I am just sick at heart. I lost 99% of my pictures. My memory card was full so I bought another one in which there are only a few pictures to upload. I have no idea why my full memory card was empty this morning when I went to download the pictures. I had a lot of great memorable pictures which are now lost forever. At least we have not lost the boys, so that is the important thing and our wonderful memories are still in our minds. If anyone knows of anyone who is an expert at data recovery please let me know. Thanks.

We made it home last night and it felt so good to back in the United States of America (Even if I do not like the current politics!). It was so nice to be able to drink water out of the tap and not to worry about getting sick if I swallowed some water while taking a shower. Although this sounds small, it is a great blessing to have clean water to drink from the tap. It is also very nice to control your own temperature in your own home. The list of blessings could go on and in which I have realized how important it is to appreciate all that we have. Though our house is modest, it seems huge now after being in the Ukraine. We both could not sleep after 4 am this morning because our bodies think it is in the afternoon. Although, we will quickly adjust.

We ended up being on the same plane as half of the hosting kids on the way back from Kyiv to Munich and from Munich to Chicago. We had to go through different areas with customs in Chicago, one for residents and one for non-residents. We did not see the group after we were done and they were not at the boarding gate. Our plane was to leave at about 5:30 pm and they were not there at 4:45 pm. If you have ever been to the Chicago O Hare airport it is huge and confusing and one could easily get lost. It has 5 terminals. I worried about the group so I quickly went back looking for them. I finally found them where we are to take a train to the our terminal to catch the plane. Natasha, the group leader and who we already know because she was in our home for a few days during the 2008 hosting, was relaxed and did not seem to concerned to hurry. I was panicking. It turned out they were on the 8 pm flight to go to Salt Lake City. So all was well and they had plenty of time so I did not need to worry about them. I was able to guide them to where they needed to go to check in with security.

Our court was Thursday at 9 am. The boys look sharped. They even had suits, although Vlad's was mismatched, but that was okay. The boys wanted to look their best for the judge. We had lots of questions from the Judge, prosecutor, and the 2 person jury. After the preliminary legalities the Judge went through (this took awhile) I was asked questions of why we wanted to adopt, could I really support and provide for their various needs, how we first met the boys, if we communicated with Vlad and how during the past year, if Vlad had talked to any of our kids during this time, what our family was like, what our home was like, were the boys going to have a bedroom to sleep in, if our kids were okay with the adoption, etc. Then Griselda was asked similar questions and also how we were going to teach them English and how we would get them in school. Then it was Vlad's turn. He was asked several questions related to if he really wanted to be adopted and how he felt about our family and about if he would be comfortable with and like our 16 year daughter. Vlad said I am a teenager and she is a teenager and of course we would get along because we are both teenagers. He got a chuckle from the Judge which released some of the tension in the court room. Vlad spoke with great confidence and fast. So the Judge asked Vald why he spoke to fast. He said it is because I am a rapper. The Judge and the whole courtroom busted up laughing. Then it was Dima's turn. Dima is a bit timid so his answers were more softer than Vlads. So at the end of his questioning when the Judge asked him of he wanted to be adopted by us, Dima, with confidence, answered with a firm and resounding yes. Then the assistant director of the orphanage was asked about her thoughts on the adoption and she was very positive, and stated how we visited the boys everyday, played and did things with them, and would give them English lessons (Griselda gave them the English lessons). So she was very happy to have us adopt the boys so the boys could have a good family to take care of them.

At 10:20 the court was done and then we had to wait for the verdict. At 12:07 pm we got the news that the Judge's decision was positive. The boys jumped with delight and were so excited. Afterwards we celebrated by going to a crepe stand and getting crepes stuffed with chicken, cheese, and mushrooms. It was very good. That is one thing I will miss. We then took the boys back to the orphanage where our parting was bittersweet because it will be about three weeks before one of us can get them. The boys were very sad that it will be so long but that is beyond our control. Now we have to play the waiting game before going back to wrap up the legalities left to do and pick up the boys.

Happy Days

We made it through the court. It was almost like Perry Mason. But we made it through with some incentive for the judge. We fly out in the morning and I will write more when we get back and will finally upload some pictures. Thanks again for all your support, prayers, comments, etc.

Today was rainy, cold, and windy. Griselda started out the day feeling much better, however, tonight she is feeling crummy again. We have been using bottled water and we boil water to rinse off the dishes after we wash them (we do miss our automatic dishwasher!). We met with Dima at 3 pm today and Griselda gave him another English lesson. Later Vlad came and we visited. Then Maria, our translator explained to all of us what to expect at the court in the morning and the kind of questions we will likely be asked. When she asked the boys what they will say to the judge when the judge will ask them why they want to be adopted by us, Dima broke down in tears because he said he was afraid his parents would get their rights back and take him away. He said they would drink and abuse him. Obviously he has some very bad memories of his family life before coming to the orphanage. It was so sad to see him cry because of his bad memories. Both boys were sad as it will be approximatley 3 weeks before we come back to get after the court.

