It's Official and a few pics!

The court decree came into effect today - the 10 day waiting period is over and Matthew Dmitriy Hansen is officially our son!! Rejoice with us and praise God for this wonderful gift!
We spent the morning in the car. First, we went to the State Department Administration to pick up some paperwork. Then to the court house to obtain 10 copies of the court decree. After that, we went to Balaclava to request the new birth certificates for Matthew and Mackenzie (the Mickschl's daughter). Unfortunately, their computers were down and we will have to go back tomorrow morning. It's not like at home where things are usually back up and running within a short period of time. We headed to the notary to drop off papers to be prepared for signature and then to the bank to drop off papers to close the kids' bank accounts. This money is released to the orphanage when they leave. It is VERY hot today and Maia was miserable. Olga took pity on us and we came back to the apartment while she continued the legwork. We've had a lazy afternoon, took a short nap, and I've done a little more packing in anticipation of leaving for Kyiv early Wednesday morning. The plan is to pick Matthew about 24 hours from now (around 8:30am Minnesota time) and bring him back to the apartment. I'm so excited!!! Here are a couple of photos from yesterday and then I will end with a few prayer requests.

Ok, so it's not a very good picture. I really just wanted to show Matthew pouting. He was doing something he wasn't supposed to and we gave him a time out. Oh, life is tough - lol!!!

We have a few prayer requests for the next couple of days.

• Pray that we will be able to complete all the necessary paperwork tomorrow to obtain Matthew and Mackenzie's new birth certificates and passports. If we are not able to get the passports, it could delay our return home by a week. 
• Peace for Matthew as he leaves the orphanage. While I am sure he will be excited, he is leaving his home of two years with people that he doesn't (really) know and who don't have a clue what he is saying. There has to be some fear as well.
• Pray for Mackenzie as she leaves the orphanage as well. This is the only home she has ever known.
• For all three kiddos (Matthew, Maia, Mackenzie) to have a quiet evening and good night's sleep. We will be leaving Sevastopol around 4am on Wednesday morning to drive to Simferopol where we will catch our flight to Kyiv.
• Safe journeys as we travel.

Thanks for your prayers. I'm going to post the Nikitsky Garden pics later, but I've spent enough time on the computer for now.

Sunday

Today is Sunday. We like to give the driver a day off to use as family time. But we will not see Matthew on Monday so Melanie wanted to see him today. I wanted to give Vitaly the day off. So we went to see Matthew. Monday we have a lot going on, getting paper work done so we can pick up Matthew on Tuesday to take him with us to Kiev.

Mark

Sobering Reminder

I was all set for a light, fluffy blog post tonight. Had a nice afternoon visiting the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens with Hansina and Morgan and enjoyed the day. I was going to post pictures with the beautiful scenery. But, I got on the computer to upload the photos and started reading the blogs I follow.

One of the entries was titled "How Can This Be?" There was a video link and I began watching. Soon, I was in tears. And I am reminded of the reason we are here. Yes, it is to bring home our son. So far this trip, my heart has not been broken like it was last time. I've been able to not be so emotional about the kiddos. But, after watching this video, I am again brought to my knees. All of a sudden I feel like what we have done is not enough, can never be enough as long as there a children out there who do not know the love of a forever family. The video is from His Kids Too. We were blessed to be able to meet the director of this orphan ministry on our way to Ukraine last month. She is passionate about saving the forgotten souls who are institutionalized because they are considered less than perfect by their society.

Our son was in danger of being transferred to a place like this when he turned four (last month). If you have the opportunity to meet him, you will know what a tragedy this would have been! For ANY child, transfer to this type of institution is a tragedy. I thank God that we were able to complete our paperwork to make him part of our family before that happened. Please take a few minutes to watch this video - ask yourself what YOU can do!

Black, Red, and a little Blue

Black??

Sevastopol is located on the Black Sea. Today, Vitaly took us to the beach. These are military ships providing security because the Russian and Ukrainian presidents are in town for a motorcycle show this weekend.

 Here's the beach. You can see that it goes on for quite a distance. It is very rocky!

Mark in Black Sea

Maia and I sitting near the water. At first, I had her sitting facing the water. She was terrified when even small waves came up to us. So, I turned her to face me and she felt more secure. Gradually, she got a little more comfortable but still didn't want to get to close.

Maia did enjoy playing in the rocks. Vitaly is in the background.

Mark did take Maia out into the water. She was not too sure about that, but safe in daddy's arms.

That was about as deep as I was willing to go. The temp was pretty cool at first, but after being in the water for a little while, it felt good.

RED?

Yep, that would be my back. And this is after applying SPF 50! The clerk at the store warned me that it was for children, but really??? Maia isn't red at all! Go figure!

Tired out from the sun and playing!

And a little blue...

Didn't get to see my sweet boy today. We went to the orphanage this afternoon with Olga and the Mickschls to make our donations, but left without seeing Matthew. I hope he is ok. I can't wait to see him tomorrow morning.

