We are home...

Sorry, it has taken me so long to update the blog. We were able to get Olivia's passport on Thursday, May 7th. Herbert flew in to Kiev on Thursday, the 7th and the American Embassy allowed us to begin the visa paperwork so we could have her passport on Friday, the 8th. We told them how much we wanted to go home and they definitely understood and helped us out.
I faxed them the documents while I was in Vinnitsa(American spelling) so they could start processing the visa because it takes 2 days. Alla, Olivia and I left on Thursday on the train in route for Kiev. Olivia did great on her 1st train ride which was 3 1/2 hours. We arrived in Kiev and headed for the apartment to see Herbert. I was very happy that he had arrived. We spent the evening in Kiev walking around the city with Olivia. To our surprise she did great considering we had removed her from her small world. On Friday we went to the American Embassy to complete the documents for the visa and they informed us that the visa would be ready that afternoon. We then took Olivia for her exit medical exam that is required by the American Embassy. When finished with the exam we returned to the embassy to finalize the process. We had to wait for about 30 minutes and then we received her visa. Yes, I was so happy. We changed our plane tickets for the first available flight which was Saturday, May 9th at 10:50 a.m.

The flight home was a success. Olivia did great considering that her whole world was drastically changed. We had a few upset moments, but with reason due to being tired and exhausted.

We arrived home at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Drew, Gabrielle and Ethan were waiting outside when we arrived. They were happy to have us home, finally!! I was beyond happy to finally be back home!! It was a long process, but worth it in the end!


Olivia has joined right in with our family. She has already experienced her first swim in the pool and loves the water. She seems to be enjoying the freedom that she is now experiencing. We are looking forward to watching her as she grows in her new world.

Thanks to everyone who supported us during our journey. We appreciate all the prayers and thoughts from all our family and friends.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Today is Monday and we are still waiting for Olivia's passport. Friday and Saturday were national holidays in Ukraine, so most places were closed on Friday and today. I am continuing to spend quality time with Olivia while waiting patiently for the final process!! Herbert will be joining me in Ukraine on Thursday. It will be nice to have him here to have a conversation with someone. I have been staying in the home of a very nice family. However, when they don't speak English and I don't speak Ukrainian, not much conversation. Alisa and her husband have a 5 year old girl, Nastia. Nastia keeps me company, wanting me to play with her. It has been nice just to have activity around me instead of staying in an apartment alone. I have had lots of quality time alone. As a mom I usually treasure some alone time since I don't have it very often. But, being alone in a foreign country is not my first choice of quality time. I would much rather be at my home alone. This has been an experience that has been rewarding. I knew before this experience that I was blessed and I am even more sure of that today!

Talk to you all soon!

April 29th & 30th

On Wednesday the 29th we had to travel approximately 2 hours to receive Olivia's original birth certificate along with her new one. We then returned back to Vinnitsya with the new birth certificate to prepare to file for her passport. With all the business to take care of we were not able to visit with Olivia on Wednesday. Thursday we picked her up from the orphanage along with one of her teachers to go to the passport office for a new picture and documents for the passport. Unfortunately, this area does not have the advanced technology that we have, so processing anything takes forever!!!! Olivia did great. The ride in the car was less frightening to her this time and she seemed to enjoy the new experiences. After completing all business, the teacher, Olivia and I went to the toy store to purchase some needed items for her group at the orphanage. Another new experience for Olivia at the toy store. She was in awe of all the toys. She did not know where to look. The teacher chose some new toys and wooden puzzles that I was happy to purchase for such a worthy cause. This store was limited on items needed so we headed to another store. At this store we would purchase teaching material that would benefit the kids in learning. Unfortunately, the teachers are not provided with any material that can help them teach the children at preschool age. Children at the orphanages do not receive the same kind of teaching that we provide for our children at preschool age. They do not have the means to purchase any material. Children in general do not start learning their colors and abc's until they start kindergarten at age 5-6.

Before our final stop we went to a small cafe for lunch. Once again, a first for Olivia. She was very quite and well mannered while she waited for her food. In all her new experiences so far she has done exceptionally well. Let's hope the plane ride home will be the same!!

At the 2nd store, the teacher was able to find lots of material that will be so good for the children. She was uncomfortable with this process but Alla told her that I said we were happy to be able to help in such a small way. The cost of goods is much less in Ukraine to our US dollar.