Oleg called this morning and he was told that the papers would be ready from the SDA between 11 am and 1 pm. It ended up being 5 pm tonight so he is going to have a late night driving back to Sumy tonight. At least the papers were available in time so we do not have to postpone our court date.

Tommorrow at 9 am is our appointment with the judge so we will pray hard and keep our fingers crossed that everything will go okay. We both will fly back Friday morning to Salt Lake City since no one will be here to help us because Oleg, Maria, and Natasha will be in Utah from Oct 22 to Nov 8 for the Save A Child hosting. We will have to return later. The remaining two, Oksana and Irena, that could help us if they were available, are helping the Moores and the Hales and they are both in different regions so they will not be available for us. But that is okay. When Oleg returns he can get the passports, birth certificates, and everything else ready for us and then I (David) will be the likely one to return to pick up the boys and do what we need to do at the embassy before coming home. Agian thanks so much for all your support and prayers which have definitely helped us out during the trying times.

Today Griselda woke up sick and was not able to do anything today. Vlad called me this morning about a free break dancing class he wanted to attend tonight at 6 pm and said that no teachers could take him so he asked me if I could take him. I told him I would be happy to. He told me I was the greatest Dad in the whole world. That felt so good. I hope he still thinks that way when reality sets in at home and the honeymoon is over. Later today he called and he told me he was so sad because the director of the orphanage said no to me taking him since we had not met with the court yet. That was kind of mean because he and the other teachers encouraged Vlad to go, but no one could go with him tonight. I wished the Director would have made an exception.

I went this afternoon to see Dima and Vlad. I saw Dima first and we had fun playing with the soccor ball. Dima was so happy to tell me that the soccer ball we were playing with was one donated to the orphanage by Dale Gledhill. I thought that was cool. Dima really likes Dale. Dima is so excited about being adopted that he even reminded me about our court date on Thursday. He will not forget! Later Vlad came and he showed off to me how he learned to do flips step be step until he could do an acutal flip. Before leaving I took the boys to a tiny market near Dima's orphanage to get ice cream bars. They loved it. Also Griselda had brought some banana chips from home for us to snack on. When Vlad was at our apartment last week we gave him some and he just loved them. I found some at the local grocery store and purchased some for Vlad and gave them to him before leaving. He thought I was the coolest Dad for doing that for him. It is amazing how he appreciates and is grateful to us for the little things. Our bonding with the boys does seem to be very natural as Wendy had observed from our blogs. This really became apparent to me today as I was enjoying my time very much with the boys. It is as if this adoption was meant to be for our family with these two boys. I think they are going to fit right in and adjust with the new life style for them with our family.

Oleg just barely made it to the SDA yesterday with 5 minutes to spare to submit the papers to the SDA for registration and if all goes well he will pick them up tommorrow for the court. So we are praying the papers will be ready so we will not have to change the court date. Thanks again for all your support, prayers, comments, etc. We have definitely felt all your prayers as they have been answered. Thanks so much.

I was wondering how to get the power of attorney done in the United States, if you do not do it here in the Ukraine. It would take a whole day of our time to go to the Consultate and who knows what fees paid to Notaries. Would someone please explain to me how to do this? Thanks - Griselda

It is another day in Sumy and things started out a little crazy. Oleg went to go see the judge this morning and a new judge has been assigned to the region. This judge gave Oleg plenty of difficulty. Oleg came back to the apartment and explained the situation and how with the previous judge he had a good relationship in which they each trusted each other. This judge obviously wanted to show his authority and excercise the typical Ukranian way. After our lenghty discussion with Oleg and how we needed a miracle we had a prayer together with all three of us. I went with Oleg to the courthouse, the judge was too busy so we went to go see the inspector for final signatures from her and the mayor. The mayor is in an election right in which the voting is next week so it has been difficult to get his signature as he has been out campaigning. The inspector did manage to get the mayor's signature later today. After meeting with the inspector we went back to the judge with Plan B and Oleg was able to obtain his signature and get a court date set for this Thursday at 9 am. Oleg left for Kyiv later this afternoon upon getting the signature from the mayor and the conclusion from the inspector to go to the SDA. Now we hope the SDA will have their final approval for him by Wednesday so that we can have the court date on Thursday. Oleg has just been so wonderful and he has worked so hard on our behalf getting through all the many obstacles that we have encountered. He has relied heavily on God to help in the process. He is really a dry Mormon.

