Sunday - We're Home

We arrived safely home Saturday night after a VERY long day traveling. Court went well Friday and the judge ruled for our adoption, so we now officially have a daughter! YEAH! Halle did very well, and when we dropped her off, she said she would be good and would wait for us to pick her up on September 9th. It was so great to see the boys when we got home. Nick came home from college since we didn't see him before he left. We went shopping today and I got to buy her first clothes. That was so much fun! We will fly out next Sunday, and I will spend this week finishing her room. If we have internet available, I will post on our next trip, September 8th through approximately the 12th. Thanks again for your support and prayers!

Laura

Thursday - Goodbyes

This will be my last entry for this trip. We did not get to see Halle again today because they were having an inspection at the orphanage. So we spent the afternoon shopping with Joyce and Dan and then we met the Rawleys for dinner at an Irish restaurant. (That's pretty much all we do here-shop and eat). They had a band singing in English, which was fun. We had a really good time together for our last night-lots of laughs. We have become good friends and it will be hard to say goodbye. Tomorrow we will go to court at 12:00. Please pray for us that it will go smoothly. They will ask us alot of questions, and Halle too. We are so excited to go home, and see our boys, Nick and Andrew. We will be home for one week, and then can return to get our new daughter! This has been a very long "adventure" and we have had many ups and downs. Thanks so much for going on this adventure with us and for your thoughts and prayers.

Laura

Wednesday- Everyday is an Adventure

Well, you never know when you walk into the orphanage what you will find. Today, when we got there our friend called us and told us that the girls were telling her that Halle was in the hospital again - this time with "something in her eye". We found out about 15 minutes later that she was in the orphanage infirmary, or clinic. We went down to see her and her right eye was all red and swollen. A translator told us over the phone that someone "touched" her eye when they were playing. It looked like she got hit in the eye, but no one is talking, and neither is she. She laid there for about 15 minutes and then fell asleep and slept for the rest of our visit. Every day is an adventure! This morning we went with the Matthews to a very nice, huge mall. I don't know why we hadn't gone in there before today, except it was hard to tell from the outside how great it was on the inside. We had purchased Twister and another board game for the girls, but did not get to participate. Maybe tomorrow.

Laura

Tuesday - The Countdown Continues

Today there is not a lot to report. Our time was shorter at the orphanage, because we had paperwork to sign at the notary. It was a more mellow day with the girls. We purchased our tickets to come home today. Yeah! Court is Friday at noon, and we will fly to Kiev Friday night. Then we leave Kiev at 6:30 am Saturday and arrive in Ft. Wayne around 8:30 Saturday night. Our travel time is longer this time due to longer layovers (about 21 hours). It will be a long day, but can't wait! The picture is of the giant new soccer "football" stadium they are building. but you can only see the very top of it. Three days until court!

Laura

Monday - When are you leaving?

We decided to do a game show today at the orphanage. The girls had to draw a piece of paper and perform what was asked and then they got to choose a prize from three different bags. They really enjoyed that, and then the men took them down to the store to get ice cream while Joyce and I cleaned up. We went to the market this morning to purchase the prizes, and one lady that owns a makeup booth looked at us and asked "When are you leaving?" and then smiled. We have become regulars. We got our old room back today, and it never looked so good. We have a desk again. The people work really long hours here at the hotel. We saw the same security guy about 6 times today, and he just keeps smiling and laughing at us. He is now saying a few things to us in English. We realized tonight when we came home that he has been working all day, as we saw him when we first left this morning. Halle is getting really used to her new name. Brad said when they went for ice cream she rode on his back the whole way, and the other girls were asking what her new American name was, and she said "Halle Parish". They were all trying to pronounce it, and he said it seemed they thought it was cool. We weren't sure how that would work out, but she seems to be fine with it. Four days until court!