We returned to the orphanage, it was time for Olivia's afternoon nap. She had had a very busy morning. The teachers of her group were very happy for our help and were in tears, hugging and kissing me on the cheeks. Great feeling to help Olivia's group and the people that have been taking care of her.

Well, now for the next few days I will visit with Olivia and spend as much time as possible while we wait for her passport. We hope to receive her passport by Wednesday of next week. We will then leave for Kiev for our appointment at the American Embassy. There they we will get her visa and final medical exam. Then we will finally be headed home. At that time I will be sooo.... happy!! Like I said earlier, it is not easy being here away from my family. I miss them sooo... much. I love and miss Herbert and Ethan, Drew & Gabrielle very,very... much!!!!

Off to the orphanage...talk with you all later.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Alla and I spent the entire morning at the courthouse retrieving and correcting the court hearing documents. Then in between preparing documents, we went to the orphanage at lunch time to see Olivia. Anxious to see her reaction when she saw me... it had been 2 weeks..so we all wondered... When we arrived she was eating lunch with her group, she saw me at the door, smiled and all the children said, "MaMa". Olivia was happy, but she really wanted to be able to finish eating her food. So, I waited and then she ate quickly and then ran over smiling and gave be a big hug. All the teachers said she would talk about us while we were away. They would see her watching the door each day.

After saying our hello, we informed the teacher that we needed to take her to have her passport photo done. So, they took her and changed her into what they call " party clothes." These are the nicer clothes that the children wear only for special occasions. She was so happy, especially when they allowed her to wear some pretty new shoes.

Well, this was Olivia first ride in a car. The teachers said she would probably get very upset and cry. However, she did great. She was frightened at first, but as long as I held on to her she was okay. She actually enjoyed being able to see so many new things. We returned her back to the orphanage, because we still had lots of business to take care of.

It was a happy and rewarding reunion.

Back to Ukraine

Sunday, April 26th I left for Ukraine with a mix of emotions. I was happy that I would get to see Olivia again, but very sad to be leaving all the family at home. This time I was traveling alone, so it was going to be different. Gabrielle was very sad that I was leaving. She wanted Olivia to come home, but not for me to leave her. So, I arrived in Kiev, Monday at 8:30 a.m. Needless to say, I was very tired. I was not able to sleep on the flight and I did not get much sleep before leaving. As soon as my driver took me to the apartment, I crawled in bed and slept for about 5 hours. Later I ventured out to McDonald's which was at the end of my street and had a safe American cheeseburger for dinner. I spent the rest of the evening in the apartment with a television that I could not get any channels to work, so I just read for a while and then decided to go to bed. I had to wake early, Alla and I were taking the 6:40 a.m. train to Vinnitsya. More documents and paperwork to do!! Herbert is going to miss all this fun!!....

Here's Olivia..

This is Olivia and Drew playing outside at the orphanage. She is much smaller than she looks in the picture. At the orphanage they layer the children in clothing when they go outside. She has on 2 shirts, a thick sweater, the dress, tights, leggings and the outer sweater. They want to make sure that the children do not get cold. We took her knit cap off while we were taking pictures. Each day during our visits we would spend time outside at the orphanage's playground.

Court Hearing ... A Success!!

We are happy to report that the court hearing was a success! We have officially adopted our new little girl, Olivia Diann Perry. We have returned home during the 10 day wait period. We are happy to be back in Florida, however we only wish Olivia were with us. I, (Sheila), will be leaving for Ukraine on Sunday, April 26th and will arrive on Monday, the 27th. Herbert will join me after he coaches his high school baseball team in their district tournament. We are looking forward to bringing our new addition to our family, home!

Once again, thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and support.

We are excited. We have a court date, for Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. Hopefully all will go well. We are going to be flying home on Thursday, the 16th. We will return back to the Ukraine after 10 days to complete the final paperwork and bring Olia,(Olivia Diann Perry) home with us. We wish we could take her back with us now! Unfortunately, there is a 10 day waiting period after the court hearing before you can receive the new birth certificate and then apply for the child's visa and passport.

