in the little branch in the city of Zap. One of my favorite sayings from conference, completely not spiritual but my favorite, was Elder Holland’s comment about the bedlam that occurs at family night and the Bedlamites in the house. I can so relate to that. We have a house full of Bedlamites!

On our way home a stray dog started to follow us. In a way it was nice. He barked and chased every car that got too close. Nice, not smart, but nice! Lucy has a soft spot for dogs and kept stopping to take pictures and talk to the dog. He followed us all the way home, with help from Lucy. She wanted to give him some food we had in the apartment. He followed us all the way to our door up four flights of stairs. I was not a fan but he was hungry. That’s as far as it went. She gave him some food and I am sure we will see him at some point tomorrow. Because, it doesn’t look like he has eaten much and he will remember who fed him last.

I was laying in bed last night and started to think about what I missed from home and what I will miss here so I started a list.

What I miss from home – Family and friends, of course, but besides that – the smell of clean crisp air when I walk into my bedroom and the window is open, hearing and seeing the birds outside (really just a lot of ravens here), the smell of burning fields, fresh clean water with ICE, being able to go into my son’s bedroom at night to check on him, the softness of my bed, green grass, beautiful mountains outside my front door, the English language, sliced wheat bread with Adams peanut butter, Exercise with weights (that should have come right after friends and family), the sound of the school yard when I walk outside, blue sky, being able to use all the toilet paper I want knowing that there is a plunger if needed, (had to throw that in), wearing a seatbelt in the car – these are just a few.

What I will miss from Ukraine – The children, their smiles, watching their personalities soften when they are given love and attention, the friends I have made here, the Russian language (weird, but it is very beautiful), having to walk everywhere you go, the feeling of being so protected by our Heavenly Father, staying up really late at night, sleeping in, Bonaqua (gas water), blogging, the history in this region.

What I look forward to at home – Touching my baby’s face and hugging my children and husband, seeing all my friends and family, going to bed in my own room knowing that our entire family (with the exception of my beautiful married daughter and her husband) are all safely under one roof, going to my ward and soaking in the spirit of all those wonderful people that I love so much and most of all having that feeling I had when the boys were out in the fall that for the first time in my adult life I have the confirmation that our family is whole and complete…we finally have everyone home!

Love you all.

Day 29

2011-04-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

This is the candy that the teachers were passing out to the kids at snack time. They gave me one and one bite told me that there is alchohol in this candy. This is the second one I have run accross. So, just so you know, don't buy this one. I guess its just for orphans.

This is one sweet boy. You don't always see that in them when they hang out with their friends or are just hanging out, but when you play one on one with them, their real personalities come out and it just melts your heart.

I tried forever to take Alex's picture and he always hides from me...but, you give them the camera and tell them to go off and take pictures and you are sure to get one of them and their friends!

This is him with his friend in their room. Not avoiding the camera now!

She is beautiful and apparently Alex thinks so too!

This is the main hall of the orphanage on the bottom floor.

This is a great picture of the new trophy displays. It seems the kids are very proud of them because every time I send my camera out with the kids they come back with pictures of all the new cases and trophies.

They were playing with the music on my phone here.

Brothers!

I told Dimitri I wanted a picture of him smiling and he gave me a couple...a little exaggerated though.

See what I mean. I am sure going to miss these kids. That is the one aspect of this whole thing that I will miss...the kids!

Just watch the crowd grow around the Ipod

This is Alex avoiding the camera

Apparently they are gearing up for a phone call to America

You see how quickly they are addicted to gadgets? She can't even look up for the picture.

Funny Kid!

Oh, I think she just figured out that she made a call!

The crowd is growing!

The boys walked us out to the van. I finally got a picture of this guy!

See Vitaliy is trying to turn away and Dimitri just saw me with the camera.

This is how Sasha just watches me leave. Although I think just after this shot he was mad at the driver because the driver didn't want Sasha to shut the door. So as he turned to go through the gate and he flipped the driver off. Yeah...there is work to be done!

This is the Walmart like store that we walked to after dinner to get food for the apartment tomorrow. Tomorrow is General Conference so we are walking to the Church. They will have it broadcast in English and Russian. This store is really an "I am barely like Walmart" store.

It rained all night and into the afternoon today. We were supposed to go out walking this morning but we had to change plans. I am getting used to sudden changes in my plans.

Last night was a bit difficult. I don’t know if anyone put two and two together but that Government Shut Down would have shut down the US Embassy which would have made it impossible to leave the country with the kids. It wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back last night but it was the thread that bent it pretty darn good! I was feeling really discouraged to think that I was this close and that was going to stop me. But, when I woke up this morning and checked the news all was well. I was given that feeling last night but living in a constant state of “I don’t know what will happen next” is a bit challenging.

Anyhow…I got up early (for me anyway) and starting reading a book that the sister missionaries lent to us, “Our Search For Happiness” by M. Russell Ballard. It is a great book. I read, exercised, showered and, because of the rain, we read until it was time to go visit the boys. I was really excited to see them today. I thought that the kids from the orphanage went to see that soccer game yesterday, but it is actually tomorrow.

We did a lot of talking this visit. My most exciting news is that Vitaliy wants to change his Ukrainian first name. Unfortunately, it is too late to change it here but we were planning on re-adopting in the US so the boys could have an American birth certificate so we can do it then and in the meantime, we will call him the name he wants. It will be Jonathan William Golling. I absolutely love this name for him. I would never have even considered naming one of my kids Jonathan, but it fits and I love it. Sasha was complaining about his name a bit but I think he was just jumping on the band wagon so we will look into that later. We talked about birthdays, Jonathan’s being May 1^st (same as Andy’s) and Sasha’s being May 31^st. My birthday and Jason’s also fall in May so it will be a busy month. I mentioned that people back home were asking about their birthdays so I needed ideas for gifts. We started making lists. Of course, Sasha’s list is already really long. I remember taking him to Walmart back in the fall. I had to gear up for it because that kid wants everything. I had to strategically walk down certain aisles to avoid other aisles filled with things I knew he would want. I remember walking out of there feel exhausted. This otta be fun!

We played cards and talked about a lot of different things. Vitaliy still doesn’t like to play cards so I always convince one of the other boys to play with me. Today, Dennis and Alex played with us. We all talked and joked and had fun. Other kids came and went and Sasha and his friends played with my phone. Anastasia had my phone for a while and I am sure she called a friend of mine in America and used up quite a bit of money on my phone. I checked the call log and then I checked the money left on my phone…bummer.

Another day down. Tomorrow is the last day of our waiting period. The boys are officially our children on Monday! I am very excited. I asked Vitaliy if he was going to miss anything or anyone from school…he said no, he is ready to go. I asked what food he will miss…he said borsch. I told him I wasn’t very good at making it and he told me he would help me. I didn’t need to ask Sasha those same questions because every other question out of his mouth is “When are we leaving”, “When can we stay with you in Zap”. They are both so excited and ready to leave. Pity…I am starting to settle in and will miss it here…..NOT!

I miss you all and pray that there will be no hiccups in all that is left to do. I really want to bring these boys home and start on our next challenging adventure. Love you all!!!! Thanks for the prayers, thoughts and comments. For those of you having a hard time leaving a comment, you have to log in to Google first and then leave a message. Otherwise, it erases everything you just typed in. I know this because I found that out the hard way on Erica’s blog.

Love you……Miss you!!!!!!!!!!