Laura

Sunday - Chips and Salsa

We didn't go to the orphanage today as it is Sunday. We started the day by watching the USA men's volleyball and basketball teams win gold medals. That was great! This is the holiday weekend, so we ventured out to see what would be going on. There wasn't much this afternoon so we ate at McDonalds and just walked around and sat for awhile at the park. Then the Matthews called us and invited us to their flat to "hang out". She also offered to let us use their washing machine, and we were thrilled to wash a load of jeans, as we have been handwashing clothes for 3 weeks in the sink. We hung out there for several hours, and then we figured out there was a mexican restaurant just down the street that we didn't know about before. We were so excited to eat mexican food, and it was delicious! I said there were hundreds of people out and about on Friday night. Well tonight, there were thousands! There was a big concert on the square. We didn't get to move out of our small room today, because they didn't have a larger one with internet, so we didn't want to be here anymore than necessary. We accomplished that and had a great day!

Laura

Saturday - Perfect night

We had a great day today. Halle was back at the orphanage, so we had a good visit there, with the Matthews and other girls. Today they let us walk the girls down to the corner store to get ice cream. They enjoyed that. We took little stickers for them to put on their nails, and that was a hit. This evening we ventured out farther with the Rawleys. We went on a long walk down to the park area by the lake. There was a lot going on there, with music and dancing at an amphitheater, lots of flowers and fountains, many places to sit and get a snack and an amusement park. We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere, rode the ferris wheel, and then as we were just finished crossing the long bridge to go back, the fireworks started. It was a very nice fireworks display. Then we walked back and stopped for pizza. It was a perfect evening. We get to move back into a bigger room tomorrow for the rest of our stay here. Yeah!

Laura

Friday - Friday Night in Donetsk

We didn't get to see Halle today, but it was because they were transferring her back to the orphanage about the same time we were to go. So we were happy for her to get out of there and back to the orphanage. We went to the Matthews' new flat tonight along with the Rawleys and Joyce cooked for us. It was a nice change from our same old schedule. In order to venture to their flat we were quite a bit farther from the hotel than we have been at night. We walked through all of the park areas coming home, and I am amazed at how many people just hang out in the park and on the streets at night. There were people everywhere, just hanging out and socializing. The statue in the picture is of Lenin and it is in the middle of The Square. We are looking forward to going back to the orphanage tomorrow to see Halle. Tomorrow night we are going to try to venture out somewhere else new. This is a holiday weekend, something relating to Coal Miners, so not sure what all will be going on.

Laura

Thursday - The Construction Zone

We got our news today, and it wasn't what we wanted to hear. Our court date is not until next Friday, so we will be here another whole week plus. Please pray for strength to get through this next week. We didn't have to leave the hotel, but were moved to the smallest room, which is REALLY small, and it is in the construction zone. They are remodeling almost every room on this floor, so there are workers everywhere, drills buzzing, and it smells of drywall mud. OK, so I was wrong about this hotel being brand new. Anyway, we will have to be here 2 nights. I'm not sure we are going to be able to withstand 8 nights in this tiny room, so we may move again after the 2. Also, Halle is still in the hospital, and still no word when she will be out. The girls really need to go home. We had a 3 hour dinner with the Matthews tonight, which was nice. We weren't in any hurry to come back to the room.

Laura

Wednesday - Halle can read

This was day 5 for Halle in the hospital. The girls are getting stir crazy. There was another one from the orphanage in today. They were being silly, but not bad. I just hope they get out tomorrow. We probably won't know about that until tomorrow. We also may lose our room tomorrow, because they have another soccer game and the opposing team's fans have reserved the whole hotel. We have been paying a few days at a time, because there is no way to know how long we will be here. Therefore, we may have to move tomorrow. We are waiting to hear from them on that tonight. We were impressed today when Halle pulled out my passport and started reading "Laura Marie Parish", "visa", etc. They had told us they were learning some English, mainly the alphabet, but we didn't expect her to read so well. They can count to ten, and say a few more English phrases. We had asked her last week if she wanted to practice English, and her reply was "No, I'll just wait until I get to the United States, and then I'll learn very fast" (through our translator). We are not doubting that she will. Our oldest son, Nick, left for college today. I wish we could have made it back for him. We are very appreciative of good friends that are helping him in our absence. The pictures are of the hospital and our favorite pizza place, which we ate at tonight.