We decided to go home and wait so Drew & Gabrielle can get back to school. They have enjoyed being a part of this great experience, but we are all ready to be back home!! I will return on the 28th and then Herbert will meet me in the Ukraine on May 9th. He needs to be with the high school baseball team during the district tournament. I will be with our translator, so I will be okay until he gets here. Alla, our translator, will take care of me. When you return to get the child you wait another week on the visa and passport, so Herbert will be here in time to do the final signature with the US Embassy and then we will return home with Olivia.

The orphanage is located in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. It is a good orphanage, but Olivia's caretakers are happy for her, yet sad because they will miss her. This orphanage has an okay facility, but it has many needs as do all the orphanages. On Monday, we talked with the orphanage director about items that they needed that we could donate. She gave us a list and we went with our translator to purchase diapers, wipes and other supplies that they needed the most. Today we went and purchased sand buckets and outside play toys for Olivia's class for Easter. They celebrate Easter this coming weekend in the Ukraine and for children it is like Christmas. They don't do easter baskets, but they try to give the children some type of spring toy. It is such a joy to see the faces of the children and workers when you give to them. They appreciate it so much.
We have been buying small items for Olivia that we give her during our bonding time. We gave her some crayons and coloring book and her teacher said that she did not know what crayons were. This orphanage does not have this as a part of their program, due to the fact that art supplies are too expensive. Yes, we take so many things for granted. When you think of children that are 4 years old that have never even colored with a crayon! It has truly been an eye opening experience for us! We are looking forward to the experiences that we will have with Olivia!

After the court hearing, we will be able to post some pictures of Olivia for everyone to meet her. We will continue to post until the process is complete and possibly for a period of time after we return home with her.

Take care! See everyone back home soon!

Hello everyone,
We are still waiting to know our court date. Each day we are just going and visiting with Olia at the orphanage. It is amazing to see the difference in her in just 1 week. We are so ready to take her home, where she will receive the individual love and attention that she so needs. She is a great little girl. We miss everyone and home! Thanks again for all your support.

Drew & Gabrielle say hello to all their friends who are following the blog, and their cousins!!

MeMe just wanted to let you know that Olia loves to have tea parties. We gave her a " My Little Pony" teaset and she knows exactly what to do with it. She pours the tea and even holds her pinkie finger correctly. She blows it before she drinks and says "Ahhh..." after drinking. She is funny! Talk to you later

Nana, thanks for staying and taking care of Ethan! We miss you too!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Monday, was a busy day as we began the paperwork process with our translator. We had to go the notary's office to do the petition to adopt, then to the Inspector of the orphanage to do more documents. Unfortunately, the petition was missing a sentence, so the translator had to have the notary redo!

We went to the orphanage, Olia was on the playground and she saw the car as we arrived and headed in our direction. She was very happy to see us. We took her to the children's hospital for an ultrasound of her kidneys to verify that everything was okay and to talk to the doctors. She has not had any problems since she was 1 year old, which was only a typical kidney infection. But as precaution due to her small kidneys, they have done an ultrasound every 6 months to verify no problems. The checkup was okay. She was a trooper through the whole process.

We will continue the paperwork this week and our translator hopes we can have a court date by Monday or Wednesday of next week and we will head home immediately after the court date. We have to wait 10 days before we can take her home, so we will go home and return to bring her home. Hopefully, all will continue to go well this week. Keep you all posted as much as possible.

Saturday & Sunday, April 4 & 5, 2009

Hello to everyone! On Saturday, we visited with Olia again and she was happy to see us. She was a little hesitant at first, but then took our hands to go out and play. We enjoyed the 2 hours once again with her. We will not be able to post a picture of her until after we go to court.

Sunday, back to the orphanage..and amazing the difference each day she is when we arrive. She knows us now. I, Sheila, am Ma, Herbert is Da, which is uncle in Ukrainian. They do not have much contact with men, so it has taken her a little longer to be okay with Herbert. She is definitely okay with Drew & Gabrielle.

Ethan returned back to the states, he and Connor, on Saturday. He was able to meet and spend the first day with her before he left. We all miss him, already!!