Later today we went to see Vlad and Dima. Vlad could only be with us a few minutes. I played ball with Dima and he was just loving haveing a Dad to play with. He really hungers for that. We had a nice time together. He was very creative with the games he wanted to play with the Soccor ball. Dima also showed off some of his fancy Soccor moves. The boy is just awesome. We will have to get him on a Soccor team when we get back. Friday we will likely go to the embassy to give each other power of attorney depending on which one of us comes back after the 10 days and then we will be coming home on Saturday.

Today was a nice day for us and the boys. We picked up Vlad and Dima with Oleg and went to church. They were playing another session of conference today. Then we went to our apartment and had potato soup that Griselda had fixed and also had bread with raspberry jam. Last night I tried to find peanut butter for Vlad since he likes peanut butter but I was unable to find any. So I got what I thought was strawberry jam but it turned out to be raspberry. The boys really liked it and it was a really good tasting jam although it was almost like a syrup because it was so thin. Griselda was unhappy with me because I was out walking late last night trying to find a market with peanut butter, but I have felt relatively safe here in the part of Sumy we are in walking the streets. In fact, the Elders told us Sumy is one of the safest areas in Ukraine compared to some of the other areas they have served. After lunch we took a walk in a nearby park along a river. We had a nice walk. Then it was time to take the boys back to the orphanage. Our time with the boys goes by so quickly. So this day was a pleasant day. Even though it was chili like fall it was not as cold as it has been which was nice. The gas was finally turned on here a couple of days ago so it has been nice to have our apartment fully heated. We cannot control the temperature so at times it gets too hot and we have to open a window. However, I say it is better to be too warm than too cold.

Yesterday (Friday) we took a wild and crazy taxi ride to the Kyiv Temple. I thought that Oleg would give us a thrill and a half with his driving weaving in and out of traffic and dodging cars and people. However, the taxi driver gave us a ride we would not forget. He would find and drive through lanes that really did not exist passing cars. He even drove on the other side of a guard rail where there is no road to pass traffic. He was crazy. He even had an angry scuffle with another driver has they tried to pass each other up and no one wanted to give in to let the other guy in. When we left for the temple the sun was out but when we got there it was cloudy and dark. When it was time to leave the clouds broke up temporarily so I was able to take nicer pictures. There was a nice peaceful feeling on the temple grounds.

We were to meet at the SDA at 4 pm to obtain the permission letter to adopt Dima. We got there a half hour early and there was already a long line so we had to wait quite awhile but we got the letter and then drove back to Sumy. Today we had to notarize a document to adopt Dima. Then we went to go get Vlad and Dima and we went to a restaurant that bakes pizza in a hearth with burning wood. We also took Jenji with us. He is such a nice boy who really wants to be adopted but he will not be elgible until November 19, 2011. He turns 16 in August so his time is short if a family can be found for him. We had a nice time and great discussions. Vlad and Dima continue to bond with us and they are still so excited to have a family and to live in the United States. After our time time was over Griselda and I walked around the central market area. It was interesting. Oleg is hoping we can meet with the judge before he has to leave to Salt Lake City next Friday for the next Save A Child hosting event. So we will keep our fingers crossed so that we do not have to prolong it an extra 2.5 weeks waiting until Oleg gets back to set a court date. Anyway, at least things are much more settled down and calmer now and there have been no more unexpected twists and turns. Well, you all take care and thanks again for all your support and comments.

How quickly things change. I left the internet cafe this morning and the sun was shining again. I went to a market nearby to get some essentials and I got a call from Maria our translater saying that Oleg was on his way back to Sumy and to be ready to leave in an hour to go back to the SDA in Kyiv for our interview concerning Dima. I had to rush back to the Apartment to tell Griselda we had to quickly pack our bags. Because the sun came back out again we had a gorgeous ride to Kyiv. It was night time when we went to Sumy so we could not see what the countryside was like. The farms were beautiful. Oleg informed us that it was not for sure but he thought we could have our interview today and if not tommorrow morning. Either way we had to leave today. We did have our appointment at 5 pm. Initially when we went in they were going to cancel our appointment because Oleg did not have the oringinal copy of our Dossier. Oleg made a phone call with the top person in the SDA and gave permission to go ahead and have our interview but they had to have the originals tomorrow in order to recieve the permission letter. It seems kind of crazy because the SDA has a copy of the Dossier which would not give them anymore information than the original. Maria is going to have it shipped overnight to Oleg. If all goes well we have to go back tommorrow at 4 pm for our permission letter to adopt Dima. We are with the Leavitts again and they have been so gracious with us. Thanks again for all your love, support, prayers, and comments.

