Lynch Family Adoption: Bad News, Freezing Rain and Better Days Ahead

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Up and ready by 10:30 to meet Nina. At 11:15, I texted “ready when you are” and she let me know she was at the court house waiting. She had decided to go without us since she didn’t need us for that part of the venture. I made sure we had enough time to run to Billa and the bank and she said, “go”, so we did. The bank adventure was our only attempt to use the atm since our failed attempt at the airport. Fortunately, it WORKED, we were able to get money and so far it appears that our account is safe from skimmers.

We went to Billa for some essentials then went back home to wait for the phone to ring. The kids were able to get in most of their school work and then relax a bit. Unfortunately, around 4, Nina let me know that the court will not just print a new decree to satisfy the Birth certificate office. Since the decree has already been sent out to several regional offices, the prosecutor said there needs to be an “amendment” which will take 3 days. Sadly, that pushed us to Monday. The day was quite depressing and lonely with dreary grey drizzly skies and single parenting taking its toll on me. We were overjoyed when Sa. showed up for dinner, bringing her smiles and laughter with her. You simply can’t help but smile with Sa. and Sl. around! We had sausages, rice and a veggie plate.....not quite as odd as our “pantry surprise” with the omelette, tomato and 15 meatballs!:)

Friday, Nov. 2, 2012

On Friday morning we slept in and then got ready to meet Sa. by noon for a trip to the Water Museum! When Sa. contacted us on her way over she said, “Get your umbrellas and meet me at the bus stop.” We brought one, but I wish we would have brought more umbrellas with us! The weather was MISERABLE..freezing rain. But we just had to go with Sa. to see this place we’d heard great things about and to get out of the house! We donned our ponchos on the front steps (which J2 thought was very funny that they were called ponchos after we had told him the night before the name of Sv.’s wool poncho. I occasionally call him “Little Man.” So he proudly took a stance with hands on both hips and said, “I Leetle Man...in a poncho.” SOO funny! ) Anyway, after suiting up in our ponchos (which by the way Ukrainians DO NOT wear- so we get looks like, “what are those stupid people doing in trash bags??”) we made our way to the bus stop. Freezing rain....my MOST hated weather phenomenon. I’d rather have a foot of snow than freezing rain. Beyond miserable. But we pressed onward! We CRAMMED onto the bus when it arrived. And I mean crammed. It was the most crowded bus we have been on since we got here! As we made our way onto the bus, the scary Babushka who is in charge of taking tickets assaulted J1 with words as he attempted to make his way into the aisle jammed with people in order to get all of us ON the bus! Sa. translated and said, “she said, ‘don’t make a traffic jam’. I must add here, that the barrage of Russian or Ukrainian or whatever they chose at the moment (usually a combo I think) is quite harsh and scary sounding. Look in the mirror, scowl as deeply as possible, and then blast out non-sensical angry words “VASCHAZHENDEzHOONEVADOOZHENESCHEZANA!!!!!!!” and you’ll get a feel for what I am trying to describe. Wow, whatever it was, it was frightening! These little Babushkas mean business!

The bus was so crowded we could barely raise our arms to hold on. My head was resting on Sa.’s arm and kids were pressed hard into me on all sides. We could barely contain our laughter...but we held back for fear of another verbal assault! When we squeezed out of the bus, it was a bit like being born! Ha! Only we didn’t cry when we hit the sidewalk- we breathed a HUGE sigh of relief! Once we made it to Independence Square, we made our way across and up an ENORMOUS flight of stairs. I counted another smaller set later and we climbed 133 stairs! So that first flight, in the freezing rain, was AT LEAST 150 steps up, up, up, up, up....in the wind, in the rain, in the cold. We finally arrived at a plateau and Sa. asked a passer-by how to get to the water museum. Sadly, the lady motioned back DOWN the 150 steps. So down we went. Our coat hoods were pulled so tightly around our faces we could barely see, so we felt very thankful none of us tripped and rolled like a swirling bag of trash down the hill! (made myself laugh with that mental image...oh, don’t forget freezing water flying off of the swirling bag of trash rolling down the hill!)