We'll go the orphanage in the AM. After that, the plan is that Hansina, Morgan, and I will go to Nikitsky Botanic Gardens. Mark and Maia are going back to the apartment for an afternoon of relaxation.

from Mark

I have not said too much on the blog for a few days. That is because Melanie does such a great job. But I don't think she will write about this. I am amazed at the stuff she cooks up here. We can't read Russian or know exactly what we buy at the store. I think the meat we get is ham and ground beef a few times chicken. She makes tacos, meatballs in some kind of sauce, the best fried ham & cheese sandwich, very good pasta salads and more.  One morning we has french toast. We didn't have any syrup so she made some out of white sugar and other stuff, I think there was some jam in it for flavor.I am amazed at how well she cooks over here. We don't even have a stove, just a gas cook top.

Mark

Will there be another trip to Sevastopol?

My blogging time while here in Ukraine has been much less than our last trip here. Something to do with a busy three year old, I’m sure – lol! I really haven’t had the opportunity to share my heart, but I’m just going to take the time and see how far I get…


Many people have asked if I’ve met any other children at the orphanage that I can’t live without. Good question. Most of the children that we met last time we were here are gone. We know that at least one has been adopted (by the Allen family who we were blessed to meet before they headed back to the States with their precious Annie), the others – we don’t know. It is my prayer that they are now with their forever families and not transferred to other institutions. There are two children still in the groupa that we first met in December. One of them is a little girl who I loved even then. IF there was any chance of bringing her home, Mark might have a fight on his hands. But, she and the little boy are both “family children” – meaning that they have family who visit them regularly and are not available for adoption. There is a younger girl with very obvious fetal alcohol syndrome who is just adorable as well, so many sweet faces who are in need of forever families. Precious souls that are aching for the love of parents. It is heartbreaking.

Those of you who have followed our blog for a while may remember when I first mentioned Matthew. It was December 4, 2010 and I commented about a “special needs” little boy. There were other children who would probably catch a person’s eye much more than he would. I actually posted about that very topic on December 18. But, looks don’t matter to a mama’s heart. And each day we visited Maia, I loved that sweet boy a little more. When we picked Maia up on Christmas Day, I left a piece of my heart at the detsky dom with Matthew. He was always in my prayers, never far from my mind - even though I’m sure Mark hoped that I would be able to “let it go.” But, instead God chose us to be Matthew’s parents! And it all began when he gave me a heart for a child that wasn’t what the world would consider perfect.

So… have I met another child that I can’t live without? Is there a longing in my heart for more of the children that we have met during Matthew’s adoption? Well, I would love to pack up ALL of the children, bring them back to the US and find homes for them! But, no one has captured a place like our son did. And that is even more confirmation that my heart knew back in December what Mark and I didn’t know at the time. That we would be returning to Ukraine just a short time after leaving to bring home a son named Matthew Dmitriy Hansen.

For now anyway, my wonderful husband can rest assured that I feel our family is complete with Matthew and Maia. If God chooses to show us something different, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. :-)

Ahh... the heat!

It was another hot day here in Sevastopol, it was 91.4 degrees F at about 9am this morning. And everyone knows how I love hot weather - lol! I told Mark that it is probably to his benefit that the weather is so hot. I know my way around town much better now and would probably be out shopping seeing the sites.

We were late getting to the orphanage this morning so we didn't have a very long visit with Matthew. But, it was a good one. He was in a happy mood, full of love for "da-yee" and mama. Tried his new-to-him sandals on and they fit perfectly. He was quite proud of them (beats the lavendar sandals with flowers that he was wearing today), showing them to the caregivers. When we had to leave, he took them off without protest to put the others back on. Yesterday, we helped him try on the clothes that I had bought and I think he is starting to understand that we are doing things in preparation for leaving the orphanage.

Stopped to pick up lunch at McD's on the way back to the apartment. Had a short nap this afternoon and then walked up to the street market to get some water. Also, picked up cucumbers, sweet corn, and bread. Came home and then, Genya picked me up and took me to a salon for a manicure. His wife is a hair dresser and she arranged an appointment for me with one of her friends. $5 total for the manicure including tip! Boy, if manicures were that reasonable at home, I might be able to have them more often.

Leftovers for dinner and now, I've been trying to get our flights back to Kyiv booked. Thought I had a great deal for airfare but couldn't get the transaction to complete so lost out on the terrific price. Hansina couldn't get her purchase to go through either so we are going to meet them at the travel agent on our way to the orphanage tomorrow morning and buy our tickets together.

I've got so many thoughts about our journey that I want to share. I'm going to have to just take some time to sit down and write it all out. Soon, I promise. It's getting late and I need to get to bed.

A couple of prayer requests to end with:
- One of Mark's flying buddies was killed last weekend when his plane crashed. We don't know any specifics, but please keep Mark Ellis's family in your prayers at this difficult time.
- Pray that we will be able to purchase plane tickets at a reasonable price for our return to Kyiv next week. Since it is the height of tourist season, demand is high so cost/availability are a concern.
- I will mention this again as the day approaches, but please be praying for red passports for Matthew as well as Mackenzie (the Mickschls' daughter). If we are unable to get them, it will delay our return home and result in a significant expense due to already scheduled flights.