Friday, April 3, 2009

We are definitely excited about our visit with Olga, pronounced Olia, the 4 year old girl we visited with on Friday. She is a very cute and shy little girl. She has some minor health issues that we will verify with a specialist in the states and she has slight delay in mental and speech. She is working with a speech therapist and is having progress. She was very shy and did not want to visit with us at first. However, by the time our 2 hour visit with her was over, she cried to have to leave us. She opened up to us and loved playing with Drew & Gabrielle. We all enjoyed her and Drew & Gabrielle just loved her. She was laughing and playing and was able to enjoy herself a bit more than she is allowed to with the children in the orphanage. We are staying in the city and will be visiting with her today from 4 to 7 and then tomorrow for a few hours. We hope that all will go well and we will be able to give this little girl a chance for a good life with our family.

Olga came to the orphanage when she was 1 year & 3 months. She was taken from her mother due to neglect. The child was very afraid when she first came to the orphanage. They said she was always putting her hands in front of her face. She had to be in the orphanage for 1 year without a visit from a family member to make her available for adoption, then the children have to be listed for 14 months for Ukrainians to adopt. After the 14 months, then they become available for international adoption. She just became available for international adoption and we were the first to be able to receive a referral to visit her.

We are in a different area, nothing like Kiev. The conditions are much poorer in this area, so we will be limited on our internet access. We will do our best to keep everyone posted about our progress. So, if all goes well, we will start the process next week for a court date and then return home for the 10 day wait period.

Thanks again to everyone. We will be in touch.

Tuesday, April 2, 2009

Well we are off to visit another orphanage on Friday morning. Today we chose a referral to visit a 4 year old girl in an orphanage that is about 4 hours away. ( Sorry we cant remember the name of the city). She was our best option out of the children we were given to choose from. We will be leaving at 5:00 a.m. with our driver, George and translator, Olla. We do not have to travel as far as we did to the last orphanage. So, we are just praying that if she is the one then it will work out. If not, then we will be given another meeting with SDA.

Before the entire process is over, we will be returning home and then coming back to Ukraine to complete the final paperwork. We just hope and pray that everything works out.

We will post the outcome as soon as we are able. Take care and thanks for all your support and prayers!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

We spent the day walking and seeing the city of Kiev. The weather was sunny and cool here today. We walked around touring for about 5 hours, there is so much to see in this city. Also, great exercise!! Staying in the apartment makes me, Sheila, a bit stir crazy after awhile. All this waiting can make you crazy!! We finally got the call from Konstantin, our facilitator, that our meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, 4/2/09, at 12:00 p.m. So, everyone keep praying that this meeting will go well! We will post as soon as we know more information.
We miss everyone!! Talk with you soon!

Monday, March 30, 2009

We spent the morning with Olla, our translator, doing the paperwork to file another petition to meet with SDA. This has to be done in order to obtain another appointment with SDA for more referrals for children. Lots of waiting and paperwork!! Our translator, Olla is great. When we finished doing business she then took us to see the WWII museum located in Kiev on the Dnieper River. Sightseeing with Olla is great, since she can read and speak this language and English. Herbert doesn't have to use the Russian dictionary trying to translate words. We were also able to eat lunch and know what we were ordering. It's not easy trying to read menus in Ukrainian. Some places do have English menus, but then it is hard for them to understand what we are ordering since they have difficulty reading and understanding English. However, we are having a great time learning the Ukrainian way and their culture.

It Didn't Work Out

For the day of Friday, March 27th, we loaded up with apprehensive minds into our translator's van. Our specified translator for this trip was different than our facilitator. Her driver, George, spoke a smidgen of English and was very polite. Alla was our translator, and she proved to be an invaluable aid. They picked us up from our apartment, along with all twelve pieces of luggage, at 2:00 in the morning. Let's just say that the van we were in was fine for about a third of what we crammed into it. The seating arrangements consisted of Ethan, the driver George, and Alla sitting in the front seat, Sheila and Herbert placed in the captain's chairs surrounded by luggage, and finally, Drew, Gabrielle, and Connor in the very back. A seven-hour drive in these conditions cannot be very good for the joints. We arrived at our destination groggy and eager to leave the cramped vehicle. In the city who's name leaves the writer's mind at the moment the family embarked for the orphanage in which a prospective child awaited them. We entered the building, were shown around, eagerly went to the bathroom (we did not receive many breaks on our voyage), and then sat in the psychology room. We met with the person in charge of the orphanage, which consisted of extremely short conversation, and then the child along with the orphanage's doctor and psychologist entered the room. The girl, Anastasia, was a ball of energy, never scared of us and never shy. Alla was busy translating the words of the girl, doctor, and more as we listened and watched eagerly. We gave Anastasia a banana and a doll that we bought her, and her face immediately lit up. She was witty for a four-year-old, but as things progressed, the family viewed her as not the right choice. It was never the little girl's fault. A spot of misinformation caused the decisions to turn downhill. In the end, it did not work out with Anastasia, so we left and drove all the way back to Kiev that afternoon. Our future consists of another referral, we hope. Until then we take our time doing things in Kiev.