Laura

Tuesday - Waiting

There is not much to report today. Halle was still in the hospital today, but appears to be fine. Nastia is still with her. We took Little Mermaid coloring books, and they spent the time coloring. We are only allowed to stay 30-40 minutes. It was cooler today in the waiting area, so we were glad for that. We hope she will go home tomorrow, but don't have any idea. We continue to wait for a court date. We have our favorite restaurants we keep going back to, and are trying to just look at this as a vacation. We bought some DVDs that have Russian and English and have been watching them at night. Our friends, the Matthews have moved to a flat, and I think we are going there tomorrow night if we can find it. It actually looks like rain tonight. It has not rained yet since we have been in Donetsk, so they really need it.

Laura

Monday - Yeah McDonald's!!!

Being a Starbucks addict, I have not had much McDonald's coffee, but we decided to ask our driver to drop us off there this am, and I couldn't believe how good their coffee tasted. It is actually like American coffee. Yeah! We are going there again tomorrow! Halle is still in the hospital. They said she has a "small temp-ur-a-tur" and has to be in the hospital for 2 days after the fever is gone (I think that's what they said). Even interpreters are hard to understand at times. Anyway, we went to see her in the hospital, and were told to wait in the lobby by the elevator again. The girls (Nastia is still there too) came running down the hall to meet us. They definitely were feeling better today. The next thing we knew there were several kids there without supervision and they were running wild. Never once did a nurse or any other adult come to check on them. Also, it was like sitting in a sauna. The weather got a lot warmer here the second week, and there was obviously no air conditioning in this old building. We are not thrilled that she will be in there for probably 2 more days. They are telling us today that we probably won't go to court until next week. We were so hoping that we could go to court by the end of the week and be home by the weekend. We are so ready to get back home and see our boys. Nick and Andrew, we miss you so much! Thankfully, we have a Skype phone, so we actually get to talk to them quite often, which has been a real blessing.

Laura

Sunday - The American Invasion

We called our translator this morning to see if she could check with the hospital to see how Halle was and she said she could not, so we don't know anything. We now have another new friend. Wendy, a friend of the Matthews, came to Donetsk for two days with her new son, Nicola, that she just adopted from Mariopul. Lisa, do you recognize him? We all went to the market today, and had a good time. The Rawleys, Dan and Kim, walked down to our hotel, and then we walked to the market. It is fun just to walk around and gawk there. They have a food area with freezers like in a grocery store, and also have dried (?) fish (whole) on trays sitting out in the sun (YUM!) The flies and the bees were enjoying the fruit. After a few hours at the market, we all went out to eat and had lots of laughs. Nicola is a very nice boy, and Wendy is a nurse, so we hit it off.

Laura

Saturday - What Next?

When we arrived at the orphanage today, we could tell something was not right. The director was rattling off something about Yulia, and we had no idea what she was saying. Finally, she got a teacher to come down that spoke a little english and we found out that Halle was in the hospital. We were obviously surprised and concerned, and the only thing they could tell us was that she had a high fever. We arranged for our driver to come back and get us, and we went to the hospital. The hospital here is definitely not like our hospitals. The nurse was speaking to us in Ukrainian and we had no idea what she was saying either except for "temp-ur-a-tur". Then Halle met us in the hall, fully dressed and we were escorted to the lobby to visit with her. She was burning up, and just wanted to be held. Her little friend, Nastia was with her. We only stayed for about 15 minutes and she wanted to go to bed. Our driver called a translator, and they explained to us that they think it is just the flu. We are praying that they are right. There were no other signs and symptoms evident to us, and we tried to call a translator while we were with Halle, so I could ask her some questions, but we couldn't get her. They will not allow visitors in the hospital on Sunday, so we will not see her until Monday. We have been here long enough that the staff is getting used to us, and now we see mostly smiling faces when we are greeted. Brad showed one of the guys in the cafeteria to greet by doing "the knuckle". Brad was even invited to be the "Fifth Beatle" (see photo).