Good morning. It is morning here now and you all have probably already gone to bed. We just got into our blog last night and the internet went down so I am doing yesterdays blog this morning. Below is a picture of Dima that Wendy sent. As you can see he is a handsome boy. First of all I will answer some questions in the comments:

Wendy & Danielle: This is the same Dima spoken of by the Gledhills and the Stockwells. Thanks for the picture Wendy.

Hinkson's: Thanks for the tips on what Vlad likes to eat.

Danielle: Absolutely you may have your friend share our FHE experience that we had. In additon to what I had told, the wife had always had an inner belief in God but did not know where to go to find him. Her husband never believed in God. After the Soviet Union break up her husband had come across some LDS missionaries. They then took the lessons and became converted. It is interesting that it was her husband who did not believe in God and was the one who found God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ for them. She said that when they got sealed they had to take a 28 hour train ride to Friegerg, Germany to get sealed in the temple there. The cost of the journey was a sacrifice for them but they felt the blessings were worth it. Where we live, the Timpanoogas Temple is less than 10 minutes away and I feel so guilty with this story that I find it hard many times to take only three hours to go to the temple. I will check into the Peoples Net. Do you need to have a laptop? My laptop broke the morning we left after we just had it fixed a few days prior. So I had to leave it home.

Margie: There are four missionaries here. I believe one of them is Elder Kofoed but I will have to find out for sure. My wife is not with me right now but she has a sharper memory then I do? I will ask her. Is he from Spanish Fork?

Concerning some of the comments, adoption is definitely not for the weak and the faint of heart. It has been quite the roller coaster ride but at the moment things seemed to have settled down. We will always have a soft spot in our hearts for Roman and we surely wish him all the best for his future. We will always be grateful for have a chance to get to know him and for the fact that if it was not for Roman we would not have the two great blessings in our lives right now, ie, Vlad and Dima.

Yesterday for the first time we did not have anything to do such as signing documents and meeting with notaries. We will have plenty of that coming up again soon. We are anxiously waiting when we can go back to Kiev to have our appointment with the SDA concerning Dima. Yesterday we woke up to lots of sunshine since it is the first time we have had sunshine since we have been here. It was quite appropriate as we were feeling more peace after all the events we had gone through. Even though it was cold, the sunshine felt really great! We woke up to sunhine this morning which was nice but now it is cloudy, but that is okay as our hearts are full of warmth and joy with the new loves in our lives. We met with Dima at 2:30 pm yesterday and he was so happy to see us. The day before he started calling us Mom and Dad and that felt so good. He got attached to us really quickly. He had another English lesson yesterday and we also helped him with his English homework. Dima really wanted to be by my side to help him with his English. We have noticed a pattern that although both Vlad and Dima very much likes both of us very much, Dima needs more of a Father and Vlad needs more of a Mother. I do not remember if I mentioned before, but Vlad did not have a father at home and was constantly beaten by his mother before she died of alcholism four years ago. So Vlad really likes the hugs very much. Later Vlad showed up and he wanted some English lessons and wrote a letter in English in English in which he expressed he really likes his new family and his new middle name Joseph. Also, Dima on his own without any prior discussion about it, decided he wants his new middle name to be Dale. He really likes the sound of the name Dima Dale.

Today before we see the boys we will be seeing the "Egg Lady". Apparentely she does nice paintings on wooden eggs. We were told the Stockwells ordered one from her so if you are reading this blog Stockwells, we will be picking up your egg today and we will see about her doing an egg for us as a souvineer. We look forward to the new day today and seeing the boys later today to continue our bonding with with them. Talk to you all later on the blog.

PS: We found an electronics store yesterday and found a USB cable with the right fitting for the camara. They tried it before buying and unfortunately it did not work so we did not buy. We will keep trying to find somehing.

PS to my Family: We got an email from Joshua and he is getting a transfer this week so if there were any plans to send him anything wait until we can get you his new address. Especially please let Mom know since she writes letters to him. Thanks.

I cannot believe we arrived here a week ago today. It has been a wild and crazy ride full of unexpected twists and turns filled with both sadness and joy. Sorry to my family who was waiting to see our blog yesterday and not getting one. We got in late and I was too tired to go to the internet cafe. Yesterday was rainy which certainly matched the sadness we went through yesterday as Roman's final decision was no. It was unbelieveable the 180 degree turn Roman took after he gave us such a warm reception when we were reunited. What a difference 24 hours make. Griselda felt like her heart had been ripped apart despite that on Sunday we had the strong impression that was going to be his answer, but it was still very hard to hear. After preparing for this day for nearly a year and communicating with Roman on the phone and Roman constantly telling us he could not wait for us to get him, Griselda's love as a mother for him was very deep and poignant.