We made it safely back down to Kreshatyk and went a few more blocks up the road to the correct ENORMOUS flight of stairs and commenced climbing again. This was the 133 step flight of stairs, which was followed by a steep ramp for another several yards.....until....at last.....we arrived. Winded, cold, wet, but THERE! We huddled under a shelter, but the freezing rain was blowing in at us. We had worked MUCH too hard to get there to leave at that point, so we waited in line behind a school group. When the mysterious door finally opened, they ushered in the school group then closed the door in our faces! Oh, my goodness. The kids and Sa. and I were at least able to huddle even closer to the door in a warmer drier spot in the 3 foot space around the door facing. We shared some tasty Ukrainian snacks we have discovered, “Bacon flavored crackers”! We decided Uncle Br. Would LOVE these crackers! We also had cheese flavored crackers, which were quite tasty, too. Thankfully our tasty treats distracted us from the continued wait in the freezing rain long enough to see the door open just as we finished! They welcomed us inside, with typical Ukrainian indifference, and we paid our admission. I was thankful for Sa.’s help in requesting the tickets. All total, this adventure only cost ~$13 for all 6 of us (or about $2 per person!) It was a very impressive little museum, I must say! I doubt I would travel back out in the freezing rain for it, but it was really nice. The kids were taught about the water cycle, water conservation, the source of the local river, the Dnipro and so much more (with our own resident Sa. to interpret for us!:) They got to see a bathroom with the water running over in all of the appliances and learn about conserving water. This bathroom was one of the nicest ones I have seen in Kyiv...too bad it was in a museum! The special effects of the overflowing water everywhere were very good. They even had an enormous toilet the kids could pose on!:) After the toilet, they had a bubble station, where the guy had a kiddie pool full of bubble juice and a hula hoop size wand. We stood on a little block of wood in the "pool" and he pulled a LIFESIZE bubble up over us! After the bubbles, there was a HUGE fish tank full of giant Koi where we laid our hands on the water and were instructed to make a wish if a fish swims by your hand;) I should have wished to go home:) It was pretty amazing I must say!

After the water museum, Sa. had to go to a meeting with a school associate. We killed time in the underground mall because it was still COOOOOLD and wet and raining! Brrrrrrr! In spite of ponchos AND an umbrella, our shoes, socks and gloves were SOAKED by this time, and our hands and feet were FREEZING! BRRRRR!

We ate a late lunch at a place where we had eaten Veriniky with Weej before he left. After our late lunch, we came out and were entertained by three older ladies with an accordion and tamborine singing beautifully- even with some harmony! We stood and videotaped and took pictures and clapped for them. Two of the ladies were even smiling while they sang! I'm sure they enjoyed our smiling faces watching them, too, and we gave them some money, as well. We bought a few tiny souveniers while in the tunnel and were wishing for a place with dry socks and gloves for sale, but found only flowers, trinkets and the like!

At 5 we met Sa. at the Maidan McDonalds so she could ride the metro with Ab. to Youth group, and the other three kids and I journeyed on bus 18 to Billa. We bought some more meat because Je., Sv., Ir., Ka., Sa. were joining us for dinner after Youth group.

Around 8:30, I had dinner staged and the table set when Ir. came home and let me know she had just ordered 4 pizzas at Sv.’s request! Actually pizza sounded just as good as the tacos, so I gladly put the meat away for our next meal!

We enjoyed pizza and conversation with our new friends and called it a night.

Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012

We slept until 11, then got up slowly and enjoyed a breakfast of toast and Nutella alongside cheese slices and banana halves. Sv. as already long gone on his trip to the commissary. After breakfast we enjoyed some time with our Bibles, picking out verses which spoke to us and reminded us that God will help us! It was an amazing time together of seeking out scripture then sharing our verses with one another in English and Ukrainian!

Our favorites were:

“The Lord is on my side, I will not fear.” Psalm 118:6

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

I love: “For I will contend with him who contends with you; And I will save your children.” Isaiah 49:25b

Among many others,

J1 found: “The Lord will hear when I call to Him.” Psalm 4:3b

J2 found: “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” Psalm 18:3

An. liked Psalm 107:1-16. Verse 6 is especially fitting, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of all of their distresses.”

It was an amazing time in God’s word. It was so wonderful to watch my kids enjoy what God had to say about His provision and protection for us! Several times they borrowed my Bible highlighter to highlight verses they enjoyed which the others had found. It was a special moment for me as a Mom to see them seeking God and enjoying His word. Nothing greater in my opinion than to see these kids seek God; this is FAR above any academic or athletic achievements, in my opinion.

Abigail slept very late on Saturday as she has been recovering from a bad cold. After she woke up, we all ate noodle soup for a late lunch, then got dressed to go out and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL SUN! We hadn’t seen the sun in SO long...I wish we would have gone out earlier! We finally went to the little playground the kids can see from the family room window. Even Ab. played on the teeter totter and they also enjoyed the swing and slide. The slide should have been called a “Stick” because there is no way a child could slide on it, only stick to it and scoot down by force! Ha!

After trying out the teeny tiny playground, we walked toward the Church that we can see from the window. We followed the map, but it led us astray. We did end up closer to the Church, but it was blocked by an apartment building.

