Heading Home!

Saturday, June 2, 2007

We are packed up and very ready to go! Here we are watching our last Ukranian TV early in the morning while waiting for our driver. We had an 11:00 am flight out of Kyiv.
God blessed us with very helpful Delta people at the airport. They showed our family of six right where to go and the process went very smooth. While waiting for our flight some young adults were practicing their English with a little help from us. It is fun to help others when so many people in Ukraine had been helpful to us .

Nine and 1/2 hours from Kiev to New York.

We got to New York at 1:30 pm EST. It was a 9 1/2 hour flight. We got through customs and Tanya and Lienna officially became US citizens. During our layover, I went to try to get some plane tickets from Cinncinati to Sioux Falls for Tanya and Lienna. After a long wait, they were no help. We boarded at 4:00 and sat on the runway again in New York for 2 hours.

We got in to Cinncinati and I started my search for the Delta ticket counter while Jon went for luggage. Again God provided for us weary travelers since it was now 3:00 am Kiev time and we had gotten no sleep. As I was trying to find my way around, a couple helped me find the ticket counter. The ladies there were also very nice and helpful and did get us some tickets to Sioux Falls - not cheap though. There were only four seats left on the flight so we were thankful to get them. I was so tired and ready to get home that I offered to sit in the bathroom if we could just get on the flight. If we would not have gotten the tickets, Jon or I would have had to get a later flight with Tanya and Lienna or rent a car and drive 20 hours home. Again, God provided.

We got a shuttle to our hotel and were surprised to find out our driver spoke Russian and very little English. I got a chuckle out of it. It was ironic because we were just looking forward to being in the US where we could speak easily. That is nothing against Ukraine of course, but after traveling for a month and being weary and in a foreign country we just wanted to know we could find food and water for our larger family. I have learned that it takes alot of energy and work to communicate. Of course, that is something we will all continue to experience over the next few months but at least we will have food and shelter in our home. We got in to our hotel at 10 pm (now 5 am Kiev time and time to wake up). The desk clerk also had a strong Russian accent. They were helpful in finding us find a bigger room for our larger family. The clerk smiled in surprise when I said "spezeeba" (thank you in Russian) out of habit. He was also probably glad to hear his native language.

We slept very little that night due to the time change and had to leave early to make our flight. We had a packed flight and we were seated all over the plane. (literally, Tanya in the front corner and Amber in the opposite back corner). We told the attendent that two of our daughters didn't speak English so he could come and get us if he needed something. Before we took off, he had all six of us sitting together! He was so nice and we had a great visit with him.

We landed in Sioux Falls at 10:45 am on Sunday morning! We were thrilled to see family and friends waiting for us!

Last day in Kiev

Friday, June 1, 2007


This was our last day in Kyiv and our mission was to get passports, find shoes, and souveniers. I did not even take the camera along for once-an indication that I was ready to go home I think. In the morning we found a mall about a mile away. It was modern, had a couple levels, and stores and prices like the US. After some searching, we found shoes in a sporting goods store for Tanya and Lienna! The walk home from there was much better for them. We headed back to McDonalds to have lunch and meet Dima who get our passports. This McDonalds will not be forgotten by Jon. It was a bad sign when he thought his McChicken tasted like the Filet O Fish. Before finishing his ice cream cone, he got sick. To top it off, the handle broke on the bathroom stall so he got locked in for a bit. Not a good feeling.



We still had our souvenier shirts and some Russian kids books we wanted to find. We knew where they were downtown but we had no idea how to get there. Our apartment was in a different part of the city than before. When Dima came with our passports, it turned out he was taking the subway downtown and would show us how to get there. This worked good since it would have been hard to get a taxi for a family of six. This was also a new experience for all of us. The subways only cost 50 grivnas per person - that is 10 cents. This subway started with a very long escalator ride going very deep down. We were told that Kyiv has some of the deepest in the world. Then like most subways I suppose, it was very crowded and a challenge to keep our group together. We came out at Independance Square which was good because it was familiar to us. We found the soccer shirts we were looking for and also gave the girls all some money to buy some souveniers.

While the girls were shopping, Jon was getting sick. He sat down and felt very weak and feverish. We got our shirts and decided to head home. This was not quick and it meant the subway again. On the standing room only subway, Jon was hanging on the bar and I thought he was going to pass out. Evidentally the lady below him on the seat thought so also and offered him her seat. It was nice of her but actually she could see the risk of sitting below him and could see his white face. God really protected us and gave Jon the strength to walk the last quarter mile to the apartment. He was having chills and wrapped up in the blanket in our hot apartment. That was the first time I saw him use a blanket in three weeks! Fortunately by evening he felt good enough to pack us up for the trip home in the morning.