Jenya who I mentioned in a previous blog is a very nice boy and Griselda would have liked to have adopted him since Roman said no but his papers will not be legally ready for adoption until January 19, 2011. So for those looking for a really good boy he will be available then. He was sad when he found out he had to wait but said that he would patiently wait for someone.

The first day we were here we were introduced to a really cute little 13 year old boy named Dima. He looks 10 or 11 because he is so short. I could never get him off of my mind. We kept hearing such good things about him. In the afternon when we went to see Vlad we also had Dima come only to see more of what he was like and nothing was to be said to him about adoption. After a short while Dima had to go to football practice (Soccer in the Ukraine) and Vlad was begging Mom for us to adopt him. I was all for it but Griselda's heart was very guarded and she was so scared that her heart would be ripped apart again even though she liked him. Last night she said it would be my decision so of course I said yes and was very excited but Griselda was still nervous but was hesitantly willing to take the chance. So this morning Oleg took us to meet him and ask him if he wanted to be adopted by us and he said of course. While we were with Dima Vlad called and wanted to know what was Mom's decision. Little did he know that we were meeting with Dima and that Dima had just said yes. I handed the phone to Dima so he could tell Vlad and then Dima handed the phone to Griselda. Vlad was so excited and yelled out a cheer. Dima was taken out of class in order for him to meet with us and had to go right back. After leaving Dima, Oleg took us to a notary to sign some documents to get the paper work for Dima started and then left for Keiv to turn in documents with the State Department of Adopton (SDA) to get the ball rolling so we can have our interview and get our permission papers to adopt Dima. If all goes well we will be going to Kiev later this week to meet with the SDA.

This afternoon we met with both Vlad and Dima and took them to a local market for an ice cream and to talk. They had just come back from having their blood drawn for a blood test we requested Vlad was hurting from it but Dima was OK. Vlad had to leave and Dima was supposed to go to football (soccer) practice but decided he wanted to be with us instead. Griselda has a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language so he gave Dima his first English lesson from her. It went great and he was an awesome student. All the teachers, administrators, and the school psychologist thanked us profusely for being willing to take Dima because he wanted so badly to be adopted and they all said he was the best kid there so they were all so happy he can now be adopted. So many of them wanted to talk to us and answer any questions we might have. They all said we were so good to take him. Dima is going to fit right in with our family so despite the sadness good things still happened. The truth is if we had not hosted Roman the last three days of his hosting last year we would have never know about Vlad and then have had to opportunity to adopt Dima. So despite the hurt we had felt from Roman's rejection he had led us to the road we are on now. The Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. I just wish we did not have to suffer the deep hurtful emotions along the way but I guess that is how we grow.

We had recieved another call from Vlad today soon after we met with Dima for the first time this morning saying that Roman's Mother and Grandmother were there and wanted to talk to us about Roman going to the United States. I thought that they were going to tell us Roman changed his mind and they were going to try to talk us into taking Roman again. It turned out it was Roman's Mother and Aunt. They were waiting for us when we went to see Dima and Vlad this afternoon and they wanted to apologize profusely for Roman's change of heart and they said that Roman had been waiting anxiouly all this past year for us to come and get him. We are also told this by the administrators and some of his other teachers. They just felt so bad that we had came all the way over from the United States to have kind hearts to adopt him and they so very much wanted that for him and the opportunites that would be available to him. They could not believe his change of heart. The mother (the parents parental rights were taken away several years ago) said that the one teacher who talked him out of it and claims she is very fond of Roman had told Roman that after we met with him the first day that the teacher had told him we would take Roman to the United States and we would be nice to him at first and then sell him for body parts. How cruel is that?! I do not know if Roman believes it but this one particular teacher has so much influence over him that she was able to persaude Roman to quickly change his heart and mind. This teacher inquired about taking guardianship over Roman versus adoption yesterday. We were told that with guardianship she would get paid by the government and if she adopted him she would not get paid. So if this is true it may be she was looking at it for the money. How sad.