Laura

Friday - Another Girl Party

Yes, Dian, they have "Coke Light" which is pretty close to our Diet Coke, but we don't use the ice, so its not always very cold, but I am VERY thankful for it. Today was another good day at

the orphanage. We took coloring books, which they enjoyed, and then it was back to makeup and hair. Yes, Kelly, we did take nail polish, too. They really like that. I told Brad that I'm not sure how we are going to explain to her that she is really too young to wear makeup in the US. Joyce took it one day, and we thought it would be fun for them. We went back to the open air market, and were able to get alot of that stuff there. When we were there, I was sizing up whether a top would fit me, and the lady tried to get me to just take my shirt off and try it on right there in front of everyone. I very politely said "nyet", meaning NO! Just minutes earlier, there was a lady doing just that. The culture here is definitely different. Halle really warmed up to Brad yesterday. She hadn't wanted much affection from him until then. Our translator said we need to remember these girls aren't used to being around men. All of the orphanage workers are women. Well, she was jumping on Brad's back and begging for him to pick her up and twirl her around. Now he gets hugs, too, and she will hold his hand. That makes for a happy Papa!

Laura

Thursday - I miss my Starbucks!

What I wouldn't give for a great big cup of Starbucks in the mornings. When I get back, that will be one of the first things I will get. The coffee here is so different. Most of the time its very strong instant, and its not always easy to get milk or cream. We survived the soccer mob last night. The Donetsk team beat the Croatians, so they didn't have much to celebrate. They were loud when they came in, but I don't think any damage was done. This morning when we went down to the lobby though, there were still cops, and the Croatians were everywhere. We went with the Matthews to an outdoor market this morning and bought a bunch of stuff for the girls, and today at the orphanage we had another makeup and hair party. They have alot of fun curling each other's hair and putting on makeup. They are all so adorable. Our interpreter went to Kiev for a few days (maybe a week), so we are on our own, except for the driver. It will be challenging at times to communicate, but we will do the best we can.
Laura

Wednesday - More Friends

We have made a great connection with the Matthews and they are doing well. They have decided to adopt the little girl they were visiting yesterday. We had breakfast with them and decided to try to be at the orphanage at the same time some days so that we can be together. Then we found out that another couple was coming today, and we had seen them at the SDA, and then met them again at the airport, as they were on our flight. They actually went to another region, which did not work out, so then made another choice, and it happened to be here! Amazing! We were all 3 at the orphanage at the same time today. We actually took Halle to the park and for ice cream first, then we knew that the Matthews were coming, so we waited for them and they brought all sorts of stuff for the girls to do their hair and makeup. Their girl is 11 and her group of friends are probably all 11-12, whereas Halle usually hangs with the younger girls. We took her to the room where the other girls were and she brought one of her younger friends. They had a good time making themselves up. We did not get to talk to the other couple afterwards, but they asked where we were staying, so they may end up here also. This has been a real blessing having other American couples to spend time with. When we got back to the hotel there were at least 20 police officers in the parking lot and foyer. We were a little concerned, to say the least. We found out that the Donetsk Football team has a game tonight against Croatia, and a very large number of Croatian fans are staying here. The police are expecting trouble. They say football fans can cause a lot of trouble in Europe, breaking windows, etc. The Croatians are everywhere, and they are loud. The problem is, the game hasn't even started, I'm sure it will be much worse when they come back from the game. Hopefully, there will be just as many policemen here then, and they will keep them under control. We will try to watch the game to see who wins.

Laura

Tuesday - French Fries for Halle

Today was a great day. We finally got to take Ulia out of the orphanage. First, we took her to a small amusement park (kind of like Fun Spot). We only had time to ride a couple of rides, the elephant and the caterpillar rollercoaster. I rode the elephant ride with her, and then she wanted us all to ride the rollercoaster. It was hilarious watching Brad try to get his legs into the little car. I wish I would have taken a picture. Then we went to McDonald's. She had told us that her favorite food was french fries, and that she had never been to McDonalds, so we wanted to go there. While eating there, she asked if there were McDonalds in the United States. (I think she liked it). When we went to pick her up, she had 4 friends with her, and she wanted to know if they could all go. We had to say no, it was not possible. So when we ordered, she ordered an extra Happy Meal to share with her friends. I wondered how 4 of them would share 1 happy meal, but we did not question her. She is very good at sharing. We also talked to her about her name today. Nick and Andrew, she didn't seem to have a problem with the name we chose, so her name will be Halle Ulia Parish. I am not sure about the real spelling of her name.