Here are some pictures from our 8th floor apartment. There are rows of apartments like this in Odessa and Kiev. There is a little playground right below our window. Our apartment was remodeled inside with a newer bathroom and kitchen. The drawback was the old stairwells, tiny old elevator, and four deadbolt doors we went through to get in.

More paperwork, May 31

Thursday, May 31, 2007


We went in search of breakfast and could only find McDonald's again. (which we were thankful for) We were in a different part of Kiev again so everything was a new search and we could not find a grocery store. Only the McDonald's drive-thru was open in the early morning so here we are walking through the drive-thru. Fortunately, some Ukrainians were doing the same thing.



It was a beautiful morning for breakfast outside.
Alexy picked us up and we went to get the official health check-up for Tanya and Lienna. We then went to the US Embassy to get the visas. We were thankful they took our US bills there. We have learned that when you travel to other countries, you should get newer, crisp bills. Any little tear or too much wear is cause for rejection when you try to exchange it. We had been concerned that we may run out of money because some of our bills were rejected.


The visas would be ready on Friday so now we could make plans to fly home. Our round trip tickets were for a return of June 6. We were ready to go home now!! So we started to call to get an earlier flight. No flight on Friday, no seats on Sat or Sun! The earliest tickets were possibly Monday and Tanya and Lienna's cost much more than expected. This was a cause of stress for us. Mentally, emotionally, and financially we hit the wall and had to get home. The fatigue of traveling with four girls for three days and finding no real food was taking it's toll. After much prayer, we did get flights to Cincinnati. The Delta lady in Kyiv said it would be cheaper to get a ticket in Cincinnati for the two one-way tickets from Cincinnati to Sioux Falls. It didn't make sense to us (and we later found out she was WRONG!) At that point we were just thankful to get flights to the United States. At least we would be able to find food and be able to communicate. Later, we found out just how bad she messed up our flights.



Later in the day we went for a walk around our apartment to see if we could find a store for shoes, clothes, and food. Tanya and Lienna were both given shoes that were too small for them and they needed some clothes also. Fortunately we made due on the clothes since Tanya and Morgan were close to the same size and Lienna had one wearable outfit. Just don't be surprised when we are in the same outfit in most pictures. We packed very light for this trip so had few outfits to choose from. (that meant more washing though) In our search for food, we did find one restaurant. It was Ukranian food and had an English menu! This was a treat for Tanya and Lienna since it was a little different than the orphanage food and it was a nice change from crackers and Nutrigrain bars. It was nice for us also. All we found that day were stands with food and miscellaneous items. We were told we shouldn't eat the food at these stands and wouldn't have known what to order anyway. We went back to our hot apartment for the night. We would continue our search tomorrow for shoes.

Train to Kiev, May 30

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

We got up and left the seminary at 7:30 to get downtown by 8:30 to the passport office. While Seroge went to stand in line, we went to find breakfast. We were just looking for a grocery store for something quick. After walking awhile we found a McDonald's. But of the six times we ate at McDonald's in Ukraine, they have never been fast food! They also do not have hot breakfast. Others there were ordering burgers. Fortunately they had muffins in the counter case which did make it easier to just point to order. On the walk back we went by a beautiful city park that has just been redone. We had been there eleven days earlier and there was black dirt. Now there were flowers and grass.

The new fountain and gazebo.

This was the usual sit and wait. Not much waiting this morning though. We got our passports, found a notary, found a store for bananas and water and headed to the train station for our 11:47 train. Seroge helped us find our train and get settled in. The stewardess studdied our tickets a bit and we found out why later. Right after Seroge left, she came to check tickets again. She had a great concern and voiced it in Russian while pointing to our tickets. The tickets said June 30 instead of May 30! We panicked and searched for Seroge's phone number since the train was about to leave. God answered prayers again and Seroge wasn't too far away. He came back and after some discussion with her it was settled Ukrainian style. She was happy but no one had time to buy new tickets. We were thankful the car was mostly empty but were a little nervous when it did stop to board new passengers since we did not have an official ticket in our hand.

Leaving Odessa.