There was a sister we met at the branch Sunday who invited us to come to her apartment Monday night with the missionaires for a family home evening in which a non-member would be there. It was an awesome experience. Her rundown apartment is very humble and she has five kids living at home. They have to share a kitchen and bathroom with three other families. She really had nothing. Most everyone sleeps on old beat up fold out sofas in the living area which is quite cramped. Part of the FHE lesson was on gratitude and she expressed how grateful she was to our Heavenly Father because she has everything. For her everything was the Gospel of Jesus Christ and her family for she had nothing of significance materially. She is a widow as her husband was killed by some drunks. However, she is so grateful to have the Gospel and to know that she will see her husband again and her children has the knowledge to know where their Father is now. Talk about a humbling experience for us. I had the the opportunity to bear my testimony and it felt great and it almost like I was on a mission again since there was a non-member investigator there. We came away with a greater appreciation for what we have and how grateful we should be to have the Gospel. This lady also has a very cute daugher who is almost 15 and unbeknownst to me Griselda gave her Vlad's phone number on Sunday so she called Vlad and introduced herself and came over and talked to Vlad for 3 hours with much of the discussion being about the church. The girl told us that Vlad does want to go to church but is scared about a mission. I think Vlad likes her. One thing Vlad had told us was that he was not sure if American girls would like him so he thought the he might have to come back to the Ukraine someday to get a Ukrainial girl friend. Well???...

Thanks again for all you prayers, love, and support. This has definitly given us the strength to get through the trial with Roman and things look to be working out for us in other ways that we had not foreseen. So things are definitly looking bright and we are moving on!

Griselda says that our journey is similar to the show 24 in that there have been so many unexpected twists and turns. So she says stay tuned for the next unexpected twist. Quite frankly I am done with the twists and turns unless they are positive. What an adventure!

Day 6

We went to the Sumy Branch today. I thought it was a ward but it is a branch. Vlad went with us. The branch was conducted by the missionaries. There were four missionionaries, two of which bore there testimonies today because they are being transferred. After Sacrament Meeting, they started showing general conference. Because they have a 9 hour later time difference they were showing some of it today. Vlad had some questions about the church which were good. After Church we took him back to the organhage. At 2 pm we picked him up and another boy who is his friend who very much wants to be adopted. His name is Eugenij and he goes by Jenya for short. He was hoping to go to Salt Lake City this fall to be hosted but this year the Save A Child Foundation is not bringing any kids over from Sumy so he was sad. Anyway we went to an arcade (Yes I know it is Sunday and normally we would not go to an arcade, but because time is short and we have to get permission for Vlad to be with us I made an exception in order to bond) and played a couple of games and then we went to our apartment to drink some herbal tea and have some bread with honey. We had a very nice conversation with Vlad and Jenya and they asked us some very good questions concerning our values why we want to adopt and Vlad wanted to know how our love would be towards him compared to our biological children. We let him know that he would be loved just the same as our biological children. Jenya was very impressive with his questions and statements. He seemed quite mature despite his circumstances. Vlad has formed a strong bond with us and it feels so good that he calls us Mom and Dad. He is so nice with Griselda. Because she has a bad knee it is harder for her to go downstairs so he likes to stand by her side and hold her arm to help her down the stairs. He is quite a gentlemen. After we were done he stepped right up and did the dishes without being asked. Our kids can surely learn a lesson from Vlad about stepping up to help (Smile). It was sad to learn that when Vlad's Mother was alive she beat Vlad a lot and never showed him any love. Vlad hungers for love and attention and that is why he likes so many hugs and he likes to show off to us. We have had a lot of hugs. It is amazing to us how happy Vlad is and he has such a great attitude despite his his hard life. He is really an amazing young man. He will go far in life when given the opportunity.

After they went back to the orphanage Griselda and I went for a walk and we were walking past the branch and a sweet young sister was standing outside. She walked right up to us as she recognized us and began speaking English to us. She said they were getting ready to have a fireside and she invited us to come in. The fireside was conducted by the missionaries and one of them translated for us. It was so nice the Spirit. The Gospel is just the same here in Ukraine as in Utah.

Concerning Roman, we have accepted the fact that he is likely going to say no in the morning as we have learned more information about people here that he is very close to. Also we found out one of Roman's teacher really likes him and she also has a daughter that Roman likes. This may be why the teacher has said negative things to him about being adopted. Apparently part of his heart is to be adopted and part of his heart is to stay with his friends and the teacher. We decided it is best that if Roman truly has second thoughts that it would not be good to bring him home and for him to have regrets later and then make it miserable for everyone else in the family because he is unhappy. However, we may find out in the morning how he truly feels.

PS: We appreciate the comments and council. Thank you so much for all of your love, support, and prayers.

PS: I discovered that if I can find a USB cord with a camara USB plug I can probably load some pictures here at the internet cafe. So I will ask Oleg if he can help me find one.

PS to Darlene: It would be a great idea as you suggested to send us pictures via email and if I can be able to bring the boys here to the internet cafe I will show them the pictures.