Pictures and Possibly VIdeo To Come!

Due to the forgetting of our devices that capture the souls of it's victims(He he... A camera) we haven't been able to post any pictures. If the opportunity presents itself, Ethan will use his technological prowess, or lack of, rather, to post whatever he deems important. This will most likely include pictures of Ethan by landmarks, videos of Ethan, Ethan's voice, and Ethan himself. We hope to get you this important content soon! But, it's alright. If he cannot manage such a feat he will just return home soon and present himself in person! I would be ecstatic also!

Our First Visit (State Department of Adoption)

To begin with, the times on this site are not posted from EST. So do not assume the days are times are what they claim to be. This entry is to chronicle our first arranged visit with the SDA (see title) on Thursday, March 26th. Donning our finest outfits, consisting of a suit for Herbert, a nice outfit for Sheila (she has to stay in style, even in a foreign country), khakis and a long-sleeve for Ethan, and dress for Gabrielle. Drew and Connor were in cargo pants and jeans respectively. Silly unprofessional fashions. Just kidding. Anyway, I digress. We met with Konstantine, our facilitator, (sounds epic right?), who managed to squeeze our giant family into his Forerunner. We hit some bumpy roads and passed some nice buildings that we later took pictures of. At the agency we were presented with some information on prospective children. Three healthy boys were turned down due to the fact that they were siblings. Sheila really was interested in getting a girl, so we were given info on two girls. One was healthy despited a cyst on her lung. She became our first choice to visit, but due to complications with her scheduled surgery we moved on to our second choice. A four-year-old about 350 miles away fromn Kiev. That's tomorrow's adventure. Well, this morning's, considering we leave at 2:00 AM Ukrainian time.

Stumbling around Kiev

After sleeping the entire Ukrainian morning away we matted down our bed heads and strapped up our jackets to try to face the foreign urban jungle that is Kiev. If you don't take into account the strange conversations of passers-by on the sidewalk or the lack of English signs, you get a scene parallel to New York City. Many people walk in this country, but this leg-employing group does not make up the entire populace in terms of transportation. To put it bluntly, the drivers are crazy. Horns blaring, engines raring, and speedometers and tempers flaring, the roads are not a safe place for pedestrians when the crosswalk light blinks a no-walk warning. Our activities of the afternoon left an appetite in our bellies. After perusing the many restaurants that were completely unreadable we managed to enter a pizzeria. They did not speak English. At all. Luckily for us, Coca-Cola is Universal. Apparently so is pizza. Pepperoni, however, is not. So we ended up eating a pepper pizza instead. It was not bad by any stretch. It was food and it was in our bellies. We commend our brave waitress for her efforts in serving those silly Americans. Note: Always take Russian dictionary.

On Arrival

Our plane landed in Kiev, Ukraine at around 3:00 AM EST. In the Ukraine that translates to about 9:00 in the morning. Needless to say we were pretty lagged. Our two drivers helped get our twelve pieces of luggage into two Toyotas. We managed to carry our bags up, with the help of our driver, up to our seventh floor apartment. We crashed in our nicely furnished apartment and had extremely erratic sleeping patterns due to the jet lag of our nine-hour flight.

At the airport

The whole family, Herbert,Sheila, Ethan, Drew, Gabrielle and Connor(nephew & cousin) left for the airport at 5:30 am today, Monday morning. We are getting ready to board the airplane. We are scheduled to arrive in Kiev, Ukraine on Tuesday morning at 9:26 am Ukrainian time. This is 1:30 am EST.

Leaving for the Ukraine

Test: We will be leaving Monday, March 23 for Kiev, Ukraine.