Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Chapter 1

Walked to our appointment and we got there at 10:30.  We saw the Goodwins said Hi and went right in to the room with the couch.  The Goodwins jokingly said don't take to long because we are right after you.  Now I know we are doing something unheard of by adopting 4 unrelated sn kids from different regions but I still thought it would go pretty fast.  Boy was I WRONG!!  12:05 I looked at Ken and said oh oh, poor Goodwins are probably panicked, there appt. was supposed to start 5 min ago!  By 12:30 my eyes were starting to fill with tears and I told Serge I'm not leaving without all four!  I will just go home now if it is not possible.  Don't know why I said that because I don't really think I could leave any of them but we/they are having problems with 2 of the kids files.  I can't go into to much detail because our blog is for any and all to read!  To keep things light I looked at Ken and said to him that this probably wouldn't be a good time for me to take a break and go outside with tears in my eyes and a cigarette in my hand because it would REALLY freak out the poor Goodwins!!  There was some paper mix up on our part and on the "teams" part and lets just say Serge was NOT happy!!  He was on the phone S C R E A M I N G!!!!  The poor guy was sweating and losing is breath!  We had 3 SDA workers in with us telling him to quiet down.  Then the 4th SDA worker who is right below the director came in and told him quite up and shut the door. She remembered Ken and Roc from when they were here in 2008 trying to adopt without a facilitator.  Yes we tried to do it REALLY independently.  Any way, she told Serege to quite up again because he was still yelling, so she could talk with us to see how we were and that she remembered us.  So we had 4 SDA workers, Serge, Ken, Roc and myself in this tiny little room.  I just kept thinking about the Goodwins and how they were probably wondering what the heck is going on.  So they figured out the 3rd childs paperwork so now they were working on the fourth.  They asked us how many kids we have, what the ages were and how many bedrooms we have.  Yulia, they pronounce it Julia, came with another paper and then we left the room but had to wait outside for the Director to type up some document?!  Serge was in and out and Yulia stayed outside the whole time with us.  We were joking with her on how in the world she could work for such a boss!!!!  She said she is used to him now.  We told her we were sorry for the lashing she took and how bad we felt for her.  She just laughed it off and said thats just how he is.  Now Serge comes outside and told us no worry you get all four its just they have never seen a case like yours before!  I know this is what God wants us to do so if we are somehow making it easier for other families who may want to adopt more than 3 at once from different regions then God can go ahead and use us. Besides, our reward is that we get to bring these four angles home with us.  Serge told us that Odessa is a very hard region to adopt from and he will drive us down there because he needs to be there also.  I asked him "Who is driving"????????  He said me.  I then said out loud OH GOD HELP ME!!!!!!  He thought that was one of the funniest things.  He asked me why?  I told him that I have heard about how he drives and I didnt want to go with him.  I could just meet him there!!  He was laughing saying no, it will only take us 3 hours to get there.  I said YES I REALIZE THAT AND THATS WHY I DIDNT WANT TO GO WITH HIM.  As he is laughing at me he said who is doing the adoption me or you.  I told him I would really like my kids to have a mother, you are going to kill me!  Yulia then got in on it as she too was laughing and asked me if I had some motion pills!!  She told me that it takes her husband and her about 4 1/2 hours to get there but Serge only 3!!!  But the road to Odessa is the nicest in all of Ukraine.  Oh, thanks Yulia but that doesnt help me!  She is very, very sweet and I love her already!  Oh, and in the middle of all this Roc was asking Serge about Ukraine soccer teams and why they are not going to the word cup.  He told her they aren't that good!!  She was asking him all sorts of questions that had nothing to do with adoption and I think he rather liked that.  Then she started talking to the ladies at the SDA in her broken Russian and their broken English.  She was a very good deterrent through it all!!!!  So the plan now is Yulia calls both Directors to let them know we have been there and we pick up the referrals for the 3 kids in Odessa tomorrow.  Then we DRIVE with Serge to Odessa (God HELP me) Thursday morning and DRIVE back with Serge (God HELP me again) on either Friday or Saturday.  Then go back to the SDA for Dennis, pick up his referral either Monday or Tuesday and head down to his region by (Thank You GOD) TRAIN.  Thats all I know for now, as you can see things could very well change!!!!  Please pray for us that we will be able to bring ALL FOUR home with us!!  It all looks good but we have a long road ahead of us!  Unless Serge is driving, then it will be a short road!!!! hehehe

10 comments:

  1. Hang in there Nance - It will all be worth it in the end! Thinking of you and praying that you have a smooth journey! (Kim Burger)

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  2. Holy Cow. Sounds stressful!!! Serge just loves to yell, doesn't he!

    Praying things go well for you....

    Jodi

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  3. Odessa is very hard to adopt from?????????

    Not good, I've got my worry face on now....

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  4. thanks for paving the way! we are hoping to adopt 4 as well. we have 6 at home. hope all goes smoothly for you from here on out! good luck! all the minnesota mamas are rootin for ya!

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  5. HOLD ON TIGHT...(literally and figuratively...teehee!) YOU ARE ALMOST THERE!!!

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  6. That's my Serge :)) Good to keep him laughing, he is liable to have a stroke if not! (just kidding)

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  7. oh BOY! NEVER have I read about an SDA appt. quite like that. Thanks for breaking them in (i.e. paving the way)!! Can't wait for you to visit Dennis. I'm going to be glued to your blog from here on out!

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  8. Come onnnnnnnnn, update already!

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  9. Okie Dokie....getting a touch concerned now people....I realize you probably don't have internet, I hope that's all it is. Lets see....Serge takes off with you...and we NEVER HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN!

    Hoping for an update soon ;)

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About Me

I married my high school sweetheart 26 years ago. Ken and I and have ten of the greatest kids from different parts of the world. We are hoping to bring a few more kiddos home! Throughout the years in our adoption journeys it has made us want to bring some kind of hope to these kids. This blog will hopefully allow us the opportunity to advocate for some of the orphans in the world. Join us in our journeys and the day to day happenings in raising 10 kids.....and counting.