Day 5 Prayer Time

This has been a very crazy day and it has become very apparent that extra prayers are needed. The plan was to meet with the boys at noon today which we did. When we went to go pick them up they both greeted us with great big hugs and cheerful smiles so I did not think there was anything wrong. Although Griselda felt something was not quite right with Roman. We went to a pizza cafe to have time to bond with the boys and to discuss any questions and concerns the boys might have. We had to obtain permission from the orphanage to go. Vlad was thinking about the future and the risk he will be taking to go the USA; however, he says he still wants to go and realizes that might be best for him because he does not have much family and opportunities here. However, Roman is now having second thoughts. Apparently he saw something on TV last night which said that a family in America who had adopted a Russian child had killed the child. I hope this is not true. This has scared him. Also he is getting peer pressure from his peers not to be adopted as well as a teacher telling him bad things about being adopted by Americans. Roman was also told that the Mormon Church is bad and that it is a cult. This has made him very unsure. He asked Griselda if we would make him go to church because it is very important to her. She explained to him that we have agency and that it would not be good to force him to go to church. The decision will be his. Griselda explained to Roman that her Mother was an orphan in Guatemala and that she would love to give him the opportunity that her Mother never had. Oleg and Griselda had a long talk with Roman to help him feel more at ease and comfortable about the adoption. It is interesting that he could not wait for us to come and then all of a sudden after our joyous reunion the adversary has intevened with all his might. It was explained to Roman that this is his choice and that no one is forcing him and that he needs to go with his heart and not with what those who are saying that are opposed to the adoption. Roman will have until Monday morning to make his decision. Therefore we need to pray hard that Roman can think clearly and not let the distractions bother him so he can make a wise decision concerning his adoption. Roman is a very good boy who deserves a chance for a better life and better opportunities then he will likely have if he stays here. As I am writing this Griselda who is here with me at the internet cafe is suddenly overcome with emotion as she realizes the stark reality that Roman may say no and she wanted so much for him to be a part of our family because of the strong love she feels for him and the opportunities we understand that he will be turning down. On the bright side Vlad is very optimistic and we showed him pictures of our house today both inside and out and he asked to take the pictures to show to his friends at the orphanage so we let him take them. Also Vlad was calling me Dad today and that felt so good. Vlad will be going to church with us tommorrow so he can see what it is like. Hopefully he will feel a warm spirit there. Thanks again for all your prayers and support and we will see Monday what Roman's decision will be. Griselda just asked if someone reads this email before the temples close today in Utah if you can put Roman's name on the prayer roll.

It is very interesting that Oleg who is not LDS has a great respect for our faith and he suggested on his own that we have ward members here to say prayers on our behalf as well as having the missionaries say prayers also. He said that he saw that with other families he has worked with how prayer really works. He is a man of faith. His life story is very interesting. He grew up as a single child with a single mom in the Soviet Union era here in the Ukraine. He says it was a very hard life. When the Soviet Union broke up when he was sixteen he found God by studying the bible. He cherishes the values the bible teaches and about being good to others. He gained his own testimony of Jesus Christ and was baptized in the Orthodox Church. When he found God and was going to the University he said he was a missionary on his own to preach the importance of Jesus Christ to others for four years. I was really impressed by this. He said that when the Soviet Union broke up those were very difficult years and people did not have work and everyone was struggling so hard and crime was very high. However, he said that there is no way he would want to go back to the old ways. He really loves freedom and knows how important freedom is. He is a very good man. Oleg explained to us that because his Mother was single he had to go to school at an orphanage while his Mother worked. As such he saw the plight of the orphans and it was his dream to be able to help orphans find families so they can have a better life. So he has a profession he really loves in which he is helping people, both orphans who need families and the families who want to adopt.

Day 4

Yesterday we started out the day going to the Lavra where there are catacombs underneath part of the city and where monks sealed themselves in small caverns with one opeing to let food in and there they lived till they died. Also Christians hid there in the 9th century from the Pagans who wanted to kill them from what I am told. It was a different experience. We also saw a museum at the same place and some old orthodox churches with very fancy architecture. We also bought some honey there which are made from the bees that the church clergy raise. It is the best honey. At 4pm we had our second appointment with the SDA to get our approval papers. Oleg our facilitator and lawyer took us there a half hour early so we could be first in line. It was a good thing he did because soon after there was a very long line of others coming for the same reason. After that we went to a shopping mall (it was small compared to what we are used to) in Kiev before driving to Sumy to get something to eat at the food court which was not much of a food court. We got Asian food and it was horrible. Eating out does not seem to be any cheaper that at home. Afterwards we had a wild 4.5 hour ride to Sumy. We arrived at 10:30 pm to a hotel. The hotel is at least clean but the shower is not the best. Saturday we will have an apartment to move into that will be much cheaper. When we finally went to bed there was a lot of noise like some kind of partying which lasted till about 1am. Oh well. It is part of the experience.