We are hoping to be able to take her out again tomorrow. Tonight we went back to our favorite pizza place without our translator. She showed us where our favorite pizza was on the menu so we could order. Some of the restaurants have English menus, which is nice.

Laura

Monday - New Friends

Today we had to be at the orphanage at 8 am to meet the Head Orphanage Director. We didn't actually see her until about 9, and it wasn't much of a meeting. We stayed there till about 12:30, which was the longest time period yet. I helped her sew on her purse we bought, and we took beach balls today for the kids and Brad and Ulia played with those (maybe volleyball?). A neat thing that happened today, was another couple came in about the time we were leaving, and we found out they were the Matthews family from Colorado, who had been working with the same agency that we were. We didn't get to talk there much, but when we got back to the hotel, there they were! They had asked our translator where we were staying, and decided to try it. We just got back from having dessert and a very nice 2 hour conversation. They have had many roadblocks in their adoption process, like us, so it was great to talk to them. Lisa, they remembered reading your blog. You guys are famous over here, it seems. Anyway, we hope they stay here so we can spend more time with them, and we hit it off quite well. We are spending our evenings watching the Olympics, which is something that's not too bad watching in Ukrainian. We watched the USA Basketball Team dominate China last night. We are hoping our documents will be ready tomorrow for our coordinator to take back to the SDA to get our court date.

Laura

Sunday - Free Day

We were not able to go to the orphanage today, so we didn't see Ulia. We visited this church first thing this afternoon, then we went out into the city to walk around, and eat. The city of Donetsk is very large. Our translator said that the population is maybe 1 million. I don't know if that is correct, but it is really big. The Cutshalls asked if we had seen the football (soccer) stadium, and we saw the Donetsk Football Club Stadium yesterday, and right across the street they are building a monstrous football stadium, in which the World Championships will be played in 2012. Our tranlator has been very nice. The food is really good here, for the most part. We had some awesome pizza today. We will meet with the Head Orphanage Director at 8 in the morning. The director we have seen the last few days is the assistant.

Laura

Saturday - Happy Birthday Laura

We got to celebrate Laura's birthday today in an unusual way. We visited an orphanage and went shopping in the Ukraine. Those were both firsts for Laura on her birthday. We had a great time with Ulia and her friends today at the orphanage. We took bags of candy and let Ulia hand it out to her friends. We were very popular. It is amazing what a few bags of candy can do for international relations. The little girls are all just beautiful. After the orphanage we went walking and shopping in downtown Donetsk. There are several parks in the downtown area. It must be customary to take wedding photos at the parks, because we must have seen at least 20 wedding parties. After shopping we had a nice meal at an outdoor cafe in one of the parks. It was a very good day.

Happy birthday Laura!

Brad

Friday - Flying plates

Today was a good day. We both slept well. Ulia was feeling better today, also, and was not as shy. She gave us a hug as soon as she came into the room, which surprised us. She spent a long time playing with my cell phone and camera, and figured out how to record and watch videos on the phone without any help. Then, of course, she had to take pictures of everything in the room (many stuffed animals). Then we went for a walk around the orphanage and met some of her friends. There are alot of cute kids here. We have decided to stay here at the Liverpool for the duration of our time in Donetsk. It is convenient, and we like it here. Also, we took frisbees today for Ulia and her friends, and we played with her. They call frisbees "flying plates". Here is a picture of Ulia with her "flying plate".

