News From Ukraine

Tuesday morning we flew into Dusseldorf. Because we didn't have our boarding passes to Kiev we had to go through a passport control check. We then went downstairs and we knew we were no longer in the United States. Everyone was dressed in black. There were very few people wearing jeans. They were all dressed up. We got our boarding passes and then we had to go back through a passport control check again. It was really bizarre.

On Wednesday we went to our SDA appointment. It was originally scheduled for 3:00. Oleg called us about noon and said that our appointment had been moved up and he was on his way to pick us up. On our way to the SDA, Oleg got a call saying our appointment would be at 2:00. So we waited aroung the building for about an hour and half. At 2:00 they let us stand in the stairwell to wait for our apointment. My feet were so cold by this time, I would slip my foot out of my shoe and put it on the radiator to help me get warm. It was fun watching everyone else who was trying to adopt. There was a big commotion about adopting babies, I think. Anyway, all of the facilitators were on their cell phones and jabboring with each other over something that was frustrating them. We finnaly went into our appointment at 3:00. David said a few word and that was it we were done.

Thursday, Oleg brought us to Sumy. We were supposed to meet with the inspector and we of course ended up waiting there for about an hour and half. Once the inspector signed all of the documents she needed we took her to another office to have her documents signed. She wasn't sure if anyone would be there to sign the documents. Luckily there was. We had to have these documents signed before we could see the kids.

As we walked into the orphanage, Tania and Sveta were walking around outside. We all recognized each other and Tania was thrilled to see us. She had been calling Oleg regularly to when we would come. Inside, Tania kept calling Sasha by cell phone to get him to our meeting. Finally, she called him again and the inspector told Tania to tell him "the inspector said to get to the meeting." He finally came.

More to come later.

More News!!

Hello from Katelyn, yet again.
My parents tried updating the blog on their own, but said that the directions to get in were all in Ukrainian, and they couldn't understand how to do it.
They have been meeting with Sasha and Tania everyday. Oleg, Helen (Helen is their translator), and the school director have all been talking to Sasha to convince him that he should be adopted. He still is not sure he wants to be adopted.
Their new translator Marina, says they do not look American, they look Ukrainian, so they are happy their attempts to camouflage have worked. :)
They also wanted to pass on the fact that they have met with Lena and Pasha, and were able to give them the gifts, and they loved the pictures received. My parents will send pictures when they figure out what they are doing.
They were also able to give letters to Maria, who was excited to get them. She wanted to know how the boys were doing, and my parents were absolutely thrilled to meet her.
They showed pictures from the concert to the director of the school, and he got a little choked up. They think he misses the kids. They have given Tania pictures to show her teachers, so they can all see how the kids are doing.
Pictures mean everything to these kids, and they were all so excited to see the pictures of their friends. My mom said "I think they are more important then gifts to them". I really liked that :)
Hopefully we will continue to hear more good news :)

News from Ukraine!

This is Katelyn (again) I'm doing just a quick update :)
I received a call from my parents this afternoon. They arrived safely and are doing well, but are very frustrated. Tanya is very excited to be adopted, but Sasha is not so sure, he has a few concerns. It is making us all nervous, but hopefully after spending time with mom and dad, he will become more excited about being adopted :)
They are going to try to find a place with internet tomorrow, and update this themselves, we will see how this goes, and they can fill in all the blanks of what is happening.

We're off!

This is Katelyn, just writing stuff up for my parents :)
We dropped them off at the airport bright and early around 5:45 AM. (We left home at 5:15)
They are currently on their way to Düsseldorf, or wherever they were flying out to from Chicago. :)
They are anxious to get there and meet the twins. I'm excited for them as well, and hope they have a fun journey :)

5 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE

I can't believe that we are leaving on Monday. After watching all of the blogs, I understand how most people have said the whole process is like a roller coaster.

Monday we got a call from Ellianna. Oleg had talked to the kids about us coming to adopt them. Tania is ready for us to come and get her. Sasha is not so sure. Ellianna asked if I could talk to the people Sasha has been visiting in France for several years. She thought they were willing to help. The couple in France had a friend of theirs who speaks english call me and we had a fun conversation about why we would like to adopt the twins.

OnTuesday Ellianna called back and said apparently Sasha is fine with us adopting him but he is really dissapointed in not being able to go to France for Christmas. He would like to say goodbye to this couple. Our english speaking contact is now getting e-mails from both Ellianna and me. I wonder if she realized what she was getting herself into.

Ellianna and I have been trying to find out when Sasha would have been going to France. We really don't want to disappoint him but as I am sure most of you know, timing is everything.

Matthew did get us set up with webcams today so that if anything Sasha can talk to his friends through the web. Of course, it will be nice to have while we are in Ukraine also.

I hope we are as lucky as the Carr's and Evenson's and have internet where we are staying.

More pictures

These are some of the pictures Nanette gave me of the twins.

I can't wait to meet them.

David has been trying on his coats to see which coat would be warm enough and would fit in with the black decor in Ukraine. The kids and I have been having fun watching him get ready for our trip.

WE HAVE OUR DATE!!

Our appointment with the SDA is November 26.

More to come.

November 8, 2008 :D

We are the Harris Family. We are trying to adopt twins from the Sumy orphanage in Ukraine. We were going to host a child this last fall but Nanette showed us pictures of twins from Sumy and we were hooked. As I am sure everyone knows, Nanette has her way of inspiring you to do the right thing.

In July, we started our homestudy. In September, at first we were told to slow down the process for our paperwork since we would not be able to submit our dossier until December. Then all of a sudden we were notified the Ukraine was going to open adoption slots in October and we needed to have our paperwork completed by October 15th.

The SDA received our paper work on October 23rd. We are just waiting to receive a date to visit with the SDA.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped us with this process. There are many people who have helped us with paperwork and let us know about the whole adoption process.