Today were started out our day picking up the Inspector to go to the Sumy orphanage. She had to witness us signing a bunch of documents and ask us a bunch of questions such as why we are adopting, if we own our home, what I do for a living, and if we knew the boys. While there Vlad and Roman were brought to the office and it was a really joyous renuion. The boys were so exited and ran into our arms. It was so nice. Oleg said he had never seen any of the kids so emotional when they first were met with their adoptive parents. Vlad wanted to show off his combination break dancing and fighting moves and his karate and a few other acrobats. Roman was just happy to be here and just followed along. Vlad decided his American middle name will be Joseph because he likes the initials VJ and Roman decided his American middle name will be James. The boys had fun with their new middle names. We spent abuot 2 hours with the boys and then we had to go to a notary and sign and norarize some additional documents. Later we came back to the orphanage and were able to see Vlad again. He took us a tour of the area. We also learned that Vlad is quite the business man. This past summer he would buy old cell phones for cheap, fix them and also hire another kid to help fix them and Roman was the salesman to sell the phones for a profit. Also Vlad would fix bikes to earn some money. He used the money to buy his own clothes. I really like his independant spirit and wanting to improve himself by being self sufficient. Romand is quite the linguist as he knows Ukranian, Russian, Italian, and English. He has had opportunities so spend time in Italy for summer and Christmas.

Oleg had to leave with the Director to discuss the adoption and work on additional paperwork so we took a mini bus part way to the hotel and then walked the rest of the way with Maria our translator. It was a nice walk. Today was actually sunny and nice but still cold. The other days we have been here were cloudy. Griselda crashed and took a nap and then afterwards we went for a walk and got a snack. Later Oleg saw us walding as he was driving by and we went to a nice little restaurant for some hot soup and bread. We are tired and are going to go crash now. We are 9 hours later than Utah. Hope all is well with everyone at home and thanks so much for all your love and support and prayers.

Today we did our interview with the SDA. It was not as intensive as we thought it would be. Basically they asked us if we were here to adopt two boys, what I did for a living, and if we knew the boys already which we do. They also gave us a very brief history of the boys background. Tommorrow we meet again at the SDA at 4:00 pm to get their approval to adopt the boys. We spoke with Roman today and he said he was so happy that we are coming. We also spoke with Vlad yesterday and he also said he was so happy and that he was taking an English class so he could speak better English. He also called Griselda Mama which really warmed her heart and put her in tears. We are staying with a family in Kiev whose son is in the same mission as our son Joshua in the North Carolina Charlotte Spanish speaking mission. They are David and Chelom Leavett. They are from Provo. They are both lawyers and they are doing legal stuff here and teaching at the University. It has been fun getting to know them since we have something in common. They are very nice. It is very cold here right now and the gas does not get turned on until October 15, 2010 to heat the apartment. The gas is controlled by the government so there is nothing you can do about it except buy an electric space heater. I am told that there is no thermostate to control the temperature so you have to open windows when it gets too hot. Sure makes us appreciate what we have at home. This afternoon we took a nice walk around a park called Merkinsky park which contains the Merskinsky palace that is being renovated to look nice for the 2012 world cup to be held here in Kiev. A lot of upgrading is being done in some areas to make Kiev look good for the World Cup.

We have just spent three wonderful full days in Germany and stayed with a very nice family who let us stay with them and they showed us around to see some wonderful things. Some of the things we saw were the Neuschwanstein Castle which is the castle Walt Disney used for the idea of the Disney castle. It was gorgeous. We saw the charming village of Fuseun (Spelling?) and another really old castle. We saw some very elegant cathedrals with gorgeous murals on teh ceilings. We also saw the Palace of Nymphenburg. We fell in love with Germany. The countryside is beautiful. We never made it to Switzerland as we ended up trying to pack too much into three days. Someday we will make it back. Now we begin the most important part of our journey as we are getting ready to take the train to the Munich airport to Kiev. (Germany has a wonderful and very efficient public transportation system) Our SDA appointment is tomorrow. Hopefully things will go smoothly. We are very excited to finally complete the last part of the adoption process and to be able to finally bring our boys home.

I am bummed out because my laptop broke the morning we left so I did not bring it with me and will have no way of posting pictures until we get back. So sorry that we will not have pictures to show yet, however, we will keep you updated.