OK, time for bed now....to be continued. I just learned that I can type in my sleep! I just typed that the Church was in St. Louis!!! St. Louis??? Why St. Louis?? HA!...I woke myself up and decided it was far beyond time to go to bed!

Until next time!

OK, much more rested now. Anyway, after getting a few pictures of the Church just before the sun set, we went to the ATM, then back to the house to make tacos! Sv. & Ir. & Ka. joined us for dinner and then the fun began. Sv. Handed J1 a big, giant balloon the color of a gum eraser and said, “go have a seat, and blow this up.” It was 1 meter in diameter- the biggest balloon I have ever seen! Inside it Sv. had placed two flashing neon red and blue lights and one purple light. Once the balloon was inflated, the colored lights could be spun around frantically making a zzZZZZZzzzzZZZZ sound as they went! Then, to make it even more fun, Sv. said he wanted to “test drive” the giant balloon in St. Sophia Square! We piled in his car with the big flashing balloon and made our way downtown. Sv. popped the giant balloon up into the air like a volleyball and when it caught the wind, the kids gleefully went chasing and laughing to pop it back to him! With the windflow, popping it back against the breeze was impossible, so the kids took turns running it back to him to throw again. It was like a game of fetch for kidsJ. We had SO much fun. We NEED some giant balloons to take back home with us! It was too dark for the pictures to be much good, but of course I got a lot of video!:)

Side note: I’m not sure when this started, but a log of our adventures here would not be complete without recording Ab.’s trademark among our new friends....the atomic CLAP! POW! When something makes her laugh really hard, she throws her head back and then does one ENORMOUS window shattering CLAP as she laughs. She makes the rest of us jump out of our skin! So now, when something is funny, Sv. loves to imitate her by throwing his head back and blasting out one big CLAP- but it still isn’t as loud as Ab.’sJ I’m not sure what reminded me of that, but nearly every night we have at least one atomic CLAP!:) I realized I clap when I laugh, too, it just isn’t as loud! What are we, a family of seals??:)

So back to our evening:

After Ir. & Ka. went home, we all called it a night.

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Our alarm went off at 9:30 am this morning. It was the last we ever heard out of the white phone we have been borrowing from Sv. By the time I tried to turn down the ringer at Church, it would no longer respond to the stylus which has to be used for every function. We even enlisted the help of Sv., who took out the battery, and restarted it. But it still won’t work. The white phone has breathed its last.

Fortunately, we have a back up phone from our dear friends in TX who adopted here in 2010, the Ki. family.

By 11ish we were off on our way to Church. We are SO blessed to have Sv. and Ir. hosting us and caring so much for us. Every Sunday, we get to ride with them to Church rather than the usual bus, metro, walk! This morning Sv. had to be at Church early, but Ir. drove all the way from her house and picked us up. Seatbelts in the back seat are unheard of here- so 5 kids piled into the back of her little car was no big dealJ (My four plus Ir.’s little one Ka.) Our pile of five kids was very well behaved, too. At one point I looked back to see if they were all still there!

Today at ICA was Orphan Sunday! The Pastor presented a wonderful message which addressed the orphan problem in Ukraine and the need for adoptive families and others to support them. He also reminded us of the fact that WE are all adopted as children of God! A wonderful lady, Ka. Spr., who works for Orphans Promise in Ukraine, spoke at the service as well. She also hosts adoptive families in her home, and has had 55 families stay with her in the past 18 months! We are ETERNALLY grateful to those who have so sacrificially supported us in our adoption, whether financially, by assisting us in our fund raisers, encouragement, prayers or all of the above. And last but not least, we are IMMENSELY grateful to Sv. and Ir. for sharing this amazing space with us. Although we are all in one room at night and longing to return to our own beds, this apartment is SUPER deluxe for Kiev and we are SO spoiledJ God continues to rain down his blessings on us!!!

My newest blessing just made me smile again. Little Ka. is staying with us while Sv. & Ir. run a wedding related errand. We just finished watching Madagascar and the kids are sort of floating around looking for things to do. In his sweet Ukrainian, J2 asked Ka. if she wanted to play. Then he went to his Carnival lego-type toy set and got her his little Disney figurines we sent to him while he awaited our arrival in Ukraine. What a sweet and generous boy he is.

Ir. made a yummy dinner of baked chicken with noodles for us and we concluded our evening by watching Despicable Me together, in honor of Orphan Sunday! Love that movie and love this family (Sv., Ir. & Ka.) who God has made a part of ours.

Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get AMAZING news that our court decree has been amended and our birth certificate is ready to pick up!!! OK, not really counting on it...it’s Ukraine...but can’t hurt to hope for it!

Better get to bed and prepare for our long rainy day walking about town while Na. cleans.:)

Thank you ALL for your love and prayers. We need all the prayers we can get!