The trip to Kiev was eight hours. This is Tanya, Morgan, and Jon in their compartment. It sleeps four and was fairly comfortable. Amber, Lienna, and I were in the other compartment. The door latch was broken on ours so if we shut it we could not open it from the inside. That was a bit un-nerving for me. We tried to prop it open but it would sometimes slide closed and I would have to bang on the wall in hopes that Jon would hear and come let us out. It makes me ill just retelling it now so God was obviously calming my fears then. I was really thankful that we were about the only ones in the car so we could leave the door open.

Tanya and Morgan in their bunks. They had fun jumping from bunk to bunk and all around the cabin. The scene from the train was mostly trees with glimpses of the country in the breaks in the trees. I wish they had not planted all those trees along the tracks. The country there is so beautiful and would have made the trip go faster if we could have seen it. We did see each town as we went through. Every house in Ukraine has high fences all around their property. Every inch of the property is planted with garden, fruit trees and flowers. No lawn to mow. They don't waste it on grass when it can be used for food. These are not very good pictures. Most of the trip was trees so I didn't have my camera out.

Arriving in Kiev!

This was the roomiest car we rode in. Seven of us with our luggage. No problem! Alexy drove us to our apartment and we arrived about 8:30 pm. Again we found no place for food. We were told that McDonald's is about the only fast food in Ukraine and we couldn't find groceries that late either. Our food for that day: McDonald's muffins and juice, crackers, a Nutrigrain bar, bananas, and beef jerky.

Tues May 29

I am now going back to try to recall what happened since we last had internet to blog. It seems like so long ago! We had no internet access for the last week so just called details to my sister to post.


On Tuesday, May 29 we got up early to go to the orphanage to pick up the girls. Jon posted most of the details that day but, of course, I have more to add. The huge blessing that day was our van. If you recall, our ride to Odessa was quite memorable(see May 16 post) and I did not want to repeat it. God provided a great van and driver this time! We were able to rent the van used by the baptist churches in the Odessa region and their driver. We were thrilled that morning to see such a spacious van! That was also such a blessing because the eight of us were in it so much during the day. Besides the driving we had to wait several hours in the van in the hot afternoon sun while waiting for Seroge to get our paperwork. Our driver was also better but when the time crunch came he did step it up to normal Ukranian driving. We had to race back to Odessa to try to get our passports done before the office closed and he broke plenty of traffic laws on the way(if there are any traffic laws that is). We really didn't notice though due to our previous experience. At least this driver drove as if he valued his life.


As Jon mentioned in the post last week, we were at Andrijevo on the last day of school to see their graduation. These were some of their ninth grade graduates.


The ninth grade graduating class. These children now leave the orphanage for the next stage of their life.


Flowers are a common gift in Ukraine. I think these went to the teachers. Of course, we did not understand anything said at their ceremony. These are some first graders.



This is how we spent most of our time during the adoption process.....waiting.

Some of Tanya's classmates


After much waiting around we finally got to pack the girls up and leave. We drove a couple hours to the town where their birth certificates were located. The official took her time reviewing our papers and finally got the birth certificates done. Here is the town we were in and Amber, Tanya, and Morgan are just trying to kill time.


We then went to Odessa but the passport office had already closed. We were able to get to another office and get a stamp on the birth certificates. Seroge took us to get our train tickets to leave the next day. Again we were thankful for our big van and safe driver because we could leave the girls in the van to wait. We saw a McDonald's and finally got to eat about 7:30 PM. Up til then we had only had some trail mix since our light lunch at the orphanage. Despite no food and little water and lots of time in a warm van, all four girls did great.


We had to call and find a place to stay for the night since we had hoped to be on a train to Kiev. Thankfully the seminary had a couple rooms for us again. While at the seminary this time we were able to meet the seminary student our church is supporting. He helped us carry our luggage and find our rooms for the night.















Sunset over the seminary as we were arriving.

They are in the United States!!!

posted by Lynette - Saturday, 9:30 pm

I just talked to Janell and they have arrived in Cincinnati. They are in their hotel room and they were able to get tickets for their whole family. Praise God! They will be coming into Sioux Falls at 10:45 on Sunday morning.

Coming Home Soon!

Friday, June 1st - 8:00 am
posted by Lynette(Janell's sister)

I visited with Janell last night and they are very anxious to get home. They were going to spend the day getting their passports and getting rested up to begin the trip back home. They are leaving Kiev on Saturday and arriving in Cincinnati around 7:00 pm and spending the night there. Right now they only have 4 tickets to leave Cincinnati. They need all of our prayers so that they can all come home together that morning. The scheduled flight is suppose to be around 10:30. Janell will let us know any additional information as soon as she knows.