Live from Shpola, Ukraine

Hello Again.

Today we woke up around 9:00 a.m. and hung out for an hour here at the apartment. Todd was sick so Natasha and I went out shopping in the few stores that are here in Shpola. I found a few books for the kids. Bought them a toy to take to the orphanage and then we came back, grabbed their book bags and headed to see them. I took potato chips, juice and skittles for a snack. We also took lots of banana's to share with the other children. Todd did not go with us to see the kids today. He has a horrible head cold so Natasha made him stay in bed and drink hot tea w/honey. She is younger than we are but she acts like our mom sometimes (it is quite cute). When we arrived at the orphanage Losha was right there waiting as usual. We however, could not find our little princess anywhere. She finally showed up in the toy room and we asked her were she was. She said that her friend was helping her get her hair pretty for her mom and dad. It was very cute!! Gosh I love my kids! There are always lots of dogs running around the orphanage property. All of them are so sweet. The kids love playing with them. Also, the property is so beautiful. The snow is everywhere and it is all wooded. I can't even describe it. We vited several other children to join the play room with us. Mostly girls. Losha really did not appreciate the time the girls were taking away from him. He wanted all of my attention. Ira was not the least bit concerned about it. She is so laid back and did not mind sharing me at all. Losha would do something and scream "momma" "momma" so that I would look at him. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!

9 days and counting!

Hello Everyone!
Each day is about the same as the last. We get up around 9 a.m. and take our time getting ready for the day. It doesn't take much considering we can't take a shower and I have no way of really styling my hair so we just brush our teeth and hair, dress and sit and wait until it is time to visit the children. We get at the orphanage around noon and the kids are always waiting for us. Today Losha (Jayson) wanted to go to the playroom for our visit so he begged the teacher to allow us to go into that room instead of the room we normally went to. Of course, he got his way! So Ira (Alison) and daddy had a tea party and Losha (Jayson) and mommy played video games. Ira (Alison) had a lot of energy today. She was running around playing with everything she could get her hands on. This was also the first day we seen her hair down. It was very wavy and out of control! She is such a funny girl! I can't really explain it, you will just have to wait until you meet her. All I can say is that I am totally in love with her!!
Julie: I got your pictures to Luba's teacher through another teacher. She thanked us for bringing the pictures and said that they have been very worried about her. I assured them that she was doing wonderful and was happy to have a family.
Debbie: Losha said that he was a little monkey boy today. I can't wait until you can re-unite with him. He is going to be a handful so it will take both of us mommy's to raise him!!

Love you All, Todd & Lori

Update from Chapola

We have been in Chapolo (sp) for three days now. We have had spouts of no electricity and water only from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. everyday. This is the first day I have been able to get on the internet but at least it is located in our apartment and I do not have to go outside to the internet cafe. We have visited with our kids everyday that we have been here. They are both ready to go home. Losha drew a picture yesterday of the four of us on a plane heading to our home. He threw it away but I made him dig it out of the trash can so that I could keep it. Both kids are so totally opposite. Ira (Alison) is quiet but also funny. Losha (Jayson) is like a little commander. He is a bit bossy but so darn cute!!! We received referrals for both children on our SDA Date and have our first court date on Tuesday. If all goes well with Interpol this could be our only court date. But if they do not waive the Interpol for us we might have to come back to America and come back at a later date. Lets PRAY that this does not happen!! We might head into Cherkassy Saturday evening to spend time with a few other families for the weekend. There is nothing to do in this small town!! Need to go eat at McDonalds and shop for something other than groceries!!! Julie: the apartment owner got a new keyboard for the computer(woot woot)!! Dad: I love and miss you very much Choral: I got you a real fur Russian Hat!! Connie: My little prayer warrior, pray that we are waived from Interpol and love you lots Debbie: Oh how I miss you and the family!! And to everyone else reading, thanks for caring and loving us! We miss you all very much.

We Are Here!

We arrived on Friday, January 22nd around 2 p.m. Ukrainian time. We went to grocery store and ate at a nice restaurant and called it a day. On Saturday we woke up around 8 a.m. stayed up til 10 a.m. and then went back to sleep until around 1 p.m. Then we ventured out in the cold to take pictures and shop. We went out to Independent Square and got our picture taken with Santa and 4 beautiful white dogs (of course that cost us). Sunday we got up and I taught Tricia how to play Mario Kart on the DS and we ate and shopped. Today (Monday) we had our SDA appointment at 10 a.m. and things went well. We had a scare that we would not be able to recieve both children's referrals today but our facilitator Natasha did some sweet talking and we got both of them. So we will get referral paperwork tomorrow, pack up everything and head to the childrens region. We will not get there until late so we will not see the kids until Wednesday morning. Tomorrow is suppose to be the coldest day here. Way below zero!!! Everything has been very nice in Kyiv, the people are nice our apartment is small but clean, warm and has running water and a toilet so who can complain (lol). I am sure our next place we will not be as lucky. We are having a great time and appreciate everyone's prayers. We will not post again until after we see the children. I think we have a computer in our next apartment so we will not have to go out in the cold and walk. Love you all!!

Hello Everyone,

Todd and I will be leaving next week on Thursday the 21st. I will not be posting anymore until we get to Ukraine and I will have to go to the internet cafe to do this. Not sure when I will get a chance but will try to do it as soon as I can!! I am also unsure if they have an internet cafe in the region our children are in. Our SDA appt. is on Monday the 25th and then we will go to the region a few days after that to meet the kids. If I can get ahold of a computer to take with us I will!! Until next post, I could use all of your prayers for a safe flight! Love you all so much>
God Bless, Lori

A blessed Baptizm

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010! What a great way to start off a new year. My husband of 23 years was baptized. I have prayed for this moment to happen for many years. My husband's heart has changed so much through the years. Our relationship has gotten better and better. I thank God for this!! We leave in 17 more days for Ukaine. So close I can almost taste it. I can't wait to see Allyson Iryna's sweet face when we ask if she would like to be our daughter!!! We already know that Jaydon Oleksiy is ready to come to America but still very excited to give him lots of hugs and kisses and reassure him that he has a new life ahead of him. I am more afraid of the airports and flights than I am of staying in Ukraine for a month. Well, I will post one more time before we leave and then try to post as much as possible when we get there. Until next time, God Bless and Love you all!!!