Laura

Thursday - Meet Ulia

Wow! This was a very busy day! We flew to Donetsk, which was an easy flight, then had to go to the Inspector's Office and wait for a second permission to visit the orphanage. After waiting for what seemed like FOREVER she went to lunch and we had to wait FOREVER again. All of the waiting is exhausting! Anyway, we picked up the Inspector, went to the orphanage, waited again, and then met the little girl, spent a couple of hours with her, and then had to go to some other government office to file application for court, which took FOREVER! We slept very little last night, and are very tired. Then we were able to come here to the hotel. The hotel is brand new, "The Liverpool" and is decorated in a Beatles theme, which is fun. The best thing about here is the internet is available, so we don't have to wait for someone to take us to an internet cafe. There's also a restaurant in the hotel, and I'm sure some within walking distance, which is what we didn't have in Kiev. Anyway, the big news. Barring something else happening to throw another hitch, this girl will be our new daughter. Her Ukrainian name is Ulia, but we will be talking to her about the possibility of a more American name. Ulia may be her middle name, then, if she desires. She was very shy today and tired, as she just came back from camp yesterday, and just came in from working in the garden. She seems really sweet, though, and smart. They are telling us she is healthy, and she does appear to be. She wants to come home with us. We showed her pictures of her brothers, Nick and Andrew, and her dog, Obie. She likes to sing and dance, but doesn't seem interested in sports. I told Brad we were going to have to do something about that, as she has 2 athletes for brothers. She wants to show us around the orphanage tomorrow, and introduce us to her friends, and the dogs (9, but sounds like a litter of puppies). We gave her a purse that she could decorate and she seemed anxious to do that. We are looking forward to spending more time with her tomorrow when she is not so tired.

Laura

Tuesday - Interesting Day

Oops! I had my days mixed up. We actually arrived on Sunday, and these are actually the events for Tuesday. Our day started with a scary ride to the State Department of Adoption.

They drive crazy here: very fast, cutting each other off, and a game of chicken at some of the

intersections. The person who gets to go first is the one who wants it the most. Our appointment at the SDA was very interesting, too, but I'll not go into detail on that right now.

We chose a 10-year old girl from the Danetsk Region. There were no younger girls available at this time that were right for us. Danetsk is probably the farthest region from Kiev possible. It figures; seems that we want to do everything the hard way. We will actually have to fly to Danetsk and will not be able to go until Thursday morning. The City of Kiev is very beautiful, with awesome architecture and colors. It's fun just driving around and seeing everything. After the appointment, we went shopping for awhile at an open air market. That was fun. Then we were taken back to the flat. The other interesting thing is we spent most of the day without a translator. I have learned some basics, but obviously that doesn't cut it most of the time. We went back to the grocery store, and it took us forever to figure out the butter, and we decided to make spagetti without meat, because it was too much work to figure out the meat. Well, another evening at the flat, watching Ukrainian TV, then to bed. By the way, Don, they do have some music videos on TV in English, but we spend most of the time watching "football" or volleyball in Ukrainian. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and comments.

FYI - the comments you post don't post immediately. We have to read them first and then we post them.

Laura

Tuesday - In the City

Today we went downtown Kiev to the "City of Churches" and saw some beautiful cathedrals, and went shopping for the rest of the afternoon. Our translator and driver are both very nice and helpful. The weather is beautiful here; nice and warm! Our appointment at the adoption center is tomorrow at 11:00, where we will choose our new daughter! This will be a very big day for us. We appreciate all of your prayers.

Laura

Monday - We are here!

After a very long day of travel, we have arrived in Kiev. The flights went smoothly, and we were met at the airport by our translator and driver. They took us to our flat, and then to exchange money and a quick grocery stop. Here are some pictures of the flat. Our flat is pretty nice and clean. We were pretty tired, as we didn't sleep much last night on the plane, so we relaxed and turned in early.

Laura

Let the adventure begin.

We are about to embark on a long awaited journey. God has taken us down many paths to get to this point. And even though the journey has been difficult so far, we know God has something very special planned. We are leaving today and will arrive on Sunday afternoon in the Ukraine. Big brothers Nick and Andrew dropped us off at the airport, and we said our goodbyes. Let the adventure begin!

Laura